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U.S. Troops to Train Near Ukraine; Search for Flight 370; Search Still for Survivors of Korean Ferry; American Plane in Iran

Aired April 19, 2014 - 19:00   ET

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

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jim Sciutto, in again today for Don Lemon. Thanks very much for joining us.

We're going to begin in South Korea where the ferry loaded that capsized four days ago is no longer above the water. The death toll now stands at 36, with 266 still missing. The divers today recovered three more bodies.

Family members are providing DNA samples to help with identification. The captain and two crew members now face multiple criminal charges. A live report is just ahead from Jindo, South Korea, where families are holding vigil for their loved ones.

We'll have much more ahead on the dangerous challenges now facing the rescue divers as they look for victims there.

A Western official tells CNN that U.S. troops will soon be training in Eastern Europe. A company of 150 troops will be in Poland and another company headed to Estonia. The exercises will take place in the coming weeks as part of an ongoing operation. This comes just two days into an international pact designed to ease tensions in Ukraine.

But so far, there's been no indication of any progress on the ground. Pro-Russian separatists are refusing to leave the public buildings they seized in cities and towns across Eastern Ukraine. They also refuse to lay down their weapons.

Forty thousand Russian troops are just across border from eastern Ukraine and Russian President Vladimir Putin says they are needed because of Ukraine's political instability. This is the first time Russia has said that deployment was for anything other than for military exercises.

We want to get the latest from inside Ukraine. CNN's Frederik Pleitgen is live in Kiev.

Fred, if can I begin with this news that we confirmed about U.S. troops set to train in countries very close to Ukraine, has there been any response to where you are? I know that many on the Ukrainian side have been looking for reassurance from the West, from the U.S., that they are backing them, that they are standing with them as the president has often said? FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. So far, this newest news there hasn't been any reaction just yet. One of the reasons might be that actually many people here are celebrating Easter, which is a very important holiday in Ukraine. However, I was able to speak to the prime minister only two days ago, Jim, and he said any sort of help the government could get here would be highly appreciate. And, of course, he doesn't only mean direct help but he also means things like a show of force. Something that's exactly what the U.S. is doing right now. Certainly, this is not something that only the government of Poland and Estonia greatly appreciate and they have been looking for more U.S. presence inside their borders and the borders of NATO for a very long time. But the Ukrainian government will also feel very much bolstered by the additional efforts the U.S. is making.

Basically what they want is they want U.S. troops as close to them as they possibly can. They want the U.S. to have a presence on the ground no matter how small it is. It is something that at least in the meantime, they believe will deter the Russians from doing anything more, Jim.

SCIUTTO: Looking at this deal, regarding, you know, the instability inside Ukraine, as part of the deal, these pro-Russian militants were supposed to vacate these buildings. Is there any sign they have done that and is there any confidence to those on the ground that's going to happen any time soon?

PLEITGEN: This is absolutely zero at this point. One of the things we can say about this deal that was reached in Geneva on the one side those people who are occupying those buildings, those pro-Russian protesters in Donetsk, they say they don't feel bound by that whatsoever. They say they're not going to leave those buildings and for their part have made counter-demands where they say they want the interim government here in Kiev to step down. That clearly isn't going to happen. They also said they want what they call right wing national groups here to disarm if they are going to disarm.

The interesting thing about all of that is that you would think the Russians would have some sort of influence over these groups. But so far, the Russians for their part are making the exact same demands now. They're also saying that they believe that these nationalists pro-right wing groups on the Ukrainian side need to disarm before there could be any sort of movement. That clearly is something that is not helping the situation at this point in time. The government of Kiev for its part is trying to calm the situation down.

One of the things is over the Easter holidays, they have called one- sided truce. They say that so-called anti-terror operation which they have launched in the east of the country is on hold at least for the Easter holidays, but they also say they want to see some movement quickly and certainly don't trust the accord that was reached in Geneva, but they still believe it could be a starting point even though it seems to be some very difficult waters at this point in time.

SCIUTTO: Still, as you say, two different views of reality from Russia and Europe and the U.S. -- thanks very much, Frederik Pleitgen. He is in Ukraine.

