is lost hope? >> as long as there's a remote chance of a survivor, we will pray and do whatever it takes. >> reporter: malaysia's government has defended its handling of the investigation. at times blaming the foreign media putting its on spin on how things have played out. i'll see you here at 9:00 p.m. for a primetime edition of "the read." for now i turn you over to wolf. wolf? a u.s. navy pinger locator tries to relocate the signals that may have came from the airliner's two black boxes. and you're going to hear those pings for yourself in a new audio just released from search authorities. but until searchers are able to hear those pings again or determine that the battery's powering them are dead, an unmanned submarine will remain

on stand by. ukraine uses force. as the war of war escalates right here at home. >> on the issue of ukraine, my hero, teddy roosevelt used to say, talk softly and carry a big stick. what you're doing is talking strongly and carrying a very small stick. in fact, a twig. >> wait until you hear how secretary state john kerry fires back. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." we begin this hour with new details on the hunt for flight 370. here are the latest developments. searchers are now scouring a much smaller area of the indian ocean trying, once again, to hear those pinging sounds which may have come from the airliner's black boxes because searchers can't afford any competing noise, a drone mini subwi will remain out of the ocn until the pings are completely ruled out.

aircraft may be getting ready to take off hunting for the strangely elusive debris. our analysts and reporters are nd stainding by in washington ad around the world. let's begin with matthew chance who is joining us right now from perth, australia. matthew? >> reporter: wolf, thanks very much. australian officials are saying over the course of the next coming days we can expect an increase in activity as they do everything they can. they throw air and sea assets at trying to find this missing malaysian plane. these are the latest images of the search for missing flight 370. aboard the australian ship "ocean shield," search teams are racing against the clock using sophisticated equipment on loan from the u.s. navy. but signals detected over the weekend are said to be consistent with black box

recorders now appear to have been lost. >> the towed pinger locator work continues. there have been no further contacts with any transmission. and we need to continue that several days. right up to the point at which there's absolutely no doubt that the pinger batteries will have expired. >> reporter: there's more high-tech equipment the search teams are waiting to deploy. like this robotic submarine which can scour the ocean floor. but first, they need to locate the signal again. australian officials say the search area has been significantly narrowed but still they are stepping up efforts in the sea and in the air to find more clues. >> we have a positive lead. today we have foreign ships and foreign aircraft over those sites. flat out trying to enhance that lead and to deliver something

mo more tangible. >> reporter: but after a month, searching this fast ocean three miles deep, the hunt for flight 370 is proving a herculean task. wolf, it's been over 30 days since the search in that part of the indian ocean began. within the next few hours -- by the way, it's continuing overnight as well. they are going 24/7, searching beneath the ocean with the sonar equipment. the flights are going to be started soon and i'll be on one of those flights as well. hopefully i'll give you more information in the hours ahead. >> what is the weather like right now? >> reporter: it's pretty good right now. there's been stormy weather out at sea. at the moment, the search team is saying that the weather is very good conditions to try to spot some debris. they have not spotted anything

related to mh-370. >> it's pretty shocking when you think about it. matthew chance, good luck on that trip. we'll stay in close touch with you. let's bring in miles o'brien and former fbi assistant director tom fuentes. they haven't found any debris? they've heard pings from the two black boxes but they haven't found any debris? >> it's either the most extraordinary event ever or those pings weren't real. i think we can say, with fairly high confidence, given what the u.s. navy has said and others, there's reasonable optimism to say that the pings were from black boxes. if you accept that notion and see no debris in the water, it's somewhat befuddling. a couple scenarios is that it could have been a successful landing like sully sullenberger on the hudson. >> and there was not that long

ago a cyclone that basically went around that whole area. >> right. >> and it could have blown stuff, who knows where. >> right. 32 days after the disappearance, 100 mile disappearance and current and wind and waves. >> if they heard what they believed to be the pinging coming from two black boxes, one for two hours, every second for two hours, different levels of audio, if you will, and another 15 minutes from a second black box, the flight data recorder, cockpit voice recorder, why isn't that enough to send that unmanned sub, if you will, underneath to start looking for it? >> you would think that that would be enough. it seems like a lot of data. but the problem is, in order -- the acoustics of the ocean can fool you. in order to really triangulate, to hone in on the location, you need multiple hits from multiple angles. you actually do a criss-cross pattern and you'll able to hone in on the location.

