atika schubert live from perth, australia. atika. >> reporter: a number of search planes should be in the search area. also a malaysia c-130 just took off at the air base and expecting another one to take off shortly and join the search. so they have a little bit more time searching today. the weather in this new search area is much better than the ole one but unfortunately a storm is coming up from the south. so that might affect their visibility but we understand from the coordinating team here in australia that they will press ahead and try to get the most out of the search today. hopefully they'll be able to find something soon. >> right, because the clock is ticking for the flight data recorder. what's the pressure there as far as the time frame goes, atika? >> reporter: there is a bit of a deadline with the flight data recorder and has a pinger that sends out this signal. but the problem is, the battery on that only lasts for 30 days, so what we're looking at is just a few days left, hopefully it stretches out a little b

what can you tell us about them, atika? >> reporter: we don't know exactly what they are, but what we understand is they're not -- they are not from the plane at this point. so they could be anything, you know, tossed out of a container ship or fishing vessel. they found a fishing buoy a few days ago. what it means is the ship continues to move on, chase after other objects that have already been sighted. this is a critical part of the process. they have to physically haul that object in to check whether or not it comes from the plane. so for they haven't found it, but the more space they can cover, the more objects they can find, the better the chances are. >> atika shubert, we appreciate that. >>> some families say malaysian authorities are restricting their movements and trying to ban them from some briefings. senior international correspondent sara sidner spoke with outraged families in kuala lumpur. >> reporter: for weeks, malaysian airlines representatives in kuala lumpur have been overtly protective of the families o

now, let's bring in atika shubert at the pearce air base in australia, and atika, have they taken offaiting to go up in the air? >> well, they are preparing to go up in the airk and the schedule is that a 9:00 chinese plane is supposed to depart from the perth airport. there is going to be a total of ten planes up in the sky today, but more critical might be the ships on the water, because they are the ones who can actually pull in any objects, chase them down and see what they are. unfortunately, as you pointed out, ta were able to the find some of the objects yesterday, but they were all sort of just trash from either fishing vessels and one of the things was a fishing buoy for example. so it is going to be taking a while yet before we are able to get under way and see what objects are out there floating around. >> and so the objects that were out there retrieve and they are picking them up in the nets, how long before they can get that back to the place on land where they can examine it? >> well, they are examining them on the ship right now, and now if they get something that is l

atika, what's the latest? >> reporter: yeah, another disappointing find that those orange objects, it turns out, according to the "associated press," saying that they were fishing objects. and of course, the coordinating team confirming to us that they had nothing at all to do with the plane. it's been nearly four weeks now and no sign of the plane at all. so, when i spoke to prime minister abbott about the search, i asked him, how confident is he that he's getting the right information or that he's even looking in the right place? take a listen. >> we are searching a vast area of the indian ocean. this is a very, very difficult task. it's far more difficult than the search for the air france aircraft in the atlantic ocean a few years ago, because we had very precise information as to where that aircraft had come down. we've just got very general information about where this aircraft has come down. but nevertheless, we are giving it the very best shot we can. and if anyone can find this aircraft, it's us. >> r

atika, thanks very much.stays relatively decent so they can get close to the area where the 122 objects were spotted. we've heard that one of the 122 objects spotteded in the indian ocean is long enough to possibly be a wing of the plane. rene marsh is taking a closer look at the potential debris. what are you finding out? >> reporter: we're in week three of the search and pieces of this missing plane could still be floating. but so far none of the satellite images showing these floating oobts in the indian ocean have been confirmed to be a part of flight 370. could search crews be chasing the wrong leads? 3 million partses to a boeing 777 and an more than two weeks of searching not one piece of flight 370 has been found. satellite images from australia, china and france showing floating objects in the south indian ocean. the latest suggest 122 floating objects, but so far nothing is confirmed to be from the plane. the objects range from 3 to 78 feet. the larger piece could be a portion of the wing. the total

