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Russian Prime Minister Visits Crimea; Landslide Search; Orange Object in Ocean; Why Keep Searching?

Aired March 31, 2014 - 09:30   ET

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

KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, we drive along one of the main highway, and dug in alongside this. It's a T-64 tank. It is a main battle tank. This is 40 tons in weight. And you look at the barrel on that and that way is the Russian border. It's about five miles down to the Russian border from here where we understand that Russian troops are repositioning. They also have their tanks and attack helicopters and essentially the commander of this unit here, hey, you're not a bit far away from the Russian border right now, fire miles away. He says, don't worry about that because the rounds from this thing will fly right up to the border. Incredible really to think that if the Russians do roll into this part of northeast Ukraine, that we could be seeing a tank battle in the middle of this potato growing farmland. There are forests, there are swamp lands as well. It is classic tank country, Carol.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Karl Penhaul reporting live from Ukraine this morning.

In other news, crews searching for victims of that deadly landslide in Washington State may get much needed help from drier weather today. Days of heavy rain have slowed the search. Over the weekend, the death toll rose to 21. Thirty people remain unaccounted for nine days after this disaster. Ana Cabrera live in Arlington, Washington.

Good morning.

ANA CABRERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Carol.

You can see the river behind me is running very high. In fact, further up the way, it's actually over the roadway off Highway 530 where they've been having the problem in the landslide zone. There, the work is extremely slow going. We know there are more victim's bodies that need to be recovered. There's all kind of wreckage that needs to be cleared. Still an infrastructure that needs to be rebuilt. So, really, the recovery process has hardly begun.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CABRERA (voice-over): The terrain, treacherous. The debris, full of contaminants. And Mother Nature not providing much relief for workers here in Washington state. Rain causing the Stillaguamish River to rise a foot just since Friday, triggering new concerns of flooding. Engineers had their eyes on the land, ready to warn if surrounding mountains start to move. More than a week since the slide, dozens are still missing. Governor Jay Inslee telling CNN on Sunday, no one is giving up hope.

GOV. JAY INSLEE (D), WASHINGTON: We're all hoping for a miracle and people are doing everything humanly possible looking for that miracle.

CABRERA: The work is slow, dangerous and full of challenges, on the ground and in the air. The search for more victims is unrelenting.

CABRERA (on camera): What kind of work was that?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was tough.

CABRERA (voice-over): Search dogs like Checkers and her handler, Sam Peterson (ph), are among the 600 personnel, picking, swimming and clawing their way through the water and muck, mixed with shards of wood and scraps of metal.

CABRERA (on camera): We're told more than a dozen homes once stood in this area, which now resembles something like a barren wasteland. That heavy machinery out there working to pick up the big pieces of debris, like roofs of homes, entire trees, clearing the way for the hand crews to go in and do their detailed work.

CABRERA (voice-over): Painstaking and dangerous, but little miracles, like this 23-week-old baby, have emerged. Baby Duke is still hospitalized but improving after suffering critical injuries. He and his mother were rescued from the muddy debris by a stranger determined to help shortly after the landslide hit.

KODY WESSON, RESCUED BABY FROM LANDSLIDE: There was this ripped up roof on the mud there and we laid the baby on that and I ripped off my jacket I had on and wrapped him up in that.

CABRERA: Neighbors helping neighbors has always been the norm in this small town of Darrington, but now there's a new bond bolstered by tragedy and a community spirit that's stronger than ever.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CABRERA: Donations are also pouring in, in a big way to help the community here affected. So really the goodness of humanity certainly is on display. But with 30 people still missing and we know more bodies to recover, there will still be some grim days ahead.

Carol.

COSTELLO: Ana Cabrera reporting live this morning.

California has 100 new reasons to brace for the big one. More than 100 aftershocks after Friday night's 5.1 magnitude earthquake near Los Angeles. And on Sunday, a 4.8 magnitude shock hit Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. The U.S. Geological Survey says it's the strongest quake to hit Yellowstone since 1980. Seismologists believe there is a 99 percent chance that a catastrophic earthquake will hit California in the next 30 years.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, when it comes to the search for missing Flight 370, it's all hands on deck. Despite four weeks of unsuccessful searches, investigators are not giving up. CNN's Paula Newton is in Perth, Australia, for us.

