Return to Transcripts main page

New Day Saturday

Search and Recovery Continues for Flight 8501; Passengers' Family Members Hope for the Best; Revealed Flight 8501 Schedule Controversy; Commissioner Bratton Summoning Police to Show Respect to Mayor de Blasio; Severe Weather in the Search Zone; Dangerous Flu Outbreak; Experienced Diver on Crashed Planes Recovery

Aired January 03, 2015 - 06:00   ET

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

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: Developing overnight -- two large pieces of debris and an oil split. What this tells us about how AirAsia flight 8501 crashed. Plus the challenges that crews are facing today as they search for more.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Then, a blanket of snow, thunderstorms, ice. More than 20 states waking up to a fierce winter blast. Yes, it is bad. But it's going to get a lot worse.

PAUL: Plus, the flu, officially reaching epidemic levels. At least 15 children killed by this virus. Thousands of people are sick. We're going to tell you what we know.

One minute past the hour on this Saturday morning. We're so glad for your company. I'm Christi Paul.

BLACKWELL: I'm Victor Blackwell. Good to be with you at the top of the hour here. Well, we've got a lot of major new developments this morning in the search for the victims and the wreckage of AirAsia Flight 8501.

PAUL: The recovery teams we know located two big pieces of metal debris. What we know about this is the aluminum objects were found in the priority search zone in the Java Sea. And they were spotted at the depth of about 98 feet by a metal detection system on an Indonesian search --

BLACKWELL: OK, so two pieces here, the larger object is about 30 feet by 15 feet. The smaller object is about 24 feet by just over a foot and a half.

PAUL: Waves are reaching 13 feet high, though. So they're really keeping the search teams from recovering those pieces right now. But dozens of divers are ready to go as soon as that weather finally calms down.

BLACKWELL: Again, 30 bodies have been recovered so far. Six of them have now been identified. And so far, the rough water has kept divers from finding any more bodies today.

PAUL: The USS Fort Worth now in that search area. And it has side sonar equipment that can be used in the recovery efforts here as well. So we're going to talk more about the search for flight 8501 with CNN's Andrew Stevens. He's live from Surabaya, Indonesia this morning.

BLACKWELL: Andrew, let's start with the investigation of what happened and the search for these pieces. What can you tell us about the two objects that were found in the Java Sea, these two large pieces?

ANDREW STEVENS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, certainly a significant find, Victor. These two large easily the biggest basis - they found so far in the search. But it really is a case of two steps forward and one step back. These were found just before midnight on Friday. But Saturday's search, they couldn't get any closer just because the weather was so bad. As you say, big waves in the area. Driving rain and winds, which makes it obviously very difficult for helicopter crews to get out there to take divers out to the ships. And even if they could, the divers - it was just too dangerous to go down. And they've also got a remotely operated vehicles, the ROV, on the vessel, which like could not deploy either just because the weather is too bad.

But certainly, these two pieces of debris could provide a major clue as to where the main debris field is. The working assumption is still very much is that the plane went down, the fuselage, mainly intact. Which is where the searchers think that most of the bodies are still located. Trapped within that fuselage. But they need to properly identify exactly what parts of the plane if indeed they are from the plane, but all indications suggest that they are from the plane. They will need to find out exactly what they are. So they can trace back perhaps from there to work out the actual location of the main debris field. As you say, there's a lot of sophisticated equipment now onsite. It's been hampered, as you would expect by the weather. "The Fort Worth" does have this side scanning sonar, which very effectively match - match the seabed and gives people an idea of exactly what's down there.

So, at this stage, very frustrating, almost 12 - more than 12 hours long, still no further as to discovering what those pieces of debris are. Also, an oil slick, as well as you know, no body's recovered today because of the weather conditions. So just as far as the families go, the agony, the waiting continues.

PAUL: No doubt. I wanted to ask you, real quickly, too, Andrew, about this. Before in "The Wall Street Journal," that this flight wasn't even permitted to take that route on that very day. What do you know about that?

STEVENS: Yeah, that's right. AirAsia Indonesia, which is the subsidiary, this is the operator of that plane was not licensed to fly on Sunday between Surabaya and Singapore. It is licensed to fly that route, but only four days a week. So, it didn't have approval for that flight. Now, the ministry of transportation has said that it's going to investigate AirAsia Indonesia's operations, it's going to investigate the airport authority itself to find out why that plane could take off without approval. And it's also investigating the Department of Transportation. That the director general's department within that.

