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New Day

Two U.S. Ski Team Prospects Killed in Avalanche; Mourners Pay Their Respects to Mario Cuomo; Two New York City Cops Shot

Aired January 06, 2015 - 06:30   ET

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

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: A manhunt under way right now in New York for the gunmen who shot two NYPD officers late last night. Both officers were in surgery overnight. One is listed in critical condition this morning.

Those officers were responding to a robbery call in the Bronx. This shooting came just hours after Mayor De Blasio railed against officers who turned their backs on him during funerals for two fallen officers.

Seven-year-old Sailor Gutzler is back in her Illinois hometown beginning the long adjustment to life without her family. They died, her parents and cousin and a sister in a plane crash Friday night. Relatives will now raise the little girl who somehow managed to escape a burning plane in the woods of Kentucky, before managing to walk a mile in the bitter cold to find help.

This is an amazing story. It is called, the most difficult rock climb in the world. Two Americans, Kevin Jorgenson and Tommy Caldwell, they are halfway through this. They're attempting to scale a half-mile section of granite, in California's Yosemite National Park. It's called El Capitan, using, of course, only their hands and feet. A photography was chronicled their amazing climb, is posting pictures.

If all goes as planned, they expect to reach the top by the weekend. I've been watching online, and following some of their efforts, how they eat, all of those regular things, sleep high above the earth. It's an amazing feat.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: No one has ever -- the route they're taking, no one has ever done it without the help of ropes pulling them up. They're the first people to do that. They sleep with ropes.

PEREIRA: Of course, they're secure when sleeping.

BERMAN: And they'll protect them from falling. But not pulling them up, it's just their own strength.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Michaela, did you take those pictures or turn them upside-down or sideways. Or those are real pictures?

BERMAN: Like the Batman, like Batman and Robin like climbing on the wall?

(CROSSTALK)

PEREIRA: Part of the Berman drone.

CAMEROTA: Look at that.

PEREIRA: Amazing, isn't it?

A man and Mother Nature.

CAMEROTA: Incredible.

BERMAN: All right. It is now time for CNN money now. Chief business correspondent Christine Romans is here.

And there's the music to prove it Christine, what is going on with oil?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: My favorite is the helicopter on the yacht in that little picture.

Oil if you take the picture of scaling the heights and Yosemite and turned it upside-down, oil is going down, down. It's at freefall basically. Crude oil plunged more than 5 percent yesterday. Guys, it's still falling. Right now it's below $59 -- $50 a barrel for the first time since the recession in 2009. Some experts say it could fall to $30, maybe before stabilizing. Nobody knows for sure.

So, why is this happening? Too much supply, not enough demand. There's a shale boom in the U.S. Russia is pumping the most oil since the end of Soviet days. Iraq's oil industry is back, record exports there. Saudi Arabia making no move to cut production to prop up oil prices as it has done in the past.

And that puts the pain on everybody else, all at the very moment of the global supply, the global demand is slowing. So, you've got prices just falling here.

BERMAN: What happens to these producers, you know in the oil explorers if the prices keep going down?

ROMANS: The stocks get hammered, they have to cut jobs. At some point, it doesn't make sense for them to be doing all this production, right? At that point, they slow the production and then -- then you start to see oil prices turn around.

But in the meantime it's been terrible for the stock market. The stock market got hammered, 331 points, the Dow fell. I mean, that was remarkable one-day move all because of their concerns about oil, what it means for energy producers. And is it signaling that there's maybe slowdown around the world that could be dangerous here?

BERMAN: Happy New Year.

ROMANS: No, a really big move I don't think we're going to see a bounce-back today. But I don't think you're going to see the kind of selling today that you saw yesterday.

BERMAN: CNN money now, thanks very much. ROMANS: You're welcome.

CAMEROTA: Thanks so much.