Paula.

PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Carol.

I'll tell you why it's been a bit of a frustrating day here in western Australia, but we'll have more on how this search is shaping up. That's straight after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: They were considered some of the most promising leads in the search for missing Flight 370, four orange objects spotted in the southern Indian Ocean. This morning, Malaysian officials confirmed, though, those objects nothing more than fishing equipment. Search crews have been unable to locate a single piece of debris from the plane. CNN's Paula Newton joins us live from Perth, Australia, with that frustrating part of the story.

Good morning.

PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, and good morning, Carol.

Yes, we all wish it was better news, don't we? The search has ended again for today. Almost all the planes are back. But we already know that nothing significant was spotted. And as you said, we've been down this road before. They see objects that look interesting, but then they turn up to be nothing associated with that missing flight.

Now, the prime minister of Australia, Tony Abbott, came here today and basically his message, Carol, to everyone was, look, settle in, get comfortable, this search is going to go on for months and months to come, no matter what happens. And I think it was a very sobering view of certainly the challenge in front of them, and how long they're going to take to get it done. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TONY ABBOTT, AUSTRALIAN PRIME MINISTER: The best brains in the world are applying themselves to this task. All of the technological mastery that we have is being applied and brought to bear here. So if this mystery is solvable, we will solve it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: You know, still that nagging doubt, though, it's an if, isn't it, Carol? I mean the point here is that he just said it, everyone, it's all hands on deck. The best the planet has to offer in terms of technology and intelligence and still nothing. Having said that, they started the international coordination today. This will be the headquarters here in Perth. And they'll be at it for quite some time to come.

Carol. COSTELLO: I know Malaysian authorities are going to head to the United States, to Hawaii, tomorrow or the next day, to ask the United States for more equipment. What more does Australia need?

NEWTON: Australia says it has a lot of resources and they do and they have a lot of expertise in this country. I think, though, at this point, as it's a global effort, there are many more things that can be done because the search zone is so large.

Carol, I have to tell you though, when the prime minister says that it's ramping up, the Australian prime minister, you know, the crews explained to me what's going to happen now. Carol, before, you know, they were looking at satellites for debris on the top of the ocean. Then they got more planes in sight to look at debris. Now what's going to happen is the planes will fly overhead. They've got 10 ships, perhaps 11 or 12 in the next few days, flooding the zone. Then they've got helicopters as well. So this time, whatever they spot on the water, should, in a few hours, be able to figure out if it's something related to the missing flight. And I'm telling you, Carol, the crews say to me, look, we will cover a lot of territory in the next few days.

COSTELLO: Paula Newton reporting live for us. Thank you so much.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, some people believe the search for Flight 370 could become the costliest in aviation history. But as Paula said, no one is ready to give up quite yet. We'll be back with more after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Twenty-four days since Flight 370 vanished and the costs are rising for the international effort to find some piece of that plane. CNN's Jim Clancy looks into that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM CLANCY, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR & CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): From the raw needs of relatives, like this woman who begged Malaysia's transport minister, please don't stop looking, find our loved ones, to safety questions for more than 50 airlines using the Boeing 777 around the world. No one ready to give up the search for Flight 370.

HISHAMMUDDIN HUSSEIN, ACTING MALAYSIAN TRANSPORT MINISTER: I appeal to everyone to understand the sensitivities of the families and that even hoping against hope, no matter how remote, of course, we are praying and we will continue our search for the possible survivors.

CLANCY: While Malaysia is coordinating the multinational search it can only contribute a pair of lumbering C-130 cargo planes. This search demands advanced technology.

MANAN MANSOR, PRESIDENT, MALAYSIAN PILOTS ASSOCIATION: You can have a lot of cooperation but you don't have tools you don't have the technology to acquire this wreckage deep inside the ocean. You are back to square one. And this is where the American's aid is needed. CLANCY: Some predict the search for Flight 370 could become the most expensive in invasion history. Fuel is costly, the search zone vast. A dozen planes may be launched in a day. At least eight ships are on station. Crews are working up to maximum safety limits.

