previously thought. jake? >> jennifer, thank you so much. that's it for "the lead." i'm jake tapper. it was a glorious day in boston. it's been an honor to witness it firsthand. i'll turn you over to wolf blitzer. he's in "the situation room." wolf? jake, thanks very much. happening now, ukraine says these pictures show russian forces operating inside ukraine provoking unrest. has moscow conducted a covert invasion? the bomb maker. is this man the target of an unprecedented target of al qaeda? drones have taken out dozens of militants. and searchers are talking about long-term efforts to find malaysia flight 370. will it include new equipment? i'm wolf blitzer.

you you're in "the situation room." we're following critical developing stories on four couldn't ne continents at this hour. we'll get to malaysia airline flight 370. first, dramatic new details in the escalating ukraine crisis. officials are saying that they have photographic proof, proof they say that russian forces are operating in the eastern part of their country, something russia has denied from the start. all of this as vice president joe biden touched down in kiev earlier today. we'll get straight to our senior international correspondent arwa damon. what are you learning? >> reporter: wolf, ukrainian authorities are greatly concerned that russia is trying to lay the framework for a crimea-like annexation of eastern ukraine and they say

they have growing evidence. these photos obtained by cnn show men in green uniforms, supposedly operating in eastern ukraine. images ukrainian officials say proves organized russian activity in the region. example, this bearded man is said to have been photographed in slovyansk. they are part of compiled by the ukrainian government and endorsed by the u.n. cnn can't confirm the authenticity of the images. some are poor quality. but cnn has been given exclusive access. the ukrainians say the russian involvement in the east is

widespread. they are known as among the men in green. they have appeared in towns like slovyansk. one tour guide came from up crimea. russia's foreign minister scoffed at the accusations, saying that kiev and its patrons, the u.s. and eu are trying to blame their country for everything. >> translator: they are saying that the proof of russian interference is the existence in the conflict area of the great amount of russian weapons. this is hilarious because there are no other weapons. >> reporter: slovyansk's mayor says the explanation is simple. he put out an appeal to his old comrades. so when i called on my friends, practically all who are

ex-military, they came to our rescue from belarus and insisted there are no active duty russian soldiers in the town. there's absolutely no sign of the situation on the ground de-escalating. the security services building was taken over by pro-russian demonstrators. the police chief was seen in videos being led away. >> how tense is the situation in donestk where you are right now? >> reporter: well, it's an interesti interesting scenario, things appear on the surface at the very least to be fairly normal. in fact, even around the buildings under the control of the pro-russian protesters. you see families, you see children. but then when you speak to people, they will tell you that

they are absolutely terrified because they've never been through anything like this before. ukraine has never faced this kind of a crisis since it was established as an independent nation and no one at this stage knows what is going to happen next. wolf? >> arwa damon reporting from donetsk, thank you. joining is tom donlan. thanks for coming in. is this definitive proof that the russians are responsible for the unrest in eastern ukraine right now? >> i don't think there's any question that they have engaged in the destabilization in ukraine and in fact all of the evidence put together really points to a well-organized campaign to destabilize eastern ukraine and he and nato said that it was being directed by russia. >> so when vladimir putin or sergey lavrov -- you've met with

them for five years. >> let's go through the history of this. with respect to crimea, for days and weeks the russians said that they were not a russian military actors and service people. in fact, it was an indigenous uprising and now vladimir putin said that they have participated in their breaking away. this is a covert operation and i think the best way the russians are treating it is a covert operation and it's undeniable. >> so these individuals that went in with masks, they are russian citizens, russian forces, intelligence operatives, whatever you want to call them, they came in there and did what they are doing. there's no doubt, from your perspective, that they are responsible for this? >> i don't think so. there's going to be a mix of actors in the course of this

thing but in terms of the initial actions where you had a coordinated takeover of public buildings in nine or ten cities, very well-coordinated and put together in a very careful and quick way, i don't think there's any doubt that that was done at the russian operatives. i don't think there's any doubt that it's been organized by the russians as part of a destabilizing campaign. >> you know putin. what is his end game here? what does he want? >> in fact what happened here is when putin and yanukovych left the country, he saw a piece of his sphere of influence threatened and tried to get leverage. i think that was by the russians. what i think is going on here is that russia's assessment is that they'd rather have a destabilizing ukraine and play for influence that in some

respects it's separated rather than have a successful stable ukraine. that's the initial -- that's the fundamental assessment, wolf, is that they would rather see destabilization here and prepare to do whatever they have to do to see that happen. >> even if it means a tightening of u.s. and international and economic diplomatic political sanctions which will really bite? >> let's think about that for a second. that's why you see the effort under way here as a multicovert operation with covert players, information warfare, political action as opposed to coming across in a classical sense and taking over territory. that would, of course, ingender the most significant sanctions by europe and the united states and they are trying to accomplish the same thing here and i think we have leverage in the situation with respect to an increase in the costs. >> if the europeans go along.

there are 40,000 russian troops right on the border there, right? >> there are russian troops on the border, right. we are carrying out i think in the west and united states a multidimensional effort which makes a lot of sense. a political effort. that's why vice president biden is there today, tonight it's a very large economic package. vice president biden will talk about that when he is there. we're reassuring our allies and working on increasing the cost. i think that's the achilles heel and the balance that putin is trying to strike here which is not to go so far that he gets maximum sanctions but to try to accomplish his goals. >> does it make sense to provide weapons from the united states to european allies to ukraine? >> i think we should very carefully at providing military assistance for the ukrainian government, whether it's intelligence or other kinds of

support. i think we should look at their request carefully and to do we'll this disorder in eastern ukraine and throughout the country. >> you won't be surprised that a bunch of republicans and others are critical at the country's handling of this crisis. let's listen to what house speaker gingrich told me earlier today. listen to this. >> are we seriously trying to help ukraine or is in fact the pentagon analysis saying to us that it's so penetrated by pro-russian forces that we can't help him? you can't have it both ways? >> ukraine military intelligence service is so penetrated by pro-russian sympathizers or russians themselves that the weapons could wind up in the wrong hands. >> those assessments have to be done but i think the speaker is wrong with respect to the overall assessment of support for ukraine.

there's a very significant strategy here. as i said, political support by the vice president, a very significant economic package and i think we should look at providing military and other kinds of assistance. we're undertaking, as you know, wolf, a lot of reassurance efforts with respect to the nato members on the russian border and we're looking at additional sanctions and i believe we'll get to additional sanctions because i don't think the russians are going to back off. >> and when you say a billion dollars in u.s. aid, that's loan guarantees that the ukrainians can go to the banks and the u.s. will guarantee payment if they default? >> that's right. and the imf has a combination of loan guarantees and grants. >> tom, stand by. there's other stuff we need to discuss. when we come back, just days after cnn first brought you video of an al qaeda affiliate

meeting. and the search for missing malaysia airlines flight 370, what officials are calling a critical juncture with the bluefin sub. what happens next? we have new details ahead as well. when it comes to good nutrition...i'm no expert. that would be my daughter -- hi dad. she's a dietitian. and back when i wasn't eating right, she got me drinking boost. it's got a great taste, and it helps give me the nutrition i was missing. helping me stay more like me. [ female announcer ] boost complete nutritional drink has 26 essential vitamins and minerals, including calcium and vitamin d to support strong bones and 10 grams of protein to help maintain muscle. all with a delicious taste. grandpa! [ female announcer ] stay strong, stay active with boost.

