Vanished early sunday during stormy stormy weather. It was flying from the indonesian city of surabaya to singapore. Distraught family members have gathered now at that airport in surabaya where the flight originated. Thats where we find david molko. David, thanks so much for joining me. I cant imagine. I know youre experiencing it alongside them. The grief at that airport, the families learning of that news today. Talk to us about the latest and the recovery effort. What do we know . Hi michaela. Its just 11 00 in the evening here in surabaya and indonesia tonight, surabaya a city in morning, indonesia a nation in mourning confirming that the plane has gone down and that searchandrecovery operation is under way. Whats also different tonight from the past two nights is that operation is continuing around the clock. You haveships in the search zone. We imagine that there are planes that are potentially on the way. The search not suspended by any means, the president joko widodo was here in surabaya at the Crisis Center speaking to families a few hours ago and he said this is an all out effort, our numberone priority is to bring back as many human remains as possible to search and to recover anything and everything thats possible. So right now we know from the head of indonesias searchandrescue agency that at least three bodies have been recovered. Conditions are pretty challenging out there. This is a relatively shallow water, about 100 miles off the coast of borneo we understand in the java sea but the conditions are choppy. Its cloudy were getting reports of fog and then there are waves up to ten feet. Earlier we heard from an Indonesian Naval official who said we spotted two bodies but we were only able to recover one. This is a grim task. 162 men, women, children on board that airasia flight and theres a lot of hard work in the hours ahead. Michaela . And many people from the very same families you were telling us yesterday about the flight manifest showing sur names that were similar. We know this is going to mean devastation to so so many families. Youve been in that Crisis Center that theyve set up. Are you getting a sense that some of the people there, some of the family members are Still Holding out hope there could be survivors found . Michaela theres hope but i think hope is fading. I talked to two families in particular tonight. The first one is a couple who had four family members on that plane, including two grandchildren, theyre from a town about three hours outside of surabaya. And they said, you know, theres a small chance, a 5 chance that somebody may have survived and were holding out hope just so we can have at least one member of our family back. And so we can find out what happened. I also talked to another gentleman, his name is Rudy Theodoros and he had four family members on the plane traveling to singapore on holiday to celebrate the new year and what he said was fairly different. He said hes confident that the best theyre going get at this point is the remains of their family members coming back to them. Amidst that grief, amidst the heartache, though some strength. He said im the leader of my family, my wife i have to be strong for my wife and other family members here and im seeing myself as the figure that has to lead and be strong and i just hope for the best and hope that we are able to have at least the remains of our families back here with us. We certainly admire his strength. David molko, we all think about the fact that most of us traveled at some point during these holidays or will and the idea that we could lose our families like that in the blink of an eye is a sobering thought, indeed. Our thoughts and prayers go to those families. David, thank you. Airasias Ceo Tony Fernandes wrote my heart is filled with sadness. On behalf of airasia, my condolences to all, words cannot express how sorry i am. He has met with many members of the family there is and is present in indonesia making sure they feel the sentiments of the airline. We want to talk about the other search, the search for answers into why that airbus 320 ended up in the water. Richard quest has been very busy and hes here with me. Richard, we know the evidence lies in the flight data recorders. Talk to us about that. Remind us how those boxes are designed to inform us what happened aboard the flight. Okay. What those black boxes and there were two of them the cockpit voice recorder, that will be recording everything that is said in the cockpit, including all the surrounding noises over a twohour period. Built to withstand any impact. Absolutely. Certainly with the impact were talking about here even in the shallow waters you havent got the pressure of depth that we nave 370. So the cockpit voice recorder will tell us what the pilots were dealing with and how they dealt with it. But the data recorder will tell us in a much greater detail every single thing you wanted to know from how the aircraft was performing, the engines, the conditions. All the systems. The inputs. So for example, if you as the captain made a move, did something with the controls it would tell us it was your side that did it. If i did it it would tell it was my side that did. It and also if the plane reacted. It would tell us lets say, for example, there was a sudden updraft or a sudden the weather was having you would know from the meteorological data what was happening and then you literally you plot it on to a timeline. So what they do is they put the voice recorder then they put all the imput then they put the weather and they build up a realtime picture of exactly what was happening in the cockpit and they can tell you to the nth detail right down to the power of the chimes and noises and alarms. Whats different from mh370 we cant help but