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Latest on Search For Malaysia Airlines Flight 370; More Bodies Found On Sunken South Korean Ferry; Drone Attack In Yemen Kills 10 Suspected Al-Qaeda Militants

Aired April 19, 2014 - 15:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: All right, courageous work there.

Thank you so much, Dr. Sanjay Gupta. Be sure to watch "SANJAY GUPTA M.D." at 4:30 Eastern right here on CNN.

All right. Hello again, everyone. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

Here are the top stories that we're following. A drone attack in Yemen kills 10 suspected Al-Qaeda militants and at least 3 incident civilians' what we're learning this hour.

Plus, anguished families face off with officials as more bodies are found aboard that sunken South Korean ferry. Meanwhile, the captain faces charges that could land him in jail for life.

And six weeks after it went missing, and still no sign of the missing Malaysia airliner. The latest on the intensifying search for flight 370.

A drone strike targeting Al-Qaeda militants in Yemen killed at least 15 people today according to Yemeni defense officials. A high-level Yemini government official now says ten were suspected Al-Qaeda members. Earlier officials have said 12. The strike hit a truck in southwestern Yemen, an area known as a hot bed for the terrorist organization.

Sunlen Serfaty is live for us now at the White House.

So Sunlen, that Yemeni official also said this was a joint U.S./Yemeni operation. What kind of comment is coming from the White House?

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, the Yemeni government is confirming this but the U.S. government still is not. The White House will not make any comment or confirmation for that case on their involvement in this drone strike.

Now, I should point out that likely it was done by either the CIA or the Pentagon. And sources in the region say the strike was really targeting three well-known Al-Qaeda operatives that were working at a training camp in southern Yemen. And they had been watched and targeted for quite some time.

Now, I want you to take a listen to what former ambassador to Iraq Chris Hill said today about the importance of this strike.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTOPHER HILL, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO IRAQ: I think it sends a very powerful message, first of all, of our technical capabilities, obviously, but also of our will, and I think one thing we really have shown through the Bush administration and the Obama administration is a real will to deal with these people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SERFATY: Now, I should say that the U.S. is the only known country to have carried out these sorts of drone strikes in Yemen. And so far, Fred, this year there have already been eight of those attacks -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Sunlen, and then several civilians were also killed, and we just mentioned, there was some discrepancies over the numbers. What's the latest?

SERFATY: Well, we do have confirmed that three civilians were definitely in a car and this according to sources in the region. They were in a car right by that truck targeted and unfortunately were lost as well. You know, this is often a sensitive part of drone strikes, of course. The casualties that take place, and President Obama has spoken, Fred, a lot about this in the past. Especially last year around May of 2013 where he talked about the revised U.S. policy for drone strikes and specifically talked about the loss of casualties, how it's a balancing act with, of course, protecting U.S. interests in our counterterrorism policy.

Fred, baaing to you.

WHITFIELD: All right, Sunlen Serfaty, thank you so much at the White House.

All right, let's talk more about this drone strike. I'm joined now by CNN law enforcement analyst are and former FBI assistant director Tom Fuentes.

So Tom, a Yemeni official saying this was a joint operation, but the U.S. won't comment, as we just heard Sunlen say. What's your instinct tell you?

THOMAS FUENTES, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, I'm sure it was a joint operation, Fredricka, because often they have the intelligence and we have the missiles. So it's as simple as that. The U.S. has been using predator drones firing hellfire missiles for more than a decade in Yemen. And you know, and again, that's not anything new. Just when they get the right intelligence, have the right targets, they go for it. In this case, it sounds like a vehicle possibly with innocent people just happened to be traveling near the target vehicle at the time of the strike and some innocent people were killed also.

WHITFIELD: So, how important, significant, is this strike, in your view? FUENTES: Well I don't know. We don't know, we don't have confirmation hour important the individuals were that were in the vehicle. They were claiming to be targeting three higher ups, but we're not certain that that's been verified -- well, it's not been verified yet. We're not certain if they were in the vehicle, and that takes a while sometimes to confirm who actually was in the vehicles that get struck.

