they've gotten new information from reconfigured satellite information to hone in better on the search information and now are moving better assets to pick up on the ping from what possibly are the black boxes from the air plain. our cnn live coverage continues now with natalie allen in atlanta. >> this is cnn breaking news. >> welcome to our continuing coverage. i'm natalie allen. to our viewers around the world and in the united states, thank you for joining us. straight to our top story. dramatic developments in the search for malaysia airlines flight 370. search planes and ships are heading for an area where chinese searchers have now twice detected electronic pulse signals in the southern indian ocean. that world from australian authorities a short while ago who also say the australian ship

"ocean shield" has picked up some signal as well. and the chief calls it encouraging but stresses it is not confirmed that any of the signals are coming from the boeing 77 recorders. on friday a chinese boat detected the first signal from a pinging in the ocean. experts say it was the same frequently that airplane flight recorders emit. chinese reporters reported their planes had spotted white objects in the water about 90 kilometers away. those are the developments we just learned at a new conference about an hour and a half ago. let's go straight to the base of the search operations now, live in perth, australia. erin mclaughlin is there.

quite encouraging developments, erin. they're stressing that nothing is confirmed but something perhaps is happening. >> reporter: that's right, natalie. this is certainly a significant development in this search. they are deploying a number of assets to the area in response to the "haixun 01" find. angus houston, who is spearheading this search saying this is the most promising lead they have so far, the chinese search vessel detects not one but two acoustic events some 24 hours and 2 kilometers apart in an area that it seems to be at this point pretty significant. houston also saying that based on news information about the condition of the inmarsat satellite, they are revising the most likely area that the plane went down further south, which he said is pretty close to where the chinese vessel detected

these acoustic events. so in response to this new informations are the search team deploying the search vessel "echo" expected to arrive in 14 hours and the "ocean shield" is about 24 hours away in another area. houston saying that vessel is detecting a separate, third acoustic event and will complete that investigation before perhaps joining the "hms echo." clearly significant developments but houston clearly stating at the moment this is raw data that needs to be investigated, that needs to be verified. he said that we are a long way off from being able to draw any sort of conclusions. natalie? >> absolutely. but he did hold a special news conference to lay this out. let's talk about how it was first reported. the chinese first reported this and then it was investigated by

the folks in australia spearheading this search. important enough that they head a news conference out of their normal area to bring us the information. what else did he say about the sound and why this sound in particular could be from an airliner and not something else coming from the ocean, like marine life. what about the significance of the length of the sound? >> reporter: well, he said that it's significant in that it's consistent with the kinds of sounds that would be emanating from the black box pinger, 34.75 kilohertz. but again, this all needs to be verified. this at the moment is raw data. he emphasized the area the sounds were heard in were about 4 kilometers deep, incredibly

complex. the australian authorities urging caution saying no conclusions at present can be drawn. natalie? >> this "hms echo" seems to be critical to verify information. how long before information, if it were to pick up something, to get back to people spearheading everything and letting the world know? >> "the echo" is about 14 hours away, it's equipped with more significant, technologically capable to verify the signal. that is currently on the way to be able to authenticate. natalie? >> erin mclaughlin with the latest from perth. amazing announcements. again mr. houston emphasizing

that it's important not to speculate, that they're dealing with reality, they're not sure what they have but these are the reports they're getting from the chinese boat and as well as the "ocean shield" also detecting something. earlier our own aviation expert weighed in on the importance of what the operations chief had to say. here he is. >> the words to take away from what the air commodore said, he described the chinese pings as important and encouraging. he said they are -- it is the most important lead, the most promising lead that they've had so far. and more than that, because of the reengineering of the satellite data to the lower part of the southern corridor, that puts it exactly roughly where the chinese pings were heard. in other words, you have these

