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New Day Saturday
Four Large Objects Found In Java Sea; U.S. Sanctions North Korea Over Sony Hack; Bratton: Funeral For Grieving Not Grievance; Crash of AirAsia; Seven-Year-old Survives Plane Crash; Flu Outbreak Proves Deadly for Children; Hillary Clinton's Point of No Return;
Aired January 03, 2015 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: New questions being raised as to whether Airasia even had permission to fly its route the day of the crash one week ago today. And breaking news this hour, four large pieces of debris found overnight, what this reveals about how Flight 8501 crashed.
VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Also, heavy snowfall, ice, more than 20 states waking up to a fierce winter blast. What does this mean for all of the people who are headed home to start a new week at work in the New Year?
PAUL: Good luck with it. Also, Police Commissioner William Bratton issues an internal memo to New York's finest, asking them to show respect tomorrow at the funeral of fallen Officer Wenjin Liu.
It's so grateful to have your company with us. It is 8:00 on a Saturday morning. I hope you're getting some R and R. Last weekend you can of the New Year but back to work.
BLACKWELL: It all starts fresh on Monday.
PAUL: It does. I'm Christi Paul.
BLACKWELL: I'm Victor Blackwell. Good to be with you. We're starting this hour with the breaking news this morning. Indonesian search teams have now found four large objects believed to be from Airasia Flight 8501.
PAUL: Apparently they were all found in the priority search area there in the Java Sea where that plane went down last Sunday with 162 people on board. Officials say the largest piece measures 59 feet long.
BLACKWELL: So we're hearing this as Indonesia's Transport Ministry says the airline did not have permission to fly from the city of Surabaya in Indonesia to Singapore six days ago. That's the route the doomed plane took when in disappeared from radar. Indonesia is launching an investigation.
PAUL: So we're following the latest on Airasia Flight 8501 with our team of experts here. We want to start with CNN's Andrew Stevens who is in Surabaya in Indonesia. Andrew, good to see you. What can you tell us about these four new objects now that we're learning were found in the Java Sea?
ANDREW STEVENS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Two more have been added to the list, Both sizable pieces of debris. We don't exactly know what they are and the investigators are going to continue to search and see whether they can track back where they found that debris back to the main crash site, if you will.
They don't know where that is at the moment, but these are all very, very important clues, bigger pieces, they won't have traveled so far as the smaller bits of debris that are being picked up. We do know as you say that they are sizable pieces up to 59 feet long, big rectangular objects.
At this stage, there are vessels on the site. The weather has been very bad today, Christi, so that really has hampered eyes on, getting people in the water, getting remotely operated vehicles into the water.
Drones, if you will, to see what those objects are. We don't know what they are at the moment because conditions were just too bad to get underwater at all. So it's all slowly coming together at this stage. More and more bits of debris are being found. No more new bodies have been found.
Again, that was conditions, but we're being told that the rest of the searchers could expect a bit of a break tomorrow from the bad weather so that could be crucial in getting to these seabed bits of debris and identifying exactly what they are and tracing back to the main crash from there.
PAUL: You know, something that may be perplexing the people is this report in "The Wall Street Journal" that asserts this flight wasn't even permitted to be in the air last Sunday when it was flying. What have you learned about that?
STEVENS: Well, the Indonesian transport ministry has come out and said quite clearly that Airasia Indonesia was not licensed to fly between Surabaya and Singapore on Sunday, on the day that flight went missing. They are licensed to fly four days a week, but Sunday is not one of them.
This is actually what the Indonesian Transport Ministry said. The flight of Indonesia Airasia route Surabaya Singapore was operated outside the permitted license. This is a violation against the agreement of the route provider.
Now they have launched an investigation. They are investigating on three fronts. They are looking at the operations of Airasia Indonesia obviously. They are also looking at why this plane was actually allowed to fly if it wasn't permitted to fly.
What was going on at Surabaya International Airport to allow to the fly and they are also looking at the director general of transports own department to find out, again, why this plane could fly if it didn't have the correct paperwork.
Now the ramifications of this are still unclear, Christi, but if you look at it and the people I've been speaking to, they say it does carry a certain legal implications obviously, but also insurance implications.
Would this plane have been insured if it wasn't supposed to be flying in the first place? These are the questions that are going to have to be answered. Honestly, the families of the victims will want to know exactly the case here.
Airasia itself has said we are aware of these investigations. We are going to assist where we can and we are not going to talk about it until there is a conclusion of those investigations.
