Have taken before this plane vanished and how the families of those on board are now dealing with this breaking news. Good morning, everyone. Good to see you. Welcome to early start. Im john berman. And im christine romans. Its monday, april 7th. It is 4 00 a. M. In the east. Lets begin and welcome all of our viewers here in the u. S. And around the world beginning with this breaking news. Up first, the most promising lead yet in the search for flight 370. Overnight, a u. S. Pinger locator picked up two separate signals that could be coming from the planes socalled black boxes. One of them lasted for well over two hours. Now a u. S. Underwater drone is being brought in to find the source of those signals. Its not going to be easy, because if this is indeed coming from the missing jetliner, its 2. 8 miles below the surface of the ocean. Erin mclaughlin live from perth, australia, this morning. Erin, its certainly promise but theres still a lot of work to do. Bring us up to speed. Reporter hi, christine. Well, theyre saying these findings are absolutely extraordinary. The australian vessel, the ocean shield detecting not one, but two separate acoustic events. The first event lasting 2 hours and 22 minutes, the second event lasting 13 minutes, consisting of two separate signals, signals that authorities are saying are consistent with the cockpit voice recorder and the inflight data recorder, but at the same time here in perth, they are urging caution, saying it will take some time to verify these findings. Take a listen to what Angus Houston, the man spearheading this International Search effort, had to say at a press conference earlier today. I need to be honest with you, it could take some days before the information is available to establish whether these detections can be confirmed as being from mh370. In very deep oceanic water, nothing happens fast. Reporter now, at the moment, the ocean shield is currently in the area where it detected the signals. What theyre trying to do now, use that towed ping locator provided by the United States to detect possibly a third signal. If they get that third signal, their hope is theyll be able to triangulate a narrow search area in which they can deploy the bluefin 21, also provided by the United States. Its an unmanned Autonomous Vehicle, able to go underneath the water. The hope is that they will find some signs of physical wreckage. They say that that is when they will know for sure if this has anything to do with the missing plane. Christine . Oh, but erin, the water there so deep, some 2. 8 miles deep. Is this going to be a factor in the verification process . I mean, time is running out. Theyve got these important leads, but now theyve got to deal with the deep. Reporter well, if theyre able to find that third acoustic event and actually deploy this underwater Autonomous Vehicle that they have, depth certainly a factor. Houston in that press conference saying that 2. 8 miles down is at the very limits of the capabilities of this Autonomous Vehicle, and if for some reason it doesnt work, theyll have to bring more assets capable of handling that kind of depth, and of course, that will take more time. Christine . More time. All right, Erin Mclaughlin in perth for us. Thanks, erin. You know, if these signals are from flight 370s data recorders, its worth noting that american knowhow played a crucial role in finding this missing jetliner. The pinger that detected the signals and the underwater drone that will help find the plane, both manufactured by the same maryland firm. Lets get more on that from brian todd. Theres really two vehicles in question, the towed pinger locator that weve heard so much about that apparently located these signals, and also the bluefin 21, which is an autonomous underwater vehicle, both made by phoenix international, and we got access to phoenixs facilities here not far from d. C. , near largo, maryland. Thats their headquarters. Thats where they made all of this very sophisticated equipment. The way it works that the towed pinger locator goes down and sweeps that area first. The towed pinger locator can go down as far as 20,000 feet below the surface of the sea. It can detect the pinger from up to 2 miles away. It can detect the pinger even if the pingers signal is fading. So, these developments overnight and midday there in the region are very encouraging. Of course, we know it does not necessarily mean that theyve found the black box signal, but it is encouraging. Now, the next step, now that theyve gotten these signals, is to send that autonomous underwater vehicle, the bluefin 21, down to that area where the signals were picked up. The bluefin 21 looks like a torpedo. It goes down to significant depths, and it sweeps that area looking for a debris field, looking for the black box, trying to take both audio and physical video images of whatever is down there. Its got sidescan sonar capability, its got picturetaking capability, not video, but still pictures. It will sweep over the area, take a series of still pictures, transmit it to the vessel on the surface, so they can kind of see what theyre looking at, don. Thats the sequence. First the pinger locator finds the signal, then the bluefin 21 goes down and sweeps the area, so thats probably what theyre preparing to do right now. Our thanks to brian todd for that information. So much going on this morning in the search for flight 370. Lets check in now on the investigation. A senior malaysian government source tells cnn the jetliner appears to have deliberately skirted indonesia on its path toward the indian ocean, taking a route that suggests an intent to avoid radar detection by whoever was at the controls at the time. Lets bring in our Senior International correspondent, Nic Robertson. Hes in kuala lumpur. Nic, whats going on with this . Reporter well, john, for the investigators, this is important, that they can draw some more conclusions about who was in control of the