welcome back. the headlines this hour. the ukraine's defense ministry has authorized its troops to use their weapons in self-defense. this comes as masked gunmen killed a member of ukraine's

military and wounded another at a base on tuesday. they placed the rest of the staff under arrest. russian president vladimir putin says crimea is finally returning home. he appeared at a huge rally in moscow tuesday raf signing a pact to annex the territory from ukraine. mr. putin said russia had to act to protect crimea from nationalists, as well as anti-semites. the oscar pistorius murder trial is scheduled to resume right about now in pretoria, south africa. a police ballistic expert is planned to return to the stand. he said he used laser to track the bullets that were used to kill reeva steenkamp. a senior u.s. official has told

cnn a change of course appears to have been programmed at least 12 minutes before the co-pilot signed off for the last time. it's a move likely made inside the cockpit, and thailand has released new information supporting the belief that the plane did make an abrupt turn to the west. for now, an unprecedented search is under way. it involves more than two dozen countries and covers nearly 3 million square miles. the relatives of those onboard flight 370 have now endured 12 days of conflicting reports, false starts and conspiracy theorys. for many, sadness and anger -- anguish is turning to anger and disbelief. most of the passengers were chinese nationals. ever since the plane disappeared, many of their family members have spent their days waiting for news at a beijing hotel. we're live from outside the hotel. and pauline, it seems tensions there have been growing. many people, it appears are now at a breaking point.

>> yeah, and now they're taking things into their own hands. there are more than 400 relatives of these passengers here in beijing, spread out among three different hotels. life the past 12 days has been incredibly, incredibly difficult. here's what they've had to go through. every day they shuffle in and out of the grand ballroom, which has turned into a briefing room. hoping for some good news with the daily update with malaysia airlines. >> it feels like they gave us hope but now they are taking it away. . >> reporter: but instead of concrete information, hundreds of passenger relatives get little guidance. the stress, sadness, frustration boil over. we only have one child. we are respectful chinese people. it's hard to control your emotions when you might have lost your loved ones. we just need the truth.

>> reporter: in the early days, malaysia airlines executives gave briefings to the families. now the airline's legal team and other employees come. the malaysian ambassador came twice last week to answer questions. now families say they haven't heard from any embassy officials. the families turn to each other for support. they check their smart phones for updates and from their beijing hotel rooms watch the nightly news conferences out of kuala lumpur for any will you leads. well into the second week of the search, families are now starting to ask what their legal options are, whether or not the plane is found. families are talking about suing the malaysian government over the delays and the confusion in the search. aviation litigation attorneys from the u.s. have shown up at the hotel. >> i have some contact. they invite me here. after this conference, they invite me to their conference to have some further conversation. >> reporter: as they consider what to do next, the families continue to wait and wait. their lives kept on hold.

now a malaysia airline spokesperson today said to the family, listen, we may have had flaws in the way we've tried to accommodate the families but our intentions are good. that's not good enough of an explanation for the families. and today at the news briefing today, two people stood up and said listen, we're going to take this into our own hands. we're not getting enough support from the malaysia government or the malaysia airlines. we're going to start our own self-help family support group. and they're meeting right now discussing what they're going to do. they' taken down names of relatives. they've also asked people to list what their jobs are and what their specialties are so they can at least use their own skills to try to help each other. job? >> and pauline, i guess a lot of anger directed as malaysian airlines, the malaysian government. but what about at the chinese government? do people think their own government is doing enough? >> you know, that's a good

question. because at the top level, we have heard the central government publicly tell malaysia that they need to step up the pace of the progress. they need to be more transparent with information, but we've asked relatives here, have any government officials showed up from beijing, from your own government? and they say they have not seen anyone. so that's also a bit of a disconnect. no government officials from china here. no government officials from malaysia. and that's why these relatives say we have to deal with this ourselves. >> gi >> guess it's an empowering moment when they have no zo little control over the events around them. now, investigators believe that whatever happened to the plaeb was the rul of direct involvement inside the cockpit. we spoke with a former malaysian airlines pilot who flew the very flight that vanished. and he counts the missing