pings, you have the satellite data and the two seem to converge in the same place. his words were "we must treat this carefully. it's important and encouraging." and then he described what "ocean shield" has heard as an important event. that is why "echo" is on the way. it will be there in 14 hours roughly. "ocean shield" will stay where she is to investigate the acoustic event. if that turns out to be nothing, 26 hours or so will be over the chinese pings. so an enormous amount of information coming out. some promising leads both from "ocean shield" and from the chinese. i think the important thing of what he said time and again is we will investigate every event. we've got a transmission, we must investigate it. >> and of course if these pulse signals are verified, if indeed

this could be coming from the missing airliner, it comes in the final moment when they thought they would still have a chance because the batteries expected to run out now. so this is quite the development. and we want to go to our meteorologist to talk about this area of the ocean and the depth we're talking about here and the challenges. >> you know, the challenges go down to the depth we're speaking of. that's 4,500 meters or about 14,700 feet. in much of the indian ocean, this region at least, goes down as deep as 20,000 feet, getting down as low as you can get in the region. the search zone, three areas and you're talking about the equivalent of the country of romania or in the united states 83,000 square miles, which would

be equivalent roughly to the size of utah. we have the indian ocean ridge in this region, the broken ridge, the plateau down to the east of the area. the depths again ranging anywhere from 9,800 feet, to , 14,600 feet and we have another depth here that gets as shallow as 9,400 feet. ve kind of showing you the depth perspective again, the mt. washington perspective in the eastern united states, 6,200 feet, there's the tallest building in the world, 2,700 feet.

you see the eiffel tower, the one world trade center and you see how much terrain we're talking about working with when it comes to detecting this. again, the pulse capable of going as deep as 20,000 feet. that's why we know the possibility is there for this to occur. a lot of talk has been put in here in place of the signal coming and going over the past couple of days of the initial detection, the past 24 or so hours. you that thermal currents in this portion of the ocean can impact that and make the frequency lessen a little bit, especially in the battery is weaker on the device. so that potentially could play into why the signals have been inconsistent but have been showing up. >> that's a very good point because it's been pointed out it has been in the could ch news conference. >> well, we want to get to beijing now to more reaction. that's where many of the families of the passengers are

staying. pauline is there. you're saying these developments first were released by the chinese. and we learned that the chinese so far have been the leaders in this search and certainly have the most assets there and it perhaps is paying off. >> reporter: yes, perhaps, because this could be a significant lead, natalie. china has put in a lot of resources into this search. we learned that china has at least nine ships in this search area, several aircraft. at one point in this whole search, china also used 20 of their satellites to at least enhance digital imaging. we learned that a couple of days ago. and also the area with "haixun 01" is, it's the vessel that has detected the possible pings. that's in a particular search area where the depth of the ocean is 4.5 kilometers.

so it shows how difficult this search is and why there needs to be this international effort, and why the chinese are waiting for the australian defensive vessel to come in the "ocean shield" because they have the special equipment that will be able to analyze this data. so angus houston was making the point in the news conference that it's going to take time. they will have to the wait at least 24 hours before ocean shield arrives in that area, before possibly we can get some more definitive information. >> let's talk a little more about they tried to control the information and have it come in one place out of australia, yet the chinese ended up breaking the story. >> yeah, they ended up breaking the story with the cctv reporter

on board the "haixun 01" and there's a shanghai reporter on the ship. we started getting reports from the xinhua, the chinese based news agency and also from the reporter on board the "haixun 01." there was a question about the flow of information and why it was coming out of china first. and angus houston was saying, listen, when you've got reports are on ships, embedded on airplanes, he said he accepted the reality of that. but he was also diplomatic saying relationships are good, said he was very satisfied and very happy with the way both countries are sharing information. but to put this into context, natalie, one reason why then may have this tight grif on

