Return to Transcripts main page

NEWS STREAM

First AirAsia Crash Victim Identified; Pope Francis Delivers Message Of Peace On New Year's Day; Foot Power Could Be Energy Source Of Future; 36 Dead In New Year's Stampede In Shanghai

Aired January 01, 2015 - 08:00   ET

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

KRISTIE LU STOUT, HOST: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong. And welcome to News Stream where news and technology meet.

Now the search for the main wreckage of AirAsia flight 8501 hits new difficulties as victims' remains are slowly being recovered.

Plus, celebration turns into tragedy in Shanghai after a stampede kills 36 people.

And the pope calls for change in 2015. We'll have more on his new year address.

More heartache as recovery efforts continue for AirAsia flight 8501. Indonesian authorities have made their first identification of a victim, a

woman named Hayati Lutfiah Hamid.

Now her mother is pictured center here at a ceremony to receive her daughter's casket.

Now in all, officials now say nine bodies have been recovered from the Java Sea. And teams looking for the main part of the plane's wreckage are

struggling with bad weather across the search zone.

Now so far, eight bodies have made it to land where they were processed at a hospital in Pangkalan Bun, Indonesia before being returned

to their families.

Paula Hancocks reports on the hospital's efforts to bring dignity to the deceased.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Sirens in the night announce their arrival. Victims of flight 8501 on dry land and

rushed into this hospital at Pangkalan Bun. The next morning, two more bodies arrive. Red Cross and hospital workers take them to a private wing

to be prepared for the next stop, identification by distraught families.

The hospital director says he's here 24 hours a day to give the deceased the respect they deserve.

"Because they've been in the water some days", he tells me, "the bodies are swollen, but otherwise they're intact."

Patients look unsomberly, their own ailments forgotten in the face of such tragedy. Coffins are being delivered to give dignity to those who lost

their lives so suddenly.

(on camera): This hospital has never had to deal with a tragedy on this scale before. They have about two dozen caskets at the moment that are

being built as we speak. The hospital director says they will have 162, one for every victim of this crash.

(voice-over): Final player for each soul, leaders of six different religions take their turn. The victim's religion may not be known but

customs must still be observed.

"Their time on earth is over", says this pastor, "so many of our prayers are for the family. We ask God to receive their bodies and give the

families strength."

One step closer to their final resting place.

So few victims have been found and treated, so many more still wait to be pulled from their watery graves.

Paula Hancocks, CNN, Pangkalan Bun, Indonesia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: And for more on the recovery operation, we'll go live to Surabaya, Indonesia later in the program.

Now in Shanghai, China a New Year's Eve celebration went horribly wrong. Three dozen people were killed in a deadly stampede.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Shock and horror in Shanghai after a deadly stampede breaks out at a New Year's celebration on the city's famous riverfront The Bund.

Chinese state media report at least 36 people are dead and more than 40 injured. According to state media many of the dead were students.

Posts on social media show huge crowds packing pedestrian areas along the Huangpu River and emergency workers working on site. Witnesses

describe scenes of utter chaos.

In a hospital waiting room, scenes of grief and mourning with desperate relatives sobbing and wailing for their loved ones.

"Now, I just want to know what is going on inside the hospital," this woman says. "Many relatives had requested to go inside and asked the

hospital to give us a list of the injured, including the conscious and unconscious ones. They're being treated in there, but nobody got back to

us.

A witness told China's Xinhua News Agency that people were scrambling for dollar-shaped coupons, fake bills that resemble U.S. 100 dollar notes,

which were thrown from the third floor of a nearby building. Chinese authorities are investigating the cause of the stampede, a human disaster

that took place after 11:35 p.m. in New Year's Eve. A shocking and utterly tragic end to 2014 in China.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Now people return to The Bund today to lay flowers and pay their respects. Again, 36 people dead in Shanghai at a New Year's

celebration that turned into tragedy.

Now let's go back to the recovery operation for AirAsia flight 8501. CNN's Gary Tuchman joins me now live from Surabaya, Indonesia. And Gary,

the first victim has been identified, but many, many more victims remain at sea yet to be recovered.

