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Connect the World

Pinger Confirmation Best Lead So Far In Searching For MH 370; Emotional Testimony From Oscar Pistorius; New High School In Costa Rica Hopes To Transform Rural Society

Aired April 07, 2014 - 11:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

BECKY ANDERSON, HOST: Well, it's been called the most promising lead yet. This hour, signals from the ocean depths could be from Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. We're live in Kuala Lumpur with the details.

Also ahead, Oscar Pistorius takes the stand in his murder trial and begins with a tearful apology for the family of the woman he killed.

And as Rwanda marks the darkest chapter in the country's history, we'll bring you an intimate look at the path to reconciliation.

ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Abu Dhabi, this is Connect the World with Becky Anderson.

ANDERSON: Well, a very warm welcome to the capital of the UAE and our show's new home. It is just after 7:00 pm. A very good evening to you.

Well, after weeks of looking, searchers seem closer than ever to finding Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. Despite it being late in the evening there locally, this hour we are waiting to see if Authorities confirm that signals heard deep beneath the Indian Ocean are indeed from that missing plane.

Now a pinger locator towed by the Australian ship Ocean Shield picked up sounds some 1,700 kilometers northwest of Perth. Search official say the signals are consistent with those from a flight data recorder as well as a cockpit voice recorder.

Nic Robertson joins me now from Kuala Lumpur with the very latest on the search -- Nic.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORREPSONDENT: Well, Becky, we heard a few hours ago from the acting transport minister here. He told us that he'd been on the phone with the head of the international search mission Angus Houston. He said that he'd had an update about the search for the black boxes.

Earlier in the day, about five hours earlier, Angus Houston said it could be days before a full analysis was made, a determination one way or another was made. The acting transport minister here seemed to offer something a little more optimistic from that.

This is what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HISHAMMUDDIN HUSSEIN, ACTING MALAYSIAN TRANSPORTATION MINISTER: We are cautiously hopeful that there will be a positive development in the next few days, if not hours.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTSON: Hours. This seemed to go further than we've heard from Australia earlier in the day. What that is based on, we're not aware. He said that this was a time of hope, cautious hope, prayers he said, this was a time for more prayers. But it does seem as if at least the spirits of Malaysian officials are raised by this, although of course they are being cautious and advising everyone else to do the same, Becky.

ANDERSON: Yeah, Nic, just describe the atmosphere. We are now a month in from the loss of this flight.

ROBERTSON: Yeah, we talked today with someone who represents some of the crew members -- a union representative of some of the crew members aboard MH370. Indeed, he told me he knew several of them.

He said their families who he has been talking to are at the moment coming to terms with the fact that perhaps they are going to get some information soon. They are sort of bracing themselves for that.

But yet we've heard from other families, families of passengers, both Chinese and Malaysians, that they don't want to get their hopes up. They really do want to wait until there really is a complete confirmation that this is the sounds are coming from black boxes. That the black boxes are associated with Flight MH370.

And only until there's that positive confirmation would they then begin to believe and take on board everything that they've been told.

Of course, some of these families are still desperately hoping that somehow there may be survivors, that the aircraft when it hit the water landed on the water, that somehow a rescue dinghies were deployed. There's been no evidence of that.

But this is the level of hope, desperate hope, that still exists, Becky.

ANDERSON: Sure.

Nic Robertson there on the story for you. And a lot more this hour on the investigation into the disappearance of flight 370.

Ahead, we're going to ask the head of the international air transport association what's being done to prevent a similar incident in the future?

Plus, our Richard Quest will show us how the U.S. navy's pinger locator was able to track those signals in the Indian Ocean and how this device could finally help end the mystery of flight 370.

Well, dramatic testimony today in the murder trial of South African track star Oscar Pistorius. The athlete took to the stand for the first time and apologized to Reeva Steenkamp's family.

Out of the view of the courtroom camera, he spoke about his childhood, the death of his mother and how she kept a firearm under her pillow.

Now Steenkamp's mother sat stoney-faced during what was an emotional testimony.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OSCAR PISTORIUS, PARALYMPIAN: I'd like to apologize and say there's not a moment and there hasn't been a moment since this tragedy happened that I haven't thought about your family. I wake up every morning and you're the first people I think of, the first people I pray for. I can't imagine the pain and the sorrow and the emptiness that I've caused you and your family. I was simply trying to protect Reeva.

I can promise that when she went to bed that night she felt loved.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Well, let's find out more about Pistorius's testimony today. Robyn Curnow is live from Pretoria for you this evening.

