Lets listen for a moment. Meantime we have just 13 hours to go until that enormous crystal ball drops in new yorks times square. Officials say revellers will see the same Police Presence as in past years but behind the scenes security will be stepped up as police scour the crowds and monitor social media for any heightened threats. Hello, im christine romans. Berman is off, michaela is on assignment. Happy new year everybody. It will be a somber start to the new year in indonesia. The search for victims in wreckage of airasia flight 8501 is suspended right now because of horrible dangerous weather. Divers and sonar equipped ships are standing by to resume that search once gale force winds, heavy rain and high winds subside. A searchandrescue official tells cnn he believes sonar equipment has detected wreckage from the plane at the bottom of the sea but couldnt confirm it. The recovery of all 162 people who were aboard that flight is the top priority right now. So far, search teams have pulled ten bodies from the java sea. The first two bodies will return to surabaya which is the indonesian city where the doomed flight originated. The victims were brought back in simple wood boxes bearing numbers 001 and 002. Our Andrew Stevens is at that airport in surabaya. Andrew, the two victims were given that solemn welcome. It will, of course be the first of many. At the same time we have this information from investigators that there could be this possible sonar location of the wreckage although the ceo of the airlines saying its not exactly confirmed. What can you tell us about where this wreckage is . This is very, very frustrating. They can not confirm whether this is the actual primary wreckage, the main fuselage where the investigators, serge groups think most of the passengers remain. Its a very stark image. They say when they find fuselage theyll find most of the passengers buckled in. What they cant say with any degree of certain city whether theyve pinpointed the area in the crash zone. Its around the same area where the Indonesian Air force first saw what they described as a shadow which looked like a plane underwater but at this stage with those weather conditions so bad weve got two more days of these bad conditions by the sounds of it it will be a very painful process for the families of course while they wait. Absolutely. Now, have any of the victims been identified yet . We know we saw the simple coffins 001 and another one bearing the number 002. Eight bodies after that also recovered from the ocean. Do we know who they are yet . We dont. The i. D. Process continues. If they have concluded it they have not yet publicly announced who is first brought back here to surabaya. We know it is a man and a woman. But theyre being very very careful, authorities here, in getting absolutely the correct identification because so many people have been asked now to give whatever evidence they can to sort of back up any dna tests that have needed. Its interesting, christine, the families who are just behind me here this was cray sis center, you probably cant see it but its all breaking down now, the families have moved, going much closer to the hospital where victims will be taken for those i. D. Purposes. Were an hour away in new years here youre hearing the firecrackers and seeing lights in the sky but its such a somer reminder because so many of the people on that flight were going to singapore to celebrate new year there, so a very very stark and somber reminder as the firecrackers are going off in the background. It certainly is Andrew Stevens in surabaya, thank you for that, andrew. Searchers are having a hard time trying to get to the bodies and bringing them back to land because of the weather. The strong winds and surf are hampering the search for the black box which is hold the clues to what happened to this doomed flight. Chad myers joins us from the cnn weathercenter and, chad, what are the conditions right now in this part of the world . Ironically, the conditions are amazing. Theyre great. The storms are gone, the clouds are gone its not raining. But its dark. So and this is this morning when they had to call off everything because storms were everywhere now the storms are gone. By morning, guess what . The storms will be back. Theres our search area right there. Not even a rain shower in the box and then later on tonight into tomorrow morning, another batch of rain comes in right when they would be wanting to launch more ships, more planes. Thats kind of the key here. Its been great in the dark and terrible during the day. Its going to be that way for the next three days. Heres friday day, heres friday morning 5 00 a. M. They should be launching ships from the coast and there will be storms everywhere and winds 40 or 50 Miles Per Hour. So even if you could get a ship out there, you dont want in the the wave which is could be 20 feet high. Every night it calms down every morning it pops up. Four inches of rainfall expected in the next 48 hours and thats not a good sign when youre trying to get people out there in clouds and planes and you have rain suddenly you have to fly so close to the water you cant see anything, you dont have visibility when its raining and the clouds are there as well christine. Chad myers for us thank you for that chad. We certainly hope they can get sunlight and good weather so they can find those black boxes that hold the key to what happened to that flight. Ahead on this hour well have much more on the investigation, stay with us. Well be answering your question questions, too, tweet us with the hashtag h 5001qs. There were no americans on the airasia flight. A woman from Washington State lost both her