Well, two up-and-coming U.S. skiers killed in an avalanche at a resort in Austria. The U.S. ski team reeling from this loss. We'll talk to their devastated coach about how this could happen.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: Terrible accident has skiers around the world mourning two of their own this morning. Nineteen-year-old Bryce Astle and 20-year-old Ronnie Berlack were killed Monday in an avalanche in Austria. Four others managed to escape the rush and call for help. Rescuers were unable to get to Astle and Berlack in time.

CNN's Erin McLaughlin has more on this tragedy.

Good morning, Erin.

ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, John. Well, this is a dark day for the U.S. ski team. Two of its prospective members were killed at an Austrian ski resort. They had been, the athletes had been skiing off-trail at team's European training base when an avalanche took their lives.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a very sad day for the U.S. ski team.

MCLAUGHLIN (voice-over): On these Austrian slopes, a beautiful day gave way to disaster. As two skiers lost their lives Monday. Two Olympic hopefuls, 20-year-old Ronnie Berlack and 19-year-old Bryce Astle, were among a group of six athletes skiing down the mountain. The group venturing into an area off the prepared path, and under an avalanche alert.

According to the resort, the skiers triggered the avalanche that took their lives, the other four able to ski out without injuries. The rescue effort lasting nearly an hour, 60 people, two helicopters, dogs and medical staff rushing to the scene. Berlack and Astle found buried under nine to 14 feet of snow, according to the resort.

Berlack and Astle both had promising ski careers ahead of them. Berlack, a New Hampshire native, was recently named to the U.S. ski team development team after two top 20 finishes at the U.S. Alpine Championship.

BRYCE ASTLE: Hi, my name is Bryce Astle.

MCLAUGHLIN: Astle, who grew up skiing in Utah, was invited to train with the team this season after posting strong results earlier in the season.

Friends and family, heartbroken by the news. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He showed me the joy and the sport. Sand the love

and the passion and made me want to come back and keep skiing. It's hard to be out here without him.

STEVE HEATH, FRANCONIA VILLAGE STORE: Fine young man, always had a big smile on his face. We're always real happy to see him and the type of the kid that would come in and say, hi, Steve, look right at you and smile.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MCLAUGHLIN: Well this morning, I spoke to a resort official who told me there had been other avalanche accidents in the area, in the days leading up to this tragedy. But those skiers had been equipped with emergency beacons and were able to be rescued -- John.

BERMAN: All right. So sad, Erin McLaughlin for us, thanks so much.

Michaela?

PEREIRA: Joining me now is Sasha Rearick. He's the head coach of the U.S. men's ski team and he knew Bryce and Ronnie. He joins me on the phone.

Sasha, I'm glad I can speak to you, how are you doing?

SASHA REARICK, HEAD COACH, U.S. MEN'S SKI TEAM (via telephone): We're holding strong as a family together. The entire U.S. ski team, the athletes that are here and also the athletes that are spread out around Europe doing different competitions. We're holding strong as a family. For sure, it's been an emotional 24 hours, but the strength of our family is unbelievable.

PEREIRA: You speak about this family. I know that skiers and downhill sports athletes are very close-knit. You often train at the same facilities and I understand that your development team, there were six people skiing when this horrible accident happened. And that some of the other skiers tried to rescue Ronnie and Bryce. Tell us about that.

REARICK: Yes, four of our athletes were first ones on the scene -- digging, helping, helping rescuers point in the right direction, shoveling as fast and as hard as possible. Our coaching staff, was nearby, ran up the hill, to where the avalanche finally settled and took part in the whole process, too. The amount of strength that those encouraged, that those individuals demonstrated was remarkable.

PEREIRA: Remarkable indeed. And such heartbreaking, such trauma for them to endure. I understand it happened near the European training base, and the European training base and Austrian Alps.

At one point, the group of skiers went off-trail and that's what triggered the avalanche. Is this a rare kind of accident to happen in your experience?

