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New Update in Search for Flight 370; Multiple Earthquakes Felt in Southern California Within 24-Hour Period

Aired March 30, 2014 - 13:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

The search for Malaysia airlines flight 370 is our top news item of the day. There are several significant developments over the last few hours. Here's what we know right now.

Four orange objects, about six feet long, have been spotted today in the southern Indian Ocean. Australian officials who were leading the search call it the most promising lead so far. Ships are on the way to the area to investigate.

And officials say several other objects picked up by ships yesterday turned out to be fishing equipment and other trash. There is probably only about a week left of battery left on that flight recorder. And because of that critical deadline an Australian ship carrying a U.S. pinger locator and undersea search equipment leaves for the search zone shortly and is expected to arrive there on Thursday.

And back in Malaysia, frustration is growing. A group of Chinese families flew to Malaysia to hold this news conference. They're demanding officials provide evidence on the fate of their loved ones and apologize for releasing what they call confusing information.

Malaysia's prime minister released a statement today saying in part, as we enter the third week in the search for MH-370, be assured that the Malaysian government is fully committed to the search operation and we will not stop until the plane is found.

Searchers in a Chinese plane spotted a suspicious object Saturday, but it turned out to be a dead jelly fish.

Our Will Ripley is in Perth, Australia, and that's where the search is being coordinated.

So Will, why do search teams believe the four new objects spotted might be promising leads?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, Fred, we're getting a lesson in the trash, all of the trash, and all of the objects that are floating in the Indian Ocean. And so, this is a promising lead because so far the other leads haven't really panned out. Anything that's been retrieved and looked at in one of these ships has turned out to be not connected to flight 370. But these planes are going out. They're spending sometimes as long as ten hours a day flying over this area, looking for any item that stands out. There's a lot of debris, a lot of objects floating around in the ocean. But if something looks different, if it looks like there could possibly be a link to this missing airliner, they mark the location, they take images, take photos if they can, they study those, and then they report that location to the eight ships that are now on standby in this area so they can try to get, there try to relocate the item, get it on board and take a look at it.

It sounds simple, but it's not as easy as you might think because of the way the ocean currents are moving and the way the weather can be very unpredictable and change in an instant. Sometimes an item might be somewhere one day, but by the time a ship can get there, several hours or even days later it's difficult to find. So obviously, a very frustrating search.

One of the Australian crew member who is spotted these four objects, these four orange objects about six feet across, he talks about it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUSSELL ADAMS, RAAF FLIGHT LIEUTENANT: An area within approximately 500 nautical miles which included at least four orange colored objects, (INAUDIBLE). I must stress that we can't confirm the origin of these objects from our crew and our perspective, this was the most visibility we've had of any objects in the water and gave us the most promising leads.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RIPLEY: One remarkable thing about these crews is their optimism. They go out day after day. They look for these things, and even if the lead doesn't pan out, they continue to search and they continue to be optimistic. Some of them have an expression, you know, no Intel is good Intel. If you didn't find something today, well that's good because you can mark that area off your list and look again tomorrow. And that really is the attitude these crews will have to hold on to, Fred, as this search continues, now entering its fourth week.

WHITFIELD: All right. Will, thank you so much. Appreciate that.

Let's talk more about this with this group of panelists that we've put together here with me right here in the studio, Captain Kit Darby, he is a retired United Airlines pilot who flew for 30 years> He is also the president of Kit Darby Aviation Consulting. And in Washington, I'm joined by CNN's law enforcement analyst Tom Fuentes.

All right, gentlemen. So we're talking about four new objects that were spotted today, again, no confirmation. Australian officials believe this might be promising.

Captain, what do you think? Is it the case that everything is potentially promising?

KIT DARBY, RETIRED UNITED AIRLINES CAPTAIN: I've done a little over- water surveillance in my military career. It's a daunting task. I'm not even sure we near the right area. There's many factors that could cause this airplane to come up short as we've seen it's moved almost 700 miles back --

WHITFIELD: And why do you have doubt about this new area?

DARBY: Well, the new area is closer and that's where I have been looking. You know, a few things to make it go longer, lots of things could make it go shorter who have ever control of it could take it down at anytime.