WHITFIELD: And even if they were not high-level Al-Qaeda members, but in some capacity are connected to the terrorist organization, does it still make an impact?

FUENTES: Well, I think it make some impact. But again, this is one of the most aggressive groups, if you will. Al-Qaeda and the Arabian Peninsula have been targeting the U.S. for a while. The underwear bomber in 2009, the printer cartridges attempted to be mailed to the U.S. a couple years ago. So this group has been continuing to attempt to directly attack the U.S., where other groups around the world, sometimes do, sometimes are more interested in their local political situation.

WHITFIELD: All right. Tom Fuentes, thanks so much in Washington.

FUENTES: You're welcome.

WHITFIELD: All right, now to that urgent race to find more survivors on who were on that South Korean ferry that capsized this week. Here is what we know this hour.

The death toll rose to 36 today. At least 266 people are still missing, most of them students who went to the same high school. They were on a field trip to a resort island when the ship rolled over. Hundreds of their parents are gathering on Jindo Island, where they are watching the search for their children by video.

They're also giving DNA samples to help identify anyone who is found. Some survivors say people on the ship were told not to move for their own safety. But the captain says he feared passengers would be swept away in rough waters. He, his third mate and a crew technician all made it off the ferry and now face charges. A lawyer says the captain broke a law, which states, a captain must stay with the ship until all personnel are all safely off it. The captain says he was in a cabin, not at the helm of the ship when it capsized. The third mate was instead.

Our Paula Hancocks is at the scene of the search.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The two large inflatables behind me are really the only sign of where the sunken ferry is. And more than 6,000 ton ferry is beneath the waves. You simply wouldn't know it was there if it wasn't for the sheer number of vessels on the water.

I've counted more than 100 ranging from the very large national warships down to the very small private fishing vessels. Everybody wants to be involved if there is any chance they know of finding survivors. Two helicopters in the air I saw earlier. Four cranes, the floatable massive cranes are here as well but not part of this operation at this point. And we do know there are divers right now trying to get inside this submerged vessel to see if they can find any survivors at all.

One thing we're noticing in the past hour is an oil slick on the top of the water, and a very strong smell of oil in some areas. It's not clear at this point, though, whether this is actually related to the ferry. Unfortunately, this afternoon the weather conditions are deteriorating somewhat, jeopardizing the search and rescue operation. The swell of the sea is a lot bigger than a matter of hours ago and now we don't see any divers in the area where the ship is submerged. You see the two big inflatables there? That's where the ferry is under the water. So there is a concern that this search and rescue operation is being jeopardized again this Saturday by the weather.

Paula Hancocks, CNN, in the yellow sea of South Korea.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Still ahead, does the captain really always go down with the ship from 'the titanic" to the man who could end up facing life in prison for leaving his ferry. A history of what captains do when disaster strikes.

Plus, up next, the latest in the search for flight 370, and why investigators are saying it may be time to regroup.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. We could be in for some big changes in the hunt for flight 370. Searchers now say the underwater drone searching for the plane could finish within a week. For six days the Bluefin 21 has been captures clear and sharp images of the ocean bottom, but has yet to come up with any trace of the plane. Malaysia's acting transport minister says the searchers will likely have to re-assess the search operation in the next few days regardless of whether anything is found but stresses they have no plans to give up the search. Today, 11 military planes and 12 ships, are scouring a search zone that have narrowed dramatically.

So, what does this mean for the next phase of the search? Let me bring in our panel for this hour. Rob McCallum is an ocean search specialist and a vice president at Williamson and Associates and Thomas Altshuler is the vice president of Teledyne Marine Systems.

Good to see you both.

All right, so the Bluefin search device has now gone on for six missions without finding anything connected to the plane. Is this a case where we're seeing the limitations of the technology? Or are we -- looking at a situation where they're just not searching in the right zone, Rob? RO MCCALLUM, OCEAN SEARCH SPECIALIST: Well, we don't know if they're searching in the right area or not. We know that they're searching where the pingers were heard, and that's a very good sign, but the sound can travel a reasonable distance. So it may be a case that over the next couple of days, we'll hit it lucky.

