>> end of the road. ♪ this visit, though, comes as anger toward malaysia rises over the search for ma 370. the search inside the sunken ferry off south korea is you the latest.

snoou. a warm welcome to on you viewers in the u.s. and around the world. air force one just touched down in kuala lumpur moments ago. he's in the asian region during a particularly painful time for so many people. we'll stay on these live pictures and wait for the u.s. president to depart. we expect that to happen in moments. but this has been a busy trip for the u.s. president. overshadowed somewhat by a number of transportation tragedies in different asian countries on friday, in south korea mr. obama offered condolences for the sinking of the sea ferry there. he pointed out he has two daughters the same age of many of the school children on that vessel. in malaysia the anger and

anguish continue for so many families. president obama arriving in the country right now, seven weeks after the disappearance of malaysia airline flight 370. 239 people aboard that boeing 777. as we said, not a trace of wreckage has been found. the u.s. president told malaysian newspaper, in fact, his country is committed to helping in the search efforts, of course. the fbi has helped in its investigation and so has the ntsb. a few factors at play overshadowing somewhat the u.s. president's four-nation asian tour for strengthening economic tice with u.s. allies there. we're waiting for the u.s. president to depart air force one. we understand if things stick to schedule, in about 20 minutes there will be a welcoming ceremony for the u.s. president

at parliament square in kuala lumpur. let's bring in will ripley in kuala lumpur covering this part of the u.s. president's tour. will, the u.s. president, of course, arriving at a time when malaysia has been distracted, completely inundated with the search for the airline and lack of results. >> reporter: you're right. this is a very significant visit. especially for malaysia, considering president barack obama is the first sitting president of the united states to visit this country in 40 years, since lyndon johnson. he truly will be getting a rock star welcome, as soon as he gets off air force one, you'll go to the arrival ceremony where he'll be joined by the prime minister and many other dignitaries. in addition to the celebration, there is that cloud hanging over

this event, and that is mh 370, yet unsolved and the crisis the goth has taken a considerable amount of heat. you have president obama here to talk up the united states' revived relationship with malaysia, in the sense they're trying to become better trading partners, continuing to cooperate in the area of counterterrorism. you have the president visiting malaysia to show united states believes this is a moderate partner capable of partnering with the united states, prosperous for years to come. and then the government taking so much heat over how it handled the initial days of this crisis. it certainly complicates the visit. >> if you're just joining us, we're watching live as u.s. president arrives in kuala lumpur asia ahead of an official visit. we're seeing some of the pomp

and circumstance. our will ripley is live in kuala lumpur watching all of this with us. one thing to note as we watch the u.s. president to arrive is that the prime minister did speak with cnn with richard quest. he didn't seem to feel he had to make a choice between alying economic alley with the u.s. or china. he seemed to feel he could strike a balance with both, shortly as soon as president obama arrives there, he'll be seeking a special status with the country at least. >> reporter: sure. you heard him say during that cnn interview that the prime minister was dancing, to which the prime minister replied, i'm not dancing, i don't have to make a choice. it is an interesting situation for malaysia to be in when you have powerful countries, china, malays malaysia's largest trading partner, and u.s., the largest

investor, neither wanting the other tomorrow brace malaysia with open arms. that's why this historic visit by president obama is happening. the president wants to send a message the united states is interested in growing this trade relationship, which is critical for malaysia, critical for the united states. malaysia's relationship with china is also extremely important. the malaysian government has to be extremely careful how they do it, whether you call it dancing, good politics, there's much at stake here. >> there is no larger sign of strengths and ties than a sitting u.s. president taking that air force one there plane to visit. you're seeing u.s. president barack obama making history as first u.s. president to visit malaysia in almost five decades. stepping down onto the tarmac and shaking hands with officials, steps away from the

so-called beast, the fortified and reinforced black limousine that transports the u.s. president when he is overseas. will ripley is in kuala lumpur. one interesting aspect of this this visit, too, will, is that the u.s. president will be appointing one of his top diplomats, susan rice, and allowing her to meet with several members of the opposition in malaysia. what kind of message is being sent with that? >> reporter: very significant message. it says a lot about the state of malaysian politics. last year was the closest the opposition has been to take control of this country, the b.n. party, since they declared independence from britain nearly 60 years ago. you have a party in power, the establishment, and another party moving upwards.

