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First Look At Objects Found in Ocean; Search Planes Return to Skies Soon; Grieving Families Get Mixed Massages; Interpol, Malaysia Publicly Fight Over Interpol Passport Database; Objects Retrieved from Debris in Indian Ocean; Kerry to Meet Russia's Lavrov on Ukraine; A Look at MH370's Final Hours; Answering Viewers Questions on MH370; Another Earthquake in Los Angeles Area

Aired March 29, 2014 - 17:00   ET

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

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Top of the hour everyone. Thanks for joining us. I'm Don Lemon. Let's get right to it here on CNN. This hour search planes will return to the sky in pursuit of any physical evidence from the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. At daybreak crews will resume scouring the Indian Ocean. Ten planes will be involved in that search with the weather expected to worsen with light showers and low clouds. Meantime we're tracking any potential major development for you.

Another one here, ships retrieved objects, here it is, from the search area today. Finally, after hearing the phrase possible objects repeated for weeks, we're getting our first look at actual objects that were found. I want you to look at this. And just to be clear here, no link exists so far between the objects that we're going to show you throughout the evening here on CNN. Like this one. There's no link between these objects and the missing Malaysia airliner. It could be sea trash for all we know, but analysts are examining the objects now. And as soon as we know something we'll let you know.

And then we also have this of course, the grieving families of passengers are enduring an emotional roller coaster. On Monday Malaysian officials told them all lives were lost, no one survived. That message got muddled today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HISHAMUDDIN BIN HUSSEIN, ACTING MALAYSIAN TRANSPORTATION MINISTER: And the best we can do is pray and that we must be sensitive to them that as long as there is even a remote chance of survival, we will pray and do whatever it takes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: So how can grieving families cope with constantly shifting search areas and mixed messages from Malaysian officials? Our experts are here to weigh-in. And we have reporters tracking the developments as well in Australia and Malaysia for you.

We're going to begin with CNN's Will Ripley who is live in Perth, Australia. Of course that's where the search is going on. It's starting from there. So, Will, we're just hours away from daybreak, really just about an hour, and the search is resuming very soon. What's the plan for the search teams today? And also there's new information, correct?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A quiet time here in Western Australia, but this is a very busy time here at this air base where flight crews as we speak are arriving getting their planes ready to take off within the hour, the first flights will be heading out to that search area. It takes a couple of hours to get there, which is why the flights are leaving even before the sun rises. They want to maximize the amount of time they had, the daylight and also with good weather. Because we know that weather conditions will be changing today, visibility will be dropping, we're expecting rain, we're expecting clouds to move in.

That's going to hamper the search efforts potentially. So ten planes in the air today, a total of ten ships will be in place by the end of the day today. And here's how it works. The planes, they look for objects. They spot them, they drop a buoy, they mark the spot and then they report that location to these ships which then try to get to the area, recover the objects, bring them on board. And that's when the real work begins when investigators take a very close look at these to try to determine if there's any link to flight 370. These are much more than objects for the families of the 239 people on board that flight. These are the potential to bring some finally much- needed closure.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RIPLEY (voice-over): Search planes are spotting more objects in the Indian Ocean, but we still don't know if any of them are from Malaysia Airlines flight 370.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: The position has been recorded. They've dropped drift buoys in the area to try and get an assessment of what the drift is doing for those objects.

RIPLEY: More ships are moving into the search area. Their mission, find the objects, bring them on board and determine if they're sea trash or jetliner debris.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: They're all still alive. My son and everyone on board. The plane is still there too.

RIPLEY: Three weeks into the search families of the 239 people on flight 370 are holding onto any sliver of hope. Even after its own prime minister announced there are no survivors, Malaysia's acting transport minister struck a different tone Saturday.

BIN HUSSEIN: I told the families, I cannot, because -- and the best we can do is pray and that we must be sensitive to them that as long as there is even a remote chance of a survivor, we will pray and do whatever it takes.

RIPLEY: Changing weather could limit the search in the coming days. So crews are doing everything they can to hunt for clues in the vast Indian Ocean, clues that could finally bring answers. (END VIDEOTAPE)

RIPLEY: Heartbreaking to know what these families are going through right now. An impossible situation of not really being able to say good-bye because they don't have answers. They don't have anything tangible to prove what happened to flight 370. That's why this search is taking on new urgency today -- Don.

