kyung lah joins me now from south korea with the latest. just outside the search area, what is the latest going on right now? >> reporter: well, as we speak, anderson, divers are desperately trying to reach an area of the vessel, one room where they believe 50 girls may have huddled together as the waters were rising inside the vessel. they did find another room with 48 girls. they pulled those out. that is a second room where they believe there may be more girls. they're trying to access as much of this vessel as possible today because the weather is expected to turn in about 12 hours or so korea time. it will make it much more difficult. we're already hearing from divers that currents are cutting off their breathing tubes. they're in a mass of floating objects, so they're trying to get to as much of the ship as possible. they're asking fishermen to keep an eye out for anything that may be drifting, anderson? >> i'm just describing the room for all the young girls, just imagine what it is like for divers to come upon that in the darkness w

kyung lah joins us now from australia with the latest. kyung, you could hear the determination in danica weeks' voice not to give up the search. because there really does seem to be this creeping sense that search authorities are just guessing where the plane might be right now. are you getting that feeling there? >> reporter: well, i think they're admitting it, absolutely. we heard in the last press conference held by the head of the search team that basically they're not guaranteed to find anything. they don't know if they're in fact looking in the right spot. they believe they are. they have the best educated guess, the scientists. all the information is pointing to this particular area. that's why they have those two towed pinger locaters, one from the u.s., one from the u.k., doing that 150-mile trek. they believe that that's perhaps where they're going to find that concrete piece of evidence that we heard that wife say she needs. because the families need it. but yes, they're not sure that they're looking in the right spot, john. >>

kyung lah is not far from the search area. she's joining us live. what are you learning, kyung?ll you what we're seeing is that the search has been active, it's been ongoing, it's happened throughout the night and now at daybreak you can see it happening right behind me. i want you to focus in on -- you see that yellow crane there? well, directly to the right of that yellow crane you see two o off white buoys. that marks the spot of the ship. it's about 20 meters below. and then around it you can see these orange rafts. that's where the divers come for relief, come for some air and it's from there that they dive deep under the water. and what's happening is under the water is that they are going in through various access points, going in through the cabins, feeling around with their hands hoping to feel something, someone. that's what is happening under the water. and as we widen out here, the reason why i want you to take a bigger picture look, you may notice that there's a tremendous number of ships here. the reason why that they are spaced so far apart, one mile, three miles,

kyung lah is out front live in jindo, south korea tonight. i can tell there is water and a ship there, but it looks like the weather is bad. >> reporter: the weather is bad. and to add insult to injury, it's actually raining harder now than it has been for the last several hours as this third day of the search now begins. those ships that you're seeing behind me not directly related to the search. the search is 12 miles further into the water. it is still, though, erin, a search and rescue. they are looking for survivors, according to the search crews. but certainly now hope is beginning to dent. from anguish to frustration, families of the missing passengers shouting out as they meet with south korea's president and learn the horrifying details of how the disaster unfolded. this video shows the lifeboats, still attached to the ferry as it was sinking as passengers clung for their lives. cnn affiliate ytn reports only one of the 46 lifeboats was deployed. video shows passengers sitting inside the sinking ship wearing their life jackets. why?

>> i understand, kyung, that each of the divers, i think we have a graphic of it. they have airlines going to the surface which must make any efforts to navigate under that 50-feet deep in to this multilayers of that ship extremely difficult. >> very difficult. let's talk about the conditions of the water. the yellow sea is extremely frigid. yes, they are wearing wet suits. yes, they are wearing protection. yes, they are trained divers, but it's extremely cold. the waves, the tides have been very high the last couple of days. it is murky water, it is not crystal clear mediterranean sea. they are 12 miles behind me. it is not ideal conditions. even though the weather improved from 24 hours ago when we spoke it is still very difficult. what makes it extremely difficult is everyone here knows this is a national tragedy the. they are dealing with high school children. high school children who went on a field trip and will not come back if they did not find that air pocket. >> so many interesting cultural differences here. not the least of which the assistant principal