the fact he's sending his highest level security adviser, susan rice, to meet with opposition leaders sends a clear message that, a, united states wants to invest in aisha, they want to build relationships with all signs of the spectrum, that they hope to grow for years to come. >> the u.s. president departed air force one, in his special vehicle would it to kuala lumpur ahead of a special welcome ceremony we expect to take place within the next hour. will ripley is there. he'll join us as soon as we see that ceremony get under way. you saw it here live, president obama has arrived in malaysia for an official visit. as we wait for the official welcoming ceremony, let's bring you more on flight mh 370. some relatives of chinese passengers on bothered are venting frustration once again.

they couldn't get a meeting with malaysia's ambassador so they tried to take their concerns directly to him. you see about 100 chanting protesters who gathered outside the embassy in beijing after a day-long protest they left without meeting the ambassador. angry family members insist the government is withholding key information. malaysian prime minister says his government will release a preliminary report on the missing airliner next week. it's now been 50 days since the plane vanished without a trace. the initial underwater search as well near the location of a detected ping signal is approaching its own end. the unmanned vehicle scanning the bottom of the indian ocean has found no signs of wreckage so far. we will have more on mh 370 ahead this hour, including a look at those emergency beacons aboard the missing flight that never sent out distress signals.

we'll bring that up. they suspended the search efforts for sunken ferry in south korea. authorities say 187 bodies have been recovered so far. divers found the bodies of 48 school girls still wearing life vests in one of the ship's cabins. authorities say those vests made have made it more difficult for the girls to escape because of the way the ship listed and tilted and then how it positioned itself under water. right now 115 people remain missing. meantime prosecutors say all crew members involved in this disaster are now in custody. four more people were detained today. meaning that at least 15 crew members now have been arrested so far, that includes the ferry's captain. our nic robertson is live in south korea with search efforts there. as diverers go under water

they're getting a sense for where bodies are located inside the vessel. what are they figuring out based on that, about how this ship possibly went under water? what are the positioning of the bodies telling investigators? >> reporter: we had heard all along people on board were told where to stay for a long time. what appears to have happened is many of the students at least seemed to have gathered together. this group of 48, mostly girls, were all gathered in a room only large enough for about 30 people which gives you an indication they were clustering together, afraid, not sure what to do. divers believe there is another room that may hold another 50 young students in it. so, it does appear that in this period of uncertainty, some of them were clustering together. and not apparently able to follow direction, if any was given or not given direction,

when to get out in a timely fashion. the divers are finding a lot of debris on their way. at the moment, they say that the currents under water are too strong. they're on a four-hour period of suspension at the moment which could end in the next couple of minutes. we contacted their control room a few minutes ago. they told us they're not sure. they really have to see what the tides and currents are doing. the currents became too strong a few hours ago. that's why the dive operation was suspended. there is heavy weather coming in, a storm coming in. that's why you see a lot of fishing boats behind me in the harbor. it's not normally this full. they've come in to get out of the bad weather. so, this sort of surge, if you will, the swell out at sea, is going to have an impact on this operation. for now, there is no diving. for the families of those more than 100 people still missing, this is a very, very frustrating and worrying time for many of them here. they are still at the harbor site, still waiting, still

hoping. >> yeah, hopefully conditions will improve at least in the short term so divers can get back in the water and finish that important task of recover the remaining missing. as clashes heat up in ukrai ukraine, world leaders move to impose new sanctions on russia. coming up, we'll bring you a live report from eastern ukraine. stay with us here on cnn. jooushgsz if it doesn't work fast... you're on to the next thing. clinically proven neutrogena® rapid wrinkle repair. it targets fine lines and wrinkles with the fastest retinol formula available. you'll see younger looking skin in just one week. one week? this one's a keeper. rapid wrinkle repair. and for dark spots rapid tone repair. from neutrogena®.