if they have to go with the side scan sonar sub, you know, eventually they will find the wreckage. there's no question. it's just going to take a lot of time. >> because to hear that ping, you have to be one or two miles away. so if you do the math, if you're hearing it and you think it's the ping -- let's say two miles away, you're basically in a five-mile radius of those two black boxes which is still an area to look for the black boxes but it's certainly doable. >> the interesting thing is, within 30 days you had to be within two or three miles and now depending on a number of factors it could carry 300 miles. it didn't rule out the chinese ping that was heard saying certain aspects of water conditions could carry a sound that loud. it's pretty amazing to me that they can go from two or three miles to 700 miles, suddenly. >> so you think that they are going to wait until they are absolutely positively certain that the batteries have run out. it's day 33 right now. it's supposed to last 30 days

but sometimes they can last another five or ten days. are we talking 40 days before they will send the submersible marine in? >> i think that's a good number. i'm sure they are in close conversation about what is the outer bounds of this. it could go on for some time. the question is, can they get the device low enough, it's very deep, to pick up a signal? i think there will be increasing pressure to put the sub in there because the families need to know. >> the black boxes, presumably, some of the plane is not that far away either and if they do go underneath and start mapping that area in a lawn mower kind of motion over five, ten square miles, presumably they think they might find something? >> right. but the battery can go more than 40 days and that means we're looking at one more week before they think about putting the submersibles in. >> in the meantime, they are going to keep the towed pinger

locator moving around 24/7. stand by. we have a lot more to cover. up next, the underwater hunt is intensifying. planes are getting ready to scour the surface. i'll speak live with the military commander of the aerial search. and no one is following the search more closely than the designers of the pinger locators. we're going to give you a behind-the-scenes look at how it works. if there was a pill to help protect your eye health as you age... would you take it? well, there is. [ male announcer ] it's called ocuvite. a vitamin totally dedicated to your eyes, from the eye care experts at bausch + lomb. as you age, eyes can lose vital nutrients. ocuvite helps replenish key eye nutrients. ocuvite has a unique formula

not found in your multivitamin to help protect your eye health. now that's a pill worth taking. [ male announcer ] ocuvite. help protect your eye health. frequent heartburn? the choice is yours. chalky. not chalky. temporary. 24 hour. lots of tablets. one pill. you decide. prevacid. ♪ 24 hour co: until you're sure you do.you need a hotel room bartender: thanks, captain obvious. co: which is why i put the hotels.com mobile app on my mobile phone. anyone need a coupon? i don't. ♪ hooking up the country whelping business run ♪ ♪ build! we're investing big to keep our country in the lead. ♪ load! we keep moving to deliver what you need. and that means growth, lots of cargo going all around the globe. cars and parts, fuel and steel, peas and rice, hey that's nice! ♪ norfolk southern what's your function? ♪ ♪ helping this big country move ahead as one ♪

♪ norfolk southern how's that function? ♪ that's a good thing, but it doesn't cover everything. only about 80% of your part b medical expenses. the rest is up to you. so consider an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. like all standardized medicare supplement insurance plans, they pick up some of what medicare doesn't pay and could save you in out-of-pocket medical costs. call today to request a free decision guide to help you better understand what medicare is all about and which aarp medicare supplement plan works best for you. with these types of plans, you'll be able to visit any doctor or hospital that accepts medicare patients... plus, there are no networks, and virtually no referrals needed.

there's a range of plans to choose from, too, and they all travel with you anywhere in the country. join the millions who have already enrolled in the only medicare supplement insurance plans endorsed by aarp... an organization serving the needs of people 50 and over for generations... and provided by unitedhealthcare insurance company, which has over 30 years of experience behind it. ♪ call today. remember, medicare supplement insurance helps cover some of what medicare doesn't pay. expenses that could really add up. these kinds of plans could save you in out-of-pocket medical costs. you'll be able to choose any doctor who accepts medicare patients. and there are virtually no referrals needed. so don't wait. with all the good years ahead, look for the experience and commitment to go the distance with you. call now to request your free decision guide. this easy-to-understand guide