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a large attack is under way just days after cnn showed this

video where they were meeting up in the open for everyone to see. our chief correspondent jim sciutto has got new details. what are you learning, jim? >> the rules of engagement for u.s. drone strikes are very clear, targets have to pose a threat to the u.s. so the extent of these drone strikes combined with this unusually ground operation indicates that they are high targets that they are after and planning some success. two dozen mid-to high ranking militants have been killed. yemeni officials are calling the operation massive and unprecedented, killing at least 65 militants tied to the feared al qaeda affiliate al qaeda in the peninsula. elite yemeni units on the ground backed by drones from the skies. two separate groups targeted senior members of the group. though american officials have refused to comment, the u.s. is

the only company known to operate in yemen. >> sorry i don't have more to share with you about high-rampging groups on the target list, believed to be with them ibrahim christmas day underwear bomb and more recently suspected of refining shoe bombs to get them past airport security. no identity hes of those killed have yet to be confirmed. >> they inspired the boston bombers. the fact that the administration now is going aggressively against these terrorists, i think it's a very positive sign given the prior narrative that al qaeda is on the run and this was all over. >> reporter: the drone strikes come a week after cnn aired this video, showing a large and bold

gathering of aqap in broad daylight near to where the current operations are under way. u.s. intelligence considers the group a direct and growing group. >> this is the one al qaeda affiliate which has time and again been interested, willing, and able to strike the u.s. homeland. drone strikes may disrupt the group's ability to conduct attacks both in yemen and overseas but if you don't control this territory, nor does the u.s., the group will still pose a major, major threat. >> yemen central government is generally weak, faces a real challenge from these group and many analysts i speak to are calling this a good sign and enkournlie encouraging sign that they have the wherewithal to carry out a large operation and it carries with it dangers, including civilian casualties. we know of at least three civilians killed on saturday in

previous strikes. there was one in december that killed 13 at a wedding party. the yemeni government, it's always a strike like this. >> the government seems to be on board with what the u.s. drone strikes are doing. jim sciutto, thanks very much. tom donilon is with us here in "the situation room." do you believe there was a connection between the airing of the videotape, this high-level al qaeda peninsula meeting where cnn showed those pictures and we're airing them again and the decision to launch this drone strike? >> i don't know of a direct connection, although the video that you aired, march 29th video of a large group of al qaeda, including the leader -- >> number two al qaeda leader? >> the leader of aqap and the number two overall leader of the managing director, if you will,

globally, it was a significant event. i think what we're seeing here, wolf, this group, aqap, is the group most closest to al qaeda core and it's the most lethal offshoot, if you will, coming out of al qaeda and as your report said, they've been a source of a number of potential plots and efforts to strike the united states. >> do you know if any high level leaders of al qaeda in the arabian peninsula were killed in this operation? >> i don't know. but what i can tell you is this the most lethal group that is pointed out in your piece here as fighting a civil war, a regional war against the yemeni government and also and including in the video that you aired, they repeated their intent to strike the united states. it's also important, i think, just one second to point out

something that you referenced, wolf, is that we work very closely with the aqap government. >> there's a real coordination. the master bomb maker was -- presumably the u.s. would like to kill him if they could. was he likely in that videotape? >> i can tell you, he's an important threat to the united states a states. >> you were in his situation room, not our situation room and they come to you and say there's 20 or 30 or 50 al qaeda in the arabian peninsula guys who are walking around, we can send in drones and effectively assassinate them. kill them. walk us through how that process goes. he personally has to authorize it. >> i don't want to go through

the deal in detail. what the united states has said publicly, it will act against those groups and the al qaeda core that oppose and continuing imminent threat against the united states and that would include the leadership of this group in yemen. >> so he would authorize it even if there was a possibility some innocent civilians, what they call collateral damage, could be struck in the process, he knows the risks? >> there are very strict rules that have been laid out here and with respect to the death or harm to civilian, it's very high thresholds and it's been articulated with near serp tea that you are not going to harm a noncombatant or civilian in one of these efforts. >> and the president has remained, as far as you know, is determined as ever to continue the drone strikes. i asked peter bergen, our national security analyst here

at cnn, an expert on terrorism, he's called this president obama's war, this drone war, as it is. >> i think without getting into details of these kinds of thing, i think it's fair to say this. the united states remains committed to defending the country, remains committed to degrading and defeating al qaeda and those groups around al qaeda that do harm to the united states, wolf. it has been, from the outset of this administration, and who are authorized by the way to carry out these kinds of operations because we're at war. >> and the president remains as committed to launching these drone strikes today as he was three, four years ago? >> again, i don't want to get into the details of the techniques that are used here. what i can say is that the united states remains committed to doing what it has to do to keep these groups from acting as the united states and in this case you have a group and indeed

in that march 29th video, a group that has said expressly that has the intention and we've seen it have the capability to react against the united states. >> tom donilon, thanks for joining us. coming up, the search for malaysia flight 370 nearing a critical point where officials are about to reset everything. we're going live to australia for the very latest. plus, a stowaway's odyssey. how did he really get from california to hawaii? why the details may not add up. and you're being looking live at south korea. there's cnn's kyung lah who is on the scene of the ferry disaster. she has the latest on the death toll and the several for hundreds still missing. ♪ norfolk southern what's your function? ♪ ♪ hooking up the country helping 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,