make comparisons we watched how t battery life on those data recorders slipped away from us. Time is on our side here correct . First of all, they know where the wreckage is. And if this has transpired as many believe, its a tightly controlled tightknit small debris field, you go down there and they may not need the pingers, they may be able to literally work their way to it because they know whereabouts it should be. And the key is you get control of the boxes and what happens . Custody and control . Custody and control. You send the boxes to a an Investigative Authority that has the experience of decoding it. You cant just crack them open and get the data out. Absolutely not. Absolutely not. Theres a big warning sign on the box saying do not hope do not touch. They may have to put them into water because theyve been in water. They have to be careful. Depends on the condition of the boxes having been in sea water for several days or weeks. And then they decode it. I would imagine singapore has the ability if not australia certainly does the uk france the u. S. They will go somewhere and will be decoded . And several of those nations have lent their efforts to the searchandrecovery so we know theyll be landing in their hands. Can we get you to stick around . We have more questions that we want to get to you with in just a moment. Ahead, well look at the clues and try to read them. What our next guest sees signs that suggest some passengers could have survived . Well ask him about that. Also, in other news back here state side he is the numberthree republican in the house. A few years back he spoke to a White Supremacist Group. What the heck is he saying about that now . Well discuss. Youre driving along, having a perfectly nice day, when out of nowhere a pickup truck slams into your brand new car. One second it wasnt there and the next second. Boom youve had your first accident. Now you have to make your first claim. So you talk to your Insurance Company and. Boom youre blindsided for a second time. They wont give you enough money to replace your brand new car. Dont those people know youre already shaken up . Liberty mutuals new car replacement will pay for the entire value of your car plus depreciation. Call and for drivers with accident forgiveness, Liberty Mutual wont raise your rates due to your first accident. Switch to Liberty Mutual insurance and you could save up to 423 dollars. Call Liberty Mutual for a free quote today at see Car Insurance in a whole new light. Liberty mutual insurance. Welcome back. Weve just received a statement that the wife of the pilot of the airline, airasia flight 8501 has made to within of the local tv stations in surabaya. Im going to read it to you. This is the transcript in english. Id like to know where my husband is. I wish my husband was found immediately. I hope as his wife he will be back and well and alive. The children still need a father. I still also need guidance from a husband. He is a good husband in my eyes and he is a faithful husband, a great husband. I cant name all his qualities, he is a great husband for me. Again, that is the wife of the pilot. He had over 20,000 hours of flight time. We know this was an experienced pilot, pilot irianto. So many questions to be answered. Debris has been located. That debris includes an emergency exit door. We also know bodies have reportedly been seen and three of them have been recovered in the java sea. A u. S. Ship is helping in the recovery of airasia flight 8501 and the search for the 162 people who were aboard. The answers to what exactly went wrong. Well as we mentioned with Richard Quest a moment ago, theyre locked away in that planes black box. So far no word they have been located. Lets bring back Richard Quest, our aviation analyst and former Inspector General of the department of transportation mary schiavo and author of why planes crash david soucie. Richard, ill start with you. Obviously in terms of where the the debris was located, there was a much larger field, some 13 zones that they were searching, an area the size of georgia. Their narrowed it down when they were able to spot this debris. How does that help them paint backwards to what happened . Dont confuse the fact they said this is the search zone from where they were actually searching. Okay. Make that clear to us. Well they say were going to extend the zone. Thats the logical thing you do when you cant find anything immediately, you widen it out. But it doesnt mean youve suddenly shifted everything to the furthest extremity of the zone. Say with mh370, if you look at the zone its huge it doesnt mean theyre combing the whole lot of it. They go to where the most likely place is. And as david soucie will tell us you start with where the lastknown place of the aircraft. So now that this is where the debris was recovered, the smaller yellow box we just saw in our screen they can start, as you said not just from the black box because its not found but from the debris and the knowledge of the currents and what else they find on the ground they can start to paint a picture of what happened. Well up to a point. Up to a point. Up to a point. The debris will tell them how the aircraft came apart. So for example, a bomb blast, which isnt in this case. It would have residue. It would show strains, certain parts of the metal may have twisted in tern areas. The impact, the dense, all that would be shown on the actual metal. We saw these images and we also keenly looked at them, these were the first signs of debris and we know there was an area that there was a lot of debris. Its a big shifting area. But you saw something that made you say, wait wait wait, there could be a survivor. Which i think were so reluctant to even go there, david. What made you think that . I