. >>> i want to bring in cnn's atika shubert who is in kuala lumpur. atika, what can authorities spent to get from the confiscated flight simulator from the pilot's home? >> reporter: well, we don't know exactly what kind of a flight simulator it was at his home. it did seem to be something that you could sort of -- that he constructed himself, sort of home-made flight simulator. what investigators will be looking at is basically what we is doing with this flight simulator? was there any path similar to the one we now know the plane actually took? these are the kinds of details that they'll be looking for but we don't have any indication yet of what they found. all that we know is that they've taken that simulator out an they are currently investigating. but obviously the very fact that this appears to have been a very deliberate path set by somebody on that plane means now that investigators are now specifically looking at the crew, the pilots, of course, the air stewards on-board but also passengers. and also they are looking at ground crew, anybody

atika shubert joins us live from kuala lumpur. what are malaysian officials saying about this last satellite contact? >> reporter: well, what they're basically sii isaying is is it possible to have received the last contact with the plane on the ground. basically if its main communication was up and it was on it would still be able to transmit that, whether it was on the air or on the ground. that might give hope to family members that perhaps the plane landed but it doesn't give us any indication yet about what happened to the plane or where exactly it is. this is why the malaysian government is making an appeal to 25 countries to help them get as much information as they can including satellite images, radar data. and remember, as you pointed out, this is some of the most remote parts of the world that they're looking at. an area that stretches from north to kazakhstan covering everything from the himalayas, myanmar, china. a huge, expansive area to be cover and it's going to be difficult to coordinate all these different countr

i want to get to atika shubert now. atika is also in perth. the ships and planes are leaving from where you are, pierce air base. you have an exclusive interview with the prime minister. what did he say to you? >> yeah, he said that the efforts are going to continue, and they have no intention of winding down the operation. in fact, they're going to continue to ramp it up. and we've seen already several planes take off from here today. one of them is already in the search area. another four are on their way. and there are eight ships already in the search area, including the hmas toowoomba. when i asked the prime minister, what did he think of coordinating all these nation's efforts and how confident he was about the information that he was getting from his partners in this, here is how he replied. >> obviously, australia is leading the search. the legal responsibility for the investigation rests with malaysia as the flag of the airline that went down. we will want to work very closely with malaysia. i've certainly offered prime minister najib

what kind of conditions will we see today, atika?far they're all set to continue the search but they have warned that the weather is likely to deteriorate later today so it's really critical they get an early start. they're going to have about 11 planes up in the air today and five ships are already in that search area. the big question is are they going to be able to get to that area where the french satellite took that picture of 122 objects. this is the best lead we've had so far, and an oceanographer i spoke to yesterday says this patch of debris is right in the middle of where he would expect to see the debris field, where the currents would take the debris. so this really does seem to be the best lead. it could be the breakthrough we're waiting for but we simply won't know until all these planes get over there and identify some of these objects. >> and roughly, atika, how many hours flying to get to that area? still about four hours? >> yeah. still about four hours to get there which for most of the planes leaves about two hour

you're saying there's also an airplane, atika, that's taking off and looking for objects. we know they did find some objects yesterday during a search yesterday of the indian ocean. those objects are aboard a chinese navy ship. we don't know if they're connected to flight 370, but they are looking them over now and probably bringing them back to land to be looked over further. >> reporter: what we know is that the chinese ship that was out there did pull some of these objects in. unfortunately, at this point, it looks like there is simply, you know, things thrown off fishing vessels. one of the things they found earlier, for example, was a fishing buoy. so they're probably not going to h head into port just yet. they're going to continue searching until they find something that they think is from the plane. once they have found that, then they're likely to bring it here to free mantle which is the port in perth, and this will become the base of operations for the investigation. i don't know if you've ever seen one of those giant aircraft investigations but they try and lit

atika shubert, cnn perth, australia >> catherine: in world news.sian authorities say they >> catherine: had warned the u-s about one of the boston bombers.two years before the attack at the boston marathon.. >>in 20-11 -- russian woah, this kitchen is beautiful! give him the tour. let me show you! soft-close drawers, farm sink! where's my room? we had to take just a little bit for the kitchen. because your kitchen dreams can be big. ikea has it all. we lowhat's next?hen! great! do you have measurements? yeah, i paced it off. it's about twenty by twelve of these. so, we can measure, plan and install it for you. yea, let's do that! ikea. professional kitchen services at a low price. >> catherine: our big story tonight. the arrest of state senator leland yee. >> catherine: yee is accused of wire fraud -- and conspiracy to deal firearms. he's one of 26 people named by the fbi in an affidavit. another notable name -- former chinatown gangster -- raymond "shrimp boy" chow. all this -- after more than a dozen raids in san francisco, sacramento, and san ma