aircraft, what they were doing and what their intent was. What the malaysian officials are telling us is that with help of neighboring countries, theyve been able to look at the different radar plots and talk to these Different Countries about what their Radar Systems have seen. What theyre able to say now is that the plane flew, came back across the malaysian peninsula and then flew northwards around the top end of indonesia before turning southwards down towards the south indian ocean where that search effort is ongoing right now. And they also say that they believe from the way that it flew, from the position that it flew, that it was trying to avoid indonesian radar, and the conclusion they are drawing is that the pilot or whomever was at the controls of the aircraft was intentionally trying not to be seen by that radar, trying to fly to a remote place. This is a conclusion theyre drawing. This is allowing them, if you will, to sort of narrow down in their investigation into who might have been responsible, what was going through their mind and why. John, christine . Nic, it was confusing for several weeks because the indonesians werent releasing any radar data. They didnt say they had any sign at all of flight 370 flying over their air space. This at a minimum, i suppose, if its to be believed, would indicate why the indonesians did not pick them up on radar. Reporter it certainly would, and the indonesians have said that. They said, no, there was no indication that it had flown across their territory. We now know from this source, to the malaysians satisfaction, to the investigations satisfaction, they have been able to now feel comfortable with that information. They knew where the aircraft was flying, approximately. They knew that from the inmarsat data. There were various speeds from that inmarsat data, that it could have been flying, indicating that it might have clipped the tip of indonesia, might have avoided it a little bit, but this lack of radar information from indonesia allows them to now more precisely say, okay, this aircraft that whoever was flying it was taking evasive measures, and that, for the investigators, is important, john. All right, Nic Robertson for us in kuala lumpur. Thank you so much. And we do expect a News Conference live from kuala lumpur from the malaysian transportation minister on all the updates, including the discovery of these new pings. Thats coming up in our next hour. About an hour and 20 minutes from now. Many flight 370 family members say they need to see hard proof before they give up hope that their loved ones are still alive. Many of them left malaysia and returned home to beijing over the weekend, hoping to hear something concrete about the fate of their family members soon. Our Pauline Chiou is in malaysia this morning. These developments must be so difficult for families who still dont have the tangible evidence theyre looking for. Reporter it is so difficult. And christine, were seeing them still exercise a lot of caution. One woman today saying of the newest developments, it is a positive lead, but its just that, a lead, and we are thankful for the international effort. Another woman whose husband is on the plane, said i have no reaction to this until i see physical evidence. So, youre seeing this tone of caution, and thats an ongoing theme that weve been hearing throughout the weekend. When the initial reports of these pings came out on saturday, we spoke with a relative, steve wang, whose mother was on the flight, and he said that he understands what these pings mean and hes coming to grips with the reality of what may have happened to this airplane. Maybe this is a time, maybe the next couple of days, the next couple months, the next couple years, we will find the ending, but there will be a time that it will end. So, to me, i dont want that it is mh370, but if its the facts, i have to face it. Reporter and to face the facts, to face this new information, it is not easy. This whole ordeal has been so stressful for the past month that the Chinese Government is worried about the health of all of these relatives. So, christine on sunday, even today, the government offered to take many relatives to the outskirts of beijing at their own cost, at the governments cost, to help them get some fresh air and also go to a sanatorium to get a health check, because some of these relatives are elderly, some of them have fallen sick. Many of them have not gotten enough sleep because of all of this stress. So, the government has decided to at least check on them, to try to make sure everything is okay, at least physically from a health point of view, but its difficult to take this mental break, especially when youve got this new information coming forward, christine. Ill say. All right, Pauline Chiou. Thank you so much for that, pauline. Were covering the breaking news on missing Malaysia Airlines flight 370 all morning, including this new detection of possible pings by u. S. Equipment. But first, the trial resumes for the olympic hero accused of murder. The defense is calling its first witness. Will Oscar Pistorius take the stand . When might this happen . Will he explain why he shot and killed his model girlfriend . Were live, next. Welcome back to cnns breaking News Coverage of the search for flight 370. Officials calling it their most promising lead yet. Two separate signals consistent with black box frequency, two separate signals detected overnight by a u. S. Navy pinger locator being towed by an australian ship. An american underwater drone now being called in to assist with this search in waters that are 2. 