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Former New York Governor Mario Cuomo Dies; Search Continues for Downed AirAsia Flight Black Box

Aired January 2, 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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(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARIO CUOMO, FORMER GOVERNOR OF NEW YORK: Peace is better than war because life is better than death.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: His inspiration and his legacy have brought the state to this point.

CUOMO: People and the passion of belief are still more important than money.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He believed in the power of individuals to achieve.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was no one like him. He could have been the president of the United States. He was that great.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Thirty bodies have now been recovered.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The weather is unfortunately not looking good for the next two or three days.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: The 2,000 square mile reaction of the Java Sea. Until we get the data recorder and the voice recorder we're still somewhat in the dark.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PEREIRA: Good morning. Welcome to NEW DAY, the second day of January, Friday, January 2, 2015. It is 8:00 in the east. I'm Michaela Pereira along with John Berman. Our Christine Romans is here.

We begin with the passing of a great, great American, a loss that certainly hits very close to home here on NEW DAY, legendary former New York Governor Mario Cuomo, the beloved father of our dear friend and colleague, Chris Cuomo, has died at the age of 82.

And icon in American politics, a beacon within the Democratic Party, he died last night, just hours after his son, Andrew, was sworn in to a second term as New York governor.

BERMAN: It was an amazing life. His parents, immigrants from Italy, with no money, they couldn't read or speak English when they came here, they ran a grocery store. Mario Cuomo, he was an athlete, he played Minor League Baseball, his career ending because he was beaned, hit in the head.

It wasn't his physical strength, it was his words and how he spoke them that electrified Democrats particularly the liberal wing of the party, his keynote address in the 1984 Democratic National Convention remembered by many as one of the most powerful speeches of a generation.

The tributes are pouring in this morning from all sides of the political world, former president Bill Clinton calling Cuomo's life a blessing. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, a Republican, called Cuomo a giant. They are among the millions of Americans remembering a true American great.

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BERMAN: Simply, it was the American dream. The son of Italian immigrants, Mario Cuomo rose from the basement of this grocery store in South Jamaica, Queens, where he slept on the floor and spoke no English, to the highest office in New York state, along the way, creating a political legacy and dynasty that spanned generations. His life driven by a passion for learning, his Catholic faith, and a determination to simply work harder than the other guy.

MARIO CUOMO, FORMER NEW YORK GOVERNOR: One of the simple things I wanted to achieve was I want to be governor, I want to be the hardest working there ever was.

BERMAN: After more than a decade after the full contact politics of New York, Cuomo catapulted to national prominence with the keynote address at the 1984 Democratic National Convention.

CUOMO: Thank you for the great privilege of being able to address this convention.

BERMAN: He challenged head-on Ronald Reagan's notion of shining city on a hill, instead calling America a tale of two cities.

CUOMO: We must get the American public to look past the glitter, beyond the showmanship, to the reality, the hard substance of things, and we'll do it not so much with speeches that sound good as with speeches that are good and sound.

BERMAN: It cemented him as one of his generation's greatest orators, a defender of the have-nots and the little guys. It also made him the choice of many Democratic leaders to run for president.

CUOMO: He said, will you think about it? I said I have been thinking about it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But are you going to think about it anymore?

(LAUGHTER) BERMAN: Reporter: He was considered a favorite for the Democratic nomination in 1988 and 1992, but in both cases he demurred. His seeming inability to decide on higher office frustrated Democratic Party faithful and became something of a punch-line in itself.

JAY LENO, HOST, "THE TONIGHT SHOW": And Mario Cuomo, no one know what he's going to do. I don't know if you've seen his new public service commercial for New York City. It says a mind is a terrible thing to make up.

(LAUGHTER)

BERMAN: He said it wasn't indecisive that kept him in New York instead of Washington. It was his commitment to the state.

CUOMO: It has nothing to do with my chances. It has everything to do with my job as governor. And I don't see that I can do both. Therefore I will not pursue the presidency.

BERMAN: He said it was that same commitment that led him to pass on a nomination to the Supreme Court, deciding instead to run for a fourth term as governor. But 12 years was enough for New York. He was defeated by George Pataki in the Republican revolution of 1994. Cuomo returned to the private sector to restart his law practice, host a radio show, and become a prolific author and public speaker. And in 2010 came a brand new title, former or first governor Cuomo, a word he would be forced to use because he was suddenly no longer the only one.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ladies and gentlemen, the Cuomo family!

BERMAN: In a bittersweet irony his eldest son, Andrew, the current governor of New York, was sworn into a second term just hours before his father's death.