LEMON: Thank you very much, Will Ripley, Perth, Australia.

Joining me now Mary Schiavo, former inspector general, the Department of Transportation, Michael Kay, pilot and retired lieutenant colonel in the British military, Christine Dennison and Ocean explorer and expedition logistic expert. Mary, let's start with you. The report about the new objects found, what do you make of it?

MARY SCHIAVO, FORMER INSPECTOR GENERAL, U.S. TRANSPORTATION DEPARTMENT: Well, it's encouraging. You can't tell that whether they're from a plane or not, but the experts in Perth and wherever they're going to send them to be analyze and I believe they're amassing the experts in Perth, will be able to tell and analyze. And remember, parts on the plane are approved mostly parts approved by the Federal Aviation Administration because it's a Boeing so it's subject to FAA regulation.

And so most of them have a unique serial numbers, they have approved part numbers. There are things that go on airplanes, and they really don't occur anywhere else. An airplane seat has special flammability and G-force ratings. So if we find this wreckage and it looks like parts from a plane, it will likely be parts from a plane. Now, these don't look like it yet, but if they find things it's not like an aircraft seat could also be used on a boat. No way. So they'll know pretty certainly.

LEMON: Christine, you heard what she said. It doesn't look like it so far, but if and when debris is found if it's found from the plane, it could be miles away from the central crash site, right? That's just the beginning.

CHRISTINE DENNISON, OCEAN EXPLORER AND EXPEDITION LOGISTICS EXPERT: At this point we still have all the currents that have been moving this debris around for over three weeks. And so the point of impact is still it could be thousands of miles away.

LEMON: Did you get any sense, Michael Kay, you know, they returned to the skies today so they're going to do it in about an hour, you saw the additional assets that they are adding to this now because more countries are getting involved, just earlier Mary Schiavo said she thought that more assets should be sent to look for these objects as well. Does that offer more hope that something will be found sooner, you believe?

MICHAEL KAY, FORMER ADVISER TO THE U.K. MINISTRY OF DEFENSE: Yes. I don't believe it's for that, I think the area's been saturated with assets because we're really up against a timeline now. The timeline being the 30 days since the black boxes are lost and the GPS pings are coming off the black boxes as already been reported one of the key ways trying to locate those from the air is through the sonobuoys, I know they'd be using two types, they'd be using the active and the passive.

The passive will be listening out for the pings and the active will be sending energy out into the water to get sort of any form of indication of debris in the water. So, that will be absolutely key. What's driving that timeline is the weather. You can have all the airplanes in the world up there, you can have all the satellites looking down at that area. If you've got a low cloud base, if you've got drizzle, rain, the visibilities come right into five kilometers, it's going to make it impossible. And every day that goes by is a day that those batteries will be running out.

LEMON: And that's, you know, our reporter there said that there is, you know, rain. Because they had expected good weather, but the weather doesn't seem to be cooperating today with that. Listen, I spoke to an expert last night who has conducted many investigations into airline disasters. And he says he believes that the time is up for those pingers.

KAY: I mean, again, it's very hard to quantify. I mean, if the pingers were actually damaged during the impact of the aircraft on the water, then it might be a lost cause already. But we don't know that. And you have to keep going to what you know. What we know at the moment is that those GPS on the black box have a 31-day life. We have to work to that timeline unless we know any other information that tells us otherwise.

LEMON: Mary, let's talk a little bit about the mechanics of the search itself. A lot of room for human error and fatigue to enter into this search process, right? And as you look at that video, you see people handling -- some of the people handling some of the objects. Talk to me about that.

SCHIAVO: Well, that's the way you get them out of the water. I mean, there are onboard cranes and claws and nets and things to grab them with. But a lot of times it's just hands, you know, grabbing the objects and pulling them overboard. And once you can get them either with a hook or with a, like I said, cranes, nets, et cetera, at some point you just have to grab them and haul them over. It's the nature of search and rescue teams. I mean, they're going to want to get this stuff. And I bet they were very pleased that they could start bringing items on their ships. That's what they live to do. And they're usually so driven and energetic about their jobs, I bet it didn't occur to them that, you know, well, maybe this stuff has, you know, has chemicals or isn't clean. They were probably just so anxious to try to help because that's just the way they are.