In terms of the right technology, you know, there are a limited number of tooling you can use at that depth for this purpose. Bluefin has a relatively small range, but has good resolution. So if they're in the right place, they will find it with this tool.

WHITFIELD: So you're still feeling fairly confident that the pings that they heard were that of pings that would be associated with black boxes? Not necessarily false positives?

MCCALLUM: I'm not confident in that at all. You know, I knew the people on-site, that they're equipped with the information to make those decisions. But you know, there are only a certain number of things that those pinger sounds can be, and if they are from MH-370 and they're in the right place, then the Bluefin will find the target. If it's not, of course, it means complete redrawing of the search area.

WHITFIELD: And so, you know, Thomas, do you believe searchers are at that juncture where it's time to redraw the search area, start from square one?

THOMAS ALTSHULER, VICE PRESIDENT, TELEDYNE MARINE SYSTEMS: Well, I think that they probably have some more time to search. Rob was correct in saying. You know, the Bluefin is a slow and relatively high resolution search tool. It does a great job at imaging the bottom with the side scan sonar that it has onboard. And so, if they're in the right spot that they triangulated off, there will be apparent signals correctly, then, they're in a box that has a high probability of detecting something. So, it all comes back to, are they in the right area? If they feel they're not in the right area that will make the problem a lot harder because, you know, the acoustics that would come from the black boxes are most likely gone. And so, then it's just a really a scour of the ocean floor.

WHITFIELD: Because our understanding has always been, right? There was about 1,700 miles between these four pings that researchers felt were the real thing? Pings associated with any black boxes, and so is it possible, Rob, that perhaps the distance may have been greater? Is it possible that there's anything in that ocean that could have emitted a very similar sound?

MCCALLUM: The answer to the question is, yes. There could be something else. I think the first two pingers, two pinger signals that they heard, by far the best bet that we've had all the way through. I'm not so confident in the latter two. But the Bluefin only takes a certain amount of time to search within pinger range, the acoustic range of where those pingers were heard on the first two occasions. So once they've searched this area, then it is back to the drawing board and it's going to be a much broader scale sonar search.

WHITFIELD: And Thomas, in your view, how many more days or maybe even weeks do you give the Bluefin before it's time to do something else?

ALTSHULER: Well, so if you look at the search rate, it's about, survey rate is about 40 square kilometers a day. You start doing some math around the 17 kilometer range. And if you desire to really search that whole area, it's still weeks ahead of work.

If the team that's actually analyzing the data, and of course, they have a much better insight into what they've seen, feel that search area is smaller, it could be a matter of weeks. So you know, we're speculating only because we don't see the data. We only see the snippets of information that were released to the public.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thomas Altshuler and Rob McCallum, thank you gentlemen. Appreciate it.

MCCALLUM: Thank you.

ALTSHULER: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: Still to come in the NEWSROOM, another dead body found on Mount Everest, raising the death toll now on what was already the single deadliest accident on the same this week. More on the search for possible survivors after this.

But first, we want to introduce you to this week's CNN Hero. He is a chef who helps families in need.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Please join me in honoring CNN hero Bruno Serato.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR, AC360 (voice-over): When the Bruno Serato was honored as a CNN Hero in 2011, he was serving pasta to nearly 200 low-income children a day in Anaheim, California.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The pasta is ready!

COOPER: Since being a awarded, Bruno's program has grown significantly.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who wants pasta?

BRUNO SERATO, CNN HERO: Now we are 1,000 kids a day, every single day, Monday through Friday.

COOPER: Reaching kids in three more cities in Orange County.

SERATO: Each time I serve a meal, each time I serve a kid, I know I give security to a little kid and they have a full stomach before they go to bed.

COOPER: But Bruno does more than just filling their stomachs.

SERATO: I request one item, to share the table together. That means emotionally, as a family sits together, eating together.

COOPER: Bruno's group has also gone beyond food. He's helped move 55 homeless families out of motels and into their own apartments.