GOV. ANDREW CUOMO, (D) NEW YORK: He couldn't be here physically today, my father, but my father is in this room. He's in heart and mind of every person who is here. He's here and he's here, and his inspiration and his legacy and his experience is what has brought this state to this point. So let's give him a round of applause.

(APPLAUSE)

BERMAN: Governor Mario Cuomo, a true American giant, was 82. He is survived by his wife of more than 60 years, Matilda Rafah Cuomo, his five children, including our CNN NEW DAY anchor Chris, and 14 grandchildren. The constants of his life always faith and family.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: You can see the adoration of the picture as Chris looks at his father there, so close.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Beautiful moment.

BERMAN: In just a few minutes we're going to speak with former New York governor David Patterson who preceeded Mario Cuomo's son Andrew in the governor's mansion. Stay with us for that.

PEREIRA: All right, on to our other big story that we're watching, the latest in the search for AirAsia Flight 8501. A piece of the fuselage, what appears to be a window panel, was discovered this morning. The image was posted online by one of the officials in the Singaporean government. And 30 bodies have now been pulled from the sea. The first victim has now been laid to rest.

Overnight officials honed in on a section of the Java Sea where they think they have the best chance to find the plane. It's not small. It is a 2,000-square-mile patch they're looking for in the Java Sea, about the size of Connecticut. Awful, awful weather conditions are slowing the search. Our Gary Tuchman joins us now the very, very latest from Indonesia. Gary?

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Michaela, inside this tent behind me at the Surabaya police headquarters, family members still waiting to find out what happened to the bodies of their loved ones. As we speak, inside the tent is the CEO of AirAsia Tony Fernandez. He came here to meet with family members. He also came here to personally escort the body of one of his flight attendants, one of the four people who have been identified, a 22-year-old woman, back to her hometown in Sumatra, Indonesia, which is west of here. But right now there are still 132 families waiting for any word.

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TUCHMAN: Breaking overnight, Malaysian officials aiding in the search tell CNN this is the most probable location of AirAsia flight 8501, an area just over 2,000 square miles. Keeping a close eye on the weather that hampered efforts for days, crews have yet to discover the crucial black boxes needed to solve the mystery of the crash, and the clock is ticking in the race to find them. The battery powering the acoustics pingers used to locate the black boxes have about 24 days until they expire. At least three ships using underwater pinger locator devices are set to comb the area.

And new this morning, Indonesian authorities identified the bodies of three more victims, bringing the total number of people identified to four. The journey back home for the first identified victim of the crash came Thursday. The body of a woman, a teacher, was laid to rest in a tearful ceremony, her grieving family struggling to cope as her body was lowered into the ground.

In the early morning hours off the coast of Indonesia, search teams making another painful trip back to shore, carrying the remains of more victims from the AirAsia flight and pieces of debris from the wreckage. Also aiding in the search, the American USS Sampson, recovering two bodies from the Java Sea yesterday.

At the hospital in Surabaya, the race to identify other victims is of most importance for relatives. It is here where they will undergo autopsies before heading back to their families.

(END VIDEOTAPE) TUCHMAN: As you mentioned, Michaela, the weather has been very bad here in the city and in this region with searches. We've had flooding rains today, and that absolutely has been a big problem. But it is supposed to improve this weekend, particularly on Sunday. Michaela?

PEREIRA: A little glimmer of hope there. Gary, I was thinking as you were talking about the identification process, the retrieval of 30 bodies, which is some progress considering what it's been like the last few days. It must be such an emotional time every time there's word of another body being retrieved, another body being returned. Give us a sense of what that's like there where you are.

TUCHMAN: Well, the first few days there were a lot of people who were still hoping for a miracle, that their loved ones were on a raft, that their loved ones were on uninhabited land somewhere. Most people have given up that hope sadly. So now that's their only hope, to get their loved one's body back. So when they hear in the news or when they hear from other family members they found more bodies, they all ask officials is it my loved one, is it my loved one? And as we see most of the families, it's not been their loved one just yet.

PEREIRA: Such a painful time for so many of them. We continue to keep them in our thoughts and prayers here. Gary Tuchman, thank you so much for that.

Let's talk more about the search and recovery of flight 8501. We'll turn to Mary Schiavo, our CNN aviation analyst, former inspector general for the U.S. Department of Transportation. She represents families and victims following plane crashes. Also here with me, David Soucie, CNN safety analyst, former FAA safety inspector, and author of the new book "Flight 370, Why It Disappeared and Why It's Only a Matter of Time before it Happens Again."