am as well. It was kind of an initial reaction andern soly what made me think about that was the fact that there was a door and right below the door is mounted the slide, an exit slide so whether or not it deployed or came apart during the breakup, thats still in question. They dont deploy unless theyre deployed on their own . Well typically thats right but this slide has not been inflate sod therefore it was likely not inflated for an escape purpose, it came out as the door came apart. So its too early to say there were survivors or to say there is or isnt. Its just a matter that its observation wise it looks to me as though its a slide. Theres an exit door to put those together as something that was done after the aircraft hit the water is premature. Mary and this is really grim and i want to tread carefully here because obviously its its so horrific what has happened here but we know that the state of the bodies investigators will be able to understand information when they recover those remains. Thats right. In this kind of an accident and ive worked other over water and ending up in water accidents. If theres not as richard mentioned, if theres not a case of explosive residue, et cetera you can tell in terms of how the bodies entered the water, what caused the Blunt Force Trauma which is how they always describe it. Just really how extensive the plane disintegration was. You can see that on the bodies. Here i think the preliminary reports as well that they had been the in the water for some time but the ones they found so far were intact. You cant read much into that and i dont read anything into the slides by the way and the life vest because in almost every water accident that ive worked on those things were floating and people did not survive the impact. Its just they come out of the plane when the plane breaks apart and lots of things float and usually you see luggage, life vests, life rafts, shoes float. And its pretty typical. Richard, does it surprise you that more debris hasnt been found or are the currents there so strong that it wouldnt necessarily be grouped together . Both. I mean there will be more. This is this is its early days. This is hour two, three, four, five six of finding but it spreads out. You know, the plane hits the water with a ferocity. It breaks up and large parts of it like the engines, for example, heavy parts, will sink. If the engine its very unlikely to have stayed on the wing but if they stayed on the wing and the wing disintegrated that will go down it with. And the rest of it michaela it breaks up into little pieces the ferocity is so great. So yes, you will have think of 447. You have one or two major pieces you have to tail. The rest of it literally goes into a million and plus little pieces. Some will float and spread out, the majority will sink. And we could remind you 12 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time so its about 11 18 at night. Well have to get a sense once daylight comes what kind of efforts continue. Our thanks to Richard Quest, david soucie mary schiavo, the three of you, we appreciate it. A man about to be married, a teacher, families heading out on vacation. Ahead, were going to take a look at just who was aboard airasia flight 8501. If you would like to help some of those affected by this crash, please visit our web site, cnn. Com impact. You can find all the resources you need there. Narrator this is the storm sea captain theres a storm comin narrator that whipped through the turbine which poured. Surplus energy into the plant which generously lowered its price and tipped off the house which used all that energy to stay warm through the storm. Chipmunk theres a bad storm comin narrator the internet of everything is changing how energy works. Is your Network Ready . Huh, fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on Car Insurance. Yeah, Everybody Knows that. Well, did you know that playing cards with kenny rogers gets old pretty fast . You got to know when to holdem. Know when to fold em. Know when to walk away. Know when to run. You never count your money, when youre sitting at the ta. What . You get it . I get the gist yeah. Geico. Fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on Car Insurance. I want you to consider this a man who was about to be married, missionaries, a biology teacher, an 11monthold baby some of the 162 passengers a aboard the airasia flight. Now their families are dealing with the grim reality of life without them. Search and rescue turning into a recovery operation. Rosa flores joins us. We felt it was important to not let people be statistics but put faces and names to the identities of these people. Youre hearing from some of the families about these victims. We are, as you might imagine, michaela its very difficult for these families to even talk to the media. Imagine having a microphone in your face while youre trying to grieve your loved one. One woman did and itsoverwhelm ing we motion. Take a look. Translator my brother never flew with airasia so i kept calm. Then someone told me they saw his name on tv. Then i saw it. As you might imagine, very tough for that woman and for many others who are there waiting, waiting to hear the best about their loved one, i also talked to the principal of one of the schools in that area and she tells me she knows five people on board that flight three of them her students and also her parents. Heres what she said. Shes a very cheerful girl and always having fun and joking with her friends. We are really so shocked with this news. And we are praying and we are waiting for good news. Bless her heart. She tells me that there is just so much emotion right now that theyre feeling. And one nation bearing the brunt. Over 150 of them are indonesian. You know