LEMON: Yes. Listen, there's a lesson in it for us about just how much debris is in the water because this could just be trash in the ocean.

DENNISON: It could just be trash. And that's the unfortunate part is there's so much garbage in this area of the ocean. And it's just swirling around, as we say, with the gyre and the currents. And we have yet to see, but I agree with Michael, I think we just have to be hopeful.

LEMON: OK, guys. I want you to stick around because we have a lot more questions we need to discuss straight ahead here on CNN.

Coming up, what's the physical and mental toll on these grieving families? Our psychologist Jeff Gardere is here with me. And I'm going to ask him about that. And next, search planes gear up to head out to look for the missing jet, day 23 of the hunt for the flight 370. What could these new objects tell authorities about what to look for? Lots going on. Make sure you stay right there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LMEON: Search planes gearing up to scour the Indian Ocean within the hour. Visual spotters on search planes are trained to constantly move their eyes in specific patterns while trying to spot possible objects. The monotony of the ocean though can do strange things to the human eye.

I want to bring in our panel back again. Christine, you know, you're an oceanographer. I've heard that seaweed in the search area bright orange, it can easily be confused with possible orange plane debris. What other items can make confuse the spotters? Probably a lot of other items.

DENNISON: There's a lot. There's plastic that's going to be floating, plastic does not sink so you'll have a lot of plastic. Again, rope that's just been there for eons and just debris that's been floating around the South Indian Ocean.

LEMON: Yes.

DENNISON: And it's confusing for them, but I do think that they are making headway. I'm not sure we're being told that these objects are not from the plane, but it may lead to something else. We're not sure.

LEMON: Mary, weather may deteriorate today with showers and clouds. And I thought this new search though area better weather than the old search area, but it doesn't appear to be working out at least not initially.

SCHIAVO: No. And all of the delays will, you know, with this statement by the Malaysian gentleman about, you know, giving the families hope, the delays will actually kind of work on the families' minds too. You know, after September 11 there were a number of conspiracy theories and a French author came up with the theory that the planes had been emptied and the passengers were actually being held in Canada somewhere. And I had one of my clients say something to me who lost her son in one of the planes in the World Trade Center and hadn't gotten any remains. She said, you know, my head knows it's so. My brain knows that he's gone, but my heart wishes to prove it wasn't so. And so all of these delays will get the passengers -- or families of the passengers hoping. And my heart just breaks for them because that's the problem with the delay above all else.

LEMON: Yes. We have to remember that 239 families, at least, are dealing with this. Go ahead Michael Kay.

KAY: I was going to say I've conducted quite a few search operations now over water both in fantastic weather conditions and also very inclement weather conditions. And it's not just about the weather, it's about the lighting. Depending on what type of light you have will depend on how flat or bright the actual conditions are. So when you're actually looking at the ocean, if it's a bright day with no cloud cover, there's possibly a good chance you might get a glint of something in the sea.

LEMON: And look at that, that's the weather satellite in that area.

KAY: Yes.

LEMON: You know, it doesn't look promising.

KAY: Well, as you can see it's sort of coming up from the southwest. But, again, you know, the pilots will be looking at absolutely everything. And the weather, I can't emphasize how important having good conditions is. You can have all the technology in the world, but Mother Nature still has the upper hand.

LEMON: You want to talk about the families as well. Mary mentioned the families with all these delays, is really just providing them more anguish.

SCIAVO: It's absolutely heartbreaking. And I work with families that have been waiting 70 years for answers. And the important thing is they need to be kept abreast of what they're doing. I think so many of these families have no idea what the procedure is for the deployment -- the resources that they're using. And they need to be brought up to speed before we, the public, know. They really need to sit with these families and explain to them this is what we're doing, this is the next step. We will keep you informed of everything as we go along. Just so they have an understanding of a timeline. I think they're just lost at this point in this information, misinformation.