Earlier I talked to Michael Bociurkiw. He is the spokesman for the OECE in Kiev, about getting ready for its mission to help implement the Geneva agreement. I asked him about their plan, the challenges they face, and how to deal with the many road blocks there.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL BOCIURKIW, SPOKESMAN, OECE SPECIAL MONITORING MISSIONSS: As you may imagine in a large country like Ukraine with regional differences, there is a wide range of stakeholders here. So, you have members of the community. You have law enforcement. You have government business leaders.

So, our monitors will play quite a leading role in bringing the various parties to the table and I should also point out that we have a hundred monitors on the ground, more to come up to 300 and many of them have very, very good Russian language skills and also skills in negotiation, law enforcement, human rights, that sort of thing.

SCIUTTO: I suppose it's progress you're going in because I know previously there were a number of times when OECE monitors were blocked by pro-Russian forces from entering. But what is the key to get pro-Russian separatists there and protesters to abide by this Geneva agreement? Because, so far, they're not listening to the order to give up the buildings they have seized. What's going to change then?

BOCIURKIW: I guess political will, trust. And also Ukrainian government we met with them the two past days and they realize that there needs to be confidence building measures put into place. And as you may know, there has been longstanding desires here in Ukraine for things like decentralization. Those are among the grievances we have heard from talking to the parties in the east.

So I think as long as, number one, they understand the agreement, understand who we are and then also have an understanding that the Ukrainian government will act in good faith to implement some of the promises it's pledged, then it will be easier for them, I think, to evacuate some of the buildings and that sort of thing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: Sunday is set to be a very quiet day in eastern Ukraine. The Ukrainian military said it will suspend operations against separatists to honor Easter Sunday.

And now to another major story we're following. The ferry disaster in South Korea where at least 36 people are confirmed dead.

Our Kyung Lah joins us from the port city of Jindo where parents are waiting for word about their children, more than 260 children missing on that ship.

Kyung, how are parents coping on yet another day with no good news yet and I imagine waning hopes that there will be good news? KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It certainly is waning hopes. And, increasingly, they're becoming frustrated. What we're hearing are these families are lashing out more and more at the police and at this government. They are desperate and you can certainly sense it. You could hear it in Q&A yesterday that they'd with the coast guard right here at the dock.

They were screaming out, how am I supposed to live? Why aren't you trying to harder to get to my child? Why can't you break through the glass? Is there anything coordinating happening out there at sea?

So, there is mounting frustration here that it isn't happening quickly enough. What these families are clinging to is the hope that their child may have found an air pocket somewhere inside this very, very large ship.

It's a ferry, but it is 6,000 tons and it's extremely large. It had a lot of passengers on board, that had capacity for many more. So, what these families are hoping is that because it was so big, that even though it's submerged, that they may have found an air pocket. But it bears reminding there has not been a survivor found since the first day. We're now into our fifth day -- Jim.

SCIUTTO: You've done some great reporting, Kyung, about another danger that many are concerned about there, and that's about suicide, from some of the parents of victims. There was a teacher already who's committed suicide, a survivor of this.

How serious a concern and what is being done there to prevent that from happening?

LAH: Well, there are counselors here at this dock. You can see the parents right over my shoulder, staring at sea, they're really grief- stricken and unable to cope what's happening. There are so many of them. There are hundreds of them here. So, they are sort of feeding off each other in a way. The counselors hoping to get them to talk.

But if you go to the tables where the counselors are posted, there is no one there and no one is seeking help. Suicide is a real concern here. It is number one -- South Korea that is, Jim -- number one, among all of these countries as far as the rate of suicide -- Jim.

SCIUTTO: It's a frightening prospect. Thanks very much to Kyung Lah there for us in Jindo, South Korea.

We're going to speak with a retired diver ahead about the challenges they face in this search.

And the Bluefin 21 is scouring the floor of the Indian Ocean in another search, searching for any sign of Flight 370, but only for five to seven days. Then what? We're gong to have a live report from Perth right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCIUTTO: In the southern Indian Ocean, that underwater drone needs another week or so to scan the ocean floor for airplane debris. That is, of course, unless it finds something in the meantime. So far, the Bluefin 21 has completed six missions in the search for Malaysia Airlines 370. The search of the ocean surface hasn't stopped either, 11 military airplanes and 12 ships covered three separate search areas today off of Western Australia. Still no wreckage spotted.