REARICK: Yes, I've been with the U.S. ski team for 12, 15 years and this is the first time we've had any incident like this. You know, the athletes were out skiing like our, like the general public of the general tourists that are here in Soelden, enjoying the great mountain, huge mountain that it is here.

PEREIRA: A beautiful area. Huge majestic mountains. Give us an idea about these two young men, two incredible young athletes, Ronnie Berlack, Bryce Astle. I want you to tell us a little bit more, Ronnie from Franconia, New Hampshire, he was injured recently, wasn't he?

REARICK: Yes, Ronnie was a tremendous team player, teammate to individuals, everybody loved his energy and enthusiasm for being part of the team. It was his dream, to be a ski racer, to be on the national team and reach his Olympic aspirations, and such a team person, always looking out for coaches and athletes and the service guys, tremendous individual, always, always wanting to do the best for the team.

And Bryce, which has always had a smile on his face, always enjoyed whatever he was doing. Whether it was training hard or hanging with friends, he just had a smile on his face, which brought energy and enthusiasm to anybody around him, especially me.

PEREIRA: I can hear it in your voice, the you're struggling to come to terms with this, two young men cut down in their prime of their lives. I understand that you've got some racers that are going to be competing today in Croatian world cup events. And the skiers have the choice, whether to compete or not. You talk about this close-knit group.

Do you get a sense that they want to go ahead and still enter the competition? Or are they struggling to make sense of all this?

REARICK: I mean everybody is going to handle this differently. And we're putting together plan so that each individual coach, athlete, service, physio, can move forward. And in the best way they can. And for many of the athletes, that's going to mean getting in the start gate. Getting back in the saddle and charging down the mountain. That's what Bryce and Ronnie would have wanted us to do.

You know, so the guys there in Zagreb, I left there last night, and they bonded together and said we're going to charge, we're going to race in their honor. You know the athletes that are here in Soelden who were closer to the scene, were making plans individually for what's best for those guys, to move forward and gain strength from this tragedy for the rest of their lives.

PEREIRA: Well, it will likely impact them for the rest of their lives, we know there's a lot of people impacted by this, two lives lost. The families, the people of the ski team, all the support people as well.

Our thoughts and prayers are with you all. Sasha Rearick, we thank you so much for joining us and we send our best to you and the team.

REARICK: Thank you very much.

PEREIRA: Alisyn?

CAMEROTA: OK, Michaela.

Well, New Yorkers say a final farewell to former New York Governor Mario Cuomo at his funeral this morning. We look back at the man and his legacy, with someone who often disagreed and sparred with Cuomo, former Education Secretary Bill Bennett.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAMEROTA: Welcome back to NEW DAY.

Former New York Governor Mario Cuomo will be laid to rest this morning. Cuomo served as governor for three terms, became the standard-bearer for the Democratic Party. He was also the father of the current New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, and the father of our friend and colleague, Chris Cuomo.

On Monday, about 1,000 mourners, including Vice President Joe Biden and Chris Christie paid their respects to Cuomo, some waiting hours in the line in the cold.

Joining us is someone who knew the governor well and sparred with him often, Bill Bennett, who was the education secretary under President Reagan and the drug policy director under George H.W. Bush. He hosts the national talk radio show "Morning in America".

Good morning, Mr. Bennett.

BILL BENNETT, MORNING IN AMERICA: Good morning, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: We just said that you sparred with Mario Cuomo often. You had a famous debate with him. What was it like to spar with Mario Cuomo?

BENNETT: It wasn't a spar, if I could correct. It was more like the Frasier/Ali fly in Manila, or the series of fights. They were great, they were strong. I probably had 150 debates in my life. I think 15 of them were with Mario Cuomo and he was the best, he was terrific.

Shakespeare says, you know, one of his characters says of his opponent, he was a lion I was proud to hunt. Well, I was -- he was a lion I was proud to hunt or maybe I was the lion being hunted.

We went back and forth. He was terrific. He used humor, he used insight, he used drama. He was the best. And I had to get my game up to be in the ring.