So it's a wide-ranging investigation. What we've heard from AirAsia Indonesia so far, Christi, is that they say they're going to help with the investigation, but they are not going to make any comments until we get the results back. What's happened is that AirAsia Indonesia has now been suspended on that Surabaya/Singapore flight until we get some clarification. But certainly, it seems extraordinarily that this plane could take off without the requisite approval.

I've spoken to airline analysts. They say this could have both legal and insurance implications why this plane was traveling when it wasn't officially allowed to. That actually could have wide-ranging ramifications on insurance and legal conditions. But we don't know exactly what they are at the moment. But certainly, it's sort of a major revelation there.

PAUL: Well, and I have to wonder what families are thinking about that. You've been speaking to some of them, what are they telling you, Andrew?

STEVENS: Yeah, it's just desperate. Its anguish piled on sadness piled on unimaginable pain. In fact, I'd like to bring in Sienny Gunawan. Thank you so much for joining us here. Your brother, David Gunawan, his wife and their two young children were on that flight. I just would like to stop by asking you, do you hold out any hope still?

SIENNY GUNAWAN, FAMILY WAS ON AIRASIA 8501: Yes, for sure. I still hope. And I still believe in (INAUDIBLE). And I think there's nothing to do here, only hope. And pray.

STEVENS: You come down here every day and just wait?

GUNAWAN: Yes, yes. I do come here and wait for miracles. Nothing else.

STEVENS: And what - what are they telling you every day? Are you getting the information you need?

GUNAWAN: Actually, not really. We're hoping that they have update every day, like in (INAUDIBLE) actually three times they promise us, about 9:00, 1:00 and 5:00, maybe 7:00. But here, there's nothing else.

STEVENS: You just not - do you think they just don't know the information?

GUNAWAN: Maybe yes and maybe no. I think -- I talked to Mr. Hernanto (INAUDIBLE) in Surabaya.

STEVENS: He's the lead search in Surabaya.

GUNAWAN: Yeah, he's the lead search. I told him that why there's no update - and everything. He already told me that he cannot be here because he has to be in Juanda, Surabaya. He has the office there, I know, you cannot be so selfish. Of course, we cannot expect nothing happen there. It has to be ready there. And the other also said to us that the person cannot be here. But I'm still here.

STEVENS: Yeah, the families are still here. Tell me, Sienny, tell me about your brother David and his family. You were very, very close, the entire family. You have children, your children play with his children?

GUNAWAN: Yeah, yeah. Every Friday, we go together. We go together with my mom, my parents, the whole family, actually. Me, I have two brothers and one sister. So before me, he's the biggest one, I'm the second and have sister and a little brother. All of us go together, gather together every Friday and sometimes on Saturday also. Because on Saturday, we - my children run with them.

STEVENS: You're very close?

GUNAWAN: Yeah.

STEVENS: How is your family coping? How are you coping?

GUNAWAN: I try to be strong, actually. One - and my family. I try to be strong. And still believe he'll come back. I don't know why. From the beginning, from the first time, I believed he's there. I don't know. But - maybe you can call me crazy, but I feel in my heart he's alive somewhere. I don't know. But my mom's I know my mom's not that strong. My dad tried to become so strong. He cannot cry from the first time until maybe four days, four days he can cry. But we accept the worst part. We know the worst part we know already.

STEVENS: You just want to see him come home. You want to see if he hasn't survived - you want to see --

GUNAWAN: Yeah.

STEVENS: You want to say good night - you want to say good-bye.

GUNAWAN: Until we can - no, no, not good-bye. I mean until we see the body, we're still praying.

STEVENS: All right. Sienny, thank you.

GUNAWAN: You're welcome.

STEVENS: And from all of us here at CNN, our very deepest sympathy.

GUNAWAN: Thank you.

STEVENS: Thank you.

GUNAWAN: Thank you.

STEVENS: So, it gives you an idea, Christi, family members here still holding on to that hope. Still holding on to a belief, a faith, perhaps that maybe a miracle will happen here. Maybe someone will be spared this horrible tragedy, Christi.

PAUL: It's understandable, until you have some tangible evidence, you've going to hold on with everything you've got. I think everybody can relate to that. Thank you so much, Andrew Stevens. Great information this morning. We appreciate it.

So coming up, why the search for this black box is so imperative? I mean, how can it solve the mystery about the AirAsia crash?

BLACKWELL: Plus, there are so many theories about how the plane may have crashed. Some say it dropped like a rock. Others say it landed on the water. We're going to break down some of these theories and try to figure out if there's one what we found so far, what the searchers have found so far that points to it.