. . the worsening crisis in ukraine. leaders of g-7 nations say additional sanctions against russia will be imposed. a senior obama administration official tells cnn that new u.s. sanctions could come as early as monday. we're told new western sanctions could be on individuals, not on president vladimir putin himself. what's happening in eastern

ukraine? let's bring in arwa damon joining us from the east part of the country. one thing i'm wondering, with all of the deadly clashes we've seen there over the past week and diplomatic threats of sanctions, can you see any signs of pro russian forces backing off or backing down whatsoever? >> reporter: not at this stage. the government in kiev saying it has relaunched what its calling second phase of anti-terrorism operations. still, there's been no significant military movement we've been able to see. but if the ukrainian military should decide to advance on these various pro-russian positions, while they say that they are ready. this is the command and control center of the pro-russian revolt. cnn was given rare access behind the barricades of the security services building.

on condition we don't show any faces. just as kiev announced the second phase of its so-called anti-terrorism operation. these self-defense units, as they take results, are digging in. this is one of the vehicles captured from the ukrainian military around a week ago. those that are inside the security services or sbu building. they are absolutely confident they can repel any sort of attack. a former military man turned spokesman says they have 2,000 fighters at the ready and plenty of weapons. it's war trophies. ukrainian army gave them to us, he says. in 90% of the cases it was voluntary. they are communicating and coordinating with pro-russian groups in other cities and towns. he says they have developed several layers of defenses. which was tested on thursday

when ukrainian military approached their barricade on the outskirts of the city. the barricades are set on fire, which then warns the mobile groups that the enemy is approaching, he explains. they seemed to work. the ukrainian military withdrew. confidence seems to be growing among pro-russian militants. smoke drifts into the sky. a helicopter was fired on and destroyed, says ukrainian defense ministry. others say it was an accident. ukrainian soldiers guarding the perimeter looked edgy as they argued with curious locals. this isn't what they're trained to do, nor is it a conflict they want. for now, the pro-russian group seemed assured that what they have, they will hold. just to give you an idea of how chaotic the situation here is, yet a military verification team

under an osce mandate made up of eight you're yans and five ukrainians went missing. it turned out they were detained by pro-russian rebels. they still remain in their custody with one of these self-declared leaders saying they were nato spies. russia calling for their release. it gives you just the beginning of a glimpse of how lawless the situation here potentially could become. >> and also revealing that chasm between what the pro-russian supporters say is taking place in that country and what european supporters say is occurring. thank you, arwa. cnn is covering all angles of this ukrainian crisis. in about half an hour we'll show you how russia's ruble is feeling the pinch.

analysts say it will get worse. that stay tuned for that important story. also ahead from pope to saint. we'll have a look at miracles that lifted pope john paul ii to sainthood. 's where you email, shop, even bank. but are you too comfortable? these days crime can happen in a few keystrokes. american express can help protect you with intelligent security that learns your spending patterns, and can alert you to an unusual charge instantly. so you can be a member of a more secure world. this is what membership is. this is what membership does.

welcome back to cnn. on sunday the catholic church will elevate popes john paul ii and xiii to sainthood. it will draw over a million pilgrims to st. peter's square. let's bring in our correspondent to rome for a look ahead what we're looking forward to on sunday. pope francis is unlike any of his predecessors. this past year he's been calling nuns. he called a woman in argentina married to a divorced man saying she can go to communion, an

apparent contradiction to catholicism. he appears to sake things up and taking a more personal touch. >> reporter: yeah, that's right. in fact, the canonization is an example of that because the pope himself is the one who wanted to include john xiii. there is three women in particular who helped make this day possible because they are the women who received the miracles through the ent intercession. the path to sainthood involves numerous steps. the final and most daunting is the verification of two miracles that must be attributed to the candidate after they die. traditionally the canonization process doesn't begin until five years after the candidate's death. but john paul ii changed the

lives of so many people around the world that the process began just weeks after his passing. the latest involved a nun, her prayer to john paul and her unexplained and immediate recovery thereafter from parkinson's disease that provided the miracle needed. pope john paul ii had suffered from the same degenerative disease. they declared it an official miracle in 2011. the second miracle was reported by a costa rican woman who says she was partially paralyzed because of a brain injury. she was told she had just days to live. she prayed to john paul ii from a small shrine dedicated to him. >> translator: that's when i heard the voice in my bedroom say, get up. it surprised me and i looked around the roornlgs my god, i'm alone. i heard something say, get up. it repeated to me, get up. do not be afraid. >> reporter: doctors found no