In the coming days, Malaysian government officials will meet with the families again and families want to see the log book and maintenance records and listen to the air to ground recordings of the flight crew before all of the communications went silent. Live right now in Perth, Western Australia, CNN's Michael Holmes.

Michael, we've been reporting that that Bluefin 21 drone just finished six minutes, it should be wrapping up its seventh run about now. Do we know if it saw anything? Any results of this search today?

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Nothing official yet, Jim. You know, we are getting more details the last day or so of the narrowed search area. That more defined search area we have been talking about basically centered around where they got that second acoustic sound back on April 8th that was, talking of an area about six square miles and that is the area they are focused on now. After mission six ended yesterday around 50 square miles or so have now been covered. Around 40 percent of that focused area, by the way.

We are awaiting news of the seventh mission by our judgment it should be up by now. The mission should be completed and we normally get the data results within an hour or two of that. Yesterday, we heard the acting Malaysian transport minister saying the search was, in his words, at a critical juncture but if this phase was unsuccessful the hunt would continue, Jim.

SCIUTTO: Michael, help explain to our viewers why if they've narrowed the search area to 200, 300 square miles and they are confident this is the right search area, why are they putting this five to seven day time limit and saying we're going to take a break after that if we don't find anything here?

HOLMES: Yes. Well, it's a good question. What they are saying essentially is that where we got the strongest acoustic sounds. We can't call them pings but it does appear that they were. So what they did they narrow it down from -- it was originally about a thousand square miles, pulled it down to this smaller area around where the strongest acoustic signals came from as their best guess of where the wreckage might be on the ocean floor.

So, that's the one they are doing this sweep of trip by trip by trip doing about 15 miles, square miles a day, working their way through that focused area. If they don't find anything and they might not, they are saying we are not giving up. We will expand it further and look further and sort of do circles further out. They do have an arc of sea that was highlighted by what they call a digital handshake between the jetliner and one of those Inmarsat satellites. That's from one of Australia's top transport officials, about 370 long and 30 miles wide. It will obviously take a lot longer to search but that's where likely turn their attention if this is unsuccessful. You know, it's funny, though, Jim, we do still hear from people close to the search, they are confident they are in right spot, be patient and see what happens in the next few days, Jim.

SCIUTTO: Yes, expectations management imagine is part of this. One chapter in a long story. Thanks very much to our Michael Holmes in Perth, Australia, where the search is being run from.

So, if the blue-fin isn't successful then what? My panel is going to weigh in right after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCIUTTO: A key deadline is looming in the hunt for Malaysian Flight 370. The Bluefin underwater drone will finish scanning the search zone five to seven days. Bluefin has already covered nearly 83 miles since mission began on Monday. So far, the underwater drone has not found a shred of evidence linked to the missing plane so if Bluefin's mission comes up empty, it's time for search crews to stop, regroup and reconsider.

So, with me now to discuss this development, we have David Gallo. He is special projector of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, audio expert Paul Ginsberg and CNN aviation analyst Michael Kay.

Michael, if I can start with you. If this search is rebooted after five to seven days, should the Malaysian government be in charge? Should we look at who is leading this for the next phase?

MICHAEL KAY, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: Yes, great question, Jim. I think the independent investigator in charge will remain Malaysia but I think they will quickly acquiesce in they need help with this and we have seen five other countries come in under this umbrella.

You got the U.K., the U.S., you got France, Australia, and China. And that's right and you appropriate because of the capabilities of the NTSB brings, the capabilities of the investigation from the U.K., Australia, France and China. Everyone brings something to the party across operations, human factors, medical and worthiness, et cetera.

So, I think Malaysia will remain in charge, but what we are seeing at the moment is memorandums of understanding, and I think that's vital because when we do get some progress on this whether it be finding the black boxes, we need to make sure that they get to the right people with the best capability without hesitation.

SCIUTTO: Political sensitivity that's clouded judgement.

KAY: Absolutely.