I believe from based on radar data which says nobody believes but me that the airplane went down and came back up. And that would have burned some fuel ad shorten its range. So I believe that we are in a more likely area. It is such a large and this is large airplane. You would expect a lot of debris.

I'm not very optimistic that we have actually come closed.

WHITFIELD: So, you are talking about the potential scenario of it going down many hundreds of miles away from the area where there is believe to be spotted debris, just because of the drift, we are talking about debris. If there were some confirmations on some of those debris, just simply it would have moved too far away from the potential impact point.

DARBY: Two things. It could have, of course, drifted away. But it also that the airplane could have been shorter than sooner. Not gone as far. So that would have move. And of course, we already have an area the size of Alaska, practically. So, we are now not even sure if that is the center of our target.

This is a very daunting test. It could take a long time to find a meaningful piece.

WHITFIELD: And I think everybody is an agreement, this is daunting.

And Tom in Washington now. I heard our Will simply there saying -- Ripley saying that no Intel is good Intel. Is that the belief that you have here while there may be spotting of debris, no confirmation that any of this is related to a aircraft? Is this still considering and encouraging in you r view?

THOMAS FUENTES, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Fredricka, no. I don't think it is. And my view, maybe other people, another experts disagree and they do. But, you know, from my standpoint, if you search an area and it comes up negative, you can't just ride it off and say well, we did that. Now, we don't ever have to look there again. Because even though, that day, it wasn't when you were plane pull over, but next day, in the next day, the debris could have gone back into where you already searched. That's what's different here than land crime scene. The debris, the remnants of that aircraft could be moving all over the ocean. If you crash on land, that is a fix place. The debris is not going anywhere else.

WHITFIELD: And that is seemingly one of the big obstacles here, even though they are may be a fly over and there is a dropping of a buoy, well the buoy is going to move just like that. And debris might be moving. And so, it is difficult. It is not time for anyone to go back and retrieve the items that were thought to have been spotted earlier.

FUENTES: Well, that part of the search is more encouraging. When it is the plane that spotted and the plane drops a buoy with the debris, I mean, you are theoretically hoping that everything moves together. So, they come find the buoy even though the buoy is moved, you hope to trash with the debris or whatever it was that you saw stays with the buoy. So, that is easier than having five day I-old satellite information where every time they went out, they found nothing.

WHITFIELD: And everything is still on the table here as to pertain to the search for the aircraft or any of the debris for the fate of the passengers and the crew especially if you listen to the Malaysian authorities that are trying to remain hopeful for the relative.

And then Captain, now what about the issue of the investigation that carry on involving the pilot? That seems to be at a standstill. It seems as though there are still sentiment from coming from family members and those who knew the pilots who say there is nothing to indicate that there was anything sinister and a motivation in they has had. What is your gut saying at this juncture.

DARBY: I was a big advocate. You know, obviously, the pilots were the ones at the controls that we know of. So that puts them on top of the list. I mean, there is no doubt about that. And I had personally not seen any information that would lead me to think otherwise. Although recently, there's been some interviews with the wife and the daughter. There has been some new information that begins, I mean, there was some difficulty here, the pilot was going through a divorce, he was -- his political leader, which is, you know, a very important person in his life, was recently convicted, perhaps even the same day as this crash.

So, again, I haven't been able to verify any of those facts but there's beginning to be some interest in knowing more about him and it's odd that we're three weeks into this and just learning some of these facts, so -- if they are facts. I'm not able to verify them at this point.

But certainly, the pilots have to be examined. I'm a pilot advocate but at the same time they were the last ones known to be in control that puts them on top of the list of potential people to do nefarious acts.

WHITFIELD: All right, I want to talk more about these potential scenarios coming up.

Captain Kit Darby, Tom Fuentes, thanks so much. We'll return to this conversation. We are now entering the fourth week of the search for any evidence as it pertains to flight 370.

All right, meantime, people in California are still trying to get back to some kind of normalcy after Friday's big earthquake. But could it be a sign of more to come? That's coming pup.