PAUL: All right. Andrew Stevens, we appreciate it so much, thank you. I want to point out that Andrew, you know, has had a unique perspective in talking with some of the victims' families. Here's what one woman told him a little bit ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SIENNY GUNAWAN, FAMILY WAS ON AIRASIA 8501: I try to be strong because one, my family. I try to be strong, and I still believe he'll come back. I don't know why. From the beginning, from the first time, I believe he's safe. I don't know, still alive. Maybe you can call me crazy, but I feel in my heart that he's alive somewhere. I don't know.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL: All right, so you can understand, I think anybody can understand until you find something substantial as she said, until you let me see the body I'm not going to give up hope.
So, this of course with search teams who are battling waves, we're learning this morning reaching 18 feet, strong winds, as they search for more debris from Airasia Flight 8501. We're covering this from all angles.
Joining us now is CNN safety analyst and former FAA safety inspector, David Soucie, in New York. He is the author of "Why Planes Crash." He is also the author of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370.
We also have CNN aviation analyst and former inspector general for the Department of Transportation, Mary Schiavo, and Karen Maginnis with more on the weather conditions.
But David, I want to start with you. So four pieces now we understand found, one of them 60 feet long almost in the Java Sea, do you believe that they are getting closer to the core area where the main part of the wreckage most likely may be sitting?
DAVID SOUCIE, CNN SAFETY ANALYST: Well, it certainly is an indicator as to where the main wreckage would be, this is not, to me, what the main wreckage is. These are pieces that may have come off of the aircraft prior to hitting the water or after the water. It's just too early to tell what this means exactly.
BLACKWELL: Mary, the flight boxes have not been discovered and we understand that the condition there is make this obviously very difficult. Do you think that there will be enough time considering the weather there, the volatility of this very shallow water?
MARY SCHIAVO, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: Well, I do because we still have about three weeks to go on the battery life and sometimes the batteries can actually last longer than the projected 30 days, and of course sometimes they become detached or damaged in the crash sequence.
But in many crashes it's been situation where it's been divers that have found them. They put eyes on them or gone through the wreckage and found them that way.
Certainly at this point there is no reason to think that they won't be able to find them. And as soon as the weather permits they can get those pinger locators working again as well. So I think they will.
BLACKWELL: Mary, do you find that there is any greater relevancy of this new investigation into Airasia Indonesia or is this just a peripheral element as crews continue to search for the victims and the wreckage?
SCHIAVO: No, I think this is probably the tip of the iceberg of what we're going to find. Our own federal aviation administration actually grades foreign countries on their compliance with ICAO aviation safety regulations and many times the FAA has found Indonesia fails, they were given unacceptable ratings.
The significance will be two-fold, but there will be many issues. But first of all was this flight crowding an overcrowded air corridor where the limits on the number of flights permitted to fly, the licensing requirement to keep the air traffic from swamping the air traffic controllers in the air corridor.
And two, if they were flying without permission what other rules have they overlooked. So I think this is just, you know, starting to -- there will be many more violations and problems uncovered, but this is a big issue as to why they were there and did they contribute to the problem by swamping air traffic control?
BLACKWELL: And David, we know from reports that there were other planes in the area at the time. I imagine there are certain challenges that are presented when you have obviously this difficult storm, but so many planes in a tight compacted area.
SOUCIE: Yes. The problem here was that they requested to go to a different altitude, but they weren't given that authority because of the fact that there were other aircraft in that area. As Mary said this may have contributed to why the aircraft wasn't able to react and ended up in a situation that they weren't prepared to handle.
BLACKWELL: Do the regulating bodies consider the number of planes that typically go in and out of an airport when they issue a license to fly on a certain day? Is that the primary consideration? Is that possibly why Airasia Indonesia was not licensed to fly on a Sunday?
SOUCIE: Yes, as a matter of fact they did have authority to fly this route until just recently, last month. At that point, they were supposed to restrict that flight through March.
Now this indicates a couple things in a lot of different levels. The airline itself didn't return the route which is their responsibility to do that.
The other thing is that the overseeing authority allowed them to continue to fly even though they hadn't, which indicates there is a lack of oversight as to over the airline which they do have a history of, ICAO has done several attempts to work with Indonesia to change the way that they do their oversight systems.
This is a developing problem with Indonesia and they have been working on trying to change that. But it's slow in coming and ICAO is aware of that and they have been investigating that.
BLACKWELL: Yes. Developing challenge as this market for air travel in this part of the world continues to develop. Mary Schiavo, David Soucie, thank you so much.