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perth, australia, and is following the latest developments. what is the latest, miguel? >> reporter: the latest is that the bluefin is down for its latest dive. we'll get a readout on that dive in about four or five hours as it typically happens. as it goes through the last bit of the promising area, if they can't find it there, they will have to go back to the drawing board and figure out a new plan. new pictures show bluefin-21 on the deck of "ocean shield," the best hope for finding missing malaysia flight 370. it's prepped for another dive. the vessel has searched t two-thirds of the most promising area around where the best ping was picked up on april 8th. >> i expected that i was going to get a lot of questions on flight 370. >> reporter: outgoing deborah hersman, flight 370, front

acenter. >> certainly if we find those recorders, we'll have a better chance of finding out what happened. >> reporter: the best lead rests on the ability of blue fine 21 and the location deciphered from satellite data where the plane went down and on four weak pings, just as the batteries in the black boxes were dying. >> my name is felicia. i'm a chief stewardess. >> reporter: this is as american airlines releases videos on youtube. the staffers forbidden to speak with media, it's an effort for the embattled airline company to get its side on the record. >> i can't understand what these families are experiencing now. >> reporter: families of those onboard received a briefing from

officials. >> she believes that my daughter is still alive. now, u.s. navy spokesperson saying that there are now ongoing discussions between the u.s. and stakeholders here in australia talking about the way forward if it is not found in this current round of searching, then they will have to go back and figure out how they go forward in the next several months. that could mean bringing on more auvs, more resources in order to look for that airliner. wolf? >> miguel marquez reporting live from perth, thanks. richard quest is now live in kuala lumpur. tom fuentes and peter goelz and joe johns, just back from kuala lumpur himself.

peter, they are two-thirds of the way through this relatively modest search for the bluefin-21. let's say in the next few days, two or three days it should be wrapped up. they come up with nothing. no piece of wreckage, no black box, nothing. what do they do then? >> they go back to the drawing boards to see if their initial calculations identifying this area were correct and secondly they start to reach out for different equipment. probably a towed array that will help them monitor and look at the ocean floor over great distances. >> we heard a navy spokesperson say a while ago that they are beginning to think of new strategies, new plans through july if they come up with nothing right now. >> additionally that part of the ocean has turned out to be deeper than they first thought and the bluefin is at the limit that it can go down. so they are going to need equipment that can give them

more depth to go deeper. >> let's go to kuala lumpur. richard quest is on the scene for us. what's the latest for you from your point, richard? what are they saying? >>. >> reporter: over here they are looking at it from two prongs. on the one hand, they continue to support the search environment in perth but, also, malaysia airlines and the malaysian government are looking at what the families are asking and the families' questions, wolf, fall into three categories. it's all about the emergency locator beacons. they want to know more details about frequencies and the sordid assets and the inmarsat search area, why there is such credibility and confidence in those inmarsat details and finally they are now asking about the rights of the next of kin because the right -- the next of kin, wolf, have certain rights under the various treaties to be given certain

certifiable information and here in malaysia the next of kin are saying, are they being given all of the information to which they are entitled. >> richard, hold on. joe johns, you're here back in washington. just spent several days over there in kuala lumpur. you spoke with family members, with officials over there. are they likely to given as to some of these very technical questions that the families are seeking answers to? >> it's been my experience that that's hard to do because they don't have all of the answers. the families have been asking a number of tough questions throughout. i mean, my first days on the ground there the families were asking tough questions. the government is not used to scrutiny and they don't like it. they are defensive, quite frankly, because people are saying you haven't done a good job with this investigation. they think they have done a good job, despite what the families

are asking, and they are also concerned about their image in the world. >> peter, there's a lot of folks now who are saying the whole search right now is focusing on this relatively small area based on the pings that came from one of the so-called black boxes which are really orange, as we all know by now. a six-minute, a five-minute ping and plus the inmarsat hand shakes, if you will, showing where the plane could have gone. but what if one of those assumptions prove out to be faulty, the pings weren't really pings, the happened handshakes weren't really handshakes? >> well, if there's nothing in this area, they have to go back and retrace the arc and they've got to look at every inch from where the arc begins and where they thought it ended. >> assuming that arc is accurate, though. >> and they need to go back. >> that means the inmarsat

satellite was working with the pings, handshakes, whatever you want to call them. >> and i think a new ping is needed to look at the inmarsat data and to see that it's accurate. if it's not sharing it more fully with outsiders, that could be a problem. >> richard quest will weigh in. what do you think about that, richard? >> i think he's right in the sense that you don't find what you are -- where you are looking at the moem, you hament, you ha back to square one. first of all, all of the pings and inmarsat handshakes and you are working your way up the arc towards the last known position which, of course, was when the primary radar from the malaysians lost contact at 2:22. but i don't think you're going to get any disagrement or argument from those people involved because these men and women are both into technology and science and will recognize

that if what they have done so far has failed to yield results, then there really is only one other thing. you go back to your first and last verified fact and you work forward again. one point to note tonight, malaysia is sending a group of technical experts to beijing. there was an extremely acrimonious meeting between the families and the authorities and the airline in beijing. the families say their technical questions are not being answered. malaysia is sending technical experts in an attempt to answer those questions. >> joe, you flew malaysia airlines when you were there. what was it like? >> the security is what stood out for me. i flew from amsterdam to kuala lumpur. it was very unlike the video that we saw with people breezing through with a cursory patdown.

they went through the bags and i got the most complete pat-down i've ever gotten in an airport. sort of reminiscent of what happened in this country after 9/11. on the plane, we're used in this country to airlines overselling the flights and the seats. there were a lot of empty seats. that's one of the things that malaysia airlines are concerned about. they are concerned about tourism and the problems because of this plane disappearing. >> i want you all to stand by. we'll have much more coming up. we're also going live to south korea for the very latest on efforts to find hundreds of people still missing in that ferry disaster. cnn's kyung lah is there on the scene of the search. plus, a stowaway mystery. an incredible claim about how this teenager flew from california to hawaii. why relocating manufacturingpany to upstate new york? i tell people it's for the climate. the conditions in new york state are great for business. new york is ranked #2 in the nation for new private sector job creation.