And we'll hear from the man famous for handling some of the biggest high-profile compensation cases. He tells us his predictions for the families of those missing on flight 370.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: By international law and treaty, Malaysia airlines bares the major brunt of legal liability for flight 370. On CNN's "STATE OF THE UNION" today and for Candy Crowley talked with Ken Fienberg, the lawyer who had handled compensation claims for victims of many disasters including the 9/11 attack. She joins me from Washington with more on this.

So, what did Ken Fienberg say about the families of the missing and their legal options at this juncture?

CROWLEY: Well, I asked him first, what if we never find out What if we never know what happen. And he explained under an international treaty that Malaysia airlines would have to pay $150 to $175,000 per passenger to the families. I then said, so what if we find out a little bit later that it someone else and will it stop lawyers, if they can't out from filling suit. And here is what he had to day.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KENNETH FIENBERG, COMPENSATION ATTORNEY: Never under estimate the creativity of the American Legal Profession. But it's hard for me to see a Malaysian airline flying from Malaysia to China almost all of the passengers foreigners, not domestic U.S. citizens, hard for me to see how there's any real likelihood, absent finding the plane, that this place could ever end up in U.S. courts.

CROWLEY: And let's say they go a couple of years or whatever and they do the payouts. And then we find the data boxes and there is something wrong with the engine or something that can be traced to Boeing. Then could one sue again?

FIENBERG: Sure, if the statute of limitations hasn't run and if you find the plane and if you -- in finding the plane, you can discover or investigate a mechanical failure. I mean there are all of these unknown scenarios.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CROWLEY: So bottom line, Fred, you know, not knowing what happened to the plane, there is some compensation for the families, not much in U.S. terms, but in what is agreed to by an international treaty organization. So we have to see how this plays out and whether, in fact, they do find these data boxes.

WHITFIELD: Yes. Interest potential scenarios there. You also had with you Senator Dianne Feinstein and you asked her about lingering questions over any terrorist involvement with that flight, and what did she say?

CROWLEY: Basically what we have been hearing from intelligence communities for the past three weeks. Here she is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. DIANNE FEINSTEIN (D), CALIFORNIA: Well, so far there's been none, an there's speculation but there's nothing. And I think the commander really summed it up. It's a very, very hard situation because they really don't have what they need to carefully calculate a reasonable area where the ship may be.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CROWLEY: Bottom line, Fred, all of those in the intelligence community don't want to shut the door on us and say, hey, you know, this absolutely was not the result of terrorism. But they certainly don't think so at this point.

WHITFIELD: All right, Candy Crowley, thank you so much, host of "STATE OF THE UNION." Appreciate it.

All grief, frustration, and anger, all of that. You can see it and you can feel it, that raw kind of emotion today during a news conference held by the families of the 239 people on board that flight 370. Hear their new demands in a live report coming from Kuala Lumpur.

And then two big earthquakes right here in the U.S. in just one weekend. Now people in California are wondering could there be more on the way?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, we have more on the missing flight 370 coming up. But first, here are some of the other stories we are following right now.

In southern California, at least 100 aftershocks have been reported after Friday night's earthquake. Take a look at this map from the "L.A. Times" that shows Friday's 5.1 magnitude quake plus two smaller ones. The biggest quake rattled a few buildings, but no one was seriously hurt. Still, building inspectors say some homes are too unstable for people to actually go back.

So is this a sign of something bigger to come? That's always the fear, especially in southern California.

Nick Valencia joining me now. This is home territory for you.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is my hometown.

WHITFIELD: I'm sure your family members have some interesting stories to tell.

VALENCIA: They sent me a text Saturday morning saying don't worry, we're OK. I said I didn't know I had anything to worry about but I'm glad you're OK. Hundred aftershocks in Southern California since that 5.1 on Friday night. And for years, seismologists have warned the Puente Hills fault has potential for a catastrophic earthquake.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Major earthquake. At 8:00 we have one that was about only a 3.6. This one felt like it was about a 10.0.

VALENCIA (voice-over): It may have felt like a 10.0 to this CNN ireporter, but Friday night's the earthquake in Los Angeles was nowhere near the big one. People are wondering.

Is there a chance tonight's earthquake could be a pre-shock for a larger earthquake?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There always is.

LUCY JONES, U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY SEISMOLOGIST: Five percent of California earthquakes are followed by something larger within three days.