SCIUTTO: Paul, you're the audio expert here. We've heard Australian officials and others express confidence they are looking in the right place here. Now, If they go over this next week and don't find any signs of wreckage and readjust the search zone, how much of an adjustment are we talking about based on the pings they have heard from the data recorders? Are they talking about tens of miles, hundreds of miles or just really small adjustments around the edges?

PAUL GINSBERG, FORENSIC AUDIO EXPERT: I don't think so. We only have a limited number of data points. One way or another, we have different ping locations where we acquired it and really what gives me more confidence is the amount of time for which we did hear these things and identify them and 100 percent -- almost -- with, you know, with some qualification. We have pings. We have -- they look like pings as far as all of the different --

SCIUTTO: But that is to where they are now. The question is, if they have done the sonar scan after searching that area that they are now and we haven't found anything, how much do they have to move that search area based on that ping information?

GINSBERG: Well, they'd have to go around the perimeter of where they have been searching and see whether there is anything -- anything there. Not go to an entirely different area, one that's contained within or slightly --

(CROSSTALK)

SCIUTTO: Several miles around? It can't be hundreds because the signals wouldn't travel those far --

GINSBERG: Correct, correct. The bouncing of the signals under water can be a little bit difficult to understand in terms of specifically locating where the pingers are. However, just like sound and air, the sound lessens as you travel.

SCIUTTO: Right. You have the sense -- you can calculate distance based on that weakening signal?

GINSBERG: Correct, exactly.

SCIUTTO: David, great experience. You successfully found the other great mystery on the bottom of the ocean, Air France 447.

What lessons were learned in that search? It took a long time. That can apply here as they are adjusting?

DAVID GALLO, CNN ANALYST: In the search itself I think the big lesson was patience. We had in the early days a lot of distractions and it wasn't until the team had the opportunity to be left alone and it came down to one team with one set of technology. We had three REMUS 1000, three REMUS 6000 very large to the Bluefin. We had one operational plan and that was to cover area systematically with only one goal and find that aircraft and those black boxes and we didn't think about anything else for those two years in that search.

SCIUTTO: So many things. Choose your goal and stick with the plan.

GALLO: Right.

SCIUTTO: We're going to have David, Paul, and Michael back in a short time. Thanks very much, as always.

Coming up, there are heartbreaking stories coming out of South Korea as divers continue to search for survivors in that cap-sized ferry. Grief stricken parents refuse to eat. You'll hear from one mother's agonizing way for any news about her daughter. That is right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCIUTTO: Welcome back. I'm Jim Sciutto in New York.

In South Korea, three more bodies were recovered from the ferry that sank last Wednesday. That brings the official death toll to 36. But 266 people are still missing and recovery could take some time. Family members are providing DNA samples to help with identification. The captain and two crew members now face multiple criminal charges in the disaster.

The families left behind in this disaster are struggling with a mixture of anger and grief -- and for at least one mother, regret. She persuaded her daughter to go on that ferry trip and now she watches the water and waits.

CNN's Pauline Chiou witnessed her heartbreak.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULINE CHIOU, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Christine Kim encouraged her daughter Billy to go a school field trip to Jeju Island but Billy resisted because she had just visited the resort island two months ago. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So I told her, I think you be very great experience for you.

CHIOU: She successfully persuaded her daughter to go and now it haunts her.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My daughter in the water! My daughter, I can never sleep!

CHIOU: Parents have waited for any news on their sons and daughters.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): My son was on board, this man says, but they were all like my children.

CHIOU: Many parents feel helpless as search divers work around the clock fighting strong currents and bad visibility. The president Park Sun Hei met with families Thursday evening. She promised to add more resources to the rescue effort saying every minute is precious.

And with each minute that passes, Christine Kim aches for the daughter she loves so much.

Pauline Chiou, CNN, Jindo, South Korea.

(END VIDEOTAPE) SCIUTTO: Just heart breaking to watch and listen to those stories. Rescue divers are looking for victims inside the ferry and they, themselves, face their own risks and dangers.

Joining me now is a veteran diver Bobbie Scholley. She is a retired U.S. Navy captain. Describe for us from a diver's perspective just how difficult this assignment is. The water temperature, the currents, the condition of the boat, what kind of challenges?