will answer some of your questions and help you find the aarp medicare supplement plan that's right for you. the underwater hunt is

intensifying as searchers urgently try to relocate the pings. at the same time, aircraft is getting ready for another day of scouring the ocean surface. let's bring in wing commander of the new zealand air force. he's joining us via skype. thanks, commander, for joining us. first of all, any updates on what you're learning as far as the search is concerned, under water and on the surface? >> so, at the moment what we're looking at today is moving the aircraft search areas out to the west of where the pings were detected by the vessel "ocean shield." it is just one search area today. so that has changed from the day before when we were actually looking at three separate search areas, based on some of those other detections. it's one of the great things about the cooperation that we're actually seeing as part of this search, with both traditional and nontraditional partners, is that we actually saw yesterday the vessel hms echo working

alongside the "haixun 01." it appears that area has been rolled out for now and we're now concentrating further up to the northwest. just immediately to the west of where the "ocean shield" detections were. >> which leads me to believe, commander, that the chinese pings that were detected were careerly coming from something other than the two black boxes than the malaysian airliner. but you're still working under the assumption that the pings were authentic coming from the flight data and cockpit voice recorders. is that your still working assumption? >> that is still the working assumption, yes. >> and that's why you've moved the aerial search now to this area just west of where those pings were coming from, assuming that if there is surface debris, it was moving in a westward

direction. is that also your assumption? >> so what we're basically looking at now is effectively two different types of search. the one that is going on under the surface, as you've discussed with respect to the detection of the black boxes and also trying to locate a debris field as well. as part of the search operations that have been going on for the last few weeks, a number of aircraft have been dropping marker beacons. now, anything that is sitting at the bottom of the ocean will be subject to a different patent than that sitting on the top. so the search areas for today are based off a possible debris field that would be a couple of hundred miles across to the west and that's just looking at where the ocean currents have been by a computer model and from the marker buoys. >> are you still also working under the assumption that the battery life for the two black boxes, that the batteries are still working or do you fear they may have dried up?

>> so those conflicting reports that we have out there and you've seen that in the media, of course. but at the end of the day, until there is no reason to be looking for those or there is every reason to believe that the batteries are still functioning and that they will be putting out a signal that we can depete. >> miles o'brien has a question for you. >> i cannot recall an aviation incident where there was a pinger discovered before any shed of debris. this is extraordinary. give us a sense of how much confidence you have in the ability to -- i think the term is hind cast -- to where debris might be. do you have confidence in the ability to do it 30 days later? >> so, at the end of the day, as time goes on you start to say there's more variables that have been thrown in there. we have to hind cast, as you

say, to try to locate those areas and then throughout this search there's been a number of assumptions that have been made, hypothesis that has been made. it would at least give us a starting point to then work backwards but over the period of the last 30 days, we're still talking about a large potential area that it could be. at the moement. we have a cyclone that went through. it's a large task that is still ahead of us. >> how big of an area underwater -- let's say these two boxes are at the bottom of the indian ocean right now and you did get those pings over the past few days for two hours and 15 minutes. usually for that towed pinger locator to work, it's got to be one or two miles away. are you basically within a five or ten-mile radius of where you

think those two boxes might be? >> that's certainly the hope. with having two separate detections over the weekend by "ocean shield," that was certainly something that gave everyone a great deal of hope and clearly we'd like to have more detections to help refine the area more but effectively what we're doing at the moment or what the vessels are doing is a little bit like aircraft used to have to do before beacons were there and hone in on a radio signal. they are going to be trying to see when the signal -- >> i want to clarify, on the chinese pings that were detected, commander, you've given up on those, those clearly were not pings coming from the black boxes, right? >> yeah. >> all right. commander eddie scott from the royal new zealand air force, you've been a lot of help. are you still cautiously optimistic, before i let you go?