And after, Robyn, what's been nearly a month, today we finally hear from the defendant himself. An extremely emotional hour-and-a-half from Oscar Pistorius.

ROBYN CURNOW, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. And that apology was very unusual for an accused to do that, to actually take the time to turn away, turn his back to the judge and to speak directly to the parents of the deceased in court.

You know, I was in court. And it actually felt a bit uncomfortable watching it, because it was a very personal, intimate kind of conversation that really shouldn't have been taking place in the full glare of the international spotlight, or even you know the few of us who were in court. It really was quite a powerful, quite emotional moment.

That said, afterwards, Oscar Pistorius kind of got himself together. He was less emotional. He sat down. And he gave us a sense of who he was, his childhood, his talked about his dogs, about his relationship with god. And we also got a sense of how deeply troubled he still is more than a year after the shooting. Take a listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PISTORIUS: I have terrible nightmares about things that happened that night where I wake up and I smell -- I can smell blood and I wake up to being terrified.

If I hear a noise I wake up just in a couple state of terror to a point that I'd rather not sleep than fall asleep and wake up like that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW: Now, because South Africa has no jury system, the judge is unlikely to be swayed by all this emotional stuff.

That said, our legal analyst does say that, you know, Oscar Pistorius's believability, credibility is all at stake here. And all of his demeanor on the stand today plays into -- you know, portraying him as someone who is genuine, who is authentic, and that is so key as he goes ahead with his testimony. And of course through cross-examination as well.

ANDERSON: Robyn Curnow for you in Pretoria this evening. Thank you, Robyn.

Well, later on Connect the World we're going to have in-depth analysis of the Oscar Pistorius trial, including what the defense might do next to bolster its case that Pistorius did not intentionally kill his girlfriend. That is coming up later in the program.

Well, first, Crimea now reports that another Russian-speaking region of Ukraine says it wants to break away from Kiev. Pro-Russia protesters have seized state buildings in several east Ukrainian cities. Now, these images are from Donetsk, a self-proclaimed legislature there says it wants to hold a referendum by May 11 on whether to join Russia.

Protests are being repeated in other Cities, including Kharkiv and Lugansk. And you can see, all three are close to Ukraine's border with Russia.

Let's get you to the region. Kiev has dispatched several top security officials to eastern cities.

Journalist Victoria Butenko joins us live now from the Ukrainian capital.

And what chance these areas -- these renegade areas, as Kiev I'm sure would describe them, get what they want at this point?

VICTORIAN BUTENKO, JOURNALIST: Well, every single official you talk to you in Kiev basically say none. There is no chance they do it.

But, the acting president in speaking today addressing the people, he admitted that the local police has been quite passive, and they are sending additional police force, additional special forces there.

It should be noted, Becky, that the numbers of the people the so- called self-proclaimed local consult is actually quite small. We would have up to 200 people in the building, up to 2,000 outside. And the cities are about, you know, up to a million.

But they are quite aggressive, though, Becky.

ANDERSON: What happens next?

BUTENKO: Well, as we can (inaudible) parliament's reactions tomorrow. The parliament is to ban all those organizations, those NGOs and political parties calling for separatism and (inaudible) are in the eastern Ukraine. And we expect some reaction from them. The acting president said that everyone having weapons is basically subject to anti-terrorist activity. and a lot of them over 30 of the separatists have already been detained, more to follow as announced by the law enforcement agencies.

ANDERSON: Yeah, clearly a developing story there. Victoria, we thank you.

Still to come tonight here on Connect the World out of Abu Dhabi for you, remembrance in Rwanda 20 years on from the genocide that shocked the world. A flame is lit in the country's capital.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: This is Connect the World with me, Becky Anderson. You're watching CNN. welcome back. It is after 7:00 here in the UAE, the show's new home.

Let's get you caught up on our top story tonight, the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight 370.

Now searchers are working to confirmed that new signals picked up in the Indian Ocean are, in fact, from that missing plane. Authorities say the sounds are consistent from those from a flight data recorder as well as a cockpit voice recorder.

Now a pinger locator towed by the Australian ship Ocean Shield located the pulses about 1,700 kilometers northwest of Perth.

Well, clearly it is very late at night at this point locally there. This entire investigation has left us asking what's being learned to prevent us from losing track of any aircraft in the future.

Well, joining me now is Tony Tyler. He is the head of the international air transport association.

