Ferry Disaster: No Air Pockets Found; "Object of Interest" Found in Australia; President Obama Heads to Asia
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking news just in to CNN, no air pockets found on the capsized South Korean ferry as divers find more bodies of those trapped in the sinking ship. We are live with the details.</s>POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Also happening right now -- an intense underwater search for missing Malaysian Airline Flight 370. The Bluefin-21 submarine has covered 80 percent of that prime search area without finding a single piece of debris. Could hope of finding the vanished jetliner be fading fast? Might they need to regroup with the new plan? We'll also take you live to Perth, Australia.</s>BERMAN: And President Obama arriving shortly in Japan, beginning week long diplomatic tour through Asia. But, it is one Asian world power he will not be visiting that will end up monopolizing the conversation. We're live in Tokyo. Good morning, everyone. Great to see you this Wednesday morning. Welcome to EARLY START. I'm John Berman.</s>HARLOW: And I'm Poppy Harlow. It is 5:00 a.m. here on the East Coast. Wednesday, April 23rd. We begin with breaking news from South Korea, where officials now confirm to CNN, the divers have not found any air pockets on the third and fourth floor of the capsized ferry. This morning, they are looking for survivors, but they're only finding victims. The death toll now stands at 150, roughly the same number are still missing. We are finding new details of what happened in the moments after passengers and crew realized there was something wrong. Let's go straight to CNN's international senior correspondent Nic Robertson in Jindo, South Korea. Nic, what can you tell us?</s>NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Poppy, this latest news we are hearing from the divers that they found no pockets on the third and fourth level of the ship is perhaps going to be a: (a) a grim milestone, and (b), a turning point here, because the hope had been the air pockets would be where some of the students would be holding out. They were believed to be on the third and fourth floor. Now, of course, divers haven't searched the whole ship, there may be air pockets elsewhere aboard somewhere else on the ship. But the focus was the third and fourth floor where the students were believed to be. So, it is potentially beginning to move from a rescue to recovery operation. That is not being said by government or any officials here at the moment. What we are hearing from the divers really is very bad news for many of the families who are waiting. The divers are only searching the third and fourth levels at the moment. They would be able to bring out bodies. If there was hope, that they thought there would be people surviving on other levels of the ship, they would be focusing on that, having essentially declared that they won't find anyone alive on those two levels they're searching right now. So, it's not good news at all this day. They continue to bring up or as we continue to see the police maritime ships, bring those bodies ashore. But for the family, today, it's been another tough day of waiting. A memorial service in a school near Seoul where many of the children attended school, even before their parents know what's happened to their children. So, this news, very tough news for everyone here, Poppy.</s>HARLOW: And, Nic, we also know that the offices of the ferry operator, along with the residential home of the owner being searched by authorities because there are so many questions of how this all happened. You've got nine arrests of crew members. And at the same time, news now that a young boy, a passenger first called emergency officials three minutes before any of the crew sent a distress signal. Is that right?</s>ROBERTSON: It is. It's incredible. At 8:52 in the morning, the young boy called the 119 emergency service here. They try to connect him with the coast guard. The coast guard is asking for latitude and longitude, which, of course, he didn't have. His message was simply: help us, the ship is sinking. It's three minutes after that before the ship's crew actually called the maritime emergency services to try to get help for the ship. There were also other calls made by passengers on board to emergency services as well because they were panicking about the situation. The search now, as well, we are hearing that the owners of the ship that their premises and offices have been searched, again, will be very troubling. The crew members, senior crew members arrested, these offices being searched. We have heard as many as 30 senior members of the company that ran this shipping line may be under scrutiny at this time as well -- Poppy.</s>HARLOW: So many questions, and your heart breaks for the families. As those bodies as you said, Nic, have been coming in behind you ship after ship and the grieving parents waiting for news. Thank you. Appreciate the report this morning.</s>BERMAN: Five minutes after the hour right now. Breaking news overnight in the search of Flight 370, Australia's prime minister is speaking out, promising to keep looking for the jet, which is now missing jet. But the prime minister also indicating that the strategy may soon change, also saying the search will not go on forever. This is ten underwater missions are complete with no sign yet, at all, of any debris from the missing Boeing 777. Bad weather today is hampering the search from the air. The planes were forced to turn back because of the remnants of a tropical cyclone over the search zone. We are expecting an update from Malaysian officials in just about an hour. Stay with us for that. In the meantime, Erin McLaughlin live in Perth with the latest on the search this morning. And, Erin, we do understand you have some new information.