cnn's atika shubert is in the malaysian capital. you were right in the middle of those emotional scenes today. tell us what you saw, what it was like. >> well, it was utter chaos, frankly. what happened was these family members came here specifically to address the press briefing. they unfurled this white banner and they gan began to speak to press. at that point security came in and literally dragged these women out. you could hear that heart-rending scream of one of the mothers. it was very badly handled by malaysian officials. and the fact that you had these hoards of press following them didn't help it either. and what family members have told me essentially is that what they need is just some sort of consistent story, some sort of closure, this drip, drip of information and conflicting narratives is just heartbreaking for them. one day their hopes are up that their relatives might be alive. the next they're utterly crushed when they're told they're looking for the plane in the indian ocean. so these kinds of conflicting stories

atika schubert, cnn, kuala lumpur, malaysia. >> just one of the many incredibly sad stories that we'llaring about regarding the families that are grieving what they believe is the loss of so many. >>> the other story that we continue to follow is from crimea. we have this just in to cnn. crimean election officials have just released the final results of this weekend's controversial referendum in ukraine's southern republic. they say 96.7% of crimean voters casting ballots sunday chose to break off from ukraine and to join russia. while the vote is recognized by crimea and russia, the new ukrainian government in kiev does not recognize sunday's referendum, nor do the united states and other western nations. and we'll dig deep into that situation coming up here on "cnn newsroom." live reports from crimea after this. >>> welcome back. crimea's capital is celebrating after a historic vote. early preliminary results showed the region voting to leave the ukraine and become part of russia. the final results are in. 96.7% voting in favor. russia's lower house of parliament now plans to act soo

let's go now to atika shubert live from kuala lumpur. atika, what can you tell us?that malaysia has received new satellite images from the french authorities showing potential objects in that southern corridor area. now, we don't have any other details about what exactly these objects might be, but of course, they add to the chinese satellite images that were announced yesterday, and of course, australian search teams continue to comb through the area. so, it now looks like there is a third area for them to search, and malaysia says they are coordinating the effort there and they have relayed these images to the australian search teams, hoping that they will be able to get out there and search it as soon as possible, amara. >> okay. so, atika, what we don't know is the size of this possible sighting. we don't know what the location is and exactly when these images are taken -- were taken. so, we're waiting on word for that. of course, the question is, is this just debris that had fallen off ships? i know that the prime minister at some point of australia had warned

thanks to our atika shubert in kuala lumpur. "reliable sources" will continue with more on the disappearance of flight 370. it's a growing trend in business: do more with less with less energy. hp is helping ups do just that. soon, the world's most intelligent servers, designed by hp, will give ups over twice the performance, using forty percent less energy. multiply that across over a thousand locations, and they'll provide the same benefit to the environment as over 60,000 trees. that's a trend we can all get behind. [ chicken caws ] [ male announcer ] when your favorite food starts a fight, fight back fast with tums. heartburn relief that neutralizes acid on contact and goes to work in seconds. ♪ tum, tum tum tum tums! ...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

. >> we start with atika shuburt, live in kuala lumpur in malaysia. explain how they came to this conclusion. all of a sudden, this morning, we got word the prime minister of malaysia was going to have this emergency press conference, and he had this big announcement. >> reporter: yeah. there was a lot of buzz and talk beforehand. because, remember, search teams have been going out day and night off the coast of australia. so there was some talk about perhaps something had been found. but when he made the announcement, he came into the room. it was very somber. everybody was waiting to hear those words. and announced, basically, this came from british investigators from the inmarsat satellite company. and through groundbreaking mathematics, essentially, they were finally able to locate the position of flight 370, just off the coast of australia, near perth, deep in the most remote part of the indian ocean. and when the prime minister said this, there was clearly a buzz in the room. everybody knew what this meant. that the -- most likely the plane had

