conclave it was said that pope francis was a runner-up in the concave that elected benedict xvi and it said that had he been elected he would have chosen the name john. so aside from the fact that it's interesting to figure out what changed his mind but that shows you that i think he's got great admiration for john xxiii. that's part of the reason why he agreed to do this double canonization. >> wow. also very fascinating. thank you so much. of course, there's much more just a few hours aof way. from rome. watch the ceremony as it happens live beginning at 4:00 a.m. tomorrow morning on cnn. welcome again, everyone, to the "cnn newsroom." the next hour beginning right now. i'm fredericka whitfield. here are the top stories i'm following. a violent string of tornadoes and thunderstorms is moving right across the middle of the country. right now it comes on the heels of another storm that already caused damage and injuries. millions are at risk this weekend.

historic day in the making as pope francis gets ready to elevate not just one but two popes into sainthood. how that canonization will be different than any other coming up. and president obama visits a country tormented by a missing plane but russia is becoming a major distraction for the president. what the president is saying about all of it. let's begin in washington. president obama is out of town on his four-country tour of asia. but the crisis in ukraine is moving very quickly. and we're learning new details about what the u.s. and other countries plan to do next. erin mcpike is at the white house even though the president is traveling. so, erin, what is the latest on the u.s. response to the situation where ukraine and russia? it continues to bubble. >> basically it's simply more

sanctions. although we haven't seen a deterrent effect yet as we've been talking about today we did see a russian aircraft enter ukrainian airspace overnight. the state department is insi insisting that it's working. i want to play for you something that jen psake said yesterday. >> we are seeing an impact. we've seen even president putin admit this week that there is an impact on the russian economy from the steps we've taken. >> and the united states has been trying to convince european leaders that they do need to ratchet up sanctions. they appeared to have succeeded in that effort. we saw a statement earlier in the g-7 when they basically said they are committing to intensifying sanctions. we know that european leaders will be meeting on monday to iron out what that may look like and we may see new sanctions as early as monday. on top of that we just heard from the state department within the last hour that u.s. secretary of state john kerry spoke to his counterpart, russian foreign minister sergei

lavrov, earlier today. i want to give you a small reetout of that call. he called on russia to publicly support ukraine's efforts rather than denigrate them. he expressed continued concern that russia's provocative troop movements on russia's border, its support for separatists and its inflammatory rhetoric are undermining stability, security, and unity in ukraine. we may see more sanctions as early as monday. >> thank you so much, lots on the plate of the white house and the president even though the president is in over seas in asia right now in malaysia and extending his condolences to those who are impacted by the missing plane. thanks so much, at the white house, erin mcpike. here in the u.s., 20 million people could be impacted this weekend by an outbreak of possible deadly tornadoes and storms. let's go straight to meteorologist jennifer grey in a cnn severe weather center. we're really just seeing the

beginning of what could be a pretty dangerous season? >> yeah, this is going to be a multi-day event. we had a quiet severe weather season up until now. so this is going to be the most significant event we've seen so far this season. it is getting a late start but that duns mean anything in the way of healthier the storms can be. this is a saturday, sunday, monday and possibly, fred, even into tuesday event for the east coast. we'll start with saturday. and today, that's where we're going see the storms begin to fire up. right now on the radar not so much. we have showers out in the rockies. but we're going to be zeroing in on this area here right from the texas pan hanle all of the way up to nebraska as we go through the late evening hours into the overnight hours. and severe threat will shift a little bit more eastward as we go forward in time. so we're going to track this for you. here we go through sunday. you can see the low lifting up to the north. the showers and storms starting to bubble up across the mississippi river valley. this is by tomorrow night. those will move to the east by monday. we have very warm moist air in

place that's pulling in from the gulf of mexico. we have warm dry air from the west. colder air coming in from the north. the upper level support all of theagreedenients are in place for this event. here's your slight risk for today. goes from the texas panhandle all of the way up to the northern plains. that threat will shift to the mississippi river valley tomorrow and, fred, we're going to have to watch arklatex area on into arkansas because we could see the threat of very large tornadoes, also very large hail and damaging winds. >> oh, boy, all right. good warning. keep us posted. the battle lines are drawn in indianapolis. that's where the nra is holding its annual convention. 70,000 supporters of the second amendment are ready to take on its newest adversary, billionaire michael bloomberg and his new antigun organization. alexander field is live for us in new york with more details on this brewing pr battle. >> brewing pr battle and a brewing political battle,

because when it comes to guns the emotions run high. this is a three-day rally around gun rights, prominent republicans are lining up to take the podium and take the opportunity to unfurl fierce criticism at efforts to enact stricter gun control policies. the talk geared toward pushing voters to defend their gun-owning rights at the polls. >> look, we're all outraged and heartbroken at recent incidents in which so many innocent people have lost their lives. but public policy must always be guided by common sense, by embracing what works and reje rejecting what does not, making it harder for law abiding americans to defend themselves has not, does not, and will not prevent future tragedies such as these. >> now, these folks on the left, they are audacious but i'll share a secret with you, they're also gutless. they refuse to admit their real

agenda. the truth is that michael bloomberg, eric holder, some many of president obama's liberal backers in hollywood do not believe in the second amendment at all. >> and you just heard louisiana governor bobby jindal name former new york mayor bloomberg. bloomberg recently announced he's bankrolling a new gun control effort this weekend. the nra unveiled its response. >> you know, bloomberg vowed to spend $50 million to beat us in november. he said he would do everything he could with all of his 50 million to confront and defeat the nra. well, here's our response. >> michael bloomberg says he has $50 million to attack my gun rights. well, i have $25 to protect them. >> i've got $25. >> i've got $25, too. >> he's one guy with millions.

