Search and Rescue Operations Continue on Sunken South Korean Ferry; Search Continues for Missing Malaysian Plane; Boston Prepares for Marathon
CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: still in all likelihood inside the body of that ship. CNN's Paula Hancocks is live in Jindo, South Korea. Paula?</s>PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Chris, we have very new information into us just the past couple of minutes. CNN has spoken to the spokesperson of the joint taskforce in charge of this search operation. And he has said this is still a search and rescue operation. They are still working on the assumption they may find survivors. He said that they haven't found any air pockets within the ship but there's still a possibility there may be air pockets because the ferry has not sunk completely. He said at this point it's about 30 to 50 feet below the surface, and saying it's maintaining its floating level at this point. This will obviously give hope those desperate families wanting to know whether or not their loved ones are alive or dead. But this is the sixth night we're going into since that disaster happened, so clearly hope is fading. But as far as the operation is concerned, it is still very much a search and rescue operation. The captains as you say, now has five charges against him including negligence. So does the third mate at the helm at the time of the accident. The driver wasn't even at the steering wheel. The captain was actually in his own personal room. So we are hearing they've been demonized by the president of this country Park Geun-hye, earlier on today, saying that what they have done is akin to murder. Kate, back to you.</s>KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Paula Hancocks, thank you very much. We'll be checking in with you throughout the show. Also happening right now, a joint U.S.-Yemeni operation targeting Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is currently under way in Yemen. The strikes are being called massive and unprecedented and involve both Yemeni commandos on the ground and, they suspect, drone strikes from the air. Joining us now to discuss, CNN chief national security correspondent Jim Sciutto and CNN national security analyst and former Bush administration homeland security adviser Fran Townsend. Good morning to you both. Jim, first you, this comes after we've seen the images that sparking a massive gathering of AQAP. Is anyone connecting these two things quite yet, the video we saw was startling to everyone and then this massive, unprecedented strike?</s>JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: No official is making a connection. It was a demonstration of Al Qaeda presence in Yemen, and it shows the immediacy of the threat. But it's an ongoing threat and they've known about it for some time. And as Fran and I have discussed, the U.S. is not going to allocate resources, the Yemenis are not going to allocate resources unless they include intelligence that's going to direct them to do something there. That said, this was an embarrassment to see such a large gathering at that time, really kind of a challenge to show their strength there and really a reminder that this is a real threat.</s>BOLDUAN: Is it fair to say these two things are connected, Fran?</s>FRANCES TOWNSEND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Not necessarily. They wouldn't have taken the shot because there had been this video release. And to Jim's point, what would have been required to launch this sort of an operation, drones, manpower, all of that, would have been very specific intelligence of real high-value targets to justify the investment of resources.</s>BOLDUAN: Who could some of these high-value targets be that they would be going after?</s>TOWNSEND: The number one person that everyone wants to know is al Asiri. Al Asiri is responsible for the underwear bomb and the computer cartridge found. He has been, frankly, the greatest threat to U.S. national interest and national security. So the big question is, he's certainly the target of an operation like this. Have they got him? Will they get him? And no Yemeni officials are saying.</s>SCIUTTO: You talk to intelligence officials about what is Al Qaeda today? It's very different than it was at 9/11. It's a more diverse threat, a franchised kind of threat, in effect. It's not just core Al Qaeda as we know in Pakistan formerly led by bin Laden. But you have these related groups, like Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula which is based in Yemen, other groups in north Africa, et cetera, more diffuse, maybe less ambitious, maybe less able to carry out large-scale attacks, but setting its sight on smaller attacks. And because it's more diverse and more dispersed, harder to keep track of, and it requires these kinds of operations in places like Yemen, drone strikes, et cetera.</s>BOLDUAN: When you describe it that way, which is obviously the right way to describing it, some watching might say it doesn't seem as much of a threat. But AQAP has been a growing threat, a big problem for the administration, for the United States. How big of a threat is it if they're not maybe going after the large-scale attacks but they're still a huge threat?