Then, an amazing story of survival. Imagine this, the small plane crashes, kills everyone on board except one little girl who walked away from the wreck and then found help. It's a story you'll have to hear. We'll bring it to you on this "NEW DAY."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: A couple of developments overnight in the areas of flight 8501. As we now know there are two big pieces of metal that have been found overnight, believed to be part of this plane. And also some questions about whether that flight should have even been in the air that day. I want to bring in a couple of folks who can talk to us about this. Geoffrey Thomas is in (INAUDIBLE) Australia. He's the managing director at airlineratings.com. Also joining us CNN law enforcement analyst Tom Fuentes in Washington. Gentlemen, thank you both for being with us. Tom, I want to get to you first. In terms of these two new pieces of metal debris that have been found. We know the large one is 30 feet by 15 feet, the small 24 feet by 1 1/2 feet. What did you make - what was the first thought in your head when you heard about this discovery?

TOM FUENTES, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, what I thought, Christi was that, you know, maybe it's part of the fuselage or a wing. It's a bigger piece than most pieces. We know that airbus, aircraft, have kind of a honeycomb design that makes many of their parts more buoyant. And able to float in the ocean. So, I just thought maybe it's a bigger piece. Maybe one more piece toward leading to the main fuselage, the main wreckage.

PAUL: OK, Geoffrey, I want to ask you about this new information and this article in "The Wall Street Journal," that this flight was not even permitted to be in the air. On the day that it crashed. What do we know about that? What do you take from that?

GEOFFREY THOMAS: Well, it's a rather interesting revelation. Because the bookings for this flight were made months and months and months ago. So I'm not too sure whether we're taking about a minor technicality. I know that the flight time changed slightly, but not enough to take it from one day to the next. Look, I really do think it's a minor technicality. Because as I said, the bookings we've got, we've had the booking manifest, and all these bookings were made in May of last year, in 2014, so, you know, eight or nine months before the actual flight took place. So I do think it's a technicality. Although it will become a rather interesting technicality, possibly from an insurance point of view.

PAUL: All right. I want to ask you about that, Tom. About the same thing. In terms of what we're learning about this, that this flight just should not have been in the air. But the route obviously now is suspended. But when you think about if this flight wasn't permitted to be there, the failure on many levels. I mean, people got on the plane. They got through security. As Geoffrey was saying, it was open to book. How does that happen?

FUENTES: Well, I think the only issue that I can see with this is whether or not it wasn't supposed to be in the air on Sundays. Because there were other airlines that flew Sundays and didn't fly the other four days that this flight was authorized to fly. So, if that was the case, that maybe there were more airplanes in the air than were supposed to be, or than they normally would licensed to be, then you might have a question of, you know, maybe that affected why air traffic control said that they weren't allowed to climb when they made the request to increase their altitude. But other than the crowded skies possibly being an issue, I think I agree with Geoffrey, that it's probably a technicality that may affect the insurance liability. That it may affect, you know, that they didn't pay enough fees, let's say, to the government of Indonesia or the airport authority itself. You know, so it could be a financial issue more so than flight safety issue.

PAUL: All right, Geoffrey, I want to ask you about the weather conditions there. We know that they're horrific. 35-mile-per-hour winds. 13-foot waves. How do you think this is going to affect the time line of trying to get some answers for these families?

THOMAS: Well, look, it's certainly going to delay things. I believe the weather is supposed to improve tomorrow and Sunday. I think that's going to be a good window of opportunity to speed things up. But you know, as we found with Air France 447, in the north - in the mid-Atlantic in 2009, we had the debris trial -- we found the debris trial within a couple of days. And bodies. But it then took them two years to locate the airplane. So, this is not something that's going to happen overnight. It is a very, very complicated process. And made far more difficult by the weather conditions. And the fact that we've found a couple of pieces that we believe are from this aircraft, and don't forget, we've already had several false alarms about pieces being from this airplane and they were not, we have to treat this with a great deal of caution. But we also have to understand this is going to take some time.

PAUL: Tom Fuentes and Geoffrey Thomas, we so appreciate your insight, gentleman. Thank you for taking your time to be with us.

FUENTES: You are welcome.

THOMAS: Pleasure.