we're millions with our 25 bucks. >> $25, that's the cost to be starter nra membership and you can see here, fred, the nra is getting ready to go head to head with bloomberg's group, every town for gun safety. the organization was set up to counter the influence that the nra has. fred? >> this is, or is it not, the first time the nra has faced such a well funded opposition campaign, especially led by one person, in this case, michael bloomberg. so is it prepared for this long expensive media battle because it does have the attention of many, michael bloomberg, that is. >> yeah, this is a question that a lot of people have been asking, fred. when bloomberg came out and announced a new organization in the new plan, everyone looked to the nra for response. it took time. they said, wait, we're going to let you mow when we have our annual meeting and you saw them come out. they had the meeting. you can see the first thing they did was release that video trying to recruit more members and, again, trying to bring in more dollars. not to underestimate the nra

here in any capacity. we know that they are a vast organization with millions of members. they've got a sophisticated lobbying arm. of indicated campaign techniques here. and a lot of money behind them just like bloomberg's organization. we will see these two organizations meeting go head to head and a lot of money behind both of them. fred? >> he also has a whole television network, among other things. it's going to be quite the face-off. a new law in georgia allows guns in bars, churches, and schools as long as there is a permit. but it's also causing tons of controversy in the south. gun rights advocate says the new law gives them added protections. the critics indica s call it re. >> reporter: fred, the new law gives georgia gun license holders added protection so long as they pass background checks and are in good stan we standing with the law. >> while we still guard against tyranny america today cherishes

this right so that people who follow the rules can protect themselves and their families from those who don't follow the rules. >> reporter: surrounded by the applause of hundreds of supposed forrers georgia's governor nathan deal signed a gun bill into law this week. the bill passed the state and senate by over whelming support. starting july 1st, the number of places law abiding georgians can carry weapons without penalty will expand. place like the airport, as it stands right now if you try to bring your firearm through a tsa checkpoint you likely would be arrested. under the new law you can do that, your firearm will likely be taken away from you but given back and you won't face criminal prosecution. the law will allow georgians to carry guns into bars and chur churches so long as the establishment hasn't banned them. >> i don't have any of church that plans to opt into this law. >> reporter: the pastor at

ebeneezer baptist says most georgians had no idea about the gun bill until it was signed into law. dr. martin luther king preached at the shirt and his mother was shot and killed there in 1974. >> i shutter to think what that day would have been like, the kind of mayhem that we would have seen had everyone been strapped that day with a gun. >> the lobby group that pushed through the safe carry protection act believes the new law will make the state a safer place. >> the violence is in the prn, not in the gun. and until you figure out how to treat the violence, then you're going to have that. and taking all the guns off the street is not going to make anybody any safer. >> all right. thanks to our nick valencia reporting on that. up next, the nevada rancher who has caused an uproar over his comments about african-americans responds to his critics. and if cellphones from flight 370 were retrieved, would the data survive and ultimately provide some answers?

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politically incorrect perhaps but racist? no. at least that's what a controversial nevada rancher turned conservative folk hero is saying about his recent comments about african-americans. cliven bundy is still under intense scrutiny for his latest controversy you jesuggesting bl might have been better off under slavery. cnn's dan simon has the latest from nevada. >> reporter: fredericka, he may have last sean hannity but he still has core supporters, 150 of them showed up for a barbecue last night. today there's not going to be any news conferences p we're told mr. bundy back at his ranch and has taken his phone off the hook. he still has not apologized for what he said.

he said he's sorry that people may have been offended but stands by the original message. >> the issue of racial issue yesterday and it got sort of bad. probably one of the worst racial people on the whole earth. but i never did believe that. i believe that the people that did listen to me knew better. i think the media knew better. i hope that i didn't offend anybody. if i did, i ask for their forgiveness. >> reporter: despite these highly inflammatory remarks the tension was at the highest a couple of weeks ago when the federal government began seizing mr. bundy's cattle because he hadn't paid his grazing fees. when that occurred youmimi lish shah groups come from across the country. the government backed down, put the cattle back. that's where we are today. they say they will pursue mr. bundy through other means. fredericka? >> thank you, dan simon. catholics around the world

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catholics around world are prepare for historic event tomorrow. for the first time ever, the church are canonize two popes on the same day and they're pulling out all the stops online to bring young believers in on the experience. here's jonathan mann. >> reporter: thousands of catholics will crowd st. peter's square for sunday's canonization ceremony. millions more around the world will see it on tv. and for the first time for such an event the vatican is reaching out online, making the event available through a dedicated website, twopopesaints.org.

also a facebook page, twitter feed, instagram account, and a youtube channel. all of them available in english, spanish, french, i tallian, and polish. church officials say they're making an unprecedented effort to reach out to a younger audience. >> translator: we believe apart from the traditional media and the tv. we should also reach out to young people. and we need to reach out to them using the language that youth today use. also seeing that these two pope saints were very youthful in their way of communication. >> reporter: helps by the popularity of the new pope, the vatican has slowly expanded the social media presence with millions of new followers flocking to pope francis on twitter and facebook. tourists in st. peter's square say it's a move in the right direction. >> i think it's definitely a veries positive thing for a church to be interacting a lot better with modern communications. >> and the younger people, i think, will get more involved.

>> younger people will get involved, exactly. >> we will miss the canonization but are looking forward to seeing it on the internet and upon the television because it brings the catholic church closer to everyone. >> reporter: so even catholics who can't be there in person will find the canonization is just a click away. jonathan mann, cnn. and you of course can watch this ceremony live beginning at 4:00 a.m. eastern time tomorrow on cnn. all right. a new drone, one that can dive even deeper. could join the search for that missing malaysia airliner. we'll tell you about it. disturbing the pantry. ortho crime files. a house, under siege. say helto home defense max. kills bugs inside and prevents new ones for up to a year. ortho home defense max. get order. get ortho®.

