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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

AirAsia Flight 8501: Plane Tail Found; Police Across the Country on Alert; Dangerous Arctic Chill; Paul Revere Time Capsule Opened

Aired January 07, 2015 - 04:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking news this morning: a breakthrough in the search for AirAsia Flight 8501 leading investigators one step closer to figuring out why this plane suddenly crashed. Divers finding the jetliner's tail section. That could be where the black boxes are found. We're live with the latest developments this morning.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now: police across the country on alert, warn that officers may be gang targets. We're breaking down this new threat.

BERMAN: A dangerous arctic chill across the country. Millions facing a brutal blast of cold weather. Wind chills up to 50 degrees below zero. Schools have been closed. Flights cancelled. We're tracking what you need to know for this very cold day.

Good morning, everyone. Welcome to EARLY START. I'm John Berman.

ROMANS: And I'm Christine Romans. It is Wednesday, January 7th. It is 4:00 a.m. in the East. We welcome everyone. Nice to see you this morning.

We have breaking news for you this morning. Eleven days into the search for AirAsia Flight 8501, the tail has been found. This is potentially crucial here. Divers struggling against stormy seas near zero visibility. They have found at least part of the tail section of that plane. This could be a major find because the black boxes in Airbus A32200, they are housed in the tail section.

For the very latest, let's get more this morning from CNN's Anna Coren in Surabaya, Indonesia -- Anna.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANNA COREN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: John and Christine, a major breakthrough on day 11 in the search for AirAsia Flight 8501. The search and recovery teams discovered the tail of the aircraft which contains the vital black box flight recorders. Now, they found the tail by using sonar equipment early this morning before sending down teams of divers who then confirmed the major discovery. It's all possible due to a break in the weather.

Well, divers were sent back into the water late this afternoon to inspect the wreckage. And all assets have been deployed to that specific area, vessels, helicopters and aircraft, searching for the wreckage and the bodies of the 162 passengers and crew onboard the Airbus A320. A total of 40 bodies have now been recovered, but 122 are still missing.

Now, with the discovery of the tail and hopefully those vital black boxes, it is hope it will provide the answers for investigators and the families as to what went so terribly wrong.

Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: Those are obviously remarkable pictures to see this morning after so many setbacks, setback after setback in the search. They couldn't get underwater because of the weather. They couldn't see underwater once they were there. Some of the subjects they found turned out to be from a shipwreck but now, these pictures revealing they have found at least part of that tail section. And the tail section is so crucial.

ROMANS: Yes, the divers taking those still pictures, they want to get down in there again and see what they can find. Will they be able to find the black boxes? And just finding this piece of wreckage in its own right is a turning point.

BERMAN: Absolutely. After everything they've been through up until now, this is what they've been waiting for.

Three minutes after the hour.

Officers across the country on alert this morning after a new warning from the Baltimore Police Department. A man carrying a loaded .22 caliber handgun walked into a Baltimore police station Tuesday morning, allegedly on orders from one of the city's street gangs to test the station's security. Officials say officers found the gun when they searched 29-year-old Jason Armstrong after they say they noticed him acting strangely and smelling of marijuana.

Baltimore police commissioner says it is lucky that officers did not end up in a terrible situation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTHONY W. BATTS, BALTIMORE POLICE COMMISSIONER: Let me say again, an organized gang in the city of Baltimore sent an armed suspect into our building to see our security, to test our security. That is alarming for us. That is alarming to me. And I'm going to send a message along those lines to understand that we're not going to cower, we're not going to back down.

Clearly, this was not a rumor. Clearly, this was not something that was hyperbole. This happened.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Armstrong told police the street gang forced him to enter the police station. He faces a variety of weapons and gun charges now.

ROMANS: Police officers in New York may already be taking extra precautions that Baltimore officials are recommending. New figures show a drastic plunge in a number of arrests and summonses by NYPD police officers, especially from minor offenses since two officers were murdered in their patrol car last month. The police union denies officers are fearful or that there's an organized work slowdown due to a rift between the rank and file and Mayor Bill de Blasio. Union officials pointing to two off-duty officers who raced to a robbery scene in the Bronx Monday were shot by suspects.