VALENCIA: The trembler, centered along the Puente hills fault. It is one of the strongest in California since the devastating 1994 Northridge earthquake 20 years ago. That quake registered 6.7 on the Richter scale killing more than 50 people and causing an estimated there are 42 billion in damage.

CNN meteorologist Alexander Steele says the chance for a catastrophe like Northridge exists anywhere a fault line is present.

ALEXANDRA STEELE, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Our planet's seemingly stable surface is actually constantly moving and it is composed of enormous rock that's slowly moving underneath our feet. And when they rub and touch and crash against each other or crack, then there's this massive release of energy and that's an earthquake.

VALENCIA: But we still can't predict a big one, right? The big one is unpredictable.

STEELE: Unpredictable. You know, in the last 100 years, we can detect them, know their origin, their magnitude. But one thing yet we don't know is when they will happen.

VALENCIA: And while scientists still can't predict the big one, that hasn't stopped some from imaging the doomsday scenario. USGS said recently California has a 46 percent chance of a magnitude 7.5 or larger in the next 30 years and that it would likely hit southern California.

A recent virtual earthquake study by Stanford University tried to envision what would happen if the big one did hit.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The waves travel through that corridor toward Los Angeles and are essentially guided into the sedimentary base that underlies Los Angeles. Once they're in that basin, they reverberate, they get amplified and cause stronger shaking than would otherwise occur.

VALENCIA: The scale of disaster that hopefully won't become a reality any time soon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VALENCIA: Now, here is the good news for those watching us in Los Angeles, the USGS tells CNN that the sequence of earthquakes seems to be moving east and that they appear to be at this point dissipating. That's the good news.

WHITFIELD: Well, that is good news. But I think that's always the fear, isn't it, for folks in California.

VALENCIA: Sure.

WHITFIELD: I mean, you know because you lived in southern California. But the big one in San Francisco, I think people in large part have always been asking when's the next one, how much worse can it get.

VALENCIA: And up until a couple weeks ago, Los Angeles hadn't seen a really strong earthquake. You had one two weeks ago and another a couple days ago. But 1994 the Northridge earthquake, which I lived through and a lot of people watching at home I'm sure lived through was a very, very traumatic experience. No one forgets it, $42 billion in damage. They just hope that the big one isn't coming, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Yes. Of course fingers always crossed.

VALENCIA: Always.

WHITFIELD: Thanks so much. Appreciate that.

VALENCIA: You got it. Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right, let's go overseas now.

The U.S. secretary of state John Kerry and Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov are in Paris right now for a closed-door meeting. They're expected to discuss how to resolve the crisis in Ukraine peacefully. Right now, tensions are high along Ukraine's eastern border. That's where Russia has reportedly massed at least 40,000 troops.

And talk about March madness to a whole different degree. Police have arrested at least 16 people overnight at the University of Arizona. It happened as unrolling crowd swam the street in Tucson after Arizona, rather, lost to Wisconsin in the NCAA tournament. Police say people hurdled trash at officers who responded with pepper balls and canisters. No serious injuries were reported.

But of course, Wisconsin fans had more to celebrate last night with their big win, earning them a ticket to this year's final four.

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYING) WHITFIELD: Just check out these massive badger crowds in Madison at the Arizona/Wisconsin game. It was the second of two games Saturday in the NCAA tournament. And in the first game they put up a good fight against Florida but didn't have enough to continue its Cinderella run. The final score 62-52. So close.

Later on today, Michigan state faces Connecticut followed by Michigan versus Kentucky. The final four will kick off April 5th.

All right, when we come back, more of our continuing coverage of the search for flight 370. We'll go thrive Malaysia where families are banding together and making new demands on government officials. The emotional scene next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. We're following major new developments as the search for Malaysia airlines flight 370 moves into day 24. Here's what we know right now.

Four orange objects about six feet long have been spotted today in the southern Indian Ocean. Officials are calling it the most promising lead so far, and ships are actually on the way to that area to investigate. And officials say several other objects picked up by ships yesterday are actually fishing equipment and trash. And there's only about one week of battery life left on the flight recorder pingers.

And because of that looming deadline, an Australian ship carrying a U.S. pinger locator and undersea search equipment leaves for the search zone shortly and is expected to arrive on Thursday.