information is because there was a bit of a fumble earlier in the search. you might remember the release of those chinese satellite images early on in the search of that debris in the south china sea. that came out of a government web site from the chinese satellite research center here in beijing. the ministry of foreign affairs said they were not aware of those images. so it caused a lot of confusion and in the end the -- shouldn't have gone out there and it turns out the debris was not debris from the planes. so that may at least give one reason to why, perhaps in this instance, the information was allowed through beijing and through the chinese media. >> well, yes, overall it has been an incredible international effort. and maybe, just maybe, there could be a break through. you've been talking with the

families and their agony there and no doubt everyone is waiting to see what is going to come of this. thank you so much. >> you can read more about the day's breaking news that has just occurred here from australia about an hour and a half ago and we'll continue bringing you live reports and more analysis of what we are learning and we also want to point out, too, that china reported they've seen om white so we will continue to follow the latest developments in the search for the missing airlines flight 370. stay with us. ♪

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>> developments were discussed a short time ago by angus houston, who you see here, the head of the australian agency coordinating search operations. earlier aviation analyst michael kay, a retired air force pilot and adviser to the defense ministry broke down some key points of what he had to say. >> i think this was a calm, supreme measure by angus huston.

number one, he confirmed that the ping from the chinese news agency wasn't verified. i think that's very important, just to reduce everyone's expectations. he then said that he was actually talking to the rcc in china, the rescue coordination center in china. i think that's important because we've been talking about the importance of establishing that communication with china, of bringing in that was in. he then said and i think it was aimed towards the families that all credible leads will be followed up and it reassures the families they will not gloss over this. and the important of this about redeploying those assets, i think that's what he's doing. and that to me place as real importance of just how significant this ping is. >> mr. houston emphasized caution because they haven't verified that. of course he is taking into account the families that have been just waiting and waiting for anything. and they certainly don't want to

mislead with this promising lead that they have. of course, you know family members have been in an agonizing holding pattern for four weeks now. you've seen their tears, their protests. nic robertson reports for us now on the ongoing torment of not knowing what happened. >> reporter: prayers and remembrance before many are ready to believe they are needed. in one of kuala lumpur's elite boarding schools, 800 students and their masters together in support of alumni struggling with the loss of loved ones aboard flight 370. >> for the family, it will probably take some time before they can accept the facts and along the way probably we want to be together with them and

maybe them feel as comfortable as possible. >> reporter: this man, his wife a passenger aboard the plane came to the service seeking solace. >> our thoughts are with you. >> reporter: his son at his side, both bereft. the burden of not knowing taking its toll. he preferred prayers over a government briefing held for families at the same time. across town as that briefing ended, there was frustration, relatives telling cnn it was a waste of time. officials, they said korks not even say if 370 had crashed. >> they said the plane was at the indian ocean and where next?

it's the second time the school has organized such prayers. there will be many more across this country. the grieving here is far from done. in the absence of certainty, prayers the only hope. >> i will keep playing that outcome is good. but still at the same time, we're aware with the information that we get, we may not be able to see them again. >> reporter: a pain few here are ready to bare. nic robertson, cnn, kuala lumpur, malaysia. >> again, there is a new development that people are waiting to hear what perhaps the chinese ship and the other australian ship, perhaps what acoustic sounds they are picking up from the ocean. coming up here right after a break, more on our top story.

we'll follow the latest developments out of australia. [ male announcer ] first the cookie at check-in... then a little time to kick back. earn double hilton honors points

with the 2x points package and be one step closer to a weekend break. doubletree by hilton. where the little things mean everything. as we've been telling you, search planes and ships are heading for an area where chinese searchers have now twice detected electron beiic pulse signals in the southern indian ocean. they also say the australian ship "ocean shield" has picked up some kind of signal as well. here's the announcement made a couple of hours ago from australia's head of search operations. >> this morning we were contacted by the chinese authorities and advised that "haixun 01" had late yesterday afternoon redetected the signals for 90 seconds within just 2 kilometers of the original detection. this is an important and