BLACKWELL: President Obama pushes forward on punishing North Korea in the wake of that cyberattack on Sony. In the form of sanctions, new sanctions. We'll tell you who was targeted.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: Coming up on 23 after the hour, a lot going on this morning. Here's your "Morning Read." First up, President Obama is turning up the heat on North Korea. He signed an executive order slamming the country with the new set of economic sanctions in response to its alleged role in the hacking Sony over the movie "The Interview." You know, that satire about North Korea's leader. But the president wrote, the order is not targeted at the people of North Korea, but, rather, is aimed at the government of North Korea and its activities that threaten the United States and others.

Actress Donna Douglas has died at the age of 81. If you don't know the name, you certainly know the character because she was best known, probably, for her role as Ellie Mae Clampett. Yeah, now you remember. The daughter on the long running sitcom "The Beverly Hillbillies." Her family reports she had been suffering from pancreatic cancer and died at her home in Louisiana surrounded by friends and family.

Two Apple customers are suing the company for more than $5 million. They are claiming false advertising over iPhone storage space. You see, Apple's new software takes up three gigabytes of storage space on an iPhone 6, now that's 19 percent of the phone 16 gigs of advertised space. And the plaintiffs say it's deceptive and misleading to the average consumer.

All right, good news, football fans. The NFL playoffs. They kick off the day. All right, the first of two wildcard games. The Arizona Cardinals against the Carolina Panthers. That's at 4:35 Eastern. And then, I mean if you love a great rivalry, there really isn't one greater than my Baltimore Ravens visiting Pittsburgh to battle it out with the Steelers.

PAUL: I don't know - the Browns and the Pittsburgh Steelers.

BLACKWELL: Terrible, terrible, filthy, dirty, terrible towels.

PAUL: We share a love, apparently.

BLACKWELL: A love.

PAUL: Of our hatred for the Steelers, is that it?

BLACKWELL: Yes.

(LAUGHTER)

BLACKWELL: Hey, listen up to weather. Winter storms, they made delay or change the travel plan this weekend. I know a lot of people headed home to get back to work on the fifth. Just check out the snow falling this is Lubbock, Texas earlier this morning.

PAUL: It's beautiful.

BLACKWELL: It's pretty when you're watching it on television. As long as you are not looking at it through a windshield you're good. As much as a half foot could accumulate in parts of western Texas. But the lone star state is not alone. 24 states are facing winter weather warnings and advisories today. Karen Maginnis is in the CNN weather center with the latest weather headlines. This is going to be pretty bad.

KAREN MAGINNIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is very powerful. And it affects a broad swath of the United States. And if you haven't felt the winter weather just yet, just wait. It's on its way. We are watching some warm moist air right along the Gulf Coast, across the Midwest, temperatures in the teens, the 20s, and 30s. But the wind chill factor makes it feel well below zero, minus 27 in Minot, North Dakota. It feels like 16 degrees in Minneapolis.

So, we've got some arctic air. It's going to plunge pretty far to the South. It's going to take about three to five days, but temperatures are going to be in the teens and single digits. For western sections and the panhandle of Texas, winter weather advisories we've seen some sleek and very sleek conditions in some parts of west Texas. You head on into the northeast, along that I-95 corridor, winter weather watches out. It's going to be blustery and cold. Rainfall along the Gulf Coast could see some strong thunderstorms this afternoon. If this is reminiscent of what we saw about a week and a half ago, you're right. Warm moist air coming up from the south. And flooding already a problem from Dallas to Little Rock. Victor, Christi.

BLACKWELL: Yeah, it's been raining nonstop here in Atlanta. Karen, thank you so much.

PAUL: You heard about this. It turns out getting cancer all comes down to luck. Bad luck, obviously. This is at least according to one study. We'll explain what they discovered.

Also, you know there are a lot of theories about how AirAsia 8501 crashed. Some say it stalled. Other suggest it landed on the water before sinking. We know you have a lot of questions. We want to get those questions answered. Go to the #8501qs. Use it and we will do all we can.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: It is half past the hour right now. We're so grateful for your company.

BLACKWELL: Thanks for starting your day with us, I'm Victor Blackwell. Christi Paul with us as well. Let's talk now about the five sorts of watching for your "NEW DAY" coming up at the bottom of the hour.

PAUL: Yeah, and first of all, we'll talk about the search teams that are turning up more debris in a crash of AirAsia Flight 8501 overnight. They found two large pieces of metal debris in the priority search zone in the Java Sea. Also, an oil slick was spotted yesterday. So far 30 bodies have been recovered, and six have been identified.

