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Search for Malaysian Plane Continues; President Visits Malaysia; Russia Violates Ukrainian Airspace; Republicans Speak at NRA Rally; Georgia Passes Controversial Gun Law; California Suffers Outbreak of Measles; CNN Hero Provides Psychological Aid to Children

Aired April 26, 2014 - 10:00   ET

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

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: Fresh fears this morning of an imminent invasion of Ukraine with allegations that Russia violated the country's airspace again overnight. Will new sanctions stop Vladimir Putin's aggression?

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: President Obama in Malaysia this morning on a historic trip, but his visit comes exactly 50 days after flight 370 vanished. And now he has a strong message to deliver.

PAUL: The NRA takes center stage in Indianapolis, firing back at critics and bringing out the GOP's big guns.

BLACKWELL: And get ready to see a lot more of this. The National Weather Service warns a violent weekend is ahead.

PAUL: Take a nice deep breath. You've made it to Saturday. We're here with you. So glad to have you. I'm Christi Paul.

BLACKWELL: I'm Victor Blackwell. It's 10:00 here on the east coast, 7:00 out west. You are in the CNN Newsroom.

PAUL: And we do have some breaking news we need to tell you about this hour. The crisis in Ukraine, it is intensifying by the hour it seems. The country's prime minister accuses pro-Russian militants of crossing and violating Ukrainian airspace multiple time in the last 24 hours.

BLACKWELL: This is all unfolding as the G-7 says it is ready to unleash a round of additional sanctions. CNN's Arwa Damon is live in the Ukraine with the very latest. What can you tell us, Arwa?

ARWA DAMON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, as you're saying, the situation here does grow tenser by the moment. The government in Kiev continues to say that they are launching what they're calling their anti-terrorism operations. But the pro-Russian protesters, they are not going anywhere. They are firmly dug in.

Just an indication of how chaotic the situation is, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe had mandated a military verification mission here, and 13 people were taken hostage, detained by these pro-Russian groups. Amongst them are eight Europeans, five Ukrainians. The self-proclaimed mayor of where they were taken into custody saying that they don't believe that they are part of the OSCE, that they are in fact NATO spies. Russia saying that it is going to do all that it can to try to ensure their release, but placing the onus of responsibility on the government in Kiev, saying that this took place within Ukraine's borders and that the government here has the responsibility to try to ensure their safety. And. of course, Russia also reiterating the fact that they want to see Ukraine stop that military operation, Victor.

PAUL: Arwa, we've seen the Russians refuse to support this deal that was reached last week to decrease the tensions. They haven't mandated these militant groups to step down. Is there any indication that anything is working? And we know the G-7 sanctions -- well, they're ready to go, so the president says. Any indication as to when they might actually take effect?

DAMON: Well, they could go into effect as soon as Monday, bearing in mind too that the second rounds of sanctions are going to be targeting Putin's alleys, prominent businessmen, possibly some more Russian institutions as well. Unclear as to what specific affect they may have on Russia's economy. We do know that the first round of sanctions have had something of an impact.

But one also needs to remember that it's not just Russia that's going to potentially be affected by these sanctions. Russia and Europe are of course strong trading partners and Europe relies on Russia for around a third of its natural gas. At this stage, we really do have this ongoing standoff of neither side willing to back down. According to the Ukrainian government the Russian's violated Ukraine's airspace at least seven times in the span of 24 hours. The Russians are denying this. We continue to see this posturing by all players on all sides as this crisis continues to get more dangerous by the day.

BLACKWELL: Arwa Damon, thank you so much, joining us from Donetsk in the eastern Ukraine. The Russian prime minister in Rome today urging Russia, his words "We urge Russia to leave us alone." All this is unfolding as President Obama is halfway around the world in Malaysia.