>> at the end of the day, there's highs and lows and we obviously had the high over the weekend. it may be a low until we get another detection but we always stay optimistic in this sort of an operation. >> good luck to you and the men and women involved in the search. thanks very much. coming up, we're learning more about the critical device at the center of the search. you'll hear from the team who heard the signals from the possible missing plane. and with some estimates this search is approaching $20 million a month. we're going to have the surprising details of that and a lot more coming up right here in "the situation room." ♪ [ male announcer ] how could switchgrass in argentina, change engineering in dubai, aluminum production in south africa, and the aerospace industry in the u.s.? at t. rowe price, we understand the connections of a complex, global economy. it's just one reason over 75% of our mutual funds beat their 10-year lipper average.

t. rowe price. invest with confidence. request a prospectus or summary prospectus with investment information, risks, fees and expenses to read and consider carefully before investing. with investment information, risks, fees and expenses olive garden's 'buy one, take one,' it's back, but not for long, starting at just $12.99. enjoy dinner tonight and take home a second entrée for later. choose from a variety of amazing entrees, like new creamy citrus chicken. then choose a second favorite to take home, get dinner tonight and take home a second entrée, free. buy one, take one, starting at just $12.99. get it before it's gone. at olive garden, "we're all family here." discover our entirely new pronto lunch menu starting at $6.99. without standard leather. you are feeling exhilarated with front-wheel drive. you are feeling powerful with a 4-cylinder engine. [ male announcer ] open your eyes... to the 6-cylinder, 8-speed lexus gs. with more standard horsepower

than any of its german competitors. this is a wake-up call. ♪ this is a wake-up call. i just ah woke up today and i said i need something sportier. annnd done. ok maxwell, just need to ah contact your insurance company with the vin number. oh, i just did it. with my geico app. vin # is up to the loaded. ok well then jerry here will take you through all of the features then. why don't weeeeeeeeeeee go out to the car. ok, i'll just be outside... ok, yeah. his dad is my boss. yeah. vin scanning to add a car. just a tap away on the geico app. ♪ hooking up the country whelping business run ♪ ♪ trains! they haul everything, safely and on time. ♪ tracks! they connect the factories built along the lines. and that means jobs, lots of people, making lots and lots of things. let's get your business rolling now, everybody sing. ♪ norfolk southern what's your function? ♪ ♪ helping this big country move ahead as one ♪

♪ norfolk southern how's that function? ♪

at the center of the several for flight 370, critical technology and a race against the clock to detect more possible pings. our own brian todd has this. >> reporter: wolf, with search teams working feverishly to pick up any sign of the plane, the towed pinger locator remains a crucial piece of equipment.

they were there, then they weren't. those crucial signals picked up in the indian ocean consistent with pings from the flight recorders. no one is following this more intensely than the team at phoenix international, which designed the device which heard those sounds. >> do you think that even though they haven't picked up anything for a couple of days that the pinger locator could still pick up pings? >> i believe so. based on my experience, i believe so. we did a job a few years back and heard the pinger for up to 58 days. >> tonight, it continues off the ship "ocean shield" with the pinger making long sweeps trying to reacquire the signals. they likely won't deploy the bluefin-21 until the towed pinger locator is finished with its work. >> there's cost involved, interference, noise level. you want to try to focus and

concentrate on doing this properly. >> reporter: a potential hurdle for the pinger locator? false positives. >> a manmade source, this could pick it up, especially if it's closer to the surface. >> what kind of surface? >> a ship, engine noise, transducers, anything that scientists put at the bottom. >> reporter: one thing that doesn't concern the manager, the idea of whales or other sea life sending confusing signals. they are good at weeding out possible false positives. and in op centers like this one onboard, they are highly trained to be disciplined and discriminate to block out any other potential sounds. that means teams of sonar techs working 12-hour shifts, mustering every ounce of concentration that they have, hoping for that one moment. >> they are sitting around for days listening to silence. the first ping, everybody would perk up and then if it's a

continuous ping, there's tremendous emotional release. >> reporter: with all of the ups and downs of this search, he urges patience. in the air france crash, it spanned over 20 weeks over the course of two weeks before rovs like this one picked up that wreckage. wolf? >> brian todd reporting for us. thanks. let's get more from oceanographer van gurley. van, thanks very much. in that air france 2009 search for the black boxes, they found debris after five days but then two days it took them to find the black boxes. but they have a much bigger area than presumably they are looking at right now. >> you're right. that was a two-year effort and that wasn't two years on the water. that was about 20 weeks on the water because of logistics to look at a 5,000 square-mile area. based on the very positive returns that were heard over the weekend by the "ocean shield" team and the phoenix