And in Malaysia, frustration among family members is now intensifying. They say they want the Malaysian government to reel reveal everything they know about the plane's disappearance. Paula Hancocks joins us live now from Kuala Lumpur.

So Paula, the families has held this extraordinary news conference today to make new demands. What exactly where they saying?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, these Chinese families of the passengers of this missing airline actually travels from Beijing to Kuala Lumpur because they basically thought they weren't getting the answered that they deserved in China. They thought they had to be here on the scene where the investigation is ongoing so that they could talk to Malaysian authorities. So, it was an impassioned press conference. You could see the desperation in many of the men's eyes as they were chanting, saying we want the truth, we want evidence, we want our family.

And certainly they were asking for many things. They were asking for exact evidence, exact credible information that the Malaysians have that they believe they're not getting. And they also ask for apologies.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 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 has crashed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANCOCKS: It's not just the Malaysian authorities they want to talk to, Fredricka. They also said they want to talk to Boeing. They want to talk to the technical people at Boeing and the other companies that are affiliated with (INAUDIBLE). They said they have no comment from them at this point. They're concerned that they're trying to hide something. At this point they are desperate. They are trying to find information from any source that they can.

WHITFIELD: And Paula, mostly these sentiments have been coming from family members of passengers. Now, what about family members of the cabin crew?

HANCOCKS: I spoke to the husband of one of the flight attendants on Saturday, and you would have thought as an employee of Malaysia airlines that he would have been subject to further information. But he basically told me that his wife, who was on that plane, had been working for them for 18 year and yet he wasn't getting any more information. He said most of his information he actually got from the televised press conferences that we see most days, from the actual transportation minister, from the chief executive of Malaysia airlines. And then he said he maybe gets a phone call or a briefing afterwards but doesn't learn anything new. He feels as though the world is being told the information before he is and it was his wife who was on board that plane -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, heartbreak no matter which way you look at that.

Thanks so much, Paula. Appreciate that in Kuala Lumpur.

WHITFIELD: So, if the worst is confirmed about flight 370, and we could see a whole lot of lawsuits. In fact, a law firm in Chicago is already trying to force Malaysia airlines and Boeing to hand over documents about the plane. So what are the legal options and hurdles for the families of flight 370?

Floyd Wisner is an aviation accident attorney. He joins us from Boynton Beach, Florida.

Good to see you. Do you expect a number of lawsuits once we do learn what happened to this plane or will all of these lawsuits actually precede that?

FLOYD WISNER, AVIATION ACCIDENT ATTORNEY: Well, thank you for having me on the program, Fredricka. But as against Malaysia air, I believe that its liability will be definite under the Montreal convention, which governs a claim against Malaysia air, no matter what the outcome of the investigation shows of the crash. And that is because no matter whether it's pilot suicide or homicide or sabotage or hijacking or some kind of structural failure, the liability all points to Malaysia airlines under the Montreal convention. So, (INAUDIBLE). And to correct a point perhaps made in some publications, it's not limited to just the initial payment of $176,000. It's unlimited.

WHITFIELD: But wouldn't the structure of a lawsuit change pending the kind of information or evidence that it's collected over time?

WISNER: Yes, definitely. If the evidence shows that there was a mechanical or structural or electrical failure that causes the crash, then it actually (INAUDIBLE) would also be responsible and a lawsuit would be brought against those parts. After such information from investigation it's going to be impossible to file a claim against Boeing. This recorded thing in Illinois is a shameful publicity stunt. It is designed only to get passengers to sign up with this particular law firm. It's going to be dismissed in my opinion shortly by the court. And since it is not accomplish the goal it says of getting evidence and is going to just cause more anguish to the family.

WHITFIELD: And what if ultimately payments are made, whether it be by Malaysian air or perhaps even ultimately Boeing and it seems as though after evidence, more evidence is collected or perhaps, you know, the actual impact location were zeroed in on, it would seem as though legal liability has changed completely. Then what for those settlements?

WISNER: Well, you know, all settlements -- the insurers of Malaysia air are going to insist on a settlement that it be full and final and that all potential parties are released. So once the settlement payment is accepted, then the passengers or crew's family or going to -- that's going to be the end of it. And that's why families have to be very careful in signing any documents presented to them by insurers from Malaysia air.