let's go to perth, australia, to kyung lah. she's got the latest on the search. kyung? >> reporter: wolf, normally at this time in the morning we're talking about the waiting for the search to begin but the search is under way right now. it is happening under the water. there are two pinger locators. there is one from the u.s. navy being towed by the "ocean shield" and another being towed by a british ship. they are starting on one end of a 150-mile track and then they will converge upon each other and meet. it is frustratingly slow. they move three miles per hour. the u.s. navy says if there is a ping, they can hear it up to 20,000 feet away. it's extremely effective if they are in the right debris area. so, are they there? the u.s. navy captain in charge of in the dark. >> kyung, the families are increasingly angry and frustrated that malaysia, the government there isn't sharing information they want. >> reporter: what they really want is to hear the audio of whether it's the pilot or co-pilot saying those words, they want to hear the audio. they want to hear what tha

k kyung lah, right on the scene there, thank you. there will be more coming up on this at the bottom of the hour. >>> three well-known al qaeda operatives are among ten suspected militants killed in a u.s. drone strike. officials say the drone hit a pickup truck as they traveled to an area known as a hotbed for al qaeda. one militant was injured as well. three civilians in a separate truck were also killed. >>> the hit follows video evidence of the largest and most dangerous gathering of al qaeda in years. the u.s. is the only country known to have conducted drone strikes in yemen. >>> to ukraine where the war of words between key eve and the russia and the west continues to heat up. we've learned the u.s. plans to conduct military exercises in eastern europe. according to a western official i spoke with earlier this afternoon a company of about 150 troops will be in poland, another 150 in estonia. these exercises will take place in the coming weeks as part of a continuing operation, in other words, they will be rotated in and out. i

kyung lah joined me from australia with the latest. this sub, what can you tell us about it? when is it expected to reiff in the search area? >> reporter: anderson, we understand this sub is at the search area right now. and this is very important. because it is giving the search teams a capability

kyung lah, cnn, on the yellow sea off jindo island. >> we should point out school has resumed for some of the students. i can't imagine how they're able to focus. >> 300 of those passengers were from one single school. the vice principal committed suicide this past week. it's just really emotionally destroyed the area as investigators look for the cause. >>> still to come on cnn newsroom -- >> the already faltering middle east process looks dead in the water once again. >>> plus, an american doctor who told colleagues he was called to afghanistan, pays the ultimate price. your education is built to help move your career forward. here's how: we work with leading employers to learn what you need to learn so classes impact your career. while helping ensure credits you've already earned pay off. and we have career planning tools to keep you on track every step of the way. plus the freshman fifteen, isn't really a thing here. and graduation, it's just the beginning. because we build education around where you want to go. so, you know, you can get the job you want. ready, let's get to work.

kyung, what is the latest you're seeing and hearing?there is a desperate search, wolf, happening right under the water, under this sea that you're seeing right here. divers are using their hands to feel around the sunken ferry, because they simply cannot see. that's how murky this water is, so it is very dangerous. if you look and scan across the horizon, you'll see all of these military vessels. the reason why there are so many is that they are worried that bodies may drift out of the ferry and disappear. while all of this is happening, the investigation into why this accident happened continues. today we learned that the first call for help came not from the captain, but from a boy onboard. the south korean coast guard tells cnn that call happened a full three minutes before the ship's crew made its first distress call. more grim news from the search zone, as search and rescue divers plunge into the cold, murky water, hoping to find survivors nearly a week after the tragedy. the search here is dangerous. divers swim down more than 100

kyung lah is out front on a boat of the search area this morning in jindo, south korea.y going to know how much weight was on the ship, whether this could have been part of the problem? >> well, we asked that very question to the korean coast guard. and what they told us is up until they are able to lift this entire 6,000 ton vessel off of the sea floor, they won't know exactly how much cargo it has. they may know from the manifest. they may have some figures. but what needs to be sorted out is exactly how heavy it was, how much cargo they had until they lift it offer the sea for that. >> i know they will be able to tell where it was positioned because things shifted. one week in the search and i know they thought they might find a lot of the children in the cafeteria. they did not. was that any kind of a sign for hope, or what is the latest? >> it's a sign of confusion that what they think is happening isn't actually happening. what they can say is that they have to keep going under the water. so a weekend, you can see that the search is still very much an active search

kyung lah, thank you. one of the key operations figures behind the search, wind commander out of the royal new zealand air force. thank you for joining us. i know that the search operations about to resume with daylight over the indian ocean do you have any new fresh, credible leads that you are working on. they went back and further investigation and both of those objects were photographed and passed back and since then they've been recovered by chinese vessel that was in the area and, unfortunately, haven't given any new credible leads for that particular area. >> so you're just going to fly over this vast area and look and look and look? is that basically the bottom line? >> one of the things that we're starting to look at now is what we've had in that area. any future discussions in the area that will act in kuala lumpur and looking at expert data in drift currents. and now that we have the confidence that we have covered this area and haven't found it, it's likely to shift to the north and northeast.