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bottom of the hour right now. i'm fredericka whitfield. here are the stories crossing

the cnn news desk right now. russia says the foreign minister and u.s. secretary of state john kerry is having talks on the phone. russian officials issued a statement saying sergei lavrov stressed the need for ukrainian military to cease operations against the pro-russian separatist in the eastern part of the country. the groups have seized lan and government buildings and have refused to leave. meanwhile, ukraine's prime minister says russian military aircraft crossed into and violated ukrainian airspace last night. russia has denied violating the airspace. it has now been 51 days since malaysian air flight 370 vanished. as malaysia leaders are trying to move the sgags forward they're also hosting president obama. he arrived in malaysia earlier today. obama is the first u.s. president to visit the country since lyndon johnson. he was welcomed at a state den we're the malaysian prime minister and the country's king. and back in the u.s. police in millford, connecticut,

are investigating the stabbing death of a 16-year-old girl. sanchez died after being slashed in the neck, chest, and face in a school stairwell. she was set to attend her prom that night. the classmate is under arrest and faces a murder charge. t prom was postponed. but in an emotional moment students all in formal wear gathered around the prom dress sanchez would have worn. they describe her as a bright light full of hopes and dreams in launching those purple balloons in her memory. federal prosecutors are close to announcing charge. the fbi has been investigating grimm's business dealings and 2010 campaign. you might remember grimm was the lawmaker who threatened to throw a reporter off the capitol balcony after he asked about illegal campaign donations. you see the tape was rolling when that happened unbenoens to grimm. and incredible images coming to us out of illinois.

this is all that's left of a home in susuburban chicago. explosion possibly caused by a gas leak, levelled the house and damaged 30 other homes. amazingly no one was seriously hurt. the explosion could be heard two towns away. 51 days and no concrete evidence of what happened to malaysia airlines flight 370. the next use of technology could be the remus 6000, a drone that can dive deeper than the bluefin-21. the remus 6000 here, the expert, christopher who helped conceive the ream mus describes what it can do. >> one thing that remus 6000 is very good at is it can operate the 6,000 meters. it's well equipped to get to the depths in the search area and it

has operated at those depps quite a bit in the past. the second thing is that it comes with a very capable launch recovery system. that's how you get it on and off the boat. and that's very important because it increases the weather window that you can operate in. so you have less downtime when you're out there. the third part of the problem really is navigation. you know, when you think of this as finding a need until a hay stack it's more like trying to find maybe a lost antique coin in a big football field in the middle of the night. and all you have is a pin light to go looking for it. and you really have to fold back the pieces of the grass and look very carefully to find out where you are. so navigation becomes extremely important. you've got to make sure that you've seen, looked in between each blade of grass, and our systems are very capable of using this because we use seafloor transponders to navigate them. >> all right. still unclear whether the remus 6000 will be used and if so how many because he said two to three could be used simultaneously. this week another milestone

in the search for flight 370. in the u.s. attorneys can now start formulating legal challenges. a federal law banned early contact between attorneys and victims' families. lawyers must wait 45 days to give families time to deal with the drama. and now at day 51 it's past that threshold. let's begin by talking to two experts on all of this. both lawyers, both pilots. cnn aviation analyst mary schiavo is a former inspector general at the department of transportation and arthur rosenberg is an aviation lawyer and engineer. good to see both of you. >> how are you? >> i'm good arthur, let me begin with you. what do you envision some of the legal challenges given that there is no debris, there are no bodies, no answers in the disappearance of the plane? >> first of all, with the interview with richard quest and the prime minister they kind of talked about the issue of would they say the plane is lost.

the issue of the plane being lost is important because that will now allow various courts in the united states and the like to make a declaration that the passengers on the airplane are deceased. once they are deceased, now question with file a wrongful death actions under the montreal convention if the proof plays out there was that involved or manufacturer involved. it's really the threshold issue that has to be resolved in order for these people to move forward with their lawsuits. >> and so, mary, these legal challenges would likely pursue boeing, the makers of the plane's engines, but no one knows if there were mechanical or functional failures. so what kind of, you know, lawsuit could you see being formulated against a boeing at this juncture? >> well, this juncture it would be difficult to form one because you need the black box and the flight data recorder, you need

the maintenance records because the plane, while it was built by boeing, it had to be maintained. so you have to see if anything went wrong by the plane, if it was caused by bad marintenance. once that occurs you also have to call in your experts, lawyers have to hire their own experts to then explain to the court and to the jury what happened. so you have several layers of discovery and information about that plane and the operation of that plane and the maintenance of that plane before you could really bring in boeing or the engine manufacturer. but that being said, it's -- there will be cases filed. the 45 days just means that you can -- that lawyers can now go out and seek the cases. it doesn't mean that they've have to start filing cases. >> and so, mary, you mention among the things, maintenance records. there was a list that many family members presented to malaysia authorities saying we want you to meet these it eems the list. they wanted maintenance records. they said no way, we're not

giving it to you, especially now when we're trying to figure out what's going on. but later on, next week, we understand that malaysian authorities are going to reveal some sort of public report. is there a possibility that any of that information that might be part of this public report, mary, could be used in the shaping of any legal challenges? of course we don't know, you know, what's going to be in that report but i would imagine they have to be careful about what's being said. >> sure. and if they do -- if they're going to follow the icao standards and do it like the ntsb does it then they can issue the preliminary report and they do have a choice. they can open what's called a public docket and start posting information publicly that they have obtained during the course of the investigation. you know, the ntsb posts a lot of information publicly. usually they do it in connection with the first public hearing but they could start posting and, remember, there are many other component manufacturers on the plane, for example, the communication system. oh, and by the way, the shipper of the batteries, if it was a

