Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Prime Minister's News Conference on MH370 Search

Aired March 30, 2014 - 20:00   ET

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

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. It is the top of the hour, 8:00 Eastern Time.

Six days remain before batteries may die on Malaysia Flight 370's black box data recorder. Six days before the all important ping signaling, its location fades away. With pressure mounting a more extensive search ramping up with 10 planes, 10 ships involved. The goal, find four mysterious orange objects spotted earlier. Those orange objects are called promising leads.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. RUSSELL ADAMS, ROYAL AUSTRALIAN AIR FORCE: We count an area within approximately five nautical miles which included at least four orange colored objects greater than approximately two meters in size each. I must stress that we can't confirm the origin of these objects.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Well, let's not get ahead of ourselves here. As our analyst Mary Schiavo says, we don't want to get our homes up. Cautious optimism. Those very same orange objects could wind up being ocean trash when crews do find them or they could be the huge break desperately needed to help solve the mystery of Flight 370.

You know, the whole world is watching and waiting for physical evidence of the missing plane despite relatives of those on board, they stay truth needs to be revealed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (Through Translator): We want Malaysia to apologize for the information that caused confusion in the first week which delayed the search mission. And we want the Malaysian government to apologize for irresponsibly announcing on March 24th that the plane had crashed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: All right. Our reporters and experts standing by, ready to bring you the very latest information so let's get started.

Our correspondent Kyung Lah at Pearce Airbase in Perth, Australia where the search planes that took off and they're taking off now.

Kyung, do you know if any of the planes are trying to relocate those four orange objects? What's going on with that?

KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What we do know is that the second of the 10 planes are expected to take off. Expected to take off moments from now. There are going to be a total of 10 planes. And that is going to be one of the targets. But what is really going to come into play with those four objects that you're referring to are the sea vessels. There are 10 sea vessels that are going to be working.

They're going to be crisscrossing back and forth to try to confirm whether any of the objects that are spotted by the planes are in fact connected to the missing plane. It is the sea vessels that will be able to pick them up and make that confirmation. Not those planes. So very important today. More of the sea vessels there. The most we've seen throughout all of this -- Don.

LEMON: Do we know how much of a new search area -- how much the search planes have covered so far, Kyung? Is there any way to tell that?

LAH: What we know is that yesterday they did comb through about 280,000 square kilometers. That's a significant size. If you compare it to how it was on the very first day they were only clearing about 30,000 square kilometers. So it's significantly jumped day by day. And part of it is that that clock that you're referring to is ticking and it is ticking very loudly. There are only a certain number of days. Approximately seven to 10 days left for those black boxes.

The battery on the black boxes, which sends out a ping, for it to be detected. So that's certainly that all the search teams here are aware of that clock and they are racing to try to find the debris before that battery runs out.

LEMON: And, Kyung, let's talk about the Australian prime minister expected there at any moment to give a press briefing. And I believe we have live pictures from where he's going to give that briefing. There it is right there. Tony Abbott, he's going to be speaking very soon here. Is this a morale boost? What's going on there? What's the reason for his visit?

LAH: We don't know exactly what the reason for his visit is. We do know that he was spotted here. He is on the base. He came here about an hour ago. The anticipation is that he is going to be meeting with the search crews. He is going to be shaking some hands. He's also going to be making some comments to the press just about how it's going. So we're not sure if he's going to make any specific announcements. But we are anxiously awaiting his comments.

LEMON: Yes. And Kyung Lah will be there and we will report it just as soon as that happens.

Kyung Lah, in Perth, we appreciate you joining us. Thank you very much for that.

Let's talk more about the search as we head into Monday morning off Australia. Joining me now, our panel this hour. And that is Tim Taylor, an underwater ocean explorer, and Christine Dennison, also an ocean explorer and logistics experts, aviation attorney Mark Dumbroff is here as well, and of course, Miles O'Brien, CNN aviation analyst.

So, Tim, you know, they're heading out there later with the ping detection device, and which is new. This one is on a ship, correct? What's going on? What is that device?

TIMOTHY TAYLOR, PRESIDENT, TIBURON SUB SEA SERVICES: Well, it is the same one, I believe. They just loaded it on to a research vessel in Australia. These assets are systems that they can deploy across the world without having them attach to a ship. They can put it on any ship of opportunity. So that's what they're doing now.

LEMON: Yes, it's --

TAYLOR: So it's the same system.

LEMON: It's called the Ocean Shield that they're locating this. They're putting the U.S. pinger locator has been loaded on to the Australian ship and we've been showing video. And it's got big Ocean Shield on the side.

TAYLOR: Yes. So, I mean, they've got a few minutes -- a few days left to listen for that pinger and everything they can do, they're going to try to do. So getting that pinger, that acoustic hydrophone, basically, and listening. Even if they're in the wrong area, at least they're trying.

LEMON: Yes. And there is the ship that we're looking at right there.