SCHIAVO: Thank you.
PAUL: All right, I want to bring Karen Maginnis in because part of the real hurdle here has been the weather. Karen, what does it look like there today?
KAREN MAGINNIS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: You know, at the time of the crash we were looking at that typical monsoon rain. The heavy downpours, the thunderstorm tops around 50,000 to 53,000 feet.
Now that this search area has narrowed near where it was last reported, we have seen just days after day after day of vessels both on the water as well as into the air, we have looked at such poor weather conditions.
Saturday, this Saturday has been dreadful across the region. You heard about the wave heights there between 13 and about 18 feet. But now our computer models are suggesting there's going to be a break. Is this going to give the searchers time enough to do everything they need to do? Probably not.
But this is the best that we can have or to hope for this region. This is kind of a wind graft, winds coming out of the northwest. They have been brisk 25-mile-an-hour winds.
You get low visibility, you get sloshing waves. You get high wave heights. You get the cloud cover for the pilots that are in the area, both for aircraft as well as for the helicopters. But now we start to see a little blue here.
When you see that yellow disappear that's where the stronger winds have been located. But as we go into Sunday and for Monday afternoon, it looks like, Christi and Victor, lighter winds, improved visibility. Not perfectly clear but a whole lot better that it has been.
PAUL: No doubt. All righty, Karen Maginnis, thank you so much.
BLACKWELL: Another developing story this weekend, the U.S. is sanctioning North Korea for its alleged role in the Sony hack case. We'll have details on what these new sanctions include.
PAUL: And all you have got to hear this story, a twin engine plane crash killed four people. But a 7-year-old on that flight, the sole survivor, and wait until you hear how they found out about this plane.
BLACKWELL: It's an amazing story. Of course, for more information about who was lost on Airasia Flight 8501, go to CNN.com/impact. There you'll find resources and ways you can help these grieving families in this tragedy. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLACKWELL: President Obama signed an executive order slamming North Korea with a new set of economic sanctions. It's in response to its alleged role in hacking Sony over the movie "The Interview" that satire about North Korea's leader.
PAUL: CNN's senior White House correspondent, Jim Acosta, has details for us. Good morning, Jim.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Christy and Victor, taking care of a serious piece of business at the end of his vacation in Hawaii President Obama is turning up the heat on North Korea, in response to the cyberattack on Sony. The Obama administration maintains North Korea was behind that attack, officials say the sanctions announced are just the beginning.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: All right, guys, happy New Year.
ACOSTA (voice-over): The new sanctions ordered by President Obama are being dubbed by the White House as broad and powerful and only the initial U.S. response to North Korea's alleged cyberattack on Sony Pictures.
Senior administration officials say they are aimed at any and all officials of the North Korean government, its political hierarchy as well as the heart of Pyongyang's shadowy cyber operation and the money that finances it.
Specifically blocked from any dealings with U.S. are financial firms, the RGB, North Korea's intelligence operation, Comed, it's primary arms dealer, plus a chief defense research and development firm.
In a letter to House Speaker John Boehner, the president said his executive order adds to sanctions already in place and is not targeted at the people of North Korea, but rather is aimed at the government of North Korea and its activities that threatened the United States and others.
The president vowed to hold Pyongyang responsible just before leaving for his annual vacation in Hawaii.
PRESIDENT OBAMA: They caused a lot of damage and we will respond. We will respond proportionally and we'll respond in a place and time and manner that we choose.
ACOSTA: In an interview with CNN, Mr. Obama called North Korea's actions a kind of cybervandalism the U.S. will be dealing with for years to come.
PRESIDENT OBAMA: We're going to be in this environment in this new world where so much is digitalized that both state and non-state actors are going to have the capacity to disrupt our lives in all sorts of ways. We have to do a much better job of guarding against that, we have to treat it like we would treat the incidents of crime in our countries.
ACOSTA: The White House appeared to suggest that the U.S. was not behind that vast internet outage in North Korea in the days after the president's comments. Press Secretary Josh earnest said in a statement the sanctions are the first aspect of our response.
A senior administration official went further saying the U.S. is not ruling out the possibility that North Korea may have done it to themselves.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA: Just how much these sanctions will pinch North Korea's already isolated economy is unclear. Senior administration officials say the U.S. is not certain whether the 10 people targeted in the sanctions even have assets in the U.S., but the White House making it very clear they are just getting warmed up. Jim Acosta, CNN, traveling with the president in Honolulu.
PAUL: All right, Jim Acosta, thank you so much.