</s>ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, John. We have new information from the Joint Agency Coordination Center, responsible for organizing the search efforts here in Perth, telling us that western Australian police have attended to a report of material washed ashore, of 10 kilometers east of Augusta in Australia. They have secured the material. They say the Australian Transportation and Safety Bureau is currently examining these photographs to see if it has any relevance to the search for MH370. The ATSB provided photos to the Malaysian investigation team as well. We have reached out to the western Australian police for comment on the latest development. No comment so far. But there have been plenty of leads in this search, John, so I think it's important to say that authorities really make a point of considering all these leads and trying to rule them in or either rule them out as being potentially connected to missing Flight 370. The last lead we heard of was an oil slick discovered in the vicinity of the Australian vessel, the Ocean Shield. There was speculation at the time that potentially it was from the engine of MH370. But later, exhaustive testing rules that out. So, I think it's important to treat these kinds of leads with caution. But again, the Joint Agency Coordination Center saying a report of material washed ashore 10 kilometers east of Augusta, they secured the vehicle and the ATSB currently looking at it.</s>BERMAN: As you said, the list of leads that have existed over the last month and a half is long and fruitless, from satellite pictures to debris spotted from the airplanes, you know, to apparently the oil slick and of course, we don't know about those pings that were heard under water. Nevertheless, it is interesting that they did tell us at least about this debris that they are looking at that washed upon shore. It's been one of the lingering question for some time, six weeks after they believe this plane disappeared. You know, if it disappeared where they said it did, would there be any sign on shore of debris and when might that happen?</s>MCLAUGHLIN: Absolutely. And it must be said, that hours and hours and hours of searching by plane, by satellite, by sea, scouring the ocean for physical signs of MH370. They have all turned up to be garbage at this point. That effort continuing in earnest, despite the fact that Australian authorities said it's looking less and less likely that they are going to find debris from the missing plane. So, certainly, if it did you want turn out to be from MH370, it's the first physical piece of evidence they have discovered so far. But again, treating the leads with caution, authorities are working to rule them in or out at this point -- John.</s>BERMAN: All right. Erin McLaughlin live for us in Perth, with the news Australian officials are looking at objects that washed up on shore. They are analyzing them. There's a news conference expected within an hour from Malaysian officials. Perhaps we'll hear more then. Our thanks to Erin for that.</s>HARLOW: Yes, 6:00 a.m. Eastern Time, we'll bring it live here on CNN and give you the latest as soon as we have it. If they do have some sort of objects, we should hope to get some sort of answers soon. All right. Also, now, in just a few hours, President Obama touching down in Tokyo for the first leg of a long delayed trip to Asia. He will visit South Korea, Malaysia and the Philippines. But, first, he will spend time in Japan. Our White House correspondent Michelle Kosinski is live in Tokyo. Michelle, this is a trip that was planned for October then delayed because of the government shutdown. It is now happening. What's the goal?</s>MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Right. And this is a really important trip for the U.S. and for these four countries that the president will visit with. I guess if you could pick a sort of overarching theme, it would be relationships and reassurance, kind of affirming and redefining the U.S. commitment to this region both in the short and long term. These are some of America's closest allies, but, you know, that doesn't mean there aren't problems or tensions. Here in Japan, the focus will be trade, trying to hammer out this transpacific partnership, a trade deal. But with Japan at least, talks are at a stalemate and the credibility of both sides to affect progress has been called into question. Other countries have different issues, but no less serious, maybe even more serious, you might say. South Korea, of course, it's the North Korean threat. The U.S. has a security commitment to this region as well. And when you look at Malaysia and the Philippines, they are both involved in territorial disputes with China. So, you know that relationship, as well, sort of overshadows a lot of the discussions that will happen on this trip. I mean, the U.S. doesn't want to set up a stance so it seems like China is on the opposite side or these countries, in the meetings feel like for the future, they need to choose between an alignment with the U.S. or an alignment with China. The key is to strike a balance and lay some more groundwork for cooperation on all sides, if possible -- Poppy.</s>HARLOW: Absolutely. We'll check in with you later on as you continue to travel with the president. I appreciate you reporting this morning. Thank you, Michelle. Well, the crisis in Ukraine escalating. Ukraine and Russia blaming one another for this uprising in the eastern part of the country. Is civil war imminent? We will take you live there straight ahead.</s>BERMAN: Plus, we have details this morning in the high school student that police say flew from California to Hawaii in the wheel well of the plane. New information about why he may have done it. That's coming up next.