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New Day

Aerial Search for AirAsia Plane Called Off for Night; Grim Year For Aviation; North Korea Blames U.S. For Internet Outages

Aired December 29, 2014 - 07:30   ET

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

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JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: The search for AirAsia Flight 8501 has been suspended for the night. We've been following this breaking news all morning. And at this point, no sign of the plane has been detected. And as we speak the search zone is getting even bigger. Crews will be added again on Tuesday morning scouring the ocean for any sign, any evidence, of that missing plane. A top official says the aircraft is likely at the bottom of the Java Sea.

They say that's their best conjecture, but again, they have no concrete evidence of that or anything else at this point. We will go to Andrew Stevens live on the ground in Indonesia. Andrew, what's the latest?

ANDREW STEVENS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John, that line you just mentioned about authorities here saying it's most likely that the plane is at the bottom of the sea, certainly is not resonating well here, where, of course, most of the families are gathering. The frustrations are running higher.

They want more information and they say they are getting more information from TV than they are from the local authorities. It's a very, very frustrating position all around.

As you point out, there has been a full day search today, 30 vessels, 15 aircraft involved from four countries and still no concrete sign. There were reports that objects were spotted the Australian Air Force, on one of its P3 aircraft.

I asked the Vice President Jusuf Kalla, who is actually leading this entire search, the project, where it was linked -- those objects were linked to the downed 8501. He said it was too early to say. Speaking to analysts, it's seems unlikely.

At the moment the frustrations are very clear that the families have been very stark. They are bearing up. They've just finished yet another briefing with the authorities and also with AirAsia, but still so little to go on.

Just interesting, John, just one point I'd like to make is when you walk out behind me, just 20 paces, there is a manifest of the passengers aboard. What strikes you is the number of multiple surnames, families, basically, who are on that flight. This is a holiday time of the year. A lot of people do travel from Indonesia to a strongly Chinese Indonesian part of this country to Singapore, ethnic Chinese enclave.

So a lot of families on that plane, very, very heart wrenching to see, and the members who remain are here asking questions, but still getting no answers.

BERMAN: I think it's sad for them, confusing for them and frustrating as this time ticks on. Andrew Stevens for us in Indonesia, thanks so much. We go to Christine Romans for some of the other top stores -- Christine.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: The other big headline we are following this morning, 419 people have now been rescued from a burning ferry in the Adriatic Sea between Greece and Italy. That's all of the remaining passengers and crew on the ship.

Everyone has been evacuated. Five people have now been confirmed dead. The fire believed to have started in the parking bay. There are some 222 cars on this, or vehicles on this ship, burning for well over 24 hours. An investigation no that fire has now been launched.

Hundreds gathered for a candlelight vigil in Arizona to remember a rookie police officer killed in the line of duty. The 24-year-old Tyler Stewart was shot in the face at close range Saturday, as he responded to a domestic disturbance call in Flagstaff.

Police say the suspected shooter, 28-year-old Robert Smith, opened fire after Stewart asked to pat him down. Smith then shot and killed himself.

Former President George H.W. Bush could be released soon from a Texas hospital, a spokesman says Bush's condition has improved. Doctors are discussing when he'll be able to go home. He was admitted to Houston Methodist Hospital as a precaution on Tuesday after suffering shortness of breath.

Michael Sam opening up after his experience as the first openly gay player drafted in the NFL. In an interview with Oprah Winfrey, Sam says some other gay players reached out to him to thank him for his courage. He says he was surprised other players weren't inspired to come out after his announcement.

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MICHAEL SAM, NFL FREE AGENT: A young guy that graduated college who before his career even began, he has the courage to come out. I did thought a few others would come out. I was wrong. But everyone has to come out on our own time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Sam is currently a free agent. He says he will continue pursue his dream of playing in the NFL -- John and Michaela. BERMAN: Thanks so much, Christine. The disappearance of AirAsia Flight 8501 raises new questions about air safety. What are the facts about the airline, facts about the aircraft? What are questions air travelers should be asking this morning? Stay with us.

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PEREIRA: The desperate search for a missing AirAsia Flight 8501 is an eerie reminder for all of us of an astonishing tragic year for aviation. Now with another unexplained disappearance of a commercial flight, with hundreds of lives on board.

The question hovers, why were there so much tragedy in the skies in 2014? Rene Marsh is exploring this for us, she is live if Washington with more -- Rene.

RENE MARSH, CNN AVIATION AND GOVERNMENT REGULATION CORRESPONDENT: Michaela, it's been a major headline, more times than we would like, commercial jets with lives on board, ending in a fatal crash. So what does it say about the aviation industry's safety record. Well, this morning we have a reality check.

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MARSH (voice-over): The disappearance of 162 people on board AirAsia is the second missing passenger plane in Southeast Asia in less than a year.

PETER GOELZ, FORMER NTSB MANAGING DIRECTOR: It is eerie. It was unusual or it's just kind of spooky that this would happen in this area, but we don't know the facts yet.

MARSH: After nearly ten months, Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 and the 239 people on board have still not been found. Authorities are convinced the Boeing 777 crashed in the Indian Ocean.