BLACKWELL: All right, 19 minutes after the hour now. We've got a lot to tell you this morning. Here is your "Morning Read."
BLACKWELL: According to a 911 tape, the police chief of a community near Atlanta says he accidentally shot his wife while he was sleeping with a gun in the bed. William McCollum's wife is in critical condition in the hospital right now. He has not been charged with a crime, but is on administrative leave while the shooting is being investigated.
BLACKWELL: A small plane went down in Kentucky killing four people, but a 7-year-old girl on that flight miraculously survived and then walked to a nearby home to get help.
Our Nick Valencia spoke with the 71-year-old man who lives at that home. You're going to listen to his really emotional description what if this girl looked like, what she was saying when she showed up at his door and what happened next. But we do know that officials have found her injuries are non-life threatening. We'll have more on that.
PAUL: And two Apple customers are suing the company for more than $5 million claiming false advertising over iPhone's storage space. Apple's new software takes up three gigabytes of storage space on an iPhone 6. That's 19 percent of the phone's 16 gigs of advertised space and the plaintiffs say it's defective and misleading for the average consumer.
BLACKWELL: Checking sports now, the NFL playoffs kick off today. The first of two wild card games, the Arizona Cardinals and the Panthers face off at 4:35 Eastern, then the Baltimore Ravens visit Pittsburgh to battle their rivals the Steelers tonight at 8:15.
PAUL: The Steelers. We know who Victor is rooting for.
BLACKWELL: The Baltimore Ravens.
PAUL: I love it. In weather, winter storms may delay or change your travel plans this weekend. We want you to be safe out there. Look at the snow falling. This is in Lubbock, Texas earlier this morning. It's pretty, isn't it?
As much as a half foot could accumulate in parts of Western Texas which could get dicey. The lone star state's not alone, 24 states facing winter weather warnings and advisories today. There is your map. Do stay safe wherever you are.
BLACKWELL: All right, Police Commissioner Bill Bratton is sending a stern message to his force. In a new memo to the NYPD, Bratton called for respect as law enforcement officials get ready to say good-bye to one of their own. Up next, will his words ease escalating tensions or will they ignite more anger?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLACKWELL: A hero's funeral is about grieving, not airing grievances. That's the message to the NYPD from Police Commissioner Bill Bratton as officers prepare to say good-bye to Wenjin Liu.
You know, he's one of the two officers ambushed and gunned down in the streets of New York. His partner, Raphael Ramos' funeral was last week and it was during that service some police officers turned their backs on Mayor Bill De Blasio as he spoke.
That was a silent symbol of anger and frustration toward the mayor's handling of recent community tensions with police. Let's bring in CNN's Sara Ganim in New York.
Sara, I wonder if we can expect the same turn-out as we saw last week, because tens of thousands of officers, not only from New York, but across the country came there. Can we expect to see the same thing this weekend?
SARA GANIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We do expect the same thing, Victor, and the services for Officer Wenjin Liu begin today with a wake at 1:00 in Brooklyn. Now, that is actually closed to the public, but later this afternoon at 4:00 in Chinatown, there will be a more public vigil where members of the community can come and pay their respects to the officer.
Tomorrow is the funeral and tomorrow like you said we do expect similar turnout to what happened last weekend with Officer Ramos' funeral. Thousands of police officers from across the country would show up to pay their respects.
JetBlue has already confirmed that they are flying in more than 1,100 officers from different jurisdictions across the country to attend. We also expect the FBI director to be there, the police commissioner, William Bratton, and New York's Mayor Bill De Blasio.
Now that's significant, Victor, like you mentioned because of the ongoing tensions between De Blasio and he NYPD, those started -- escalated I should say, actually, after De Blasio's comments about the decision not to indict an NYPD officer who was involved in the apparent choke hold death of Eric Garner earlier this year.
Now last week as you mentioned, at Raphael Ramos' funeral many NYPD turned their backs on Mayor Bill De Blasio and there were pictures that were taken of that event. Those were powerful, they circulated through the media.
Because of that, because the storyline became much about what happened about them turning their backs on the mayor of New York City, the police commissioner, William Bratton, has issued a memo asking the officers not do that again tomorrow.
As you mentioned, he said a hero's funeral is about grieving, it's not about grievance. He said this isn't a mandate that he won't be disciplining anyone over this but said this.
I want to read you a little bit from his memo. He said it was not all of the officers and it was not disrespect directed at Detective Ramos, but all officers were painted by it.