The father of one of those officers told CNN's Don Lemon about the moment he was told his son had been hit.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSEPH DOSSI, OFFICER ANDREW DOSSI'S FATHER: The first thing that comes to your head is like, this really can't be happening. And then, of course, when they tell you he's critical and he's been shot twice, I think the worst things possibly can go through your mind.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Both injured officers, Andrew Dossi and Aliro Pellarano, are expected to recover.

National correspondent Miguel Marquez has the latest on the police shoot-out and the hunt for the suspect.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: John and Christine, we are learning a lot more about the situation the New York City police officers found themselves in. Five officers total, say NYPD, responded. They were all getting off shift when they heard about this robbery in progress. They all responded. Some of them perhaps did not even have their safety vests on, their protective gear when they responded to the robbery. When they called into the dispatcher, you could literally hear the adrenaline in their voices.

OFFICER: Shots fired. Shots fired at MOS.

OFFICER: Shots fired, 187 Tiebout, 187 Tiebout, white Chevy Camaro going Northbound --

MARQUEZ: When those officers got to the area, they didn't go directly to the robbery location. They cased the entire area, assuming that the robbery was now outside of that area. They were in fact right. They saw them at another store down the way. That's when that individual who we believe is Jason Polanco at the window of a deli, turned around, fired a .44 revolver at the officers. He got off three shots they say before getting away.

ROBERT ROYCE, NYPD CHIEF OF DETECTIVES: He fires three gun, three rounds in the .44 caliber magnum, very large caliber handgun. And we believe he dry fires after that, because he has no more rounds in the gun.

MARQUEZ: Police say this all unraveled very quickly. One of the police officers got off three shots. He's the only officer who fired says NYPD. He hit one of the suspects in the leg.

That person later checked into a New York hospital. Police said he fed them a line but it was quickly apparent to the detectives that this was somebody connected to this robbery attempt. He then led them to the person who brought him to the hospital, who then led them to Jason Polanco. All three individuals in custody, two under arrests, the third in custody.

Police saying, look, this is absolute proof that there is no slowdown out there. That these police officers were off duty and they responded to a very dangerous situation -- John, Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: All right. Miguel Marquez, thanks so much.

New this morning, the FBI will investigate a deadly shooting at a V.A. clinic in El Paso, Texas. Sources tell CNN that a gunman shot and killed the doctor Tuesday afternoon and later died from a self- inflicted wound. There's no known motive for the shooting, the facility will be closed today as investigators question staffers and patients who witnessed the tragedy.

ROMANS: Lawmakers get back to work this morning with Republicans in control of the 114th Congress. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky taking over as Senate majority leader, with John Boehner returning as House speaker, but not without a scare that played out live on national television. The Ohio congressman managed to overcome significant opposition, but ultimately, he did get the votes to avoid an embarrassing second ballot and get sworn in for a second term.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)

REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R-OH), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: I do.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you very much. I pronounce you speaker of the House.

BOEHNER: Thank you.

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY), MAJORITY LEADER: I think the goal is to do important things for the country. And my colleagues have given me an opportunity to be their leader, and the people of Kentucky have given me their confidence for another six years. And so, I think it's probably not a great time to be measuring the drapes, but rather looking for the question of whether or not we can make a difference for the country.

(END VIDEO CLIPS)

ROMANS: The Republicans who opposed Boehner are already paying the price. The speaker moving quickly to remove two of them from the influential House Rules Committee. That is how politics --

BERMAN: That's the way politics works.

Congressman Steve Scalise is not backing down. The embattled Louisiana Republican is expected to discuss his 2002 appearance before a white supremacist group. At a news conference later this morning, that is where he will discuss it. But calls for him to step down -- despite calls for him to step down, Scalise is already moving forward with fundraising plans. He's hosting a happy hour for would-be donors. That's scheduled for next week.

ROMANS: President Obama will be with new Republican leaders next week at the White House. He said he's looking forward to an exchange of ideas but he's already vowing to veto one of the first new bills that lands on his desk -- construction of the Keystone XL pipeline. The project is still being reviewed by the State Department, and the White House insists it is not up to Congress to circumvent that procedure. He will veto it if they try to fast track it.

