Swirling that the pilot is the focus of the investigation. Lets go to Andrew Stevens live in perth, australia this morning. Reporter good morning. A very frustrating day again for the pilots on this search. Crucial that the ships remain on station given the size of the storm down there. While theres frustration for the pilots, there could be potential new developments coming to us from satellite images. New this morning, thailands state News Agency Says a thai satellite a has spotted about 300 floating objects. These pieces located just over 120 miles from the area where a french satellite spotted 122 floated objects, those released on wednesday, that potential debris spotted sunday off the coast of perth, australia. Thats about the distance from washington d. C. To denver, colorado. They scatted over about the size of denver. This is todays Aerial Search for wreckage called off. Severe weather forcing all planes to return to base. Beaten up by turbulence in the remote search area. This naval vessel to be outfitted with the underwater robot and listening device to assist in searching for the wreckage. Teams are now racing against time as new information suggests the batteries for the planes pingers may already be dead. A mechanic who expected Malaysia Airlines told him the batteries may have been stored improperly. So those storms now ending flights two out of the past three days. Whats critical here is the big winds down here are going to be scattering these new finds. This debris was spotted before the bad weather moved in. And that is an important point to show. Thank you so much. Now, as this mystery unfolds, many have wondered if the plane was brought down deliberately. Malaysian authorities are looking at captain Zaharie Ahmad shah. His son, as we mentioned, is defending him. For more, lets get to jim clancy live in kuala lumpur. Reporter as we look at this story as it develops, theres been a real vacuum of evidence. We havent really had much to go on, and that has fueled speculation on all kinds of theories. The pilots are of course always going to be a factor when you consider any accident, any mystery really like the one we have with flight 370. Theres so much speculation that the father may have had personal reasons, personal troubles, all of these other things that were brought up. His son for the first time came out today. The family went into seclusion about talking with police. His son came out and said, whatever i have read have not changed my heart, i have ignored these speculations. He went onto say i may not have been very close to him because he was always on duty, but we understood each other. That was from the son. I talked to the former ceo of Malaysia Airlines who represented zaharie shah as a bright, young cadet. You knew captain shah. Some people pointing the finger at him. Hes an excellent pilot. I think theyre going the wrong way pointing finger at him. You also knew the copilot. He also learned the hes a good muslim. Now he stressed what we really need to do is find those flight data recorders. Only then, will you be able to clear the pilots and find out what really happened to flight 370. Back to you. All right. Thaks so much. Well talk about the pilots in just a second. First, we want to talk about the new news. Weve only seen these pictures now for a few minutes. New images from a thai satellite showing some 300 objects just south of where the french satellites spotted 122 objects. Now we have two possible debris fields or is it one thats moving . Lets break this down here with david and mary. David is the author of why planes crash. And marry is the former Inspector General of the department of transportation. David, i want to start with you here. Lets put up this image once again. This new satellite image. Spotted by a thai satellite. Again, looks very much like a debris field. What do you see here . To me, this is a little different than what we saw yesterday. Theres less specificity. As far as the size of these objects. If they were saying its 75 feet again, then i would be more confident about it. To me, this one seems less likely than the one yesterday because of its size and just the sheer number of objects. 300 objects, the ones were seeing today. This one was taken monday, the day after the french satellite. Youre looking at the one that were just getting in right now. We do not know the size of the objects. But mary, what about the location . 120 miles from where the french satellite took pictures. Does this indicate possibly some drift or if a plane were to end its flight in the ocean like that, is it possible that things could be scattered over 120 miles . Well, its possible. And then the drift, i mean, thats a lot of drift in a day. Some of the other experts have mentioned currents that would possibly take it a hundred miles in a day. You do get a pretty wide dispursion. Once that dissipates, it really gets spread wide and far. I had one accident where weeks later fishermen snagged one of my clients purses. So you never know where its going to go and what its going to do. But its possible. Two field sightings like this in two days. Very frustrating for the people flying in the planes over the search area now because the news today again, those planes called back. Weve heard no word whether they spotted anything. Very frustrating, no . Oh, yes. Especially for them. At least i know the folks who worked on it in the United States back when i was Inspector General, thats what they want to do. They want to save people. I imagine they are very, very frustrated because thats what theyre trained and driven to do. Their frustration levels must be pretty high. The ships are still out there searching. It could be that they have a very specific area now to identify and they want to stay in the area and maybe they will see something. Well, and its important even ones of wreckage, theyve got to get their hands on it and confirm one way or another. Just a few pieces that are the aircraft could help so very much. Since