trace of an aneurysm in her brain and had no explanation for her recovery. from that day to today i'm standing because pope john paul ii that day took away my fears, the agony and gave me a peace. the peace that gave me the certainty i was healthy. >> reporter: pope xxii's canonization, his one healing was an italian nun. a she was not expected to live after the removal of a tumor in her stomach but she made an instant recovery after other nuns placed a statue of pope john on her stomach. >> translator: you ripped this miracle out of my heart. after that sister katherine stood up and said, i'm healed. i'm healed. >> reporter: the vatican said it

was a miracle, leading to pope john paul xxii's. millions will come together to honor two pontiffs who have left an indelible mark on catholicism. these are just the official miracles approved by the vatican but the priest in charge of john paul ii's cause told me he received thousands of miracle stories and you can bet some of those people will be here tomorrow to celebrate their favorite saint. >> they'll all be so excited. we should let our viewers know you and i will be here tomorrow at this time as all of this takes place and unfolds. but one thing i'm curious of is what we can expect to see. pope francis appears very comfortable being accessible to masses of people. kids have jumped up on stage with him during ceremonies

before. what can we expect to see tomorrow? >> reporter: well, this is a very formal, solemn vatican occasion. we're going to see the litany of saints, that beautiful procession they do with the chanting, lots of incense. most of it is in latin. so, what we'll be looking for, of course, is if pope francis, as he's done often in the past, yes, he follows that formal ceremony, but he also likes to add his own personal touch. so, we'll see if he has a chance to do that tomorrow. these are two men very important to him. >> delia gallagher there in rome. thank you very much. we'll see you this time tomorrow and reminder to viewers with live coverage of this canonization ceremony as john paul ii and xxii start to sainthood. all of it right here on cnn.

so many young lives lost in the south korean ferry disaster. the impact on that country has been profound. we'll take a closer look at that next. [ male announcer ] every day, your mouth is building up layer upon layer of bacteria, so destroy these layers with listerine®. its unique formula penetrates these layers deeper than any other mouthwash. for a cleaner, healthier mouth, #1 dentist recommended listerine®. power to your mouth™.

you're in the cnn news room. a warm welcome to viewers in the u.s. and around the world. here are the top stories on cnn. we begin with live pictures out of kuala lumpur malaysia as u.s.

president barack obama arrives there on the third stop of his asia tour. we're waiting for the u.s. president to arrive at this welcoming ceremony. air force one arrived about 30 minutes ago. the u.s. president is due at this ceremony there in parliament square any moment on this visit he plans to reach out to young people. he's holding a town hall, in fact, meeting with youth reps from 100 nations. meantime, the white house says g-7 nations will meet. new sanctions are due to rising tensions in ukraine and placed on individuals and businesses, not on president vladimir putin himself. unfortunately, no signs of malaysia flight 370 as blue twin begins its 14th mission deep into the indian ocean. 95% of the ten-kilometer search has been scoured.

they say the underwater search will move north if no contacts of interest are made. bad weather temporarily suspended operations on that sunken south korean ferry. divers found 48 school girls in one can still wearing their life vests. for those who lost loved ones, the grieving process has only just begun. as our paula hancocks is about to show you, it's spread across the entire nation. >> reporter: a silent prayer for those lost at sea. hundreds gather in the south korean capital to say sorry to those of the disaster. to say sorry, they couldn't save them. yellow ribbons, a tie to the gates of the school. more than 300 of the passengers were students here. many of them now dead or missing. hearses carry remains of

victims, one final visit to the school before their funerals. past a shrine at the entrance, many signs say, sorry, we were not there when you needed us. this is not just a country in mourning, it's a country overwhelmed with guilt, guilt that children were left to die. this man has no connection to the school but came to pay his respects. >> i'm a father of two kids. i just fear that i'm sorry about because i can't do nothing, nothing to this family, so i just want to come here to say, i'm very sorry. >> probably the entire nation is going through a period of severe depression because of this, you

know, heavy volt like shock upon our psyche. and people cannot easily overcome this. >> reporter: tens of thousands of text messages are being shown at this temporarily memorial near the school. just one way south koreans are voicing their sorrow. for those who lost their children beneath the waves, the pain is raw and unbearable. for those watching the tragedy unfold, emotions spill over. paula hancocks, cnn, south korea. we turn to the other transportation disaster we've been covering for you now, as the bluefin drone on the floor of the ocean. em families are demanding why the beacons never sent out distress signals. brian todd explains why they may not have have been activated. >> reporter: it's one of the most baffling questions in an