You know, it goes without saying that it's up to organizations like yours and others to sort out what can be done going forward to prevent this happening again.

TONY TYLER, CEO, INTERNATIONAL AIR TRANSPORT ASSOCIATION: Absolutely right. We have to make sure that we're never again in the situation where we have literally lost an airplane.

ANDERSON: So what do you do?

TYLER: We're convening a task force together to -- of all the necessary experts from all the organizations, the airlines, obviously, the manufacturers, the supplies of satellite services, search and rescue people and so on, to come together to decide what is the best way of making sure that we can keep track of aircraft all the time wherever they are.

ANDERSON: I believe that report will be ready by December. That's nine months from now.

TYLER: Well, we've got 100 years of commercial aviation without this ever happening before. So I think what's important now is to get this right. We don't have to rush to anything. And now is not the time for sales pitches, now is not the time or people to think, well, you know, how can I make some money out of this.? Now is the time to get this right.

TYLER: Tony, I want our viewers just to get a sense of what some of the discussions are around what might happen next. For example, some are saying that you need cameras in the cockpit, for example, former NTSB Chairman Jim Hall argued for that. Have a listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIM HALL, FORMER NTSB CHAIRMAN: Some of the concerns that pilots have raised about cameras in the cockpit are the same concerns that were raised at the time that we put cockpit voice recorders in the cockpit. They have demonstrators, along with the flight data recorder, that when effectively and appropriately used, we have been able to drive the accident rate in commercial aviation down to almost zero because we've had the appropriate tools.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Cameras in the cockpit part of the (inaudible) of your investigation or inquiry?

TYLER: There are two things we need to look at. One is tracking aircraft, whereabouts is the aircraft all the time? That's one issue. And I think that is a relatively straightforward thing to sort out.

The other one, which is about streaming data from the aircraft, whether it's a camera feed or whether it is a feed of data from effectively what's going in now to the flight data recorder, the copy voice recorder. That's a separate issue. And I think it's much more complicated issue.

It's certainly something we're going to look at, but I...

ANDERSON: Do you -- sorry, yeah -- do you buy cameras in the cockpit?

TYLER: It's one of the things we should look at. I think are some obvious advantages, but we need to think about all the implications. And look at it in the context of what we're trying to do here.

ANDERSON: Tony, one of the other elements in this story is the fact that there were passengers traveling on stolen passports, not for a moment am I suggesting those passengers were involved in whatever happened with this flight.

But Interpol has a database, I believe, containing 40 million records from 167 countries, countries use Interpol, of course, for more than 800 million searches per year. The U.S. searches the database the most, followed by the UK and the UAE, that's the region of course that we are in here.

But last year, passengers were able to board planes more than a billion, and I say that again, a billion times without having their passports screened against the Interpol database. I am astonished every time I hear that fact. And I'm sure our viewers are too.

Are you?

TYLER: I'm disappointed that the data that airlines are providing to governments is not being used. We go actually to a lot of trouble, and a lot of expense, to provide governments with what's called advanced passenger information.

ANDERSON: So why aren't they using it?

TYLER: That's a question you should ask them. It's a question I would like to ask them, too. Why aren't they using it to do effective border control? Why aren't they doing it, by the way, to make border control easier and quicker for the vast majority of people who are traveling on perfectly legitimate passports.

ANDERSON: The industry clearly wants to lead where otherwise regular -- regulators will lead. I mean, you're looking for self regulation to a certain extent rather than industry led regulation going forward -- correct?

TYLER: Well, we believe that -- I mean, this whole area, the area of tracking of aircraft and streaming will be an area that ICAO, the International Civil Aviation Organization, will of course be very involved in. But the industry can generally move faster, we can generally convene people quicker. We can generally get this -- much as we've done, for example, on the environment side. We've been very helpful, I believe, to ICAO, in helping to bring the industry together on an issue that ICAO is the one that will remake the rules, but we brought the industry together.

I think this is another area where we can help put that together to get things moving quickly, to get things moving in a direction the industry can live with, can support and also can afford.

ANDERSON: Pleasure having you on tonight. We thank you very much indeed.

And as ever, lest we forget there are families involved still waiting to hear what has happened to their loved ones. It's...

TYLER: Well, it's not...

ANDERSON: It feels criminal doesn't it? Thank you, sir.

TYLER: Thank you.

ANDERSON: Live from Abu Dhabi, this is Connect the World. Coming up next, change could be in the air in India as the world's most populous democracy heads to the polls. And money is the focus. We're going to tell you why in Global Exchange.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: You're watching Connect the World live from Abu Dhabi. I'm Becky Anderson. Welcome back.

