♪ on this edition for sunday, march 9. what's believed to be debris from the missing malaysia airlines jet is discovered in waters off vietnam. investigators investigate a possible terror link. the latest on psalm bosama laden's son-in-law. next on news hour weekend.

brought to you in behalf of roslyn p. walter. corporate funding provided by mutual of america. that's why we're your retirement company. additional support is provided by and by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. from the wnet studios in new york. good evening. thanks for joining us. investigators are trying to determine whether terrorism was behind that crash of a malaysian jetliner with 239 people aboard. dozens of ships and planes are scouring the south china sea looking for the plane's wreckage. late this morning, vietnamese said they spotted what may be

the first bits of debris. >> reporter: found floating in the sea is this an aircraft door? vietnamese officials believe it could be the first clue as to the fate of this plane. they think it may have disintergreated in the sky. for the families of those on board, the agonizing wait for answers going on. this woman in australia can't tell her son if he'll be able to speak to his dad again. >> he looks and says when's dad going to skype? he said he'd be here. when will he skype? you know, i'll cross that bridge when i have to. >> reporter: the identity of those on board the boeing triple seven is now central to investigators. this italian man who's very much

alive was on the passenger list. his passport was stolen in thailand and used to board the flight at kuala lumpur. intelligence experts will be looking closely at their backgrounds. >> there's a lot of possibilities here. one of them is that it's purely a criminal matter, the passports, which is unconnected to the disappearance of the aircraft. that is still a possibility. the other possibility is, is that it's more sinister than that. >> reporter: that uncertainty makes finding the wreckage of the plane vital in explaining what's happened. more than 70 rescue teams are now involved in that search. for the family, the fate of their loved ones remains an intolerable mystery. they are still praying for good news no matter how faint that hope may be. >> for more on whether the fate

of the airliner was a afkt terrorism we're joined by a security expert. so mr. ron, what we do know, we have a few things confirmed. we had good weather, experienced pilots, solid safety records, no distress signal and the issue of the passporting. >> there's no question that there is a security failure by the fact that the two people were allowed to board the flight with the identities that do not belong to them. but whether this security failure is connected in any way to the destruction of the aircraft or the disappearance of the aircraft, it is still a, yet to be determined. at this time, there's no direct evidence to tie up the two

events. >> what about these stolen passports? how often is if that people are able to get on a plane with false identities? >> well, that is something that the exposes one of the weaknesses in the global aviation security system. for a very long time, we've been identifying people by use of documents rather than by any kind of biometric signature. when we look at documents, it is very much in the eye of the beholder or the eye of the checker to identify the issues with the passport. beyond all that, there's one thing that is available, and the clues in this case and in other cases were wide. they did not receive enough attention. that is the fact that those two

names on the stolen passports appeared on the list that was supposed to be looked into before the passengers were allowed to board. and if that had appeared, i would have expected that these two guys or these two people would have been picked up and not allowed on the flight. >> as a traveler, i feel like the cost of me waiting in line and having all the passporting checked is that the passporting are running through some sort of international database, whether it's interpol or the fbi. that didn't happen? >> a lot of that occurring before you end up at the airport. when you stand up in line and stand in front of the security agent, who looking at your i.d., whether it is a passiport or

different i.d. and compare it is to your boarding card, this is something that going very fast and has nothing to do with checking names against the list. that should have been done earlier. once you book the flight, your name should go into a system and be checked against one of those watch lists or wanted lists. >> so how will they determine if it was a bomb? >> i think unless there will be very specific intelligence coming in, we will have to be patient until the aircraft, or the remains of the aircraft would be found to logbooks hopefully will be found and contain information and the remains of the aircraft itself could give us good indication as to what happened to it, just

like the case in previous incidents like the air france flight that disappeared over the atlantic a couple years ago and way back a twa 800 after taking off from kennedy airport. >> so how sophisticated are our bomb detection systems today in the sense that there's almost an arms race. bomb makers try to figure out ways to get in through the systems. we make systems stronger and it keeps going up. are we keeping up with the bad guys? >> whenever there's a defense system, there's always loopholes or cracks or alternatives that can be used as we have witnessed in the case of the liquid bombers in london some years ago. later on with the underwear bomber who managed to take his bomb on board. so i wouldn't say that we have covered the, every possible alternative.