what i always think in these scenarios are the people that missed their flight. Their alarm clock didnt go off or they didnt get a cab to the airport in time there were likely several of those kind of stories as well. Yes, definitely so. Were learning about a man, his wife and their child. They lost their flight. And hear this a family of ten who lost the flight. So heres what happened. The Departure Time changed and they didnt get the email. They didnt get the notice. Initially they were upset like you and i would be when we lose our flight. Now theyre counting their blessings. Also having to deal with survivors guilt, too. Absolutely. Absolutely. Some of them saying the lord is good to me. Others saying thank you, lord jesus. Just so many emotions because they do sometimes feel a little guilty. And an area that has already dealt with two air disasters, one the downing over ukraine and the other one that missing mh370 still no answers about where that flight went. What a horrific time and a nation in mourning. Thank you so much for that rosa. Its important to know who these people are. This crash is bringing back pain for the families of the flight i just mentioned, Malaysia Airlines flight 370 which still has not been found ten months after the fact. Our will ripley spoke to a man we got no very well earlier this year steve wang whose mother was aboard mh370. Reporter anguish becomes anger. For the families of Malaysia Airlines flight mh370 daysover waiting turned to weeks and now almost ten months. For them, the news from indonesia brought everything back. The fear about losing someone. The pain and the desperation. Reporter steve wang feels for the families of airasia flight 8501. He knows what its like to sit at the airport and wait for a plane that never comes. To hope against all odds the person you love may still be alive even after ten months, youre still hoping for a miracle . Yes. Though it is painful, but i dont want to give up. Reporter wangs mother was only 57. He hasnt spoken her name since march when mh370 disappeared. No i never said it. Reporter youve never said your mothers name outsfloud. Yes. He still listens to the voice mail she left him just before boarding the plane. She wanted me to pick her up from the airport and she said to bring her coat. Its hard to believe that a man my age will cry. Reporter you just turned 26 and your mom wasnt there for your birthday for the first time. Yeah. Reporter of the 239 people on mh370 154 were chinese. Hundreds of relatives spent weeks at beijings lido hotel. In the grand ballroom walls became giant Message Boards full of prayers for their parents, for their children to come home. Today its all gone. Nobody talks about it. What will they do. Will they keep on searching for the plane or just give up . I dont know. Reporter wang prays for the families of flight 8501. I just want them to be strong strong. You are not alone. Reporter he also prays everyday for his mother one of 239 souls on mh370 still missing. Will ripley cnn, beijing. It has been 18 years since heidi snow lost her fiance in the twa flight 800 crash. You might recall that flight exploded after takeoff from jfk airport. Since then, the strong young passionate woman founded a support group for the families of plane crash victims. I had the opportunity to speak with her earlier today. Every time these incidents occur we are walking with them we remember were grieving with them and i remember all too wellbeing at the Family Assistance Center and this is the point where theyre starting to ask for dna samples and asking for photos of their loved ones and some people are still in a state of disbelief and some people are starting to accept that theres their loved one is gone. We all process grief and shock so differently. I also had the opportunity to speak with sara bayjack. She had a partner on board the still miss inging Malaysia Airlines flight 370. My heart is breaking for all of those families right now. On the other hand im also a little jealous in a way because at least they have this ability to put some closure to it and the authorities have acted promptly and have kept everybody informed and its such a different experience that ive seen play out over the last couple of days compared to what weve had to go through, the families from 370. Were still in limbo. And in limbo they remain. Ahead at this hour luggage, a life raft, a plane door floating where flight 8501 likely crashed. Ships, planes divers searching the area but theyre facing a whole lot of challenges in finding the plane. Well talk about that next. These ally bank ira cds really do sound like a sure thing but im a bit skeptical of sure things. Whys that . Look what daddys got. Ahhhhhhhhhh growth you can count on from the bank where no branches equals great rates. So ally bank really has no hidden fees on savings accounts . Thats right. Its just that im worried about you know hidden things. Ok, whys that . No hidden fees from the bank where no branches equals great rates. Three bodies have been recovered along with debris floating in the java sea. Airasia says it has been told that the debris is indeed from flight 8501. Search planes located the wreckage floating about six miles from the planes last known location where it essentially fell off radar. An Indonesian Navy official tells cnn that one of the bodies that was recovered was that of a female. Were showing you the location. The goal is to locate the bodies of all 162 passengers who were on that jetliner when it vanished early sunday during stormy weather. Asias ceo says he is confident that searchers will find the cockpit recorders and the full wreckage of the flight. I am confident because they know more or less the position of the aircraft so we should be able to locate