Now time to get you a look at the internal workings of some of the world's emerging markets in our global exchange series. It's the largest election the world's ever seen with 814 million people eligible to vote. Indians head to the polls in an election that will last five weeks. But with the economy of the world's most populous democracy stalled, vital voting blocs are being forced to rethink their choice of candidates.

I'm joined here in Abu Dhabi for our Global Exchange by our emerging markets editor John Defterios.

Let's just talk about the constituencies. The two main constituencies are involved in what is this enormous vote -- the youth and the rural.

JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN CORREPSONDENT: Yeah, in fact the real stalwarts of the Congress Party, which has been ruling for the last 10 years. But we can see that the makeup is starting to change. And it boils down to the economy, Becky. Not a surprise here, pocketbook issues affecting both categories.

But the real problem has been growth of 9 percent during the first five years of this Congress Party going down to 4.5 percent, the worst performance in 10 years.

So let's, first and foremost, take a look at the youth. And this is an amazing number, because of the 1.2 billion people -- 26 years and younger, 50 percent of the population. It's actually two-thirds of the population below 35.

So this is a huge voting bloc.

And if you take a look at the chart here, by a favor of three to one they're favoring the BGAP, the challenging party right now.

ANDERSON: Why.

DEFTERIOS: They think that the BGAP, coming from the Mr. Moti (ph) who is the chief minister of Bugerattan (ph), his growth track record can deliver growth again, tackle corruption and then cut down the bureaucracy. Isn't it interesting, the youth is looking forward to the future, but they don't think the congress party, even though they've great promises and delivered growth in the first five years of the administration, can do so again. They think there's fatigue within the party.

ANDERSON: So that is the younger generation, what about that, 75 to 80 percent of Indians who live in rural areas. What are we seeing there?

DEFTERIOS: Well, we're looking at a population of 1.2 billion people overall. 850 million live in rural areas.

We often think of Bollywood, the growth of Mumbai, sprawling Delhi, the new suburbs being build in Delhi. We've seen these, myself in the last two months. But 850 million and still live in the rural areas?

And again, by the same numbers 3 to 1 their voting for the BGAP. Now this is despite the fact that the congress party has had a Food Security Act in place. Manmohan Singh as prime minister has supported this constituency, they're going the other way.

ANDERSON: Fascinating.

John Defterios at the global exchange.

Delivering a transformation, that's the focus every fortnight here on the Global Exchange. This is program we're looking at tonight in rural Costa Rica. How do you maintain local traditions, but connecting them to the outside world, particularly at the high school level?

This was a focus on the World Bank in a program it launched. But it not as simple as the basic ABCs. Nick Parker has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK PARKER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: There's remote and then there's remote. It's something of an odyssey to reach the indigenous reserve in southern Costa Rica near the border with Panama, wooden houses, banana farming, a traditional way of life for this isolated (inaudible), but some things are changing.

13-year-old Scarlet Reda (ph) is on her way to the town's first high school.

"It teaches me many values," she says. "We must learn to study, we must learn to be responsible.

Classes here are loud and enthusiastic.

This project took one year to build. It gives the community its first real high school and is already attacking pupils from neighboring areas.

But, maintaining the indigenous culture of the reserve is vital. And Elders were consulted on its design.

This cosmic sense have served as a place for religious ceremonies. It's also aligned with sunrise, which is seen as a doorway to heaven. Elders clashed with architects who wanted to use concrete. Local wood was selected and the award-winning design also reflects village traditions, raised buildings on stilts, forming a circle around the cosmic center.

It's all in line with part of the school's curriculum.

"We have subjects which are taught at only three other schools at a national level," says the director. "We give lessons in the Brivery (ph) dialect and in environmental conservation. We have artisan classes. And we have the theme of culture which relates to the preservation of the indigenous culture.

The response to the mixed curriculum has been strong among the 200 students. Yosselyn Hernandez (ph) is now 16, assisting in teaching in some classes. She wants to be a doctor when she is older.

"It motivates the students to not take the path towards drugs and other things," she says. "It gives us the privilege to study in such high school and to obtain something for the future.

The World Bank is funding the project. And they say the conditions for learning are only improving.

CYNTHIA FLORES MORA, WORLD BANK: Right now, there is a new law just approved that allows the indigenous people to be locals giving classes in the same community.