but we certainly, they have covered most of it. and they're working very hard to cover more, and to keep it unknown to the bad guys as to where the loopholes are. >> all right. thank you so much. >> you're welcome. turning now to the crisis in ukraine. armed pro-russian forces today reportedly seized control of another military airport as they continue to secure strategic locations in crimea, the place that had been part of ukraine until russian troops occupied it last weekend. this video shows cossacks to whip ukrainians who had been celebrating the birth of a prominent ukrainian poet. benjamin netanyahu said a set of

proposals being draft the by secretary of state john kerry could be the basis of a palestinian piece deal. meanwhile, in cairo, the secretary-general called on arab countries to take a firm stand against israel's demand to be recognized as a jewish state. back in the u.s. dozens of high school students in california were rushed to a hospital after a stage collapsed. about 250 girls were participating in a musical theater challenge were on stage when it gave way. in upstate new york, a pastor says he will ravel off a semi-automatic rifle to show support for hunters and gun owners. the pastor says the ar-15 rifle has been modified to comply with state law.

it's similar to the rifle used in newtown, connecticut. ♪ an important trial is under way in federal court here in new york. the defendant, osama bin laden's son-in-law. for more, we're joined by chris matthews of the wall street journal. this is the most senior al qaeda operative tried in a federal court. there was talk about trying khalid shake mow hamid here. there was such an outcry. >> certainly this guy isn't as conspicuous as ksm who planned 9-11. but for whatever reason the outcry we saw over ksm hasn't

been there. he's charged with three count, one, conspiring to kill americans and then providing material support to al qaeda. and the material support is basically his words and his rhetoric. he was al qaeda's spokesman. he's on multiple propaganda videos inciting violence and recruiting fighters, and the government says that is how he aided al qaeda by recruiting fighters. >> where did they catch him? >> they caught him, it's a little unclear, but it looks like he was arrested in turkey, then transported to jordan where he was handed over to u.s. law enforcement officials. he'd been in iran for many years, basically under house arrest. and they arrested him, was brought to the u.s. in 2013. >> the prosecution's already begun. did he have any role in planning september 11? >> no. and they've been clear that he

had no role in planning september 11 or any attacks. the sfrent of their case is basically his own words. they have already and will continue to show videos of him including on september 12, 2001, taking responsibility, saying al qaeda was responsible for 9-11 and encouraging muslims to attack the u.s. and that constitutes material support. so they think they have a strong case. they just have to show these videos and let him speak for himself. >> what's the timeline here? how long does this process go on? >> they said they think it will go a month. we're about a week in. so it could be sent to the jury for deliberationing by the end of march. could drag on longer, but they think about a month. >> and then you said you've been in the courtroom. you said this is a judge that's a bit no-nonsense. he's pushing both sides. >> he will stop and ask witnesses questions himself.

he has shut down certain lines of questioning that he does not like. he is firmly in control of the courtroom. >> what are the potential sentences he could face with these charges? >> he could facial life in prison. these are serious charges, especially the conspiring to kill americans charge. >> okay. and then if there are, if there's a way that you can figure out what the defense's strategy, that they haven't spoken yet, but how are they planning to defend their client? >> during their opening statement, the gist of it was they're going to make this case, the prosecution's going to make this case about 9-11. and it's not about 9-11. he didn't have anything to do with it. they use the phrase over and over again all this case is about is words and association. they also have a unique theory that there's another suleman who's being detained. part of the government's case is

that abu gates was giving speeches and the defense is claiming that it's this other abu gates but the judge has not allowed them to pursue that line of defense. it's not clear how much of a defense case they'll be able to make on that. >> thanks so much. >> thanks for having me. ♪ and now to our signature segment. for years now, there's been an intense debate between supporters of fracking who insist it's a deamerica's energy future and environmentalists who are adamant that the process is unsafe. tonight we move past that debate and look at an unlikely coalition that has formed in pennsylvania between some environmentalists and some