WHITFIELD: Floyd Wisner, thanks so much from Florida. Appreciate it.

WISNER: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: Straight ahead, what challenges will searchers face looking below the surface for flight 370?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Whenever the search for flight 370 does go below the ocean surface, crews will face new challenges finding the plane and its black boxes.

CNN's Tom Foreman explains.

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Fredricka. Really, what we're talking about here is two searches because you have search above the water up here, which is the one that is going on for days now and has been producing no real results. A lot of calculations but no physical clues. And then, you have a the search below the water.

What's going to happen down here as you move into the area where the plane's wreckage might actually be. Huge problem, because this distance top to bottom here it can one mile, two miles, three miles, it could be any kind of distance down there based on the average depth of the Indian Ocean but in that range. And getting to it and finding it could be a huge challenge because once you get down there with sonar or anything else, you have to deal with mountains and valleys that could conceal any wreckage from you.

Now, bear in mind, this is important to think about. The wreckage may be scattered over big area but it also could be, as it was in the case of air France, contained within an area that would be only a few football fields in-in size. That is incredibly small in the midst of a very vast area.

And one last point of reference in all this, remember, just the latest search area here is as big as the entire air France search area. And finding the wreckage under water there took two years -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thank you so much, Tom. A dawning task indeed.

Let's bring back our panel now, Kip Darby here in Atlanta and Tom Fuentes in Washington.

Thanks so much to both of you, gentlemen. Appreciate it.

So as you saw there, you know, finding the plane and the black boxes deep in the ocean will be quite the challenge. So with all this technology, is this now kind of if itch us the, I wonder, you know, Captain, for some sort of immediate tracking of all planes as they are flying?

DARBY: Certainly they push for that. I mean, I think most people would welcome that. Pilots certainly would at this point. The world is watching and it brings a point, too, that we aren't actually tracking on a realtime basis these airplanes, nor do we have the ability to prevent someone from turning that tracking off, very confusing in this case.

WHITFIELD: And Tom, it would seem at this juncture, you know, talking about over three weeks now, we are entering our fourth week of looking for any kind of, you know, evidence or semblance of this flight, passengers, crew, et cetera. It would seem that all of this evidence to help point in the direction of what caused this is just not reachable. Is that your view? Do you feel like if we'll ever really get to the bottom of what happened here?

FUENTES: That's true, Fredricka. What you have is information and you don't always have good information or true information. It's not evidence. Evidence is you have a fact. You have a piece of the airplane. That's a fact. You have a location. That's a fact. You have debris on the bottom of the ocean. That would be a fact. That would be evidentiary. So right now all we have is one piece of information after another that one day it's true, the next day it's not, the day after something else is true, and the search locations keep getting shifted as they have just the last couple days. And that's what's confusing and frustrating to the family members that they think maybe something is being hidden or why is the information keep changing, you know, they're looking for something sinister just in that. And it's really a case of the technicians aren't sure they recalculate, come up with new theories about where that plane went down or how fast it was going or how high, and that's where the problem is, that you don't have facts, you just have theories.

WHITFIELD: And so Tom, is it your worry that the longer we go, the more compromise any potential evidence is by being in the water, being waterlogged? I mean, clearly there are markings on pars of planes that would help indicate its impact, how it went down, et cetera.

But then I wonder over time, weeks, months, perhaps even year, can there be such great erosion that you can never really get a solid, I guess, clue on any kind of wreckage or debris that you ultimately might find?

FUENTES: Well, it's possible, but in the immediate short term you have, you know, not a lot of corrosion or damage to, you know, the evidentiary aspect. You know, if it's sitting at the bottom of the ocean there, the water's cold, remains will be somewhat preserved, things will stay a lot more preserved there than they would on a tropical island where it's 130 degrees and 100 percent humidity.

But, you know, because you have these oceanographers and technicians finding World War II ship wrecks and aircraft that went down 70 year ago and they're able to learn, you know, a great deal of information from that. So I don't think in the short run but we're look agent the possibility, you know, it took two years for air France and that's when they knew exactly where to look. I mean, essentially they knew within a 40-mile radius where to look and right now we're not even at that point yet.