PARKER: Internet access is the next step. The school says it hopes students will remember to support their community in the future and that improved education will not lead to a brain drain.

Nick Parker CNN, Talamanca (ph) Costa Rica.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: It is just after half past 7:00 here in Abu Dhabi, this is CONNECT THE WORLD with me, Becky Anderson. The top stories for you this hour here on CNN.

You are looking at live pictures from Malaysia, the latest visual for the missing onboard Flight 370. Officials say the Australian navy ship Ocean Shield has detected signals consistent with those from flight recorders on Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, but they cautioned that they still need to confirm these are, indeed, from the missing plane. The sounds picked up by high-tech underwater ping locator borrowed from the US navy.

South African track star Oscar Pistorius took to the stand for the first time in his murder trial. His emotional testimony began with an apology to his late girlfriend's family, who were sitting in court. He spoke of terrible nightmares and medications he's been taking for depression and insomnia.

Another Russian-speaking region of Ukraine says it wants to consider breaking away from Kiev. These images are from Donetsk, where pro-Moscow protesters have seized a key state building. Now, a self-proclaimed legislature there says it wants to hold a referendum by May the 11th on whether to join Russia.

A flame has been lit in the Rwandan capital of Kigali in remembrance of those killed in the country's genocide 20 years ago. An estimated 800,000 people in a period of just 100 days died in 1994.

Well, Rwanda is now well on the road to recovery, but the fate of so many ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus 20 years ago still casts a shadow. As Nima Elbagir reports, many haven't been able to put the horror behind them. And we must warn you that her report does contain some fairly disturbing images.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Niyonsenga Erick Rafiki says he feels he's waited all his life for this moment. His father's killers have promised to help him find the body.

NIYONSENGA ERICK RAFIKI, VICTIM'S SON (through translator): I never had a chance to bury my parent as his child in a decent way, and I didn't know how he was killed. Didn't even know how he was buried. This became a burden in my heart.

ELBAGIR: In April 1994, hundreds of thousands of Tutsis and moderate Hutus were murdered by Hutu militias. Twenty years on from the hundred days of the Rwandan genocide and many here are still in search of closure. For victim and perpetrator, coming together to finally bury with dignity those who died has become an act of penance.

SEKAMANA MUSA, SERVED 10 YEARS IN PRISON (through translator): I confessed and told the truth of what happened, so I was released from prison. When I came out, I found the people we had committed crimes against, be it the mother of this boy and the boy himself. Even though I was scared, they also got scared to see me.

ELBAGIR: A path towards reconciliation.

MUSA (through translator): We came together saying these hands we are using for all Rwandans. Because these hands destroyed the country, we have to use them to rebuild it.

ELBAGIR: Across Rwanda, thousands of so-called genocidaires are still in custody. Those found guilty of involvement in the genocide can only be released by presidential pardon. The last was seven years ago when 8,000 were released back into the community in 2007.

Here in Yaringanga (ph) Prison, 54-year old Nyirandega Mwamini waits to hear whether she will be among those set free. Mwamini was part of the Interhamwe militia, the Hutu militia intent on wiping out all traces of the Tutsis. As she remembers the horrors she inflicted 20 years ago, even she is unable to explain how it happened.

NYIRANDEGA MWAMINI, FORMER HUTU MILITIA MEMBER (through translator): I'm not proud of it. The people I lived with and the people I worked with would never understand why I became an Interhamwe, a killer. Every time I think about it, I am crying always.

ELBAGIR: Her one hope, she says, is that she, too, will be able to eventually seek out those she wronged and play a role in her nation's healing.

MWAMINI (through translator): The genocide will never fade out. Even to killers or those who participated, like us, that picture, where international community has seen you as a killer, can never go away from you easily and just say that it's over. But my hope is not for me, it is for my children and those who are linked to me that they can never be part of what I went through.

ELBAGIR: Twenty years on and Rwandans continue to struggle with the legacy of the genocide. Struggling to seek salvation through forgiveness.

Nima Elbagir, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: Do check out the website at cnn.com. These pictures shot by Rwandan photographers show how far the country has come since those dark days and what lies ahead in the future, cnn.com/international for you.

Get you back to our top story tonight, and the Australian ship Ocean Shield that's discovered what's been called the most-promising lead yet on the whereabouts of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. Now, it was able to pick up these sounds deep beneath the Indian Ocean thanks to what was a sophisticated piece of technology called pinger locator.

