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New Day

AirAsia Search Postponed by Weather; Plane Crash Survivor, 7, Could Help Investigation; Police Turn Backs to Mayor at Funeral Again

Aired January 05, 2015 - 06:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are at day nine.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It has been more than a week since AirAsia flight 8501 disappeared.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are within the area where some bodies have been found. The conditions are less than ideal.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The only survivor of the plane crash that killed her family.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Arms and legs scratched up all over. That amazed me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No one knows why someone survives and someone doesn't.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let us work together.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Officers turn their back when De Blasio spoke. This is our police force and mayor

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The mayor unfortunately has dug himself a hole.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Welcome to NEW DAY. It is 6:00. I'm Alisyn Camerota along with John Berman. New setbacks for the search for AirAsia Flight 8501, mine days into the search, still no sign of the black boxes.

Search ships not hearing any pings. It is believed the plane crashed in shallow waters. We are learning that at least one of the pieces of debris found on the floor of the Java Sea turned out to be from a shipwreck.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: While this is going on, officials are pointing to icing of the engines as the cause of the crash. With Indonesia's Navy chief revising the search area eastward, choppy seas proving difficult for the divers.

We are covering all angles of the story. Let's go straight to Anna Coren live on the ground in Indonesia. Good morning, Anna.

ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, John. Well, search-and-recovery teams working against the clock to find the

bodies of those on board the ill-flighted (sic) -- ill-fated, I should say, AirAsia flight that crashed nine days ago. Those bodies decomposing in the warm waters of the Java Sea.

Now, the search has been postponed for the day due to bad weather. But it is feared that it could take weeks, if not longer, before they find those bodies, the wreckage and, of course, those vital black box flight recorders.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COREN (voice-over): Authorities ramping up the search for AirAsia 8501, with crews scouring the Java Sea, both in the air and by water.

By the afternoon, at least three bodies, two male and one female, pulled from the water and taken to land. Severe weather breaking long enough for officials to deploy a total of 57 divers to investigate several large objects detected by sonar imagery.

The USS Fort Worth is also assisting, using sonar equipment to scan the ocean floor.

Meanwhile, Indonesia authorities extend the massive operation east, beyond the so-called most probable area, where crews have already retrieved dozens of bodies and located large pieces of debris believed to be from the aircraft.

DAVID SOUCIE, CNN SAFETY ANALYST: The position of where they find the debris is extremely important because of the fact that you can determine whether there is an in-flight breakup or if there was a breakup of -- the extent of the breakup once it hit the water.

COREN: Now nine days since the Airbus-320 went missing and so far, no signals have been detected to help hone in on the critical black boxes.

JEFF WISE, SCIENCE WRITER: The voice recorder in the cockpit tells you what the people are saying. It also records sounds. You might hear a bang, for instance. You've also got this data recorder that is telling you what kind of thrust settings the engines were on. So you can really recreate in a great level of detail what was happening with the plane and why it came down.

COREN: Also, Indonesian officials revealing that AirAsia did not have a permit to fly the Surabaya-Singapore route on December 28, clarifying that the airliner was approved to fly the route only four days a week, which did not include Sunday.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COREN: Now we just learned from officials that they did spot another object in the Java Sea. It's yet to be identified. But will hopefully get some clarification tomorrow when the search resumes.

Now, a full investigation is underway, and flights between Surabaya and Singapore have been suspended. AirAsia says it is fully cooperating with that investigation -- Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Anna Coren, thank you for all that background.

Let's bring in Mary Schiavo. She's a CNN aviation analyst and a former inspector general of the Department of Transportation. She represents victims and families after airplane disasters. And David Gallo, he's a CNN analyst and a director of special projects at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. He was a leader of the search for Air France Flight 447. Great to see both of you this morning.

Mary, let's just start with the most pressing question of what caused this crash. What's the latest thinking?

MARY SCHIAVO, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: Well, the latest thinking out of Indonesia, and it's just one of several theories, is they believe that it was icing. And the way they explained their theory is that it was icing within the engine. They call it chunks of ice forming within the engines and then perhaps breaking free and injuring the turbine blades and causing a loss of the engine.

I think icing is probably prevalent, but it would have been icing in the clouds and icing on the plane, et cetera, which the plane is capable of doing. More likely, if the engines ingested icing, it would probably be hail and, really, the products of the storm.

So that's the latest thinking, that it was ice, either in the engines, on the plane or ingested as hail.