international experts, they have to be within three to four miles of the location of something on the bottom that is manmade and the only thing that really should be down there at this point would be the pingers. so if you're looking at something, even conservatively, you're talking about 75 square miles, which they already have narrowed it down to. that makes this a very trackable problem. >> in the air france disaster, they never heard any pings to begin with. at least now they believe they heard two hours of pings coming from one of these black boxes and 15 minutes coming from a second one and in order to detect that ping, as you point out, you have to be a mile, maybe two miles away. so you're dealing with a square mile radius of not that much of an area, relatively speaking. >> that's correct. this is very positive and i know everyone is trying to be cautious because we've had false leads and there hasn't been any luck in this case until now but i really think that they are close to being on it. the problem that we're all going to face now is the remaining

operations are going to go excruciatingly slow. they are going to go very slow and deliberate. in the navy we talk about asw, awfully slow warfare. and i think we're going to be facing in the next couple of weeks, making sure that it's very methodical because you don't want to have something go wrong with the bluefin and then you're really out of the game. >> they don't want to put it down there because that could interfere with any pinging that could be coming out? >> you're exactly right. they are looking for one last hope of finding it before the batteries die and you have to be completely quiet. you can't have the bluefin in the water. they are being incredibly conservative and prudent but i think they are on the right lead. >> the pings become weaker as well so they really may not have a mile or two to hear those pings. they may have to be a few yards away to hear them?

>> you're exactly right. >> van gurley, thanks very much. this may go down as the most expensive search in history. why it's so costly. and other important news we're watching, including russia. it is warning of civil war if ukraine uses force to quell pro-russian forces. so i can reach ally bank 24/7, but there are no branches? 24/7. i'm sorry, i'm just really reluctant to try new things. really? what's wrong with trying new things? look! mommy's new vacuum! (cat screech) you feel that in your muscles? i do... drink water. it's a long story. well, not having branches let's us give you great rates and service. i'd like that. a new way to bank. a better way to save. ally bank. your money needs an ally.

those little cialis tadalafil for daily use helps you be ready anytime the moment is right. cialis is also the only daily ed tablet approved to treat symptoms of bph, like needing to go frequently. tell your doctor about all your medical conditions and medicines, and ask if your heart is healthy enough for sex. do not take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain, as it may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. do not drink alcohol in excess. side effects may include headache, upset stomach, delayed backache or muscle ache. to avoid long-term injury, get medical help right away for an erection lasting more than four hours. if you have any sudden decrease or loss in hearing or vision, or any allergic reactions like rash, hives, swelling of the lips, tongue or throat,

or difficulty breathing or swallowing, stop taking cialis and get medical help right away. ask your doctor about cialis for daily use and a free 30-tablet trial.

♪ ...work with equity experts... who work with regional experts... that's when expertise happens. mfs. because there is no expertise without collaboration.

mfs. these days, everything is done on the internet. and tomorrow you'll do even more. that's what comcast business was built for. slow dsl from the phone company was built for stuff like this. switch to comcast business internet. then add voice and tv for just $34.90 more per month. and you'll be ready for tomorrow today. comcast business. built for business. the round the clock hunt for flight 370 in one of the most remote areas on earth is massive and extraordinarily costly.

our senior correspondent joe johns has been looking into the price tag for us. he's joining us now live from kuala lumpur, malaysia, with more. what are you finding out, joe? >> reporter: well, wolf, with all of the satellites, ships, pla planes, and submarines it's becoming clear that this is a new chapter in the chronicles of aviation. the search for flight mh-370 is becoming the most expensive of its kind in history. a former lead investigator for the ntsb board -- >> in the history of aviation, we've never had a challenge that even comes close to this. >> reporter: more than two dozen countries, seven contributing the most and australia taking the lead, 80 ships and 61 aircraft all part of the effort to locate the plane. the greatest challenge? the remote distances of the search. >> a tremendous percentage of

the resources, whether it's aircraft or ships or personnel, are spending their time getting there and getting home. >> reporter: and that comes with a hefty price tag with some estimates of $21 million a month. most of it coming from military budgets and some humanitarian and a p-8 aircraft costs about $4200 an hour to fly. the pentagon originally designated $4 million for the search but has already spent 7.1 million on planes, ships, and underwater surveillance equipment. how does flight 370 compare to other aviation disasters? the two-iyear search for plight air france 447 and in 1996, one of the longest investigations the ntsb ever conducted.