Well, earlier, my colleague, Richard Quest, showed Kate Bolduan just how that works. Have a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR, "NEW DAY": Let's talk about the Ocean Shield and what they're going -- what they've been dealing with and what they're going to deal with next.

RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Right.

BOLDUAN: Show this pinger locator and how it is going about its business underneath the surface.

(CROSSTALK)

QUEST: So, what you --

BOLDUAN: When we talked to Commander Mark -- Chris did, earlier this hour -- he was talking about the various depths that they had put the pinger locator to pick up these signals. First at 1,000 feet, then some 4,600 feet, and then 9,800 feet. Very different depths, and they still picked up the signal.

QUEST: Right. You're in depths -- you're in feet, I'm in meters.

BOLDUAN: That's fine.

QUEST: We'll go to -- they first of all heard it at about 300 --

BOLDUAN: Three hundred meters.

QUEST: Three hundred meters. Then once they'd heard it at 300 meters, they then lowered the PPL --

BOLDUAN: Right.

QUEST: -- because they need to get further down. The further down you go --

BOLDUAN: OK.

QUEST: -- the better the acoustic sound that you will here.

BOLDUAN: OK.

QUEST: They went to, I think, about 1400, and then they went to the ideal depth, which is 3,000 meters, and at that, they were able to still maintain it for two hours. And it's that two hours that Houston kept saying is the important bit, because what you wanted to hear, very different from hush-one-zero-one, you don't want to just get bursts, you want to have consistency.

Now, if you take a look again at what we've just been showing, once they've managed to accumulate enough evidence that it is there, they will deploy the underwater submarines and acoustic --

(CROSSTALK)

BOLDUAN: But it's that evidence that they need --

QUEST: Yes.

BOLDUAN: -- that was should also be cautious with. Because there are still a lot of limitations that they're dealing with in trying to pick up what they hope is to pick up the signal again, right?

QUEST: Imagine driving your car with several hundred if not thousand feet of rope with something tied on the back of it and you're going down the interstate. And you're driving along, and then you've suddenly got to turn around. And the way you do it, of course, is you bring it in, you turn. It takes about three and a half hours.

BOLDUAN: I'd crash into a bunch of people trying to do it, that stuff they're trying to do.

QUEST: Well, they will not be doing that, I assure you of that.

(LAUGHTER)

QUEST: They will turn it around very slowly. Now, what else could this be? Now, lesser minds might talk about things like seismic air guns and the like.

BOLDUAN: Yes.

QUEST: But the reality is, they are fairly confident that what they have heard is -- because it is consistent -- and this is the phrase he uses -- consistent with it being a black box.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: All right. Well, searchers say it could take days to confirm whether these signals they heard are from this missing plane. As Rosa Flores now shows us, crews plan to use what is a special underwater device to locate this flight MH370. Have a look at this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This could be the key to solving the mystery of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All the hydraulics running.

FLORES: An underwater piece of equipment that works in the deep sea called a remotely-operating vehicle, ROV for shirt. Helix Canyon Offshore gave CNN an exclusive look at the ROV Triton XLS.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you getting the signal on the ROV beacons as well?

FLORES: The multimillion-dollar machine is tethered to a vessel, dropped into the water by a cable --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have an altitude of 28 meters.

FLORES: And slowly remotely lowered to the sea floor by pilots in a control room located inside the ship.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bridge, ROV.

FLORES: The ROV is equipped with cameras.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Two cameras here on the pilot monitor and the copilot monitor.

FLORES: Meaning an ROV like this one could lay the first eyes on the wreckage site of MH370.

STEVEN WALLACE, FORMER DIRECTOR, FAA OFFICE OF ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION: The wreckage can tell you how it impacted or how it came apart. It can certainly tell you if certain parts were burned. It can tell you a very complete story.

FLORES: Metal arms and jaws are controlled by a joystick.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can open and close the jaws. Stuff like a black box not a problem at all for an ROV to pick up, put it in a basket, and recover it back to the vessel.

FLORES: But before the data recorders are recovered, the wreckage must be located, a task as daunting as the Indian Ocean is deep.

Rosa Flores, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: Fascinating stuff. Live from Abu Dhabi, you are watching CONNECT THE WORLD with me, Becky Anderson. Coming up next, in-depth analysis of the Oscar Pistorius murder trial and possible strategies that the defense may use to prove that their client is not guilty of murder.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: Let's return to the emotional testimony in the Oscar Pistorius murder trial earlier today. The defense began to present its case and called the track star to the stand for the first time. Now, Pistorius began with an apology to his late girlfriend's family. He spoke about his childhood and how his mother was afraid of burglars and kept a firearm under her pillow.