CAMEROTA: David, that's such a troubling theory, because obviously, it's winter here in the United States, along with other places in -- on the globe. And planes, thousands of planes fly every day. So how can we not be dealing with the same level of icing that brought down that plane?

DAVID GALLO, CNN ANALYST: Well, many -- as you said, thousands of planes are flying every day, and they're routinely very safe. So it's just one very unique weather condition that this plane happened to find itself in -- I think that's the general theory -- that brought about the situation. So for most of us...

CAMEROTA: But what makes that one unique, as opposed to flying through icy cold conditions here every day?

GALLO: Well, I believe it was the rapid climb that they had, the rapid descent and things like -- which is way beyond what's normally called for on a routine flight. So I think it was those conditions that set it. It's not just the one condition; it's a bunch of them that set up the disaster.

CAMEROTA: Mary, you're nodding.

SCHIAVO: Well, I think that's right. I think what's probably happening here, and my take on the climb is it was climbing so rapidly, I don't believe it was just the plane itself. This plane's maximum climb rate is 3,500 feet per minute. At parts of this plane's climb, it was doing 6,000 to 9,000 feet per minute. Now, a pilot would never do that to the plane, because you risk a dual engine flameout. You risk literally losing your engines in such a fast climb.

So I think the weather was so violent and so strong, updrafts, that it was forcing the plane up and then slamming it down. And if it got near the top of the anvil cloud formation, there's a lot of hail. There's a lot of really bad stuff.

CAMEROTA: Such a harrowing scenario even to hear about. Obviously, David, it would help investigators tremendously if they could find the black boxes. Why do you think they're not even hearing the pinging?

GALLO: Well, this could be a lot of reasons. They could be in the wrong spot. You know, knowing -- I heard there's something like 30 ships searching for various things, including the black boxes. And knowing where they aren't is information, too. But you've got to be sure they're not where you are. And so in some cases, the battery pack, the power unit gets separated from the pingers. So they've got to be very sure before they leave a spot, that the pingers aren't there.

So they may not be working. They may be in a situation where they can't be heard. It's a horrible side of the equation to be on, and especially for the families that are now -- by now emotionally exhausted, I'm sure.

CAMEROTA: Absolutely. Mary, if they find the black boxes, do they generally find the fuselage? Are they often in the exact same place?

SCHIAVO: It depends on the break-up sequence when the aircraft hit the water. And they're located near the tail, but not right in the tail, kind of near the back of the fuselage area. If the plane happened to break there, it's possible that they would have been flown free.

But they won't be moving around with the currents. They'll remain on the bottom of the floor, pretty much, where they are left. So you usually look to find them near the fuselage and especially here, since I don't think this broke up at altitude. I think it hit the water and then broke up. So you -- that's where you expect to find them, near the back of the fuselage.

CAMEROTA: David, do we need to find the black boxes to know what happened to this plane?

GALLO: Yes. I think it's a huge part of what we need to know, yes. So we can learn a lot from the plane itself in a forensic way, especially today with the kinds of equipment we have. We can go to the bottom and do a forensic study. But in these waters, that's going to be tough.

So yes, I think the black boxes are critical. And they're there. So it's just a matter of time and systematic searching to get those back.

CAMEROTA: And of course, sadly, the search has been suspended today, we know, for weather. Mary Schiavo and David Gallo, thanks so much for all the information.

GALLO: You're welcome.

CAMEROTA: Let's go back to John.

BERMAN: Thanks, Alisyn.

Now to the story of a miracle in the midst of a tragedy. Federal investigators hope to speak to the 7-year-old girl who miraculously survived a plane crash that killed her parents, her sister and her cousin.

Sailor Gutzler walked a mile through the Kentucky woods without shoes, in near freezing temperatures, to find help after her family's plane went down Friday night. NTSB officials say Sailor's account of the crash could help to determine what caused it.

Nick Valencia has the latest.

Good morning, Nick.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John.

Sailor Gutzler could not have chosen a better path to get out of those dense woods. Had she walked any other way, she might very well still be trapped there today.

Instead, over the weekend, Kentucky State Police detailing her remarkable journey to get help.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VALENCIA (voice-over): Seven-year-old Sailor Gutzler is the only survivor of the plane crash that killed her family. Her mom, dad, sister and cousin dead after their small twin-engine Piper, traveling from Florida, crashed in the woods of western Kentucky.