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kristie, it's been almost five days since this terrible tragedy and only nine bodies have been recovered.

There are still 153 people to be found, including the captain of the AirAsia flight.

So, just who is this man who was the captain of the flight? We talked to the people who know him the very best, who loved him: his wife, his

children and his parents.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TUCHMAN (voice-over): This is what it looks like today in the home of the captain of AirAsia Flight 8501. This is Captain Iriyanto's 24- year-old

daughter Angela and wife Widiya, his seven-year-old son , Arja (ph). This is his father. This, his mother. And a house full of family and

friends. A house so full that more people are outside in front of the home, as well as out in the street. This is a liat (ph), the Indonesian name for

the traditional visit made when there is a death in the family. But Angela still talks in the present tense about a father she adores.

ANGELA (through translator): He is kind, wise, and humorous. He's easygoing. He's intelligent. He never raises his voice. He's never angry.

I'm very proud of him.

TUCHMAN: Family and friends occasionally glance at the TV that stays on with nonstop coverage of the AirAsia crash. Pictures of Iriyanto are all

over the home, a wedding photo, a picture when he was an air force pilot. He went from the air force to one of Indonesia's airlines for 13 years and

then moved on to AirAsia six years ago. One of Iriyanto's friends paying his respects. He's a pilot for another airline.

TUCHMAN (on camera): What kind of pilot was your friend?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): He is a very responsible pilot. We used to be in the air force together. He's very loyal. He's very

kind. In his work environment, he's very kind to his co-pilot, his cabin crew, his ground crew and all the people who fly with him.

TUCHMAN (voice-over): Model planes of jets Iriyanto flew are part of the decoration of the house. His wife says the outpouring of support at

their home is invaluable right now.

RR. WIDIYA SUKATI PUTRI (through translator): I'm happy so many people are here. It gives support to me and my family.

TUCHMAN: Like so many families of AirAsia victims, there was significant hope of survival among members of this family, when the

wreckage was still missing, but Iriyanto's daughter doesn't want to abandon all hope, at least until her father's body is found.

ANGELA: Of course I still expect that he's alive, but at the same time I have to accept the reality.

TUCHMAN: And that's why many of these same family and friends will be back here tomorrow and for days after, offering their support and their

love.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TUCHMAN: In addition to this being a very difficult time for this family, it's also very personal time so we very much appreciate them

letting us in so they can tell us their stories.

Also, regarding the captain Iriyanto, here in Indonesia many people just go by one name, that is his whole name, Iriyanto, a man very much

loved by his family, very much loved by his friends -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: And Gary it's such a difficult time for so many families, all desperate for answers. We know that the weather and the conditions at

sea very challenging for the recovery effort. It has been suspended overnight. Will it resume again tomorrow morning?

TUCHMAN: The plane is for it to resume, but right now we have monsoon-like conditions here and like this all over the region. So, there

is not a lot of optimism that the weather will be much nicer for more of the day tomorrow, but as of now they are scheduled to resume the searching

when the sun comes up tomorrow.

LU STOUT: All right, Gary Tuchman reporting live from Surabaya, Indonesia, many thanks indeed for that.

You're watching News Stream. And still to come, Pope Francis ushered in 2015 with a New Year's message. We'll tell you what was on his wishlist

for the year.

Plus, Egypt's highest court has ordered a retrial for three al Jazeera journalists jailed for more than a year. The details are next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Welcome back. You're watching News Stream. And you're looking at a visual version of all the stories we've got in the show today.

Now we've already brought you the latest on the crash of AirAsia flight 8501 as families wait for their loved ones' remains to be returned

to them.

And later, we'll tell you about the pope's New Year's address. But now to Cairo where three al Jazeera journalists who were sentenced to

prison have been granted a retrial.

Now they've already spent a year behind bars, but the court has denied their request for release before the new trial. Bahar Mohammed, Peter

Greste, Mohamed Fahmy, they were convicted last june of supporting the banned Muslim Brotherhood.

