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New Day

More Bodies Recovered from AirAsia Crash; Plane Crash Survivor, 7, Could Help Probe; Interview with Larry Wilkins, Who Aided Survivor; North Korea Blasts New U.S. Sanctions

Aired January 05, 2015 - 07:00   ET

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

ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Alisyn, it's just gone 7:00 p.m. here. But several hours ago, authorities did suspend the search because as you say bad weather was hampering efforts. It has been for days now.

But certainly, there was a window of opportunity where at least 57 divers got into the water for a short period. Unfortunately, there is so much mud at the bottom of the ocean and due to the swell, it is making visibility almost impossible.

On top of that, you have the swell, the rain, the thunderstorms, it is slowing down efforts to locate the plane, locate the bodies and, of course, the vital black box flight data recorders.

Now, three extra bodies were located today, retrieved and have been sent here to Surabaya, where they will then be identified. It's a painstaking task, considering how much time they've spent in the water. This is now day nine, and due to that length of time the scheme deteriorates, and it means that taking fingerprints will virtually be impossible. They will have to resort to bone and teeth to make those identifications.

But you know, authorities here believe that it's going to take weeks, if not much longer, to find those bodies, to find the fuselage and, as I say, to find those black box flight recorders, Alisyn.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Boy, that's quite the search. Anna Coren, thanks so much for the background.

I spoke with Lieutenant Lauren Cole, the 7th Fleet deputy public affairs officer, about how the U.S. is helping in these recovery efforts.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CAMEROTA: So what, if anything, have the Navy divers been able to find today?

LT. LAUREN COLE, DEPUTY PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICER, 7TH FLEET (via phone): As of yet the Navy divers don't have anything of interest, but they're continuing to search. The scope of the sonar that they're using is actually relatively small areas. So it's a slow progression. But they'll be out there as long as they're needed. CAMEROTA: So we understand that the conditions at times make for zero

visibility. It's so muddy. That must be a challenge?

COLE: There are definitely some challenges. It's monsoon season out there right now. And so the waves are a little bit choppy, and that can present some issues to launching some of the smaller craft that we use to deploy the side-scan sonar from. However, the Fort Worth is equipped with some larger versions of those crafts so they can handle a little bit choppier waves than some of the other ships that we have.

CAMEROTA: So tell us more about this equipment that you're using, the side-scan sonar.

COLE: It's a high-frequency side-scan sonar. It's called the tow- fish system. It's designed to map the bottom of the ocean floor. And it provides highly accurate imagery for further analysis. So it can find things and map things as small as a golf ball, and it can go as large as, say, a fuselage.

CAMEROTA: That's incredible. As small as a golf ball. So has this sonar yet detected something as big as the fuselage?

COLE: So far what the U.S. Navy has detected, we haven't found any items of interest yet. But our divers continue to scan the area. Like I said, the areas that they're able to scan with the fidelity that we're looking for here is relatively small. We're talking one, two, three square miles. If you scan the scope through a larger area, then you get less fidelity.

CAMEROTA: I see. I hadn't realized just how much peril there is for the divers until I read that any sharp object can cut them; it can cut their oxygen lines. So how are your divers dealing with all the hazards?

COLE: We don't have any divers in the water yet. Right now, they're employing the side-scan sonar, so we haven't had to worry about that yet. However, our divers are very, very highly trained, and they are well-versed in responding to any of the hazards that come with their specialty.

CAMEROTA: Yes, you sure are. You have lots of, sadly, experience in this kind of recovery. The Navy 7th Fleet looked for the missing plane, MH -370. So can you compare and contrast for us what this search is like, versus that one?

COLE: Obviously, we're dealing with a much smaller area here. We have a relatively good idea, meaning in the scope of tens of hundreds of miles of the year that we're searching. This is an Indonesian-led search. So the U.S. Navy is just supporting. And we will go wherever the Indonesian government asks us to go and support.

With MH-370, there wasn't a whole lot of fidelity. There wasn't a lot of certainty about where that plane could have gone down. So you used sonar that can handle much larger areas.

CAMEROTA: And have you been able to yet detect any of the pinging from the plane's black boxes?