TONY ABBOTT, AUSTRALIAN PRIME MINISTER: It's costing what's necessary to do the job properly and we're not going to shirk the job.

CLANCY: There's a human factor as well. People ask how one of the largest most advanced jet liners in the skies today can simply vanish without a trace. They also ask if you can track my packages, my cell phone and my pets with ease, why isn't there a simple "no one can turn off" tracker for an airliner with hundreds of people aboard?

RAVI MADAVARAM, FROST & SULLIVAN: It is not that we don't have the technology, we definitely have the technology. It is just that the message to be -- and the push to get to that level has not been there. I think it will come after this particular incident.

CLANCY (on camera): The mystery of Flight 370 will only be unraveled when the flight data recorders are recovered. Until that happens all we are left with are theories and speculation. Yes, the search has at times has been confused. Certainly it's been disappointing. But no one seems ready to give up.

Jim Clancy, CNN, Kuala Lumpur.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: In the next hour of NEWSROOM the Ocean Shield is racing out to the search area in the Indian Ocean, onboard a black box pinger detector. The question now will the ship get there in time?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JOE CARTER, CNN SPORTS: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Joe Carter. From the field of 68, college basketball is now down to its final four. UConn keeps its surprising run alive with a convincing win over Michigan State yesterday at Madison Square Garden. The Huskies are going to the final four for the fifth times since 1999 hoping to earn a fourth national championship.

Now after the upset win the Huskies is going to tweet to President Obama and it read, "Sorry about busting your bracket. We do have room on our bandwagon if you're interested." Well two more wins and the UConn Huskies can apologize in person at the White House. By the way the President had UConn getting knocked out by Villanova in the third round.

Meantime Kentucky, yes, Kentucky, all those freshmen grabbed the last spot by knocking off Michigan with a clutch three-pointer with less than three seconds play yesterday. It's the third final four appearances for the Wild Cats in the last five years. And check this out. One Wild Cat super fan, he knew this was coming all along. Tyler Black had 2014 national champion tattooed on his leg two weeks ago. Well if Kentucky ends up winning the national championship, Black says he is going to make this tattoo, which is kind of sad, a little bit more elaborate.

Now you can watch all of the final four action Saturday on our sister network TBS. First up, you got UConn taking on the top overall number one seed Florida and then eight seeded Kentucky will meet Wisconsin. By the way the Florida Gators have only lost two games this season and both of them came against four foes UConn and Wisconsin.

More NEWSROOM with Carol Costello after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Happening now, in the NEWSROOM, breaking this morning, Malaysian authorities asking the United States for more military assets to find Flight 370 as families demand answers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We will continue searching and we will keep investigating and will never give up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: This morning the ocean shield heads out to sea in hopes of finding debris as CNN sits down with Australia's Prime Minister.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ABBOTT: This is a very, very difficult task. But nevertheless, we are giving it the very best shot we can. And if anyone can find this aircraft, it's us.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How long can this be sustained realistically?

ABBOTT: The effort is ramping up, not winding down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: But it's now a race against the clock as the battery life fades on those black boxes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Both of those devices have been emitting a ping for several weeks now. We believe they only have about a week of battery life left.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me this morning. The search intensifies for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. Malaysian authorities will travel to the United States tomorrow to ask U.S. officials for more military equipment. The need is desperate now because the batteries on the plane's black boxes will start to die on Saturday. In the meantime, the high-tech Australian ship, "Ocean Shield", is now on the way to the search area equipped with a U.S. Navy ping detector.

CNN's Paula Newton is live in Perth, Australia with more. Hi Paula.

NEWTON: And good morning, Carol.

It is a good thing that that "Ocean Shield" is on the way to the search zone. But the problem is, Carol, it still can't do its best work, what it is meant to do, until they find a way to narrow that huge swath of ocean now being searched.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON (voice over): The "Ocean Shield" is at the ready and just hours 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 RAY GRIGGS, ROYAL AUSTRALIAN NAVY: The first a very challenging job and the first real step here is to find some debris so that we can back out and pinpoint an impact point to give us an initial search area.

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