but first atika shubert is in kuala lumpur with the latest developments in the search for the missing airliner. kron four's philippe djegal continues our coverage. he spoke with a local pilot who has extensive experience with flight simulators. we learn how a simulator is used before actually taking flight. and why a simulator is now a focal point in the investigation into the missing plane. so, is it uncommon for airline pilots to use or possess a flight simulator? chief pilot of pacific states aviation in concord, rashid yahya says revelations that malaysia airline flight 370 captain zaharie abdul sha built one in his home, doesn't automatically make him suspicious. yahya says it could have been used soley for leisure and training. still, shah and his co-pilot are under investigation. we join yahya on his simulator at buchanan field airport. where he simulates a take off. and, during the flight, yahya explains how its possible one can learn how to disable a transponder -- which sends signals to a radar pinpointing your location. yahya says turning off a transponder is as simply as h

let's bring in atika. i can't even imagine what that woman and all those families are going through. you've spoken to some of them. what are they telling you? >> well, for the most part, they're telling me that it's not just the lack of information, it's the fact that there's so many bits of conflicting information. for example, the fact that they suddenly found out that the plane may have not crasheded, but that it in fact flew for hours and hours after it made that westward turn, then the realizization that the signal that the satellites have been getting could have been gotten -- there were hopes then that the plane had landed and had been hijacked and everyone still could be saved, but then yesterday at the press briefing, malaysian officials say they're focusing now on a huge stretch of the indian association. so, family members are telling me they feel like this roller coaster of emotion where their hopes are up, then they're crushed. all they want is some kind of closure. >> thank you so much. grief

atika shub cert at that hotel. she joins us now by phone.he meeting taken place yet, atika. >> my understanding is the meeting has just started. we've seen a number of families arriving and officials and grief counselors. the meeting is under way. now we don't know what's happening inside. it's closed to the press. i have spoken to some of the family members before going in. and, you know, i think there's a lot of caution about this news that's come out. one father told me while he's thankful to malaysian and australian forces for the search, he still holds out hope that everybody on board is alive, but he said he will accept, you know, whatever the fate is. if this is in fact, the plane. others say they don't want to make any decisions. they want to know the facts. so we'll have to see what happens as a result of this meeting. it's interesting to note there's quite a bit of security here as well as an ambulance. a lot of concern about the well-being of a lot of these families that have been waiting now for more than a week, carol. >> after

i'm going to begin with atika shubert. crews spotted objects that might be debris. are they getting any closer to finding them? >> reporter: we really don't know is the answer to that. five objects found, one was a fishing buoy. but the new zealand p-3 orion got a look at an object they say is promising. but that doesn't mean anything until you can get a ship right there to take a look at the object and verify whether or not it's debris from the plane, that's what they're hoping to do today. at this point, however, there's only one ship in the search area, a chinese ship. the other five are expected to get there late this afternoon or early evening. so it could be a while before we still get any confirmation. >> i would imagine they are used to dealing with these things, they do have to handle this carefully. but how challenging will it be to pick these pieces up? >> reporter: well, the good news is that they're no longer in that southern search area, which had much rougher weather. now they're a little further north, so the weather is a little calmer. it's also clo

atika, you spoke with the australian prime minister today. i'm just curious, why did he feel the need to hold a press conference, even though nothing new has been found? >> reporter: nothing new has been found, but this is an extraordinary search operation. never seen anything like it. australia is coordinating not just the search but also the investigation, so it has a pivotal role here. i asked him, we're nearly four weeks in and still no sign of the plane. he said that australia is working on the best information it can get, and that will continue to ramp up efforts to look for the plane. take a look at what he had to say. >> challenges are considerable, but let's not underestimate the good will. everyone wants to get to the bottom of this mystery. everyone is united in their common grief, in their common anxiety to resolve this. i don't think we've got a whole lot of competing national pride at stake here. i think we've got at stake here a whole of people who just want to solve the problem. >> reporter: you can see what a multinational ef