BERMAN: He's going to veto the bill which will most likely pass. It doesn't mean he's saying no to keystone.

ROMANS: He's saying no to rushing Keystone.

BERMAN: Yes. His language isn't exactly wildly approving at this point.

ROMANS: Not even mildly.

BERMAN: No.

Nine minutes after the hour.

The president is scheduled to make a brief stop in Detroit today. He will be appearing at a Ford assembly plant to tout the auto industry's comeback and resurgence in manufacturing. The plant where the president is speaking -- it's worth noting -- was shut down this week because Ford dealers have too many cars on their lots. The plant will reopen on Monday.

ROMANS: Car sales, overall, have been very, very good. Automakers are ramping up production.

Time for an early start on your money.

Investors -- it looks like investors are taking a break from that global selling over the past few days. Asian and European stocks are up right now. U.S. stock futures are up.

The Dow slid another 130 points yesterday. That's on top of big losses Monday. It's been a tough start to the year. The Dow down 2.5 percent in just the first three trading days.

Energy stocks leading the decline as oil prices fall. Crude oil now $47 a barrel this morning. That's almost a six-year low. That trend right there shows you a bear market, friends. Oil was trading over $100 just this summer. That price has been cut in half, still falling.

It's great news for drivers, terrible for energy countries and energy- producing countries, a lot of consternation about what the decline in oil is going to mean. I'm starting to hear people say, look, it's fallen so far, that they're wondering when production starts to come down and then prices go up.

BERMAN: And, all of a sudden, we're concerned with people with overall growth in the U.S. economy, thinking that this new resurgence may not last long or maybe showing signs of weakness. Easy come, easy go.

ROMANS: I don't know. It looked really strong at the end of the year. I'm still -- I'm in strong category.

All right. A dangerous polar plunge across the country. Fast-falling temperatures closing schools, cancelling flights. How low they'll go and how long they'll last. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: Good morning. Welcome back to EARLY START.

This morning's breaking news: divers in the Java Sea have located at least part of the tail section of AirAsia Flight 8501. This discovery is a breakthrough, because the plane's black boxes are mounted in the tail section. Divers have spent 11 days fighting harsh weather at the surface, zero visibility at the bottom, efforts to find the rest of the plane continue. And, of course, we don't know if those black boxes are in that exact piece of the tail section, but now they've located wreckage, physical wreckage on the bottom of the Java Sea -- an incredible development this morning.

BERMAN: These images are really amazing to look at after everything they've been through. A major, major development.

Fourteen minutes after the hour. It's very cold outside. I mean it. Forecasters say the mix of wind and cold across the Midwest could push wind chills below 40 below zero. Temperatures that are potentially deadly.

ROMANS: Dangerous conditions. That's closing schools throughout the Midwest. We're talking public schools and major cities like Kansas City, Minneapolis, Chicago, Des Moines, Indianapolis, Omaha. Schools in Green Bay will start on a two-hour delay. Public schools in Cleveland and Milwaukee, they haven't decided yet.

And many parents worry that keeping schools open when lead to wrecks like these in the Baltimore area, 142 collisions reported there Tuesday morning. At least three students were injured.

BERMAN: Chicago officials are expecting a tricky commute. They say the smaller amount of snowfall compared to last year's polar vortex will lead to fewer rail delays, but they are warning drivers to be extra cautious on the road and to be on the lookout for black ice. Another danger: ponds and lakes are icing over. An 11-year-old boy in Northern Illinois was rescued Tuesday after falling into a frozen pond. He was described as cold, but conscious, on his way to the hospital.

ROMANS: Wish him well.

And roads in Pennsylvania, a mess. A mess. Plows were out in force. But it proved to do little to deter major accidents on these really slick roads. In Wexford, a car slid right under this tractor trailer hauling rock salt, starting a fire. Meantime, this driver plowed right into a building in Center City after hitting a patch of black ice.

BERMAN: Icy roads causing havoc in Indiana.

ROMANS: Oh, no!