LEMON: We'll going to talk more about the families as well and what can possibly be done to help in this situation. Maybe not a lot, but in some ways there may be some encouragement for the families. OK, stick with us. We're going to continue our discussion coming up. Coming up as well, families as we said of flight 370 passengers making a statement about their frustration with Malaysian officials. They got up and walked out of a briefing as a show of solidarity and anger. What is the physical and mental toll these families are dealing with? And should they continue holding out hope? Psychologist Jeff Gardere is here. I'll ask him next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: We want to catch you up on March madness news. The elite eight has now been finalized. The NCAA basketball tournament game tips off in less than an hour. Two games are on tap tonight. Our sister network TBS broadcasting those games for you. Dayton and Florida tip off about 6:10 p.m. Wisconsin takes on Arizona after that. We're back in 90 seconds.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: For the loved ones of the 239 people aboard Malaysia Airlines flight 370, the biggest challenge could be grieving for someone whose final resting place may never be found.

Our Paula Hancock sat down with the husband of the flight attendant on flight 370. He still speaks of her in the present tense.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: I even promised them I'm going to bring her home. But I really don't know where is she now. And now I'm not sure whether I can bring her home.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: It's just heartbreaking. I want to bring in Jeff Gardere now, psychologist. It is heartbreaking to hear that. I'm not sure what we could offer the family to give them hope, but is there anything -- how can they cope with this?

JEFF GARDERE, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: One of the things that the Malaysian officials did, which was right, was to talk to them about their spiritual and religious beliefs. This is now the point where you have to give it to a power greater than yourself because there are no answers. This poor man, the way that he's grieving like many of the family members at this point, it really is about holding onto hope as much as you can. But, Don, one of the things that the family members have said until they find the bodies, if they find bodies, they can't really begin the grieving process. So this is something that is so horrible for them because they really are stuck in between a rock and a hard place these family members.

LEMON: We don't know. We don't know. They're looking at objects.

GARDERE: Uh-huh.

LEMON: They're using mathematical calculations to determine in their estimation what happened to the plane, where it went down.

GARDERE: Uh-huh.

LEMON: But some family members say they believe the relatives are still alive. Is that healthy?

GARDERE: It's a coping mechanism for them right now. In some ways, and it's not putting them down or making any clinical judgments, it's what we call denial. The denial is this goes on day after day that there are no bodies that may be found. And let's face it, no one is putting any resources right now into looking for a hijacked plane in some, you know, some remote country or some remote place. So they're not -- I think the experts are not really thinking that there is a hijacking where now the plane is resting someplace else undercover. It is about the plane being crashed or has crashed. And so for these family members all they can do is hold onto that slightest hope that their family members are alive. That's all they can do. That's their defense mechanism right now.

LEMON: When people sit down or step in front of cameras, they want their voices heard.

GARDERE: Uh-huh.

LEMON: They want their -- not only their voices heard, but they want some answers, right?

GARDERE: That's right.

LEMON: We heard from a flight attendant -- that same flight attendant's husband, we just heard, he says he gets most of his information from TV, not authorities. And that's because there's no free press there, there's a free press here.

GARDERE: That's right.

LEMON: And it's important to keep pressure on the government and to find answers. They're looking at us for answers.

GARDERE: That's right. They are trying to get as much information as possible. They're not getting it in the way that they want to from the Malaysian government at this particular time. Even the Chinese government are saying, listen, we want more information, consistent information. How do you know all these people died when you made that announcement without the credible proof? That's number one. Number two, the families want to be heard. This is their way of --

LEMON: This is why this woman stepped in front of the cameras, to make a plea.

GARDERE: Exactly.

LEMON: And again, saying we are watching the coverage. It's interesting because there are people sort of damned if we do, damned if we don't, if we don't report it. Why aren't you keeping the government in check? Why aren't you telling the families stories? And then if we do, why are you offering false hope? Why are you speculating on? But we must report on this and the families want us to report on this. And they are looking 24 hours at the coverage.

GARDERE: I think the most respectful thing we can do right now is to let people know how these families are grieving, how they're coping in their own way. And they want to be heard because they're very upset that they're on this roller coaster ride, that they're not getting the proper information. And in their own way it's their ketosis screaming, crying to the world but it's a very healthy thing. They are experiencing a pain that most of us will never, thank goodness, have to know.