battery fire. so there are a lot of potential defendants in a lawsuit but you really need evidence. and so that's why the investigation and other reason the investigation is still vitally crucial. >> arthur, boeing may be at the list of u.s. manufacturers. it could be the folks who are making the batteries or anything else that would be part of this plane. >> sure. >> would that be public record? is that fairly easy for any lawyers to try to, you know, collect information on so they can complete those kinds of demands? >> well, first of all, you need what's called a good faith basis in a litigation to getting a cess to certain documents. but there's actually a much easier way to do it. there are about 1200777s flying on the planet and each airplane comes with a huge voluminous volume of maintains records. it would be easy or relatively easy for lawyers or people interested including the families, if they want information to getting a cess to

these manuals which would tell them everything they need to know about the airplane but obviously won't target specific failures because at this point we just don't know. >> right. okay. no plane, no bodies, no hard core evidence still. 51 days now. all right. arthur rosenberg, mary schiavo, thank you very much. appreciate it. in all the smartphones belonging to passengers on flight 370, if ever found, what kind of that was could help in the investigation? and if ever found, is there any information that can be retrieved from those submerged phones? we'll tell you when we get back. do not find yourself sitting there with a bag of cheetos and nothing else in the house when you're watching this episode. ♪ the episode coming up is going to be maybe the greatest single hour of food porn we've ever done.

>> we found that it is -- sglts good to be part of this international chef mafia. there's somebody that wants to feed me just about everywhere and that's a really good starting point. daniel blue, he took us back to where he came from. >> look at that. >> like so many great chef he's grew up on farm. relatively poor. very simple life. processed food includes 17 years old. where did this tradition come from. how does fine dining relate back to those kind of humble roots. truly epic. extraordinary meals with some of the greatest and most important chefs in the history of the world. never before and never again will you see some of the stuff we're going to show you on the lyon show. cheers. >> nice. >> it's a beautiful day in the office. >> yep. >> oh, my gosh, i was just saying after seeing some of that video of that food there's no way you can even watch that on

an empty stomach. so at least come with a full tummy because you're going to be mad otherwise. you're not going to be able to reach into the television screen and eat any of that. his french adventures this sunday on "parts unknown" at 9:00 eastern time. and then you've got 10:00 p.m. eastern "inside mann with morgan spurlock." this week he's looking at america's love for pets. find out how far some people are willing to go to spoil their pooches and kitties and everything else. guy: hey captain obvious, watch this! captain: when i'm looking for a hotel with a wet pool, i go to hotels.com. you can get up to 50% off with their private sales. that man's privates are no longer private.

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so much depends on finding the black boxes from malaysia airlines flight 370. but we're also finding out they're not only the source of potentially vital information. in all likelihood p 239 people on that flight had smartphones. and if those devices are ever found there's a possibility that data could be retrieved. here's cnn's ted rowlands. >> reporter: fred, just imagine how much information there could be on the passenger and crew cellphones from flight 370 if they're found. there's a group of computer forensic experts here in chicago that believe even dp those phones are at the bottom of the

indian ocean for months, they would be able to get the unsent tax e-mail, even video and still photographs off the phones. we put them to the test. some of the final messages from passengers on flight 370 could be with the missing plane at the bottom of the indian ocean, unsent texts, e-mails, and photos to loved ones. but could they be retrieved if the plane is found? >> absolutely. it's a matter of finding the devices to determine what kind of damage was associated with them and handling them properly. >> reporter: we decided to see if it's possible by putting this cellphone in saltwater. we turned off the transmission on this phone and then tried to send e-mails and texts. right now i'm going to take some video of the chicago river and some stills and we'll see if those survive. we took our phone to chicago's shed aquarium and met chemist and fish biologist george chew sons using water from the aquarium's ocean floor exhibit

they prepared this pressure chamber for our phone. >> we have the salt compositions right. we have the temperature very cold, not as cold as it will be in the indian ocean. but pretty close. and now we've got a pressure chamber. >> reporter: the plan is to leave our phone in t water for a week and see if our test e-mail, text, video, and photos can be retrieved. >> it's 2:30 on april 8th. and we're going to place it into our chamber right now. this is going directly into saltwater that simulates the indian ocean. >> reporter: within seconds saltwater fills the inside of the phone. eight days later two of our computer forensic experts come to the aquarium to remove the phone. >> i can definitely see the salt corrosion building up on the outside of the phone. it's just whether or not it made its way all of the way inside built on top of the electronics and whether or not it corroded the memory chip where the data is stored. >> reporter: because oxygen will quickly increase corrosion, our phone is kept in water.