parents and four family members in that crash. Her husband jack song explained how he and his wife theresa first learned the airasia flight to singapore was in trouble. So they texts us and said how are you doing . Happy new year merry christmas. Then its like have you heard the news. . And its both parents, close uncle and his whole family. So six of them were on that plane. Minutes after getting that text they found her fathers name on the flight manifest. They want to fly to indonesia but they say its too expensive. Theyve reached out to airasia. Ahead at this hour, he met with a White Supremacist Group more than a decade ago and that meeting is back to hurt him. Are his days as the thirdranking Republican House in the numb numbered or has Speaker Boehner got his back . Then new york on high alert as it gets ready for new years eve. What the city is doing to prepare for possible protests against police. 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. Weather is making the search for the plane more challenging. I want to look with our aviation analyst who is a commercial airline pilot. We have safety analyst and former faa safety independentor david soucie. Hes written a book Malaysia Airlines flight 370, why it disappeared and why it may happen again. It looks like sonar may have found the flight. Assuming the weather settles, theyll be able to get to it pretty quickly. Where does the recovery and the investigation go from here david . Its interesting you separate that because it is a separate thing. Before 370 we recalled the investigation but the invest comes after the recovery operation so its now starting on the an investigation now that there is evidence. They are so confident about this sonar but the ceo is not admitting it is sonar. Mr. Fernandes says it may be that. So well know if its two wieses or not and then the information will begin. These are the early days this story and invest you see different people with different information on the ground and sometimes it doesnt square up. Thats why we wait to see how things are going to unfold. Les, a indonesian official told reuters none of the bodies recovered were wearing a life jacket. There were 10 discovered so far. Where does that point investigators . It says to me and i think david agree with me is that it was in the a planned event. The aircraft impacted the ground without any preparation. Thats with reference to the fact there was no communication, there might have been a serious upset with that airplane. Either the crew had no time to do it or the fact that they were already in trouble and because if it was a controlled situation where they were trying to control or attempt krogtoing to control the airplane they could have gotten something out. If a life jacket was found near a body that could have been a coincidence, right . Right, they are underneath the seat so its possible. But why you would find a life jacket without a seat theres no other debris other than the bodies and the one door. And the blue suitcase. You were talking earlier about the blue suitcase we keep seeing these pictures right there. Thats something thats equipment for the crew, equipment for the plane . Thats for the plane in case the aircraft has to land in a different location its basic maintenance stuff, lightbulbs Circuit Breakers things like that in case it was ever needed but thats what that case is and thats all that niece that. Lets talk about the flight data recorders, they are key. Theyve got some time they can be underwater. Theres a long time the data can stay underwater. If they know where the wreckage is they should be able to find those. One of those recorders will have the voices from the cockpit we suspect. Well know what was happening with those pilots. The rest will be the avionics. This is the next key. Aside from returning these bodies as the family so desperately needs, its the data we need isnt it gentlemen . It is and all that in addition to the cockpit voice recorder recording air Traffic Control negotiation reporting the cockpit voices it will record sounds. Switches being hit, potentially heavy rain hitting the wind screen of the airplane. So theres a lot of things then it will coordinate with the digital flight data recorder with a program that david is familiar with. And that will be the key to unlock the investigation at that point. We have to find the wreckage find the black boxes, return those bodies of course, and then try to solve the mystery. All right, david soucie les, thank you so much for your guidance on these past few days. Ahead that the hour less than 13 hours until the enormous crystal ball drops in new yorks times square. What the city is doing to tighten security. Youre looking at live pictures from times square. Thanks. [ male announcer ] fedex® has solutions to enable Global Commerce that can help your company grow steadily and quickly. Great job. mandarin cut it out. See you tomorrow. 