And it stole the valor, honor and attention that rightfully belonged to the memory of Detective Rafael Ramos' life and sacrifice. That was not the intent I know, but it was the result -- Victor.
BLACKWELL: All right, we'll see if those officers grant that request of the commissioner. We'll continue to watch the grieving of not just the city, but the country as the second of these two officers is laid to rest. Sara Ganim in New York, thank you, Sara -- Christi.
PAUL: Some breaking news this morning, four large pieces of debris have now been spotted. Are they from Airasia 8501? Are they getting closer to the core site there?
And also, new questions about whether that plane should have even been in the sky last Sunday. We're examining all of it, stay close.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PAUL: We have some breaking news this morning. Searchers may be zeroing in now on the location of AirAsia Flight 8501.
BLACKWELL: Search teams have now found four large objects believed to be from the plane. They are all in the priority search area in the Java Sea where the aircraft went down Sunday with 162 on board.
This is zoomed in area. You see here the view. You can see just how close these areas are together. Officials say the largest piece measures 59 feet long.
PAUL: This, of course, as Indonesia's transport minister says the airline did not have permission to fly from the city of Surabaya in Indonesia to Singapore six days ago. That's the route the doomed plane took when it disappeared from radar. Now Indonesia is launching an investigation.
BLACKWELL: Air Asia's CEO Tony Fernandes meanwhile tweeted this on the search efforts. "Many messages of strength for my staff all over Asia. Makes me sure we will come back stronger but first and only priority is families."
Let's talk about some of these latest developments with CNN's Paula Hancocks. She's live at a hospital in coastal Indonesia where a lot of the victims are being taken. Paula, you've been following this story all week. And I'd imagine that the discovery of more debris could spark a myriad of responses from the people who are there waiting for news of their loved ones. What is the response when they hear about these pieces of the plane that are being discovered?
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well certainly the hope is that they're narrowing in on exactly where the bulk of the plane is if there is still an intact bulk and obviously officials are concerned that there may be a number of passengers and crew that may still be within that fuselage if it is still intact. So, of course, the hope is that these large objects and they are pretty large, are going to be a significant find.
But of course the problem is because of the weather today they haven't been able to get photographic evidence. They haven't been able to send submersibles down, send divers down to find out exactly what they are looking at. The waves today have been up to about 18 feet in some places. There are dozens of divers sitting on deck not able to get in the water because it's simply too dangerous.
The hope is, though, there is some good news that tomorrow will be better. So Sunday we could see waves of just up to about seven feet, still quite high and still choppy but nothing like we have been seeing.
We went up in a helicopter a little bit earlier with the police. They were combing along the coastline on the west coast of Borneo to see if any of these bodies and debris have been washed up as many officials believe they may be in the coming days. But after half an hour we had to abort that mission because the weather was too bad. It is severely hampering this search operation -- Victor, Christi. BLACKWELL: Paula, we know that just a few of the 30 bodies that have
been recovered have been identified. And we understand that many angles of this story are difficult to discuss, but how difficult is the process of positively identifying these remains?
HANCOCKS: Well, these bodies are in salt water at the moment so obviously the decomposition rate is fairly high. It is less than ideal for those who are trying to identify the bodies. They say that they would like the bodies to be retrieved as soon as possible, not just for identification, of course, but also to give some kind of closure to those distraught families waiting for their loved ones.
Now, I spoke to the director of the DVI, the group involved in this identification process earlier on and I asked him how do you do it?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANTON CASTILANI, DISASTER VICTIM IDENTIFICATION: The first identified dead body was identified using our (inaudible) using fingerprint, and there after we have to find another method, let's say using odontogram (ph) or dental records, DNA and some other things.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANCOCKS: Now, there is also a window obviously that the search and rescue teams are working with here because, of course, those bodies that are not within the fuselage, that are loose and floating in the water, that may be floating at this point within several days may sink to the bottom and, of course, that makes it far more difficult to be able to find them and then retrieve them.
BLACKWELL: All right. Paula Hancocks -- reporting outside a hospital there along Indonesia's coast. Paula -- thank you so much.
PAUL: You've got to hear this story. A little girl, the sole survivor of a plane crash walked nearly a mile to some random home to get help. You're going to hear from the man who opened his door and found that little girl on his doorstep.
Plus, you know, within hours ordinary flu symptoms can turn deadly for young children. 15 kids have died already this year. What we need to know next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PAUL: 38 minutes past the hour. You know, a twin engine plane crashed last night in Kentucky, killed four people. This is what is so remarkable -- the seven-year-old girl on the flight survived.