>> we're just going to keep it in the same water until we get it back to the lab and can get it in a solution where we can clean it up. >> reporter: a few hours later at the ford discovery lab. >> look at how it just ate the plastic. >> reporter: to retrieve the data the phone is pulled apart, the board which includes the memory chip is baitded in an 80-degrees ultrasonic cleaner several times and any tiny salt deposits are chipped away. >> this is the most important part. this is where all the data is held and stored. so this -- this is actually looking pretty good. >> there we go. >> reporter: the chip is then removed using heat. >> it was in pretty good shape. so the next step quite honestly is pop it into an adapter like this. >> reporter: eventually there it is, the e-mails i tried to send, the text message, even the photos and a portion of the video we recorded of the chicago river. and while our experiment with the aquarium tank is not the same as the indian ocean, our

experts believe they could also retrieve data from cellphones on flight 370. >> the chips are fairly well protected. we were able to get the data off. i think it would be possible. >> reporter: bottom line, experts say it is all about the tiny chips which are in each cellphone. they say the chips themselves are very well insulated. if you find the phone and the chip itself is not crushed, physically crushed, the experts say they are able to get the data off of it. they think even if those phones are at the bottom of the indian ocean they will be able to retrieve the data if they're handled properly during the recovery. fred? >> wow, that is extraordinary. very hopeful. thank you so much, ted. all right. one va hospital is accused of making up waiting lists while veterans died. more on that incredible investigation coming up. [ male announcer ] this is the cat that drank the milk... [ meows ] ...and let in the dog that woke the man

who drove to the control room [ woman ] driverless mode engaged. find parking space. [ woman ] parking space found. [ male announcer ] ...that secured the data that directed the turbines that powered the farm that made the milk that went to the store that reminded the man to buy the milk that was poured by the girl who loved the cat. [ meows ] the internet of everything is changing everything. cisco. tomorrow starts here. check for more! well, i guess i can double check... my watch! [ male announcer ] it pays to double check, with state farm.

meltdown at chernobyl happened exactly 28 years ago today. the worst nuclear power plant accident in history. at least 30 deaths are blamed on that meltdown and more than 330,000 people were evacuated. the site won't be inhabitable for tens of thousands of years. all right. and now to what may be the most

shocking example yet. in cnn's on going investigation of u.s. military veterans dying while they wait for medical care at va hospitals. we've uncovered just how far one va hospital went to hide its a doctor who has left the hospital says managers were actually keeping two waiting lists, a sham list that made the hospital look like a model of efficiency, and a secret list that showed the deadly reality. here is senior investigator correspondent drew griffin. >> it was a plan by top management at this veterans hospital in phoenix, arizona, to hide as many as 1,600 veterans, waiting many months, just to get a doctor's appointment. cnn has learn at least 30 veterans left waiting for care,

many on that secret list, are now dead. and what's worse, according to multiple sources, the management's plan included shredding the evidence to hide the fact there was a waiting list at all. dr. sam foot just retired after spending 24 years with the va health system here in arizona. the veteran doctor says the hospital did have a list that showed the va was providing timely appointments within 14 days but that was a sham. >> the only record that you have ever been there requesting care was on that secret list and they wouldn't take you off that secret list until you had an appointment time that was less than 14 days, so it would give the appearance that they were improving greatly the waiting times when, in reality, it had been six, nine, in some cases 21 months. >> reporter: in the case of a 71-year-old u.s. navy veteran named thomas breen, the wait ended much sooner. >> he started bleeding in his urine. it was like, listen, we've got to get you to the drchlt we've

got to get you to the doctor. >> reporter: brooklyn-raised father, thomas, so proud of his military service, would go nowhere but the va for treatment. on september 28th with blood in his urine and a history of cancer, teddy and his wife rushed him to the va emergency room where he was examined and sent home to wait. >> all they wrote on his chart is must have primary doctor in one week. >> urgent. >> urgently. >> and they sent him home. >> reporter: did anybody call? >> no. >> reporter: sally kept calling day after day from late september through october, through november. then she no longer had a reason to call. thomas breen died november 30th, 2013. the bleeding was from inoperable stage four bladder cancer. >> they call me december 6th. he's dead already. >> they called you and said -- >> i said, what is this regarding? she said we have a primary for him.

i said really? you're a little too late, sweetheart. >> reporter: cnn has obtained e-mails showing top management including phoenix va director sharon helman knew about the actual wait times, knew about the off-the-books list and defended the use of it to her staff, which makes this statement to cnn from helman all the more strange. it is disheartening to hear allegations about veterans care being compromised, the director writes. we are open to any collaborative discussion that assists in our goal to continually improve patient care. sam foote says that response is stunning. >> this was all planned and it was planned by the very highest authorities here in phoenix. >> correct. >> reporter: basically, have you medical directors cooking the books? >> correct. >> reporter: fredricka, the phoenix off-the-books list is getting the attention of the house affairs committee in congress, who has ordered the va to produce all the records in

phoenix, secret or not, to be part of an ongoing investigation into delayed care at the va, which may have led to deaths of u.s. veterans. the fredricka? >> so upsetting. thank you very much, drew griffin. an additional statement was sent to cnn regard, quote, the phoenix va health care system has had long standing issues with veterans accessing care and have taken numerous actions to meet demand. while we continue to serve more veterans and enhance our services, end quote. cnn has repeatedly asked the director of that hospital for an interview but so far has been refused. did you get my e-mail? [ man ] i did.

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i'm taking off, but, uh, don't worry. i'm gonna leave the tv on for you. and if anything happens, don't forget about the new xfinity my account app. you can troubleshoot technical issues here. if you make an appointment, you can check out the status here. you can pay the bill, too. but don't worry about that right now. okay. how do i look? ♪ thanks. [ male announcer ] troubleshoot, manage appointments, and bill pay from your phone. introducing the xfinity my account app. manage appointments, and bill pay from your phone. (dad) just feather it out. (son) ok. feather it out. (dad) all right. that's ok. (dad) put it in second, put it in second. (dad) slow it down. put the clutch in, break it, break it. (dad) just like i showed you. dad, you didn't show me, you showed him. dad, he's gonna wreck the car! (dad) he's not gonna wreck the car. (dad) no fighting in the road, please. (dad) put your blinker on.