it. That was airasia ceo tony hernan decemberher fern er if man december. I want to look at where the debris has been found. We want to turn to tom foreman. Good to have you at this hour. We just heard tony fernandessy they know the position of the aircraft so that makes everyone think they can recover it quickly and determine what brought the plane down. Not as simple as that necessarily, is it . The biggest trouble in that is the word quickly. Even if they know where everything is this is can be a very involved process. What they have found so far gives them an area to look. The fact that its only about 100 miles offshore makes it more accessible in many ways. We also know when you about that sixmile difference just a matter of math in case people are interested, if the plane, in fact was traveling 100 miles an hour as some people anticipated and it flew to this point before hitting the water, that would be about three and a half minutes of flying, a little under four minutes of flying before it hit the water. If it was going at 480 miles an hour cruising speed for a plane like, this it would have covered that distance in about 45 seconds. So those are just some reference points. This is one of the reasons they have some confidence they will find everything. Look at this. This is twa 800. Twa 800 went down in about a hundred feet of water like what were talking about here. It was recovered about 95 of 2 t plane was pulled out and all of the victims were found. However, the final body was discovered ten months after the search began so this can be a very long involved process michaela even if it proves to be a very successful process in this relatively limited amount of water out there. Michaela . I remember going through this exact process with you when we were searching and we still are obviously, for mh370 and what a contrast that is. The southern indian ocean, unmapped essentially, very very deep very foreboding kind of climate there. This is a very different scenario but its still not without its challenges. Sure. The weather is a thing were hearing about right now. Thats a huge challenge. If you have bad weather, choppy water, it makes it all a lot harder. By the way, the reports were hearing right now that in the exact area theyre looking at right now the water level is about 100 feet so a better area. The sea bottom is helpful in some ways. Its not full of giant peaks and valleys like in the indian ocean. This is part of a raised plateau thats been there for many centuries. So all of that works in favor of this. The water is generally clear this is within reachable range for divers like this. The most important people in this whole equation right now at this point michaela in fact will be the people who get in the water who control the devices that go in the water to listen, to gather all of the evidence. That is the critical part right now and that could go on for a long time. Then it gets handed to the other people who have to analyze it. That can take time too. Remember, in the case of twa 800, the final report didnt come out for four years so we may have an indication on what happened but final evidence it could still take a long time. It could. Well we hope at least the recovery of the bodies will happen sooner rather than later to give some of these families a measure of closure. They can begin the mourning process. Tom foreman, thanks for taking a look at this with us. Youre welcome. Ahead, well have a more definitive look at the weather factor in terms of the search for the plane. Monsoon conditions are threatening search efforts. Also ahead, back here state side, he planned on staying in office after admitting to tax e vagts evasion, but now hes resigning. How congressman grimms resignation will impact the gop. Sent to the area where degree from flight 8501 has been spotted. The pentagon says the u. S. Navy destroyer uss sampson is among the vessels that have arrived on site in the search area. Another, the uss fort worth is preparing to deploy from singapore. The airasia wreckage is in a shallow part of the java sea. Officials believe the water is less than a hundred feet deep in some places. That doesnt necessarily mean the search is going to be easy as we just talked about with tom foreman. Joining me to explain the difficulties are Sea Operations specialist tim taylor and meteorologist chad myers. But, chad i think i want to start with you because we know weather was such a factor we believe it was a factor in this plane coming down. We know that its a major factor in that area. At this time of year, what are we talking about weather wise . Its kind of ironic. I can show you this graphically, but the weather gets bad in the morning at sunrise and it gets better at sunset exactly opposite of what youd like. Typically in america we think of the weather getting bad at 4 00 5 00, thats when the storms build. Let me take you back 24 hours and show you the storms again, just like yesterday, built last night. They got bad again in a big long line across the same area that the plane was lost. In the same area that theyre looking if . All these guys and women are out there looking for the plane. So 11 00 at night in the dark theres very little rain fall. In the Morning Hours things pop up and there you go. Storms in the middle of the search area. Tomorrow night, clear. The next morning, stormy. Its just an exact opposite of what we would love here. What wed like to see is clear skies, no wind. Because if you get wind on the ocean surface, even 15 20 Miles Per Hour what happens . White caps. What are we looking for . White things. So you get white caps and the sea becomes confused and its a very difficult situation out there, michaela. Chad yes, that certainly come plitplyicates it. Tim, youve been