theyre staying out there, maybe they will get fortunate. Obviously, i hope for their safety. Maybe they will get fortunate to pull just a few pieces on board. Even from a few pieces, they will be able to rule out some things. And of course, david, spotting debris, locating and confirming it, just the first step to locating the black box, the cockpit voice recorder. You have information about that. We thought the pingers were supposed to last 30 days. You have concerns. I do. Theres a mechanic that currently works on aircraft for malaysia air. He was concerned because he had done a maintenance audit, which is a normal routine. He found that the pingers which had the battery included in them were put in a room that was very high temperature, very high humidity as opposed to what the manufacturer recommends which is a Room Temperature environment or in a refrigerator. So he wrote that up. They responded to it. They took those old pingers off. By storing it that way, the life of that battery is reduced to about halflife. Subsequently, he went back and checked more recently and found they were still not following that procedure. So that means this pinger could not even be lasting the 30 days its supposed to. That would be awful, awful news. Mary, theres a lot of swirling reporting about a new focus allegedly on the pilot. U. S. Today reporting that theres an official in malaysia whos got reason to bereave the pilot acted in a premeditated way. Theres no new focus, no extra fingers pointing in his direction, but what do you make of the reporting . Basically what i see is that there is no evidence. The fbi hasnt surfaced any, and they were the ones looking at the computer. Zero evidence. And so the authorities are saying since we have no evidence, it must be the pilots. Thats going to put their investigation into serious jeopardy. Once they focus in on what they want it to be, then they will make all evidence fit that. Its a dangerous problem in a criminal investigation. You have to fight against that bias. Theyve already said they have no evidence. Since they have no evidence, ah, it must be the pilots. Most often that is wrong when they do that in an investigation. Lets hope the facts will present themselves and people wont get out in front of them like usa today seems to be. So many challenges. First, also this morning, and also breaking, the most powerful world leader meets the worlds most powerful religious leader. President obama is at the vatican meeting pope francis for the first time. Lets bring in the correspondent who covers the copy. Lets start with you michelle. Obviously, the importance is what the men are expected to discuss. Do we have any idea what was said during that initial meeting . Reporter senior white house officials yesterday sort of spelled out what the president wanted to talk about and why he was here in the first place saying that the pope has been an inspiration to him. That they wanted to talk about those issues and values on which they have common ground, social justice, income equality, the rights of the individual, democracy. If all that sounds very familiar, those are the exact same values that president obama has been es spouzing throughout this trip in dealing with the situation in ukraine. So it seems doubtless that that will also come up, what should be the way going forward. Obviously the pope has also been watching that situation. He always plays a role in whatever the topic is going on of the day. Both men have expressed some of those same values in their policies. Its not to say that the Catholic Church and president obama agree on all things. President obama did win the catholic vote in 2008, but they disagree on fundamentals like contracepti contraception, providing that. Thats a big topic of debate just within the u. S. And also abortion, stem cell research, these have all been topics of tension between the u. S. And religious leaders at times. The president says in an interview that he knows they dont agree on everything, but they will discuss these things. Theyve already been in that meeting over 40 minutes now, going over the time that we thought was allotted for it. Certainly the men have a lot in common, but have issues that certainly divide them. Ben, lets bring you into this and talk about what each man has to gain from this meeting. And in terms of president obama, i mean, hes clearly aware of the fact that the popes Approval Rating is sort of sky high. Reporter yes, in fact, the popes Approval Rating is about double that of president obama. So definitely theres star dust to be gotten from this visit with the pope. For his part, the pope, this is a man somewhat different from his predecessors. He considers this just another meeting in the day. In fact, he started off the day by holding the mass with members of the Italian Parliament who we saw streaming out of saint peters at about 8 00 this morning. He also has to keep in mind his american con tich wency. He will be raidsing, we understand questions of abortion, contraception and gay marriage. This in response to the concerns of American Bishops who have come out with their objections to the president s position on these issues. And for instance, when u. S. Secretary of state john kerry met with his vatican counterpart in january, they did discuss these issues of contraception, abortion what whatnot. Apparently all they spent was five minutes on those issues. So they have wider subjects to discuss. Syria, the ukraine, the middle east peace process. Certainly many topics for the two men to discuss. Always a great level of expectation when the leader of the u. S. Meets with the pontiff. Good to have you here talking with us about the pope. Question is are Approval Ratings contagious, right . I think that would be helpful to him. Want to move to the ukraine and the serious and growing concern that russia could be planning to invade the eastern part of that nation. Theres a new report that has top officials in washington very, very worried this