encouraging lead, but one which i urge you to continue to treat carefully. >> we just heard nic robertson's report on some of the people waiting in agony for some news. paula newton has been talking with families there in perth, australia. here's her report. >> reporter: these are precious moments of peace for danica weekes. she's had few of them since flight 370 went missing almost a month ago. she's haunted, she said, by this aviation mystery and the mission to try to solve it. >> this area where they are now, if it's there, they're going do find it. look, it's a big question that everybody's got, is it the right area? it's a calculated guess. i think the hardest processes for me is understand being that a commercial airline can just go

black. >> reporter: danica's husband, paul, was aboard flight 370 on his way to mongolia when the plane disappeared. ironically, the search has moved to near their home where she lives with their son, jack. >> sometimes i catch myself seeing the excitement of him coming home and have i to get rid of that from my brain quickly because i can't let myself go to that level of excitement because it's only going to make me crash further when i find out the real truth, which we're all expecting will be that the plane has crashed. but until that point, until i have something concrete, i can't grieve. >> how important is it that they keep looking for him, that they keep this going? >> hugely important. hugely important.

as i said, we need something, the families need something. we need answers. not just for me but for my children. >> reporter: have you started to think about the possibility that paul's sons will grow up -- your sons will grow up and not know what happened to him? >> i've thought -- i've thought of that possibility, yes. am i willing to accept it right now? no, i'm not at that point because if this was me on that plane, paulie would be fighting, going everywhere, asking every question, chasing down to find out what happened to me for our sons and for himself. so i just have to do my utmost right now and keep going to find the truth. i will -- this will all encompass me completely.

>> reporter: and weeks says it's now a matter of comfort that she's so close to the search and that the last moments of her husband's life could have been so close to his home, so close to the people who love him. paula newton, cnn, near perth, australia. >> givagain, a very important l to help the families know the truth. we'll continue reporting the developments ought of australia as we continue here. could never happen to them. and that their homeowners insurance protects them. [ thunder crashes ] it doesn't. stop pretending. only flood insurance covers floods. ♪ visit floodsmart.gov/pretend to learn your risk.

welcome back to cnn and to

our viewers around the world and the united states. thanks for joining us. i'm natalie allen. more now on our developing story, australia calling it an important and encouraging lead. ships from china and australia have detected pulse signals in the southern indian ocean. this is first in this 30-day mystery. search planes and ships now heading for the area where the chinese boat picked up signals two days in a row. on saturday a chinese patrolling boat determined the first detection of a pinging signal from deep in the indian ocean, 14,700 feet deep. it lasted just 90 seconds. experts say it was the same frequency that airplane flight recorders emit. chinese reporters also claiming they had spotted white objects in the water about 90 kilometers away. no confirmation on what those

objects may be. but they are continuing to develop that as well. let's go back to the base of the search operations in perth, australia where we learned this information just about a couple of hours ago. paula newton joins us from there. we just heard your story with these agonizing families looking for something. there's a possibility there may be something. >> reporter: you can't help, any time we get news like this, your mind goes back to people like danica weeks. you know she's hanging on every word, especially when you heard her in that report say she wasn't sure they were in the right place. i have to say, the energy in the conference today was different. the verification will take 24 to 48 hours. the interesting thing said was they said they refined the

search area more to a southern sector. this is also helpful in the search, though whatever signal that those chinese -- that that chinese ship heard came from that southern sector, you will now have the "ocean shield" investigating its own what they call acoustic incident. . they don't know what it is. all credible leads are being investigated and have launched us into a whole new phase of this investigation. >> it was just 24 hours ago, paula, that we were reporting it could be any hour now and we were in the last hours of hope that these batteries are still putting out pings. it's really remarkable that we're getting this lead at this point and of course hoping these ships can get to this area and continue the investigation at a critical time.