COLE: So far, there haven't been detections of pinging.

CAMEROTA: And how do we explain that?

COLE: I don't have a good answer for you on that one. As far as what our divers are using, it's the side-scan sonar, not specifically designed to map the bottom of the ocean floor. So that's where our efforts are concentrated right now. And we still have the USS Sampson on station and the helicopters aboard Fort Worth and aboard Sampson doing air searches and surface searches, as well.

CAMEROTA: Last, how many U.S. personnel would you say are there assisting?

COLE: We have around 100 on Fort Worth. We have about 330 on Sampson. So we have -- we're upwards of 400, probably closer to 500 personnel out there on the station.

CAMEROTA: Well, Lieutenant Lauren Cole, thanks so much. And best of luck with the herculean effort that it's going to take out there today.

COLE: Thank you very much.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CAMEROTA: John, over to you.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, thanks, Alisyn.

Now to Kentucky, where a brave 7-year-old girl is inspiring millions, going to great lengths to survive after a plane crash killed her parents, her sister and her cousin. Investigators are hoping to speak to Sailor Gutzler soon, believing she could be the key to figuring out what caused the tragedy. The Illinois girl somehow escaped my a fiery crash Friday night, walking a mile in the woods in near freezing temperatures before finally finding help.

Later, we will speak with Larry Wilkins, the man who helped Sailor when she arrived at his home. But first, Nick Valencia is tracking the latest developments in this story of survival -- Nick.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John.

Larry Wilkins is getting a lot of attention for the role that he played in this, but he'll be the first to tell you it's 7-year-old Sailor Gutzler that's the bravest person he's ever met.

And over the weekend, Kentucky State Police detailed her incredible 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.

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

FRED PRUG, FRIEND OF GUTZLER FAMILY: Immediately pretty angry that something like this would happen. It's just unbelievable.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VALENCIA: It's no wonder why people are calling this a miracle. Little Sailor Gutzler, she was treated for minor injuries and released from the hospital over the weekend -- John.

BERMAN: All right. Thanks so much. Nick Valencia for us, covering this remarkable story. We'll speak with that man, who Sailor Gutzler arrived at his house in just a little while.

Now let's go look at some of your headlines -- Michaela.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Thanks so much. A tremendous story there. Here are those headlines.

North Korea blasting the White House, calling a new round of U.S. sanctions an act of hostility. Those sanctions are retaliation for North Korea's alleged cyberattack against Sony. Let's bring in Will Ripley. He's monitoring developments for us live from Beijing.

Good to see you, Will.

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Michaela.

And North Korea's strategy that they're using here appears to be trying to discredit the United States. They're clearly watching international news coverage. And they're talking about some of the cyber security experts who are skeptical that North Korea was involved in this hack, thinking that it might have been an inside job, North Korea jumping on that, saying the United States is launching these sanctions as a way to try to validate a shaky case and accusing the U.S. of essentially bullying against North Korea.

However, the U.S. pushing forward with these sanctions, which could have a financial impact, making it more difficult for North Korea to make money in one of the ways that it does, which is the export of weapons, by publicly naming people who are selling weapons all over the world in places like Iran, Russia, Africa and Syria.

And the U.S., Michaela, saying these sanctions are just the beginning and that there may be more actions taken against North Korea because of those cyberattacks on Sony.

PEREIRA: Continue to watch that story. Will Ripley reporting. Thanks so much.

Vice President Joe Biden and his wife will attend the quake in New York City today for former New York Governor Mario Cuomo. Thousands of mourners are expected to pay tribute. Mr. Cuomo, the father of the current governor, Andrew Cuomo, and the father of our friend and anchor, Chris Cuomo, he will be laid to rest tomorrow. Mr. Cuomo died of heart failure New Year's Day at age 82.

Almost two years after the Boston Marathon bombing, the death-penalty trial against Dzhokhar Tsarnaev begins today with jury selection. Twelve hundred names will be narrowed down to just 12 jurors and six alternates. We learned this morning, talks were held on a possible plea deal. But those talks failed. Tsarnaev is accused of detonating pressure-cooker bombs during the 2013 marathon, killing three and injuring more than 260.