BERMAN: Those trucks, look at that, slamming into each other on I-65. It was shut down for over five hours. Two people were treated for non life-threatening injuries.

ROMANS: And this deep freeze is affecting air travelers as well. Nearly 1,000 flights were cancelled nationwide on Tuesday. It could be more of the same today. Passengers on a Southwest flight from Nashville to Philadelphia had a midair scare when the plane hit a patch of rough air, and suddenly, they were rocking and rolling.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL CONRAD, PASSENGER ON JET THAT HIT ROUGH TURBULENCE: There was no warning. There was just kind of a lurch, a big lurch where a lot of people kind of flung out of their seats. Temporarily, there's a few people out of their seats. A stewardess threw a bag of garbage accidentally all over the place. It was -- it looked quite disastrous in the back of the plane where we were.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: So, you want to check out what this cold can do. That is Lake Superior on the coast of Minnesota. It's steaming up the lakes. The Great Lakes, they're on fire. You can see vapor with something known as sea smoke.

ROMANS: It's beautiful. But, boy, is it cold out there?

How much longer will the deep freeze go on?

Let's get that one from meteorologist Pedram Javaheri. He's got an early look at your forecast -- Pedram.

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: A good Wednesday morning to you. Let's talk about a brutal setup here across the country, massive area of high pressure in place. Some 30 million waking up to temperatures below zero this morning. That's just the ambient air temperature.

Factor in the wind, more than 70 million people warned for wind chills here. Wind chills advisories and wind chill warnings in place for 40 to nearly 50 below zero in the northern tier of the country. Chicago, not out of the question, that some of these gusts could make it feel like 30 below zero into the morning hours. Current temperatures this morning, most single digits in Chicago, 5 feels like 15 below. Minneapolis, it is minus 3, feels like 25 below.

Look down South, that's a place you want to be right there. Miami, escaping all of this, 70s across the board. It should warm up close to 80 degrees by the afternoon hours across the region of south Florida. But here's your forecast, high temperatures. It's incredibly, these are forecast high temperatures, minus 1, Chicago, the best they can do. Minus four out of Minneapolis, temperatures into the 20s in New York and much of this area underneath generally clear skies. We know massive school closures in place across this region as the jet stream has really taken a nosedive to the South. The trend again looks to be in place for at least the next two to three days before a gradual but slight warming trend.

Guys, let's send it back to you.

BERMAN: All right. Thanks, Pedram.

Former Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell said he will appeal his two- year corruption sentence for accepting money in exchange for promoting dietary supplements while in office. Before he was sentenced on Tuesday, McDonnell told the judge he was hard broken and humbled. Afterwards, he still insists that he was innocent, but says he made mistakes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BOB MCDONNELL, SENTENCED TO 2 YEARS IN FEDERAL PRISON: As I said in court, I am a fallen human being. I've made mistakes in my life. I always try to put the best interests of the people first as governor.

But I have failed the times and some of the judgments that I have made during the course of my governorship, I've hurt myself, my family and my beloved people of Virginia. And for that, I am deeply, deeply sorry.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Now, it should be said is that prosecutors are actually enraged with the two-year sentence that the judge decided on is much less than what they were seeking. They wanted at least 6 1/2 years. His wife, McDonnell's wife, Maureen, who was convicted along with him will be sentenced next month.

ROMANS: The NAACP calling for a new grand jury to consider charges against a Ferguson police officer who fatally shot Michael Brown. In a letter to a St. Louis County judge, the group says it has grave legal concerns. They're asking for a special prosecutor to oversee the case, and in an investigation with the grand jury proceedings that ended in a decision not to indict Officer Wilson.

BERMAN: Police have released surveillance video and photos of suspected looters during the unrest in Ferguson. They're hoping to identify the people who burglarized a gas station near Ferguson. It was one of the more than two dozen businesses in that area that looters set it on fire following the announcement that a grand jury had cleared Darren Wilson in the Michael Brown shooting.

ROMANS: Folks in Texas are a little shaken up literally. Five earthquakes reported Tuesday, all in the space of five hours in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area. Officials with the U.S. Geological Survey say the wakes were centered in nearly the same area as Irving, Texas. The strongest was a magnitude 3.6. No reports of injuries or damage.