LEMON: Have to know. And we're keeping those families top of mind and the 239 people on board that plane as we continue to report this story. Jeff Gardere, thank you very much. Jeff will be rejoining us for our coverage throughout the evening here on CNN. You know, up next we're focusing on the investigation into the disappearance of Malaysian Airlines flight 370, why Malaysian officials say they don't need to cross-check passports for people boarding planes in their country even though two men boarded that plane with fake documents. Back after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Search crews looking for pieces of that missing aircraft in the Indian Ocean and at the same time there is a fight going on between the Malaysian government and the international law enforcement. Remember, one of the first leads in the investigation when it was discovered that a couple of people boarded the flight with stolen passports, remember that? Well, Interpol not happy with that.

Our justice reporter Evan Perez is following that story for us today. So, Evan, what's this all about?

EVAN PEREZ, CNN JUSTICE REPORTER: Well, Don, this is a very unusual situation where you have Interpol publicly in a fight essentially with the Malaysian authorities. The Malaysian home minister this week went on the floor of parliament there and said that one reason why the Malaysian authorities don't check against Interpol's database of lost passports is that it might slow down processing of passengers, that it might take too long. And so Interpol has now responded, and they basically are saying that that's just not true. They say the checks take less than a second. And they say, you know, before this flight disappeared, Malaysian authorities had never even once checked against the 40 million entries on the Interpol database.

Again, this is not usually an organization that speaks so bluntly. They're usually doing very diplomatic speakers, as you know. So it's very unusual for you to see them push back. The reason for that is they want countries to be checking against these databases. They say the United States, for instance, checks this database 230 million times a year. The U.K., 140 million times. The United Arab Emirates, 100 million. Even Singapore, Malaysia's neighbor, 29 million. So they want more countries to do these checks to prevent people from getting on airplanes that shouldn't be there.

LEMON: Evan, talk to me about the FBI. What's their role in this investigation? They have been going over the pilot's personal flight simulator and his home computers. What have they found if anything?

PEREZ: Well, the checks are still going. They've been providing information, anything they've discovered on the hard drives back to the Malaysians.

Today, we can report a little new information that just came in to us. Sources told me that if you recall, there was some data that they found was deleted from the captain's hard drive. And now the FBI's been able to -- through its forensics teams, have been able to recover some of that information. It doesn't really show any new clues as to what exactly happened with flight 370. But what they believe it shows is that, you know, this was not nefarious. It appears to have been overwritten data, which is sometimes routine on these computers. They don't think it shows this pilot was trying to hide tracks or anything like that. Again, it leaves us with still more questions, Don, at this point.

LEMON: All right, Evan Perez, thank you. Appreciate your reporting.

So let's break this all down for you. Back with me, Mary Schiavo, Michael Kay, Christine Dennison, and also sea operations specialist, Timothy Taylor.

Thank you all for joining us.

Timothy, now that some actual objects have been fished from the ocean, how long will it take to know if they're from this missing plane?

TIMOTHY TAYLOR, SEA OPERATIONS SPECIALIST & DEEP OCEAN EXPLORER: Well, I mean, that's up to the team that's studying it. It could be baggage from people on the flight, could be any item associated with the plane. So who knows? And it also could blend as trash.

LEMON: So determining on what it is depends on what it is.

TAYLOR: That's still a long shot. They need to find a definitive piece of this plane, an empirical pierce that says it's from this 777.

LEMON: Mary Schiavo, despite all that has happened in the last three weeks, Malaysia still doesn't run passports through the Interpol database. You heard Evan Perez reporting there. What do you make of that?

MARY SCHIAVO, FORMER INSPECTOR GENERAL, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION: Well, I've heard that excuse before that it would slow down the airlines, it would slow down the passengers. And, you know, our United States was guilty of that, too, before 9/11 and before we had, you know, the terrible loss from terrorism. We didn't want to do anything to slow down passengers. But the reality is now with all these computer databases, it is very fast. So all the passengers -- we have the world's -- we have the majority of the world's passengers on U.S. carriers. And we are able to do that now. And it's just a matter of key strokes on a computer to check. So there's really no excuse. And they're not only endangering their own citizens. Once on a plane, as this flight has shown, that aircraft can be, you know, flown anywhere or can have a problem and be directed anywhere. So it now just endangers Malaysians. It can be a danger to the whole world.