SERATO: What is this?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I love it.

SERATO: You see the life changed complete. Change life completely.

COOPER: And their plans to slow down reveals meal programs will be in its fifth city this summer.

SERATO: My goal is to go around the nation. How can I stop when children are starving? The day that children are not starving, I will stop.

Pasta!

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right. And perhaps you know somebody like him and someone you think who should be a CNN Hero. You can nominate at CNNheroes.com.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: And we got lots of news straight ahead.

Nick Valencia is joining me now with more.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good afternoon, Fred. Good afternoon to you at home watching.

Let's start with Ukraine, so much for peace there. The deal that had been brokered is being ignored. Thousands of Russia troops are near the eastern Ukraine border. Russia says they're there due to political instability. All this while pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine, the city of Donetsk have dug in defiant for that international deal aimed at resolving the crisis and preventing an all out civil war. Separatists are refusing to leave public building and ignoring calls to lay down their arms.

The number of fatalities in what was already the deadliest accident on Mount Everest rose again today when search and rescue teams found the body of the 13th Sherpa guy and six others were injured when an avalanche struck at 25,000 feet, the world's highest feet. Three others remain missing. The deadliest year on Everest was 1996 when 15 people died. More than 200 people have died on the mountain in the last 100 years.

Hospital officials say a 15-year-old boy is still in critical condition after this month's stabbing spree at a Pennsylvania high school. Police say 16-year-old Alex Hribal slashed his way through Franklin Regional High seriously injuring at least 20 students. Prosecutors have charged him as an adult with four counts of attempted homicide, 21 counts of aggravated assault.

Check out this video right here. Imagine driving and seeing a mysterious fireball light up the sky. Russia today says officials have not identified the object seen racing over northern Russian. No reports of any damage or injuries from the blast. But they remember last year a meteor exploded over southwest in Russia injuring morgue than 1,500 people.

Incredible video there and we were talking about Dash cams are popular in Russia to prevent insurance fraud and corruption and also managed to catch amazing video like this.

WHITFIELD: And the driver managed to stay on the road.

VALENCIA: Right.

WHITFIELD: You know, completely unfazed. No wiggling or anything.

VALENCIA: Yes. No problem here.

WHITFIELD: What did I just see? Nothing.

VALENCIA: As you should, I guess.

WHITFIELD: All right, that was cool. All right, thanks so much, Nick. Appreciate that.

VALENCIA: See you, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, now to a real-life mystery playing out from the U.S. to the Middle East. An American plane has been found at an Iranian airport. Problem is, with U.S. sanctions in place, no Americans are allowed to do any business there.

Here's CNN's Suzanne Malveaux.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): An American bombardier cl600 FIX-WING aircraft captured in a photo by the "New York Times" sits at (INAUDIBLE) airport in Iran, an American flag on its tail. Is someone breaking the law?

JEN PSAKI, STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESWOMAN: The Iranian transactions and sanctions regulations prohibited the exportation of goods services or technology directly or indirectly from the United States or by a U.S. person to Iran and would generally prohibit U.S. registered aircraft in flying to Iran.

MALVEAUX: The state department is investigating. But it is the treasury department that is taking the lead and will enforce with appropriate U.S. sanctions.

P.J. CROWLEY, FORMER STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN: You can travel to Iran, but you have to get permission from the government, you know, and clarity as to the things you can do and the things you can't do. One of the first questions here will be, whoever made this trip, that they apply to the treasury department, you know, for permission, with a clear understanding how you can spend money in Iran and how you can't spend money in Iran.

MALVEAUX: Adding to the mystery. Initially, a spokesman for the airport quoted an Iranian media says no U.S. plane landed there at all. According to federal aviation records, this plane with tail number N604EP is owned by the bank of Utah held in a trust for a group of investors.

We got in touch with the bank, which confirm it owned the plane, but doesn't operate it. And didn't say why it was sitting in Iran or who flew it there. A spokesman said the trust relationship is confidential, and additional information must come from the beneficiary. The bank's trust agreements do not allow aircraft to be used in any illegal activity.