PAUL: He's attending a state dinner with the country's kind and queen, reaffirming Washington's commitment to the ongoing search for missing Malaysia Airlines flight 370. The crisis in Ukraine is certainly on his mind as well. In South Korean earlier the president warned that Russia could face fresh sanctions as soon as Monday. He acknowledges they may not work on Moscow.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think it's important for us not to anticipate that the targeted sanctions that we're applying now necessarily solve the problem.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Let's bring in CNN White House correspondent in Michelle Kosinski in Kuala Lumpur. Michelle, President Obama, as we saw there with Malaysia's king and queen at this state dinner, tell us this is initially was, when it was scheduled the first time, to boost economic ties with Malaysia to grow jobs there and in the U.S. Expound that, if you would.

MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right. It's his recommitment to Asia that the administration has really wanted for President Obama's second term. You saw that state dinner with all the pomp and circumstance. Well, it helps to realize that this comes in the context of this is the first visit to Malaysia of a U.S. president since 1966. So it's being met with much fanfare. Trade, of course, is a big deal on this visit. Malaysia is a willing participant in the Trans-Pacific partnership, this 12-nation trading bloc that's still being worked out. It may or may not come to fruition, but there are good signs that Malaysia will cooperate fully with that.

Also democracy, the president is going to be mentioning that. In fact he already mentioned some of these issues in an interview he gave at a Malaysian newspaper before his arrival. Some top opposition leaders here in Malaysia have been arrested and charged recently with crimes. Some see them as trumped up charges to get them out of the mix. Even if the president won't be meeting with those opposition leaders, his chief national security Susan Rice advisor will be meeting with them. And we expect the president to sort of mention that situation in a gentle way.

Also military cooperation in this region is a big one. Malaysia sent troops into Afghanistan and has expressed a willingness to really partner with the U.S. on a number of different areas. So kind of one of those key partnerships in the region which is seen as increasingly important for the U.S. as economies emerge here. And I think even though the president might not have what they call deliverables to take home to the U.S. to say something big that they accomplished, it really happens before a fascinating backdrop. As you mentioned, we have the crisis in Ukraine. Some in this region see that as providing a bad example to countries like North Korea and what they might get away with. We have the missing plane. The U.S. is continuing help with that. And you also have other world events -- you know, China, that really affect this area. Malaysia is one of three countries on this trip that has a territorial dispute with China, and the U.S. has really been trying to balance out, making alliance with other countries, and also still cooperating with China.

BLACKWELL: Depending on one's perspective, a timely or untimely visit there in Asia. Michelle Kosinski, thank you.

PAUL: President Obama, one of the things he did say that was a headline was that he says the U.S. is going to continue to be committed to the search for missing Malaysia airlines flight 370. It's been seven weeks. The searches have been exhaustive and officials have been unable to locate a single piece of debris from that Boeing 777.

BLACKWELL: Right now, the Bluefin-21 is scanning the ocean floor in the 14th mission for this underwater robot. A U.S. Navy source tells CNN if the Bluefin-21 does not find any debris, search crews plan to shift their focus slightly north. Let's talk about this, bring in our experts. We have CNN safety analyst David Soucie, CNN aviation analyst Michael Kay, Bill Waldock, a professor at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. Good to have all of you. And I want to start with you, David. What do you think of this possible shift north? I mean, is it all they've got really?

DAVID SOUCIE, CNN SAFETY ANALYST: Well, it's not only all they have, but it is -- it is the best choice that they have at this point. I think that they've exhausted what they can do with the Bluefin, honestly. As they shift north, it's going to be deeper. They're going to have to change tools. They're going to have to take a little break and re-evaluate and maybe change the strategy just a little bit, get some fresh eyes and change the strategy just a little bit. But I think they're still focused on those pings. They believe, as I do, that those pings came from the black boxes.

PAUL: Bill, what about you? And I'm wondering, we got word this morning that the Bluefin was slowing down a little bit today because there was some sort of software glitch. Are we running that thing into the ground? Is it time to bring some new equipment in?

BILL WALDOCK, PROFESSOR, EMBRY-RIDDLE AERONAUTICAL UNIVERSITY: Well, I think it's getting tired. There's a lot of effort been expended with that vehicle, and it probably needs some maintenance. And I think the decision to change platforms and change location is a sound one. Hopefully -- I agree with David. There's nothing else down there that those pings could have come from but one of the flight recorders. So you got to stay in the area. That's the best chance we got.