captain as friend. >> the missing 777, this man says he blew the boeing padgett for malaysia airlines where he was both a pilot and an executive until he retired two years ago. he said it was one of the youngest planes in the fleet. >> i know that plane is more solid than anything else in the world, you know? and for it to just disappear the way it is, lots of questions. >> having flown the 777, do you rule out catastrophic mechanical failure? >> it wouldn't be flying silently, it will just disappear. >> reporter: instead it flew for hours. no distress calls. before our interview, he was in this hall, outside what he called a war room for the military, the airline and the government. he is not an active participant in the investigation, but he says any 777 pilot knows the

wide bodied jet can be turned. >> how difficult is it to take a plane, this particular 777 offcourse? >> it is so easy. it is so easy. any pilot can do this. it is just a key stroke. >> does it take a pilot to turn a 777? >> you just need to know what inputs you need to put into the computers. >> is it possible it's not just the pilot or co-pilot? >> definitely. it is. it is. it is very, very possible. >> what huslan feels it's improbable, the plane's pilot was responsible. the two men we gan their piloting careers together more than 30 years ago. captain huslan said he was his usual self. no warning signs, no odd behavior. >> the simplest formula is a sad thing. >> how much has this shaken pilots such as yourself? >> i'm just shocked. i'm just shocked.

>> thanks for that report from kuala lumpur. it's not unheard of for members of the flight crew to commandeer airplanes for illegal and dangerous purposes. nick robertson has more on that and the steps one country is now taking to deal with rogue pilots. >> 2083. >> in israel's aviation security operation center staff are on heightened alert. >> thank you very much for the call, sir. >> from pilot calls to airport security, multiple streams are mined for anomalieanomalies. in this room, israel's security hangs on minute by minute, second by second decisions about approaching aircraft. in here, the possibility of a rogue padgett is a permanent threat.

the system would have alerted the problem had mh-370 been near their air space. >> once it would be unidentified, it's a possibility of security background for such an incident, security incident would be announced and start to be managed. >> reporter: managed by alerting the airline and air defense forces. informed by the data already scoured by the data matrix at the center's core. since flight mh-370 disappeared, checks here have become more rigorous. as they see a new threat emerging -- the air crew. >> maybe we -- the last ring of trust was broken. >> just for weeks ago, an ethiopian airlines co-pilot hijacked a padgett he was flying, seeking asylum in switzerland. three months before that, a mozambique airlines hijacked a

regional jet he was flying. intentionally crashed the plane, killing all 33 people onboard. a disturbing trend that can't be ignored. >> it's not necessarily only the traditional terrorists background that we were used to manage. but many different additional motives. >> even before all the facts are known about flight mh-370, it may already be changing the way we fly. we may not see it, but there is an awakening to a whole new realm of threat. nick robertson, cnn, tel aviv, israel. >> time for a short break here. coming up next, crimea's ethnic tartars mourn the loss of one of their own who they say was tortured and then killed. also oscar pistorius' murder trial has resumed. we'll take a look at why today's testimony could be so important

to the case against the blade runner. female announcer: during sleep train's big gift event get a $200 best buy gift card with purchase of selected mattress sets. or, get 24-months interest-free financing.

sleep train's big gift event is ending soon. ♪ your ticket to a better night's sleep ♪

>> criticism of russia's annexation of crimea has been growing louder. william hague said tuesday that russian president vladimir putin is isolated russia from the world community and its economic benefits. >> no amount of sham and perverse democratic process or skewed historical references can make up for the fact that this is an incursion into a sovereign state and a land grab of part of its territory with no respect for the law of that country or for international law. >> u.s. vice president joe biden is on a mission to reassure nato allies of western support. in poland tuesday, he said russia will face more than just sanctions.