8 miles deep. Want to get back to that coverage in just a moment, but we do have other news this morning that is developing as we speak. After a long hiatus, the Oscar Pistorius murder trial is under way again. Pistoriuss defense beginning its case this morning by calling a forensic pathologist to the stand. Pistorius is expected to testify, though it is not clear when. Cnn legal analyst kelly phelps joins us live from pretoria in south africa this morning. Good morning, kelly. Reporter morning. Give us the latest from the courtroom. Tell us about this pathologist whos testifying. Reporter well, the pathologist who is the defenses Expert Witness is an incredibly experienced pathologist. Hes been the state pathologist on three separate occasions. Hes conducted over 25,000 autopsies within his career. So, hes certainly a reliable Expert Witness for the court. And so far, he has pointed to two key inconsistencies with the states pathology evidence. The first relates to the gastric evidence, which the states relied on in order to suggest an inconsistency with pistoriuss version of events, that they had gone to bed at 10 00, suggesting that Reeva Steenkamp had eaten at about 1 00 in the morning. The second issue that hes been focusing on is whats called wound ballistics. Essentially, what hes doing with this evidence is striking doubt into the states version of events that the gunshots would have been fired in a more slow succession. So, hes supporting the defense theory that pistorius had used double tipping, which means a very quick succession of shots, and thats crucial, because if those shots had been fired quickly, and considering the overwhelmingly mortal nature of them, it is highly unlikely that Reeva Steenkamp would have been the person who was heard screaming. Quickly, i think one of the things a lot of people are waiting to see is Oscar Pistorius on the stand. That could happen tomorrow, the next day, i suppose even later today. Whats the most important thing for him to do when he takes the stand . Reporter well, the most important thing for pistorius when he takes the stand is that, first of all, hes seen to be consistent with the version of events that theyve put on the record as early back as bail, and secondly, that he comes across as sincerely and believable. After all, his entire defense rests on essentially his own perception on the night in question, a mistaken perception, he claims, that he was under attack from an intruder. And when the court needs to determine whether they believe this version of events, that comes down to how consistent hes been in relaying it to the court and how sincere he is in retelling that version. All right, kelly phelps, thank you so much for being with us, at the site of the Oscar Pistorius trial, where, again, we expect pistorius to take the stand in the coming days. All right, the family of one of the victims of last weeks shooting at ft. Hood says he was friends with the shooter, ivan lopez. Private deon josephs was shot in the neck by lopez. The family says josephs was given a 50 50 chance of survival. Three soldiers were killed. 16 more were wounded wednesday afternoon after lopez opened fire before taking his own life. President obama will head to ft. Hood on wednesday to attend the Memorial Service for the victims of last weeks deadly shooting. The president and first lady were already scheduled to begin a twoday trip to texas to take part in Democratic Campaign fundraisers in houston. The president visited ft. Hood in 2009 after the shootings that year by an army officer that killed 13 people and injured 30 more. President obama is heading back to school. Hell be at a high school in suburban maryland today to announce the winners of a competition to prepare students for college and jobs. This ahead of tomorrows signing of an executive order requiring federal contractors to submit wage data in an effort to keep them in line with equal pay laws. Today the senate expected to pass a bill restoring longterm Unemployment Benefits to nearly 3 million americans. Six republicans committing to join democrats to push the measure through. After the vote, the bill faces an uncertain future in the house. Its opposed by Speaker John Boehner and republican opponents. They want to attack several socalled jobcreation measures, like construction of the keystone pipeline, before passing it. This is the farthest the unemployment extension has gotten in a long time. General motors about to begin repairs on 2. 6 million cars. The vehicles at the center of the controversial recall linked to 13 deaths. The automaker is accused of failing to fix faulty ignition switches they knew about ten years ago. Owners of the six gm models involved can make appointments to bring their cars into dealerships for repairs starting today. And in many cases, gm has reached out to those people with a letter and also telling them what time and what day they can Start Talking about making an appointment. That is big news. And this is big news, also, breaking overnight. Mickey rooney, legendary star of stage and screen, has died. Rooney had been in poor health for some time. He had one of the longest show business careers ever, first starring as a teenager in andy hardy movies. In all, he appeared in more than 200 films during a career that spanned 80 years. Mickey rooney was 93 years old. You know, i saw black stallion with my boys a few months ago, and i remember thinking, Mickey Rooneys a really good actor he is. Then he was in night at the museum. But he was great in that i know each in that, in a small, cheesy role, you could tell this guy had so much talent. And was having fun in a career that spanned so long. 80 years. I love that so many generations are familiar with his films. Days of violence overshadowing elections in afghanistan. Right now the votes being tallied there. Whats next for the wartorn country and how involved will the u. S. Be . We are live next. Led to the one jobhing you always wanted. At university of phoenix, we believe every education not just ours should be built around the career that you want. Imagine that. Welcome back to cnns breaking News Coverage of the search for flight 370. Officials calling this their most promising lead yet. Two separate signals consistent with black box frequencies detected overnight by a u.