morning. Lets go to barbara star at the pentagon. Good morning, john. This new classified assessment says that it is more likely than previously thought that russia will go into eastern ukraine, a fullon military incursion. Why are they coming to this conclusion now . Well, the buildup on that border between russia and ukraine now increasing over 30,000 troops. There are additional Russian Troops on alert further back in russia. Airborne troops, Quick Response forces, special forces, all of this leading to growing concern. The russians have told the pentagon theyre there just for exercises. But they told me last night there is no evidence that they are conducting military exercises, and that buildup that the u. S. Sees is now of the scope and sort of formation that they saw more russia went into georgia. The big worry, john, is that they will make a move. Now are now so close to the Ukraine Border they could go without any warning. The u. S. Might only see it as it happens. Of course, the Intelligence Committee criticized for not giving early warning. Perhaps this is their way of correcting that getting out in front of what happened now. Next up on new day, bad weather has grounded the air search for flight 370. Its the second time this week this has happened. This as we learn of new leads. 300 objects floating in the southern indian ocean. Well talk to our experts. Plus, a grim search in a Community Reeling after the deadly landslide in Washington State. Were live on the scene just ahead. Mine was earned in korea in 1953. Afghanistan, in 2009. Orbiting the moon in 1971. [ male announcer ] once its earned, usaa Auto Insurance is often handed down from generation to generation. Because it offers a superior level of protection. And because usaas commitment to serve current and former military members and their families is without equal. Begin your legacy. Get an Auto Insurance quote. Usaa. We know what it means to serve. Im tto guard their manhood with train depend shields and guards. The discreet protection thats just for guys. Now, its your turn. Get my Training Tips at guardyourmanhood. Com [ doorbell rings ] the johnsons stall them. First word. Uh. Chicken . Hi, cascade kitchen counselor. Stop stalling and start shining with cascade platinum packs. Over time, platinum fights cloudy residue 3x better than the competing gel. Its so powerful it even helps keep the dishwasher sparkling. Avoid embarrassing moments. At least for your dishes. Cascade. Beyond clean and shine every time. This morning, officials in Washington State say there are 90 people missing or unaccounted for after that devastating landslide north of seattle. It is being blamed for as many as 24 deaths. The search for survivors resumes this morning. Were live in washington with the latest. Reporter good morning. The official death toll remained unchanged in the past 24 hours, but officials werent likely to get new numbers this morning. While the search effort remains, you can feel the weight of this tragedy starting to take its toll. A mothers unspeakable pain. My heart is broken. Its broken. Reporter summer raffo was driving on a state road at the time of the slide. Rescue workers continue their mission five days after the side of this hill came cascading down on snohomish county. Peter salvig on the Response Team knows this community well. Familiar places on this map have a new somber reality. This guy lived and his wife died. We were on the school board together for about 30 years. Reporter the heavy equipment used to breakthrough concrete and lumber continues to unearth personal tragedies. We cant lose hope. Were here to find those people. Reporter governor inslee telling cnn he expects the death toll to rise significantly. I dont think anyone could reach any other conclusion. The force defies imagination. Reporter this Daring Rescue of a boy plucked from the mud on saturday is one of several stories of survival. I see myself thinking about eli when thats going on. So you want to help. And so you kind of carry that. Reporter an event that has touched so many here showing both how fleeting and precious life can be. I always told my kids, you know, after you after you call them, its kind of hard for me, but say i love you because that might be the last time youre going to see them. Reporter people in this community have so much love for each other. Thats certainly helping everybody to get through this. Some 200 Emergency Responders continue to scour that one square mile of unspeakable devastation and were still seeing the volunteers pour in ready to help in any way they can. Thanks so much. The images from there just so haunting in so many ways. And the people talking and you can just feel their sadness. Its going to take them a long time to recover from that. That is going to leave a scar on that community. Lets get a check of the weather right now. Good morning jennifer. Good morning to you guys. Yesterday it was snow we were watching. Today, its the possibility of severe weather. Were focusing mainly on the Mississippi River valley. All the ingredients are there. We are is warm, moist air coming in from the gulf of mexico and with a cold front approaching, its definitely there. The Severe Threat today from st. Louis. Tomorrow anywhere from shreveport down to new orleans. This is a slowmover, so it could produce a couple of inches of rain as it pushes into the east. The Severe Threat mainly along the gulf coast. Doesnt have a lot of very cold air behind it. Temperatures are going to stay in the 70s across the south all the way through this thing into the weekend. Atlanta reaching 71 on friday. Even in the northeast, same story. Rain as we approach the weekend, but at least temperatures arent going to be all that bad. 61 in new york city on friday guys and a little bit cooler on saturday. Theres your warm weather, but it looks like well seattle rain with it. It is spring. Ill take the 61 degrees. Im going to put on sunscreen. And a tank top. Next up on new day, it could b