Hey, you know, Miles, let's talk about this. You and I talked about this yesterday as we await, we want to tell everyone, again, we're awaiting a news conference from the Australian prime minister. Tony Abbott expected to speak there. As we look at this Ocean Shield, when we talk about these pingers, this locator going out, there are some who feel that maybe the time has passed. And if not, then it's -- you know, it's rapidly deteriorating to find those pingers.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: Yes. There's no guarantee that it's pinging. You know, I think we mentioned this yesterday that the cockpit voice recorder pinger in the Sully flight, the one that landed on the Hudson River, which was of course exposed to water and of course was recovered with no problem, never pinged. So they don't always ping. There's a lot of reason to believe the Air France 447 devices never pinged because they sent the hydrophone pretty much right over where they found it two years later and didn't hear anything.

LEMON: Yes.

O'BRIEN: So, you know, it could -- it might not be pinging, it might go 40 days. The point is, you know, a shred of evidence, and they're going to put that thing in the water and hope they hear something.

LEMON: Yes. The point is that we really don't know. And they don't know. They don't know either. No one knows here. And listen, that's if the weather cooperates, Christine, right? And they're up against not only weather, they're up against the ocean, currents, depths. CHRISTINE DENNISON, OCEAN EXPLORER AND EXPEDITION LOGISTICS EXPERT: They're up against so much at this point which is unfortunate but they're trying.

I have a few questions just in the timing. And I think everybody probably is tossing around some of these things. The pinger that they last heard which was the satellite, the Inmarsat, which located -- it was like the last handshake they had from the plane. I understand that there's security issues involved here but I don't think we've heard anything as to whether or not that was the -- that could be the point of impact. Have they gone there to look farther north.

LEMON: Yes.

DENNISON: Again these -- I have so many questions at this point --

LEMON: Yes --

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: As we have been saying, there are many more questions than answers here.

And, Miles, I don't know for sure if that has been -- if they have gone to that last point where the Inmarsat, that last handshake? I would imagine that they would.

O'BRIEN: Yes.

LEMON: That would be logical that they would.

O'BRIEN: Yes, it's a logical place, of course, is that kind of half handshake that we've been talking about, which, you know, we've been trying to figure out what that might be but one of the leading scenarios would be, it could be outright impact. But more likely as the plane was losing its fuel, it was shifting, you know, electrical distribution. There are a total of five generators. Two on -- four on the engines and then one in the auxiliary power unit.

And as these things were turning off and turning on, as it were, to try to keep electrical power going, that half handshake might have occurred.

LEMON: OK. And I want to tell our viewers, you're looking at the small little box there on the right of your screen and that is because we're waiting a press conference from the Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott. At any moment, he is expected to come out. He is at Pearce Airbase in Perth, Australia. And no one is exactly sure why he is there. If this is some sort of morale boost, if there is some information that he needs to give. But he's going to be speaking and we'll carry it for you right here on CNN.

Mark, my question to you, as the Malaysian government says, it will not give up on this search no matter how long it takes. Is that really realistic? MARK DOMBROFF, AVIATION ATTORNEY: Well, I think that we have to take them at their word as it relates to the search. I think clearly this search is going to continue for at least the 30 days. It will probably continue with the same level after the 30 days but I think each nation is going to end up evaluating its participation in the search as it continues to go forward.

One other point I just want to make, and that is the Malaysians, as we all know, are running the investigation, the Malaysian government. And under their accident investigation procedures, which are part of their law, investigations of this type, in their words, are private in the sense that they're not conducted in the media, they're not conducted in the public.

Now there's a great deal of information that's coming out. And we're talking about some of it now. That typically would not be released as part of the briefings. But rather be considered by the investigators. And so we're engaging in speculation regarding information that probably would not customarily be released in an investigation.

Now we have some extraordinary circumstances here as it relates to the inability to locate the aircraft. But I think the fact that there is information being released, even misinformation, is what's creating the problem here.

LEMON: Tim, you know, we're talking about how long can this go on, and, you know, of course, hopefully they will find something very soon. As you have been involved in searches, when do you -- how do you figure out when is the right time if nothing is happening?

TAYLOR: Well, I mean, that's a human thing to do now. This is the sensitivity to the families. But if you're doing just sheer numbers and they want to find this thing and they want to put every asset they can. If you put one-degree search vessel on location with one autonomous vehicle, it could take you -- and assuming they can narrow down the search area to let's just say 10,000 square nautical miles, which is a big, huge area in itself. You're going to take eight years with one vehicle to look for this airplane.

LEMON: What are the parameters?

TAYLOR: Well, you've got to look at -- you're not going to launch every day. You're going to have weather, you're going to have downtime for maintenance. You're going to have -- so a vehicle will probably map 100 square miles a month. OK. So do that math. And that's assuming all the -- all the down time and travel time and fuel time. So you've got one vehicle -- two vehicles launching two of these Bluefin systems that they have here, it would take four years of looking on the bottom if they don't have a pinger.

LEMON: Wow.

TAYLOR: So do they have the budget? I mean, and conservatively it's got $700 million to do that.

LEMON: Several -- TAYLOR: $700 million.

LEMON: Yes.