(son) you didn't even give me a chance! (dad) ok. (mom vo) we got the new subaru because nothing could break our old one. (dad) ok. (son) what the heck? let go of my seat! (mom vo) i hope the same goes for my husband. (dad) you guys are doing a great job. seriously. (announcer) love a car that lasts. love. it's what makes a subaru, a subaru. today, cnn hero is spending her life helping communities in crisis. growing up in a funeral home gave her a unique perspective. >> fries, mustard and milkshake. my daddy ordered the same thing as me. that is my daddy. >> my son's father, he was murdered. their bond, it was just a bond

that a lot of kids don't have with their father. >> i love my city. i have lived here all of my life. but people here are having crisis after crisis. i believe that the violence in this city and grief are directly connected. >> i feel sad that somebody hurt my dad. >> a child's grief can be very different from adults. they can easily lose their identity and their security and that shift can be very dangerous. >> there you go. write your feelings. how are you feeling today? >> our program provides that safe place for a child to recover. >> hello. >> our volunteers help the children explore their feelings. >> why did you choose red? >> i was angry when my dad passed away. >> and talk about healthy ways of coping. >> get that anger out! >> we teach our children that

it's okay to cry. >> his brother died so he's feeling very sad. >> grief is truly a public health problem. we have got to begin to address it. >> coping is how we deal with our feelings. we're giving families a sense of hope. we're helping to heal wounds and bring families back together again. >> huge inspiration. sanjay gupta, md, is coming up in about half an hour. what do you have for us? >> fred, imagine having two sons with a fatal disease. one of them gets an experimental therapy and thrives. the other doesn't, just has to sit by and watch. as a father myself, i can't even imagine this scenario. we'll show you the real battle that this family is facing today, sg, m.d. >> wait a minute. hold the phone. hold it. who do i see here? >> it's me. >> no. no, no, no.

>> what did i do? >> you don't call, you don't write. oh, my gosh. here you are in person. >> fred, listen, wooif been working 24 hours a day. working during the week. >> i know. you've been doing great work. you know i'm only kidding. >> i know. i miss you, though. >> a little interaction here at the end of my day and the beginning of yours. >> you look very springy and very lovely. >> thank you. flattery will get you everywhere. how are you doing? i'm just kidding. >> it's a news day. i've got to run. >> i know you do. >> beautiful day here. i hope it's that way in atlanta. i'm don lemon, you're in the cnn newsroo newsroom. >> i want to start with an enormous storm system that's going to beat up much of the country this weekend from the plains to the atlantic, all day today and all day tomorrow. those of new raleigh, north carolina, you know yesterday you got a taste of what's to come.

several tornadoes touched down, ripping out trees, damaging homes, but there's no reports of anyone hurt. no report of anyone hurt. and right now, an almost perfectly vertical line of a severe storm is worrying people from minnesota to the mexican border. in toronto, well, look out. because oklahoma and texas as well. tornado, i should say, lookout because it's from texas to oklahoma as well. jennifer gray, kind of got that -- messed it up a little bit. but this is a potentially destructive system hitting much of the country today. what's going to hit first and how hard? >> this is an ugly one. we really haven't seen much severe weather this season. so it is beginning this weekend. sort of kicking off the season. today, we're looking at an area mainly north texas, southern oklahoma. it does stretch all the way up into portions of nebraska. tomorrow marches on to the mississippi river valley and then on monday, it will be heading to the east coast. including places like atlanta. so, this will be a multi-day

event. right now, not much on the radar. we are seeing a couple of showers in the rockies. right where that severe weather threat is, not seeing much. the sun is out. things are heating up. in the next couple of hours, we do plan on those showers and storms to start to fire up right along that dry line. so, high pressure is going to scoot off to the east. we have this upper level low. we have the dry line that's going to be approaching. in the coming days, we'll see the showers and storms fire up today, tomorrow, monday and, don, even into tuesday. we'll be watching this. so, this will be lasting quite a bit. all the ingredients are there. you have very warm, moist air coming in from the gulf of mexico. warm, dry air coming in from the west. cooler air from the northwest. and with that upper level support, there you go. you're going to get quite a few very strong thunderstorms. today looks like mainly large hail, damaging wind type day. tomorrow, that's when we move into the -- where we could see the big tornadoes, very large hail, very gusty winds. and so that's going to be the

day where we'll really be concerned about, especially the arklatex area, little rock, shreveport and that threat moves over to the east as we go through monday. >> jennifer, thank you. we'll be watching it along with you. other news to report to you this afternoon. president barack obama is overseas on a four-nation trip. part ceremonial, part serious. it comes at a time when malaysia is fully involved in searching for that airliner that vanished seven weeks ago. let's go to erin mcpike at the white house today. how much is that missing plane coloring the president's visit to malaysia? >> reporter: don, it certainly has been a factor this weekend. although he did not mention the missing plane in remarks that he made at a state dinner last night he did grant an interview to the malaysian newspaper, "the star" yesterday. in those remarks he offered his condolences to the people of malaysia and also made important

points about the help that the u.s. has offered to that country. as a friend and partner of malaysia, the united states was one of the first countries to join in the search for the missing plane. u.s. navy ships, aircraft and personnel remain on the scene. we're working closely with malaysia into what caused the aircraft to disappear and will continue to offer our support as the search continues. the search could begin to wind down. of course, president obama committed the u.s. to continue in those search and investigation efforts and also pointed out in those remarks that the cooperation and partnership between a number of countries has been very critical in this effort. he said that the u.s. and malaysia and other countries are going to be working together on how to prevent future things like this from happening and how they can improve aviation security. all this is important. the malaysian king actually made some comments yesterday in which he commended the u.s. for all