BOBBIE SCHOLLEY, RET. U.S. NAVY CAPTAIN: Well, good evening, Jim. As the mother of elementary school kids, my heart just goes out to these parents. As a navy diver, I know exactly what these rescue divers are up against. In a way, this scenario reminds me a little bit of the TWA flight 800 operation that we did.

The huge difference being these divers are hoping that they will still find survivors but they are up against these huge currents that are fighting them to get inside the skin of that ship. You'll see on some of your footage, you'll see lots of little black rubber boats with scuba divers in them. Those scuba divers are diving on the outside of the ship, Jim. They cannot get into the skin of the ship, inside the ship to look for survivors.

The divers that are doing that are the hard hat drivers that have the yellow hoses, we call them umbilicals attached to their helmets that have air from the diving ships going to their helmets. Those are the divers that are trying to get inside the ship to look for survivors and they are fighting those currents to get inside. And I'm really pleased to hear that they were able to get through that one window and start getting access into the third level.

SCIUTTO: We have heard other divers describe the pressure challenges there, right? That would you have different pressure on either side of the window. In the event of a miracle where someone is still alive there inside in, say, an air pocket, how could a diver access that person?

SCHOLLEY: They need to be going in through the flooded space of the ship through the water so they need to go up under the ship and access the interior of the ship through the flooded spaces and then go up through the different levels to find those air pockets. Now we have the problem that those survivors that are in the air pockets are also pressurized. The ship has been sinking down through the water column.

So those survivors are like divers right now. They have been under the water, the air pockets have been pressurized. They have been breathing pressurized air, pressurized gas and they have become pressurized themselves. Like a diver, they would need to be decompressed as they bring them up to the surface. This is a little bit becoming like a submarine rescue scenario, so we have a further complication of this recovery scenario coming on. I know some people have talked about stabilizing the ship, bringing the ship up and cutting holes in the bottom to rescue the survivors. We can't do that at this point. We cannot do that. That would kill any survivors that might be in those air pockets. This is a very complicated situation. We have got at least two Korean diving and salvage ships on the scene, a U.S. Navy diving and salvage ship that's on its way, the USN Safeguard. Lots of expertise there. I know they are doing everything they can but they have to race against time if they are going to find any survivors.

SCIUTTO: Well, fascinating sobering, Bobbie Scholley. Thank you. Challenges I don't think any of us were aware of in terms of the difficulty of getting people out of that ship. Thanks so much.

We're going to see you again in just a few minutes to talk about the continuing search in the other major story we are following, Malaysian Airline flight 370.

New pictures show a private plane belonging to Utah investors inside Iran. The problem the U.S. prohibits Americans from doing business there. So how did an American private plane get there? The investigation into that story is after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCIUTTO: 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 still in place no Americans are allowed to do any business there. So what is going on? CNN's Suzanne Malveaux reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): An American bombardier CL 600 six wing aircraft captured in a photo by "The New York Times" sits at Ahmerabad 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 prohibit the exportation of goods, services or technology directly or indirectly from the United States of by a U.S. person to Iran and would generally prohibit U.S.-registered aircraft from flying to Iran.

MALVEAUX: The State Department is investigating. But it's the Treasury Department that is taking the lead. And will enforce if 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 - did they apply to the Treasury Department for permission with a clear understanding of 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 N- 604EP is owned by the Bank of Utah, held in a trust for a group of investors.

We got in touch with the bank which confirmed 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 says the trust relationship is confidential and additional information must come from the beneficiary. The bank 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 web sites. 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.

(on camera): Now the Iranians are saying through a 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 were told by the State Department, the administration generally prohibits U.S.-registered aircraft from flying to Iran.

Suzanne Malveaux, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SCIUTTO: That would be the first American plane on the ground in Iran in decades.

Still to come here, if the blue-fin is successful in its efforts to locate flight 370 what happens next? We will have a look at the device that would bring the missing plane's wreckage up from the ocean floor.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCIUTTO: This just in to CNN. South Korean coast guard confirms 10 more bodies have been found within the hull of that ferry that sunk on Wednesday. That brings to 46 the number of bodies that have found so far and still leaves 256 passengers still missing there.

In other news. If and when the wreckage of Malaysia Airlines flight 370 is located one of the most advanced underwater search vehicles in existence will join the hunt for the flight recorder.