TAYLOR: So, you know, these assets aren't cheap.

LEMON: Miles O'Brien, what's your assessment of the -- do you want to respond to any of that, Miles, or -- because I have another question unless you respond to that.

O'BRIEN: Well, I mean, that -- you know, that it's important and Tim brings up such an important point. We're talking about this giant space. And, you know, in the case of Air France, it was narrowed down to about 40 square miles. We're talking 100,000 square miles, the size of New Mexico. I mean, that's -- to even call that a search zone is really kind of a stretch.

It's just a huge hunk of ocean. And it's -- they've determined this based on some very sketchy information as it is. So the odds seem very much stacked against them.

LEMON: Mark, how much of a role, I imagine it has some, does money play in these particular situations as to how long the search continues, what's the exposure to, you know, the company if they do stop? You know, there are those questions.

DOMBROFF: Well, I think all these questions are swirling around out there, Don. The Malaysian governments in charge of the investigation presumably at this stage. They're ones that would be primarily financially responsible as the search efforts continue forward. Certainly we've heard at an earlier time during this search that the -- our Navy had put aside something in the order of $4 million and it had already expended $2.5 million.

Tim just indicated, we're talking about hundreds of millions of dollars. There's no right answer that's going to address all of the questions associated with when do you stop the search, when do you cut it back. There's simply no right answer because there's too many constituencies associated with that particular question and the answers.

LEMON: Yes. All right, guys, Miles, Mark, everyone. Stick around. Christine and -- Christine and Tim, you have a demonstration a little bit later on. I want you guys to stick around. We're going to talk more after this break.

But again, I want to tell you that the box you see there on your screen, we're waiting for a press conference from the Australian prime minister. He is at Pearce Airbase where this operation, this search operation by land and by sea -- by air and by sea where it is being conducted. Not exactly sure what he's going to say, why he is there, if he's offering information or what, we'll bring it to you live here on CNN.

Coming up, though, we're going to focus on some of the angles to the story that have not been covered very much. Right now an American pinger locator known as the Ocean Shield, an underwater search equipment are loaded up and ready to head for the search zone.

But up next, when the search for Flight 370 goes below the ocean surface crews will face new challenges. We're going to show you some of the latest technology that will be used.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Welcome back. Developing news. Australia's Prime Minister Tony Abbott speaking in Australia now. Listen.

TONY ABBOTT, AUSTRALIAN ABBOTT: To say thank you to all of the personnel involved in the search for ill-fated Flight MH-370.

At the moment we have some 550 personnel on this base involved in the search -- from Australia, from New Zealand, from the United States, from Malaysia, from China, from Japan and from Korea.

I want to thank all of the countries involved in this search.

I want to acknowledge the extraordinary work of the Malaysian Air Force because the Malaysian Air Force is not just here right now, but it's been in the air searching for three weeks now and it really has been an extraordinary effort by the aviators from Malaysia to come down here over the last few days after all the efforts they've put in earlier in this search.

It's been tremendous to see the international cooperation here. We have regular military cooperation with the United States, with New Zealand and with Malaysia, but to see also the cooperation with us from China, from Japan and from Korea is really heartening and it demonstrates that in a humanitarian cause the nations of this region can come together to work for the betterment of humanity, can work to try to resolve this extraordinary mystery, can work to try to bring peace and closure to the families of the 239 people on board that ill- fated aircraft.

So it is an honor for me to be here to be able to say thank you to the extraordinary men and women who are involved in this search. It's also an honor for me to be here with Air Chief Marshal Retired Angus Houston who will be helping to coordinate all of our activities, particularly as the search continues to ramp up in the days and weeks ahead.

It's good to be here with the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Transport Warren Truss and also with the Minister for Defense Senator David Johnson because all of their agencies are working together to try to get the best possible outcome.

We've got the Australian Maritime Safety Authority. We've got the various air investigation bureau as well as naval personnel, air force personnel and army personnel here in Australia. So it's good to be here to salute the professionalism of all the personnel involved and to honor the work of all the countries involved in this very important search.

I'm going to ask each of the other gentlemen here just to say a few words and then I'll take some questions. If we could please confine the questions today to questions about the MH-370 search, because I'll have an opportunity later today to take questions on other subjects. Angus?

AIR CHIEF MARSHAL ANGUS HOUSTON, AUSTRALIAN AIR FORCE: Thanks, Prime Minister. I'm delighted to be appointed to coordinate the efforts on this very important task that we have out in the Southern Ocean. My job will be to head up the Joint Agency Coordination Centre. I will be coordinating with my people at the international level, at the national level and of course, most importantly, with the families and the media.

And can I say that my heart goes out to the families who've lost people on this terrible disaster that has befallen Malaysia Airlines.

I will obviously be focused very much on coordination. I'm not here to run the search. I'm not here to do the detailed operational stuff that is being taken care of very professionally by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority and the Defense Force.

Can I say that as a former CDF I'm immensely impressed with what I've heard today, what I've seen today, and I'm absolutely delighted that we see the nations of the region coming together to do this very complex search and rescue operation.