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at least 87 bodies have now been recovered from the south korean ferry that sank but more than 237 people are still missing. wrenching scenes are being played out as the victims are being brought to shore. kyung lah is in the water where the search is taking place. kyung, tell us what you're seeing and what you're hearing. >> reporter: where we are is in a boat floating outside of the exclusion zone. this is where all of the military, all of the private divers are he had hadding in to see if they can find anyone alive or to pull bodies out of the sunken ferry. take a look behind me. the various military vessels you

can see and you're looking at cranes that will eventually be brought in to try to lift this vessel. but look further in and i know it's difficult to see but you see all of those small ships out there, those are smaller ships. they are packed with divers. we saw them zoom right past us. those divers are going into this frigid, yellow sea, they are using guidelines to go in, several pathways. there are now ten path ways into this vessel so they can do this difficult work of going cabin to cabin, each hallway and try to find anybody. so far, wolf, we have not been able to see anybody pulled out alive. there have not been any survivors since that very first day. this is extraordinarily difficult work. the divers told us that if you put your hand in front of your face, you can't see anything between your palm and your face. it's extremely difficult. it's extremely hard emotionally because a lot of times, wolf,

they are pulling out bodies of 15, 16, 17-year-old children. so if i could give you one other thing. if you look at that crane right there, you see how large that is? it needs to be that large because we're dealing with a 6,000-ton vessel. there are several of those cranes positioned around it. that will be the next phase of recovery. it will be extraordinarily difficult to try to lift this vessel. we still do not know as of yet whether or not this investigation will lead to the knowledge of it tipping over because of cargo or because of some sort of human error by the crew. wolf? >> and the notion that there might be an air pocket still on that sunken ferry, do the experts you're talking to believe that is still possible, that there may be some survivors inside? >> reporter: well, what the divers are telling us is that

they are operating under the belief that there has to be an air pocket. but when you talk to these men and women, what they will tell you is we believe there's an air pocket but it's almost as if they are trying to convince themselves. everyone here knows that the chances are extraordinarily slim but there are miracle cases that have happened before and that's what they are gunning for because we're talking about such a young population of victims. wolf? >> kyung lah, thank you. kyung will be back in our next hour on this really heartbreaking story. just ahead, a teenage stowaway of a story that does not add up. plus, what is being called a massive attack on an al qaeda affiliate. we'll talk about it with congressman peter king. what's your function? ♪ ♪ hooking up the country helping business run ♪ ♪ trains! they haul everything, safely and on time. ♪ tracks! they connect the factories built along the lines.

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a teenage stow away is in the center of a story that defies belief. how exactly did he get from california to hawaii? cnn's brian todd is investigating an incredible claim. brian, tell us what you're learning. >> the historical and scientific odds against his young man were stacked obviously not in his favor. if he were to fall into a tight, dangerous space, he would have flown five hours at altitudes of 3,800 feet and had other obstacles. the ground crew noticed him wandering the tarmac in maui disoriented. fbi special agent tom simon says this 16-year-old play claimed to have ridden to maui in the wheel well from san jose, california.

the airport spokeswoman in san jose says -- >> he's a very lucky boy today. >> reporter: officials reviewed surveillance video and see the teenager was seen hopping the fence at the san jose airport and walking across the tarmac toward the hawaii airlines plane. we went into the wheel well of a 707, smaller than the 767's wheel bay. a security expert was able to show u house he could have wedged in. >> in the wheel well, the center -- >> the setup we have here, 707, this area here is probably the best location for him at this time because that is where the space between the wheels would later on be positioned. and that ensures it would be slightly enough space for him to survive and then he can improve his position once in. >> reporter: experts say if he did successfully stow away, it's almost miraculous.

the wheel wells of passenger jets aren't heated or measu pressurized. the cold air could have killed him. >> at that height, you've got temperatures of around minus 45 to minus 55 degrees c. to put that into perspective, skin freezes almost instan tan yously. >> reporter: a loss of oxygen could have killed him unless his metabolism slowed enough not to need as much oxygen. the boy took advantage of a gap in the system. >> right now, not protecting the perimeter well enough to prevent an incident like this one. >> the airport spokeswoman says that security exceeds requirements and has an excellent track record. the tsa is assisting in the investigation. this young man would have beat. long odds in pulling this off indeed he did this.

since 1947, 109 people have attempted to fly inside the wheel wells of plane. >> the 16-year-old, where is he now? >> custody of child protective services in hawaii. the fbi says he ran away from home early sunday morning and made his way to the airport. >> somehow he got from san jose to maui. a lot of people are doubtful he was actually -- there is a lot of doubt surviving at 35,000 feet without oxygen, 40 degrees below zero. how likely he could have survived that. >> unlikely. the odds are against him. they're investigating all this. >> todd, thanks very much for that. coming up, we have new details about what might happen next in the search for malaysia flight 370. we're going live to australia with new information. russian forces operating inside ukraine. we're going to talk about it

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about everything that comes standard with our base auto policy. and if you switch, you could save up to $423. liberty mutual insurance -- responsibility. what's your policy? happening now, a critical moment in the search for flight 370. the bluefin-21 is scanning the ocean floor day and night and the coming hours could lead to a dramatic shift in the operation. a massive attack targeting members of the feared al qaeda affilia affiliate. were the deadly strikes prompted by this brazen video of the terror group first revealed here in the "situation room "? ukrainian initials now say they have direct evidence that russian troops are trying to provoke a dangerous conflict and sharing that evidence with cnn. we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the word. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room."

this hour, the air search for flight 370 is expected to resume even while hurricane-like storms are in the area right now. we're tracking the weather beneath the water. the bluefin-21 is on its ninth mission to try to find any trace of the missing plane. expected to finish scanning the current search area within the week. search leaders are weighing options right now. they'll have critical decision to make very soon. we'll have a live update from australia in a moment. cnn's miguel marquez is standing by. we have our taeam of experts in "the situation room" following every new development. let's get the latest from our justice correspondent pamela brown. >> the area offering the best hope for finding malaysia airlines flight 370 isn't turning up wreckage so far. that forcing investigators to reconsider their approach. the bluefin-21 back under water

today for its ninth mission. the area investigators are pinning their best hopes on is almost searched with less than a third still to go. it's a roughly six-mile radius search zone considered the most promising because pings possibly from the black boxes were detected near there as well as a final satellite handshake with the plane. if nothing is found soon, the australians said they'll re-evaluate if they're using the right tools, made the right calculations and are searching the right area. >> consider bringing in other underwater search equipment. if nothing is found in the next few days. >> reporter: that's because in the next few days, this targeted area is expected to be completely covered by the bluefin. last week, investigators announced the surface search would be over by now. despite a tropical cyclone like a hurricane north of the search area and no sign of debris, it continues. planes and ships scanned more than 19,000 square miles today. u.s. chief accident investigator

says lessons are being learned in the search for the missing plane. >> water recoveries are notoriously difficult and expensive and time consuming. we continue to work on better recorder technology and better information coming from aircraft. >> reporter: meanwhile, a technical briefing scheduled for passengers' families didn't happen today. instead, families lashed out at a malaysian diplomat. >> we don't know at this point whether they're alive or dead. if you haven't given us any direct proof of where they actually are. >> reporter: investigators have few answers for families, but warrant this search could go on for a long time. >> at the outset, before we had the pings there's an assumption this could take months and it was taking months in an environment where which we were prepared to take months.