BLACKWELL: Number two, maybe you're feeling it, or someone you know is feeling it, but the flu season, it is terrible. It's officially at epidemic levels according to the CDC. At least 15 children have died from the flu. 22 states are reporting high flu activity. And one Chicago area school, the district there, about 600 students and teachers in that district have fallen ill. The CDC reports about half of all strains tested this year were not included in this year's flu vaccine. The flu season typically peaks in February and March. So case numbers are expected to rise. We're going to talk more about this later in the hour.

PAUL: Number three, Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid is home from the hospital after breaking several ribs and bones in his face. Nevada Democrat was apparently using a piece of exercise equipment when he fell. That's according to his office. Reid who was an amateur lightweight boxer in college, if you didn't know, is expected to make a full recovery. He tweeted, quote, "thanks to everyone for the warm wishes. I'm ready to get back to work."

BLACKWELL: So, listen to this at number four, a Johns Hopkins research study claims that it's found that primary cause of most adult cancers is bad luck. Study finds that two thirds of all cancer cases in adults are tribute to random gene mutations. The remainder comes from environmental factors, gene inheritance and behavior such as smoking and excessive sun exposure. But the researchers said that main takeaway is the vital importance of early detection.

PAUL: Number five, listen to this. A seven-year-old girl is the sole survivor of a plane crash that killed four other people. Police say she was able to walk. A little bit disoriented, but walk to a house near the crash site. And that resident then called 911. The twin- engine aircraft went down last night after the pilot reported engine problems. The FAA and the NTSB are due to arrive at the crash scene today east of Paducah, Kentucky. Those who died include a nine-year- old girl, her parents and a 14-year-old cousin. We'll have a lot more on the story next hour as well.

BLACKWELL: The latest now on the search for victims and the wreckage and the cause of that crash of AirAsia flight 8501. Teams equipped with a remote operated vehicle are battling high waves, strong currents as well. As they try to get images of the two pieces of metal debris that have just been found in the Java Sea. We're also learning that AirAsia apparently did not have permission to fly from Surabaya to Singapore on Sunday. That's according to Indonesia's Transport Ministry. It said the flight was only permissible on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. That's the route the doomed flight took. You see it here when it went down last Sunday with 162 people on board. The airline says it will cooperate with the probe by Indonesian authorities.

Joining me now on the phone, former pilot Alastair Rosenschein. Alastair, first, let's talk about these two pieces of debris. Is there anything that can be gleaned from the size of this as it relates to narrowing this search?

ALASTAIR ROSENSCHEIN: Well, the first thing that one can glean from it, any large parts of the aircraft that are detached effectively from the rest of the aircraft, indicate the high impact -- well, in contact with the sea. So that would indicate the aircraft was descending at a high rate. Or that if it was an attempt at control of the aircraft, it was an unsuccessful one. I mean trying to do a ditching at night in those conditions is near on impossible. It's very difficult to judge your height. But I suspect that the aircraft was out of control at this point as it impacted with very high energy.

BLACKWELL: And we're expecting some photographs of these two huge pieces at some point today as well. So, of course, we'll bring those as soon as we get them. But you say that it's likely that the aircraft was out of control. There is one theory that the emergency transmitter, though, did not go off. Because the plane might have landed on the water. You remember the miracle on the Hudson, Chesley Sullenberger, it's called Sully style. Some people consider that. What do you think about that? Is that possible that this plane might have landed on the water?

ROSENSCHEIN: Well, it's - no, not really, given the fact that what would the intention have been to ditch an aircraft in the water there? It could only have been if both engines had flamed out due to heavy water passing through. When I say, heavy weight of water, a large amount of water to get in the pump storm can in fact cause the engines to flame out. In which case, the crew would be left with a glider. But I suspect that the aircraft was out of control at moment of impact.

BLACKWELL: So, let's talk about another theory. This theory that the plane might have stalled because of lack of speed or its flying at too sharp of an angle. This is an experienced captain. A well-maintained aircraft. And this is the workhorse, this airbus. Is it likely that this captain would have anticipated these challenges if indeed he was trying to climb to this other altitude? I mean it just - it seems to defy credulity that a pilot who had 20,000 plus hours would have made such a dangerous maneuver?

ROSENSCHEIN: No, let me explain. If - all pilots know that it's going to be a very rough ride if you go near a thunderstorm. If you go through one, you're going to get a tremendously rough ride. And it's really going to challenge your ability, because the aircraft can become uncontrollable. By that I mean, you put your inputs in to the flying controls, but the aircraft does not respond in the normal way because the forces external to the aircraft are too great. It's not in stable air anymore.