Thank you.

ABBOTT: Thanks, Angus. Warren?

WARREN TRUSS, AUSTRALIAN DEPUTY ABBOTT: Well, I'm pleased again to be back at Pearce just a week after I was here last time and I've noticed the growth in the momentum of the search. Even though this search has now been going for three weeks, more aircraft, more ships are being added each day, and the momentum and the determination of all of those involved to follow the leads and to hopefully eventually locate the resting place of MH-370 is much appreciated by everyone.

The international effort is particularly notable and I commend all of the countries who are involved in making sure that we work constructively together to get the best possible outcome as quickly as possible.

The role of Angus Houston now in coordination and particularly investigation of any of the debris that comes to shore and also to try and work towards finding the cause of this event will be particularly important.

I thank the West Australian government for making available its emergency center to act as a nerve center for this operation and to help support the activities that are currently occurring at the Australian Maritime Safety Authority in Canberra and also the Australian Transport Safety Bureau who have great skills in -- in investigating aircraft incidents and being able to work towards identifying the cause.

It's a priority for us to try and recover the black box recorder of this aircraft as soon as possible. It is, of course, an Australian invention, the ATSB, and our safety bureau has a particular skill in being able to interpret that data when it becomes available.

So there are lots of challenges ahead, but the key task now is to focus on finding whatever we can, so that hopefully the location of this aircraft can be properly identified and we can then proceed to the next stage of the investigation.

ABBOTT: Senator?

SEN. DAVID JOHNSON, AUSTRALIAN DEFENSE MINISTER: Thanks, Prime Minister.

Ladies and gentlemen, today we'll have more than 100 people in the air over this site from all of the nations that you've heard the prime minister mentioned. We'll have just on 1,000 sailors in the area looking for debris.

Can I pause to pay tribute to RAAF Base Pearce, its Commanding Officer Dave Turner, who has been able to ramp up the provision of food and accommodation for more than 500 people in support of the air operation?

This is a huge task for Australia. It has gone seamlessly. It's a great tribute to the air forces of the various nations that are involved. They're often flying three and four consecutive 12-hour missions. They're committed, they're most brave and courageous. I want to thank them and all those who support them to try and solve this mystery.

Lastly, can I thank you ladies and gentlemen of the media for the professional way you've gone about the difficult task of conveying information to your various countries?

Thank you so much. We're doing our very best. Bear with us.

ABBOTT: OK. Do we have any questions?

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Prime Minister, you say that the momentum in this search is building. Is there a point, though, that things start to be scaled back and if there is, where is that?

ABBOTT: If nothing of substance is found, obviously such a point is eventually reached but we are well, well short of that point and I think we owe it to the grieving families of the 239 people on board, we owe it to the anxious governments of all of the countries who had people on board that aircraft, we owe it in particular to the Malaysians who are our friends and partners in so many regional ways -- we owe it to all of them to do whatever we reasonably can to get to the bottom of this mystery.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Prime Minister, I just want to know this time, how confident you are with the new search assignment in the new search area?

ABBOTT: Look, this is an extraordinarily difficult exercise. An extraordinarily difficult exercise. We are searching a vast area of ocean and we are working on quite limited information. Nevertheless the best brains in the world are applying themselves to this task. All of the technological mastery that we have is being applied and brought to bear here, so if this mystery is solvable, we will solve it, but I don't want to underestimate just how difficult it is.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Prime Minister?

ABBOTT: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: So how long do you think is -- how long will it take -- the search -- if nothing can be found? Do you have a certain time?

ABBOTT: I'm certainly not putting a time limit on it. I think, as I said, we owe it to the families, we owe it to everyone who travels by air, we owe it to the governments of the countries who had citizens on that aircraft, we owe it to the wider world which has been transfixed by this mystery for three weeks now. We owe it to everyone to do whatever we reasonably can and we can keep searching for quite some time to come and we will keep searching for quite some time to come.

And as I said, the intensity of our search and the magnitude of our operations is increasing, not decreasing.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Prime Minister, on the wreckage that's been found, was your Malaysian counterpart, Prime Minister Najib, too hasty in announcing that everyone has died in this incident?

ABBOTT: No, the accumulation of evidence is that the aircraft has been lost and it has been lost somewhere in the south of the Indian Ocean. That's the absolute overwhelming weight of evidence and I think that Prime Minister Najib Razak was perfectly entitled to come to that conclusion and I think once that conclusion had been arrived at it was his duty to make that conclusion public.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Prime Minister, do you have the idea to narrow the searching area?

ABBOTT: We're working on the best available intelligence and on all available leads. The Australian Maritime Safety Authority is an organization which is extremely skilled in this. We have one of the largest if not the largest search and rescue zones in the world. For all sorts of reasons we've had plenty of experience trying to locate objects, trying to work out what's happened within our search and rescue zone.