BLACKWELL: Let's bring in CNN national reporter Nick Valencia. Nick -- it's amazing that this girl just had the wherewithal to get off this plane with her family there dead, and walk in the right direction to get to someone. Tell us what happened.
NICK VALENCIA, CNN NATIONAL REPORTER: You know mom, dad, sister, cousin -- all dead. Four people died in this plane crash. Small plane -- twin engine plane; these are the type of planes sort of used for a business trip, personal trips. It was on its way from Florida to Illinois where this family was from.
When the pilot, we believe it was the father that was flying this plane, he makes a distress call to the air traffic controllers and about 6:00 p.m. that plane loses contact.
Larry Wilkins lives in western rural Kentucky where this plane went down. 71 years old, he's at his home. He tells us what he was doing when he heard a knock at his door.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LARRY WILKINS, TOOK IN SEVEN-YEAR-OLD SURVIVOR: I just got through watching the evening news and the local evening news and walked in there to get on the computer on Facebook and whatever and see what was going on. And before I got to sit down that's when the dog started hollering and barking. And opened the door and there she was.
If you could see the terrain, you would realize how incredible it really was. Bare-footed and seven years old -- that's the incredible part that she was just -- amazing to me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VALENCIA: Yes, just amazing. He said he had a porch light on at his house, not very many homes in this rural area, a very wooded area. He said he could only assume that's how this seven-year-old girl got to his home. He says he is thankful that she did. He wishes that he could have done more. He said he cleaned her up as well as he could. That state police were in the area. They showed up about 10 minutes later. And EMT showed up. It's just a remarkable story that she was able to survive.
PAUL: So do we know who she is with and where she is now?
VALENCIA: You know, we don't know her whereabouts. She was taken to the hospital with non life-threatening injuries. So she is expected to survive. But just the conditions that she had to go through to get there. In 2008, this area apparently had a bad ice storm, lots of downed trees, lots of creeks, very cold. This girl was wearing shorts.
PAUL: Oh my God.
VALENCIA: Had one sock on, dressed for Florida. Not to mention that -- I mean her family had just died. So like you were saying, Victor, you know, to have that wherewithal.
BLACKWELL: The moment that strikes me among a lot of moments in this story but when she asks this elderly man will you go with me to the hospital. And he has to say no because he's not a relative.
VALENCIA: He said that that sort of -- that's what really got him. He sees this little girl quivering, she's in shock. They are having trouble making sense of what if she is saying because she just had been through a plane crash. She asks him can you come to the hospital and he can't go. He says he wants to get in touch with her. We hope they make that --
PAUL: I absolutely hope that happens. Yes, more connection between those two, certainly.
Nick Valencia -- thank you.
VALENCIA: Thanks.
BLACKWELL: Thank you Nick.
So flu season is here and this disease, this virus, is moving fast. The Centers for Disease Control has already declared this year's flu season an epidemic. Flu activity is elevated across the country and at a high level in 22 states.
PAUL: So, if you haven't gotten a flu shot, this is why you might want to reconsider. Strains are spreading fast and in some cases they are deadly for young children. We're talking about 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 (ph) died Christmas Eve. Her mother believes she might have survived had she not had a pre-existing medical condition.
EVELYN HANSON, RUBY HANSON'S SISTER: The flu would have not did her in had she not had Gervais 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, CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION: The most common virus that we're seeing causing disease right now is this H3N2. When we've seen H3N2 predominate in previous seasons we've seen relatively severe seasons. 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 shift the other day, I saw about 35 patients. I saw 10 positive flu swabs. And 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)
BLACKWELL: All right. So January 15th is a little more than a week away. And that is the day that according to those close to Hillary Clinton, that we will know whether she's running for president.
Coming up next, why the timing could be critical and what it could mean for other possible contenders.
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PAUL: January 15th, that is the day according to those close to Hillary Clinton that we will know whether she's running for president. The former Secretary of State has long indicated shed will make the big decision before mid January.
This timing could be critical here. Clinton has dominated the Democrats' 2016 conversation so far. The bench some say pretty thin so if she doesn't say no within a few weeks she may put her party in a tough spot.
I want to bring in our political strategists from Washington: Democrat Liz Chadderdon and Republican Lisa Boothe. Ladies, thank you so much for being with us; we appreciate it.
LIZ CHADDERDON, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Hi Christi -- thanks for having us.
LISA BOOTHE, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Hi. How are you?
CHADDERDON: How are you?