Let's get CNN's legal analyst, Kelly Phelps in Pretoria up for you now. She's been following this case closely since the beginning. Let's start with this testimony, 45-odd minutes before lunch, and then another session after, about an hour and a half in total of the track star. What did you make of his performance, as it were?

KELLY PHELPS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: I thought he had a good start today. He managed, most importantly, to maintain his composure. I suspect that there was some strategy from his legal team behind the way that they posed the initial question. So, they started him off quite easily with material that he was more comfortable speaking about and essentially helped to acclimatize him to the stand.

It will be very important for them that first of all he manages to give a clear and coherent account of his version of events, but also that he goes into cross examination as calm and composed as possible.

Because by all accounts, we expect him to experience some searing and aggressive cross examination from Nel, who will be aiming to try and unsettle him and essentially trip him up. So, the calmer he goes into that, the more composed he goes into that, the better it is for him.

ANDERSON: All right, stay with me. Oscar Pistorius says he thought Reeva Steenkamp was an intruder when he shot and killed her. During today's testimony, he said his mother was also wary of burglars and kept a firearm in her home. Let's hear that from him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OSCAR PISTORIUS, DEFENDANT: My mother had a lot of security concerns. She obviously grew up in a family where my father wasn't around much, so my mother, she had a pistol. And -- she would often get scared at night and she would phone the police.

BARRY ROUX, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Where did she keep her firearm, for instance?

PISTORIUS: My mother, she kept her firearm on her -- under her bed, in her -- it was under her pillow in a padded leather type of bag.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Interesting that we don't see Pistorius, of course. What we do see is the judge, who will be making the ultimate decision in this, this being South Africa without a jury system. What might we make or read into the way that that judge reacts to Pistorius and his testimony today, if anything?

PHELPS: Well, the testimony today was definitely designed for the judge's benefit to provide some sort of backdrop, a history against which she can then later evaluate his claims about what he actually was thinking on the night in question.

So, it's very important that the judge responds to it as sincere, genuine, and reliable testimony because she is not in a position to agree with his version of events on the night in question unless she has something else to base it on, some history that would suggest that it was more plausible that he, in fact, was mistaken on the night in question.

So, it is very important that she feels that there's credibility to this testimony, not so much from a dramatic perspective or an emotional perspective. That's unlikely to be the thing that sways her decision- making process, but very important that she at least responds to it on a credible level.

All right, Kelly. Let's take a look, then, at what Pistorius's legal team may do to make its case. The defense expected to put a ballistics expert on the stand to challenge the prosecution's claims that the last shot fired is the one that killed Steenkamp, leaving her time to scream for help between shots.

The defense will also dispute prosecution expert testimony that Steenkamp's last meal was about 1:00 AM, about two hours before she was killed. Pistorius said they were in bed by 10:00 PM. And Pistorius must convince the judge that he felt vulnerable being a double-amputee and that the shooting was a genuine mistake.

Kelly, at times, the prosecution witnesses have been to most people's mind completely turned over by the defense, to a certain extent becoming defense witnesses. It's clear the defense has had a fairly good run at this case to date. How do you think they're going to stack up going forward?

PHELPS: I think that's a very fair assessment so far, but I suspect that's not entirely out of keeping with what Gerrie Nel, the prosecutor himself expected. He described himself, his case, as circumstantial, so we know that there was no smoking gun, piece of evidence in his case that was going to conclusively prove his version of events.

I think he has always know that very much will rest on his cross examination of Pistorius himself and his ability to poke holes at the credibility of his version of events. And much of their attention, of the state's attention going forward is going to be geared towards this particular cross-examination of this witness, Oscar Pistorius.

ANDERSON: Kelly, it's a pleasure having you on. We thank you very much, indeed, for joining us. One of our top stories, of course, this evening here on CONNECT THE WORLD with me, Becky Anderson in Abu Dhabi for you this evening.

Coming up after this short break, a traditional Maori welcome for the British royals as they touch down in New Zealand at the start of what is their New Zealand tour. More on their trip up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: All right. Well, a traditional wet and very windy Wellington welcome for the British royals as they arrived in New Zealand with eight-month-old Prince George. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were also greeted with a traditional Maori welcome at the start of what is their ten-day tour Down Under.

Well, that was earlier. It is now the next day, as it were. It's 4:00 in the morning. Our royal correspondent, Max Foster, though, always up and available for you viewers. He was there when the royals' plane touched down and still up in order to give us a taste of how it went and what's to come. Max?