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. Its already 2015 andin much of asia and look at these spectacular images taken a few minutes ago in taiwan. Revellers in the capital city rang in the new year with the Fireworks Show blending eastern and western cultures. A Million People a Million People expected to join in the new years merriment. On this final day of 2014 pope francis gave thanks for a year thats almost in the history books. Just moments ago, he addressed the faithful speaking in latin and italian to offer a hymn of thanksgiving for the past year. Its been quite a year for this pope. From his trip to the middle east in march to his role brokering a deal to normalize relations between the u. S. And cuba. We are less than 13 hours from the start of 2015 on the east coast in the u. S. And, of course, that means the iconic ball drop in new yorks times square. Revellers have started to stake out their spots and the nypd is gearing up for a busy night of its own with counterterrorism teams, bombsniffing dogs helicopters all pressed into objection to keep as many as a million partiers safe. There will be hundreds of cameras, some of which are displayed on the screen in our joint Operations Center and monitored live via the nypds doe maybe awareness system. Reporter layering on a new concern this year police are monitoring social media and keeping an eye out for protests that may arise following weeks of demonstration December Manning an end to police brutality. Rosa plors reis in times square. Set the scene for us rosa. Reporter hi christine. Well let me show you whats around me. Thousands of revellers are from all around the country. Heres the deal. So they are not going to see anything different when it comes to security. Everything will be status quo. But the nypd does tell us that they will have heightened security. Theyll have more Police Officers on the street and theyre going to be monitoring social media very closely. Why . Because of the increased threats against Police Officers. You and i know very recently two Police Officers were ambushed and then killed. Well theyre going to be monitoring that very very closely so again, the biggest take away is for people from around the world who are going to be here in times square in new york city everything is going to be the same. Its going to have the same feel christine. What about the new element, this year . Are police expecting protests . Its been a tense few weeks and months for the new york police department. You know, for the past five weeks, protests have erupted all around this city. Well they are prepared for that. The nypd is prepared for that. For these past five weeks they have had a specific detail ready to go that they can activate at a moments notice. So so that is still the case. Theyre on standby just in case but for all of those people from around the world who are not only here in new york at times square but watching at home nothing is going to change christine, thats the biggest takeaway. And what are we expecting tonight . All right, rosa flores thank you so much for that rosa. You can ring in the new year tonight with cnn. Our special coverage begins at 9 00 eastern and what you can expect you can expect Kathy Griffin and Anderson Cooper, you never know what theyll. Do you can expect theyll be there tonight and Michaela Pereira will join them so tune in tonight to that. Dozens of people had to be rescued from their cars after being caught in a Mountain Pass near l. A. Last night. A wreck blocked the road and then snow piled up on top of them. By the time they got the wreck out, they were all trapped. Three all terrain snow cat vehicles showed up to ferry them a Church Shelter overnight. We have a fleet of no cats for our Mountain Resort communities and we brought them down to lower elevations and we took some stranded motorists on the Lake Arrow Head side to First Baptist church where theyll be sheltered overnight and then on the other side our l. A. County side the mount baldy area we took 40 occupants, mount baldy road was closed and impassable so we took them by crew buggy, a vehicle we use to transport our members up to Mount Baldy Lodge and theyll spend the night there until the morning. Folks took pictures with their cell phone, posted them to twitter. The good news is everyone is safe. A fierce wind storm is hitting californias Catalina Island right now. The rough seas are battering sailboats and sending surf over the look at that winds up to 40 Miles Per Hour are being charted. Those waves are going right over the sea wall. Our affiliate ktla reports a Harbor Patrol officer was killed in an incident on the island. No word yet on the circumstances of his death. You can see those are some fierce winds and surf battering Catalina Island this hour. All right, coming up next, weather conditions halt the search for flight 8501. How wind, strong rain and currents are preventing crews from getting to the main part of the aircraft and recovering the black boxes. Theres a lot of rain so that is something that we have to look at more carefully because the weather is changing. You give. And you give. And then you give some more. But sometimes you get. And so you take. Tylenol® cold is Strong Enough for you while childrens tylenol® is gentle enough for them. We give you relief from your cold and flu. You give them everything youve got. Tylenol®. Indonesian officials plan to return the remains of more victims of airasia flight 8501 to surabaya as soon as possible. Thats the city where the doomed flight originated. So far, search teams have recovered several bodies from the java sea. The first two were brought back to surabaya in simple wood boxes bearing numbers 001 and 002. The search for victims and wreckage has been suspended because of horrible dangerous weather. Divers and sonar equipment are standing by to resume the search once these galeforce winds, heavy rains and high waves subside and they can get daylight and good weather at the same time. A searchandrescue official tells cnn that he believes sonar equipment has detected wreckage from the plane at the bottom of the sea but at this point couldnt confirm it. I want to bring in retired Lieutenant ColonelKen Christensen christensen. Also joining us cnn analyst and renown oceanographer david gallo. Ken let me start with you. Explain the complexities for me of looking for and discovering debris and bodies from the sea. When you get to the search area w