aaron mcpike, thank you very much.gt we're joined by les, a triple-7 captain and a contributing editor of "flying magazine" and we'll bring in former pilot alan rosensh ein from sussex england. you've flown the same flight path that 8501 has flown, so what can you tell bus that particular airspace? >> well, what we're talking about here is the wet -- at this time of year there can be a lot of -- well thunderstorms and vertical activities as we call it. those are predominantly associated with turbulence icing, and hail. now, the problem about the sort of thunderstorms you get in the tropics is it's very difficult to fly over the top of them because they can go off very high. up to 55 even 50,000 feet sometimes because the tropicals that the air in the atmosphere where those were all the water or most of the water in the atmosphere is much much higher than the latitudes like new york or london where it's 15,000 or 250,000 teet lower. the problem here is reaching around those storms. these storms tend to usually occur in

. >> aaron mcpike, thank you for the update. cnn rosa flores joins us from new york. rosa you have been tracking things on-line. a lot of people from around the world sending their thoughts and their prayers to the family members of the passengers on board. now, what we're also seeing are airlines taking to twitter, taking to facebook our naults and prayers are with the crew. we pray for the plane to be found and passengers to be safe. a lot of the other airlines doing the same thing. showing their support on their facebook and twitter pages. >> take a look that the. singapore's minister of defense, he says assistance is on the way, and he is posting pictures of those assets of those resources that he is honeying to take to the frontlines. he says rs valor and rs supreme have set sail. they are on their way to the search area. >> tony fernandez, the air asia ceo, also taking to twitter to share some of his thoughts with the passengers of that. he is saying as your group ceo will be there through hard times. we will go through this terrible ordeal together and i will t

cnn aaron mcpike has been following every step of the way joining us from washington. aaron, as we have been talking about this bill had some real roadblocks on friday night. how did they get all of it resolved? >> they did it by appeasing ted cruz and mike lee. those junior republican senators who wanted to get a vote. >> the bulk of the government is from september 30th, but it only funds the department of homeland security through february. that's the branch that the agency, i should say, that carries out. >> during the past week reignited the conversation today. talking about the release of the e cia torture report by the democrats, and, of course, former vice president dick cheney has been one of the biggest proponents of this program. he talked about it again today, right? >> he was on nbc's "meet the press," and he staunchly defended the bush administration's enhanced interrogation techniques. listen here to him defend that program. >> sho there's a moral ekwift ens. that's not true. we were careful to stop short of torture. the senate has seen fit to label the r

cnn's aaron mcpike is joining us at the white house. ned last night. >> reporter: harry reed asked for unanimous consent to adjourn and reconvene on monday but that was not okay with those two junior republican very conservative senators mike lee and ted cruise who really wanted to guarantee a vote on this amendment that would strip funding from president obama's executive order on immigration. harry reed said no way he would do that. so mike lee specifically abouted. listen to those two on the senator floor last night. >> i don't see any reason why we should wait until monday at 5:00 p.m. >> again, i take him at his word. when the republican leaders promised this bill is all designed so come january and february, just a few weeks from now, we will see both houses stand together and make clear that when the continuing resolution expires for the department of homeland security this body will not appropriate money to dhs to carry out president obama's illegal and unconstitutional amnesty. >> now the "him" that cruz was referring tot beginn

here is cnn's aaron mcpike. >> this, by definition was a compromised bill. >> president obama acknowledging the new political reality in washington that he has to deal with republicans. >> this is what is produced when you have the divided government that the american people voted for. had i been able to draft my own legislation and get it passed without any republican votes i suspect it would be slightly different. that is not the circumstance we find ourselves in. i think what the american people are looking for is practical governments and willingness to compromise. that is what this bill reflects. >> but elizabeth warren, nancy pelosi and other democrats are fuming. >> there are a bunch of professi provisions in this bill that i do not like. >> specifically, it dramatically raises the limits that donors can give to political parties. >> the american people are disgusted by wall street. >> but in addition to funding obamacare programs, and manufacturing initiatives the president points out it keeps the government functioning in crises. >> one of the important things in this legislation w

. >> aaron mcpike, thank you for the yumt from there. >> attorney general eric holder is weighing in as is president barack obama. white house correspondent michelle kazinski is with the president as he is vacationing in hawaii. michelle, what are the attorney general and the president saying about this? >> right. i'm sure the president felt he really needed to respond to this, vacation or no, considering how much he and his administration have been involved in trying to ease these tensions between law enforcement and communities. >> shortly affect shooting happened, we started seeing statements coming out from the highest levels. first, from attorney general eric holder, saying this cowardly attack underscores a dangers that are routinely faced by those that protect and serve their fellow citizens. our nation must always honor the valor and sacrifices of all law enforcement officers with a steadfast commitment to keeping them safe. then from president obama. two brave loved ones will not be going home, and for that there is no justification. the officers that serve and protect our c

aaron mcpike is joining us live in washington. aaron, this bill did not pass all that easily. how did it all go down? >> well, it did pass with broad bipartisan support, but there was also pretty substantial bipartisan opposition. 21 democrats, 18 republicans, and one independent voted against it, and how they got it done was essentially appeasing ted cruz to some degree. you may remember that mike lee and ted cruz with a pair of junior republican senators who are holding up final passage of the bill on friday night, and they had to go into a long series of procedural votes on saturday. >> tonight both democrats and republicans will have the opportunity to show america whether she they instant with a president who has defined the will of the voters or with the millions of americans who want a safe and legal immigration system. this point of order is targeted not to the onnibus, but that it will be spent unconstitutionally. if you believe president obama's amnesty is unconstitutional, vote yes. if you believe president obama's amnesty is consistent with the constitution, then v

aaron mcpike has more. >> we take them with the utmost seriousness. >> condemning what we called a cybera. in his year end press conference, president obama called out sony pictures for pulling the movie "the interview," following threats from theaters. >> sony is a corporation. it suffered significant damage. there were threats against its employees. i am sthympathetic to the conces they faced having said all that, yes i think they made a mistake. >> he insisted americans citizens and businesses could not be bullied in o the sensorship. >> they caused a lot of damage. and we will respond. we will respond proportionally and will respond in a place and time and manner that we choose. >> he also defended his most recent sweeping initiative, this week's surprise move to normalize relations with cuba. what i know deep in my bones is that if you have done the same thing for fifty years and nothing's changed, you should try something different if you want a different outcome. >> the administration hopes its actions by helping to bring more western business to the communication nation will open