BLACKWELL: We have the Orion. Michael Kay, other possible resources, which would be your choice to assist in this search after the Bluefin ends its work?

MICHAEL KAY, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: I think really we've got to look at the technology and what its constraints are. And really, to David Soucie's point at the beginning of the piece is you've got to align the technology with the requirement. And if the Bluefin can't get down to the depths in the last five percent of the search area, then it makes sense to go onto something else.

But what I would say here in terms of the expectation management, Victor, the Bluefin has only been really deployed for 12 days. And this was a huge decision by Angus Houston. If you remember, the first part of the underwater search was all ping locator and looking for the black boxes and the pings. And the pings obviously come in amplitude and strength. They don't locate where the black boxes are. Angus Houston had a huge decision when he transferred from pulling the ping locater out of the water to deploying the Bluefin based on the fact that the batteries of the GPS and the black boxes were dead. Right at that very moment, when he deploys the Bluefin, we're now in this for the long haul. And that long haul can last years. We've only been going 12 day with the Bluefin. So we need to reset our expectations because this is going to take a long time.

PAUL: I know, but 50 days I think it does feel like a long time to a lot of people. I wanted to ask you, David. We know that the Malaysian prime minister said he will release his report next week, I believe on Monday, as to what happened in those first few hours when Malaysia airlines disappeared. What do you expect we're going to see in this report? And is it going to be anything significant we don't already know and are they holding back? Are we going to see it all?

SOUCIE: It's a preliminary report that's required by the International Civil Aviation Organization which is part of the U.N. And hat report is going to be very just to the facts, ma'am, very straightforward. There's a lot of boxes and checkmarks and things like that in this report.

But it's also going to include a sequence of events. It would talk about when the aircraft departed, what happened along the route to that, which could be some valuable information that the families have been asking for.

But other than that, it's going to be very factual, no conclusions. It would just be saying, these are the facts. What's going to be concerning to the families is it will also be redacted, which means that anything that the international community or Malaysia determines to be privacy information will be blanked out where the families won't see it. And I'm certain that will be construed as a conspiracy when in fact it's fairly routine.

BLACKWELL: Professor, what's the value, if any, of the air search at this point, day 50? Would you continue that?

WALDOCK: At this point, I don't think it's going to turn up anything significant other than possibly finding a piece of debris. By this time it's way too long past the point where we can trace things back to where they might have gone into the water. So the only think it might confirm is that the airplane was down.

PAUL: Who do you think -- let me ask Bill. Who do you think can contribute to the most detailed underwater search in terms of the countries? Is there is fear that some countries at this point 50 days in are going to start pulling back resources?

WALDOCK: I think at this point, the United States probably has the most assets that are capable of doing this type of search. Again, the Orion particularly, that has the best possibility in the deeper waters. So I think we're in it for the long haul too. President Obama just recommitted us to continuing with this search, so I'm confident he'll do that.

BLACKWELL: Michael, the person, the figure who I think a lot of people had the most confidence in was Air Chief Marshall Houston. We haven't seen him in quite some time now. Why do you think that is?

KAY: I think simplistically, Victor, is because there's nothing to report. I think what Air Chief Marshall Houston did from the outset is he established a relationship with the world and a relationship with the people, the friends and loved ones of the families from MH370. And that relationship was based on credibility, transparency, and coming forward and being open and honest when there was information.

If you go back to the beginning of the search, you'll remember the satellite photographs about various ocean debris that was on the surface. That's not completely dried up. We haven't really seen much of that at all. And I think through the whole investigation process people are learning, Angus Houston, despite the credibility that he's bringing to the search, he's learning as well. I think it's all about expectation management as we move forward. We're going in this for the long haul. I think Angus Houston wants to make sure whenever he comes onto the world stage he has a piece of information next that's unequivocal. There's no more false horizons, that can't be acceptable. I think Malaysia are learning from that as well. Hopefully the preliminary report will be issued soon and that will establish Malaysia's sort of piece on the credibility aspects of the investigation.