Now the fiancee of Mohamed Fahmy says she is disappointed with the outcome, but will support him no matter what.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARWA OMARA, MOHAMED FAHMY'S FIANCEE: We will marry in prison. And we will hold our wedding vows inside the prison. I believe that it's a

message to the whole world that Mohamed is innocent and I believe in his innocence. And it's a personal message to him that I love him and I know

that he is innocent and I'll be next to him and that the prison bars will never be an obstacle for our marriage.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: Now Fahmy was sentenced to 10 years in jail while his two colleagues received seven.

Let's go now to freelance producer Sarah Sirgani. She joins us on the phone from Cairo.

And Sarah, why did the court say that the journalists are entitled to a retrial?

SARAH SIRGANI, FREELANCE JOURNALIST: This is a (inaudible) court, which is a higher court that looks into procedures and legal points. And

this the argument that the (inaudible) made today. One of the points raised is the lack of jurisdiction of the court that sentenced the

journalists in June with one lawyer arguing that creating a special court for a case is both illegal and unconstitutional. This is in addition to

other procedural flaws that the lawyers pointed to.

And an early probable sign of the (inaudilbe) court, prosecution has also asked for appealing the verdict, Kristie.

LU STOUT: And the family members of the al Jazeera journalists, what are they saying about the court's decision?

SIRGANI: They were disappointed. It wasn't as positive as they hoped to. But lawyers have submitted requests for a release, but the chances

were slim. But the families remained hopeful and were considerably disappointed. They saw a lot of the times during the hearing today what --

how the defendants will remain behind bars until the retrial. And then the judge will decide on this issue.

But the family also noted that the (inaudible) today in today's court room is different from the previous court and the judge was more accepting

and ready to hear lawyers' arguments, Kristie.

LU STOUT: Now the three al Jazeera journalists on trial, they have been behind bars for about a year now. What do we know about their

condition, their physical and their mental state?

SIRGANI: Mohamed Fahmy is -- as his fiancee and his family has noted has hepatitis C. He has suffered from a broken injury right before his

arrest. And due to solitary confinement at the beginning of his imprisonment this injury has deteriorated.

And eventually his family managed to get him into surgery and to provide him with medical treatment where it was denied at the beginning.

With the other -- with the other defendants, the imprisonment has (inaudible) according to the prison that held them.

There have been different campaigns calling for their release. Their imprisonment was synonymous with an attack on Freedom of the Press. And it

has attracted a lot of attention within -- or within -- but also from diplomatic -- from officials and diplomats (inaudible) officials around the

world -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: All right, Sarah Sirgani reporting live on the line from Cairo for us. Thank you, Sarah.

Now Pope Francis marked the new year at the Vatican. Worshippers joined him for a massive thanksgiving at St. Peter's Basilica. And later,

he delivered a new year message on the church's world day of peace.

Now he prayed for an end to war, an end to epidemics. And he called on the world to combat slavery and human trafficking.

Let's go now to our senior Vatican analyst John Allen in Rome. And John, first, what is the significance of this address on this day to the

church, not just the first day of the new year, but a day of peace for the world?

JOHN ALLEN, CNN VATICAN ANALYST: That's right, Kristie. Since 1968, when Pope Paul VI designated the 1st of January as the church's world day

of peace, this has been a day on which pope's have traditionally called for an end to conflicts and called on the international community to redouble

its commitment to peace.

We certainly heard that from Pope Francis today. We heard him saying repeatedly over and over again that peace is possible, peace is always

possible. And he added that prayer is at the root of peace.

Now for this world day of peace, the pope devoted his traditional message, which was released by the Vatican in early December to the fight

against human trafficking and modern slavery. And we heard that theme again from him today talking about how we are all called to join the fight

against human slavery and to promote fraternity among peoples.

Now this capped, Kristie, a year in which the pope has played the role of peacemaker with great verve. We saw him in May traveling to the Middle

East. And ending that trip with an impromptu invitation to the Israeli and Palestinian presidents to join him for a peace prayer on the 8th of June in

the Vatican gardens.

We saw him repeatedly condemning the violence being fueled by ISIS forces in Iraq and Syria when he traveled to Turkey in late November. He

called on Muslim leaders to join him in condemning religious extremism and violence. And of course most recently, just a few days ago, we saw the

pope pay a pivotal role in paving the way to resolve the Cold War tensions between the United States and Cuba.