>> and the effects of that tropic tropical cyclone can be pelt in the search area. it may impact the ship above the water, the ocean shield, but the bluefin, itself, works well under the water. the big issue is put it down in the weather, bringing it back up when there's bad weather. >> stand by for a moment. i want to go live to the staging area. cnn's miguel marquez is joining us from perth, australia, with the very latest. what are you learning, miguel? >> reporter: we know if nothing is found in the next couple days, as they work their way through this most promising area of the search zone, then they are going to basically reconfigure the search. go back to the drawing board, figure out if there's another area they can put bluefin-21 down into it. at the same time, all the parties in this situation, 26 countries looking at how they can move forward if it takes a much longer time to search this area.

remember, this one area was arrived at because of that second ping from april 8th that was the strongest, cleare esestg they had. the others were of poorer quality and they were based on that, once the pings went away, they they had no more ability to triangulate the exact location of the plane. they're looking at now looking atthy one area where the second ping came from where they believe the most likely location of the second ping came from. if they can't find it now, they'll have to go back to the map drawing board, figure if it's something else to do or look for a longer term plan rg months out, possibly multiple auvs searching hundred if not thousands of scare miles of ocean bottom. >> we're told the weather is going to get much, much worse where the search is under way. hurricane-like conditions. a cyclone. cyclone jack as it's called. give us a little sense of how bad the weather can be.

>> yeah, they're saying there's going to be heavy showers out there and the swells will get going. that will cause problems for ocean shield. certainly when the auv comes up to the top, the bluefin-21 and getting it connected to the ship and on to the ship, itself. as for the visual search, that will have the biggest effect on the visual search because the low cloud cover or white caps in the swells don't make their job easier. they may put that off for a day or two until the storm goes by. keep in mind, the visual search is already very difficult given it's been so many days since this airliner went down in this area. wolf? >> miguel marquez in perth for us. thank you. let's bring in our panel, justice correspondent pamela brown with us along with aviation analyst miles o'brien and peter goelz. the aerial search going on for six weeks plus now, is it a waste? >> i think it's time to end it. the crew are getting tired.

planes are getting worn out. with a new probable storm coming in, time to shut it down. >> miles, agree? >> let's not forget this is dangerous work. god forbid something bad happens in this search. i think it's time to rethink that. given the fact there's more uncertainty, the date to which they've deciding where to search, really they're searching in the ocean randomly. >> what are you hearing from investigators? should they be devoting more efforts underwater, what's going on under water, limited space and basely abandoning a bigger aerial search? >> given we're a week in and there hasn't been wreckage found, investigator are taking a step back and re-evaluating their approach, looking at their strategy, what tools they're using and whether they should be focusing on the specific area where the second ping is. they could retrace the ark, work

outwards or bring in other equipment. >> the bluefun-21 was supposed to be state of the art. >> why not more? why not smore? i keep coming up with this idea, this effort, whether in the air, under the sea, on the surface, could use a little more assets. once they've identified the pings, you can have more than one blue fin in sector, if you will, or other towed devices with sonar capability. time is short. it's time to bring our resources in. >> you agree, underwater resources, forget the aerial sources? >> we need more towed resources. the bluefin has worked as advertised, done its job. one of the things that's happened, the ocean is deeper than we thought. it's gone down. extended the maximum dive depth. that may not be enough. >> there's some speculation,

pamela, hire more private contractors. if they find nothing, this is going to drag on and on and on. >> we could see a new phase in the search effort. we have a private contractor with phoenix international with the towed pinger locator as well as the bluefin. there is talk among investigators and stakeholder in the search to bring in other private contractors like we saw with air france. we could be seeing that with the new equipment we've been talking about. >> at what point do they issue death certificates for those on board? >> i don't want to second guess this kind of thing, but it seem to me looking at the torment of those families, they need some closure. they need to start moving on with their lives. i mean, that's a difficult one. >> because you've worked with family in these kinds of investigations. i suspect the malaysian government were to say they're all dead, we have no evidence of them, we have no wreckage, no location, we don't have anything, but we believe -- the families are not going to believe that.

they're still going to believe they're still alive. >> the issue of the death certificate may be too controversial. the reality is the families deserve additional financial compensation to carry them through. they've gotten a $5,000 check. i think they ought to receive the amount listed under the mont rielle convention, take it from there and get it right away. >> all right, guys, thanks very much. we're going to continue to follow this story. we'll have more coming up later. richard quest in kuala lumpur. other news, dozens of militant are dead in yemen after a massive, unprecedented raid. the operation comes less than a week after cnn first reported on these new videos from a group -- videos that show high-value targets who may, repeat, may have been killed. chief national security correspondent is joining us. jim, what are you hearing about the sigh and scale of this attack? >> based on the way the yemenese are describing it, it's a scope

we isn't seen before. elite ground forces over several days from the yemeni side confirming in e% results of some of the attacks but also get into gunfight with some of these al qaeda militants. the yemenese, 65 militants killed, 25 of them they're describing as mid and high ranking. i'm toldly u.s. officials you wouldn't have this investment in resources by the yemenis and u.s. as well if you didn't have high-value targets involved. there's no confirmation at this point that any of the very high targets have been killed. one of the targets was believed to be this bomb maker for al qaeda in the arabian peninsula, behind the christmas underwear bomb, for instance, and shoe bombing to get them past airport security that led to a warning a couple months ago.

he's believed to be on that list. certainly no information yet he was killed. certainly a tremendous scale of forces being allocated here. the yemenese claiming some marked success. >> they work closely with the u.s. on this operation. the u.s. drone strikes, those missiles went in. yemeni ground forces were part of it as well. here's the question. this attack, most recent attack, this drone attack linked to the release of the al qaeda video that surfaced last week? >> officials won't make that connection. the timing is certainly interest. it's certainly true the yemeni government after this bold public showing of force in effect by al qaeda in the arabian peninsula was under pressure. you could argue the u.s. was under pressure as well to show strength and response to this. it's possible some intelligence value was gleaned from this video you're seeing, particularly about the location of where these people, where these leaders were meeting. we do know this. a lot of these operations over

the last 48 to 72 hours were in that province you're seeing there with the meeting took place. it's possible some intelligence value was gleaned from it. i think for a raid of this scale, you would need more. the u.s. would need more. the yemenis would need more. before a strike can take place, it has to be known the targets are a direct threat to the u.s. they can't just be tied to militant group. they have to be a direct threat to the u.s. it's a very high standard. >> i spoke in the last hour to the president obama's former national security adviser. he makes it clear this president is not slowing down at all in determination to use drone strikes if necessary to go after targets who have targeted the united states. and the president personally, i assume, has to sign off on these kinds of strikes. >>s. >> this level, i think as well. i'm hearing from a number of folks who watch yemen closely is a sign of strength from the

yemenise government. it's under risk from the group so it takes risks when it carries out operations like this. i think many terror analysts, watchers were encouraged by the scale of the operation and shows a commitment from the government there have been questions about before. >> jim reporting for us. dramatic video and dramatic u.s.-led drone strike against target in yemen. let's go to ukraine right now. new photos may show russia's hand in stirring up the unrest in the eastern part of ukraine. deadly violence threatens that fragile so-called peace agreement. senior international correspondent arwa damon joining us live now from eastern ukraine with the very latest. tell our viewer what's going on where you are? >> reporter: wolf, ukrainian officials are greatly concerned russia is laying down the framework to annex eastern ukraine, the same way it did in crimea and say they have mounting evidence.