Hundreds of New York City police officers once again turning their backs on their embattled mayor, Mayor Bill de Blasio. This happened Sunday during the mayor's eulogy for murdered NYPD Officer Wenjian Liu. Many officers choosing to turn away from a video feed of de Blasio, even after their boss, Police Commissioner Bill Bratton, asked them to keep politics out of the funeral. Many officers feel the mayor has created an anti-cop climate in New York City.

Those are your headlines -- Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: OK, Michaela, thanks so much.

We will have more on that 7-year-old girl who survived a plane crash in Kentucky. She wandered through the woods, and she found a house, where someone was home and willing to help. We will speak to that man, Larry Wilkins, next.

BERMAN: And Congress is back. And the Republicans, they will be in charge as of tomorrow, but there is already dissention in the ranks. It's a growing challenge to Speaker John Boehner may spoil at least a little about that party, at least the beginning. John King will have that and more "Inside Politics."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BERMAN: It is a story equally remarkable as it is tragic. A 7-year- old girl miraculously survives a plane crash that killed four family members, including her parents. After the crash, Sailor Gutzler walked a mile through the Kentucky woods without shoes in near freezing temperatures to find help. She ended up on the doorstep of Larry Wilkins, who brought her in and called for help.

Mr. Wilkins joins us now from Kentucky.

Good morning, Larry. Thank you so much for being with us.

LARRY WILKINS, FOUND 7-YEAR-OLD CRASH SURVIVOR: Good morning, sir.

BERMAN: I got to say, that has to be a moment you will never forget. You open your door. There's a 7-year-old girl on your doorstep, barefoot, saying that she was just in a plane crash. Describe that moment for me.

WILKINS: I don't know. I guess the best way to describe it is to ask a question: how many times would you open a door and see a 7-year-old girl, barefoot in short pants and bleeding, busted nose, tears in her eyes, her lip trembling, and needing your help? Once in a lifetime for me.

BERMAN: When she told you that she had been in a plane crash, what went through your mind?

WILKINS: Well, the first thing is that I didn't hear anything. You know, and as the crow flies, it probably wasn't a quarter of a mile, but I heard no noise whatsoever. And when she told me a plane crash, of course, immediately, I looked outside to see if there was any smoke or anything like that. And there was not.

And so I brought her in the house and propped her feet up and called 911 and got ahold of a police officer. And fortunately, he was real close to the house, and he got there within, oh, probably ten minutes.

BERMAN: A lucky thing.

WILKINS: The little girl was -- she was amazingly composed for a 7- year-old girl who had just got out of a plane crash and just lost her parents. It's amazing.

BERMAN: I have a couple 7-year-old boys. And I know how they talk, and even in good times, they don't always necessarily make a huge amount of sense. Explain to me what she said to you. How did she explain this to you?

WILKINS: Sir, she just said that -- she said, "My mom and dad are dead. We just had a plane crash, and the plane was upside-down."

I said, it's kind of unbelievable, you know, that a little girl would come out. And you have to bear in mind how rough the terrain is through that woods, a lot of briar bushes. And her little legs were just cut up from the bottom of her shorts to the tip of her toes. And it was about 35, 36 degrees. And barefooted. And it was a winter rain; it was just drizzling, you know. So she was a little bit wet. Not soaking wet. But a little bit wet. I imagine those little feet were pretty daggone cold.

BERMAN: You brought her inside, put her feet up, got her warm. You had about ten minutes, you say, before the EMTs, before emergency officials finally were able to get on the scene. Thankfully, they were close. What did you talk about during those ten minutes, what went on inside the house?

WILKINS: Well, I tried to get all the information out of her I could, but a little 7-year-old girl, lips trembling, crying and trying to talk, I couldn't understand very much of what she said. In fact, I probably asked her name three or four times. And I never did get it right.

But when the state policemen come, he would write it down and hold it up to her and say, "Is this the way you spell it?" And he finally got her fame.