We do it all the time. We're as good as anyone in the world at it and if any organization is capable of coming up with an answer, it's the Australian Maritime Safety Authority.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Prime Minister, what was the morale of the troops who you had breakfast with? ABBOTT: I think morale is high. They're tired, sure, but this is what they're trained for. This is what they live for and I think they all feel a great weight of responsibility, but also a great sense of professional challenge and purpose as they go about this task.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: How closely have you been keeping in touch with the day-to-day operations of this?

ABBOTT: Obviously as Prime Minister I've got quite a lot on my plate, particularly as the government intensifies its pre-budget preparations. Nevertheless, I am getting several updates a day on this. My office is in, I would say, at least hourly contact with the people who are coordinating and managing the search, so without saying that I'm as familiar with every element of it as, say, the Minister for Transport or the Minister for Defense, I'm certainly trying to stay on top of it because right now this is a major international incident and Australia has the lead responsibility if you like for operations inside our search and rescue zone.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Regarding the coordination centre, how many people will be involved and will that also involve experts from other countries and who will be paying for the cost?

ABBOTT: Well, at the moment, every country is bearing its own costs and obviously we here in Australia will bear the costs of running the coordination center which will have about 20 staff under the direction of retired Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston, so we're bearing the cost and look, it's a cost that we think it's only reasonable that as the country in whose search and rescue zone the aircraft has come down.

It's only reasonable that we should -- we should bear this cost. It's an act of international Citizenship on Australia's part. At some point, there might need to be a reckoning.

There might have to be some kind of tallying. But nevertheless, we are happy to be as helpful as we can to all of the countries with a stake in this. And let's not forget, it's not just Malaysia.

There's China, obviously, which had the largest number of citizens on the aircraft. Then there are the other countries that have a legal involvement in this, the Americans who built the aircraft, the British who built the engines, the French who supplied the avionics.

So this is an important international operation.

Paul (ph)?

(UNKNOWN): (INAUDIBLE) that this is a little beyond the realm (ph) of (inaudible)?

ABBOTT: Well, when -- when you are trying to reconstruct what has happened from limited information, as more information comes to light, as more potential becomes apparent, obviously, you refine what you're doing. And we've now had three weeks to think about this. We've now had three weeks to scour all of the bits of evidence that are available. And this is the best conclusion that we've -- that we can come up with. Now, until we locate some actual wreckage from the aircraft, and then do the regression analysis that might tell us where the aircraft went into the ocean, we'll be operating on -- on guesstimates.

But nevertheless, this is the best we can do. And I want to stress, we've got the best people in the world doing this work. We have got extraordinary minds, extraordinary technology involved in trying to come up with the best answers we can.

(UNKNOWN): How do you plan to communicate to the families (inaudible)?

ABBOTT: Well, I might ask Angus to -- to add to that. But look, I've been -- I've had a number of conversations with the Prime Minister Najib Rasak of Malaysia. I've had a -- a conversation with President Xi of China.

I've met with the families of two of the Australian couples who are on the aircraft. I have spoken to the family of the two Australian citizens who were based in Beijing. So I've had some contact of my own with the families.

And obviously, Angus and Sander (ph) will do more in the days and weeks ahead.

ANGUS HOUSTON, RETIRED AIR CHIEF MARSHAL, AUSTRALIA: It's very early days for the -- for the center (ph). But I understand some of the families are likely to come to Australia at the invitation of the Prime Minister. And then that happens, we'll have a prime coordination role at that time.

In the meantime, I think it's important for me and the people in the center to ensure that the families are kept fully informed of (ph) developments in the ongoing search. Thanks, Prime (ph) Minister (ph).

(UNKNOWN): (Inaudible)

ABBOTT: Sure...

(CROSSTALK)

(UNKNOWN): (Inaudible) in terms of the contacting (inaudible) about the agencies (ph)?

__I only arrived here in West Australia late last night. And I'm really still reading (ph) in, breaking (ph) into the job. When I know a little bit more, I'll be delighted to come back to you.

And indeed, to the rest of the media, through the rest of the week, I'll be available to speak to you and discuss some of these questions that you have. Thank you.

(UNKNOWN): Chief (ph) Marshall, where is the center located? ANGUS: The center, the West Australian government has very kindly provided facilities in the city of Perth. I understand it is the -- the crisis center, the West Australian crisis center.

And we will be established there with all the equipment necessary to do the very challenging coordination task that the Prime Minister has given us.

(UNKNOWN): Prime Minister, (inaudible) related to the (inaudible)...

ABBOTT: I'm sorry?

(UNKNOWN): (Inaudible).

ABBOTT: Yes.

(UNKNOWN): (Inaudible) Australia (inaudible).

ABBOTT: I'll ask the Deputy Prime Minister, the Minister for transport to add to this. My understanding is that the responsibility for the search is -- is -- is fundamentally Australia's, given that it's in our search and rescue zone.

And so initially, at least, it would be our responsibility. I -- I guess at some point, obviously, Malaysia assumes a very important responsibility as the nation that owned the aircraft. But we're not quite at that point yet.

And we're talking to the Malaysian government about what we can usefully do to assist them and to cooperate with them once that point is reached.