>> arwa, let's talk a little bit about that evidence because there were new pictures released and the pictures show apparently russian troops dressed in camouflage actually in eastern ukraine leading some of these operations going after these ukrainian government facilities. these buildings in eastern ukraine. the yukrainians are saying, the u.s. backs them up, this proves putin and other western officials are lying when they say russia was not responsible for at least part of this. >> reporter: right. and the yukrainians say in thes pictures they release that are part of a -- they have photographs of a man they say were taken in eastern ukraine. they also have photos dating back to 2008 allegedly of this

man that were taken in georgia. you ukrainian officials gave us access to other evidence they have. they showed us a man being arrested, in that same room ukrainian officials said they found explosives, found and showed us his military i.d. when it comes to the ukrainian perspective, there's no doubt in their minds russia, moscow is directly involved in what's happening in the eastern part of the country. some people we're talking to, we're hearing them have russian acce accents. one individual saying, yes, he did come from crimea. that being said, there's no evidence we've seen on the ground of anyone being under direct orders from the kremlin. that being said, though, wolf, the self-proclaimed mayor, for example, he had what he believed to be a fairly rational explanation for all this and says, look, i'm a former

military man, myself, and when all this happened i put out a call to all of my friends. they all have military experience. former military men, themselves. they came to respond to rescue us. they were from russia and other part of the region as well, wolf. >> arwa damon in eastern crew yan for us, where it's an extremely tense situation. more on the story coming up later this hour. chemical weapons, meanwhile, may have once again been used by the syrian regime stirring up memories of the obama administration's so-called red line last fall. syria's civil war marks a grim three-year anniversary. warning to our viewers, some of the video you're about to see may be disturbing. our foreign affairs reporter is in "the situation room" watching this part of the story. >> even as weapons inspenters are in syria trying to get rid of syria's chemical we. s stockpile, the u.s. and allies believed the regime continues to use poisonous gas on the battlefield. question is, are they going to do anything about it?

a poison gas attack on a syrian village on april 11th. infants gasp for breath behind oxygen masks at this makeshift hospital. other men suffocating and foaming at the mouth appearing to have ingested a toxic chemical. at least two killed. dozens more wounded. the symbol for chlorine painted on this used in the air attack in this opposition video. the video could not be verified by cnn but the u.s. says it's suspicious. >> we have indications of the use of a toxic industrial chemical, probably chlorine, in syria this month. we're examining allegations that the government was responsible. >> reporter: u.s. officials and western diplomats tell cnn they have indications assad's forces launched the strike and several others in the past several months. the regime, they say, has both the chemicals and means to deliver them by air while the

opposition does not. the regime says the gas was used but blame the attack on the rebel group which has links to al qaeda. these pictures of the aftermath of a chemical weapons attack at the hands of the regime shocked the world until the u.s. threatened military action. >> what message will we send if a dictator can gas hundreds of children to death in plain sight and pay no price? >> reporter: president obama back pedaled in favor of an agreement to eliminate syria's chemical weapons stockpile. chlorine isn't as deadly as the sarin gas used last year, its use as a weapon of war is against international law and poses a dilemma for the u.s. as it struggles to rid syria of its chemical weapons and deal with the war in which it has lost control. the obama administration said it needs definitive proof before deciding how to respond. >> we take all allegations of the use of chemicals in combat use very seriously. we're working to determine what

has happened. >> now, chlorine technically isn't one of the chemicals syria is required to give up under u.n. security council resolutions but it's against the chemical weapons convention which syria is a party two. it's a catch 22 for the u.s., wolf, because they want to get rid of the worst chemicals and don't want to end syrian cooperation because they've seen some progress. the other thing is, the question becomes, wolf, if the u.s. says poisonous gas was used as a weapon of war, the question becomes, what are they going to do about it? a real debate going on now throughout the administration on how to respond. >> truly is. thanks very much. just ahead, a potential drone strike in yemen. possible chemical weapons attack in syria and the unrest in ukraine. we're going to discuss it all. house homeland security committee, peter king, is joining us live. his actions are being described as, quote, akin to

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crossfire won't be seen so we can bring you coverage of flight 370 and other urgent stories we're following in "the situation room." from the major raid on al qaeda in yemen. there are new threats from around the world. let's discuss some of those threats. peter king, congressman from new york, joining us, member of the house homeland security committee as well as the intelligence committee. congressman, thanks very much for joining us. >> thank you, wolf. >> do you have any doubt that russian troops, russian

paramilitary forces, russian intelligence operatives, were directly responsible for the up rest in eastern ukraine? >> wolf, i have no doubt at all. based on our own estimates and nato commander, based on people on the ground, based on journalists and what happen in crimea, i have no doubt at all putin an the russians are behind this. their concert eed effort to tak as much as eastern ukraine as they can either by diplomatic pressure or if they have to, ultimately using troops claiming they're going in to protect the russians in eastern ukraine. >> what should the u.s. do about it? >> there's no easy answer, wolf. let's go forward to the future. up, we should make this more a priority. we should make it absolutely clear we're going to all we can do increase the exporting of liquified natural gas, work with

ally to lessen their reliance. go after sanctions. clear to investors around the world this is not something we're going to give putin the exit ramp. we're in this for the long haul. we need a conservative economic policy to keep russia from expanding. we should be having military maneuver with night toe countries in eastern europe, poland, czech republic, hungary, lithuania, to make it clear we're in this. many ways, to is to me like 1946, churchill and truman realized there was not a new, but soviet government that we could not work with. i think we have to right now let putin know we put him in that category and take whatever economic and diplomatic actions necessary and provide the military hardware and training