CAMEROTA: And one of the things that I think made him special is that he wasn't afraid to go there. He wasn't afraid of the delicate topics. He liked talking -- I don't know if he liked it. But he welcomed the opportunity to talk about religion and things that now seem to be sort of politically incorrect.

BENNETT: Yes, we did a lot of that. We talked about religion, we even talked about sex. We had a number of debates in which we talked about Bill Clinton's impeachment.

And he went there. And we talked about it. We disagreed. But again, he had this charming way of doing it, unlike a lot of people who will try to put new a box and criticize you, he would start by praising me and he would say, well, Mr. Bennett makes a very good argument and I'm almost persuaded, but not quite persuaded. And then he would try to lower the boom on you.

But he was very effective. He was the kind of combination, Alisyn, of charm and steel. Plus, he had a great sense of humor. Evocative language, talked about his childhood growing up, and he knew how to work an audience very effectively.

And, you know, I learned a lot in these debates. When we had one in Seattle, I remember I thought I got beat up tonight. The next night we debated in Portland, Oregon, and you know I tried to improve my game. But there was always a lot of mutual respect and we did talk about the right things, I think.

CAMEROTA: One of the best illustrations of everything that you're talking about was the 1984 Democratic National Convention when he got up and gave this very powerful keynote speech.

Let's listen to a portion of that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARIO COUMO (D), THEN-NY GOVERNOR: Mr. President, you ought to know, that this nation is more a tale of two cities than it is just a shining city on a hill.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: He was there talking to President Reagan. He was addressing President Reagan about the poverty that existed in Washington, D.C.

What made that speech so special?

BENNETT: Well, there are a few who can speak like Mario Cuomo. He had a good education. He had a classical education, education very similar to mine. Catholic schools and you know, he had read the great books, he knew how to do this. He knew about rhetoric.

Now, I should say as a member of the Ronald Reagan's cabinet, Ronald Reagan's economy lifted both cities, lifted an awful lot of boats, not just the boats the rich.

But, again, he had an evocative way of putting things, very few people could get to those heights.

There was also a personal level to him that I will appreciate. Do we have time for a quick story?

CAMEROTA: Please? BENNETT: In 2003, stories came out about the fact that I was playing

poker and gambling and people said, my goodness, the author of the "Book of Virtues" is doing this.

The first person to defend me on television and elsewhere was Mario Cuomo. He was -- he got on TV and he said, this is ridiculous, this is not a sin. This is not a mortal sin. This is not a venial sin, using Catholic theology. And he said, I don't know what everybody is getting upset about.

He then used the line which Jay Leno picked up later on. He said, they're angry in Washington because he's spending his own money and not other people's money.

I will -- I will never forget that I will be forever grateful, grateful to him. And but he called me and said, what can I do to help?

So, you know, we were on opposite sides on a lot ever things, but I learned a lot from him. By the way, we worked together in a partnership for a drug-free America and we will miss his involvement in that issue, particularly in these times.

CAMEROTA: You know, it's great to hear that story, because nowadays, I don't have to tell you, it's uncommon, it seems, for politicians to cross the aisle and support, for a Democrat to support a Republican and vice-versa. You know it was after that 1984 speech at the Democratic National Convention that people thought that Mario Cuomo would run for president.

Why do you think he chose to never run for president?

BENNETT: You know, I don't know. There were so many stories swirling around about that. And I really don't have any idea.

Would he have been formidable? Absolutely. There's no question. There's no question about it. He would have been formidable then, or at any time.

But I don't know his reasons. And in any case, he made an impact. You can hear those lines of his from that convention and see how many times they have been copied and imitated by others, Democrats and Republicans alike.

CAMEROTA: What do you think his legacy is for the Democratic Party?

BENNETT: I think his legacy, first of all, he's -- his sons live, are living that legacy and he's got to be very, very proud of them. I understand that, I have sons myself.