PAUL: All right, David Soucie, Michael Kay, Bill Waldock, gentlemen, thank you so much for sharing your thoughts with us this morning.

BLACKWELL: Thank you all.

If you've got plans for the weekend, watch out, especially if you're in the southeast, because tornados, they've already torn through parts of North Carolina, and it is not over yet. Karen Maginnis is with us. Karen?

KAREN MAGINNIS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: We have a multi-day severe weather outbreak potential. And the potential is fairly high. We'll let you know how many millions of people this could affect over the next several days and what areas could be hit by damaging or deadly tornados. That's just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: You friends of ours waking up in eastern North Carolina, I know this is what you're waking up to -- storm damage. Multiple reports of tornados in the area late yesterday. Authorities say at least two touched down. Severe thunderstorms sliced through neighborhoods and damaged a lot of homes there. There were some minor injuries reported, but just minor, thankfully. More twisters too could be on the way today along with a lot of hail, some dangerous winds, my goodness.

BLACKWELL: Let's go to meteorologist Karen Maginnis. She's been monitoring the latest weather developments. Karen, I see this huge map behind you with the clash of the dry and warm. Who potentially is next?

MAGINNIS: We have millions of people right across the central United States in the slight risk of severe weather. There are a lot of ingredients taking place here. One of them being, we have lots of moisture which is coming up from the south. All the way from Sioux Falls to Wichita and Oklahoma City and then towards the Dallas area, those are the folks who are looking at the risk for severe weather.

We have not had a fatality so far this severe weather season. That's the good news. This is awfully late for the severe weather season to really start getting rolling, but this is going to be a multiday event. This frontal system moving slowly across the central plain, so it moves slowly, and so more people are going to be in the firing line, and we could see 5 million people in that moderate risk for tomorrow. Also 30 plus million people in a slight risk of storms. And that moves a little bit further towards the east as we go into Monday.

Still this area of low pressure hanging back, still have warm, moist air out ahead. This is considered the warm sector. That's where we get high dew points, high temperatures, and there's going to be that rotation in the atmosphere. That is prime combination for severe weather. What we're picking up now is pretty good thunderstorms lighting up the atmosphere between Kansas and well to the northeast of Oklahoma City. But watch out later on this afternoon. Stay tuned to your local television station or NOAA weather radio. If a warning is issued for tornados, take cover immediately.

PAUL: That's good information. My parents were leaving tomorrow to go from Atlanta to Ohio. I got a text already. "Bye honey, we love you." Glad you're going to get home safely, hopefully.

BLACKWELL: This is your hug.

PAUL: Exactly. Karen Maginnis, thank you so much. Take heed out there folks. When it gets nasty like we do not want to report that something happened to you.

BLACKWELL: Absolutely not.

You know, this is prom season. And there was a 16-year-old girl in Connecticut who was supposed to be at her junior prom last night. This morning she's dead, stabbed to death at school, and her classmate is accused of killing her. We've got details on what possibly may have led to this vicious attack.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: Investigators in Connecticut are trying to figure out the motive behind a deadly attack on a 16-year-old honors student. This happened yesterday at a school in Milford just a few miles away from Newtown. You remember Newtown -- 26 people were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary in 2012.

PAUL: Here's what we know. Police say Maren Sanchez was slashed several times at the hands of a classmate in the hallway of the school. CNN's Nick Valencia has been looking into this one.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This should be a celebratory time. Prom seasons, lots of juniors, Maren Sanchez is one of them. She should have been going to her prom last night. Instead, this morning, we are dealing with this situation, grieving family and friends. Investigators are looking into the possibility that she was attacked because she said no to a prom date.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VALENCIA: Police say high school junior Maren Sanchez was attacked by a classmate. She was slashed in the neck, chest, and face. They say the attack happened in the stairwell of her school at around 7:00 in the morning. Staff members of first responders tried to save her life, but she was pronounced dead about an hour later at a local hospital. The school community is devastated.