>> russia has offered a variety of arguments to justify what is nothing more than a land grab, including what was said today. but the world has seen through, has seen through russia's action and has rejected the flawed logic behind those actions. >> the reaction inside russia has been very different. mr. putin's poll ratings are soaring at home. >> reporter: the admiration shown by russia's parliament is symbolic of the national mood. after the kremlin took part of neighboring ukraine, claiming to defend its people. >> we know that crimea has always been and always will remain a part of russia. >> a pa opinion poll puts his approval rating at 72%, the highest it's been in more than three years, and the second

highest of his 14-year presidency. it showed up to more than le 0% when he decided to invade georgia in 200 8. another controversial, but evidently effective move, at least by way of russian public opinion. while hi basks in high approval ratings at home, other world lead leaders are not fairing so well. gallup poll of americans put president obama's approval rating 40% last week. that's not the lowest of any second-term u.s. president, but it isn't far off. a poll shows british prime minister david cameron's approval rating at home, hovering around 39%, also down from previous weeks. and the french president's approval rating is the lowest of the three western leaders. a poll puts it at only 17%. so while putin is facing international criticism over crimea, at home, his popularity

is indisputablindisputable. there are many in crimea who do not support the move to become part of russia. chief among them are the ethnic tartars, long persecuted by soviet leaders in moscow. >> reporter: vladimir putin said he annexed crimea without a drop of blood. well, that may not be entirely true here at the funeral for tartar activist. abducted two weeks ago, his corpse was found the day crimeans voted for the referendum. the they boycotted the vote and pleaded with here to remain calm. but they are cornered. a deeply nervous community here. this funeral beginning as moscow declares crimea now part of russia. they endured deportation by stalin. moscow now sees them as its subjects again, promising to protect their rights.

but this violent debt, they fear, is perhaps aed bid to st something. they want to light a fire, he says. it's been done because it's useful for somebody, and we know who. his widow told me he had always fought for justice. but she's unlikely to see much of that soon. far north , the new crimea is moving fast to oust the old. these ukrainian troops faced pro russian protesters who peacefully gather, asking them to defect. this local official gives them a decree saying they have until 10:00 a.m. to surrender. but tempers are hot. there was a referendum, she shouts. >> he tries to soothe the crowd. in the back stands tatiana whose husband andre is serving on the base. armed people came here, she says, and just seized us.

it's the 21st century and they took part of ukraine because somebody wanted it. suddenly this truck arrives. civilians mixed with the uniformed men who still, even now moscow calls this russia don't admit they're russian. in the capital, another base is being stormed. the first ukrainian soldier reported killed in crimea. dusk is falling and the russians move in. as far away in kiev, these ukrainian soldiers commander says the military phase of the war is beginning. >> oscar pistorius is back in court. coming up next, we will go live to pretoria for some expert analysis of what we can expect in the coming hours.

. witnesses say a chopper plunged to the ground just after takeoff then burst into flames. one person on the ground was critically injuried. it happened in seattle near the city's landmark tower. the space needle. so far no word yet on the cause of the krsh. to pretoria, south africa, and what could be a crucial day for the prosecution in the oscar pistorius murder trial. testimony by a police ballistics expert might show if the man known as the blade runner intended to shoot and kill his girlfriend reeva steenkamp. kelly phelps joins us from outside the court. good to speak with you. part of the testimony will deal with the trajectory of the four bullets that pistorius fired that night. why is that so important? >> well, it's important because finally we're starting to hear a clear account of the state's version of events and the manner

in which the events transpired that night. so this morning, we've heard very compelling evidence if the ballistics expert finally explaining, pulling together all of the previous physical evidence that has been presented at trial in order to attach a narrative to it. so we've heard about the position that reev a steenkamp was standing in. we've heard about how when the first shot went through the door and hit her in the hip, she would have fallen into a heated position on the magazine rack. we also heard the bullet hole in her arm would have been caused while her arm was in a defensive position and that the final bullet hole to her head caused her to slump down and have her head on the toilet, which is why there was so much blood at that part of the scene. so we're actually starting to hear a blow by blow account of what exactly occurred. >> pull all of this together for us, kelly, what is the prosecution actually tryinging to portray here? where is it going to end up?