But I think also he remains a kind of standard bearer. Is there anyone who can speak like that? Who can command those upper heights of rhetoric and morality which -- which he so deftly inhabited. I don't think there's much of that anymore, in the Democratic Party, it seems to me rather small and angry. He was not angry. He was passionate. But he was not angry. He

always came forward with that vision. He always connected that modest childhood in Queens. I can hear him say, we had an apartment where the curtains separated the kids sleeping, from there to what America could be, to what America had given for him.

He had lived the American dream, he believed in the American dream, and spoke to it and that's -- that's a great gift.

CAMEROTA: Bill Bennett, great to see you this morning. Thanks so much for sharing your personal stories. They're wonderful to hear.

BENNETT: Thank you very much, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: There's a lot of news we're following this morning so let's get right to it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CAMEROTA: A frantic manhunt under way in New York City.

BERMAN: Two New York City police officers shot in the line of duty.

MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO (D), NEW YORK CITY: These officers had come off their shift, went back out in search of these criminals.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's getting dangerous out here you know and this is a bad neighborhood here.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Police are hunting for two gunmen.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's crazy, I live here and I know two cops getting shot? It's ridiculous.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: An unusual twist in the Michael Brown shooting case.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've never heard of a lawsuit like this.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One of the grand jurors wanting to speak out publicly.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She was in survival mode. How did she make it out alive?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Legs all bleeding, crying. Told me her parents were dead.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: All right. Good morning. Welcome back to NEW DAY. I'm John Berman, alongside Alisyn Camerota.

A huge manhunt under way in New York City, after two more officers were shot in the line of duty. These officers were responding to a robbery call in the Bronx last night. One of the officers is in critical condition this morning, with

gunshot wounds to the arm and back.

CAMEROTA: So, take a look at this surveillance video, right here. Police say it shows one of the suspects, and law enforcement is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of this man, right there, you get a good shot of his face and his accomplice.

Miguel Marquez joins us with the very latest.

What do we know, Miguel?

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, very disturbing to see the latest surveillance video of the man shooting that very large .44 revolver at police. It is worth noting that these two were plainclothes police officers responding to a robbery. They were not targeted like the other two officers shot a couple of weeks ago by the madman.

But all of that said, NYPD is on high alert.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARQUEZ (voice-over): Breaking this morning -- the NYPD on a manhunt.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's crazy, I live here and I know two cops getting shot? It's ridiculous.

MARQUEZ: Police scouring New York city for two male suspects who allegedly shot two plainclothes NYPD officers overnight. Newly released surveillance video shows one of the suspects at a shop window, then turning and the suspect fires the gun. The officers responding to a robbery at a grocery store in the Bronx, near the end of their shift.

WILLIAM J. BRATTON, POLICE COMMISSIONER: The officers returned fire and during the exchange, two anti-crime officers were wounded.

MARQUEZ: One of the officers, a 30-year-old male remains in critical, but stable condition after suffering gunshot wounds to his arm and lower back. The other, a 38-year-old, who was shot in the chest and arm, also in stable condition.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's get dangerous out here, you know? And this is a bad neighborhood here.

MARQUEZ: New York's police commissioner said the suspects fled the scene after hijacking a car later found abandoned with a black revolver nearby. The suspects described as Hispanic males between 25- 30 years old.

BRATTON: Investigators were notified of a male, who had entered Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in Upper Manhattan, with a gunshot wound to the back. The detectives are currently investigating any possible connection to this previous incident. MARQUEZ: This comes as the police department is still reeling from

the loss of two of their own in a city still grappling with tensions between police and the community.

DE BLASIO: These officers did something that was extraordinarily brave this evening and they did it as part of their commitment. This is an absolutely a case of officers going above and beyond the call to protect their fellow New Yorkers.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MARQUEZ (on camera): All of this occurring against the backdrop of a possible NYPD work slowdown. The numbers of arrests of tickets, of summons, criminal and otherwise, are all down significantly for a second week in a row.