what are you learning, kyung?well, wolf, even with this devastating news for the families that there are no pockets, you know, if there are no air pockets, very unlikely that there are any survivors. we're still seeing a lot of activity here at the search site. if you look over my left should shoulder, you can see where that gray military vessel is. right there behind that vessel where you see the lights, that's where the sunken ferry is. about 65 feet below those lights is where divers have been going in. about 30 minutes ago, we did see the very first of the divers slip under the sea of the yellow sea and begin the arduous search. if you look further to the left, these orange boats that you're looking at, going back and forth, that's where the divers pop up. sometimes they come up with bodies. sometimes they come up just for a rest. so this is very much still a search operation. a lot of activity here. as far as any additional updates that we've gotten, how many bodies they've been pulling out overnight, we don'

cnn's kyung lah is live at the station in jindo, south korea and joins us now, kyung, it must just bee anguish for the families there behind you. >> reporter: and we're seeing public outbreaks of that anguish, because as the minutes tick by we're now 72 hours after the ship went down, almost 74 hours, in fact. it is just getting harder and harder to bear what is just growing bad news. we're seeing these families break down and cry. earlier they invited cnn as one of the media cameras to air some of their frustrations to the captain, asking why did you get out? why are the children still aboard that ship? they're angry at the government. so we're starting to see that anguish, that pain, that sense of loss or confusion spilling over into frustration and anger. i don't know if you can hear, there are still -- you can hear family members screaming in the background, crying, it is extraordinarily difficult to hear this over and over again. what they are looking for, though, is more news, there is a news conference happening right now. it is being carried by all the national broadcasters. a

kyung, what charges does the captain face? >> reporter: he's facing a total of five criminal charges. they vary from negligence leading to death as far as abandoning the ship. he also faces a charge of causing bodily injury and not seeking rescue from nearby ships. this is something that the families who have been holding vigil at this port have wanted. they have wanted the captain to be arrested because they believe he was the one who issued the order. in speaking to reporters while handcuffed, he did admit that he was the one who issued the order telling passengers to stay where they are, to stay put as the ship was capsizing. he explained it as he was not sure where they would go, that there weren't rescue ships nearby, that the water was too cold and the currents were too strong. but the fact that they were trapped as the boat was capsizing, according to these families, they believe that is criminal intent and this is a man who should be behind bars. so it will bring them a little bit of solace to hear that there has been

kyung lah is in jindo, south korea, and today you learned there were modifications recently learned tocan you tell us about that? >> reporter: what we can tell you is that the prosecutor's office tells cnn that it is looking into that retrofit that you're talking about. this boat, this ferry was purchased from japan in 2007 and last year was retrofitted to be able to handle an additional 200 people. they're looking at that. they're looking at whether or not the cargo shifted or not. and they were looking at whether or not a sharp turn may have contributed to what happened here. >> kyung lah, there is also information that an additional crew member was arrested. there seems to be a large number of arrests here. >> reporter: yeah, we're hearing about it every single day, and last night what we heard our time in korea is that there were four more additional arrests. that brings the total of arrests to 15. 20 crew members survived what happened here to this ferry, only five of them now have not been charged. so this is a dragnet that is widening. it is something that the parents wanted her

kyung lah joins us with the latest. you could hear the determination in her voice not to give up the search. there does seem to be this creeping sense that search authorities are just guessing where the plane might be right now. are you getting that feeling there? >> reporter: i think they're admitting it, absolutely. we heard in the last press conference held by the head of the search team that basically they're not guarantied to find anything. they don't know if they're in fact looking in the right spot. they believe they are. they have the best educated guess, the scientists, the -- all the information is pointing to this particular area. this's why they have those two towed pinger locaters. one from the u.s., one from the uk, doing that 150-mile trek. they believe that's trperhaps where they're going to find that evidence that that wife says she needs. yes, they're not sure they're looking in the right spot, john. >> the words we hear now are luck and best guess. it tells you exactly where this search is right now.