swiss air 111 which went down off the coast of nova scotia in 1998, the search recovery and investigation took four years and cost $39 million. but the collateral costs of mismanagement? >> frankly, the malaysian government has not handled this at all well. and that's clearly cost time and resources. >> reporter: now, the many governments engaged in the search already own these assets, including the ships and planes. so one way to look at this is an as an extended high-stakes training exercise, wolf. >> that's one way of looking at it. joe johns, thanks very much. let's bring in our own richard quest, miles o'brien, former nc peter goelz, and tom fuentes. you've been involved in these

investigations for a long time, peter. does malaysia airlines have to shell out money as part of this investigation? do they have insurance that will pay for this? >> they have insurance that will pay for some of it but they are going to walk away from this as quick as they can. an airline cannot carry a cost of $50 million. >> you've got to couple that with the pressure that the families are putting on and just generally that the aviation industry needs to know if there is a mechanical problem with this aircraft, that's a very important question to get answered so that drives a lot of the costs and the impetus to do it. it m . >> fortunately the u.s. government has options to take care of emergencies like this? >> the countries working on this now is because once the plane is located you're going to have fewer countries involved than the actual recovery and salvage

operation. >> richard, where do you think this investigation stands? you've been covering it from right at the beginning. they heard the pinging going on for two hours from one box, they think another box another 15 minutes. in order to detect those pings you've got to be a mile or two maximum away. even if they are not hearing these pings again, they've got to be relatively close to this area. >> that's the slight unknown. the exact distance and the exact size of the search field, if they never hear another ping again, the amount of data they've already got from the criss-crossing of the two pings that they have, how big is the actual search zone? some say it's 76 square miles. other people say it's just over 100 square miles. all we can really say is what angus houston said last night, that it would take, quote, a long, long time if they have to start searching the ocean bed in that area. to be sure, wolf, it is

certainly a lot smaller than what we were looking at last week. no question about it. but getting one extra ping and being able to triangulate down, to make it smaller and smaller and smaller will be a huge benefit. but my guess is that they are now very much looking at plan b, plan c, and plan d for what happens if they never hear another ping. >> miles, we heard from the new zealand wing commander. he said that they have basically given up on the chinese pings. they are not even searching in that area anymore. in terms of the surface, they are looking to the west of where the pings were detected. that's the area and compared to where the huge search was at the beginning, this is a relatively modest area. >> yes, it is. it's just so extraordinary. not only is this an unprecedented search, it's unprecedented to have the pings and not a shred of debris. they are doing their best with 30 days of time and plus a cyclone thrown in and trying to figure out how the debris may drift and they are about 200 miles west-northwest of the

location where these supposed pings are looking for debris. so far, nothing. >> so far nothing on the surface. you're not surprised that the chinese pings turned out to be a false alarm that we heard about over the weekend? >> no, not in the least, wolf. those were red herring from the beginning. i mean, what is going to happen now is they are going to give the search another five to ten days for the pings. if they don't hear it, then they've got to go into plan b, which is side scanning sonar over at least 100 square miles. >> the unmanned vehicle, sending it down there and then criss-crossing. that could take quite a while even if you're doing five and ten-mile radius? >> it could take a long time and they are going to be facing increasing weather problems in the region as the next few months and weeks go on to where they may have to withdraw all of the ships until they can bring them back. that was the issue in air france. they had to withdraw

periodically. >> richard, i take it at least this is the new zealand wing commander we just spoke with, maybe slightly less optimistic than he was yesterday but they are still pretty cautiously optimistic that the pings they heard were the real thing, not some false alarm and so they think they are onto something serious right now. >> no question. the commander of the seventh fleet we spoke to yesterday was also less optimistic. everybody is a little less optimistic but where they are not shifting their ground is the belief that this was the black box sound that they heard and that is for all of the reasons that you've been talking about, it's in the right place. it made the right noise. it lasted for a length of time. it was a frequency that was acceptable for the purpose of which you're talking about. put all of the factors together and it has to quote them the consistency of a black box emergency beacon so they believe