WILLIAM TRUSS, DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER: There is an international convention which most aviation countries are signatories (ph) to (ph) called the Chicago Convention, which outlines the procedures that occur in circumstances like this.

And as the Prime Minister had said, that convention gives to us as Australia as the -- the country responsible to search and rescue zone, the responsibility to take control of -- of that -- that element of the -- of -- of the search and also, a recovery of any items which can be recovered. Malaysia is the flag carrier -- the aircraft flag carrier, has responsibility for the investigation.

But the conventions, as the Prime Minister mentioned earlier, gives a large number of other countries a right to be involved in that investigation. Malaysia takes the lead. It's able to ask others to assist it, obviously.

But the -- the U.S. is the manufacturer of the aircraft. The U.K. is manufacturer of the engines, France is manufacturer of the avionics and there may be some other countries that fit that category as well. They have a right to be involved, as do all of the countries that have had citizens who have been lost in this accident. So in reality, there'll be a large number of countries who have a right under the convention to be involved in the investigation.

And that's -- that's why the work of Angus Houston in coordinating a lot of those (ph) activities are so important.

ABBOTT: OK, look, I might just wrap up by saying that as many of you would know, in a few days, I'll be traveling to North Asia. I'll be in Japan, Korea or in China.

One of the focuses of this visit will be to say thank you to the governments and people of China, Japan and Korea for the assistance which their service personnel have been giving to Australia in this very important effort. Again, I want to stress that it is amazing the good that can be done when countries come together in their (ph) common humanity.

And I am very proud of the way Australian personnel have worked so closely together with personnel from China, from Japan and from Korea in this search.

And I think it reflects so well on all of the countries involved, that the work has been carried out with such heart and with such spirit. Thank you so much.

LEMON: All right, lots of information actually given from the Prime Minister -- Prime Minister Tony Abbott of Australia there. And here is basically what he says. My panelists are going to join me.

We can show all of them. We know who they are. Basically, he says they are not giving up on this search. One question from one of the reporters there was how long can this go on?

He says no time limit here. We owe it to everyone who flies by air. We owe it to the families. We owe it to all the countries there. We owe it to all of the people who are out searching to figure this out.

He said we will get to the bottom of this. It's extraordinarily difficult exercises, a vast area. They're working with sometimes limited resources when it comes to the weather because that's getting in the way.

And he says, we have the best brains and the best minds in the world working on this. He says it's a sizable mystery here. But we will solve it. And we're not decreasing in assets.

We're increasing in assets. And we're increasing the magnitude of this investigation.

So who do we have? We've Renee Marsh. We've got Mark Dombroff, Miles O'Brien, __, Christine Dennison, Tim Taylor and also Sara Sidner joining us as well.

I want to talk to you first, Miles. I know you were listening intently. You know, we have been talking about how much is this costing? How long will they go on?

And I thought it was very interesting that they mentioned the Chicago Convention, International Civil Aviation, when it talks about who's in charge of what air space and what happens in this particular situation. It's set -- he's set the precedent for what's going on here, a coordinated effort now which will be led by Angus Grant, who is a retired Air Chief Marshall there.

Miles?

MILES O'BRIEN, AVIATION ANALYST: Well, and -- and I think his point is well-taken. The Australians have a lot of experience doing this. And they have the -- the assets. And it's right there in their backyard.

And so, you know, I would put this in the -- on the encouraging side of things that geography has -- has put the search in this location, i probably a good thing. Clearly, the -- the Malaysians don't have a lot of tremendous amount of experience with all this.

So it -- we're in good hands here. It sort of turns the investigation into sort of a two-headed investigation, in a sense, with the Malaysians having a, you know, privacy (ph) over the whole thing. But nevertheless, we've got a steady hand down there.

And we have some seasoned people that are involved in the search. That's good news.

LEMON: Yes. Let's see, he said 550 personnel working on this. And they said, I think, more than a hundred will be in the air today, 550 personnel activated here. It is Australia, New Zealand, the United States, Malaysia, China, Japan and Korea.

And he said all these countries are working together.

He wanted to thank them. But specifically, he says he's going to visit North Asia next week. He's going to visit Korea, China and Japan to thank them because in an area where people may not get along so well.

They are all coordinated and working on this.

Mark, you know, it -- when it comes to the Australians, and you heard what Miles has to say, they are particularly well-versed at doing this type of investigation. And it may be a good thing that they are the ones who are searching in the air and -- and in the ocean for this.

MARK DOMBROFF, AVIATION ATTORNEY: Well -- well, I agree. I agree with Miles. But let's remember something. We're talking about two different things here. We're talking about the search effort.

And then we're talking about the investigation. And I -- I absolutely agree that is (ph) a good thing and I applaud the Australian government for stepping forward on the search effort.

There's no question that the Malaysian government is not equipped to do this. And the Australians, given the proximity of where the search is taking place, have stepped forward and assumed overall coordination and control.