in these operations in lessthanideal situations. You want calm skies and blue seas, thats never the case is it . You want to do something on the walter, prepare for it to take ten times longer. But theyre prepared. They have the gear, the equipment, the training but then you need the tools. Correct. Correct. Youre on location and you have to do the best you can. But weather is a major issue. Theyre in our summertime late summer where hurricanes just form on top of you. Not that that these are hurricanes but theyre big thunderstorms. How does it affect the search. We know obviously it will affect aerial searches but in term of whats going on underneath when you have submerseiblesubmersibles, the auvs and the rovs, talk to us about the tools and their capabilities. This particular site because its show lower will use similar tools to flight 370 but they wont be as they dont need to be as rebowesobust. They need to carry bigger payloads bigger battery come parents. When youre shallower you dont to. Plus theres an added element of this step that they can apply divers to recovery. So you take avs or side scan sonars you can map out the whole area once they use pinger, they can map out the area and get good sound images which look like pictures of the wreckage and then they can make dive plans or rov plans, which are remote operated vehicles to manipulate with arms. There is such an advantage that this is less than 100 feet deep in some areas because, as you said enough marriage of technology and then the human factor because those human eyes on some of this is going to be you can make judgment calls and it goes faster. Divers are still limited, they only have a certain amount of time underwater they can work so augmenting that with machine baby scanning have been a map of the area that we create with you are a auvs and sound sonar images then having cameras on rovs go ahead of them and do the looking, they can do go down there and be surgical about their work, they can recover the black box and in this case bodies. Chad quickly to you, maybe im throwing you under the bus by asking you this but currents are an issue here too, right . Youve got those currents that can take debris thats floating and can even pull things under the water. And i think we find that in this situation. There was a lot of wind from the lastknown location to where that was found. Wind can push things around. Theres a small current, one or two knots. Not a lot, but enough to move it just that enough. So there we go with that. But Something Else. When you talk about the side scan sonar or about the pinger the ping locator, youre talking about if its only 100 feet down, that pinger mower, you know they talk about mowing the lawn. You can mow farther apart because the pinger locator can hear farther to the side compared to trying to hear 15,000 feet down. It doesnt have the depth, doesnt have the real attenuation at that threemile depth. You only had 100 feet, so thats much much better. Tim taylor chad myers, we appreciate your expertise, thanks for joining us. Ahead at this hour, the next 24 hours is essential to preserving the data that is held on those black boxes. The search for answers continues after a quick break. vo nourished. Rescued. Protected. Given new hope. During the subaru share the love event, subaru owners feel it, too. Because when you take home a new subaru we donate 250 dollars to helping those in need. Well have given 50 Million Dollars over seven years. Love. Its what makes a subaru a subaru. In my world, wall isnt a street. Return on investment isnt the only return im looking forward to. For some every dollar is earned with sweat, sacrifice, courage. Which is why usaa is honored to help our members with everything from investing for retirement to saving for college. Our commitment to current and former military members and their families is without equal. Start investing with as little as fifty dollars. Now that we know the fate of airasia flight 8501 crews can narrow their search for other parts of that plane, notably the main fuselage and that allimportant data recorder the devices known as black boxes. I smoke with former ntsb chairman jim hall who is the president of the National Safety council. For sure the next 24 48 hours really belong to the recovery operations looking for those bodies to be able to support the families but the investigators are going to be looking for the location of those recorders. Were looking for really redundant recorders, making sure that we have good data both on the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder. Were looking for two hours on the cockpit voice recorder and potentially hundreds of parameters on the flight data recorder. They pull those out, the most important thing is really to preserve that evidence, to not damage it as youre removing it and then youre getting it out of the water, making sure you keep it wet so that you dont lose the so that it can be dried in an appropriate manner to be read. I know its conjecture. But when we know where the debris was spotted, the troubled the pilot was said to be trying to get around in terms of those incredibly large thunderstorms, some 50 kilometers wide in some estimates, did it seem to you that that was a dangerous area or time to be flying or did there seem to you that there was Something Else that went wrong with this flight . Well we really dont know. And the recorders hopefully will tell most of the story. But thats why cameras in the cockpit are so important. It will give us an idea a visual idea of the conditions the crew was facing. And the actions that they took in regard to trying to safely maneuver the aircraft. And of course again, i underscore the fact that this is an unacceptable amount of time for a rescue to hope