We were able to track the plane's recent whereabouts through aviation websites. Last October, the aircraft was spotted in Ghana and the UK. In January, Switzerland at the time of the world economic forum. February, back to the UK, and the next month, returning to Ghana.

Now the Iranians are saying through their government news agency that the U.S. plane was chartered by Ghana's presidential office, and was carrying a high-ranking Ghanaian delegation. But the question U.S. officials will still be investigating is since it was an American plane, whether any trade laws were broken, because as we told by the state department, the administration generally prohibits U.S. registered aircraft from flying to Iran.

Suzanne Malveaux, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And still ahead, the death toll climbs in that ferry that sank off coast of Korea. The blame could go to the captain. Alexandra Field joins us now.

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fred, there are so many questions about what this captain did when everything went wrong. So what is a captain required to do and what have other captains done in similar situations?

We'll take a look coming up after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: The death toll now has risen to 36 in that horrific ferry disaster off the coast of South Korea. Nearly 270 people are still missing. Earlier the country's coast guard brought these bodies to port to be identified. Some parents have already given DNA samples to help with the process. The ferry was carrying 475 people, most of them students and teachers, when it sank Wednesday. They were on a class trip to a resort island when the ship rolled over.

The ship's captain was one of at least 174 people rescued, but he also faces charges as well as some very tough questions, including, why he allegedly broke a law that requires him to stay onboard until all appearance are safe. I spoke with a maritime lawyer about that. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIM WALKER, MARITIME LAWYER: The duty of a captain in this circumstance goes way back past Moby Dick back to the medieval sea codes, back to the laws of (INAUDIBLE), literally a thousand years ago. This is a particularly sad case. You have to look after the passengers. It is your obligation. You can't abandon a ship.

And to see this happening in this circumstance, reflects, I think, poorly, on this -- not only this captain, I mean, he's got his hoodie on, he is looking downing, he's disgraces. But the issues is I think are broader and deeper than just pointing the finger at one person. You've got to look at the ferry company itself, the marine company, what was their training? What was their safety culture? Were there lifeboat drills? Were there muster drills? Were these children sent to the muster stations before the ship?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: CNN's Alexandra Field joins me with more on this.

So Alexandra, what other allegations is this capital facing?

FIELD: There is a slew of them, Fred. Abandoning ship, negligence, causing bodily injury, failure to seek rescue from our boats, these are all some of the charges that the captain in South Korea is now facing.

But the part that is so shocking to so many people is that the captain would leave the boat with so many people still trapped onboard. And, Fred, it isn't the first time that we've seen something like this happen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FIELD (voice-over): The captain of the sunken South Korean ferryboat under arrest. Lee Joon Seok is facing charges and fierce criticism.

JACK MICKEY, MARITIME TRIAL ATTORNEY: The real question is why did he not stay onboard and not go down with the ship? But supervise until every accounted for passenger was off the vessel? That is a crime under Korean law, and that is arguably a violation of international law.

FIELD: Among the captain's charges, failing to do the right thing to guide the passengers to escape. Yes, there's the old maritime adage that the captain goes down with the ship, but it doesn't always happen. Francesco Schettino, captain of the Coast to Concordia is standing trial for manslaughter and abandoning ship. Thirty two people died after the cruise ship slammed into rocks of the Tuscan Island of Giglio.

CAPT. RICK SMITH, SUNY MARITIME CAPTAIN: I don't think you can rely on the training necessarily people onboard but rather those in-charge of directing the people onboard. FIELD: Captain Rick Smith trains cadets on a 565 foot long vessel "the empire state." He says when disasters strike saving lives depends on quick thinking and clear communication from the captain and the crew.

SMITH: Bottom line, where you find people are amazed how quickly things escalate or how fast a ship could sink.