The thing that I found rather remarkable about the 's statement is that really, if I was just listening to it without trying to pick it apart sitting where I'm sitting, it would seem to me that they're running the investigation, because he also noted that when they located the cockpit voice recorder, the flight data recorder, the so- called black boxes, that they were well-equipped in their laboratories and their facilities and their accident investigation capabilities to read them out.

And so I really think that what I heard was that the Australians, despite the fact that the indicated that the Malaysians are running the investigation, I think we're looking at something significantly larger. Quite frankly, if I were the Malaysian government, and I hadn't already spoken with the about either assuming control of the investigation or joining with a joint control of the investigation, I'd be on the phone right now, calling them.

LEMON: Christine Dennison, you have worked with some of these guys. And you said that they are well-versed in this and they're at the ready. This is what they work for.

(CROSSTALK)

CHRISTINE DENNISON, OCEAN EXPLORER AND EXPEDITIONS LOGISTICS EXPERT: Australia is -- is a sea-faring nation. And they have a lot of years and a lot of experience. And these guys are the best of the best as the pointed out.

And they're sort of -- you know, I would equate them to, not in a bad way, like Iditarod dogs. They are waiting to get out of the gate there, waiting to work together...

LEMON: Yes.

DENNISON: ...and -- and put everything in motion and have success.

LEMON: Kyung, I have just a quick second here. I want to get to you because this is taking place where you are. Now, we know the reason for the and the other officials there, and everyone who's involved in the searchers listening to them.

And they -- they want to hear from them. This is -- this is a morale boost in a way.

KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, absolutely. And you heard him address the search teams directly saying, look, they are tired. We know that they are tired but morale continues to be high. And we certainly saw evidence of that.

When I was on the P-8 just a couple of days ago, you certainly saw that they are exhausted. It is anywhere from 10 to 12 hours in the air constantly looking at radar screens, at -- looking at a vast sea. Sometimes it's rough. Sometimes it's calm. It's very, very difficult. They're doing it day after day after day. It is exhausting. But what you did not hear is any sense that they wanted to give up. And part of it is because these are men and women who live in planes.

This is their job. They can absolutely understand what it's like to have family members who have lost people on planes. So that's really what this is about for them. That's why they're driven.

And that's why you heard the address it directly, why he's here to talk to these men and women.

LEMON: All right, Kyung and everyone stand by. More analysis of what the said, offering some very encouraging words. And there is more. We're going to dissect this coming up on the other side of this very quick break. Don't go anywhere.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Australia's Prime Minister speaking moments ago saying, the magnitude is increasing in this, not decreasing in the search. And he's not going to put a time limit on it. Sara Sidner is in Kuala Lumpur where many of the families are.

Sara, encouraging words for family members who are listening intently.

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Don. And you know, this has been what the families have asked for. We know they asked the Malaysian government for the very same thing -- assurances, promises, that they will not stop this search until they find their loved ones or evidence of what happened to Flight MH-370.

And that's what they heard today from one of the most important search teams, The Prime Minister there in Australia saying that they're not going to give up. And they're going to continue the search.

We also heard the same thing from Malaysian officials that all of the countries have said that they will not stop the search. We know that this costs a lot of money. This is a lot of manpower.

A lot has been put forward and a lot of equipment put forward to try to find this flight. But they're not going to stop. And that is something encouraging for the families. They'll at least be assured by that.

But of course, they have other frustrations. And again, we're going into now the fourth week of waiting to find out what happened to their loved ones and has been terribly difficult for them emotionally.

Don?

LEMON: Yes, very well-put, Sara Sidner.

I want to go to Rene Marsh now, who is our Aviation Correspondent here. Rene, the United States government obviously paying very close attention to this as well, the -- it may be being led by the Malaysians and the Australians. But we also have an active involvement in here. And we are listening to every word.

RENE MARSH, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Don, especially when we talk about looking at both (ph) of (ph) their (ph) cause as to what happened to Flight 370. We know that investigators there still, even at this point, looking at the pilot and the co-pilot, although we can tell you, no red flags at this point as they review both the pilot and co-pilots past (ph), review of the hard drives from the captain's flight simulator hasn't turned up anything suspicious.

Forensic experts now say that they determined that the files were not deleted from the simulator in an effort to hide anything. But they were just overwritten. The passenger manifest hasn't turned up anything suspicious either.

But despite all of that, they say that there is still a sense among some U.S. officials that this was deliberate, an act that was done deliberately in the cockpit based on how the plane flew. The question now is was it terrorism.

We heard from the Chair of the House and Senate and Intelligence Committee, both of them saying there is nothing to point to terrorism at this point, Don.

LEMON: No matter what it is, you heard the Australian Prime Minister there, saying that they --- we will get to the bottom of it. He said they will not stop. And they will not decrease.

This is increasing in magnitude. So the families should not worry because they owe it, not only to the family members, to the people who are watching, the people who fly everyday and the countries who lost people and who are helping in this search, back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Back to breaking news here on CNN is that the Australian Prime Minister spoke just moments ago saying that he has appointed a retired air chief marshal to head this investigation, to coordinate this investigation into the search for the plane. He said so far, 550 personnel are involved in this search.