that they have done to support malaysia throughout this time. and then i would also point out, though, that tomorrow the president, president obama will be meeting for a long time with the prime minister, spending a lot of time with him. they have a bilateral meeting scheduled and a working lunch. and then the two of them will have a press conference. so, we would expect that the missing plane will probably come up in that press conference, don. >> thank you very much, erin. we appreciate that. we want to go to ukraine now. because where a chaotic situation continues to unfold there. and a phone call today between russia's foreign minister and secretary of state john kerry, russia stressed that ukraine must cease military operations against pro-russian separatists in the eastern part of the country. those groups have seized land and government buildings and refused to leave. acting prime minister commented while traveling in rome. >> we need russia to pull back its security fors, not to provoke and not to support

russian terrorists. deployed in eastern and southern ukraine. we urge russia to leave us alone. >> meanwhile, concern is mounting for the safety of eight international observers who were seized by pro-russian separatists in eastern ukraine. observers are tasked with implementing an international deal signed nine days ago in switzerland. mystery of flight 370 now in its eighth week. we'll take you live to perth as they scour the final 5% of the search area. [ female announcer ] who are we?

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malaysia flight 370. disappeared eight weeks ago. scouring the final 5% of the search area. after that, officials say the

search area may expand. i want to go to our correspondent live at the search base in perth, australia. mr. michael holmes. what are you hearing about the bluefin's progress? >> good to see you, don. so far, we know bluefin is on its 14th mission, as you said. we expect word in the next few hours how it's done. of course, it ended after a bit of a software glitch. it was down again pretty quickly and scanning the ocean floor. as you said 95% covered before this mission. we would expect mission 14 will lift that figure to 100% of this current area of focus. confirmation also of what we've been reporting to you in recent days, don, that the next area to be looked at it adjacent to the current 10 kilometer or six-mile radius around that most promising acoustic sound just north of the current site around where they got the third acoustic sound, what they hoped then and hope now was a ping from one of those black boxes,

don. >> so, michael, you know, we have been hearing for over a week now that the air search will end soon. what are you hearing about that? are planes back up for several more days now? >> yeah. it's been strange really. we had heard that part of the search would have ended days ago, the search leader, angus houston, saying as much. of course, as we know, it has gone on. monday, the australian prime minister is expected to make a statement on the whole operation. and then hopefully, we'll learn there more about the plans for the whole search as well as that sea and air search. indications, of course, from both the aussie and australian prime ministers that the search itself will continue. you've been discussing this on your show, don. when you consider that after the air france crash in 2009, it took two years to get the black boxes. what we're seeing now could really be the beginning of a long process. searchers are hoping, of course, it doesn't take two years.

>> very long process. you're right about that, michael. search crews working around the clock are coming up empty. what's the mood among the search crews? are they discouraged or just as determined as when they started? >> yeah. i know he they started this sort of focus search area we've been talking about for the last week or more, they were confident. they were actually confident that they were in the right place, that that area they now nearly finished searching would have yielded some results in this mystery and the word confident was used. now i suppose committed would be the next best word. they're not giving up. they're determined to find the plane. but i think you could say they're disappointed. it wasn't in this area. it's strange how several people told us who were involved at senior levels of this search that they were confident they would find something on this. in this particular area. of course, they haven't, don. >> watching and waiting along with our michael holmes. thank you very much. we appreciate you. it's been 51 days of searching

and nothing to show for it. families are fed up and taking it to the streets right now. [ chanting ] >> what is next in the search for malaysia airlines flight 370? with me now is aviation analyst michael kay, retired lieutenant colonel and pilot with the royal british air force. michael, does it make sense the bluefin 21 churning through the ocean and is it time for them to rethink their search operation now? >> i think the whole strategy of the operation is a process, what i mean by that is angus houston will be analyzing the data that he's got and coming up with new strategies every day. if we rewind a little bit and went back to when the aircraft went down and this huge area over 10,000 square miles and then we had the analysis come up and everybody got excited about these northern and southern arcs and then some of the assumptions

based on speed and height drew us down into that southern area and remarkably we got these pings. we've gone from 10 million square miles down to 300 square miles. it's all kind of back to front. looking for the needle, remember, without the haystack, relying on those pings from the black boxes and only had a life of 30 to 40 days. about day 38 angus huston had a big decision to make, does he pull the ping locater out and put the bluefin in? when he does that, he effectively is resigned to the fact that the bluefin phase is going to take a long time. back to air france 447. it took two years to find that. that was the decision, the hard decision that angus huston has to make 12 days ago. we're only 12 days in. we've got a long way to go. >> 447 at least there was something, right, that we knew about. this flight is a complete mystery. we know nothing. all the elts, none of the alerts went off. nothing happened.

pretty much wasn't track iing o radar. as a former member of the military if you were heading this up, what would be your first step in rejiggering the search option? >> a number of search options going on. subsurface ping locater. that was in unison with with with the air search. now the air search is as key angus huston's chief priorities is to try to link something to mh 370 and its resting place in that area. the priority, the reason it's priority number one is to give the families and the loved ones that closure. that's the most important thing at the moment. the what and the why will take many, many years. getting that linkage of debris. that's why the air search is so important. >> you would continue on with the air search if you were leading the search now? you would continue on with that? would you change the search zone, what you're doing with the bluefin?