DR. ELIZABETH FESER, MILFORD SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENT: Vibrant, very, very involved in Jonathan Law High School, an incredible contributor, someone who was loved and respected by both her peers as well as her students.

VALENCIA: Investigators recovered a knife at the scene. A 16-year- old male is being held at a local medical facility and a murder charge is pending. Police haven't determined a motive. The police chief cautioned against any speculation, including the idea that the boy was angry because Sanchez had refused his invitation to the prom.

CHIEF KEITH MELLO, MILFORD POLICE: We've heard those stories or that information. Whether or not that's rumor or whether or not that's fact, we don't know. And so I think it's important that no one here and no one out here speculate on these rumors.

VALENCIA: The victim's cousin read a statement from the family.

EDWARD KOVAC, MAREN SANCHEZ'S COUSIN: Maren should be celebrating at her prom this evening with her friends and classmates. Instead, we are mourning her death and we are trying as a community to understand this senseless loss of life.

VALENCIA: The school's prom scheduled for last night was postponed. Family and friends held a vigil at a nearby church and hundreds of people gathered at a local beach to release balloons. Purple was Maren Sanchez's favorite color. Her classmates are heartbroken.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She was very nice. She was gorgeous, too.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She was amazing. She did everything right. Everybody loved her. She was always -- she was always smiling.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VALENCIA: So much love for Maren Sanchez. On social media her friends and classmates posting online just trying to remember here. As far as the alleged attacker, he has an arraignment on Monday in New Haven, Connecticut in juvenile court.

PAUL: All right, Nick Valencia, thanks so much. Stay with us. We're back in a moment.

BLACKWELL: We'll be back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: Take a look at the clock lately. It's 31 minutes past the 10:00 hour on this Saturday. But it's Saturday. Why would you look at the clock? The time is yours. I'm Christi Paul.

BLACKWELL: I'm Victor Blackwell. Good to have you with.

PAUL: So let's talk about the annual meeting of the National Rifle Association. It's underway, and members are already looking ahead to the 2016 presidential race and what they see as a potential threat to their gun rights.

BLACKWELL: Yes, but they also face a challenge that looms even closer. A new gun control campaign is bankrolled by the former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg. CNN's Alexandra Field joins us live from New York. Tell us about it.

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Victor and Christi, a lot going on here. This is a three-day long rally around gun rights. Prominent Republicans are lining up to take the podium and taking the opportunity to unfurl fierce criticism at efforts to enact stricter gun control policies. The talk geared towards pushing voters to defend themselves at the ballots.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MARCO RUBIO, (R) FLORIDA: Look, we're all outraged and heartbroken at recent incidents in which so many innocent people have lost their lives. But public policy must always be guided by common sense, by embracing what works and rejecting what does not. Making it harder for law-abiding Americans to defend themselves has not, does not, and will not prevent future tragedies such as these.

GOV. BOBBY JINDAL, (R) LOUISIANA: Now, these folks on the left, they are audacious. But I'll share a secret with you -- they're also gutless. They refuse to admit their real agenda. The truth is that Michael Bloomberg, Eric Holder, so many of President Obama's wealthiest liberal backers in Hollywood do not in fact believe in the Second Amendment at all.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FIELD: You just heard Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal name former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg. And yes, there was a clear reason for that. Bloomberg recently announced he's bankrolling a new gun control effort. This weekend the NRA unveiled its response.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WAYNE LAPIERRE, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, NATIONAL RIFLE ASSOCIATION: Bloomberg vowed to spend $50 million to beat us in November. He said he'd do everything he could with all of his 50 million to confront and defeat the NRA. Well, here's our response.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Michael Bloomberg says he has $50 million to attack my gun rights. Well, I have $25 to protect them.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've got $25.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I've got $25 too.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's one guy with millions. We're millions with our 25 bucks.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FIELD: So there you have it, the NRA ready to take on Bloomberg's group, Every Town for Gun Safety. The organization was set up to try and counter some of the influence of the NRA.