already confounding mystery. why didn't any emergency beacons send a distress signals? they're called elts and officials say there were four of them on the plane. >> the emergency low indicator transmitter is a small radio transmitter that sends a signal detected by satellites in the event of an airplane crash. >> reporter: signals sent by elt on to satellites are relaid by monitoring stations on ground. it's not related to the pinger from the black boyes boxes containing the voice recorders. they are to ping, circumstances which could have played out with flight 370. experts say there are other possible scenarios with the missing plane where the elts would not have worked. >> if the plane crashes with too much velocity into the surface so that the entire plane is disintegrated. also, if the plane lands gently enough, for instance in the case

of captain sullenberger, the plane set down gently enough there wasn't sufficient g-force to activate the elts. >> reporter: other reasons they wouldn't have worked, a crash could have broken the elts' antennas. also there's a time lag after an impact. >> even after it hits the water, it has to stay afloat for more than 50 seconds or they won't sound either. >> reporter: so, even two elts placed near the plane's life rafts and triggered by contact with saltwater might be useless that's because elts don't work under water. >> once they're submerged the radio signal is no longer able to reach the satellite. >> reporter: could the emergency low indicator transmitters aboard flight 370 been attempted with? experts say the two attached to the fuselage probably wouldn't have been accessible to anybody on board. two near life rafts which are portable could have been tampered with. brian todd, cnn, washington. we'll cross back to kuala

lumpur, where u.s. president barack obama is set to arrive in moments to an elaborate welcoming ceremony there for him. this is the third of four stops on his tour of asia. we'll keep our eyes fixed here, bring you details as soon as they become available and bring you other stories after this short break. stay with cnn.

welcome back, everyone. u.s. president barack obama has arrived in cowl la lump-- cull lumpur to an elaborate celebration. this is taking place in cukuala lumpur.

malaysia says a parliamentary democracy with a constitutional monarch, some of his stops on this agenda include visits with the prime minister, a visit to the national mosque and a town hall meeting with young people. our will ripley is watching this as well from kuala lumpur as u.s. president makes an historic visit. will, what kind of relationship is the u.s. trying to foster here? because as we've seen through the search for mh 370, malaysia is not a government that's used to transparency, let's say. this is still a country that hangs onto its secrets. >> reporter: whiright. and the mh 370 controversy has complicated this visit. this is the symbol of democracy here in malaysia, where they convene to pass legislation. part of the reason president

obama is here in malaysia because he wants to showcase to the world as malaysia as a muslim democratic country. with all of the speculation, all of the criticism against the malaysian government for the handling of the crisis in those initial days and weeks and the lack of transparency, it did raise questions in some circles whether this malaysian government, now standing, the prime minister and the king on the same stage as united states president, its raising questions among some whether this government is ready for prime time, so to speak. >> one thing to keep in mind as we watch this welcoming ceremony of the u.s. president in kuala lumpur, malaysia, there is still -- despite disasters taking place, there is still business to be done, and trade between u.s. and malaysia of goods and services is $43 billion, direct investment from the state, $14 billion. in the backdrop, will, is china,

the other super power closer to the region, which itself enjoys a healthy relationship with malaysia. the u.s., though, trying to get in on that and secure it. >> reporter: yeah, i think president obama trying to send a message that asia-pacific is an area growing in importance to the united states and the world. he's here pushing this trans-pacific partnership which excludes china and indonesia. president obama not necessarily saying china and indonesia wouldn't be welcome into the fold of the trade deal he's pushing and discussing at length with the prime minister here, but china is working on its own trade deal with malaysia that does not include the united states. and even though united states and china are also key allies here, key trading partners, you know, they do a lot of business together, there's certainly friction here. you can't deny the fact that there is definitely a competition between these two extremely powerful, extremely important countries.