STEVEN WALLACE, FORMER FFA ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION DIRECTOR: Malaysia, there is good evidence to indicate it was flown a long, long ways and again most likely as a criminal act by a rogue pilot or a intruder or something like that.

MARSH: Just four months later, July 17th, Malaysia Airlines would suffer another loss. Pro-Russian rebels are blamed for shooting MH-17 out of the sky using a surface-to-air missile. All 278 people on board that Boeing 777 died.

One week later, more than 100 people perished after flight 5017 it disappeared after changing its flight path because of bad weather. The disappearance of AirAsia Flight 8501 is the fourth high profile commercial plane disaster of 2014. But the former managing director of the NTSB says the skies are still safe.

GOELZ: I think when you look at the overall picture there may have been 600 fatalities this year in aviation, that is a relatively low rate when you compare it to the massive numbers of people who are flying today. (END VIDEOTAPE)

MARSH: To that point, aviation has expanded throughout Asia, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe at an extraordinary rate. More people are flying. It's more accessible. When you look at the accident rate in relation to the millions of ones flying the safety record is truly extraordinary, particularly here in the United States. So that's the reality check this morning -- Michaela, John.

PEREIRA: All right, Rene, thanks for that. It's a good reminder to us when we take into consideration whether we are going to travel by air.

BERMAN: You know, it is a good reminder and the facts are important, but are there reasonable areas of concern? We will talk about that, we will bring in CNN aviation analyst, Miles O'Brien joining us via Skype, and also with us, CNN aviation analyst, Les Abend. He is also Boeing 777 pilot and contributing editor for "Flying Magazine."

Miles, let start with you here, we know when we compare this area with MH-370. We are talking different airlines, different aircrafts, different circumstances, nevertheless, we have two planes taking off from, you know, airports in Southeast Asia, one is still missing.

One has gone two days without being found anyway. Is there some reason for concern for travelers flying in that part of the world?

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: Well, I think, you know, statistically, there is not much reason or concern as you pointed out. This is still a safe way to travel, but I will tell you this, that the Asia is an extremely fast growing aviation market.

It's very difficult for them to keep up with the demand and frankly keep qualified pilots in the cockpits, because the demand is so great. So one of the big questions we should be asking all of us is are the standard up to snuff for training pilots if that part of the world.

There has been so much pressure to meet the demand. They might be cutting some corners here and there, which might be leading to perhaps bad decision-making in the cockpit.

PEREIRA: Les, you are a commercial pilot, when you hear what Miles, you know, says, what do you think of that? You have flown I am sure in every type of scenario. You have experience in the cockpit. You know what it takes to be a pilot of one of these big airliners. What are your thoughts?

LES ABEND, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: Well, you know, this event, I mean, there's things that Miles say that may very well be true or bring to us that direction, but this event at this point in time doesn't have any, we don't have enough information to say there is an indication.

That it has something to do with pilot training at this point. The decision-making process, we're just going by a transmission that requested a higher altitude. That could have been the experience of a well-seasoned pilot that said, it's rough down here, I want to make my ride more comfortable as opposed to what we call top a thunderstorm.

Miles, the aircraft, itself, relatively new, the airline, AirAsia, a flawless safety record, so anything here in this case that serves as kind of a warning sign to you?

BERMAN: Well, it's just what Les said, would he have seen that huge thunder head ahead of him perhaps topping at. Let's finish that question would you, heads, have tried to fly through it, above it? Which what those pilot versus to do or around it, which they also ask?

ABEND: It's a great question. Generally speaking, our goal in life is to avoid it totally. It would be a left or right turn is what it comes down to. To top it, that's sometimes if we can see it visually, it's an art to play with the radar tilt antenna. We can say, yes, you know, it looks like we can top it. It's not something we would do on a regular basis. We would rather go left or right.

PEREIRA: This time of year so many people are traveling. It puts a little fear in all of our bellies, a plane going missing him could we show the statistics, though, if terms of plane fatalities by year, this is according to aviation safety network, 2010 was by far the worst year, 943 lives lost. There are safer skies. Generally are there not?

ABEND: We made tremendous improvements. I feel more comfortable getting into my jet going to work than down the west side highway to come here to the Time Warner Building. It's between pilot training, between the aircraft. We're upgrading our ATC, air traffic control system. We're doing a lot of things that make this even safer.

ROMANS: The accessible. If you look at the pictures here now, everyone can fly. That is written on the side of these aircraft. We talk about the fast growing part of the world, where for a $90 million investment, you can get a 320 and fly thousands of thousands of people would not have had that access.

It is very, very difficult when something like this happens for the airline. The stock of this company, AirAsia, is down 8.5 percent today. CEO Tony Fernandes tweeting this is his worst nightmare.

He has been out there talking to passengers and customers, keeping positive, staying strong. He says, my heart bleeds for all the relatives of my crew and our passengers, nothing is more important to us.

So it's really a challenge for this company even as companies like the very highly rated companies, bringing access to people who never would have been able fly for this fare.

BERMAN: Miles, picking up on what Christine says, when you have incidents like this, does it put a chill over the entire air industry?