kyung lah is in jindo, south korea, and today you learned there were modifications recently learned torry. what can you tell us about that? >> reporter: what we can tell you is that the prosecutor's office tells cnn that it is looking into that retrofit that you're talking about. this boat, this ferry was purchased from japan in 2007 and last year was retrofitted to be able to handle an additional 200 people. they're looking at that. they're looking at whether or not the cargo shifted or not. and they were looking at whether or not a sharp turn may have contributed to what happened here. >> kyung lah, there is also information that an additional crew member was arrested. there seems to be a large number of arrests here. >> reporter: yeah, we're hearing about it every single day, and last night what we heard our time in korea is that there were four more additional arrests. that brings the total of arrests to 15. 20 crew members survived what happened here to this ferry, only five of them now have not been charged. so this is a dragnet that is widening. it is something that the parents

kyung lah is live for us on a boat off the coast of jindo, south korea.e had a report on this situation, kyung, including the face of the millionaire owner of the company. tell me about this. >> reporter: well, he is the patriarch of the family who owns this company, a billionaire, somebody who is described as owning the ferry. he has an alter-ego, a still camera family man who takes pictures from one window of his house. that is where he comes up with the name. the people of korea know him as a photographer, the millionaire with no face. he's also known for his connection in 1987 to a massu we side of a religious secretary. he is connected to that secretary. he was never convicted for any sort of connection directly to the massu we side. but he was jailed for four years for financial crimes in connection with that massu we side. so an extremely interesting character and what authorities here have told us is that they have once again looked into his financial records. the ferry company last year did post a negative loss. and they are worried and concerned

it you hear commander scott and kyung talking about this. they're being very blunt uncertain starting point. they might have to reassess things. >> let's go back to absolute brass tackles and basics. we have only two areas of knowledge on this. we have the radar data from the turn from the transponder off to the turn and out over the straits of malaka. we have the radar data from the military. and you have satellite handshake. that is it. there is no more. and that is what they are working upon. and anything else is just bells and whistles to try and find out from that basic data. >> do you think though that they could have information we don't know the? for example, that would be crucial in determining fuel burn, something like altitude or speed? >> if they have. >> those things could be crucial. >> they have, they've not revealed. it matters not why as long as they know what's happening and are getting on with it. >> what about the british nuclear sub? it's going to be searching underneath the water which is something that has not happened

>> and those -- they're using that word "specific" very deliberately, kyung, aren't they? because they have a sense that this is an area, potentially, potentially, based on a lot of calculations that could produce some important results. >> a very educated guess. that's what we keep hearing. it is on science, it's on numbers, it's on whatever the mathematicians have been able to figure out. so again an educated guess, but yes, they're trying to narrow it because they have the suspicion that it may be out there in those particular areas. >> the ocean shield and the echo, two of the ships in the area right now, they really have the clock ticking because we only have what, three, four, five days left before the batteries dry up for those black boxes that are emitting those pings, if you will. and after that, it becomes in effect a whole new ball game if you're not going to be able to try to find those pingers, the source of the indication where those black boxes are. >> and it may be at that point, wolf, that there is that reassessment that we've heard angus houston the head

kyung, where are they focussing the search right now? the search is in the area you were talking about, the california. they have been able to work their way into the third floor and the fourth floor cabins. that's where so far they have found many of the students, many of the passengers, and inside that cafeteria that you're talking about, erin, are a lot of people that were having breakfast at about this time a week ago when this disaster began to unfold. and just take a look at the search right now. what you're seeing over here, and we're getting quite a good view of it. now you can see the divers in the orange inflatable rafts. that's where they go in, right in that area. and a little bit beyond, they're almost like a manila-covered buoy there are two buoys that mark the spot. that is where divers use their guidelines to go all the way down. the ship now is submerged approximately 65 feet. this is very difficult work. they have to feel around with their hands because they can't see anything in front of them. it is dangerous work. the

kyung, do we know how the weather is out there in the search area today? >> reporter: the weather has continued to be a challenge. visibility is poor today. but fact that the planes are taking off tells us that they still consider it good enough to try to search. so planes are flying pretty low to the sea, usually around 300 to 500 above the sea. so it is continuing to be a challenge. but they are still going out there. that's the distinction. >> kyung, appreciate the update. >>> the man who's coordinating the search efforts in australia today underscored the fact there are a lot of variables that are making the search difficult. he said while the best experts in the world are helping out, there isn't a whole lot of hard data to work with. listen. >> we don't know what altitude the aircraft was traveling at. we don't really know what speed it was going at, other than obviously we have some information that gives us some idea of the speed. so it's a very inexact science at the moment. >> so as all viewers know who have been watching this for the last couple