FIELD: Women and children first, was the evacuation order first heard on the sea back in 1852. The command referred to now as the Birkenhead drill coming from the captain of the Birkenhead who went under with it and most famously onboard "the titanic" where 1,500 passengers perished. So did Captain Edward Smith who never left the supposed unsinkable ship.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FIELD: And back in South Korea, if convicted of all charges, the captain faces five years to life in prison. He has spoken out saying he didn't direct more passengers off the boat because he was concerned about the temperature, conditions and the fact there weren't rescue boats nearby, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Terribly tragic. All right, thank you much, Alexandra Field.

All right, the loved ones of those onboard flight 370 have waited six weeks for answer to no avail. They're not giving up, though, asking tough questions to Malaysian officials and demanding a response.

But first, do you snore at night? You could be one of the millions of Americans with sleep apnea, something super bowl champion Aaron Taylor actually suffers from.

Our Dr. Sanjay Gupta with this week's "Human Factor."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GUPTA (voice-over): Super bowl champion Aaron Taylor's job as guard was to be big and strong to defend. First at Notre Dame, two-time all-American and then for the green bay packers and San Diego chargers. Some of the same things that got him to the NFL may have also been affecting his health. Just like 60 percent of former linemen according to a 2009 mayo clinic study.

AARON TAYLOR, SUPER BOWL CHAMPION: I waking up more tired than I thought I should have been, waking up feeling like I was hung over. I had a headache, my throat hurt. I have trouble concentrating. I was irritable.

What kind of sandwich is that?

GUPTA: While he had a family history of sleep apnea, a potential life threatening illness caused by obstruction of the airway during sleep, Taylor never thought it would be something he would have to deal with it himself. TAYLOR: Bigger guys with bigger necks like myself are the typically the demographic that can get it. It's not certainly solely a big person's disease state, but throughout the night, 20 times per hour for 20 seconds per time I wasn't breathing. That night after night after night after night is what led to all the problems that I had.

GUPTA: Once he was diagnosed with sleep apnea, he made working out and eating healthy a priority. And Taylor started using a breathing device called a CPAP to help him overcome it. He says it took a while to get used to the device but it was worth it.

TAYLOR: Pressurized wound air delivering it through an interface through my nose while I'm sleeping. That basically keeps my throat open so that I can breathe continuously uninterrupted throughout the night.

Hello, everybody. (INAUDIBLE). I'm Aaron Taylor.

GUPTA: Today, Taylor found success again in football, this time as a college sports analyst on the road calling games around the country.

TAYLOR: There is a lot is required not only physically for me to be able to do my job but from a mental capacity. In I'm undernourished or under rested from a sleep standpoint, I can't do my job. I've seen the difference it's been able to make and it has been drastic.

The result has been my kids get their daddy back. My employers good a good employee back. My wife gets a good husband back.

GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: The search for flight 370 is at a critical juncture. And the next phase could come soon. The underwater drone scanning the ocean floor for signs of the missing jet could finish its search within a week. And officials from both Australia and Malaysia say they will likely regroup and reconsider other search options in um canning days.

Eleven military planes and 12 ships are scouring the search zone today. Six weeks after Malaysia airlines flight 370 went missing the heartbroken families are still waiting for answers. They are calling out officials, compiling a list of specific questions and demanding a response.

Here's CNN's Jean Casarez.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You are all bloody liars and you are lying again now.

JEAN CASAREZ, LEGAL CORRESPONDENT, IN SESSION (voice-over): Their frustration bubbling over. The relatives of those on board Malaysian flight MH-370 want information and they want it now. That may be why a Malaysian delegation is traveling to Beijing to meet with the families on the ongoing search.

The families have a list of 26 questions that they want answered including what is in the flight logbook, maintenance records and the recording of air traffic control that very night.

MAARTEN VAN SLUYS, LOST SISTER ON THE FLIGHT 370: It's very personal, very personal, from each person's idea of what happened in the very beginning.

CASAREZ: Maarten Van Sluys knows what those families are going through. He lost his sister, Adriana Francisca, on Air France 447 in 2009. Van Sluys flew from Brazil to Malaysia to help survivors. He says they have become like family.