Now, it is entirely possible that the aircraft can be forced into an unusual and in fact irrecoverable attitude. And so, the pilot is unable to recover from it, no matter how good his training and his ability. And as I understand it, the captain of this aircraft was an air force pilot. So he would have been used to flying aircraft in unusual altitudes. Upside down loops. You name it. Air force pilots do that. And so, you know, this aircraft was by all means being controlled by a man of huge ability.

BLACKWELL: Yeah. Things that have been said about him is that he was reliable and certainly had 20,000-plus flying hours. So, hopefully, we learn more about the possible reasons for this crash, from these two huge pieces that have been discovered there. In the Java Sea. Alastair Rosenschein, the former pilot, helping us understand some of the details of the search. Thank you so much, Alastair.

ROSENSCHEIN: Thank you very much.

PAUL: Thank you, sir.

Well, on top of this, we've been talking about the weather. The 13- foot waves. The monsoon conditions that just complicating this search so badly. Coming up, we'll talk more about how that is affecting all of this.

Also, we're going to hear from a diver who really gives us a good sense of what it's like to search these murky waters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: As a 16, 17, 18-year-old, as a teenager I was going through all these maybe also sometimes, you know, difficult times. Rebellion, and I still had all of these unbelievable victories.

Well, I think for me in this moment, when I was there and playing and winning, it was normal and natural. You didn't really have the time to almost enjoy the moment because there was the next tournament. Already, the next challenge, next opponent. I have a lot more time now to really enjoy it. You know, look back at the memories that, you know, I have.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The 2014 Sony Open doubles champions, Martina Hingis and Sabine Lisicki.

(APPLAUSE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: To win a tournament like this, no, after seven years of absence, I didn't expect it. And standing there as a champion again. It was a really nice feeling.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: 19 minutes till the top of the hour now. The search for the wreckage of AirAsia Flight 8501 is being hampered by, as we know, bad weather. And this morning, a helicopter looking for the plane had to turn back.

PAUL: Meanwhile, there's a team of Russian divers with specialized search equipment that is there now along with the "USS Fort Worth" that has sonar capabilities onboard there. CNN's Alina Machado talked to an expert who offers us a sense of tough problematic in strenuous underwater searchers are. Alina.

ALINA MACHADO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Victor and Christi, the search and recovery effort for AirAsia flight 8501 may be going on some 11,000 miles from here in south Florida, but we spoke with one commercial diver who says he knows exactly what that process is like.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) MACHADO: The number of crews from around the world helping to search for AirAsia flight 8501 continues to grow. And if anyone knows the job that lies ahead, especially for the dozens of divers involved it's Geno Gargiulo.

GENO GARGIULO: It's a very somber situation.

MACHADO: The 51-year-old is an experienced commercial diver who says he's helped after recent catastrophes including the Japan tsunami and the Haiti earthquake.

In AirAsia's case, parts of the Airbus A-320 have already been recovered. So have dozens of bodies. But rough conditions with waves as high as 13 feet have hampered search efforts.

GARGIULO: One thing you don't want to do is add more tragedy to tragedy. So, you don't want loss of life. You want to take your time, you want to plan it correctly, wait for the optimal conditions to go in there.

MACHADO: The plane is believed to be at the bottom of the sea in water that is on average about 130 feet deep. At that depth, Gargiulo says divers will need to use special gear.

GARGIULO: A dry suit is totally sealed at the wrists. The boots incorporated in and has a seal that zippers close, they close it at the neck. That way, no water gets in there. Then what you have, is the other helmet. This is the 17 superlight.

MACHADO (on camera): This is considered the lighter one.

GARGIULO: Yes.

MACHADO: But it's incredibly heavy.

GARGIULO: 37 pounds.

MACHADO (voice over): Divers will also be hooked up to a command center like this one.

GARGIULO: These instruments right here are telling us what the depth that the divers are at. And this is the pressure if they are going through them. The main air, stand by air. Emergency air, diver one, diver two, diver three, which is your safety diver.

MACHADO: Gargiulo says the divers will probably be underwater for up to 80 minutes at a time. After which they'll end up inside a decompression chamber to recover.

GARGIULO: You can get down there, the thing will have jagged edges, torn fuselage, things hanging all over the place. It's going to be dark inside, and a lot of things for a diver to get snagged on, for his umbilical to get caught up on, to get disoriented. It's not going to look like a textbook situation.

MACHADO (on camera): And then there's the emotional component, right? I mean, you know there's going to be bodies down there?