LEMON: Michael Kay, talk about the pilot simulator. Do you think that will eventually be a dead end? Do you think they're going to get anything from there?

LT. COL. MICHAEL KAY, FORMER ADVISOR TO THE BRITISH DEFENSE MINISTRY: I never thought it was a particularly good lead in the first place, Don. I thought the guy was a training captain pilot, 18,000 hours. He was obviously a bit of an aviation geek. I don't think it's -- I don't think it's odd that he would have a simulator in his apartment. I don't think it's the norm. I've got a lot of friends who fly for some of the major carriers and they don't have simulators in their apartment. But I don't think it's odd he did. I also think that the computers that he would have been using will have only had a certain amount of hard-drive storage space. So if he's looking to practice sort of various emergencies and landing at different airstrips --

(CROSSTALK)

KAY: -- he's going to have to keep swapping it out because there's only so much information on the hard drive. Again, I think there are logical explanations as to why there was a simulator in the training captain's apartment.

LEMON: Every possibility's being looked into. So it's to say no information, no proof, nothing that the pilot and co-pilot did anything wrong in this crash or in this disaster, whatever has happened to this plane. No proof at all. And so we should not be thinking, you know, that they -- we should be looking at every possibility. But we should not be thinking --

(CROSSTALK)

KAY: We should be keeping all the cards on the table.

LEMON: All the cards on that table, absolutely.

Christine, a top Malaysian official said he is hopeful that there are survivors, but how realistic is that at this point?

CHRISTINE DENNISON, OCEAN EXPLORER & EXPEDITION LOGISTICS EXPERT: I think you don't want to give up hope, but realistically, at this point, I would not think that there would be a possibility or a great possibility of anybody surviving on the seas at this point. And I think it's, again, one of these things that really needs to be addressed to the families because they are front and center. And they should be kept in really up-to-date with everything -- the possibilities, what they're looking at, what they're finding, what they're not finding.

LEMON: But it really is a delicate dance with people who are in charge with telling -- who are tasked with telling, who wants to tell someone that? Who wants to be the person that tells that information? It is a delicate dance because you don't want to offer false hope, but you don't want to crush them as well.

TAYLOR: Well, it's always better to under promise and over deliver in any situation. And all this data that's been coming out that hasn't been substantiated is just turmoil. It's a roller coaster ride for the families. And that needs to be controlled in some way.

LEMON: Yeah.

TAYLOR: They may be keeping -- as Christine said, they may be keeping a lot -- I would assume they're keeping a lot of information private at this particular point until it actually vets out. If it doesn't vet out, why put them through something like that?

LEMON: Families walking out of a press conference, also saying they are getting mixed information from officials there in Malaysia.

The families are fed up. What do they do next? What recourse do they have? We'll talk about that right after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: We're going to get back to the search for missing flight 370 in just a moment, but we want to get you caught up on some other news going on today.

Secretary of State John Kerry will meet with Russia's foreign minister tomorrow in Paris. They're expected to discuss ways to calm tensions over Ukraine.

Our Karl Penhaul is on the Ukrainian border where thousands, tens of thousands of Russian troops have amassed.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Behind me, dug in, a Ukrainian military armed personnel carrier armed with machine guns. In that direction just a few miles, the Russian border. And beyond that, that is where the Pentagon says more than 40,000 Russian troops are now massing. The Ukrainian government puts the figure twice as high and says the Russian troops are also backed with tanks and attack helicopters.

Here though, in addition to these armored personnel carriers, a little further along there, the Ukrainian army aren't too keen on showing that, tanks also dug in, in the event that those Russian troops do decide to roll across Ukraine's eastern border.

Now, this is not the only response because local population here say they've looked at the example of their military in Crimea when they surrendered to the Russians. And they also know that they don't have any chance of military support from Western powers. And so local civilians have come together in self-defense committees. They say they're digging trenches. They have shown us that. They are building barricades also with sandbags and car tires they say they will set on fire and put up smoke screens if the Russians come across. And they say that they will not stand idly by. The civilian defense committees say they will join in a guerilla war against any possibility of a Russian invasion.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Thank you very much for that, Karl Penhaul.