to our nato allies. >> ben rhodes, the president's deputy national security adviser told jake tapper earlier today that leasing military equipment from u.s. to ukraine is not a good idea, said it could escalate the situation. do you support the u.s. providing lethal military equipment, weapons in effect, to ukrai ukraine? >> i would be skeptical right now only because what happened last week. i don't know how much the russians have infiltrated ukraine. i don't know how much it has been infiltrated by the russians. estonia, lithuania, czech republic, any of the countries along the perimeter of ukraine and russia. >> those countries you mentioned are nato allies. ukraine is not a nato ally. >> listen, if i thought it would work, i'd say, we should give

them the military hardware. my only concern now is how much control ukrainian government has over its military. last week when the ukrainian army went in with their tanks, they surrendered in a matter of minute and turned them over. that's my concerns who in ukraine is with us and who's with the russians? >> talk about the drone strikes. based on what you know, you a member of the intelligence committee, house homeland security committee. did they work? were they successful? >> if these report are true, if they are accurate, i say the president is doing the right thing. to me, last year actually slowed down on our use of drones. sometimes the president seems apologetic about using them.

al c al qaeda in the arabian peninsula have the most capacity, like the leading bomb maker in the terrorist world. they're the one who have made it their goal to attack the u.s. and attack u.s. interests. so whatever we can do to decimate the al qaeda leadership in yemen, al qaeda in the arabian peninsula leadership, to weaken them, that's a very strong step in the right direction. so i hope these reports are true and i hope we have gotten as many of them as possible. >> we're showing our viewers some video, that brazen video that al qaeda in the arabian peninsula militants posted it themselves. it was pretty high definition resolution. they were pretty proud. their faces were seen. it looked like this was almost like a recruiting video for future terrorists. you saw the video, didn't you, congressman? >> i did. it had the number two man, number one man in al qaeda in

the arabian peninsula was there. that was very brazen putting it out. really showed defiance. whether or not there's a connection between that video and these attacks, we'll have to wait and see. there wasn't a sort of slowing down in our use of drones over the last year. based on published reports. i think the president, sometimes, again, he's apologetic and some cases set too many restrictions on the use of drone. if this attack was carried out, it was definitely the right thing. >> peter king, house homeland security committee. thanks very much, congressman, for joining us. let's take a deeper look, national security analyst peter bergen. you have no doubt that the release of the video today, first seen here in "the situation room" and this drone strike by the u.s. while cooperating with yemeni forces on the ground that there was a connection? >> every yemeni official i've

spoken with, wolf, in the past three days say there was a direct correlation because the yem yemeni and u.s. governments who have vigorously gone after al qaeda in the araiarabian penins. basically thumbing their nose at the u.s. and yemenis. because of that the yemenis and u.s. have to strike hard and fast and make a point this will not be tolerated. the fact is, we don't yet know how-valued targets in the organization has been killed and the real work is going to be determining through dna testing whether or not they were able too get this core leadership in this organization. >> if there was a high-valued target, master bomb maker, someone along those lines, peter, i assume al qaeda in the arabian peninsula, themselves, would release some kind of statement mourning his death, let's say. >> think about when bin laden was killed. al qaeda, itself, released a

statements mourning saying he was a martyr. typically they'll release a statement if one of their leaders was killed fairly quickly. >> why would they do a brazen video, knowing it would anger the government, the u.s., that they'd join together and take this kind of action? >> people do stupid things. it seemed like a good idea probably at the time trying to show we're still in business. despite the drone attacks have been -- more than 90 drone attacks. maybe, you know, this is to show we're still in business. >> the yemeni government, itself, in a statement they released said it was an interesting statement. you read it as did i. it said there were innocents killed in the u.s. drone strikes, three civilians. the question is, how much damage did that cause the u.s. and yemeni government when civilians are killed? >> huge amount of damage. in the attack you talking about

now, wolf, that was saturday. they announced ten militants had been killed in the drone strikes. >> well, that's an unacceptable percentage when it comes to yemenis and yemenis by in large are upset that so many innocent civilians are killed because of collateral damage. this is also something that becomes quite dangerous for the yemeni government that it used as a recruit ing tool. right now, they're in a situation where they're desperate. the economy is faltering. need much help from the international community and want to make sure they're a good partner with the u.s. >> like the criticism, the latest drone strikes shows president obama has no inclination to back away from the use of drones with these. just ahead, new arrests in a deadly ferry disaster. cnn is bringing you closer to the scene of the desperate search operation. stand by for that.

and discussions are now under way for the next phase of the flight 370 investigation. our own richard quest, he is now on the ground in kua lla lumpur malaysia. (vo) oh. my. tongue. finally. (announcer) all-new friskies saucesations. a taste experience like no other. in cheesy, creamy, homestyle, or garden sauce. friskies. feed the senses.

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right now, we're taking you closer than ever to the scene of a deadly ferry disaster and the difficult search through the wreckage. the death toll is now up to 87. more than 200 people are missing. many of them teenagers. on a boat near the ship wreck off the coast of south korea. she's joining us now with the very latest. >> reporter: wolf, up of the ships just outside of the exclusion zone. i want to give you a slow look at the horizon. take a look as my cameraman,

scott, takes a look all the way across. see the number of ships involved in this. as we take you a little closer, what we're looking at there, that is where the search is going on right now. divers have a number of lines that they've made into the inside of hull. they've got. into the cafeteria their where most of the students are. this is difficult, challenging, and it is also a painful search. a grim, heartbreaking discovery in the search of the ferry in south korea. more than two dozen boat bodie found monday. south korea's president had harsh words for the captain and crew members. >> translator: the actions of the captain and some of the crew are absolutely unacceptable. unforgivable actions that are akin to murder.