David, I want to start with this image we saw Singaporean defense minister sent out on social media, a picture, there it is, that was retrieved, a piece of the fuselage it would appear. Tell us what you see here, the significance of what investigators can potentially learn from finding a piece of the plane.

DAVID SOUCIE, CNN SAFETY ANALYST: Every piece of the plane needs two pieces of information in order to make it useful, what it is and where it is. What we don't have is where it is. And they're doing a great job of communicating with us but telling us only what we need to know.

PEREIRA: They'll map where it was found for their own uses.

SOUCIE: Right. And that's what's going on now in the investigation. Every piece of evidence that he's brought out, including the bodies, including everything to do with the aircraft, is being brought out and documented where it is. It's critically important right now, but without that, this piece doesn't give me a whole lot of information. There's large pieces, there's small pieces, depending on whether it was in the air when it broke up or on the ground. We really can't determine that from this.

PEREIRA: Following the path of the crash, this is what is found, you start to find pieces of the plane.

SOUCIE: That's right.

PEREIRA: So Mary, let's talk about the area they're talking about. It's been honed in, 2,000 square miles, still sizeable, in the Java Sea. It seems as though this search is making progress. It might seem to us that, and the families obviously are agonizing, they want more details and more answers and they certainly want the bodies of their loved ones returned, but this is progress.

MARY SCHIAVO, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: Oh, very much so. It's tremendous progress, and these pieces that come up, so far the most telltale pieces haven't been recovered. There's a lot of people are kind of hanging on whether the control surfaces of the plane were still on the plane when it entered the water, in particular would be the vertical stabilizer which would be a very important control service and in other crashes has been lost before the plane hit the water.

So as David mentioned, David's right. Every piece that they pick up it's important to know what it is and where it is. And so, for example, if control surfaces of the plane are found much further away from the main wreckage that, will be very telling. But first and foremost in the search will be to recover the human remains.

PEREIRA: David Gallo earlier on the show about an hour ago was detailing some of the challenges of locating those all-important flight data recorders, the black boxes as they're called, using the towed pinger locators, especially with the treacherous -- unless you're looking for an artificial crash scene in a swimming pool, no water condition is going to be ideal, is it?

SOUCIE: No, not at all. It's the surface conditions that make it tough. With the towed pinger locators, remember, they're attached with a cable. So when it's a very long cable like we talked about, 370 and how they were towing that, then the surface movement has little effect on the device itself, it's called the tow fish. But now we're talking about shorter distances in the cable, we're talking about waves as high as 18, 20 feet high, so it's pulling it, it's moving this towed pinger locator, which creates noise as it moves. So it's very challenging.

PEREIRA: It can get false readings. That could be a problem.

SOUCIE: It's a very high traffic area.

PEREIRA: Although, they would move, they would provide a big perimeter, obviously, right, as much as they could through that shipping lane?

SOUCIE: Yes. We're really only talking about five or six miles of separation, because by that point the underwater locator beacon is only capable of broadcasting two and a half, three miles at the most.

PEREIRA: Right, but the acoustics underwater play some tricks a little bit. It's important for us to remember, and you highlighted this, Mary,

there are two separate things, the investigative arm of this and then the humanitarian effort. This is going along a normal time line here as well, this humanitarian effort, the processing and finding the deceased, et cetera.

SCHIAVO: It is. And from what we've seen, obviously, to have, may not seem like a lot, there's still so many people missing, but at this point, given the weather, they are finding a lot of human remains, and that's certainly good to get them out of the water as quickly as possible.

I do think, though, that now that they think they have an idea, a better idea at least where the main body of the plane is, that that's going to be difficult as well. They will send -- what they typically do is send divers down and they bring the people up one by one. And that's going to be very difficult and bad water conditions, bad weather.

PEREIRA: And then it's just bad when those bodies are brought we know, as agonizing as it is. This is a really grueling process for the family.

SCHIAVO: Oh, it is. I mean, there just aren't words to capture it. And remember, it's not like someone was lost after a long illness or in a setting, a controlled setting like a hospice or a hospital. This is something that has hit these poor families like a thunderbolt of lightning out of the blue and they had no time to prepare. And they're just in shock and they will be for many, many months or years to come.

PEREIRA: Such a terrible shock. Mary Schiavo, David Soucie we appreciate your expertise.

For other headlines that we're watching today, let's turn to Christine Romans for that now.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: All right, thank you so much, Michaela.