and they're competing, in a sense, for malaysia's loyalty. even though they won't go on the record and say that, you just have to look at the policy and look what's happening to see that. >> right. and even the current malaysian prime minister, as he spoke with our richard quest a few days ago said, no, no, no, we don't have to choose between china and the u.s. but certainly it makes it more difficult as this country tries to have a relationship with both powerful economies and countries in the world. what can you tell us as we watch the u.s. president here continue to be welcomed there in kuala lumpur? what can we expect from the rest of his visit in malaysia over the next few days? >> reporter: what we're seeing now, by the way, incidentally is being broadcast live on malaysian television. there are undoubtedly millions of people in this country watching with great interest in a united states president. the first sitting united states president in 48 years to visit malays malaysia, the first since lyndon johnson. this is a very significant time

for malaysia that they've been preparing for for a long time. you see the ceremony. the real work will begin tomorrow when the president and prime minister sit down and begin meeting. not only meeting behind closed doors, they'll have a working lunch, a press conference, and talking about key issues. trade is a major issue. counterterrorism is another major, major issue. the united states and malaysia are trying to grow their partnership when it comes to security, protecting the world from terrorist acts. of course, this is also an opportunity for the united states president obama to express condolences to all of the families and all of those involved in this tragedy of mh 370 and also use it as an opportunity to push forward the agenda of finding solutions, figuring out how to prevent something like this from ever happening again. >> will ripley is talking to us live from kuala lumpur. you're all watching as u.s. president barack obama receives a very formal and traditional

welcoming there by the malaysian government. he is at parliament square. he touched down in air force one just this past hour. now on his third of four stops during his tour of asia. he's also been into -- been to japan and south korea. south korea suffering their own transportation tragedy with the ferry. malaysia, the loss of mh 370 has certainly been felt. next, he'll head to the philippines to round out his tour of asia. we'll continue to keep our eyes there on kuala lumpur and bring you any interesting bits of information out from this trip as they become available. the u.s. president now in kuala lumpur. now, the g-7 says the worsening crisis in ukraine will mean additional sanctions against russia. a senior obama administration official tells cnn that new u.s. sanctions could come as early as monday. jim bouldin looks at the

economic impact on russia and quite possibly beyond. >> reporter: the russian economy is already feeling the pinch from its tense standoff with ukraine. the russian central bank said friday, inflation this year will likely overshoot its 5% target, so it raised interest rates for the second time in two months. the ruble continues to lose value. investors are dumping russian assets. it's becoming more expensive for russia to borrow. the central bank said, quote, uncertainty about the international political situation was hurting production and investment in russia. a sentiment shared by some business leaders who feel moscow failed to capitalize on the winter olympics. >> sochi was a very successful event, but all of that has unraveled as a result of the ukrainian crisis. it is worrying and developments in the last 24, 48 hours have made people increasingly worried. >> reporter: more sanctions to

squeeze the russian economy are imminent. the west has been ramping up economic pressure as president obama explained on friday. >> what we've been trying to do is to continually raise the costs for russia of their actions. while still leaving the possibility of them moving in a different direction. and we've -- you know, we'll continue to keep some arrows in our quiver in the event that we see a further deterioration of the situation over the next several days or weeks. >> reporter: ratings agency s&p added to russia's economic woes by downgrading credit rating saying more downgrades will come with more sanctions. >> that immediately create additional nervous ngs in the investment community and there definitely is a risk for my country's economy. >> reporter: while the tension

may be regional, economists worry the impact could be global, especially if energy prices rise. >> if both sides go forward with sanctions and countersanction, what you'll get is a global recession. if you get a global recession, equity markets will sell off and we've come a long way. and energy prices will go up. >> reporter: the big question, will the threat of all of this in any way affect president putin's next moves? jim bouldin, cnn, london. there's still no word on almost 190 high school girls abducted from their schoolhouse in nigeria more than a week ago. the school says, 230 girls were taken. more than 40 managed to escape. authorities blame the islamist militant group for this mass kidnapping. we spoke with former british envoy, gordon brown.

he says disturbing incidents like this go beyond nigeria. >> we have to look at how we can make schools safer in the future. if young girls and boys can be abducted from schools in nigeria, iraq, syria, we have to do what the united nations has done for other schools. it raises huge questions about the future. the first thing is the safety of these young girls. >> experts say boca that ron also uses female victims as servants or sexual slaves. we'll bring you updated information as nigeria continues to search for those missing girls. prince george's three-week journey is over. coming up for you, a joyful recap of the royal tour. stay with us. every day, people fall. from a simple misstep, to tripping over a rug, to just losing their balance. and not being able to get up from a fall can have