GARGIULO: There's nothing worse than bumping into a bloated dead body in the water.

MACHADO (voice over): Gargiulo is still haunted by the victims he's helped recovered, especially the children. Emotion that divers in the Java Sea will also have to come to terms with.

GARGIULO: The way you get past it, is you say I'm helping the families, I'm helping somebody. I'm putting this to rest.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MACHADO: Gargiulo tells us it could take weeks maybe even months for divers to finish the job in the Java Sea. Victor and Christi.

BLACKWELL: All right, Alina Machado for us this morning, thank you.

Karen Maginnis is in the CNN weather center with the latest on the conditions of this search. Rough under water. Rough in the air. It seems the greatest success is coming with these huge vessels because they can take some of these conditions.

MAGINNIS: Yeah. And the reason that they have seen that are two factors. We've got fairly shallow waters around 100 feet deep. So, it's like splashing in a bathtub. It's very easy to move around. The wind has been fairly brisk there as well, with 25-mile-an-hour winds. Now, yesterday, when we were looking at our computer models, it looked as if it was going to be a fine window. We have the vessels on top of the water, also in the sky. We are going to have more favorable conditions. Now, it still looks good, but it's probably not going to be as calm or quiet as we were anticipating. We've got this area, it looks like by Sunday. We'll expect improving weather conditions. The winds will quiet down and so will the rain. Back to you guys.

PAUL: Karen Maginnis, we appreciate it, thank you.

BLACKWELL: Well, a hero's funeral is about grieving not airing grievances. That's a message from Police Commissioner Bill Bratton as officers prepare to say good-bye to one of their own.

Up next, will Bratton's words ease escalating tensions or just ignite anger?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: Hundreds of police officers will say good-bye to one of their own. A private wake for Wenjian Liu, one of the two police officers ambushed and then gunned down two weeks ago on the streets of New York, it will take place today in Brooklyn. His partner, Raphael Ramos was laid to rest last weekend. It was during that service, though, that some police officers turned their backs on Mayor Bill de Blasio, a silent symbol of anger and frustration towards the mayor's handling of recent community tensions with police.

Now, yesterday, police commissioner Bill Bratton issued this internal memo to the force, asking officers to show respect at Liu's funeral. And here's a bit of it. And I want to read it for you.

"I understand that emotions are high. 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." Let's talk more about this with CNN law enforcement analyst Tom Fuentes. He's also the former FBI assistant director. You know, there were people who were struck positively or negatively by that act of turning one's back to the mayor while he was speaking at this memorial service. What's your reaction to Bratton's memo?

FUENTES: Good morning, Victor. I don't know. I don't know - I mean if it's going to have an effect or not. I think some police officers may still turn their back. You know, it will depend exactly how the setup is for this funeral compared to the setup last week for Officer Ramos' funeral. So I don't know if we'll have the number of officers and what position they'll be in, compared to the cameras and all that. So, that's a good question. I'm not sure the police department or the police officers themselves know how many may yet turn their back.

BLACKWELL: This was out the first time that NYPD officers turned their back on the mayor. They did it when he visited these officers on the date they were killed. Do you think it's appropriate to do this during the funeral, during the memorial service for the fallen officer?

FUENTES: Well, I mean in my personal opinion, no. But, you know, I think the grievances run deep within the department right now concerning the mayor. I think a lot has gone on in New York City over the last couple of months to cause that, to affect that. So, you know, but I personally don't agree with it. But I think they're definitely making their point.

BLACKWELL: So the mayor -- not the mayor, the commissioner says that he's not issuing any mandates or threats of discipline. Do you think there should be some discipline?

FUENTES: I don't know, Victor, I don't know how they - I think that will only make it worse. So, I think at this point, you know, make the request, respectfully requested and hope for the respect will be shown. I think threatening discipline or actually carrying out discipline probably is going to make the whole situation a lot worse.

BLACKWELL: All right. Let me read another portion of this memo. Bratton says for the last seven days the cities and the country's consciousness of that funeral has focused on an act of disrespect shown by a portion of those tens of thousands of officers. It was not all the officers and it was not disrespect directed at detective Ramos, but all officers were painted by and it stole the valor, honor and attention that it rightfully belonged to the memory of detective Raphael Ramos' life and sacrifice. That was not the intent, I know. But it was the result.

Do you think that really was the result? That that's all that people remember? FUENTES: No I don't think that's the only result. I think that people were awed by the thousands of officers. The long motorcade of motorcycles. And officers at attention. And just the whole ceremony. The whole activity of the funeral. I think is what will have the lingering memory, more so than a few officers turning their back.