A bizarre story out of West Virginia, two suspects were arrested after they allegedly shot at police officers during a traffic stop before two dead bodies were found in one of the cars. Now, the officers had pulled over a stolen SUV when the driver of a pickup truck pulled up next to the officers and started shooting. One of the officers returned fire. The suspect in the pickup truck was wounded and arrested a short time later. Then the other suspect was -- he surrendered. After all the chaos police found two recently deceased bodies hidden under a mattress I the pickup truck. The two suspects are believed to be father and son. Both police officers were wounded but are expected to be OK.

Secretary of State John Kerry and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov with a diplomatic talk on New Year's Day. A State Department official says the two spoke about the crises in the Middle East and Ukraine. There's one-on-one coming ahead of planned talks between Russia and Ukraine leaders this month mediated by the French and the Germans.

Syrian and Kurdish forces getting the upper hand on ISIS in Kobani. Activists based in the U.K. say Kurds have seized about 70 percent of this border city, helped along by airstrikes from the U.S. and its allies. The terror group has spent the last several months attacking Kobani and trying to get full control -- John and Michaela.

PEREIRA: All right. Christine, thanks so much. We'll have more of our continuing coverage in the search for MH -- pardon me, AirAsia 8501 throughout the morning.

BERMAN: Also, we're going to be continuing to talk about former Governor Mario Cuomo, passed away last night at the age of 82. We'll be paying tribute to his incredible life and legacy.

Stay with us.

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A. CUOMO: He couldn't be here physically today, my father, but my father is in this room. He's in heart and mind of every person who is here. He's here and he's here, and his inspiration and his legacy and his experience is what has brought this state to this point. So let's give him a round of applause.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: That was New York Governor Andrew Cuomo talking about his father, Mario Cuomo. That was Andrew Cuomo's inauguration for a second term of governor as New York came just hours before the death of Mario Cuomo. Amazing.

Now, of course, Mario Cuomo is also the father of our friend and NEW DAY anchor Chris. He died last night at his home here in Manhattan, surrounded by his family. What a life it was.

Here to talk about his life and legacy, Michael Smerconish, CNN political commentator, and host of CNN's "SMERCONISH", as well as "The Michael Smerconish Program" on Sirius XM.

Michael, thanks so much for being here.

MICHAEL SMERCONISH, HOST, CNN'S "SMERCONISH": Thanks for having me.

BERMAN: So, my younger friend here among us, they don't remember back to 1984, from the era of 1984 to 1992, when inside the Democratic Party, in American politics, to liberal Democratic politics, this man was it.

SMERCONISH: I'm a fan of the spoken word, and he had the props. He could deliver a speech and did deliver a stem-winder of a speech, I guess that was the '84 Democratic National Convention that so many of us remember fondly. And I don't know that anyone has assumed that purely progressive liberal mantle. Maybe, I was thinking on the way in, Elizabeth Warren. I mean, there hasn't been someone willing to stand front and center and make that kind of a case, as he did, in the face of the Reagan '80s.

And so, you know, there are so many aspects of his legacy, his intellect, the rags-to-riches story. What a wonderful Horatio Alger story for the entire family. But I'll think of him as the lawyer and the champion of the spoken word.

PEREIRA: Well, it's interesting, because, you know, all of us were clearly a collection of our experiences, but it's interesting to learn about the early days of his life, right, the fact that he didn't speak English until he was a child --

BERMAN: Like 8 years old. He was raised in a family of parents who didn't speak English.

PEREIRA: Yet is known for this powerful, powerful speech that is poetic, it's prose. It speaks to every man, which is something that I think he very much took pride in.

SMERCONISH: He had a terrific intellect. This was a brilliant individual, and yet never lost that common touch, that common appeal, Michaela, because I think of the upbringing that you make reference to.

He had a gift. I mean, he was also dealt a tremendous hand, right, to be able to do what he did on his feet. So there are many aspects of the legacy.

ROMANS: He had a gift, but he came from nothing. He came from hard- working people. He wanted to be the harder worker. He was an athlete, he wanted to win. He wanted to win and he wanted to work hard for it. But I think what we've really seen today, everyone has been talking about is his family, doing the right thing in his family that were the twin guides in all of this, you know?

SMERCONISH: Something I would add to that, which is he stood apart from so many on the contemporary stage who, maybe before their time, they want to move to the next level and they want to run for president. He's someone who, much to the frustration of many supporters on I think three different occasions kind of left them at the altar, because he said unless I've got the fiscal affairs of the state of New York in order, then I don't think it's proper for me to move on. It's another way that distinguished him.

ROMANS: In politics today, everyone is looking for the next job. He wasn't doing that.