>> reporter: angus houston was pretty blunt about that. he said they're advertised for 30 days, they can sometimes last eight days longer. they're on borrowed time. that's the reason all these assets are in that sector again, trying to comb over it again, listening and then verifying if it is that black box. what will happen if they believe that they are the flight data recorders, they will then launch those underwater drones, specifically the blue fin 21. the spot of bad news here is that he made it very clear, the kind of depths we're talking about, 4,500 meters. that is a long way down and really at the very edge of the blue fin's capability. if they find that they are the black boxes, the flight data recorders on this ocean's bed, it will be a painstaking process to find and recover them. >> what did he say about the

search area, the fact that they've concentrated on southern part of this vast area they were searching? >> he said in terms of them refining the satellite information they had and upon further analysis they figure the plane could have gone a little farther on a little more fuel. they are concentrating on the search sector. the search zone itself is still quite large, but they have at least pinpointed their latest, most credible information of what happened to that night to that southern sector and so interesting that these acoustic pins are happening in one location but the chinese about 300 miles to the north is this other acoustic sound that the "ocean shield" is investigating right now. again, trying to pinpoint it here off the coast of western australia, given the amount of assets they have, about a dozen

ships will go out and a dozen helicopters as well. all of these things at play right now. and again, white objects being spotted on the surface of the water. those hopefully will be investigated in the coming hours. natalie? >> we'll continue to follow it extremely close because, as you say, yes, families have been on an emotional roller coaster and certainly on pins and needles with this perhaps important lead. paula, thank you. let's talk more about the depth of the ocean where they have located this pinging. our meteorologist has been exploring that further for us. >> the depths, talking about getting down to 15,000 feet. incredible stuff, when you talk about taking the eiffel tower and multiplying it by 30. that's how deep we're talking about. we know the ping location approximately in this general area so this storm will not

directly impact it. the wind speeds about 50 miles per hour. we're talking in the 85 or so kilometer or so per mile range. not going to directly impact the operation. 16 feet high wave heights associated with this storm system. we know the experts saying the pinging device that is being dragged across the ocean here is going to begin to bob back and forth in the water, makes it a little more challenging than you want it to be. the storm system clearly missing the area of concerns right there with some winds picking up on the southern periphery of the area. there's the 7.5 kilohertz frequency that it emits and the

life span would be running out sometimes within the next several hours or next week. there is the device being towed on the sea surface. you see a 20,000 foot depth that could pick up the signal out there. we talked about the currents in this region and thermal currents in this region and some talk about the signal not be consistent. the currents could cause the signal to be obstructed briefly. >> mr. houston did say in the news conference that it lasted just 90 seconds, but it was a frequency that is consistent with what airplanes admit. it's a good point that you bring up that might explain that blip. >> marine organ isms, you get

down to the depths and very little life will be found there. >> and we go to beijing where paula has been reporting on the fact that the chinese have had that significant development. pauline, you have talked with a family member who has heard this news. what did they have to say? >> reporter: i just made contact with him, natalie, about this possible pinging and the news conference out of australia he said "it's a new clue but it's not confirmed yet, let's gist wait until we get more information." he said for now let's just wait. that's what we have been hearing and other relatives, relatives saying, listen, we're just waiting patiently because there have been so many false leads in

the past. and it's a dilemma that they're in, natalie. i talked about this before, this need for information, need for concrete evidence. at the same time the lack of information also gave them hope. we had been talking with some relatives who are still convinced that no debris has been found. so they're in this we also spoke with relatives who said they just wanted to take a mental break this weekend. it's a public holiday on monday here in china. some people just wanted to get away. the chinese government has actually offered many of the relatives a short trip outside of beijing to the outskirts to get some fresh air. they're going on later today to

the santorum where they can get some fresh air and also are having health checks. >> certainly can understand that because they have been on a roller coaster with the news that has been credible and not so since this mystery began. but let's a little more about china's dedication to this search. we're learning that they have the most assets in this search and even broke the news of this possible lead. >> reporter: right. they have a lot of vessels on the water, several aircraft in the air. we learned that at least nine vessels today. the vessel that has seemed to find this possible ping is

