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Cover. >> it is a huge area, jim. you're absolutely right. that's why these pike churs are so exciting to them because these pictures are a solid lead that help them cut down that space because frankly this looks like an airplane debris field. to prove whether it is or not, but it looks like the right thing. when i talk about cutting down the space, what we mean is when you're searching a big area like this, 621,000 square mile, you essentially impose a grid upon it. and not every square in that grid is equal. some of them are given a higher value than others based on whether or not you think ...

Even though satellites are sending back images that might be debris from flight 370, it's still up to searchers in planes and aboard ships to find whatever's floating in the indian ocean, and that will take a slow, methodical amount of work. cnn's tom foreman is joining us from our virtual studio to give us a closer look at how it's done. >> a really impressive fleet if you think about all the craft out there to help them search in this area, 11 aircraft, 5 ships from all these different countries. but all you have to do is bring in the map of what they're trying to look for and you start real...

Honestly this looks like the debris field from an airplane crash. it may not be but has the signature look it and because it has that look, even as they try to get closer to it it allows them to focus their search area and that's something they desperately need. let me explain what i'm talking about here. remember when you have a big area like this and the overall southern area is 621,000 square miles you have to path grid over it and decide which sections you're going search. they are not going to be of all the same value. some are considered more likely to produce results. sorry red here and...

Specific portion of the southern corridor off the australian coast. but that search area is still massive. cnn's tom foreman is standing by for us in our virtual room. and tom, i mean, good news that they're narrowing it. bad news that it's still so huge. >> yeah, this has been this way the whole time. like a step forward and then you realize it's still two steps back because it is huge. this is massive. this is the latest search area that they're focusing on. bear in mind, they're still considering the bigger area. but the focus is right here. what we're talking about is 621,000 square miles....

See something. and that is how these search areas are laid out. >> i want you to stand by. i think we have re-connected with tom foreman in our virtual studio walking through the search. go ahead and explain what you have come up with. >> wolf, this is a big search area, still. there is still an awful lot of territory that needs to be covered, about 621,000 square miles. that is still five times as large as air france search area and essentially unsearchable at that size. so part of what they want to do is bring this down to size a little bit. let me show you how that might be accomplished her...