kyung, what is the latest you can tell us.e so many families right standing where you are. >> reporter: they are. you can see them right over my right shoulder. they're just gazing out at the sea. the rescue operation isn't anywhere they can seattle. it's 12 miles away. but they have maintained this 24-hour vigil ever since the ship capsized. the latest that we're hearing from the coast guard is divers have now reached the ship. they have laid down search lines. and beginning a difficult day of going in and out of the various areas of the ship. the captain of the capsized ferry going before cameras today, after he and two other crewmembers were charged by police. he faces five charges, including negligence leading to sinking the ship, abandoning the ship, and causing bodily injury resulting in death. the captain says he was in his bedroom when the ship started to sink, and it was the ship's third mate who was at the helm. the third mate identified only as park says i made mistakes. for some reason, the steering turned so much

kyung lah is out front in jindo, south korea.ng, what have you learned about the incidents involving these two ships. those pictures look identical. >> they're eerily similar. and we're learning there were already lessons learned several years ago. but the korean owner of the sewol either never heard about it or never put them in place. the sewol ferry sinking with hundreds of people trapped inside. shocking korea and the world. but in japan, this is deja vu. november 13th, 2009, a japanese ferry named iyake was traveling from tokyo to okinawa. less than 12 hours into the journey, the ocean current was very rough, says professor. he says the current shifted the cargo to one side, causing the ship to capsize. the ferry doesn't just look like the korean ferry accident, the two ships were made by the same builder, run by the same operator. they weighed almost the same and capsized nearly the same time into their journey. but here is a major difference, says professor watanabe. when the koreans bought the ferry from japan, they expan

>> kyung lah, thank you. on this really heartbreaking story. >>> just ahead, a teenage stowaway of a story that does not add up. >>> plus, what is being called a massive attack on an al qaeda affiliate. we'll talk about it with congressman peter king. what's your function? ♪ ♪ hooking up the country helping business run ♪ ♪ trains! they haul everything, safely and on time. ♪ tracks! they connect the factories built along the lines. and that means jobs, lots of people, making lots and lots of things. let's get your business rolling now, everybody sing. ♪ norfolk southern what's your function? ♪ ♪ helping this big country move ahead as one ♪ ♪ norfolk southern how's that function? ♪ improving everything from booking to baggage claim. we're raising the bar on flying and tomorrow we'll raise it yet again. mom has a headache! had a headache! but now, i& don't. excedrin is fast. in fact for some, relief starts in just 15 minutes. excedrin. headache. gone. [ banker ] sydney needed some financial guidance so she coul

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kyung lah is live from jindo with the latest on the rescue effort. kyung? >> reporter: jake, we're actually on the water. we're just outside the exclusion zone where this active search is still going on. it's continued in the overnight hours. it's just the early part of the day here. i want to give you a sense, though, of what we're looking at. see these banks of lights behind me? all of this is coming from the boats in this very active search. if you look above, there are flares being dropped from planes to help light up the night's sky. this is something that they are doing so divers know exactly where they are because this is extremely, extremely murky water. the currents are quite good today. this barge that you're looking at is where the sunken ferry is. it's right below that. the search continuing as the investigation picks up steam. today we learned that the first call for help came not from the captain but from a boy on board. the south korean coast guard tells cnn that call happened a full three minutes before the ship's crew made its first distres

. >> kyung lah joins me on the phone from jindo, south korea. even though search teams have given up on finding any survivors, the latest discover has got to be very difficult. >> reporter: it's very difficult. we can see that there's still this effort to try to find people, even though the discoveries are backing increasingly more gruesome. divers are trying to reach another room where they believe there are 50 girls who sought refuge, girls that were huddling together as the water was rising around them. it's horrific in finding, it's horrific in finding what these children went true. they are also expanding the search now. the government and the search teams here are asking that nearby fishing boats and towns become involved. they are asking the public to report anything unusual they see. what we've seen on the water is that they are trying to make sure that the bodies don't drift and scanning the search zone it certainly seems that they are concerned that they were not successful in keeping the bodies to the search area. it's getting increas

cnn's kyung lah is joining us by phone from jindon. >> it is very much a rescue operation still.perating under the assumption that there are survivors on this capsized ship. there has been horrific weather, high swells, at times the tide has been too dangerous for the divers for a few minutes there were divers lost. they were eventually recovered but -- and found safe but it certainly has been very, very difficult today trying to get to the actual boat itself. they did hope to try to pump some air into the capsized boat but even that, that had to be called off because of the bad weather. the search area is about 12 miles from where i'm standing and it's just a heartbreaking scene. you can see parents wrapping themselves in blankets, they are huddled under tents. they are standing here looking out at the ocean hoping and praying that there is going to be some sort of news but jake, i can tell you with every single passing moment you can feel the growing dread among these family members. >> have we learned anything more, kyung, but what may have caused this accident? >> well, there