BLACKWELL: And I wonder if issuing such a strongly worded memo really jeopardizes Bratton's solidarity with the ranks. What do you think?

FUENTES: Well, I think it's pretty clear that the commissioner has to back up the mayor and he has been pretty much taking the mayor's side in what's been said over the last couple of months. And, you know, I don't know if it changes that or it just shows that's where he believes. That if you want to make a protest against the mayor, there's other ways to do it. Don't do it at these solemn funerals.

BLACKWELL: Do you think the Mayor Bill de Blasio has made any progress in healing this rift with the rank and file of the department?

FUENTES: It doesn't appear that he has. You know, we don't know what's going on behind the scenes. What kind of discussions he's having especially with the union leaders and other leaders of police organizations in New York. So, whether he's making any progress towards that, I don't know. It doesn't seem so. But we don't know for sure.

BLACKWELL: All right. We'll see what action these officers will take if again they will turn their backs on Mayor Bill de Blasio. Tom Fuentes, thanks for talking about it with us.

FUENTES: Thanks, Victor.

BLACKWELL: Now, the wake for detective Wenjian Liu is today from 1:00 p.m. to 9 p.m. The funeral is tomorrow at 11 a.m. Christi.

PAUL: Thank you, Victor. Hey, parents. You had - need to listen up to this one. If your child is showing any flu symptoms please be on alert. Ordinary symptoms have been turning deadly. And we're talking in a matter of hours for some young children. How is this happening?

We are getting some answers for us coming up.

Plus, we're going to hear from one woman whose family was on the AirAsia flight that crashed. Wait until you hear what she says about holding out hope.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: Oh, people, I hope you're feeling OK this morning because the flu season is here with a vengeance this year.

BLACKWELL: It is rough.

PAUL: I mean, it is moving fast. The Centers for Disease Control has already declared this year's flu season an epidemic. BLACKWELL: Yeah.

PAUL: A flu activities elevated across the nation. And a high level in 22 states as you see here on the map.

BLACKWELL: And if you haven't gotten a flu shot you might want to reconsider. Because strains are spreading fast. And in some cases it's turning deadly for young children in just a matter of hours. CNN's George Howell has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GEORGE HOWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: One of the most recent flu-related deaths is a three-year-old girl from Iowa. Her parents say she went from perfect health with no pre-existing conditions to becoming severely dehydrated and in pain. Then rushed to a hospital in Des Moines, where she later died just a few days after showing the initial signs of the flu. Another tragic case in Minnesota. Seven-year-old Ruby Hanson died Christmas Eve. Her mother believed she might have survived had she not had a preexisting medical condition.

DEBRA HANSON, RUBY HANSON'S MOTHER: The flu would have not did her in had she not had Dravet syndrome. There is no way. She had a seizure, yes. The seizure was caused by the flu.

HOWELL: These latest deaths now part of grim statistics released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showing the flu has reached an epidemic level in the United States. One of the strains making people sick this season has mutated, causing this year's vaccination to be less than optimal for protection.

MICHAEL JHUNG, CDC: The most common virus that we're seeing causing disease right now is this h3n2 virus. When we've seen h3n2 predominate in previous seasons, we've seen relatively severe season. So, it's possible we could have a severe season again this year.

HOWELL: It's being felt widespread. In at least 36 states with current influenza levels approaching peak levels we saw two years ago. Doctors are seeing more patients.

DR. RAHUL KHARE, NORTHWESTERN MEMORIAL HOSPITAL CHICAGO: I was on a ship the other day, I saw about 35 patients. I saw ten positive flu swabs. And I - there was a couple I didn't even swab. I just treated them because it's so prevalent. So we're definitely seeing a lot.

HOWELL: The CDC is set to release its latest figures on how widespread the flu bug has become this coming Monday. In the meantime, officials still recommend getting a flu shot, even though it may not completely prevent against it, it may lessen the severity if you get sick. George Howell, CNN, Chicago.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PAUL: George, thank you so much.

And, by the way, I know that you're sitting there thinking, wait a minute, how do I know if my kid just has the flu and it's OK, or if I need to get them to the doctor, because we're talking about in a matter of hours.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

PAUL: We're talking about that with a doctor in the next hour. How you can protect yourself, what we need to do. So, do stay close to that.

BLACKWELL: All right. We've got a lot more coming up for you. We're just getting started.

The next hour of your NEW DAY starts right now.