it's the right place, the right beacon. they've just got to try and get it again. >> they've got to hear that ping if those batteries are still working. i want all of you to stand by. much more coming up. not only are the searchers not able to find traces of debris from flight 370, they can't even be certain of what they should be looking for. and a war of words over russia and ukraine right here at home. wait until you hear senator john mccain and secretary of state john kerry. they go at it. i dbefore i dosearch any projects on my home. i love my contractor, and i am so thankful to angie's list for bringing us together. find out why more than two million members count on angie's list. angie's list -- reviews you can trust.

at your ford dealer think? they think about tires. and what they've been through lately. polar vortexes, road construction, and gaping potholes. so with all that behind you, you might want to make sure you're safe and in control. ford technicians are ready to find the right tires for your vehicle. get up to $120 in mail-in rebates on four select tires when you use the ford service credit card at the big tire event. see what the ford experts think about your tires. at your ford dealer.

[ banker ] sydney needed some financial guidance so she could take her dream to the next level. so we talked about her options. her valuable assets were staying. and selling her car wouldn't fly. we helped sydney manage her debt and prioritize her goals, so she could really turn up the volume on her dreams today...and tomorrow. so let's see what we can do about that... remodel. motorcycle. [ female announcer ] some questions take more than a bank. they take a banker. make a my financial priorities appointment today. because when people talk, great things happen.

much more of our special

coverage of malaysia flight 370 in just a few moments. first, another important story that we're monitoring right now, the growing tensions in ukraine where parliament exploded into chaos following pro-russian uprisings in three major ukrainian cities. meantime, russia is warning any use of force in ukraine's eastern region could trigger a civil war. our foreign affairs reporter elise labott is joining us from the state department. this crisis is fueling outrage, a fierce debate right here in washington. >> reporter: that's right, wolf. secretary of state john kerry was really from the get-go on the defensive on the ukraine but it didn't end there. john kerry came armed with tough words for russia. >> everything that we've seen in the last 48 hours from russian provocators and agents operating in eastern ukraine tells us that they have been sent there to

create chaos. >> reporter: instead of merely agreeing, republican senators used the hearing as a chance to bludgeon the secretary of state on his entire foreign policy. >> my hero ted ree roosevelt used to say talk softly and carry a large stick. what you're doing is talking loudly and carrying a small stick, in fact, a twig. >> reporter: from failing to take military action in syria to not being tough enough in nuclear talks with iran. >> you've been presiding in a time where more u.s. credibility is lost than anyone could have imagined. >> our foreign policy is just spinning out of control. >> those are great talking points. they make for good sound bites on tv nowadays but i have to tell you, senator, that is not true. >> reporter: that didn't stop his friend mccain. >> i think you're about to hit a

trifecta. israeli palestinian talks are, even though you may drag them out for a while, are finished. and i predict to you even though we gave the iranians the right to enrich, that those talks will collapse, too. >> your friend, teddy roosevelt, also said that the credit belongs to the people who are in the arena who are trying to get things done. and we're trying to get something done. >> and, wolf, that's why secretary kerry said these senators can blame him all they want for failures in u.s. foreign policy. he does not care. he said it's worth the effort and the u.s. has a responsibility to lead. wolf? >> all right, elise, thank you. elise labbot at the state department. let's discuss all this. joining us now, cnn's fareed zakaria, also the new republic senior editor who's here in "the situation room." what do you think senator mccain and other members of the foreign

relations committee said the administration, the u.s., has lost all credibility in foreign policy right now? >> i think it's mostly partisan posturing. senator mccain has had a very different foreign policy that he's wanted followed, you know, one would have to judge on the basis of were that foreign policy have been implemented, what would that look like. i would suggest the way you gain credibility in a situation like russia is not to have gone around invading other countries. i mean, the idea if we had only invaded, you know, intervened in syria, we would have more credibility with the russians. i feel like we tried that experiment in the last administration. we invaded iraq, we invaded afghanistan, and putin still invaded georgia and he still annexed. the situations are sufficiently complicated, that if you decide you want to put a partisan spin on them, you can read almost anything the way you want to. i think that this is a tough period we're going through and a