>> thanks very much, kyung lah. we'll check back with you. shenise perth, australia.s certainly bearing the brunt of the flight 370 search effort. joining us is australia's ambassador to the united states. thanks for coming in. >> good to be with you. >> tell us about the coordination, the prime minister of malaysia in australia, ready to meet your prime minister. what's the objective here? >> first of all, ma leighs are in charge of the overall investigation. and we are responsible for this part of the investigation or the search because it's in the australian area, so we're doing that coordination. but any materials that are found by any of the parties who are engaged in this will be taken to perth, it will be collected there, and then take on the malaysia. >> malaysia is in overall charge but the search operation australia is in charge. >> yes, we are. >> have you found anything yet? >> no. as far as i'm aware, we haven't found anything yet. we're eliminating areas from our inquiry. there's a very good search process out there. if there is any chance of finding any

our kyung lah has more. what is going on with the effort right now, i know the death toll has risen pretty dramatically today. >> reporter: it has risen to 128, anderson, but it is still a frantic search, and you can tell just by looking over my shoulder. if you can see there are a number of divers who are parked right at the spot where the sunken ferry is, 65 feet below those buoys and the orange inflatables. some of them are not filled with people because those divers are under water right now. this is dangerous, this is very, very arduous. they can't see more than a foot in front of them combing through this area inch by inch. and because they can't see they are worried about their own safety, arres well, because the can be hit by floating furniture. now the navy did say they have six divers who they treated for pressure issues. they, anderson, have been seen inside pressure chambers in order to be able to continue to dive. so a very difficult and dangerous task still happening here off of jindo island, a

kyung lah has more on the latest from korea. so the death toll rising, but the divers behind you are still on a mission to rescue passengers who they hope are still alive, right? >> reporter: very much a rescue, and this may, anderson, may be a case of what you say versus what you know. everyone here is calling it a rescue. it certainly does appear to be a rescue mission if you look at the number of divers in those orange boats and black boats they are still going under the water to look for people. but this has apparently moved beyond that given all the facts that we know that you just said, no air pockets, no survivors for a week, why are they still calling this a rescue? the government being extraordinarily careful with what they call this, given this unbearable loss. hundreds of families losing their children. and if you think of it this way, almost an entire sophomore class was wiped out in one single high school. so this is just an unbelievable loss, anderson. >> and kyung, do authorities at this point have any idea? are t

kyung lah standing by with the latest on that. what's going on in perth right now, kyung? >> well, the very first of the planes has indeed taken off. we understand just getting this latest news from the australian authorities that there will be a total of ten planes in the air today, nine ships that remain at sea. this is very much like the other days that we've seen prior to this. it will be a comprehensive search we are told. those planes flying low to the sea. mowing the sea back and forth, looking for any sort of debris. and we understand also, wolf, that there will be a big news conference regarding the operations of this search. we do not know what the content of it will be, but we understand that it will be some sort of new detail regarding what this search is going to be looking like. wolf? >> we'll stand by for that. as long as we learn what is going on, we'll share it with all of our viewers. the weather, i take it, is much better today? they should have relatively clear skies, relatively calm waters? >> absolutely. we've heard that the weather's going to be quit

jim. >> kyung, it's a parents' nightmare.ry much for covering that extremely difficult story for us in south korea. this is a heart rending situation for everyone involved. and the investigators are not immune to the pain. someone who knows all too well what they're dealing with is cnn aviation analyst mary schiavo, she's inspector general for the u.s. transportation department. we've been hearing about you for weeks now in the malaysian airlines flight, for the past month or so, but let's also speak for a moment about this tragedy. how do you as an investigator cope with your emotions, you and your team when you're surrounded by parents, loved ones, family members who just want their loved ones back. that's got to be a real challenge. >> it's unbelievably difficult. and for example that tape that we just watched, that is the absolute worst. because as a professional, you can focus on the job, you can focus on the mission, you can focus on the technical aspects. that's what statisticses bear out. they show that professionals,