But I tried to find out if she had any relatives, any phone number, anybody I could call? And she didn't know any. She did tell me she has a sister that was expecting, and I said, "Well, honey, what's her name or what's her phone number?" She didn't -- she didn't know her phone number and didn't know for sure where she lived.

BERMAN: Just 7 years old. Talk to me about the area around your house. You said, you know, there was a creek bed, briars, a difficult walk for anybody, let alone a 7-year-old girl at night.

WILKINS: Well, yes. We had a -- we had an ice storm here in 2008, and this woods is -- I was told last night that it was about 1,400 acres total. But now here I'm probably two blocks from a minor highway. To know that the good Lord was with her, she'd walked the other direction, you probably wouldn't find her for weeks. So she'd be walking into just more woods.

But the ice storm knocked a lot of these trees down. I'd say probably 20 or 30 percent of those trees are knocked down. So everywhere she walked, she had a detour. It's probably as the crow flies, maybe a quarter of a mile from where that plane crashed, but you couldn't walk it in a straight line. I'd say she walked three-quarters of a mime. She had a creek bed to go through. Briar bushes to go around, hidden -- fallen trees to walk around.

I've said many times, I don't like to walk in that woods in the daylight much less dark with no light.

BERMAN: So it was either good luck or something else that brought her to your house. It's an amazing thing.

You've had a chance to speak to her grandfather, I hear. How is she doing? And, you know, if you can get a message to Sailor, what do you want to tell Sailor today?

WILKINS: I'd just wish her good luck, you know. And I know she's having an extremely hard time, and probably in her mind she doesn't understand everything that's going on right at this moment.

But her grandfather was a very, very pleasant person and, in fact, actually, you know, I didn't do anything that you wouldn't do or anybody you know probably wouldn't do if a small child come to your door and in that kind of condition. I've got two little Dachshund dogs. And they helped her a lot. Her granddaddy told me that she had a Dachshund. But these little dogs love everybody, you know. They took to her just immediately. And that helped -- I think that helped calm her down quite a bit.

BERMAN: It was your dogs that helped calm her down. You say you didn't do anything any of us wouldn't do. You, sir, Larry, you were kind in a moment of crisis there, and that in and of itself is a wonderful thing. Larry Wilkins, thank you so much for being with us. Thanks for everything you did. We really appreciate it. We know Sailor and her family do, as well.

WILKINS: Thank you, sir.

BERMAN: Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: John, what an incredible story. How Sailor could have navigated after a trauma like that through the woods and be only 7 years old. I mean, you know, you were just saying, you have 7-year- olds. I have a 7-year-old. It's just -- it's remarkable. And it's a miracle.

BERMAN: The presence of mind that she had and the composure. You know, Larry, we just heard him say that he couldn't even figure out what her name was, because he couldn't understand it. But she was clear enough to say what had happened, clear enough to get him to get on that phone and call for help. And thank goodness it was only about 10 minutes away.

PEREIRA: What's so remarkable is that said he didn't even hear the little knock on the door. She knocked so faintly. You can imagine: it's cold. She's trembling; she's afraid; she's in trauma. It was the dogs that alerted him that there was -- there was something going on. The whole thing is just remarkable. There's angels among us, I swear.

BERMAN: And those same dogs helped calm her down. Those dogs played a key role in this story.

PEREIRA: They would.

CAMEROTA: If I ever am in trouble, I hope Larry Wilkins comes to the door.

PEREIRA: Me too.

BERMAN: What a nice man.

CAMEROTA: What a sweetheart of a man. That's great.

OK. John, thanks so much. Moving on to politics. How about New Jersey Governor Chris Christie

hugging it out with Cowboys owner Jerry Jones during Sunday's playoff games? What's a Jersey guy doing rooting for the Cowboys? John King will be here to explain. "Inside Politics" is next.

And bad weather hampering the underwater search for wreckage of Flight 8501. We'll tell you the difficulties facing search crews in the Java Sea.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PEREIRA: Good to have you back with us here on "NEW DAY." Here's a look at your headlines at 26 minutes past the hour.