PAUL: Liz -- all right. Liz, what do you think she's going to do?
CHADDERDON: I don't think she's going to announce on January 15. I really don't. I don't have any inside information. I just think it's going to be a little early because the moment she announces she becomes the target for every Republican running and I think at this point there are close to 20 Republicans running.
So the last thing Hillary wants to do is to become the target of all of those Republicans. What we want is for those Republicans to target each other. I just don't see her making an announcement until April, maybe even May. She has nothing to gain by an early announcement. The party may want her to get in so that everyone else can say ok, never mind, Hillary's running and they can go about their way. But I just don't see Hillary getting in prior to April.
PAUL: All right. So she just -- Liz just said there were 20 people or so on the Republican ticket in terms of who is going to be on the ticket we should say. So Lisa, we've heard a lot about Jeb Bush recently, you know, that he is exploring the run, resigned from all of his corporate nonprofit boards. What do you think?
BOOTHE: Well, Christi, you are absolutely right to point those things out. Those are definitely strong indications that he is going to run. But for Republicans there's positives and negatives with Jeb Bush. The positives are the fact that he has a strong economic record as governor and if you look at his second race for governor he did exceptionally well with Hispanics. I think he got 60 percent of the Hispanic vote; 14 percent with African-Americans and tied with women voters. And those are obviously all key constituencies that Republicans need to do better with.
The concerns are I think for a lot of conservatives are with his stance on immigration and education. So I really think it's going to come down to his ability to explain those two issues to primary voters in early primary states that could make or break his candidacy. But for Republicans as you pointed out we do have a lot of people that are interested in running so it's certainly not a foregone conclusion. We have a deep bench of governors like Chris Christie and Scott Walker and with congressmen and senators like Marco Rubio and Rand Paul.
As a Republican I'm excited to hear from all of them.
PAUL: But a recent poll showed that matchup between Clinton and Bush again -- which a lot of people are thinking again, really -- would put Clinton ahead.
BOOTHE: Yes.
PAUL: But that he was the strongest of the candidates, the potential candidates out there so far. Liz, do the Democrats want Bush?
CHADDERSON: At this point we're not so much worried about who the Republican nominee is going to be. I will say that it's been 22 years since or I guess now 23 years since 1992 since the last Bush/Clinton match-up. This would be a different Bush and a different Clinton but I have to tell you, I don't think as Americans we're interested in looking backwards. I really think we're interested in looking forward.
I would be stunned if Jeb Bush is the eventual Republican nominee particularly with a big field that's getting ready to run. He's come out early. There is a lot of reason for him to come out early, try to soak up a lot of the early money. Absolutely gain the middle ground, take a lot of wind out of Marco Rubio's sails, out of Chris Christie's sails. It makes a lot of sense for him to come out early.
It's almost exactly the opposite of Hillary coming out early. But I just don't think we're going to see Bush/Clinton.
PAUL: But wait a minute. If we don't want to look back some would argue Clinton is looking back as well, is it not? I mean even Mrs. Bush said --
CHADDERDON: I don't think so.
PAUL: -- there are more people to run for the White House than two families.
CHADDERDON: I appreciate that. However, Hillary Clinton will be the first female president of the United States. That is looking forward. That is progress. That is breaking all kinds of glass ceilings. So while Jeb Bush might just be one more white guy, Hillary Clinton would be absolutely moving forward.
BOOTHE: Look, I appreciate the historical connotation but that's not a reason to elect someone -- right. Let's look at someone's record. And the problem with Hillary Clinton, Democrats are going to have a lot of problems with her. She already has problems with the base. We've seen group likes Democracy for America and moveon.org that are actively campaigning for Elizabeth Warren to run because they are dissatisfied with Hillary Clinton.
She also owns President Obama's failed record which was soundly rejected by historical proportions in both the 2010 and 2014 midterm elections. Hillary-care paved the way for Obamacare which has been incredibly unpopular since its inception. The majority of Americans have rejected it since day one. She's also directly responsible as former Secretary of State for President Obama's failed foreign policy record like the Russia reset.
So look, Democrats have a lot of problems with their hands on Hillary Clinton. And let's face it, she is no Bill Clinton. She does not have the likability factor that Bill Clinton has.
PAUL: Liz, you have the last moment here.
CHADDERDON: Well, obviously I couldn't disagree more just with about everything that just came out of her mouth. The truth of the matter is that Hillary Clinton is actually going to be a terrific candidate and a terrific first female president of the United States. And whether or not she is responsible for things that have happened in the past, she was one of the most popular secretaries of state in the history of this country, beloved around the world.