CNN's Rosa Flores is here with more on how that search vehicle works. Rosa, you told us this is one of the most advanced underwater things out there.

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It really is. When you look at the history of the ROV, Jim, it really tells you a lot because it pretty much made a human submersible obsolete. Just think about it, these are machines so they are safer. They are less expensive and when it comes to working in the deep sea they can work in those conditions for days.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FLORES (voice-over): This could be the key to solving the mystery of flight 370. It's a remotely operated vehicle or ROV for short. Once wreckage of flight 370 is identified an ROV like this one is likely the next crucial step in finding the plane's black box. It's controlled from the surface using this joystick.

It has lights to illuminate the stark black of the ocean deep. Cameras transmitting back footage in real-time and high frequency sonar to combat the notoriously difficult visibility in the area of the Indian Ocean where the plane is believed to be.

But, most importantly, the ROV has robotic arms called manipulators.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Arm has jaws. Open and close the jaws.

FLORES: They are essentially mechanical hands able to retrieve objects from the ocean floor far deeper than any human could withstand.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stand and retract.

FLORES: A second manipulator can be equipped with tools for cutting through metal such as on the fuselage of a plane.

MARTIN STITT, ROV SUPERINTENDENT: The ideal black box and not a problem for it to pick it up and recover it in the basket back to the vessel.

FLORES: Experts say top priority for investigators is to retrieve both the flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder. This ROV called the Triton SXLX can go to depths of around 10,000 feet but the ROV that is brought to the wreckage of flight 370 could have to withstand the pressure of around 15,000 feet of water, underwater pulses were detected at that depth last week.

And unlike the blue-fin, searchers are currently using, the ROV is connected to the boat through a line called an umbilical and has a constant power source and is able to feedback information immediately.

STITT: ROV can stay submerged for days.

FLORES: And the hope is with these capabilities, the ROV will finally manage to bring some answers to the surface.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FLORES: Now, ROVs or remotely operated vehicles can do much more than just grab a black box and put it in a basket and take it to the surface. When you think about getting access to those ROVs, to the black box, for example, it can cut through metal and it can also use cabling, Jim, to hook other debris that is of interest to investigators and then a crane would be used, a floating crane would be used to lift that item to the surface. Jim?

SCIUTTO: Well, one have to be doing that in very difficult conditions three miles down, currents, temperature, et cetera, really going to be stretching the ability of everybody involved. Thanks very much to Rosa Flores. Now the main mission of the ROV Triton would be to try to find the black boxes and bring them back to the surface. But could they finally tell the world what happened to Flight 370. Coming up, we will play you some black box audio that you'll only hear right here on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCIUTTO: On the search for flight 370 we've been talking a lot about pings that may possibly lead to the black boxes of that missing jet. Now one black box is officially called the flight data recorder. The second, the cockpit voice recorder which contains the last two hours of recordings of what's said inside the cockpit.

Now, if crews find the cockpit voice recorder from flight 370 how will investigators handle those delicate and sometimes difficult to hear sounds? We have a special guest with us now.

He is audio expert Paul Ginsberg and he showed us some ping enhancements last week. Tonight he's going to show us how sound enhancement techniques work. We're going to use examples from United Airlines Flight 93. You remember that was hijacked by Al Qaeda on September 11th. It's a plane that crashed in a Philadelphia field. We want to be very sensitive about how we air these recordings.

We're not going to play them in full. Only short bites to show you what the original sound data sounded like and what it sounded like after enhancement. So let's start right now by playing the original sound as recorded in the tower on September 11th and then we'll play the enhanced sound.

First, the original sound.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just underneath, heading 360.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) all aboard.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: Now, that was the original sound. So let's play the enhanced sound here just to tell the difference between what it sounded like originally, difficult to hear and discern and what it sounded after the enhancement, some of which Paul worked on.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just underneath by hitting 360.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is the captain would like to remain seated. All aboard, and I will demand everyone to remain quiet.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: United 93 calling.

(END VIDEO CLIP) SCIUTTO: Now, Paul, you worked with the CIA, FBI, Department of Homeland Security on investigations like this. That's a dramatic difference particularly to the untrained ear because it was hard to hear what they were saying initially. How does this compare to what we would likely hear if those cockpit voice recorders are recovered from the plane and how much work would have to be done to make them audible?