companies. this first aired in november. >> reporter: environmentalists have been protesting against fracking ever since the natural gas boom began about ten years ago. their main concern is that the chemicaling that are pumped into wells at high pressure to extract the gas will leak into the water table or spill into lakes and streams. advocates of fracking say the threat of contamination has been grossly exaggerated. but environmentalists say oil and gas companies need to come clean about the risks. >> it is fundamentally an untruth to walk into a community and say that this is 100% safe process. it is. >> so when i talk about natural gas people often ask me the question, is this good or bad for the environment. >> reporter: despite those concerns, brown stein is now working with companies that are

fracking in pennsylvania. he says the group isn't in favor of fracking, but it is in favor of using more natural gas as an alternative to coal because gas is cleaner. a new report by the environmental protection agency said that u.s. power plantsva recently cut their total greenhouse gas emissions by more than 6%, mostly because so many have switched from coal to gas. brownstein believes natural gas is the fogsle fuel we should be using until we get our energy from renewable sources like wind or solar power. so they started to talk to the companies fracking for gas. the one that so many environmentalists see at enemy. >> in order to make change you have to take the time to learn their industry, learn their concerns and be able to talk with folks on their terms about what you see the problems are

and also what you see the opportunities are to fix those problems. >> one of the oil and gas companies brownstein approached also saw an opportunity. paul goodfellow is a shell executive. >> it's having a rational conversation with people and looking at the facts think about how collectively we can raise the performance bar. i think it's a conversation we can do more. >> reporter: earlier this year, shell and three other energy companies joined the environmental defense fund and six other non-profiting to form a coalition called the center for sustainable shale development. its first order of business was to announce a set of environmental standards for fracking that brownstein hopes can serve as a model for the industry and for state and federal regulations. >> what we're hoping to do is certify companies to that higher standard. let that be an example for

regulators, sure. but for others in industry too as to what is possible. >> reporter: three of the 15 standards the group announced are aimed at reducing diesel emissions at fracking siting. some are aimed at keeping the chemicals out of lakes and rivers. right away environmentalists split into two camps. they touted the standards as a breakthrough. many other environmentalists saw it as empty rhetoric from the companies. >> we just have to take shell's word that you're going to abide by these higher standards? >> i think the key element is not just the fact that there are performance standards that have been written up. it's the fact that it's independent auditor that will come round and verify that our operations are executing to those standards. >> i will start to believe it

making a difference the very first time somebody stops drilling a well or doesn't dral a well based on those standards. >> reporter: detwiler is lined up against the coalition. he believes it's impossible to frack for gas safely. >> i think there's a mind set that what really matters is what's under the ground. you don't focus on what's on tomorrow. the people, the houses, the trees are just the stuff that's in the way. >> reporter: fracking wells have been popping up closer and closer to detwiler's native pittsburgh. places that are important to him. >> my grandkids play in the park. it has personal value to me. >> reporter: allowing an energy company to drill in the park could earn the county 2 to $4 million up front. and as much as $700,000 a year in royalties after that. can you blame in this time of

budget deficits a county government for saying we'd like to have that money? >> i think there's something more important at stake here. are you going to sell anything and everything? i'd like to see us start off by deciding that there's some places that aren't worth it, even if they took some of that money and built a boat dock or concession stand or something like that. this is not just another plastic entertainment venue. this is a little slice of nature that we can treat as nature. if we frack underneath it, then deep down at some level, it's just another factory, even if it has grass on top. >> reporter: fracking has made gas so of the inexpensive that the environmental defense fund's situation is aonly going to be worse. >> i understand where the passion is coming from. but to stand by and do nothing to minimize risk to public

health and the environment from fossil fuel production is unacceptable to me. >> reporter: mark brownstein says that if the evidence shows that oil and gas companies in the coalition aren't serious about improving the environmental standards for fracking, the edf will walk away and make sure everyone knows why. for now he's borrowing a phrase ronald reagan used when he sat down to negotiate with the soviets. trust but verify. ♪ questions about fracking? review our fracking primer at newshour .pbs.organize. the push to get the u.s. to ratify a treaty that would establish the rights of disabled around the world. thanks for watching.

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[kip thorne] he is one of those very few people, who can see far beyond the borders of current knowledge, and see how things really work. [bernard carr] he's just got this tremendous determination to live, and i do think there's such a thing as a will to live. [mary hawking] he will carry on until they push him underground. my name is stephen hawking. for the past 50 years, i have traveled the world studying and lecturing about time and space.