to have survivors alive. And thats why im so for and have always been for these deployable recorders that are used in the military. Jim hall and deborah hersman, both former ntsb chairmen earlier with us. Its interesting in a world where theres an app to find your phone, a gps to track down your car, many wonder why its not easier to find a plane. We know its not a direct comparison but its a notion worth considering. The technology exists. Why hasnt it been implemented . Some experts say it comes down to cost. Would you pay for a safer flight . Tweet me. Well talk more about your passenger rights tomorrow on our program. Ahead at this hour passengers likened it to being aboard the titanic, hundreds of people trapped on a burning ferry. A survivor speaks out about that nightmare. And ahead, whats ahead for republicans in the new year. Return on investment isnt the only return im looking forward to. For some every dollar is earned with sweat, sacrifice, courage. Which is why usaa is honored to help our members with everything from investing for retirement to saving for college. Our commitment to current and former military members and their families is without equal. Start investing with as little as fifty dollars. Passengers rescued from a fireincredibled ferry in the adriatic sea say there were no fire alarms, no warnings from the crew. Ten people died in that ferry disaster. Survivors say it was chaos on board. People trampling over one another to get to the lifeboats. One tells cnn it was simply a nightmare. We did not where could be the best place to stay. So you stand there. We were wet and cold and the rain was like needles, hard wind. There was always these explosions and this feeling you have under your feet. It goes through your body. Rescuers were able to get to more than 400 people and get them off the boat to safety before it sank. There is now a formal criminal investigation to determine exactly what went wrong. Back here at home just weeks after the partys stunning success in the midterm elections, turmoil for the gop. New york congressman Michael Grimm made a uturn saying hes going to resign after pleading guilty to tax evasion last week. Earlier this year you might recall grimm made news by threatening a reporter who asked him about the investigation into his campaign finances. Let me be clear to you. [ bleep ]. Why, why . If you ever do that to me again why, why, its a valid question . Who could forget that . Not only the troubles for the gop. House majority whip Steve Scalise admitting he spoke to a White Supremacist Group back in 2002. One of his source says the congressman didnt know the makeup of the group he was speaking to. Heres what he told a newspaper in new orleans. Quote, i detest any kind of hate group. For anyone to suggest that i was involved with a group like that is insulting and ludicrous. Athena jones is in washington. Well start with Michael Grimm. Its an aboutface from the new york congressman. Why the change of heart for him . Reporter it comes less than a week after entering that guilty plea. He insisted he would stay on even after pleading guilty. But this decision was announced last night after congressman grimm had a conversation with House Speaker john boehner. That could have something to do with this. The republicans would like to have a clean slate as they prepare to take over in this new congress. This is possibly one less headache for them. Speaking of headaches, lets discuss the case of Steve Scalise, thirdranking member of the house, said to have spoken before a White Supremacist Group back in 2002. How on earth can he defend this and say that he wasnt in the know of who made up the group that he was speaking to and more importantly, can he stay in the position as majority whip . Reporter well he says that at that time or one of his sources told us at this time, he didnt have many staffers. He was speaking to whatever group would hear him to tout his opposition to a tax increase and other issues on the state level. So he says he appeared before this group, wasnt aware of their link to david duke wasnt aware that duke the former grand wizard of the ku klux klan was the leader of this group. He said his staff needs to vet these groups better. You have to wonder what kind of affect this will have on the gop. They are working to make the party more inclusive to all. This flies in the face of thatened a its going to be a hard pill for a lot of people to swallow. Reporter well, it certainly could be. Right now, the big question is will representative scalise remain in his leadership position. Thats the question were trying to have answered. So far, no one in house leadership, on the republican or democratic side, has commented on this issue. I will say he does have any defenders. Louisiana governor bobby jindal saying that hes not racist. And Cedric Richmond the democratic congressman, the only democrat from louisiana and the only black member of congress from louisiana, also defending scalise saying he doesnt have a racist bone in his body and this is just about politics. Well watch it. Athena, thanks so much for that. Thank you for watching. John berman will be back tomorrow. I will not be. I will be hanging out with those two. Tune in wednesday night to ring in the new year with us starting at 9 00 p. M. Im essentially there to monitor the behavior of the two of them i believe. Bring in the new year with cnn. For now, keep it right here. Legal view with jake tapper starts now. Hello, everyone. Im jake tapper in for ashleigh banfield. Welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. Almost 66 hours after airasia flight 8501 disappeared from radar over the java sea, there are still plenty of unanswered questions. But this has been a day of answers, hardrending t