VAN SLUYS: Embrace people that you don't even know where they live what they do for a job or anything. And you start to hug these people, people who are crying, very loud and very bad shape and suddenly you feel like I know this man.

CASAREZ: And with no evidence so far on the fate of the plane, some loved ones say the investigation is being mishandled.

SARAH BAJC, PARTNER LOST IN FLIGHT 370: Whether it was catastrophic failure or whether the plane was taken intentionally, we still believe that there are options should be explored and many of those options are actually over land, they are not over the sea.

CASAREZ: And even if and when the answers do come, if the families finally do learn what happened to their loved ones, the outrage may linger.

VAN SLUYS: Yes, this is something that I understand is very bad for them and they are, completely, in my opinion very emotionally destroyed.

CASAREZ: Those who have been through it say take that emotion and advocate for your family member. So that flight 370 never forgotten.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: So what else should be could be done for these families? Let's bring in our panel for this hour, Rob McCallum, ocean search specialist and a vice president at Williamson and Associates. Tom Fuentes is a CNN law enforcement analyst and Tom Altshuler is vice president of the Teledyne marine system.

So the family sent a list of questions to Malaysian officials this week asking for among other things, these airplane logs, maintenance history records. Is there anything wrong with giving them what they're asking for? Tom, you first.

FUENTES: Well, I don't know if it's wrong, but I can pretty well predict they're not going to get any of it, or very little of it. The Malaysians have said that it's part of their investigation. They refuse to give any information that relates to the investigation. So I don't think seal say any of it.

WHITFIELD: While traditionally, that kind of information would not be handed over to victims' victim families, et cetera. Thomas I wonder, you know, in your view, is this the exception? Is this the case when authorities feel they've got to give these family members something, and maybe meet some of these demands?

ALTSHULER: It's hard for me to tell that. This is a very hard situation, right? You've got a potentially criminal investigation going on. You've got data that can be misinterpreted. So, it would be a unique situation where you really would turn over that situation, I think.

WHITFIELD: And then Rob, you heard from one of the family members who said, why not maintain searches over land simultaneously? Why wouldn't that have been done, if we're talking about some of the lessons learned, or, you know, how you try to appease these family members? Why not maintain some sort of land searches while these at seas underwater searching are also being conducted?

MCCALLUM: Well, I think that the honest answer is that there is no indication that the aircraft is anywhere other than in the sea, and the debate at the moment is about which part of the sea, which very small area, it's come to rest. But I think that information is the south that will help families to recover in the long run. So it is important that they're given as much information as they can be given. What is very important is to keep that separate from the people who are conducting the search operation because that would just prove a distraction.

WHITFIELD: And when you talk about information, then what kind of information should be conveyed to the family members that hasn't already because certainly they're not pleased. Many of these family members are very frustrated and feel a lot of information is being kept away from them, and they also feel like they're getting misinformation, Rob?

MCCALLUM: Well, I think, as I said, I think information is what will help repair these wounds. And so the information that they're asking for is -- is highly technical, and in the long run, may not be the most advantageous.

They should have access to information, but they should also have access to someone who can interpret that for them, and to explain what has been done what is being done and what will be done in the future.

WHITFIELD: So, Tom, even though there's, you know, still no evidence of wreckage and it's time to even reflect on lessons learned, what has been, you know, what could be redone, if there was that opportunity? In your view, as it pertains to family members, what is the lesson learned? How could it have been handled differently so you wouldn't have so many frustrated family members?

FUENTES: I think the early problem for the Malaysians was they made a determination that their policy would be not to give out information until they confirm it or corroborate it, and the problem is, you just can't. There's just too much mystery to the whole thing. And after a couple of days, they began to lose credibility with the families.

Same thing was happening in Beijing in the airport. The families that were awaiting that arrival of the air -- the plane where told, come back in a couple hours. Maybe by noon we'll have something to tell you. So they were being put off by Chinese officials as well in that airport. And I think that later after the Malaysians received a lot of criticism, to more or less change the policy say, OK, we're going to put stuff out and then, you know, that began the array of information concerning the radar and which direction the plane turned or what altitude and all that, and then they kept correcting it.