</s>TOWNSEND: Well, when John Brennan was in the White House job and even the CIA director, Jim Clapper as the director of national intelligence referred to Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the group that's being targeted here in Yemen, as the single greatest, most capable threat against the U.S. and U.S. interests around the world. And I think that's right. Al Asiri, this bomb-maker is one of the reasons. Second is because they're able to project their power outside of Yemen where these operations are going on in the south, right near the port of Aden, you know, you don't realize, it's a real hub. You've got extremists from Africa, off the coast of Africa and Somalia. You've got them collecting from the Arabian Peninsula there. So there really is infrastructure in Yemen which is part of what they're trying to target here.</s>SCIUTTO: And they're always refining their tactics. You remember just a couple months ago we had a new threat alert that they had somehow refined shoe bombs to get past the detection we have at the airports. That's tied right back to al Asiri. And these are threats directed directly at the U.S. They want to get a shoe bomb on an American airplane. It's something they attempted before and nearly had success with the underwear bomber around Christmas four or five years ago. So this is a direct threat and this is why the U.S. is really on top of this.</s>BOLDUAN: And at the same time the operation is still ongoing, the use of drone strikes is controversial because of the concern and the real possibility of collateral damage. You said earlier in the show there were three already civilians killed during the ongoing operation. What does this potentially do to U.S./Yemeni relations? We know it has had a bad impact on relations with Pakistan.</s>TOWNSEND: Well, one, you've got to realize that President Hadi of Yemen, it shows real courage on his part. It also tells you, the fact that this is an ongoing effort with such massive resources behind it tells you that the target is a very high-value target. You don't commit the Yemeni army, you don't commit the drones without the target being very real. It's worth saying there's a whole targeting process that three casualties in this sort of drone strike are actually quite unusual. You don't see often that level of collateral damage. Why? Because these are precision weapons. They're supported by very specific intelligence. And so, this -- it's tragic. You have one civilian casualty, it's tragic. But they've really refined the process to reduce those civilian casualties, because when we had those, there's a real strain in bilateral relations and it puts real pressure on the government, in this case in Yemen.</s>SCIUTTO: It is interesting, just to your point about how serious they must be about these targets. Typically when we see drone strikes it's a one-off. You hear about it later. You get a report of one vehicle hit. This is over a couple of days that we've been reporting over the weekend, and now this massive ground operation by Yemeni forces. So to your point, clearly there's something big here they're going after.</s>BOLDUAN: We're going to be watching it. Fran, Jim, thank you so much. Chris?</s>CUOMO: All right, Kate, if flight 370, the search for it is nearing an end, at least in terms of combing the area they set out to map. Why am I saying that? Because right now Bluefin 21 is on its ninth trip below the ocean surface and it's running out of places to look. Officials say more than two-thirds of the underwater search area has now been covered, still no sign of the missing jetliner. CNN's Erin McLaughlin is in Perth, Australia, with more. Erin?</s>ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Chris. Well, with the majority of this narrow search area now ruled out, all eyes on Bluefin 21 as people waiting, watching, hoping, even praying MH-370 is found.</s>MCLAUGHLIN: The search for flight 370 is at a critical juncture, investigators say now only days away from completing the targeted search area with no sign of debris.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I appeal to everybody around the world to pray and pray hard that we find something to work on over the next couple of days.</s>MCLAUGHLIN: The Bluefin 21 back in the water this morning. The search area six miles in radius represents the best guess as to where the plane may be. If nothing is found, that search area is set to widen dramatically.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Whatever the outcome of the next few days, we need to regroup and reconsider the operations. It doesn't mean that we are going to stop the operations.</s>MCLAUGHLIN: Over the weekend, investigators also amending crucial information about how they now believe the plane flew. Investigators say once flight 370 made its initial left turn, deviating from the planned routes, the aircraft climbed to 39,000 feet for about 20 minutes over Malaysia. Dipping in altitude over the Indian Ocean, Malaysian officials believe the plane flew for about another six hours before crashing.