Her remarkable journey to find help begins after trying to stir her family.

LT. BRENT WHITE, KENTUCKY STATE POLICE: Her family on board was unresponsive. She utilized her non-injured arm and hand to free herself from the aircraft.

VALENCIA: In the pitch black, Sailor treks nearly a mile through grizzly terrain, navigating ditches, fallen trees, briar patches, even a 12-foot creek bed, barefoot, and wearing only shorts, no coat in the near-freezing cold before finally stumbling onto a home.

WHITE: At the scene, we were talking about that being some divine intervention there, because she -- she absolutely went to probably the nearest -- the nearest House that she could have.

VALENCIA: The home belongs to Larry Wilkins, one of the only three in the area occupied during winter. He hears a knock at door and finds Sailor, scraped, bloody and upset, telling him she had just been in a plane crash and asking for help.

LARRY WILKINS, FOUND 7-YEAR-OLD SURVIVOR: Opened the door and this little girl, 7 years old, and bloody nose, arms scratched up, legs are eat up. And she told me her mom and dad was dead.

VALENCIA: Friends, family, and a stunned community grieving the loss while grateful for the one life that was spared.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Immediately pretty angry that something like this would happen. And it's just unbelievable.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VALENCIA (on camera): Just incredible. The FAA and NTSB still investigating the exact cause of the crash. As for 7-year-old Sailor Gutzler, she was treated for minor injuries and released from the hospital -- John.

BERMAN: It's just such an amazing story, Nick. In our next hour, we're going to speak with Larry Wilkins, the Kentucky man who opened the door for the little girl at his House after she walked through the woods surviving that crash.

CAMEROTA: It will be so interesting to talk to him.

Meanwhile, the coldest weather of the season heading east. Let's get to meteorologist Chad Myers for the latest on this winter chill.

How's it looking, Chad?

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I wish it wasn't so. Alisyn, it is cold out there. Cold in Chicago right now. It feels like 18 degrees below zero. International Falls, Minneapolis, you're just on the -- I can't even tell -- you can tell that apart. Twenty-six below and 46 degrees below zero right now. And that's what this weather is going to be like all day today. It's not even going to warm up above zero.

The wind is completely out of the north, almost from the North Pole. Maybe Santa is sending us some of his wind here. And this wind gets all the way down to New York. And that is the deep dive. That's the deep freeze we're going to be in for the next few days.

By next week, actually, it warms back up. We're going to have a ridge in the west, which means that's where it's going to be warm. And then the trough in the east, that's where it's going to be cold. And that's where we're waking up this morning, at least most of us.

Good night to you, Hawaii out there to the west. Other than that, look at that: Chicago, the high on Wednesday will be zero. New York City, the high will only be 24. The morning lows will approach zero and feel colder than that with the wind chill, even in the city -- Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Wow. I will be wearing a big furry hat in the studio.

MYERS: Fair enough. CAMEROTA: Chad, thanks so much.

More news to tell you about. Let's take a look at some of your headlines with Michaela.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning and happy New Year.

CAMEROTA: You, too.

PEREIRA: Nice to see you, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Nice to see you, too.

PEREIRA: Good to see you, too, John, as always.

BERMAN: Thank you.

PEREIRA: Let's look at those headlines right now.

Breaking overnight, a car bombing in Kabul targeting a convoy of foreign vehicles. Police say a vehicle packed with exploses (sic) -- explosives, rather, was detonated near the convoy. At least six civilians were injured in that blast.

Back here at home, lawmakers descending on Washington ahead of the new Congress set to convene tomorrow. Republicans will control both the House and the Senate for the first time in nearly a decade. President Obama and incoming Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell have said they'll work together. Clearly, it is not going to be easy. Conservative Texas Congressman Louis Gohmert has announced his bid to challenge John Boehner for the House speaker. We'll be watching that.

Law enforcement authorities have released these images of the suspect who shot an Albuquerque police officer twice during a traffic stop Saturday morning. These images were captured by the officer's body camera. Officer Lou Golson, a 31-year veteran of the force, is in stable condition this morning. He is expected to recover. Meanwhile, the suspect fled on foot and is still on the loose.