>> well, the first piece of invest that was put forward was that the initial bullet wound to the hip would have been -- would have happened while she was standing facing the door. they're clearly trying to contradict the defense's version of defense that perhaps she had been in the bathroom because she was using the toilet. so they're contradicting the fact that she would have been sitting on the toilet. it has to be said we can expect that they will give very aggressive croatian as well. and is likely to suggest that perhaps, for example, she was standing up to leave the bathroom. that it doesn't necessarily infer that she was locking herself in the bathroom to escape from a crazed attack, which is obviously what the state are trying to build towards. >> very quickly, there's also this issue of whether pistorius was wearing his prosthetic legs at the time of opening fire, when he shot her. it seems both sides now agree he was not wearing his prosthetic legs.

>> yes, absolutely. the state clearly have changed their stance on this. they now agree with the defense that he was on his stumps when the bullets were fired. and the argument now is whether he was wearing his legs or not at the point of which he yielded the cricket bat later. >> a lot to look forward to in this trial today. we'll appreciate it, we'll talk to you later on during the day here on cnn. >> okay, unseasonably cool weather is forecast for southern china. while the warm weather in europe is coming to an abrupt end. ever dependable. >> what an introduction. the equinox is around the corner, of course. the spring equinox across the northern hemisphere. the atumal equinox in the southern hemisphere. daylight rein also nighttime length going to be nearly identical around the world.

but as this happens, the conditions kind of going backwards in southern asia and southern china in particular. a front beginning to push through that's going to really cool the temperatures off, especially towards the latter portion of the week, the first full day of the spring season. we drop back down to below seasonal temperatures. you take a look at the orange indicating temps about 20 or so degrees celsius. the upper 60s, around 70 degrees. below average temperatures indicate in the green. look where the green goes, all the way south towards hong kong, hanoi, even taipei, temps drop to below average. upper teens returning in this region. the temperature trend takes you above average, 26 degrees celsius, roughly 80 degrees or so fahrenheit and drops it back down into the 60s. so changes in the temperature department there. take you back out towards netherlands where very mild temperatures have been in place here. we know a flower festival taking place across portions of the nether labds. flowers in full bloom because of this unseasonably mild weather pattern that was in place.

but you notice an active feature here beginning to push in. that storm system going to bring the temperatures downhill rather quickly. also introduce some rain showers in the region as well. an area around london, for example, no significant rains have come down in about 2 1/2 weeks. now we have temperatures go from 18 to 14 down to 12. berlin, though, at the end of the spectrum. it warms up to well above the average of 8. temperatures going down about 70 degrees fahrenheit down to the mid 50s frarn hiet for our friends across paris. want to leave you with video coming out of the inner mongolia region of china. that's the yellow river. some concerns of ice blockage causing flooding. the folks out there in china, this is the north china's air force out there, putting some bombshellsn about 20 of them ona

plane. they're breaking the ice apart, not using the ships and ice breakers. but 20 bombs. >> you got to love china. nothing a few munitions, a couple of explosives can't fix. >> or break. >> but no cloud seeding from china at this point? >> not today. not yet. >>ing o, thank you for that. see you tomorrow. >> yep. >> that does it for this hour of cnn news room. for our viewers in the united states, stay with us. "early start" is coming up next. for everyone else, stay with us here.

breaking institution overnight. the search, the mystery intensifying for missing malaysia airlines flight 370. new clues suggesting the pilots may have changed course while they were still in contact with air traffic control. and this morning, reports of a new area of focus in the search for this plane. we are bringing you live team coverage on the latest breaking news overnight. and also breaking overnight, could ukraine and russia be on the brink of war? the fight over crime mia turning deadly