Coming up at 6:30 eastern here on CNN, what began as a routine flight for Malaysia Airlines flight 370 became the total opposite, leaving behind unending grief and unanswerable questions.

CNN's Kyra Phillips takes a look into what we know about the flight's final hours. Here's a preview of that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Around 12:30 a.m., Malaysia Airlines 370 pushes back from the gate and gently eases toward the runway. The aircraft is cleared for takeoff.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Let's go.

CAPT. MITCHELL CASADO, 777 PILOT: All right. So the brakes are off. And everything is set.

PHILLIPS: The captain boosts the massive engines. The plane roars into the sky. It's altimeter tracking 5,000 feet, then 10,000 feet. Now, airborne, air traffic controllers pick up the flight.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're going to see you on their radar because you've got what's called a squawk code in your transponder which basically turns your simple radar return into something that has a lot of information on it. It includes the flight number and the speed and the altitude.

SAVIDGE: Coming up to 17,000 feet.

UNIDENTIFIED PILOT: This is Malaysia here. And this is Vietnam here. There's Cambodia on the left side.

PHILLIPS: As the plane reaches its cruising altitude of 35,000 feet, the pilots can relax a little. So can the passengers. It's 1:19 in the morning and a voice from the cockpit addresses air traffic control, "All right, good night." For flight 370, it's been a routine evening.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: And coming up next, we are taking your questions on what happened to the plane. Make sure you tweet me using #370Qs. We're answering everything, including, now in its 23rd day, how much is the cost of the search? That question and many more. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: So you have questions about the mystery of flight 370, and we're getting expert answers for you.

With me now, our aviation analyst, Mary Schiavo; ocean explorer, Christine Dennison; Michael Kay, former advisor to the British defense ministry; and deep ocean explorer, Timothy Taylor.

OK. So, Tim, tackle this first question for us. Is there a reason why the ship carrying the pinger locator cannot drag the locator while patrolling the area looking for debris?

TAYLOR: There's no reason. And maybe they're doing that. But acoustically, the sound has a limited range. And if the debris field is probably 1,000 miles away, 500 -- at least that, because of the currents and wind. So it's probably useless to do that. And they're better off running and using the boat to track down debris. LEMON: OK. Mary Schiavo, this next question is for you. Robert asks, did flight 370 autopilot have automatic decent mode, ADM, in case of depressurization.

SCHIAVO: We don't know in this case, because some pilots say yes, and some say no, but the 777 200-ER can have the descent --

LEMON: Michael Kay, this is for you. It's from Diane. Diane asks, how much money has been spent on this endeavor and who is footing the bill and how much more do you think that they expect to spend? That is maybe not answerable, the second part?

KAY: Well, the last information I heard on the finances is that the Americans have put in $2.5 million and budgeted $4 million for the search. And that is a good four or five days ago, so I am assuming it is above that.

I am wondering how much money will come into play at this particular moment. The focus is on finding the aircraft, finding the debris. I don't people are more worried about the finances until afterwards, but the conversations will be going on.

LEMON: And Christine Dennison, this is for you. B.J. Brian asks, why can't the search teams fly in lower and then put smaller boats in close-ups of the objects?

DENNISON: Well, first of all, you would not want to put the small boats in there, because you want a large platform to work with. Because if there is a large object they can get close to, they need to pick it up, examine it and collect it. So a small boat may not offer the stability, and maybe rough waters. Too many things can go wrong with a small boat. You need a larger boat.

LEMON: OK.

A question from Rick. Rick asks, if the cockpit voice recorder holds two hours of time, maybe the recording should be voice activated.

That is a great question. What do you think, Mikey?

KAY: Well, it is a good question. I can't really answer it, to be honest.

(CROSSTALK)

TAYLOR: Well, the capabilities now of drives to cover more data.

LEMON: Mary Schiavo, go ahead?