WHITFIELD: And now, we're also hearing, gentlemen, captain in particular, that this Australian ship that would have a U.S. pinger on board might not get to that new search area until Thursday. Well, if that's the case, then there are really only two, maybe three days of battery life for that pinger that would be on that flight data recorder. It doesn't seem conceivable that they would just happen to be in the right place because, again, it's the collection of debris watching the difficult pat northwestern which to know where the impact point is, and you can't do that in a matter of hours.

DARBY: No. It's a now search area, that type of search is very slow. We are talking four or five knots, not going the move fast, not going to cover much area. The area is huge. We would be fantastically look lucky to put that thing in the water where it could hear the pinger.

WHITFIELD: What's your outlook on this week's potential developments, talking about the kind of air and sea outfits being provided that might arrive at that location, I guess the more optimal search location right now this week?

DARBY: You know, the assets are everything we have and we're put everything out there, but the area is so large and the information so huge, we haven't confirmed a thing. I'm not sure we're in the right area. It's the best calculation right now. We have to go with it. It could be pretty much in that ocean down there and it's huge.

WHITFIELD: I think there were moments yesterday where many people expressed they were feeling hopeful that the Chinese ship, Australian ship were able to pick up items that might have been connected to the wreckage and then upon inspection it turns out that was sea trash. Hope lost in your view?

DARBY: Well, the hope in the beginning was we had satellite imagery that was five days old and we didn't find anything. Now, we have a picture from the aircraft the next day or day or so, we actually find them. That's a big improvement. The trouble is what we found has no link to the airplane so we're still without evidence. You know, we have hope and we've narrowed it down we think, but we don't have one single piece of hard evidence yet. We could be wrong.

WHITFIELD: And Tom, how about you? I mean, you still remain hopeful even today there are reports of four objects that may be several feet long, orange objects that were spotted, but again it's a matter of retrieving and then making a connection whether those things are, indeed, related to flight 370. It's premature in your view to lose hope or, you know, do you just need to be hopeful hoping that one day something will be located?

FUENTES: I think that's true. I'm hopeful. I'm just not optimistic.

WHITFIELD: All right, Kit Darby, Tom Fuentes. Thanks so much. We'll talk again with you all later on.

Straight ahead, more coverage on the search for flight 370.

And next the Los Angeles area jolted by two earthquakes in less than 24 hours. Is a bigger earthquake on the way?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, we will have more coverage on the search for flight 370 in just a moment.

But first, is a big earthquake about to hit Southern California? Well, this weekend, two earthquakes struck the Los Angeles area. In less than 24 hours, a 5.1 magnitude quake hit Friday night. It was followed by a 4.1 magnitude quake yesterday. No major damage and no significant injury, but there had been as many as 100 aftershocks.

So some experts at warning that there is a five percent chance of a bigger earthquake within just three days. The (INAUDIBLE) can't predict exactly when.

CNN meteorologist Alexandra Steele to take a look more information here. I don't know if this will kind of lay some fears or make people feel a little better?

STEELE: There is no way that there would be exact. I mean, you know, the strength, you know, where they origin, you know the magnitude. You know, talking about preparedness. That is more or less the key.

And you know, actually, there's a California earthquake authority. And one of the things they teach everyone, drop, cover, hold on. And also they have a kit, supplies you are going to need. And also do you know there's earthquake insurance?

WHITFIELD: Yes.

STEELE: And also at home to have a plan and secure cabinets and that kind of things.

So Fred, these were the details of it. So the magnitude, we know, is 5.1. That is about the release of energy, how strong it is. The depth 4.6. Now, this went 4.6 miles deep into the earth mantel. It can go 400 miles deepen to the earth mantel. The more shallow it is close to the surface, the more you feel it.

Of course, there is where it was, 20 miles south of Los Angeles. So, there is a hundred active faults in California. This, the Puente Hills fault is actually newly discovered more or less from 1999. It is also called the Puente Hills strap (ph). It is located in L.A. basin.