PAUL: All right, Alexandra Field, thank you so much.

BLACKWELL: Speaking of gun laws, there's a controversial new law in Georgia that's given gun owners to go ahead and pack heat in some surprising places, schools, churches, government buildings, bars.

PAUL: Critics say the law goes too far. Gun rights advocates say the new rules provide additional protections for law-abiding citizens.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. NATHAN DEAL, (R) GEORGIA: While we still guard against tyranny, America today cherishes this right so people who follow the rules can protect themselves and their families from those who don't follow the rules.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Earlier today, we spoke to Jerry Henry. He's the executive director of Georgia Carry, the group that lobbied for the Bill, also gun control advocate and survivor of the 2007 Virginia Tech shooting Colin Goddard. Here's part of that conversation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COLIN GODDARD, VIRGINIA TECH SHOOTING SURVIVOR: What the governor failed to mention and what a lot of media outlets have actually not failed to cover in this bill is it actually expands the stand your ground laws as we currently know it. Currently people with illegal firearms, people who don't have carry permits and people who are intoxicated can't use the stand your ground defense after they shoot and kill somebody. Now they can in Georgia because they changed the law. So I'm not exactly sure how giving stand your ground immunity to felons with illegal firearms or people under the influence of alcohol or not even a carry permit in the first place is really a safe carry provision part of that. So it's a small change that a lot of people missed, and it's now too late because the governor signed it into law. It's something we need to talk about.

PAUL: OK, Jerry, what do you say to that? Does it expand stand your ground?

JERRY HENRY, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, GEORGIACARRY.ORG: No it does not. Stand your ground is the duty -- no duty to retreat basically. It did not expand that. The only thing that it did was that if I go into a location that I'm not supposed to be in to protect someone's life, if I'm standing across the street from a campus, I can't carry on campus, if I see my daughter or my wife being attacked on the campus, I can go over there and protect them and not be charged with carrying a firearm in the wrong place and then run the risk of losing my license and right to carry because I protected my wife and daughter. They say it protects felons, but felons have always been able to use stand your ground law. Just because you're a felon doesn't mean that they have put their lives PAUL: You can take a gun into schools under this law. The school districts can appoint certain employees to carry firearms. You were a victim in the 2007 Virginia Tech shooting, so you know about guns in school very well. Would that deter, do you think, someone who walks into a school to know that there may be somebody else in that school who is armed?

GODDARD: I don't think so. There have been instances were there have been shootings at schools were there have been armed officers before, such as Columbine. But we have to understand that this bill that was passed and signed into law was actually a lot worse. Not only was it K through 12 schools as you just mentioned, but this bill would have forced all universities in the state of Georgia to allow people to conceal and carry, as well as also forcing the churches in the state to allow people to carry inside their houses of worship. Instead of now we helped to modify to get so that they get to choose. Before they were trying to be force. So this bill started out much worse. Through the grassroots activity of a lot people in Georgia we actually made it a little bit better right at the last minute.

PAUL: Go ahead, Jerry. You have the last word.

HENRY: OK. The churches are private property and they like any other private property have the right to tell you no, whether it was this law or opt in or opt out. If you come to my place with a gun and I don't want you there, I can tell you to leave, vice versa. It's the same way with bars and the same way with churches, and it should be treated that way.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: Of course, that conversation will continue for some time to come.

You know, it's been 50 days, 50 days since flight 370 disappeared. There have been days of anger and frustration, a lot of it towards the Malaysian government. Now the families of flight 370 are turning to Boeing.

PAUL: Up next, will their call for help be answered?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: It is hard to imagine what the families of flight 370 have been going through for the past 50 days. Frustrated with the Malaysian government, as most people probably would be, for what they say is a lack of information. They're now banding together and demanding answers from Boeing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SARAH BAJC, PARTNER WAS ON FLIGHT 370: We don't have a lot of mechanism to communicate in any formal way other than putting things in writing. So we've all gotten together to draft some requests directed to really the shareholders of Boeing and the kinds of commitments they believe Boeing should be making on behalf of solving this mystery.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: So a lot of you may be listening to this thinking, but does Boeing have a responsibility or an obligation to respond to their request? I want to bring in an aviation attorney Floyd Wisner. Floyd, thank you for being with us. From a legal standpoint, can Boeing talk to the families since this is an active investigation anyway right now?