The search for AirAsia Flight 8501 hitting some pretty major setbacks. Pings from the black box have yet to be detected. A large object thought to be a part of the plane turned out to be, instead, a part of a shipwreck. Monday's aerial has been called off again because of severe weather in the area.

New Afghan President Ashraf Ghani is asking President Obama to reexamine his plan to withdraw all troops by 2016. President Ghani told CBS "60 Minutes," quote, "Deadlines should not be dogmas."

These words comes as Taliban militants ramped up attacks last year and have declared victory over the U.S.

President Obama, meanwhile, is committed to withdraw all U.S. soldiers by the end of next year, leaving Afghanistan to look over its own security.

A nightmare flight for a planeload of passengers trying to travel from Abu Dhabi to San Francisco. The trip normally takes 16 hours, but fog, fog forced the plane to remain on the tarmac at Abu Dhabi airport for 12 hours. Remember, this is after the plane landed following a 16-hour flight. So if you're keeping track, yes, 28 hours on the very same airplane.

Etihad Airplanes -- Airlines, rather, apologized for the delay. Officials say the fog caused them to cancel a total of some 20 flights.

I've got to show you this view, imagine this being your job. This is Kevin Schmidt of South Dakota. He's a technician. Got an interesting assignment. Change a light bulb at the tippy top of a television tower some 1,500 feet above the ground. Most technicians would be in a hurry to get down. Not Kevin, though. After changing the lightbulb, he took a selfie. And I'm going to say, an epic selfie. And yes, indeed, he is wearing

his safety harness.

BERMAN: But is the phone wearing a safety harness? What if he drops the phone and the whole selfie...?

PEREIRA: I don't think that's a part of your clause, that the insurance package you get for your cell phone. But what also I find upsetting is that it sways in the wind while it's

up there.

I salute you, Kevin. You the man.

CAMEROTA: There's got to be an easier way to change that lightbulb.

PEREIRA: I'm just saying.

BERMAN: Or maybe it just doesn't need to be on, right?

PEREIRA: Maybe they could have those long-lasting, like, seven years kind of.

BERMAN: But way to go on the selfie. Always a good time for a selfie. I live by that motto.

Now a man who also lives by that. Let's go "Inside Politics" on "NEW DAY" with Mr. John King.

John, some uncomfortable days ahead for Speaker Boehner.

JOHN KING, CNN CORRESPONDENT/ANCHOR: Yes. Was that a helicopter that shot that picture or was that the personal Berman drone?

BERMAN: It was my drone.

KING: That's what I thought. It was the personal Berman, super- secret Berman drone out there taking those pictures.

It is a busy time. Good morning, everybody, and let's go quickly "Inside Politics." With me this morning to share reporting and their insights as we begin the new year here in Washington, Jackie Kucinich with the "Daily Beast," Jonathan Martin of "The New York Times."

Congress returns. I don't think there's any doubts John Boehner will be reelected speaker, Mitch McConnell will become majority leader in the Senate. But Boehner does face a challenge from a couple of Tea Party grassroots conservative guys who say that he's been too compromising. He hasn't fought with the president enough.

Let's look right here. Louis Gohmert from Texas, Tea Party guy. He says he's going to run for speaker. Ted Yoho, a conservative from Florida, says he's going to run for speaker. Gohmert was on FOX News yesterday explaining. He says, look, he's just had enough of John Boehner. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. LOUIS GOHMERT (R), TEXAS: You deceived us when you went to Obama and Pelosi to get your votes for the cromnibus. You said you'd fight amnesty tooth and nail. You didn't. You funded it. And then you took the only hostage that Obama would like for us to shoot. It was a terrible strategy. And it follows a number of years of broken promises. It's time for a change.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: It's an Andy Warhol moment maybe for Louie Gohmert and the other challengers, but do they have a chance? What are we expecting? Eight, maybe a dozen, votes against John Boehner?

JACKIE KUCINICH, "THE DAILY BEAST": Precisely. I mean, it's a high bar. It's like 28 or 29 that they're going to need in order to force a second ballot. Neither of these, Yoho or Gohmert, have a natural constituency of anything of people who are going to line up behind them. So this is mainly to prove a point and frankly embarrass the speaker.