Sports fans, friends, colleagues and even the president all paying tribute to the great Stuart Scott. The ESPN anchor died Sunday after a fierce and lengthy battle with cancer. Stu was just 49 years old. His former SportsCenter partner Rich Eisen, who's now with the NFL Network, gave this emotional farewell.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICH EISEN, ANCHOR, NFL NETWORK: A groundbreaking broadcaster in the world of sports television. I loved this man. I still love this man. And the fact that he has passed away is absolutely mind boggling and a travesty. I love you, Stuart, wherever you are, Godspeed. Rest in peace.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PEREIRA: We love him, too. Moments of silence were held Sunday at sporting events around the nation in honor of Stuart Scott, including the two NFL wild card playoff games.

Vice President Joe Biden will be among the mourners at a wake today for former New York Governor Mario Cuomo. Mr. Cuomo, the father of New York's current governor, Andrew Cuomo, and our dear friend and anchor Chris Cuomo, will be laid to rest tomorrow. The elder Cuomo died of heart failure on New Year's Day. He was 82 years old.

Clearly, our thoughts and prayers continue to be with the Cuomo family. We were talking about the fact that the wake is today, and there's going to be just a crowd of mourners gathering to pay respects. It's going to be a wonderful sendoff.

CAMEROTA: Yes. We'll be looking forward to seeing Chris later today. I hope that they're holding up OK.

BERMAN: Chris, of course, comes back here Wednesday. We extend our deepest condolences to him, the entire family. They've had the weekend together, which I'm sure has actually been...

PEREIRA: Important.

BERMAN: ... nice and healing, as well.

CAMEROTA: All right. Well, back to the news. NYPD officers turning their backs again on New York's mayor, even though the police commissioner asked them not to. The officers say they feel betrayed by the city. Can anything heal this rift?

BERMAN: And the trial of the Boston Marathon bombing suspect finally gets under way. We'll tell you about the bold strategy his lawyers are using to try to save him from the death penalty.

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMES COMEY, DIRECTOR OF THE FBI: One hundred and fifteen police officers were killed in this country in the last year, a shocking increase from 2013. I do not know why there is so much evil and heartache in our world. I cannot understand evil. I cannot explain evil. I will not try.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Well said. That was FBI director speaking at the funeral of Detective Wenjian Liu. Liu was assassinated last month, along with his partner, Rafael Ramos, in an act of violence that really rocked the relationship between the New York Police Department and city hall.

Many officers once again turned their backs on Mayor Bill de Blasio during Liu's funeral, despite a direct request from their commissioner not to do so. Officers did the same thing at the funeral of Officer Ramos a couple weeks ago.

The officers contend that the mayor has not supported them, and it has contributed to an environment that led to the detective's murder. But have they gone too far now, these police officers turn their back to make a point?

Joining us now to talk about this, CNN political commentator and political anchor at New York 1 News, Errol Louis; and former NYPD officer and former Secret Service agent Dan Bongino. Gentleman, thank you so much for being with us.

Errol, let me start with you here. The police commissioner Bill de Blasio -- Bill Bratton asked these cops not to do it. The mayor, Bill de Blasio, met with police union officials to try to ease the tensions last week. Nevertheless, once again, here we are at a funeral; officers turn their back on the mayor. Were you surprised?

ERROL LOUIS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: No, I wasn't. In part because I don't think we're going to see too many more acts of mass disrespect or disobedience, whatever you want to call it. Because there aren't that many occasions where thousands and thousands of cops get together like this.

So I think it was an opportunity that they simply didn't want to pass up. If you wanted to register some displeasure with the mayor, this is about the only time you're going to be able to do it with all the cameras rolling. Will this happen again? Well, when is the next time we get together like that? It doesn't really happen that often, unless they call a rally. So there were some underlying differences, and this was really, I think, just an expression of those underlying differences.

BERMAN: The reason they were all together, though, is of course, it was a funeral, a funeral for one of their fellow officers and, Dan, that's the issue here. Was this an appropriate place to do this?

Let me read you that note that the police commissioner, Bill Bratton, said to the officers. He said, "I issue no mandates, and I make no threats of discipline, but I remind you that when you don the uniform of this department, you are bound by the tradition, honor and decency that go with it." When these officers turned their back on the mayor at a funeral, did they dishonor that uniform? Did they, in a way, dishonor the funeral?

DAN BONGINO, FORMER NYPD OFFICER: I don't think they did. I think this is one of their, as Errol said, limited opportunities to speak out. You know, the mayor has the bully pulpit and used the bully pulpit. In my opinion and the opinion of many police officers, to disingenuously further a narrative that, although it would be disingenuous on my part, to say caused the assassination of these police officers, created a toxic environment, which a lot of the officers believe contributed to it. And this is their opportunity to use that microphone to speak out.