FLOYD WISNER, AVIATION ATTORNEY: Yes, they can in part. Boeing will say that they are prohibited from talking to the families under annex 13 of the ICO, but that really only applied to information gathered during the course of the investigation. Boeing can provide information as to what it knows, but I predict it won't do that. It will say they're prohibited from doing that and won't provide the information.

BLACKWELL: The first lawsuits have already been filed. And at some point, those will either be settled or go to trial. But how are those impacted by the lack of evidence? There's nothing.

WISNER: Victor, respectfully, let me correct you for a second. No lawsuit has been filed as yet. There was something filed in Chicago by a firm called a petition for discovery which I predicted it would be promptly dismissed, and it was, because you cannot use a petition for discovery for the purpose for which they tried to do that in this case. There has been no lawsuit filed yet.

And in answer to your question, it's very much impacted as to a claim against Boeing by the absence of the recovery of the wreckage or the black box. You simply are not going to be able to bring a claim against Boeing now without the records or the black box. You can bring a claim against Malaysia Air because that's different. Malaysia Air's liability is governed by the Montreal Convention, and its liability under that convention is virtually absolute. So you could bring a claim right now against Malaysia Air. You're not going to be able to bring a claim against Boeing in my view without the wreckage of the black boxes. It's just not possible.

PAUL: We know next week officials in Malaysia are expected to release their initial report on the plane's disappearance, finally releasing that to the public that the family has been asking. What do you expect to come out of the report, and will it have any legal implications?

BLACKWELL: That's a very good question, Christi. I don't expect much and it won't have any legal implications. That's my view. No one knows what happened and they're not going to be able to say much in my view. Watch, it will be very bland, very vanilla, just some very basic facts we all know. The media knows more and has done a better job reporting this than the investigators.

BLACKWELL: So the families have composed this list of 26 questions and some of them just straight out demands that they've submitted to the Malaysian government, potentially going after Boeing. What legal tools, legal avenues do they have to get answers, serial numbers from some of the parts, what can they do?

WISNER: You know, that's a great question. And the answer is unfortunately, not much. The U.S. legal system, as much as it is criticized, is the best in the world for getting answers, but you have to have a lawsuit first. You have to have a viable defendant, a viable defendant and a viable claim, then you can file a lawsuit. Then you can institute discovery such as requests for these documents, interrogatories, which are written questions. You could get that type of information. But you have to have a lawsuit first.

And you can't do it yet against Boeing because you don't have records, you don't have a viable claim. The claims against Malaysia Air could be brought, but they are governed by the Montreal convention as to where you can bring them. And it's up to the American passengers that's really going to be in countries such as China or Malaysia where you don't have the discovery tools in those countries. So unfortunately I'm very pessimistic with getting those answers. I completely sympathize with the families. I wish they could get this information, but I don't see it happening through the legal process as yet.

PAUL: You answered a lot of good questions for us today. Thank you so much.

BLACKWELL: Thank you, Floyd.

WISNER: Thank you. Good questions.

PAUL: Thank you.

So switching gears here, more and more emergency rooms are treating patients with a once forgotten illness, and misinformation about vaccines, that may be the problem here.

BLACKWELL: We're going to take you inside California's measles outbreak next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: Well, American hospitals are seeing this disturbing new trend. There's an increase of the number of patients with measles.

BLACKWELL: Yes, the disease had been nearly eradicated. Some doctors say they've never even seen a case outside of a textbook. But all of that is starting to change.

PAUL: Stephanie Elam is following the story from the center of an outbreak in California.

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DR. ERIC G. HANDLER, ORANGE COUNTY HEALTH CARE AGENCY: This is a highly infectious disease.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It may start with a fever or a cough, but a splotchy red rash is its signature. HANDLER: You may not know you're sick.