And so, when they did put in, the first they don't put information out. Then when they finally do, the next day they're correcting it, the day after they're correcting again. And they went from a bad situation to worse in terms of the relationship to the families, and the credibility of the government with those families.

WHITFIELD: And so, Thomas, in your view, in this upcoming week, hard to believe that we are now, you know, we're at 44 days, encroaching on 45 days and beyond in the search for this plane.

In your view, in the upcoming week, what can be conveyed to these family members since authorities are not likely to meet their listed demands, but what can be extended to them to offer comfort at this juncture?

ALTSHULER: Well, with the ongoing searches that we have seen in the South Indian Ocean, I think first of all data from that needs to be shown. The diligence of the search team is part of the message. This is an international coalition coming together, spending an incredible amount of money to find that plane.

So, you know, if you think of or put yourself in the shoes of the community, it is a -- it's a huge effort to try to say there's sympathy. There's desire to try to solve this problem. That's a pretty strong message.

WHITFIELD: And then just before we go, Tom, so Monday apparently is officially day 45 and that also opens the window for any kind of lawsuits whether these family members will pursuit it, et cetera. Is it your feeling that's when it all gets starts in a very, I guess, official way, or do you think --

FUENTES: Yes.

WHITFIELD: -- it's just a matter of people demanding and waiting what officials can tell them and that comes somewhere down the line?

FUENTES: I don't know about that part, Fredricka. But I would agree with what Tom has just said completely. You can't explain, even during the criminal investigation it's very important to tell people that there's an intensive investigation ongoing, that it's going to be exhaustive, that it's going to persevere, that it's going to be deliberate, that it's going to follow every logical lead to the end of the earth. That can be told. And that part of the message has been missing. And when the acting transport minister says, well, in a couple days we're going to reassess, he's hinting at that they're going to quit. That's what -- if you're a family member, you might take that to mean, well, we're about to quit. We don't find anything in a couple days, we're out of here, and that's exactly the opposite message that everybody wants to hear.

WHITFIELD: Tom Fuentes, Thomas Altshuler, Rob McCallum, thanks so much, gentlemen.

MCCALLUM: Thank you.

ALTSHULER: Thank you.

FUENTES: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: And we'll be right back.

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WHITFIELD: All right, this weekend the Emmy-Award winning CNN original series "Parts Unknown" takes viewers to the hidden world of high rollers for a city known for overindulgence.

Host Anthony Bourdain told us all about it.

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ANTHONY BOURDAIN, CNN HOST, PARTS UNKNOWN: We tried to show the hidden Vegas of the very, very high end for the vast villas and amenities that are available only to people who are flown in and are likely to spend, you know, $10 million or $20 million over a weekend.

WHITFIELD: Wow.

BOURDAIN: Addresses within the casinos that even the front desk don't know exist, wouldn't know where to send a visitor. And then at the other end we're looking at the off-the-strip Vegas of the longtime natives, residents, all of those tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of people who clean the rooms and deal the cards. And what it must be like to be them that encourages visitors to come and behave really, really badly. To live with that and growing up seeing human behavior at its very worst and most foolish. It creates a special kind of person.

WHITFIELD: So, was it the consensus that the special kind of people embrace this and say this is the way it is, this is part of the survival of the fittest or is there any real reservation on their part that they kind of wish Vegas wasn't the Vegas that it is?

BOURDAIN: I think a lot of them are happy to be there but have a very, very cynical world view. They've heard a lot of stories and seen what people from all backgrounds, from everywhere on earth, what they are capable of. And it is a question we asked again and again and again, and there is a deep, deep cynicism about the basic goodness of human animal I think in the longtime Vegas resident and you can hard I had blame them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: I know you want to watch now! The all-new episode of "Parts Unknown" airs Sunday night 9:00 eastern right here on CNN.

I'm Fredricka Whitfield in Atlanta. Thanks so much for being with me this afternoon. We've got the coverage continued in New York in the NEWSROOM after this.

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