And there are a number of just different countries, including Australia, New Zealand, the United States, Malaysia, China, Japan, Korea. And he wanted to thank everyone involved, every country involved, and especially, he said, the countries in Asia who are -- who are involved in this -- China who had more people on, more losses on the plane than anyone, Japan, Korea as well.

And he also wanted to honor the people who were -- who are out there searching every single moment and not to be discouraged -- those searchers not to be discouraged but especially the family members not to be discouraged. There was a question in the press conference asked of the Prime Minister saying, when are you going to scale back. He said that's not a possibility right now. Now is not the time to think about that. We're going to continue this. There is no time limit. I want to get to my panel of guests now.

CNN's Rene Marsh is with us. She's our Aviation Correspondent. Mark Dombroff is here as well. He is well-versed in these investigations. He's an attorney.

Miles O'Brien, Aviation Correspondent and pilot, Kyung Lah, stationed in Perth, Australia, where the search is being headed up, and Christine Dennison is here. She does sea exploration. Tim Taylor as well and our Sara Sidner standing by in Kuala Lumpur, where the families are.

Mark, I want to get to you, because is there encouraging words from the Prime Minister there? This may be the most encouragement that the families have gotten so far at least that, you know, it appears, there is a coordination here.

And no one is giving up on them. No one is giving up on their loved ones.

DOMBROFF: I -- I think you're exactly right, Don. As we've talked about during this broadcast and earlier broadcasts, the thing that families want in -- in all my years of representing airlines, the things that families want is information.

And they want direction. And they want to know the investigation is moving forward. And for whatever reason, whether a good reason, bad reason, whatever, there's a credibility issue that has existed and has built up over the last several weeks with respect to the Malaysian investigators or the government specifically.

I think that the Prime Minister's comments were -- were on target. I think there is a calming effect associated with it. There is a sense of direction that everybody should -- should be encouraged by.

Irrespective of -- it's not going to directly affect whether we find the aircraft today or tomorrow or we find it at all. But there is a sense of direction present now. And I think...

LEMON: Right.

DOMBROFF: ...that's to be applauded.

LEMON: Right. And I want to quote -- Miles, this is for you, here is what he said. He said, "We owe it to the families, to the countries. To get to the bottom of this, we owe it to every single person who flies and especially to China who's lost loved ones, every single country who has lost loved one."

Extraordinarily difficult exercise, he said, Miles, vast area, limited information, best brains in the world. This is a mystery. It is solvable. We will solve it. O'BRIEN: You know, there's so much acrimony for these families and the Malaysian authorities. And but the Malaysian authorities, either just by virtue of their culture or their nature because they've been so opaque about their investigation, briefing the families only once every five days and doing it in awkward and sometimes frankly just outright insensitive ways the way they've handled it.

They have not demonstrated transparency or -- or competence. And there may be competence behind that opaque veil. But what we saw here with the Australians was a little bit of transparency. He didn't give us too much information. But it was a sense of here are the facts as best we know it.

And as much as anything, you had a essential of competency there. So if -- if I'm a family member watching that, you've got to feel a little bit better.

LEMON: Yes.

Tim Taylor, I want to go to you, because we were talking about the search. You're -- you know, have been involved in this (ph) and you have actually -- something on the desk. And we saw in the video there of some of the -- the tools and the instruments they will be using.

The Prime Minister spoke about that as well saying, that every resource available, they're actually increasing their resources. This is a small version of what they are using, right?

TIMOTHY TAYLOR, SEA OPERATIONS SPECIALIST: This is -- this is hundred to 200-meter system so 658 feet deep. So the big ones are just not going to fit in the studio.

LEMON: Is this part of what is helping him be so confident about saying we will get to the bottom of this because of technology like this (ph)?

TAYLOR: Yes, the technology exists. And -- and it's a matter of time. If they really have the -- the will and they want to do this, and they can narrow a search area down, they can look.

I mean, it may -- it may take years. This is not something that can happen overnight.

LEMON: Sara, you know, I've got to get back to you because again, we want to keep the families top of mind here. And I only have just about 30 seconds left in this broadcast. If you can tell us what this means to the family, to hear this from the Australian authorities.

SIDNER: Look, it's the thing that they want to hear. It's the exact thing that they want to know, that the search will not stop, and not just hearing it from the Malaysian government but also hearing it from the lead government in the search, the Australian government.

Everyone knows this costs money. No one questions that at all. They know there are a lot of resources being put behind this. And they do appreciate it and have said they appreciate it. What you've been seeing in the past few days are frustrations coming up, emotional turmoil that's come up because they do feel a bit left out when it comes to information. But as far as the search goes and those who are taking part in (ph) it, they are highly appreciative of it.

And I'm sure that today, this helped bolster them in knowing that the search will go on no matter what.

Don?

LEMON: All right, thank you very much, Sara.

Thank you to my entire panel. We're going to be back here at 10:00 p.m. Eastern for more coverage. Make sure you stay tuned right now, though, for the CNN original series, "Death Row Stories." I'll see you at 10.