SCHIAVO: I know why. Because often the information, the sounds you get on the data recorder are not really the voices anyway. They are really tiny clicks and sounds and whooshing sounds, and the click of the autopilot on/off, and I don't know if the voice activation would be good enough to pick up every little sound. Some of those sounds are big enough or strong enough to kick in the voice activation, yet, they are really, really important. We listen for the sounds, and like a bus being pulled or any kind of sound when we don't have any clues, even one click can make the difference.

LEMON: Mary, you can answer this one as well. It is from Priscilla. And Priscilla says, why can't you have a flight data recorder on the plane and a data processor tower, like cell phones use, that records all of the data.

SCHIAVO: Well, not only that, not only should they record all of the data, but they should download it in flight. This is a debate we have been having since 2001. The capability is there. And we would not have the frantic ocean searches. Not only can they capture so much data, and it is so easy now in the data age, but to stream it and to download it would have obviated this entire search. We would know where that plane is. It is just heartbreaking that we have not done it in a decade and a half.

LEMON: Mike, you know a lot of conspiracy theories. One question is, could the pilots have bailed out when over land at 12,000 because they were afraid to return. The possibilities of that?

KAY: Well, that is a theory well out there --

LEMON: That's a no.

KAY: -- which we should not be discussing. Yeah

LEMON: Thank you very much, Mary, Michael, Christine Dennison, Tim Taylor. I appreciate you.

Some of our guests will be back, others won't. But stick around, those who will stay with us.

Ahead, more on the search for the missing Malaysian Airlines flight 370. Search planes are taking off in Perth, Australia, at this hour, and we will go there for you.

And next, breaking news into CNN. We are getting news of another earthquake in the Los Angeles area. More on that right after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

LEMON: The breaking news into CNN, a preliminary magnitude-4.1 earthquake has been felt in Southern California, and that is according to the U.S. Geological Earthquake Survey. The quake was centered one mile southeast of Roland Heights, California, near Los Angeles. And remember, last night, Los Angeles was affected by a 5.1 quake. 5.1 quake last night. And you are looking at the video from the damage of that. No significant damage though from this one, this new preliminary 4.1. No injuries reported from that. More on the quake just as soon as it comes into CNN. We will keep a close eye on that for you, what is happening in California.

And more on the missing Malaysia Air flight 370. Make sure that you join CNN tonight at 6:30 eastern for "Flight 370, The Final Hours." It is a half-hour special that look at details -- takes a detailed look into what we know about the flight's last hours. Tonight, 6:30 eastern right, here on CNN.

Meantime, we are tracking the dramatic twists for the hunt of Malaysia flight 370. Earlier, ships retrieved objects from the new search area. Right now, the objects are to be analyzed. Search planes will return to the skies in just over an hour. And we'll continue our coverage of the search for the missing plane.

But now this. In Canada, cancer is the leading cause of death for women. And if you are a mom with young children, a cancer diagnosis often raises fear that may have more to do with your kids than your own life, that you're worried about tht. This is "CNN's Hero" of the week. Her name is Audrey Guff. She is there to talk about peace of mind.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's 7:00. Let's go. Brush teeth.

I'm a pretty independent, strong woman.

It's very cold outside.

But being a single mom is a full-time job. You're tired.

When I was diagnosed with cancer, the first thing that came to my mind was my son. Thinking about one day he gets up and I'm not there, that's the saddest thing for me.

AUDREY GUTH, CNN HERO: Mothers who are diagnosed with cancer are caregivers who suddenly find themselves in need of care.

In 2008, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. As I was undergoing treatment, I saw so many mothers with really young children sitting on their laps. These mothers couldn't dream of having nannies. And yet they were the ones that need them the most.

Hello!

We provide free relief child care to moms undergoing cancer treatment.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ready, go!

GUTH: Some of our volunteers are even cancer survivors themselves.

How do you rest with a 2-year-old running around?

Our program allows mothers the freedom to take a rest, because that's what they need the most to get better.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What Audrey has done for moms with cancer is to give us hope.

How much to you love mommy?

UNIDENTIFIED BOY: 100!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm going to win this battle.

GUTH: What we do won't take away their endless battle, but it will certainly make their journey a lot easier.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Each week we will honor a new CNN Hero, an everyday person making a difference. If you want to get in on the action, go to CNNhero.com to nominate someone you know.