that's another reason they have to speed it up. >> atika, thank you very much for that. i want to turn to cnn's pamela brown in washington. pamela, i'm going to start with you. as officials try to determine what happened on the plane, how is the investigation going in to the pilot and co-pilot? >> bottom line, they're looking at the co-pilot and captain. they're still a top priority in being examined. but so far, investigators say they haven't found a smoking gun in either of their backgrounds that would suggest a premeditated act. a source in malaysia told cnn that a search of the pilot's home did not turn up any evidence such as a suicide note that would suggest psychological, suicidal or marital problems. and they haven't found anything in the hard drive that jumps out at them. there's been nothing from the simulator hard drive. at this point in the investigation, that's a smoking gun. but i want to emphasize, this is an ongoing investigation, and sources i've spoke to said they aren't ready to jump to conclusions. the plane still hasn't been found. that's the key her

atika shubert is in malaysia. sean persnikki, is an airport investigator and expert for flight crashes. richard, let's go over what this now means for what we know about what happened to this aircraft. we do not know why it went down, without a doubt. that we won't know until we start to get debris and even perhaps the black boxes. >> we know the aircraft stopped sending acars message at 1:07 a.m. with he know there was no further reprogramming of the plane. there was a turn at 1:22. we know the plane then flew southwest just using primary radar to show, because the transponder was off, to show its route, which was picked up by prime military and malaysian military radar. the last known contact is about 2:22:40 after it leaves the malaysian site over the straits of malacca and we know nothing else about it until today. >> there is a source that the plane at one point flew at some 12,000 feet. >> yes. after the turn, immediately after the turn, the plane is said to have descended to 12,000 feet and one implication

atika shubert joins us in kuala lumpur. we've heard experts rule out malfunction.urally that means you go to, you know, the human element here. that's the pilots. what do we know so far about them? >> reporter: what we know is the captain of the flight, ahmed shah, was a very experienced pilot, somebody who was known as someone who was very active in the commune, followed politics very closely, and also had his own homemade flight simulator at home. now, police did spend two hours searching the home and also took a look at what he had built at his home. apparently to simulate a 777 flight. take a listen to what was said at the press briefing earlier today. sorry. we don't have that spot. but i'll go ahead and let you know it appears to be something that he basically constructed on his own at home and according to friends for his own enjoyment, just to sort of share his passion for aviation. and i do have to say that malaysian officials have not only focused on pilot and the co-pilot but also on the other passengers on board. they're screening all of them to see if

i want to bring in our atika shubert.ow are they managing the families in regards to where they're going to be as this search narrows? >> well, we know they were showing the satellite images that were used to pinpoint this debris, but they have been told there's no confirmation that it is the plane at this point. that they're still sending search planes out to try and verify it. so a lot of the families are reserving judgment. they're still trying to hold themselves together until they know for sure whether or not it's the plane. two fathers i've spoken to said that they're hopeful that somehow miraculously the passengers survived. but they realize that this if confirmed could mean obviously that the plane has crashed. so they are also bracing themselves for the worst. but most of the families that went in for this briefing were very stoic. i think they -- they're really trying to keep it together before they know what's really confirmed. but it's very, very difficult. and they don't know what's going to happen next or wh

here's our own atika schubert at the subban air base in malaysian with a look at how one u.s.search and rescue mission was simply grounded. >> reporter: as you can see a, e plane is set to go, but it's been delayed for hours and it's a big frustration for the crew, because they just haven't had clearance to fly over indonesia to begin their search. they have begun five missions so far. and the p3 is ideally suited for a search and rescue mission. we're going to attatake you ins and show why. while they wait for clearance, the crew goes own the plan to search 37,000 square nautical miles. the p-3 orion was originally designed for hunting submarines, but now looking for flight 370 in the indian ocean. the mission commander introduces us to some of the 11-man crew. this is the electronic operator. right now petty officer enriquez, in charge of running the radar system. >> reporter: you've already done five missions so far. can you run us through what you do with each mission? >> i run the radar, the madd system and the camera. so the radar is a primary sensor for search. anything