She is going to be one heck of a candidate. And frankly I at this point, I don't see any of the Republican field being able to come close to Hillary Clinton -- not one.
PAUL: All right. Lisa Boothe and Liz Chadderdon -- we appreciate your thoughts so much, ladies.
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CHADDERDON: Thank you for having us. BOOTHE: Thank you.
PAUL: Take good care.
BLACKWELL: All right. Ahead on "SMERCONISH" at the top of the hour, another big story in the political world that has a lot of people talking, and a provocative interview with former Klansman and Republican politician David Duke on that topic. He says he's rubbed elbows with politicians on both sides of the aisle and that he will name names if any are hypocritical over revelations that House Republican whip Steve Scalise spoke to Duke supporters back in 2012. Listen.
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MICHAEL SMERCONISH, CNN HOST: You said this week that if he's crucified -- I think that was your word choice, then you're going to name names. What are we talking about?
DAVID DUKE, KLANSMAN: I would name names of any Democrat -- and I know some Democrats and Republicans in the House of Representatives, who tried in fact, urged me to support them. Legally, in fact I did.
SMERCONISH: In other words, you're saying there are members of Congress today who have relationships with you --
DUKE: Have had relationships.
SMERCONISH: But they choose to keep those private. And you honor that.
DUKE: And that's fine. And I respect somebody's privacy.
SMERCONISH: But you'll call them out.
DUKE: But I would call them out if they're hypocritical.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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PAUL: Are you seeing something like this as you peer out the window this morning? So are your friends in Lubbock, Texas there because that's what they see. As much as a half foot could accumulate in part of Western Texas today.
BLACKWELL: And the Lone Star State is not, well, alone; 24 states are facing winter weather warnings and advisories today.
PAUL: Karen Maginnis in the CNN weather center with the very latest. All right, Karen, what's it looking like for everybody?
KAREN MAGINNIS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Ok. How does this sound to you, you guys. Snow, ice, wind, flooding, arctic air -- let's see what else I left out. I think that covers it.
PAUL: That would be enough.
BLACKWELL: It's almost too much.
MAGINNIS: It is. And this is all in the eastern half of the United States -- kind of a complex weather scenario developing here as a little clipper system moves down across the northern tier. That plunges the temperatures down all across the northern tier.
Stormy weather along the Gulf Coast -- what does this remind you of? What we saw about a week and a half ago with the tornados that struck portions of Louisiana and into Mississippi and they were deadly. But look at the arctic plunge that we're expecting as we go into Wednesday -- minus 3 the expected high temperature in Chicago. You go from temperatures single digits to teens, to below zero. Then you head to St. Louis and you'll only be about 12 degrees coming up on Wednesday.
For Atlanta we've enjoyed some fairly mild weather, but temperatures hovering around that freezing mark by Thursday. Warm, moist air ahead of this weather system and we watch this area of low pressure trekking from the four corners all the way into the lower Mississippi River Valley, and then head to the northeast; that, with the clipper system, and we've got the makings for ice.
They are saying Kansas City, and St. Louis, parts of West Virginia, right around Pittsburgh -- ice is making it very difficult so if you are trying to travel home after the long holiday break, it is going to be treacherous and bone chilling cold. Thunderstorms expected along the Gulf Coast -- Christi, Victor.
PAUL: All right. Thanks for the heads up -- Karen.
BLACKWELL: All right. Some other stories making news this morning, coming up at the top of the hour, John Hinckley will not face new charges in the death of former President Ronald Reagan's press secretary. James Brady's death last summer was ruled a homicide three decades after he was shot when Hinckley tried to assassinate President Reagan. Hinckley had faced charges related to Brady's shooting during his 1982 trial but he was found not guilty by reason of insanity.
PAUL: Officials in Cleveland have turned over the investigation into the shooting death of 12-year-old Tamir Rice to the local county sheriff's department. Rice was shot and killed by a Cleveland police officer back in November. The mayor says the case is being transferred to insure transparency and accountability.
Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid is home from the hospital after breaking several ribs and bones in his face. The Nevada Democrat was using a piece of exercise equipment when he fell according to his office. He is 75 years old. He was an amateur lightweight boxer in college.
PAUL: Who knew?
BLACKWELL: He is expected to make a full recovery, so good news there.
Listen, we'll see you back here at 10:00 Eastern in the CNN newsroom.
PAUL: That's right.
"SMERCONISH" though starts for you right now. Stay close.