BERMAN: All right. One of my favorite things to talk. Next up, Cooperstown for four baseball greats who were elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame on Tuesday, and they're really remarkable players.

The class includes Randy Johnson, the big units, five-time Cy Young Award winner, with more than 300 wins. Nearly 5,000 strikes. One the best left-handers of all time.

He will be joined by one of the best right-handers of all time, Pedro Martinez, who won three Cy Young Awards and helped the Boston Red Sox their first World Series in 86 years, back in 2004.

John Smoltz pitched 20 seasons for the Atlanta Braves. He was a Cy Young winner in 1986. The only pitcher with 250 wins and 150 saves. A remarkable accomplishment.

And Craig Biggio, who have been robbed for a couple years, he has more than 3,000 hits in 20 seasons. He'll be the first Astro to get to the Hall of Fame. It's the first time that baseball writers selected four players to be inducted in one year. They were all fantastic. I kind of feel like they're of my generation.

And I used to watch Pedro Martinez a lot in Boston. And I felt as I was watching him, I would never see anyone do anything so well again. It was pure mastery.

ROMANS: Wow.

BERMAN: Yes.

ROMANS: And you love your baseball.

BERMAN: I do.

ROMANS: And you love your Red Sox.

All right. The content of a 200 -- speaking of Boston.

BERMAN: Speaking of.

ROMANS: A 220-year-old time capsule buried by the nation's Founding Father finally revealed what Paul Revere and Samuel Adams left behind.

BERMAN: Red Sox baseball cards.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: Two hundred twenty years after Paul Revere and Samuel Adams first placed it in the cornerstone of the Massachusetts statehouse, a small time capsule is now open and its contents have been oh so carefully removed.

BERMAN: It's in pretty condition.

ROMANS: Yes. What treasures did this box hold? Have the items survived intact?

CNN's Alexandra Field was at Boston's Museum of Fine Arts for this anxious, exciting unveiling.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Christine, John, physically, we're talking about something very small, just 5 1/2 by 7 1/2 inches. But, really, it's enough to take us back to this nation's very beginning. These relics were first put together back in 1795. It's been 220 years. And now, the whole world gets to see what's inside.

Five newspapers, 23 coins, one of them stretches as far back as 1652. A medal imprinted with George Washington. A paper seal of the commonwealth of Massachusetts.

And perhaps most significantly, a silver plate with the names etched on it Paul Revere and Samuel Adams. They're the two men who put these relics together for the first time back in 1795. On the fourth day of July, they buried them under a cornerstone at the Massachusetts statehouse, and that's where they stayed.

It wasn't until 1855 that all of those things were found. They were removed, they were conserved again, this time put in a brass box that was made just for the occasion. Actually, when you look inside the box, can see the name of the maker etched inside. The items were then placed in that box, back in the cornerstone of the statehouse. And just last month, they were found again.

It took a conservator from the museum of fine arts seven hours to carefully dig that box out. You can actually see some of the white plaster marks still on the brass. It took about five hours to take off the eight screws that held it together for all of these years and it took another hour to unpack the contents. Those contents will soon go on display. They'll take certain steps to conserve them. But soon the world will be able to come here and see those contents, those relics that were left behind.

Eventually, the time capsule will be reconstructed and returned to the statehouse. But until then, people will have an opportunity to see part of the story in this nation's history in the way that a great patriot and Founding Father really wanted us to -- Christine, John.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: Alexandra Field, thanks for that. Newspaper and coins something that you wouldn't put in a time capsule because we're using --

BERMAN: Exactly what I'm thinking. Putting an iPad in --

ROMANS: You know, it's so interesting --

BERMAN: -- and a charger. You're going to put a charger in with the iPad.

ROMANS: Exactly. Apple care.

BERMAN: All right. Twenty-seven minutes after the hour.

A major breakthrough in the search for AirAsia Flight 8501. Breaking news this morning, the first glimpse of wreckage under the sea. The divers finding the tail section of the plane. The big question: are the black boxes next?

We're live with the latest.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)