we have atika shubert in kuala lumpur following the investigation today. what's the significant of that flight simulator and why are they taking it just now, nine days after the plane disappeared? >> well, we don't know the significance just yet. they've only just taken it and looking into it. it's not a secret he had a flight simulator. he posted youtube videos of himself showing the fact he had a homemade flight simulator he seems to have been able to build basically at his own house with some software. so what the police are now looking at is what exactly he used this flight simulator for, did it, for example, follow the path that the plane ultimately seems to have taken. >> so that's what they're going to be looking for. we don't know what they have found at this point, but it does seem that they are now focusing on the pilot but not only the pilot but other crew members, passengers, and even ground crew that were helping to get the plane up because they're looking to see who could have been responsible for directing the plane as it went. we don't have

let's go to atika shupert. what are you hearing? >> reporter: search planes continue to comb through the area there. we haven't had any reports of reported debris at this point. we do expect the first planes probably to come back in about two hours or so. in addition to the planes, ships are now looking for any potential objects as well. there's just been a report from the chinese news agency of finding a potential orange object, but it was not a life vest or anything else from the plane. in this case, it was simply jellyfish they reported. so these are the kinds of things they've been seeing in the ocean. natalie? >> we know that the conditions are going to worsen. will they continue to fly planes and keep ships in the region if the weather gets bad? >> reporter: yeah, they will continue to fly planes and keep the ships there. the ships are, in fact, in the search area over 24 hours. none of them ever leave the search area once they get there. they just continue that search. the weather is improving in our location here, so hopeful

i want to get to atika shubert right now. you have been there for the search for a while reporting on this, we've gotten those amazing pictures coming from that boat. we heard the australian prime minister came earlier and offered encouraging words to the searchers and also for the families and everyone who is interested in this. what is going on? what is instrumental now in this search? how many planes are in the air and ships? >> we're going have a total of ten planes in the air today. one of the planes has already reached the area and is starting to make the rounds there. there are at least six ships that are in the waters in the search area now, trying to find that potential debris, looking for those orange objects that were cited yesterday. the key here as you heard from will earlier is time. there is a window that is closing. so it's really imperative that these search teams get out there and cover as much as the area as they can. now i spoke with australia's prime minister tony abbott in an exclusive interview, and i a

that is hard to watch, atika. >> reporter: it is. it was really heartrending to see her being dragged out like that screaming. you can really hear the distress in her voice. they were brought to a small media room. they were told not to speak to the press and then were later escorted out. a scuffle ensued as press tried to pursue them. frankly, it was a pretty ugly scene with a lot of media scrambling over each other to try to get to them. clearly, for malaysian officials, this has been a disaster to see something like this happen. now, they have responded by saying that they are sending a high-level team to beijing that includes a senior 777 pilot to explain the ins and outs of the plane. really, the problem for family members is the fact that they are getting so many conflicting bits of information. for example, they have been told that the plane might have flown for hours and could have been on the ground when it was admitting these signals to the satellite, which, of course, gives many families hope. on the other hand, they are n

the question is, atika said, is why.quest, that is obviously due to continuing effort of investigators over the last several days. a lot of people may be following this over the weekend. there was new information that at one point, the plane was flying at some 12,000 feet, very low for an aircraft of this size. >> absolutely. the reason it was said to be flying or one of the speculative reasons at 12,000 feet, would be so it wouldn't be in an air corridor and risk other aircraft as it flew back. we don't know the reason why. the sources tell cnn that the radar data and other data showed it go from 36,000 to 12,000, back across the malaysian peninsula. it must have gone back up to altitude again. we know that because as 12,000 feet, it couldn't have gotten out at the south indian ocean, because the fuel burn was so much higher. it would have had to go back up to 35,000 feet, 45,000 feet to get that range. >> which then raises the question of why these fluctuations in altitude. >> sources say it was 12,000 feet. we haven't

atika shubert was set to fly on the airplane.xplains what happens. >> reporter: as you can see the plane is all set to go but it's been delayed for hours. a big frustration for the crew because they don't have clearance to fly over indonesia to begin their search. while they wait for clearance t the crew goes over the plan. the p 3-orion was originally meant to hunt for submarines. we've already done five missions so far. can you run us through what you do with each mission? >> i run the radar, the meds system and the camera. the radar is a primary sensor for search. anything large in the water will show up on my radar. i'll take the camera, zoom in on it and make sure that it's nothing of interest. but if it's something that might be of interest, then we'll drop down low and use observers, the flight station and our eyes just to make sure that it's nothing that could be, you know, survivor wreckage or anything like that. >> atika shubert reporting. let's bring in the former assistant fbi director. pretty shocking that indonesia