BERMAN: And the mayor met with police union officials. Apparently, that meeting didn't go well, or relief didn't do anything to ease any attention. Dan, what does the mayor need to do now to perhaps placate some of these officers?

BONGINO: Well, I still speak to a lot of my former colleagues, the NYPD. I went through the academy almost two decades ago, and some of those folks are on the job. And I think at this point the only way forward is some -- some form of a public apology. I don't see any other path forward. The relationship, according to them, has been permanently severed. There was a line that was crossed, they feel.

And that line that was crossed was a smearing of the entire department, with even the illusion to racism in the Garner event. Not race, but racism. And that was a line that they feel was completely inappropriate to be crossed.

BERMAN: So you think a public apology is what's needed and appropriate, you say, to move beyond this situation right now. Errol, let me play a little bit of what the mayor said yesterday publicly during his speech. He made rough illusions I think to coming together as a community. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL DE BLASIO, MAYOR OF NEW YORK CITY: Let us rededicate ourselves to those great New York traditions of mutual understanding and living in harmony. Let us move forward by strengthening the bonds that unite us, and let us work together to attain peace.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: He wants harmony. He wants new bond. Errol, you heard Dan say it. I talked to the officer, too. He said the only way you will get harmony is if the mayor apologizes. You know this city. You know city politics. You know the mayor. There's not going to be some kind of public spoken apology.

LOUIS: Oh, no. Oh, no, no. I've known Bill for -- Bill de Blasio for 25 years. He's not going to apologize. And, frankly, you know, something that the police have to understand is that this issue, they may not like the way the mayor said what he said. They may not like what he said. But this was a central issue. This wasn't a peripheral issue. It's a central issue in the race for mayor.

BERMAN: He ran on this.

LOUIS: Exactly. And the people of New York who voted or chose to stay home or whatever they did ratified this. This also went through the court system. It's not just a political issue. This went through the court system. Reform is necessary. Reform was called for. The city council voted for a new inspector general. That, too, was part of a democratic process.

So I understand the cops may not like the outcome of this court process, this election process, the city council process, but reform is coming. And they can kick and scream and demonize the mayor all they want. But something is going to happen, and the mayor is not going to apologize.

BERMAN: Dan, you know, you've had a lot of different jobs. You know, cop, Secret Service agent. You've also run for office. As someone who wants to get into politics, what's your message as a perspective leader to these officers on the streets in New York City? What would you like to see them do to move this forward?

BONGINO: Well, Errol said a couple of things there. One, the public is not on the mayor's side anymore. He may have won a very low- turnout election. You're not inaccurate by saying that. And he won by a landslide.

He's not winning now. Public opinion is against the mayor. The latest polling has been terrible, because they all -- I think the public feel, the majority, that he handled this terribly.

How do you move forward right now? Well, I'll give you a hint. You mentioned the word "demonize." You don't demonize the entire police department for one really terrible, tragic incident. And you focus on actual reforms, whether it be "stop and frisk" policy or additional training on use of force. You don't make unfounded allegations of racism when there's no evidence at all that that existed in this case. That's no way to move forward.

BERMAN: All right. Dan Bongino, Errol Louis. Not sure that we have any grounds for consensus here. It doesn't look like the mayor or the police are moving any closer to reaching any kind of peaceful accord.

LOUIS: Not just yet.

BERMAN: Not just yet. Thanks, gentlemen.

Let us know what you think about this. Do you support the police who turn their backs or do you think it was disrespectful? What do you think the keys are to moving this process forward? Is there a process at all? Tweet us, @NEWDAY, or go to Facebook.com/NEWDAY. We will share some of your comments later in the show -- Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: All right, John.

Lawyers wanted to change a venue for the Boston bombing suspect. The judge would not allow that. And now injury selection is set to begin in a few hours for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. We will tell you how Boston is responding.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: Finally underway today, jury selection in the murder trial of Boston bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. He faces death for the terror attack that killed three and injured nearly 300 others.

We're getting an idea of the defense strategy to save his life this morning. The defense will argue he was controlled by his older brother, Tamerlane, and also that his upbringing and family history contributed to his role in the attack.

Deborah Feyerick is in Boston, where jury selection is expected to begin in just a little while.