called the "haixun 01." in translation that means ocean patrol. and the news came out overnight from the xinhua, government-backed news agency, there is a reporter on the "haixun 01" vessel and she reported about the ping. she's the one that said that it appeared that the second event, acoustic event is what they're calling it on saturday seemed to show a ping every second for at least 90 seconds. now, when that report came out and when xinhua's report came out as well, that's when the international media started getting excited about this and jumping on this. it was interesting that it did come out of china because the flow of information is supposed to come out of this joint

command center out of australia. so because it came out of china, we saw the australians being forced to put together this news conference just a couple of hours ago. and angus houston had made it clear that he understands the reality of having reporters on ships and planes that this kind of thing this will come out but he also made a point of saying he's very happy with the flow of information between china and australia and china and this is an international passengers are chinese citizens. >> absolutely. thank you. we want to remind our viewers that there are two different sounds that have been reported, one coming from the chinese vessel "haixun 01" but also from

the "ocean shield," it's about 300 miles from the "haixun 01." it going to go back over the area where it picked up this acoustic noise one more time and then head to the area where the "haixun 01" is and it will take a good 24 hours for it to stop operating in that area with china. there's much more to explore here. we'll continue our coverage in just a moment. inspired by the freshness of the season, our chefs have created a new spring seasonal menu at olive garden. dive into our pappardelle pescatore with the best of the bay. salmon bruschetta grilled to perfection, or fall in yum with our chicken primavera made from scratch by our chefs every day and always served with unlimited salad and breadsticks. the all new spring seasonal menu now for a limited time at olive garden, we're all family here. discover our entirely new pronto lunch menu starting at $6.99.

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. welcome back to our continuing coverage of developments out of australia. despite this important lead we're learning about regarding und underwater sounds, there have been so many questions to one of the most baffling aviation mystery in history that we've been seeing for the past month. jim clancy has been in kuala lumpur almost from the beginning. >> reporter: the story with 370 began at the arrival gate in beijing, where it was listed as delayed, some six hours after it disappeared over the south china sea. >> breaking news, malaysia airlines confirms it has lost contact with flight mh-370, it was a boeing 777-200, expected to land at 6:30 a.m. local time. it's almost 9:00 in the morning

in beijing. that plane is two and a half hours late. >> reporter: the fear completely predictable. everyone dreaded the worst, a terrible accident. >> i confirm that this flight lost contact with air traffic control at 2:40 a.m. this morning. >> most people at initial stage thought it was a straight forward crash and it had come down somewhere south of vietnam and that the wreckage would be found very, very quickly. >> reporter: malaysia waited to reveal details of its own military radar, the plane had deliberately reversed course, heading toward the indian ocean. >> how much of a turn back did it make? 20 kilometers? 10? >> we are still looking at that.

>> reporter: suddenly anything became possible, wild internet fears of a terrorist plot. they weren't terrorists. and then it shifted toward the pilots. analysis bit fbi of the simulator data turned up nothing. no claim of responsibility, no known ties to terror groups among passengers or crew, no motive supported by evidence. intricate analysis of satellite hand shabs took the search to an area where it likely ran out of fuel. with the plane all evidence of what really happened on its flight data recorders. >> we cannot be certain of the

ultimate success in the search for mh-370, but we can be certain that we will spare no effort, that we will not rest until we have done everything we humanly can. >> who steered the plane off course and why? what happened inside the cockpit? where did the airline go done and when will we find a trace? there's an abundance of theories colliding with an absence of evidence. after four weeks here, like everyone else, i have only questions and no answers. jim clancy, cnn, kuala lumpur. >> that is what we have been hearing until the past two hours when we learned there could be a very important lead in trying to locate the so-called black boxes. a sound has been heard and they are rushing to try to explore that further. so if this possible lead doesn't pan out, however, how much longer can the search go on? $3 million has been spent so far. malaysia has said money is no