Now, this was felt in Orange, L.A., Ventura, Riverside, probably even, Fred. Now, a full rupture of this is incredibly rare in the seven, 7.2, 7.5, four times in the last 11,000 years. And mind you, this was only discovered in '99. And so, occurring once every -- but that's, you know, deducing if from what you've known.

So, I mean, you know, here is a look though, at the intensity of where this thing is and what they could be. This was the 5.1 with release of energy. Average per year over 1300. Now, we have earthquakes every day in this world. But you know, you don't feel all of them.

WHITFIELD: That's extraordinary.

STEELE: Yes. But of course, what we're more familiar with is the San Andreas fault. And that is east. And this is quite a big one that runs up and down the coastline. It's, of course, that this fault we're talking about here. but this is a tectonic boundary between the Pacific and the North American place. So you know, they are always moving.

WHITFIELD: It really is a way of life. I mean, people are accustomed to, you know, degrees of tremors and earthquakes. They know what makes them nervous. But still, in the back of everyone's minds if you live in that region is the next big one.

STEELE: Well, I mean, even Nick Valencia who is from there, who was there in '94 said, you know, something like that happens to you, you never forget it. And you're bracing for the next one. I think when it happens then you become more acutely aware and so, you prepare. And that's what you do.

WHITFIELD: And it is always great to be prepared.

And we love it when you remind because I was thinking. I was like I kind of forgot, what's the rules. So it is good to know.

STEELE: Stop, drop, and roll.

WHITFIELD: Yes. Because you know, I don't know if I'd know what to do especially since I'm not a west coast gal.

STEELE: That's right.

WHITFIELD: All right, thanks so much. Alexander Steele, appreciate that.

All right, the search for flight 370, we are going to resume conversations on that. And it is about to get some new reinforcement when we come back. We'll talk about a ship with a black box detector headed out to the search zone.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: There was a brief bright moment for the families of flight 370. Drivers in the Malaysian grand prix remembered the missing and their families with stickers on their helmets and race cars.

And the prime minister called for a moment of silence at the beginning of today's race. And the winning driver, Lewis Hamilton, dedicated his victory to the families and missing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEWIS HAMILTON, MALAYSIAN GRAND FIX WINNER: After such a difficult weekend, such a long winter and such, you know, we've got a great crowd here today, the working hard with Mercedes to give us this win. I just feel so grateful, and particularly after the tragedy three weeks ago. I'd really like to dedicate it to the victims and their families.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: And in just a few hours, an Australian navy ship called the ocean shield will join the search for flight 370 in the Indian Ocean. The Ocean Shield is loaded with high-tech search equipment including a U.S. black box detector.

Our Paula Newton has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Ocean shield is at the ready and just hours away from sailing off to a search zone that so far has yielded no trace of flight 370. The Australian ship will be the linchpin of the investigation but only if and when air wreckage is found. VICE ADMIRAL KAY GROGS, ROYAL AUSTRALIAN NAVY: This is a very challenging job. And the first real step here is to find some debris so we can back out an impact point for initial search area.

NEWTON: Being fitted on board, a U.S. Navy towed pinger locator that will try and isolate the signal from the cockpit and flight data recorders and Blue Fin 21, an underwater vehicle that will comb the ocean floor looking for wreckage.

No matter how specialized and sophisticated this equipment, it won't do any good unless the search zone will be narrowed.

COMMANDER MARK MATTHEWS, U.S. NAVY: We need better point of impact estimation than we have right now.

NEWTON: U.S. Navy commander Mark Matthews is leading the team that will deploy locator equipment. And it needs to become within about a mile of the pinger, just like the one he's holding.

MATTHEWS: I can search approximately 50 square miles a day. So really if we're searching for a beacon and living on borrowed time, I need something less than 1,000 square miles.

NEWTON: Right now we're dealing with 100,000 square miles.

MATTHEWS: Yes.

NEWTON: As you said challenging.

MATTHEWS: It is a very low probability detection that is our search area.

NEWTON: And that's a sobering thought for the families of those missing.

As we board Ocean Shield, those working to deploy her are mindful that every minute count. The pinger signal will last a little more than a week and any wreckage has been dragged by wind and incurrence for weeks now.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Paula Newton, thanks so much.

And we will have much more ahead in the NEWSROOM and it all starts right now.