MAX FOSTER, CNN ROYAL CORRESPONDENT: As you say, they certainly brought British weather to New Zealand, because just yesterday it was bright and sunny.

And I don't think Prince William was particularly looking forward to 25 hours on a plane with an eight-month-old, but they arrived looking fresh and ready for what will eventually, actually be a three-week tour, because they're going on to Australia after this. It's a huge talking point here and in Australia and, it seems, around the world already.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER (voice-over): Two future kings and a queen fly into Wellington, New Zealand, from the other side of the planet. And no doubt about who is the star of the show.

FOSTER (on camera): Well, he can't even walk yet, but these are Prince George's first tentative steps into a lifetime of public duties. His arrival here in New Zealand marks the start of his first official engagement.

FOSTER (voice-over): The baby prince wasn't fazed. A natural in front of the cameras. He and his glamorous mother are the monarchy's not- so-secret weapons against a strong Republican movement in this part of the world.

(CROWD CHANTING)

FOSTER: That's Government House in Wellington and official welcome, George left inside with his nanny. The duchess has never been to New Zealand or Australia before. The palace says she wants to meet as many people as possible during her visit. It is the start of a momentous month for the world's most famous young family.

(CROWD CHEERS)

FOSTER: Max Foster, CNN, Wellington, New Zealand.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: And Becky, they are taking things quite slowly. They are concerned about not over-exposing Prince George. They know there's huge amounts of interest in him.

And in this couple of weeks here in New Zealand, we're only get the chance to see him once, that's going to be on Wednesday, back in Government House. He's going to go to a toddler group, and I'm sure that'll be his first one, his experience of hanging out with kids the same age, about ten of them.

(LAUGHTER)

ANDERSON: Hope there aren't an Maori displays for him, it might frighten him a bit. Listen, wonderful to see them as a family coming down the steps of that plane. They're going to be in New Zealand, as you rightly point out, for ten days, and then on to Australia, where there are a lot of anti-monarchists, it's got to be said.

I'm sure this family and this trip is designed to sort of re-establish the sort of royal -- sense, as it were, for Australians who haven't, perhaps, in the past, been the greatest of fans, correct?

FOSTER: Yes. And I was interested to see the latest polling numbers. It actually puts the republican movement, if you look at the polling, it's stronger here in New Zealand then it is in Australia.

And certainly late last night on sort of chat shows on TV, they were all talking about it, the typical sort of set up, a pro-monarchist, or a monarchist and an anti-monarchist. And it was a big debate.

But you are getting this sense from the republicans that there's nothing really you can do to stop this. If you're going to have a big sort of cute baby and a beautiful mother touring the country with loads of positive coverage, it is going to put them back a bit, but it's certainly not going to stop the movement altogether. But they realize that it's a bit of a losing battle for this first part of the tour, certainly.

ANDERSON: Fascinating. All right, Max, thank you for that. 4:00 in the morning, as we said, in Wellington. Max Foster doing what he does best for you, reporting on the royals.

We are just about out of time, but -- in tonight's Parting Shots, we'll ensure that we stick to it. We are talking watches, and no ordinary watches, either. A collection from a private family vault has gone on display up the road from here in Dubai.

It includes this 1977 Rolex made for the Shah of Iran. It's set with no fewer than 44 diamonds and was sold at auction three years ago for the princely sum of $235,000.

And how about this for a timepiece from another time? This white gold watch from Patek Phillipe, was produced for the late Libyan leader, Muammar Gadhafi. Now, interestingly enough, given its former owner, the inscription reads "Only in times of need will you find freedom."

Well, the watches are among several on show at Dubai's Mall of the Emirates, and I'll be hosting the show from Dubai at this time tomorrow, so do please join us for that. Some historic pieces there telling the ever- changing story of a fascinating region, a region I'm calling home from now on.

To get insights, let me know what stories are that you want to see from this part of the world on CONNECT THE WORLD, facebook.com/CNNconnect. You can tweet me @BeckyCNN.

And for those of you in region who wish to reach out to us in Arabic, do please do that, cnn.com/arabic. That is cnn.com/arabic. The Middle East's leading news site, where we will be positing elements from our show, including my latest blog about moving to Abu Dhabi, cnn.com/arabic.

That was our show. I'm Becky Anderson. From me and the rest of the team here in Abu Dhabi, it is a very good night, ma'a salama.

END