PAUL GINSBERG, FORENSIC AUDIO EXPERT: Well, there are a number of channels on the cockpit voice recorder. So we would be working many different things, synchronizing with the data recorder and so on. The same enhancement techniques would be used and hopefully because it would be onboard the aircraft we would ultimately end up with even a clearer rendition.

SCIUTTO: Michael, I suppose one of the issues here is that it only records the last two hours of the flight. A lot of the most interesting mysterious things happen with this plane before those final two hours. How valuable do you think these recorders will be?

LT. COL. MICHAEL KAY (RET.), BRITISH ROYAL AIR FORCE PILOT: You know, I'm not sure two hours in this particular scenario is going to be enough because the aircraft has traveled a significant distance from the actual area where it's initially gone off track. I think when we talked earlier we looked at the where, the whats, and the why.

I think there is going to be probably incredibly difficult to discern if we're going to go back all the way six hours to the point where the transponder came off in the South China Sea and why that actually occurred. Having CVR data at that point when it initially diverted from its track to Beijing, I think that will be key. So not having that is -

(CROSSTALK)

SCIUTTO: But now, the data recorders though would go back further than two hours, right? That would be the complete picture of data from those recorders.

KAY: About 25, 25 hours.

GINSBERG: Yes. It would encompass the entire flight.

SCIUTTO: Now, David, with Air France, those data recorders and cockpit voice orders were in the water for two years.

DAVID GALLO, CNN ANALYST: They were.

SCIUTTO: In sea water and depth.

GALLO: Honestly, we looked every day waiting to get out there because we had no idea how long that they would be protected against the environment of the ocean. So we were very surprised that all of the information was still there.

SCIUTTO: And was there any - (CROSSTALK)

GALLO: The others were fine. There was a little bit but the data was fine in both.

SCIUTTO: That's encouraging.

Bobbie, if you're still there listening to us from afar, when you hear about these developments and you've done a lot of time searching at great depths, what particular challenges come to mind for you?

SCHOLLEY: Well, you know, I understand what you're talking about with the finding the cockpit data recorder and I'm a little bit discouraged that we're already talking about, you know, five or six more days for the bluefin to continue mapping the ocean bottom. I spent four months up off the coast of Long Island on TWA Flight 800.

We picked up the flight data recorder within one week after TWA flight 800 exploded. We turned that over to the investigators and they said that's not telling us what we need to know. I spent another four months up there diving off the coast of that island looking for what they needed to find for their investigation.

So although I totally agree that those black boxes are the first priority that might not be what we need here. So, we need to let the experts do their jobs. I don't want to second-guess the people on the scene, but sometimes you have to continue the search beyond those black boxes to find out what happened. And it might be more than what's in those black boxes. It might be something in that cockpit, you know. Every salvage job is different.

SCIUTTO: Sure. The wreckage is essential, too. We talked for instance about the engines being key because you could tell if they were still spinning or they've stopped spinning and in effect, run out of fuel before it hit the water

GINSBERG: And you can hear that from the cockpit area microphone.

SCIUTTO: You could hear the engines were still going or not going.

Yes. That's another point. So the amount of data that you can get out of these things even in the last two hours. We don't have much time left. I would just ask perhaps Michael, there had been some confidence, I think expectations raised about a week ago from the Australian prime minister who has been spearheading this search saying we're confident. Now you have this step back saying we may not find this next week, we may have to regroup. How worrisome a sign (INAUDIBLE), just very quickly.

KAY: I have confidence in Chief Marshall Houston. I think so far he's conducted himself impeccably. He's taken the search out to the ping locator, right out to the outer limit of when the batteries might last. I think we should trust in him to do the same with the bluefin.

As David was talking about earlier it may not just be one coverage of this area. Chief Marshall who is (INAUDIBLE) bed at night and say I'm going to do this one more time.

(CROSSTALK)

SCIUTTO: Michael, thanks very much. Paul, David, Bobbie, thanks so much as well. I'm Jim Sciutto in New York. "CHICAGOLAND" begins right now.