O'BRIEN: You know, we really should, John, because this is what makes aviation so safe. We all learn from mistakes, frankly, pilots spend an awful lot of time talking about these kinds of scenarios with the hope that we all learn something from it.

If you don't stop, take stock, get that chilled effect. You are not going to make aviation safer. The term that we use, it's bored. The rules are written in blood. It is the crashes which make us safe.

What worries me here is we tend to be seeing repeats of events, in this case, I see at early stages here, a lot of similarities with Air France 447. There are outstanding questions on that that may have been addressed.

BERMAN: Let's hope they do get addressed soon. We will keep asking the questions. Miles O'Brien, Les Abend, thanks so much for being with us. Appreciate it.

PEREIRA: The mystery deepening into the missing AirAsia jet. No sign of that aircraft as the aerial portion of the search is called off for the night. We will bring you the latest developments ahead.

BERMAN: North Korea now pointing the finger at the United States for internet outages in that country last week. They also have some frankly insulting words for President Obama. Flat out racist. Find out what North Korea is now saying. That's next.

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ROMANS: Here's an ugly twist in the latest war of words between the U.S. and North Korea. North Korea accused President Obama of being behind last week's internet outages in their country as retaliation for the Sony hack and called President Obama, quote, "Reckless in words and deeds like a monkey in a tropical forest."

Let's bring in Tom Fuentes, CNN law enforcement analyst and former FBI assistant director, and Howard Smith, former cyber security czar in the Obama administration. Gentlemen, thanks for joining us.

Tom, let me start with you. If you're the FBI investigating this hack and the responses to the hack, now this new race baiting language. Do you ignore it? Does it play into the investigation? What is that about?

TOM FUENTES, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Good morning, Christine. Basically you ignore it. You let it stand and let the rest of the world see what you're dealing with, with the regime in North Korea.

As far as the FBI, it's interesting last week North Korea said we didn't do the attack on Sony, but if you keep insulting us, we'll do it again harder, you know, something to that effect.

Also the request they'd like to work together in solving the Sony hacking case. They've made of many goofy statements over the last several weeks you can't take them as being responsible.

ROMANS: Will Ripley noting the irony of the country so outraged would turn around and insult a leader taking it to the next step. Let me ask you about the shutdown of the North Korean internet. Do you think the U.S. was behind that? Is the response U.S. said it would do at its own time and choosing?

FUENTES: I don't think so. I think regular garden variety hacker did say it for sport. I don't think that was the government response to this.

ROMANS: That's the thing. When you look at hackers and all that, they use malware that's out there on the dark web that looks like it comes from somewhere else. It's hard to track the origin of something. What do U.S. investigators do at this point? What is their proof that North Korea is behind all this?

FUENTES: The investigation included more than just using the use of malware that's available on the internet to other hackers. I think that really from the U.S. standpoint, they're not going to be goated into revealing exactly the technology and techniques that enabled them to point the finger at North Korea.

So I think they're going to say we know that's where it came from, and we're not going to lay our cards on the table and give up our secrets because they want to know.

ROMANS: Right. Howard Schmidt, I want to bring you in here. OK, insults aside and the escalations of insults aside, do you think the United States had made response yet to North Koreans for what United States says is North Koreas attacking Sony?

HOWARD SCHMIDT, PARTNER, RIDGE-SCHMIDT CYBER LLC: I don't think so. I agree with Tom. This is more an outside group than the United States. United States, when it responds, and it should, would do it in a fashion that really affects something. It will affect the eight computers that they have connected to the internet.

This is not something that was really planned out. I think there are other things that will take place. I think we ought to sit back and just watch. We're not going to put up with this kind of nonsense anymore.

ROMANS: What do you think North Korea's next move is?

SCHMIDT: I think all they can do is talk. They have very little if any infrastructure. If indeed and there's still debate as Tom alluded to, there's an investigative process it has to go through. The initial indicator is that there were connections to North Koreans.

If that indeed follows out to the end, then we have an answer. Then we can start doing other things. Right now I think it's going to be Koreans running their mouths off about things, being insulting and saying we didn't do it, but do it worse if we wanted to.

ROMANS: There's a lot of double talk. Let me ask you about Senator Lindsey Graham and what he said about the Chinese. Listen to what he told our Dana Bash.

He told Dana Bash he would really be surprised if Chinese weren't somehow behind it. North Koreans don't do anything without the Chinese knowing about it.

Howard, what do you think about the China angle? China controls the internet savers or the access to the internet service, trying to control the availability of energy and currency into North Korea. How important is China in this?

SCHMIDT: I think it's interesting. All this -- every since North Korea has been able to get anything going as far as hacking goes, they've been trained by the Chinese. That's the connection. Chinese are extremely well trained, train people outside.

North Korea is one of their prime students. With the resources they can get by working and operating out of China, getting the training, they become formidable.

ROMANS: Tom Fuentes, Howard Schmidt, thank you so much, Gentlemen, for joining us.

BERMAN: All right, thanks so much, Christine. Our breaking news on AirAsia Flight 8501, what happened to the aircraft, clues investigators are focusing on are just ahead.

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