very serious crisis we're confronting with -- in eastern ukraine, and i just wish that the united states were able to speak with one voice rather than using this occasion and this crisis to turn it into yet one more partisan slinging match. >> julia, what do you see as putin's end game here as far as ukraine is concerned? what's he up to? >> i think his ultimate end game is to create a ukraine that never joins nato, that never joins the e.u., that is weak and pliable and, basically, a client state. the question that remains now, putin hasn't decided how he's going to do it. what we see him doing now is keeping all options on the table. he clearly hasn't decided if he was going to invade yet, even though he has these troops amassed on the border. it's not clear if he's going to mess with the elections, presidential elections, that are scheduled in ukraine for may 25th. right now we see him going the route of escalating the street unrest in southern and eastern

ukraine, but he's trying to figure out -- also, he's pursuing the diplomatic route. all of them lead to the same place, which is a weak, decentralized ukraine that he can manipulate. >> you've suggested, fareed, this may be the most significant crisis involving the u.s. and russia since the end of the cold war. are you still buying that? >> absolutely, because since the cold war ended, we have had a set of rules of the road that have allowed for, you know, an unprecedented level of political stability, of the global economy has prospered, you know, the great powers, russia, china, the united states, germany, have all been playing by a certain set of rules of the road, and what russia has been doing over the last few years, but particularly here, is essentially saying, we're going to tear up this order. we are not going to abide by the idea borders are sackry sankt, because what they are trying to

do in eastern ukraine, they are trying to forment inability. the russians have caused lots of contracts, business contracts to be torn up, destroyed, they are disrupting economic activity in ukraine as much as they can, trying to send it into a black hole of economics. now they are politically destabilizing it by getting pro russian forces to declare independence in various cities, even though it appears they have very little support. the idea, i think, is to create a general climate of chaos, then claim the russian army has to go in as a matter of protecting its own borders and russian speakers. you know, this is all stuff from the 1930s. this is stuff that really has not been employed by any major power really since 1945, but certainly since the end of the cold war, so it's a big deal. >> so, julia, do the russians,

specifically putin, do they see the u.s., the e.u., the europeans, nato, as weak, indecisive and that's why he's doing this? >> i think the view inside russia is putin's winning again, that he can do whatever he wants and there's not much the u.s. could do about it. he wanted crimea, five days, boom, it's done. there's nothing we can do about it. nobody's going to go to war with russia. i mean, there's really not all that much we can do, and i think all of this, what fareed said was partisan posturing is right. we can talk a big game in washington, but ultimately at the end of the day, because we're not playing by russia's rules, because russia went back to a different set of rules we're no longer following, there's not much left in our tool kit. >> guys, good discussion, thanks very much. by the way, you can see fareed's show on cnn every sunday, "fareed zakaria gps" sundays only here on cnn.

coming up, air crews are about to take off for another day of searching over the indian ocean. they are narrowing the search area dramatically, but do they know what they are looking for, a lot depends how flight 370 went into the water. we're taking a closer look.

hiwe just love scouring flea markets for special treasures. but with my type 2 diabetes, we now spend all our time at the pharmacy. with med-care, i don't have to! they deliver everything i need right to my door! with free shipping! plus, med-care takes private policies, medicaid, even my medicare! sleep apnea machines, nebulizers, med-care has all the finest medical supplies. the best part...med-care saves us money! med-care allows us the time to do the things we love. med-care. we deliver a better life. (agent) i understand. (dad) we've never sold a house before. (agent) i'll walk you guys through every step. (dad) so if we sell, do you think we can swing it? (agent) i have the numbers right here

and based on the comps that i've found, the timing is perfect. ...there's a lot of buyers for a house like yours. (dad) that's good to know. (mom) i'm so excited. happening now, our special coverage of the mystery of flight 370, the scramble to hear new underwater pings, growing more urgent by the hour. officials are desperately hoping the batteries on the plane's black boxes aren't dead yet. we have new audio and video of the most promising lead so far. we'll also tracking the sea and air hunt for the wreckage. why no one is seeing any debris a full month after the plane vanished. plus, cake, candles, and tears. a missing passenger's grieving family remembers his birthday without him. we want to welcome