question in its dedication to the search. but we posed that question to one of our experts. >> at some point i have to believe cost becomes a factor. who's going to foot the bill for this going on in perpetuity? >> that's something i've wondered because i'm familiar with the cost of searching the ocean and doing this deep sea work. it is very expensive. my view is that if this pulse does not turn out to be the location, i hope it is, but if it doesn't turn out to be the location and we're back to square one so to speak, which is the shifting search area all the time, could we find it? the answer is if resources were unlimited, yes, we could because we have the 21st century ability to sense and map the bottom of the ocean in greater detail. it turns out we have better maps of mars than we do of the bottom of our own ocean and we can send

submersibles down there. if we just put i i think these are some of. >> we'll continue to explore this lead that we've learned about in just a moment. more on the missing airplane and some developments out of the southern indian ocean when we come back.

welcome back. i'm natalie allen at cnn center. we continue to follow developments out of australia. officials cautiously encouraged by new developments in the search for the missing airliner. search planes and ships are under way to a place where crews have now twice detected a signal. the device on the australian ship has -- head

of the international search said efforts were already being stepped up. >> the international investigative team has this morning advised a correction to the satellite data that has been used to calculate the probable flight path of mh-370. the correction arises from new information about the state of the satellite itself when it received transmissions from mh-370 during its flight. the effects of the correction is to raise the priority for searching the southern component of the existing search area ahead of the northern component. >> again, what is incredible about this lead, this lead which of course there's been no verification, is the lead comes in the final hours that they expected to get any pings from the missing airliner because the batteries on those flight data recorders due to play out.

so you've got the search there in the southern indian ocean. that's one part of the story. and then you've got the investigation of the crew, the passengers, the cargo that was on this plane. well, one passenger in particular, who got a lot of attention early in the investigation, was an iranian teen-ager traveling on a stolen passport. after seeing our coverage, his mother reached out to cnn. she said she wanted to defend her son's honor and she spoke exclusively with cnn. >> reporter: this mother is tormented by the words she saw used in conjunction with her son, terrorism and suspect. she has asked us not to show her face for fear her family will be harassed. >> my son isn't a bad boy. he wanted to study, he wanted to work and he wants to be free. >> reporter: her eldest son was

initially suspected in the disappearance malaysia flight 370. he and his friend were able to board with stolen passports. authorities later determined that they had nothing to do with the disappearance. >> reporter: were you hoping they had caught him? >> yes. >> reporter: it turns how the he was trying to leave iran quickly to be with his mother who had cancer. she needed his help. because she was 18 years old, she couldn't bring him to germany legally where she is awaiting refugee status along with his young aer brother. so he decided the quickest way to get there was to use a stolen airport. did you think you were going to die and that's why you wanted him to be with you? >> yes, the sickness reminds me

i have short time, short time. >> reporter: shorter than you can imagine. >> to lose your son is hard for every mother. but i'm here alone and even i don't have any passport yet. >> reporter: so she couldn't travel to malaysia to be close to the investigation and information like the other families of passengers aboard mh-370. she is also still undergoing cancer treatment. >> these three weeks was more difficult than the rest of my life. i want to say that they alive somewhere else. what i need, i need to know what happened. >> reporter: after reading our story about her eldest son online, she decided to speak to

us via skype. >> this is the first time that i talked with somebody. i beg that you understand me. i felt that you near me. you appreciate you. >> reporter: thank you. >> a mother with no support system at home crushed by the burden of waiting to find out what happened to her first born son. >> more families in agony from iran to beijing, to kuala lumpur, to perth. we've heard from many of them this past hour, and no doubt they are listening to these developments quite closely. we'll have more of our continuing coverage on the news

out of australia on a possible lead in this search right after this. until you're sure you do. bartender: thanks, captain obvious. co: which is what makes using the hotels.com mobile app so useful. i can book a nearby hotel room from wherever i am. or, i could not book a hotel room and put my cellphone back into my pocket as if nothing happened. hotels.com. i don't need it right now.