>> reporter: the ship's kapcapt and two other are in custody. monday prosecutors announced four more arrests. the captain was officially charged are five contract activities includie ining aband ship. he was also charged with failing to slow down while scaling the narrow route and making a turn excessively. but the arrests bring no comfort to parents. many now attending their children's funerals. more details emerged over the weekend when authorities released a raid you transcript showing the chaos and confusion aboard the floundering ship. a crew member tells traffic center, quote, please notify the coast guard. our ship is in danger, rolling right now. one advises getting people into life vests, the crew member replies it's, quote, hard for people to move. another traffic service center asks, are the passengers able to escape? a crew member replies, the ship

listed too much so it's impossible. the transcript resealed, quote, the captain should make the decision to have people escape since he had an understanding of the situation. captain lee said he did not initially order an evacuation because the water was too cold and the currents too swift to safely jump ship. what you're looking at live back here on the yellow sat at the search site of this ferry disaster, that's a crane. extraordinarily large crane. we saw it close up just a few seconds ago. that crane is eventually going to be brought in to try to help lift the 6,000-ton ferry off of the floor out of the water. it is a difficult process. what's happening now, though, before that does happen, wolf, they're trying to get to all of the people who are inside. it is difficult work. this water is cold. there are a lot of waves and it

is very challenging. wolf? >> i deed. it is. thank you so much. just ahead, cnn's richard quest, he's now in kuala lumpur, malaysia. there he is standing by live. he's asking tough questions about the flight 370 investigation. we'll talk to richard right after this. so there i was again, explaining my moderate to severe chronic plaque psoriasis to another new stylist. it was a total embarrassment. and not the kind of attention i wanted. so i had a serious talk with my dermatologist about my treatment options. this time, she prescribed humira-adalimumab. humira helps to clear the surface of my skin by actually working inside my body. in clinical trials, most adults with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis saw 75% skin clearance.

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we're learning more about the long-term planning underway right now in the flight 370 investigation. cnn's richard quest is now on the ground in the malaysian capital on kuala lumpur joining us live. what are malaysians saying to you? do they think they're looking at the right place? >> reporter: they're looking at the place where they have the best information. goes back to the inmarsat handshake and correlates almost identically to where the australians heard the pings in the south indian ocean. so if you look at it from a purely circumstantial point of view, wolf, yes, they are in the right place and it's a matter of time and effort before they found the necessary proof of that. the briefings that i've been having here, the people i've, talking to say there is an extremely high level of confidence and credibility in that inmarsat data.

when you say, why don't they make it all public, why don't they, you know, haven't they released more about it? there isn't much more they add to it other than to say the necessary experts have looked at it. have reviewed it. and here's what's interesting, wolf. that there is a cullmialty. whether the ntsb, aaiv, inmarsat, the local official. they all agree on that which they are seeing and where they believe the plane's remains are. >> let me play a clip for you, richard, the father of one of the passengers on the plane speaking in chinese through a translator. listen to this emotional clip. >> we don't know at this point whether they're alive or dead. you haven't given us any direct proof of whether they actually

are. >> very heartbreaking, obviously. what are the malaysian authorities doing to deal with the heartbreak of thesefamilies now six weeks-plus into this investigation? >> the families' argument, or at least some of them, are essentially this, since there's no wreckage and since there's no proof, there is still the possibility of their loved ones being alive. and from the malaysian authorities and, indeed, the australians and everybody who touched this story, that is the difficult dance that they have to deal with, because on the one hand they have to acknowledge and provide the information when they request it, things like the credibility of the inmarsat data, why didn't the emergency locator transmitters go off? what do we know about search and rescue? and then on the other side, those families that are now

asking about interim payments, death certificates, i can tell you in the last day or so, insurance companies in malaysia have now made it clear that they will start to entertain insurance claims, even though no bodies or no wreckage has been found. and what it demonstrates, wolf, is the significance of finding wreckage for certainty, but also how to move the process forward without seeming to be insensitive and delicate or downright wrong as they do so. >> richard quest on the scene for us now in kuala lumpur. we're going to check back with you tomorrow, richard. thank you very much for your excellent, excellent reporting. just ahead, running fast and moving on, boston holds its first marathon since the bombings. we're going to check in with a survivor we've been following. how is she cooping one year later?

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one year after the boston marathon bombings, 36,000 runners raced across the city today to take back the finish line. it was another triumph over terror and honor of the victims and the survivors, including one woman cnn has been following all year. poppy harlow is in boston now with her story. it really is an amazing story, poppy. tell us all about it. >> reporter: well, it has been an honor to get to know her, wolf, and to watch heather abbott walk is amazing in and of itself, but to watch heather abbott run tall and hard on her prosthetic leg shows us all, i think, how much good really does triumph over evil.

that is courage. >> i feel great. it was so nice to cross that finish line. >> reporter: heather abbott running in the tribute race only a year after the marathon bombing mangled her lower left leg and stole her ability to walk on her own. marathon monday, what does it mean to you now? >> it's sort of a celebration, i think, for me of all that i've been able to accomplish this year and a time to start new memories. >> reporter: this is a day she refused to miss. even running the last half mile of the marathon with the woman who helped save her. as abbott walked into the forum restaurant last year, one of the bombs exploded. she never made it inside. this year she's bravely back. when we visited abbott in november, she showed us her four prosthetic legs. >> this is my water proof leg. i wear this one in the shower.

>> reporter: this one for running, another for flats, and another for high heels. how does it feel to put those high heels on? >> it feels great. it's just a part of my life that i didn't have to give up. >> reporter: she was fortunate to get human-looking prosthetics matched to her skin tone down to the freckles and creases on the heels. >> reporter: what's that meant to you? >> when i meet people that don't know me, i don't want them to focus on my leg. if it doesn't look real, they are going to. >> reporter: despite abbott's strengths, there are still very painful moments. >> there are some downtimes that have been a little bit lonely or made me have to stop and think about what happened and my loss. >> reporter: as for the alleged bombers, she refuses to think about them. >> i don't want to give them time. i don't want to give them an identity in my mind. >> reporter: are you angry? >> i'm not angry, and i don't know if that's just an emotion

that i have yet to feel or if i will never feel it. >> reporter: and just like boston strong, heather strong. heather strong, indeed. what a day here, wolf, watching her do that. and not only has she accomplished all of this, at the same time she has gotten officially certified to be a peer counselor for other amputees to help them just the way so many people helped her. she's also fighting for other people to be able to get those human-looking prosthetics, something that she says helped her so significantly in her recovery. i have a sense this is just the beginning for heather abbott, an amazing woman who's been generous enough to share her time and her story with us. >> thank you so much for sharing it, poppy. what a wonderful story, indeed. thank heather from all of us. thanks to poppy harlow for that report from boston. remember, you can always follow

us on twitter, certainly tweet the show @cnnsitroom. be sure to join us tomorrow in "the situation room." you can watch us live, dvr the show so you won't miss a minute. that's it. thanks very much for watching. i'm wolf blitzer in "the situation room." "erin burnett outfront" starts right now. next, a tropical storm hitting the search area for missing malaysian airlines flight 370. also the bluefin-21's drone to surface. did it find the plane? and how did a 16-year-old boy survive a five-hour flight from california to hawaii in the plane's landing gear? we're going to show you how he did it. and breaking news on the south korean ferry disaster. the company that owns the ferry issuing a new statement tonight. we are live at the search scene. let's go "outfront."