ELAM: Many people in the United States have never seen measles since it was all but eradicated a decade ago.

HANDLER: I have been practicing for over 30 years. I've seen it. I know what to look for. But the new physicians haven't seen it. So part of the campaign that public health has been doing so to make sure they know what to look for.

ELAM: In California, the number of confirmed cases has risen in the last couple of years. So far this year, 58. In Orange County alone, the number of cases has skyrocketed.

HANDLER: We've had 22 cases here Orange County. We've had over the past five years, no more than one or two cases a year.

ELAM: Why the sudden outbreak? The reason is the growing number of parents refusing to vaccinate their children. Last year in California, there was a 15 percent increase of people opting out of immunizations, in Orange County, a 30 percent increase.

Is there any reason to support this idea that vaccinations could be dangerous to children?

HANDLER: Absolutely not. There are serious consequences to having -- getting the measles.

ELAM: So here, they are trying to spread the word faster than the virus that vaccinations work.

HANDLER: The two immunizations, the MMR that you get, is almost 95 to 98 percent protective.

ELAM: There haven't been any new cases here in three weeks and more people are getting their shots. Maria tells me she brought her children in for their immunizations two days after hearing about the outbreak.

HANDLER: Education can overcome the perceptions.

ELAM: Another reason for the outbreak is our shrinking world. According to the Centers for Disease Control, 93 percent of the people diagnosed with measles in California contracted it abroad or from someone who just returned from overseas.

HANDLER: Measles is pretty prevalent in other countries. So when you go and visit you need to make sure that you're immunized.

ELAM: Dr. Handler says that the majority of the people that are opting out of vaccinations are in the more affluent parts of Orange County. But he's hopeful through education that their minds will be changed.

Stephanie Elam, CNN, Orange County, California.

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PAUL: And listen to this, the public health problem you may not be aware of right now.

BLACKWELL: Yes, meet our CNN hero who is providing free psychological first aid to hundreds of children coping with unresolved grief.

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BLACKWELL: This week's CNN hero has made it permission to help grieving children in Baltimore. Annette March-Grier grew up in a funeral home surrounded by death and grief.

PAUL: She's helping families deal with the violent death of a loved one in a city where the homicide rate hit a four-year high last year.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Chicken nuggets, French fries, and a milkshake. My daddy ordered the same thing as me. That is my daddy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My son's father, he was murdered. Their bond, it was just a bond that a lot of kids don't have with their father.

ANNETTE MARCH-GRIER, CNN HERO: I love my city. I have lived here all of my life. But people here are having crisis after crisis. I believe that the violence in this city and grief are directly connected.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I feel sad that somebody hurt my dad.

MARCH-GRIER: A child's grief can be very different from adults. They can easily lose their identity and their security, and that shift can be very dangerous.

There you go. Write your feelings. How you feeling today?

Our program provides that safe place for a child to recover. Our volunteers help the children explore their feelings.

Why did you choose red?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was angry when my dad passed away.

MARCH-GRIER: And talk about healthy ways of coping.

Get that anger out.

We teach our children that it's OK to cry.

His brother died so he's feeling really sad.

Grief is truly a public health problem. We have got to begin to address it. Coping is how we deal with our feelings. We're giving families a sense of hope. We're helping to heal wounds and bring families back together again. (END VIDEOTAPE)

PAUL: Kudos to Annette. Love to see people who just -- they lift it up. They make it better.

BLACKWELL: Use what you have to do what you can.

PAUL: Thank you so much for spending part of your day with us.

BLACKWELL: Thank you so much. And be sure to keep it right here. There's much more ahead in Newsroom next hour starting now with our colleague Fredricka Whitfield.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: All right, thank you so much, good to see you guys. Thank you so much for leaving that hour with that note of inspiration. Wow, she really is remarkable.

All right, hello, everyone at home and wherever you are at the 11:00 eastern hour of the CNN Newsroom, which begins right now.