SMERCONISH: They're already in Iowa. Are you kidding? And yet, he refused to play that game which I think is to his credit.

BERMAN: So, he spoke with former governor of New Jersey, Republican Tom Kean a little while ago. Also spoke to Republican Congressman Peter King a short while ago, both Republicans who spoke in glowing terms of Mario Cuomo. Rudy Giuliani endorsed him in 1994, when he was running for re-election against George Pataki, to many Republicans' chagrin.

But it does seem like he had some, a lot of Republicans necessarily wouldn't have necessarily voted for him but he liked him.

SMERCONISH: It also speaks I think to the passing of an era. And this is -- this is the saddest news of all beyond the loss to the Cuomo family. He's representative of a time when individuals, regardless of their ideological differences and political differences could reach across the aisle. How often would you find today the sort of glowing comments that are being offered by Republicans about a Democrat? You just don't see it anymore.

BERMAN: I have to tell you what Tom Kean gave the keynote at the Republican Convention in 1998. Who did he call for advice on how to give a keynote address? He called Democratic Governor Mario Cuomo to get tips which is amazing and Mario not only gave him tips but said call my son Andrew. He set up the speech, he stage managed it, he dimmed the lights. Call him, too.

I can't think of anything like that happening today.

SMERCONISH: When Tip O'Neill celebrated his 69th birthday in those Reagan '80s, which were a time of a high point for conservatism, Ronald Reagan brought him to the White House and delivered a toast to him and celebrated his 69th birthday.

Today, Obama, Boehner getting together like that, I don't see it. And that's a shame. And maybe it's a moment for reflection that we take a look at the loss of Governor Cuomo and we say, hey, we need more of this.

PEREIRA: Just because we can. What kind of president would he have made?

SMERCONISH: I like the thought of what kind of a president he would have made because I think he could have been a bridge builder. Ideologically, we weren't kindred spirits.

(CROSSTALK)

BERMAN: The policies here were liberal.

SMERCONISH: Correct. Right.

So, putting aside some of that, in terms of how he approached the job, earnest. I think he'd have been fun to watch.

ROMANS: Can I say that when we listen to his voice and when we listen to Andrew Cuomo, the current governor of New York give the inaugural yesterday, they sound so much alike.

PEREIRA: Take it a step further.

(CROSSTALK) ROMANS: Chris Cuomo can turn it on and you just can't -- I mean, there's such a distinctive sound in the voices, it's remarkable.

SMERCONISH: Well, they have people skills. I mean, Chris has those people skills.

ROMANS: Sometimes.

SMERCONISH: You watch him here day-to-day basis he has the gift as well.

BERMAN: It's interesting, though, how politics has changed over time, because, you know, as popular as Mario Cuomo's speech was in 1984, the Democrats got crushed that year. In 1992, the Democratic Party itself shifted away from him toward Bill Clinton, toward the more centrist, you know, wing of the Democratic Party. It was almost like that Cuomo moment was something -- the Mario Cuomo moment was something from a little bit earlier.

SMERCONISH: True. You referenced Clinton and to Michaela's point what kind of a president would he have been -- as an attorney, I say to myself, what kind of a Supreme Court justice would he have been because apparently that was ready to go and he decided it's not a job that I'd like to pursue.

ROMANS: He decided to run again, is that why he didn't take the justice?

BERMAN: Well, it was budget issues in New York, he had to stay in New York to get the job done and ultimately ran for re-election. By all accounts Clinton was ready to give him the job.

PEREIRA: So, that begs the question, because we can't get out of Chris, necessarily. It's hard to get some stuff out of him. Let's talk about Andrew.

Do you think -- given the fact his father didn't -- didn't twice, it sounds like from urging. Didn't take the Supreme Court nomination, Andrew has been viewed as a contender for a possible presidential candidate. Do you think some of this might change his thoughts?

SMERCONISH: You know, maybe he looks at dad's -- I don't know is my first answer.

PEREIRA: Just curious.

SMERCONISH: Maybe he looks at dad's experience and admires the fact that dad recognized his role as governor of the state of New York, he wasn't going to hustle off to a bake in Iowa or get to the snow of New Hampshire.

BERMAN: Michael Smerconish, great to have you here with us talking about this.

SMERCONISH: Nice to see you.

BERMAN: Love talking politics like this, different eras, it's really fun.

Remember, you can watch "SMERCONISH" Saturdays at 9:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN.

PEREIRA: We're going to talk more about Governor Mario Cuomo's legacy. We'll get some insight from former New York Governor David Paterson, coming up.

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