bring in another apparatus? >> you have got to keep going over the search area, eliminating the places you've looked and move on to the next event. >> like you're vacuuming, over and over? just keep going? >> it's been going at a tempo that is unsustainable to do every day. the crews have been working around the clock. there will be a natural pause, a human factor's natural pause because of the fatigue on the air crews. there will be fatigue on the airplanes. the more these air planes fly, the more they'll have to go into a deeper servicing, longer on the ground. there will be a natural pause anyway. i feel angus huston will now go into more of a reactive air search than proactive air search. he has been flooding the area with those maritime assets, with the hope of finding something. i think he will go more in the reactive. you saw the satellite pictures. >> not as much equipment, you mean? >> the aircraft will still be there, but they'll be sort of on the ground in a standby role,

ready to go out to look at something if they find it rather than spending 24 hours a day or daylight hours over the ocean tops. >> michael kay, thank you. good to see you. appreciate it, sir. now bank rolling a gun control campaign. (dad) put it in second, put it in second. (dad) slow it down. put the clutch in, break it, break it. (dad) just like i showed you. dad, you didn't show me, you showed him. dad, he's gonna wreck the car! (dad) he's not gonna wreck the car. (dad) no fighting in the road, please. (dad) put your blinker on. (son) you didn't even give me a chance! (dad) ok. (mom vo) we got the new subaru because nothing could break our old one. (dad) ok. (son) what the heck? let go of my seat! (mom vo) i hope the same goes for my husband. (dad) you guys are doing a great job. seriously. (announcer) love a car that lasts. love. it's what makes a subaru, a subaru. ...and let in the dog that woke the man who drove to the control room [ woman ] driverless mode engaged. find parking space. [ woman ] parking space found. [ male announcer ] ...that secured the data that directed the turbines that powered the farm that made the milk

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the battle lines are drawn in indianapolis, where the national rifle association is holding its annual convention. 70,000 supporters of the second amendment are ready to take on their newest challenge. a well-funded gun control effort launched by former new york mayor michael bloomberg. several potential republican candidates are set to take the podium. alexandra field joins me now to talk about that. >> very high-profile event. they've got the microphone and the audience. some 70,000 people turn out for this event every year. republicans already taking the

stage, grabbing the mike. they are taking this opportunity to unleash some criticism. plans to promote gun control efforts and policies. here is what some of the republicans are already saying. >> we're all outraged and heartbroken at recent incidents in which so many innocent people have lost their lives. but public policy must always be guided by common sense. by embracing what works and rejecting what does not. making it harder for law-abiding americans to defend themselves has not, does not and will not prevent future tragedies such as these. >> now these folks on the left, they are audit ashs. i'll share a secret with you. they're also gutless. they refuse to admit their real agenda. michael bloomberg, eric holder, so many of president obama's wealthiest liberal backers in hollywood do not, in fact,

believe in the second amendment at all. >> all right, don. you just heard louisiana's governor bobby jindal name new york city's former mayor, michael bloomberg. there's a reason for that. he has said will he bank roll this effort. just yesterday, wain la pierre from the nra finally gave their response. this is what he's saying on their behalf. >> bloomberg vowed to spend $50 million to beat us in november. he said he would do everything he could, with all of his 50 million to confront and defeat the nra. well, here is our response. >> michael bloomberg says he has $50 million to attack my gun rights. well, i have $25 to protect them. >> i've got $25. >> i've got $25, too. >> he's one guy with millions. we're millions with our 25

bucks. >> $25, don. that is the price of a starter membership with the nra. you can see they're continuing that push to line the coffers. >> this is the first time they've faced someone like michael bloomberg who has a whole lot of money. are they prepared? this $25, that's how they're going to sort of go up against michael bloomberg. he's got billions. >> he does have a lot of money. so, this is going to be a very interesting fight. you're right to point out, this is a worthy opponent for the nra in terms of cash flow, certainly. but the nrasm has been in this business a long time. they've got a sophisticated campaign and lobbying arm. how quickly bloomberg's organization can exert the level of influence that the nra already has in this fight. we'll see how much influence this money will buy. >> interesting to watch. >> sure is. >> thank you, alexandra. appreciate that. history in the making as pope francis prepares to elevate not just one but two popes into

sainthood. a preview from the vatican, coming up. ♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] great rates for great rides. geico motorcycle, see how much you could save.

on sunday for the first time in history, the vatican will canonize two popes to sainthood on the same day. pope john paul ii and pope john xxiii becoming part of the community of catholic saints. among the catholic faithful in rome, dehlia? >> the crowds have already arrived for tomorrow's ceremony, sleeping out in order to stake out their place here. sleeping bags, chairs, backpacks, food provisions and young and old are ready to come to participate in this ceremony. flags from the united states, france, brazil. by far the largest contingency is from poland, as would be expected. we know that because they put the names of their towns on their hats and flags and

jackets. many from swron pajohn paul ii' hometown. many heads of states are expected. no official invitations. it's a come one, come all ceremony. pope eme aritus benedict said h would be there alongside pope francis and 1,000 bishops and 6,000 priests to help them celebrate this very unique moment. of course, two of the women that have made this day possible will also be present, two women who received miracles because of the intercession of john paul ii and john xxiii. there is a french nun miraculously healed, the vatican says, from parkinson's disease, the same disease that john paul ii suffered from and a costa rica woman whose brain aneurysm disappeared without explanation after she prayed to john paul ii. everybody here and ready for tomorrow's event.

>> very exciting. hey, have you heard the story about the l.a. clipper's owner apparently caught on tape, allegedly making racist remarks? now people are calling for a boycott of the clippers and for him to step down. we'll have that story for you at the top of the hour. welcome to sg, md. today a tough choice. a family with two kids. both have a crippling disease. but only one can get a new experimental therapy. plus a surprising new toxic trend that's now on the rise among college students. but first, we know that opiates can be addictive. we know overdoses are becoming more common and we also know that a powerful new pain killer has shared up more than its fair share of controversy. dr. jean-marie naprone has watched the deadly overdoses to go up. a