we'll get to cnn's atika shubert on that angle.t we know this morning. >> the search team is larger than it has beignet. eight planes today from four countries scouring the waters of the southern indian ocean and that includes the world's most sophisticated search plane, the u.s. navy p8 poseidon. >> it's especially helpful to have it there, but despite the amazing capabilitiecapabilities search is taking a low-tech turn. it's a visual search with the emphasis on eyes over radar. now, yesterday a civilian plane spotted a wooden pallet in the water along with some strapping belt. but when a new zealand jet tried to confirm that sighting, all it found was seaweed. from malaysia to france and they're leading the search there out of perth. ateaka shubert, the chinese had a new image, we learned later that new image was four days old. do we know yet how old this image from the french is? >> we don't have a date yet of that image and we don't have any measurements either. we don't know how long this object is and this is why malaysian au

ati atika, we'll check back in with you. david suchi, former faa investigator, author of the book "why planes crash." i was talking to david gallo and he raised the question of if in fact this plane crashed in this debris is related to the flight and it did land in the water, essentially with the flight 447, the air france flight, that plummeted at a great speed into the water. if a plane ran out of gas, for instance, ran out of fuel, would it nose-dive down into the water or would it be kind of a softer landing, soft as one can have in a 777 in the ocean? >> well, it depends on if it was in controlled flight or not and if there was someone navigating the aircraft. it potentially could have a softer landing. but if there was no one at the controls, eventually the power would overcome and the aircraft would start at a steep descent and plummet. so if it was not in a controlled situation, likely there would be smaller pieces than what we're seeing now. but that doesn't mean that it wasn't. >> so the fact that -- the idea that

atika has been spending time with them. she joining us on the phone from kuala lumpur.'ve spoken to families. how are they reacting briefed on the investigation and briefed on the debris. what's their reaction? >> they've been -- a lot of them are really waiting to see if there's any confirmation. they've just been told the debris has been found. there's no confirmation it's from the plane. some are still holding out hope that by some miracle the passengers on board have surv e surviv survived. others are slowly bracing themselves for the possibility of the worst. i would say most families i've spoken to are basically holding judgment and trying to keep calm. in fact, a lot of families that went into the briefing today were very calm. it was very unemotional. everyone is trying to keep emotions in check hoping to find out more about what exactly has been found out across the coast of australia. >> they've been through so much in the last 13 days. they don't want to jump to conclusions. >> what a tortureous limbo. we're trying to imagine. it's impossible to put ourselves

. >> atika, thank you very much. i want to check in with sarah in kuala lumpur. the malaysian government was very confident in the analysis done by satellite companies. investigators were searching in a different spot all week. are they just as confident now? >> reporter: look, it's hard to know what to believe, right? this is the difficulty. the families have been going through this, first they're confident, then the search shifts. this wasn't just because of the ocean currents. this was because they looked at other data and decided if they did a different calculation, that it couldn't have gone as far, it would have burned more fuel. so they ended up in a different spot in looking at their data. this is a real difficulty. this is not necessarily simple math, right? they're looking another a lot of different things to try to figure out exactly where these debris are. the ocean is also filled with a lot of trash, so it's hard to tell one thing from another. looking at the satellite image is one thing, finding it another thing. you know they've been searching for

they are hoping that this debris that you just heard atika talk about that is off the waters of perth has something to do with this plane. because frankly, these families are exhausted. i mean, exhausted emotionally and physically. and they just want some proof as to where their loved ones went. >> sara sidner, thank you for your continued excellent work. david mckenzie in beijing, more protests today by families of these passengers and crew on board this missing plane. understandably. three weeks now and they still just have no closure. what can you tell me about what is going on there with these families? >> reporter: well piers, three weeks. and three weeks to the hour in fact. and we had this confirmation that the plane had vanished many since that time, the family members have been in this terrible situation of leads, leads going away, wanting to know information, and then getting that information. now it appears they've had enough. in a briefing with malaysian authorities, one man stood up and said, we've got your information. you're not giving us even the simplest of answers ba