. >> kyung lah joins us now. >> reporter: well, anderson, we're hearing from the rescue teams they're treating this as a search and rescue operation. they're searching for the living. despite the mounting challenges it has now been 72 hours since the ship went into the water. hope is certainly dimming, the rain as you can see is still coming down and slowing what is already a painstaking search. hundreds of boats and hundreds of divers all focused on one thing, finding survivors. the frantic search continues, just one day after scores of rescues on the sinking ferry. family members wait desperately on shore, but so far no survivors pulled from inside the ferry. rescue crews hope the capsized ship contains air pockets with enough air to keep passengers alive. while many relatives watch over the search and rescue area, others cling to cell phones praying for a missing text from their children. bad weather only makes the search that much more treacherous. at one point, high tides turned the rescue teams around and slowed the hunt. desperation is settling in. shouldn't i be angry at that,

kyung lah, you're where the search is happening.es trying to lift that boat. what progress are they making, if any? >> reporter: well, let's give you a look of what it actually does look like right now. this is a 24-hour operation, and just scan the horizon here, erin, and you can see that there are dozens upon dozens of boats. you mentioned the crane, there it is, there are all kinds of search vessels here, and that's the focus, this area right to the center that you're looking at. this is where the sunken ferry, it's below the water, we cannot see it, but they are building these search lines, getting into the hull of the sunken ferry to see if there is any way they can find any survivors. our ship is listing and may fall. recordings reveal the frantic ship-to-shore communications as the ferry filled with 476 people, most of them students, begins to list and take on water. at 9:10, dtf, the center that monitors ship traffic asks, how are the passengers doing? the ferry replies, it's too listed and they are not able to move. 15 minu

kyung lah joins us now with the latest on australia. here we are 28 days into this.t's the latest on today's search effort? >> reporter: today's search effort will have more assets in the area than we've seen. we've heard the prime minister of australia say that we're still in the ramping up phase, and certainly the numbers revved of that. you mentioned the 14 planes. there are up to ten military planes, four civilian plains, three of those civilian planes will have sport spotters aboard. continue assets going into the search. there's also that british nuclear submarine as well as the hms echo. >> interesting language, new language we're we heard today. the new british vessel the hms echo we're told will be conducting a specific search today. what does that mean? this about a specific location? if so what are they looking for? >> reporter: that's a little unclear. we're hoping to learn much more about what the hms echo will be doing during that news conference with angus houston. what we do know is that the search is going to generally be in the area that it was yest

our own kyung lah is out front in the search area. and kyung, what are investigators saying about two crucial things, the renovations and the cargo? >> they're drilling down on those two very things, and they're looking at one other thing as well, whether or not the ship may have made too sharp a turn, and then those two items may have contributed to this disaster. so the investigation picking up speed. the search here on the water also continuing as the nation continues to grapple with the loss of so many young lives. the difficulty healing process begins in south korea, home to the 325 high school students on board last week's ferry disaster. students returned to class this morning for the first time, but outside the halls a somber moment. the young bodies of some of those who passed were driven by the school one last time. the school's gates now covered with flowers, yellow ribbon, and hundreds of personal messages to their friends and classmates. one nearby shop owner showing cnn a video of a young man who is believed to have peri

cnn's kyung lah is at the scene for us. she's joining us with the very latest. kyung?the mood here is distinction to shift after what has been a 24 hours of frustrating search, because of, primarily, the weather. i want you to take a look over my shoulder. what you're seeing over there is a gathering of parents. this is the dockside where they're waiting for news. the search is actually 12 miles away from here. and take a look at this video. this is something we shot just a short time ago. and what you're seeing are parents who not only are grief stricken, but now, they are also enraged. they want answers. they keep chanting, captain, come out. they want to know why the captain survived while their children were aboard this sinking vessel. they are still grieving. they feel that the news is not coming out quickly enough from the government. so what we're seeing here is this, as conditions get more desperate, as the death toll begins to rise and is expected to grow, the families are becoming increasingly enraged. wolf? >> are they giving up hope, or are they still maybe