</s>MCLAUGHLIN: Searchers say that Bluefin will have scanned the entire narrowed area by week's end. That's if it performs as expected and if the weather holds, which is a big if given that there a cyclone named Jack currently to the north of the search operation. Michaela?</s>MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: We know how weather can affect those search efforts. Erin McLaughlin, thank you so much for that. Let's take a look at your other headlines right now. Vice President Joe Biden is landing in Ukraine this morning. He's going to hold meetings with members of the Kiev's interim government. The conflict turned deadly again Sunday. Six people were killed in a shoot-out. Pro-Russian groups say it started when one of those road blocks in the east came under attack. The entire climbing season on Mount Everest could be canceled after last week's deadly avalanche. That's because the native Sherpas who guide climbers up the world's tallest mountain are threatening to go on strike. At least 13 Sherpa guides died as they prepared to get the route ready for summit. The Sherpa community is upset with Nepal's plans to compensate the families barely equivalent to $400. And a new study published this morning shows that many doctors are still prescribing codeine for children despite safety concerns. Researchers broke down nine years of pediatric ER visits and found just a small bit of codeine prescriptions for colds, coughs, and pain. The study's lead author says the drug can have fatal side effects for some children, but for many others it has no effect at all.</s>CUOMO: So as we all know today a 26.2-mile stretch of Boston and the vicinity might just be the safest place on earth. Why? Security extremely tight for the 118th running of the Boston Marathon, the first, of course, since last year's bombings. Our John Berman live this morning at the starting in Hopkinton, Massachusetts. You were there for the worst and now what you're hoping will be the best. How is it up there, J.B.?</s>JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: It is the best, spirits incredibly high here, Chris. I've seen nothing but smiles on everyone's face. I was talking to the race operations director a short time ago. You could see it is bursting with anticipation for this race to get going, and it will get going in about three hours. Many starting ways, why? Because 36,000 runners will be in this year's race. That's up 9,000 from last year. And they'll be running amidst incredibly tight security, as you said, unprecedented in many places. Officials calling this the safest place on earth today. In just the last few minutes I saw state police behind me. I've seen National Guard. I saw helicopters flying overhead. And this is in addition to what we are not seeing. What we're not meant to see, 100 cameras, more than they've ever before, lining the route monitoring almost all of this race course. You can't monitor every inch of a 26.2-mile race, but they have sights and eyes on all the key locations. They are confident this will go off very well. They're asking runners, no backpacks on the race course itself. No camel backs, that water you carry on your back, that will not be allowed this year. Racers will not be allowed to wear costumes or masks. Every once in a while you see that in a marathon. Not here. Not today. They just don't want to take it risk. And as for the fans, they've been told, if you can, leave the big backpacks and leave the strollers at home. You'll make the official security personnel, their jobs much, much easier if you do your part and you chip in. And everyone here does want to chip in. They're expecting nearly a million people or more to line this race. That would be the biggest crowd ever here. I've talked to a lot of people, friends, family, survivors, they all want to be part of this race today. This is a very important day to turn the page, as one runner told me, to change from tears of pain to tears of joy. Chris, Kate?</s>BOLDUAN: Absolutely. It's going to be such an amazing day, and emotional day for so many there. We're going to watch it with you, John. Thank you so much. It's great to see all the life and happiness going on behind him.</s>CUOMO: I think it's very instructive that they're not expecting the most runners ever, but they are expecting the most spectators ever. And that shows confidence in the community surrounding. I went up there and I have some surprises for the guys a little later on in the show, what I brought them back from the land of Boston strong.</s>BOLDUAN: Presents or what?</s>CUOMO: Yes.</s>BOLDUAN: Coming up next on NEW DAY, the search for flight 370, the underwater vehicle, the Bluefin 21 has already covered more than two- thirds of the intended search area, the focus. And right now, it faces yet another obstacle. We'll have more on that ahead.</s>CUOMO: And then on "INSIDE POLITICS," intrigue, why are some Democrats pushing 81-year-old Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg to step down? Who do the Dems want to replace her?