atika, planes and ships back at it combing the southern indian ocean for those 122 objects spotted on satellite. at this hour, how is the search to find this debris going? >> reporter: it's only really just started. china's jet has left and a number of civilian aircraft are scheduled to leave now, all on their way to search area. the search area has been divided into two sectors, covering 78,000 kilometers. it's going to be a long day of searching and they have to do it quite quickly. the reports are that weather can deteriorate later in the day, of course that's going to prolong the search. it's really important the planes get as low as they can to eyeball what the satellites have already picked up. while it looks like a floating object, we don't know what it is. they have to take a closer look, see whether it's potentially something that could be from the plane and then they'll call in the ships. all of that takes time, which is something we're running out of. >> it's been touch and go. you mentioned the weather, the weather was bad and now the timing really is crucial when it comes

atika shubert spoke exclusively with the australian prime minister. >> reporter: it has been four weeks of the information you are getting, that you are searching in the right place. >> it's the best information we have. it's the best analysis that we can get. it is the most professional search that can be mustered. >> reporter: you are confident in the information you are getting and that you are searching in the right place. >> we are searching a vast area of the indian ocean. this is a very, very difficult task. it is far more difficult than the search for the air france aircraft in the atlantic ocean a few years ago, because we had very precise information as to where that aircraft had come down. we have just got very general information about where this aircraft has come down. nevertheless, we are giving it the very best shot we can. if anyone can find this aircraft, it's us. >> it is a tremendous effort. there are ten planes in the sky today, many ships. it is also exhausting every day. how long can this be sustained realistically? >> the effort is ramping up, not winding down. we

we spoke on the phone atika ok so no filming. there. this evening the priest answers all the questions put to him by the journalist present. almost. his tone was a feeling of look this is a private function so please leave him alone just this is can you leave him alone i haven't had a reply from mr vanderhoof and three weeks ago that's because he doesn't need to speak to you. the father of fan trade is reduced to silence as though max have long wanted it all caught. to maintain their angelic image of a label at the service of small produces. but the reality is very different a reality of large retailers large landowners and even food industry giants that have got the upper hand over the small owners. nestle the swiss multinational for example buys a proportion of cocoa from macs have a lot to make its kit kats. starbucks buys fair trade coffee but it represents a mere five percent of one hundred sixty thousand tonnes used by the chain in two thousand and nine. ben and jerry's ice cream one hundred percent fat trade since this year. they

atika, thank you. let's go over to bay shing. most beijing. half of the passengers are from china. families there understandably also on edge. their frustration has been visibly spilling over in the past few days. david mckenzie has been with family members. what is the latest from there? >> kate, the frustration and anger has been boiling over here in recent days. today certainly psychologists telling us they very worry when this news comes out if, it does come out that it could be overwhelming for these hundreds of families stuck in this hotel behind me. they have four ambulances on scene. at least a dozen paramedics. one psychologist telling me the elderly here have been suicidal thoughts because they have one child on that plane because of china's one child policy. the stakes are just so high here. every time we've had a false lead and that lead was then dashed, it's been difficult for these families to deal with. in fact, impossible. so as they wait and wonder, not so much today because they don't want to get their hopes up. and they do believe whether the news comes, it's pro

that's why i think it hold me back and hold most people back and mostly reduce how live over time atikahat an incredible response and it's just because everyone can relate to it like everybody does tell lies all the time and says that it appears that you have that you don't have that that this and that that taking you out of the britain then you know maybe maybe just a minute maybe that's why they say yes but i think that if you don't have that you're not a sociopath and it does take you out of the prison and then i think it's got to be pretty transparent tell the truth that that when i was when i was a kid my dad always it was quite emphatic about a line and one of the points you made is the problem with line is you can never remember your lies and so. they catch up with you but on the other hand if my mom said do i look fat in this dress he would always say no regardless. isn't there a point where you know it's ok. now i don't know. i so after i met without my gift of peter i tried he said just try it for a month just trying never to tell a lie that anything even a while like to make