kyung lah, cnn, south korea. >> wow. there's some strong currents and winds out there complicating the efforts to get those bodies back. let's take a look at the forecast. that was hard to watch, and we know the divers are facing tough conditions. >> the divers go down into the water, the currents are so strong, they're not able to hold their positioning inside the vessel. this region of the world, really the yellow sea and the east china sea, some of the most complex currents in the world when it comes to oceanic currents. we hav very active region as far as water conditions are concerned. we do have a storm system beginning to move in towards this region. over the past several hours, this storm comes in with strong winds. we know very strong thunderstorms possible. at this point, the model works the storm just south of the search area, but cloud cover expected here later on tonight and tuesday morning. but finally some better news for the searchers out there as the weather pattern begins to become more tranquil. any ti

kyung lah is joining us. what can you tell us? >> reporter: well, jake, forgive me.aving a few communications problems out here and the reason why is i'm about 12 miles offshore. what you're being looking at behind me is where the search is happening right now. those bright lights you see on the horizon and we are just before daybreak here in south korea. those bright lights are where divers are continuing to plunge under these cold, icy waters. very low visibility. making their way and using lines into the sunken ferry trying to look for survivors, trying to look for victims. it's a 24-hour operation. what is happening over here, look this way, that is one of the cranes that is standing just outside the exclusion zone and that crane will eventually be used to lift this ferry. a number of them are positioned here and they are going to lift it out of the sea. but this is a long-term process. what is happening right now is still the search, the recovery, and the rescue. they are not specifying exactly if they've given up hope on finding any survivors but right now what

kyung lah is joining us live from jindo.you have new information about the number of people missing, so many of them high school students. >> reporter: and this really speaks to the frustration of the families, wolf, because the numbers are constantly revising. now, what has ticked up is the number of dead. there are now 29 people who are dead. we don't have identities on all of them. but what was revised down is the number of people who were rescued. it went down to 174. so that is where families are getting so frustrated because they feel that authorities don't have a handle of even the numbers of people involved in all of this. and this is happening as we're starting to see even more images, these frightening images of those final moments inside that ferry as it was capsizing. you can see that people are clinging to the walls. they are trying desperately to maintain balance as everything is tipping over. it's simply frightening. you can see the students who are absolutely terrified. this is certainly not helping the famil

kyung lah, cnn, jindo, south korea. >> thanks for watching, everyone.gue, wolf blitzer, starts now. >>> right now, malaysia airlines flight 370, the initial underwater search for the plane about to end. what happens now? also right now, tensions escalate. so do the words between russia and ukraine. president obama now threatening moscow with new sanctions. we're live from kiev. also right now, a land dispute. suddenly so much more. a rancher's stance rallying the political right. that was before his racist rant. today, he tries to defend himself in an interview with cnn.

cnn's kyung lah is on a boat in the yellow sea where divers are searching for that ferry.eep has it sunk? how deep do those divers have to go? >> reporter: we understand that the divers have to go as far as 25 meters. it's a little unclear because we're talking about not a straight down but around a vessel. exactly how far in total that they are going. it's a little difficult, little more difficult math than it seems. what we can tell you is that there's an extraordinary amount of assets in this region. i just want to you scan the horizon quickly with me. you can see, look at all of these boats. these are military vessels. a number of coast guard vessels. you also see cranes out here. these cranes will eventually move in and begin the process of lifting this 6,000 ton vessel. it is a difficult task. and you mentioned, bill, 199 missing. many of them are those high school sophomore, only 15, 16 and 17 years old. that's why we're seeing so many people shaken up by what they are seeing. we have seen divers, bill, out here continuing the search. bill? >> how are they character

cnn's kyung lah is live once again for us on a boat off jindo, south korea, in the yellow sea.ht, tell us the very latest on the rescue. i guess it is mostly recovery efforts now, right? >> reporter: yeah, they're not using that word yet, though, because of the high emotions of who the people are who are waiting onshore, that being the parents and the victims being just children. in many cases they're only children. i have a little more information that we're getting from the authorities here, as well, bill. we are just learning that they have gotten into the cafeteria. it was morningtime, the assumption was that many of the people would have been eating breakfast in the cafeteria. there were no bodies there. we don't know what that means. we just know what that means, there are no bodies there, they don't know where everybody else is. it is going to take quite a bit of time to go through the entire vessel. and just to give you the idea of the active search, you can see that what we're in the middle of here is an oil slick. the authorities had been telling us that the ferry was