So, with this message today, Kristie, the signals are that Francis continues -- intends to continue to play that energetic peacemaking role in

2015.

And John, earlier today we saw scores of people there just packed into St. Peter's Square for the pope's address. Could you tell us more about

who was there and what the atmosphere was like?

ALLEN: Sure.

Well, at capacity, St. Peter's Square can hold about 140,000 people or so, and that probably was how many people you had there today. I think the

crowd was extraordinarily festive.

In terms of who was there, it's always a mix of Romans, because of course the pope is the bishop of Rome in -- you know, since time

immemorial, really. It's been a kind of rite of passage in Rome that people will turn out for the pope's Sunday angelus address. Parents will

bring their children for the occasion and so on.

So it's a mix of that and also pilgrims from all around the world. Remember, Kristie, that Rome is the crossroads of the Catholic world. And

St. Peter's Square is kind of the Time's Square of the Catholic church. So you had people from every continent and every race gathered in the square

with the pope today.

Pope Francis is a sort of magnet for humanity. The Vatican recently released figures indicating he had drawn almost 6 million people to various

events in St. Peter's Square during the course of 2014. And if Today is any indication, he may well shatter that mark again in 2015, Kristie.

LU STOUT: A magnet for humanity. Very compelling turn of phrase there. And John, really appreciated your analysis throughout the day.

John Allen joining us live from Rome. Thank you so much and take care.

Now you're watching News Stream. And still to come on the program, new research says people maybe able to become energy producers just be

walking. Stick around.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Coming to you live from Hong Kong, you're back watching News Stream.

Now the ultimate renewable energy of the future maybe generated by human activity. Now scientists have developed tiles that are charged by

our footsteps and movements. Richard Quest takes a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Coal: it fired the steam engines of the industrial revolution and fossil fuels have powered

and transformed our world ever since.

The 1970s energy crisis rang alarm bells and triggered the search for alternative energy forms. So renewables now generate 11 percent of the

world's electricity.

MARK KENBER, CEO, THE CLIMATE GROUP: In many, many countries in the world, renewables are now competitive with coal, oil and gas for power

generation.

QUEST: Today, can harvest electricity from human activity. Special tiles on the ground are charged by our footsteps and movement, making

people perhaps the ultimate renewable energy of the future.

KENBERG: People walk up to 150 million footsteps in their lifetime. When I was walking through a busy trains station in London I thought what

if we could convert energy from every single person walking in a station to a meaningful amount of power.

QUEST: Literally, a light bulb moment, which led to Pavegen, footfall harvesting flooring that can turn the kinetic energy of footsteps to

electricity off the grid.

LAURENCE KENDALL-COOK, CEO, PAVEGEN: Pavegen tiles take just one step to generate up to seven watts of energy. And how it works is the top sheet

deflects when you walk on it. In just a few steps, the lights come on.

Now I can also store that power from, say, 100 steps and then light the power equipment (ph) for a few minutes.

QUEST: The technology is designed to run low voltage equipment. And it's most effective in place with high footfall -- schools, train stations,

even the football stadium of the future.

In Rio de Janeiro, kinetic tiles have been installed alongside solar panels and are powering a neighborhood plagued by blackouts.

KENDALL-COOK: It's a way to inspire future generations into energy saving. But also to show that we need different energy mixes.

Some people walk 40,000 steps a day. So, there's a lot of potential of what is wasted from each step.

Most people go to a gym. Now why are we plugging in those treadmills, why not have those self-powered, charge your cellphone with it, power the

air con in the building and use that energy in a new way.

Whether it's capturing kinetic energy from walking on paving stones, whether it's solar on your own rooftop, whether it's biomass that you can

produce at home, suddenly we've become our own power generators and that's that feeling of independence and excitement.

QUEST: Energy harvesting, it may just be one small step for a man, it's a science which could provide an alternative energy source to power

tomorrow's cities.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: People power. Cool idea.

I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong. And that's all for this shortened edition of News Stream. I'll be back with the headlines.

END