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specifically rough weather in the u.s. meteorologist ivanka brar ra is at the cnn world weather center. >> we're looking at a busy pattern over the next few days across the united states. in fact, i want to start off with this chart here. this is u.s. tornado averages from '91 to 2010, per month average. you see we really spike up in may and june. but even into april we get plenty of activity. so far, not much because one of the ingredients that we need for set veer weather to come together has been missing. that is, the warm air. the united states has been under the influence of very cold air masses here. finally, we're getting in some warm, moist air coming in from the south. cold air certainly is there. and the jet stream will come together for all of this to transpire into a severe weather event that will be ongoing. we'll have it today, heading into tomorrow and even into the early part of next week and progressively, it will be moving towards the eastern coast of the united states.

so, we'll start off with today and focus in on what's going to be going on later this afternoon. this is the area that we're going to be watching here as that low begins to approach from the west, already getting in that warm, moist air getting pumped in from the golf. and midlevels about 5,000 feet up, a jet stream will come in and that will provide plenty of rolling or spinning of the atmosphere, for some even tornados to develop later on today. the bull's eye pushes east as we head through the day on sunday. we'll be watching that closely. and then as we head into monday, still the area, very expansive here from shreveport heading up into st. louis, we lose the probable. nevertheless, still in this pocket here we are likely to see the potential for not only strong thunderstorms but severe storms. 60-mile-an-hour winds plus. the tornadoes as well. very large hail, which will begin today across the midsection from northern texas and then all of this will be expanding further to the east

over the next several days, so that again by monday, into tuesday we'll begin to include places like atlanta. we'll be watching this closely. one of our first significant severe weather events of the 2014 season. >> all right, ivan, thanks very much. the duke and duchess of cambridge has reached the end of their marathon three-week tour of new zealand and australia. our max foster was with them the entire time. >> reporter: he can't even walk yet but prince george's first tentative steps into a lifetime of public duties it seems like such a long time ago but when they arrived in wellington on that horrible, wet, windy day it was a great start to the tour simply because you have the duchess walking down slippery steps in her heels, carrying this huge baby in her arms and trying to stop the wind from blowing her skirt up. it was quite an amazing performance and everyone was very excited to see prince

george because in many ways this was the prince george tour. and it was quite a slow start to the tour. but when we had that play date, known as the royal crawl about now at government house in wellington, that really ramped things up because this was the first of a lifetime of public engagements for prince george. we did wonder what moments would come out of the tour. but we had this sporting rivalry that comes up every so often. the duke versus the duchess, the sailing, for example. it was 2-0 to the duchess. it felt like the whole of auckland had come out -- good picture moments. not much more to them but an interesting part of the tour. when they arrived in australia, another sort of great moment as the duchess came out in that yellow outfit which got everyone talking. >> this is what you call rock star royalty. >> reporter: then the big crowds, the first test of their popularity in australia.

kate has never been to australia before. i wonder if they were trying to place her in the country where she will be queen. you had her in the mountaining, at the zoo with a koala bear. this is a entrance to take in the extraordinary scenery and to reflect and spend time together. quite important moments and some people might see them as cliche but there's a strong message there. prince william has been the star of the show, it's in large part been about his wife and his son. there's been an interesting development, i think, some creeping for malty to his appearances. for example on anzack day, i thought that was a very kingly moment. this sh a future head of state maturing. and i think that's just because there's another generation coming on behind him, prince george. and he's gradually moving towards the throne.

>> so, the royals close the door on this triumphant tour of australia and new zealand. they certainly put republicism on the back burner. max foster, cnn. quick reminder of our top story. u.s. president barack obama is touring asia and arrived in malaysia. this comes as south korean mourn ferry victims and the search continues for mh 370. you can read more on all those stories at cnn.com. and thanks for sharing -- starting your weekend with me here in the cnn news room. for our international viewers we'll have an update of headlines next. for those in the u.s. "new day" is after this break.

new this morning, president obama arrives in malaysia. the first american president to visit in nearly 50 years. it comes 50 dais after flight 370 vanished. vladimir putin, g-7 leaders all agree on tough new sanctions against russia. the question now, what will the u.s. do and is an invasion imminent? a 16-year-old honor student viciously attacked in the hall of a school. w