Referendum invalid. We will hear from senator john mccain, who just returned from ukraine, and talk about whats next with the german, brit i and french ambassadors to the United States. Now to the very latest on the search for flight 370. Malaysian Authorities Say the search for the missing jetliner has entered a new phase. The search area has been significantly expanded and the nature of the search has changed from focusing mainly on seas, we are now looking at large tracts of land crossing 11 countries and deep and remote oceans. Other highlights from this mornings News Conference with malaysian authorities, 25 nations including the u. S. Are involved in the search. Malaysian investigators are examining the captains Flight Simulator taken from his home. The planes pilots did not request to fly together. Authorities say it is possible the plane was on the ground when some satellite signals were sent. And the ceo of Malaysian Airlines says there were no Hazardous Materials on board. In at development, the times of india is reporting they are denying the possibility the jetliner flew over india en route to central asia. I want to turn to cnns pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr. A significant wider search area, does the u. S. Need to send more assets to the region . Reporter well, you know, its hundreds of thousands of square miles. Lets be clear. 11 countries in central asia to the north and thousands of square miles in the indian ocean to the south. Sending more to look at all of this, where do you look. This is the dilemma facing all of the countries trying to help search. A lot of people are talking act slilts, but satellites dont just go wandering around up in the sky. They have to know where to send these things to some extent. There are navy ships. There are helicopters. There are aircraft search, but this is going to be very slow going. This area is just massive, candy. Whenever i see where the plane possibly was, when they picked up that last satellite proof or supposed proof that it was there, it just seems almost impossible to me that that plane could have flown north over all those countries where, by the way, there is lot of radar and a lot of countries involved in some pretty contested territory, and not been detected. Reporter this is, you know, one of the, you know, were going to call it a theory, call it a hypothesis because, of course, no one knows for sure. But i have to tell you, all of the officials ive been speaking to are saying pretty much same thing. Look at that map. India, pakistan, china, myanmar, thailand, all these countries. They may have very military capabilities, but these are skies, this is air Traffic Control in this region, it is very heavily watched by both military radars and civilian air Traffic Control radars. Does anybody really think that, you know, a large aircraft went into one of these countries without them noticing . It begins to, you know, sort of defy logic. It is possible. Anything in this terrible tragedy is possible. But the sources ive been talking to are saying theyre trying to focus on logic. And to them that dictates that maybe it probably went into the ocean to the south. They find it very hard to believe that it could have gone into one of these land areas and not been noticed, not picked up by somebody. Barbara starr at the pentagon for us. Thanks, barbara. Joining me now around the table, chad sweet, former cia officer and current ceo of the chertoff group, and richard amalafia, an expert on the boeing 777. Let me show here. By and large it doesnt look like terrorism and i think its the biggest thing of all. Nobody said, hey, we did this. Two points. Im getting signals to the opposite, there are signals of potential foul play. There are a couple scenarios we may not have seen a claim of responsibility yet. One would be if all the numbers of the terrorist cell were on the plane itself and we saw something unfold like we did in united 93 where the passengers and crew actually overtook the terrorists and ultimately the plane crashed, you wouldnt have a claim of responsibility. Two other scenarios might be where the cell went beyond the aircraft but they didnt believe they accomplished the mission so they dont want to claim credit yet. The third is that the plane landed elsewhere. The plot hasnt fully unfolded yet. Theres a variety of scenario where is the lack of a claim of responsibility doesnt conclusively prove that this is not terrorism. I think as brar ba alluded to, when theres no proof of anything, almost anything seems possible. Let me talk to you about the 777. I have a couple of questions. First of all, is it true that you would have to actively turn off these Communications Systems . I think you were the one that said that would be like accidentally hot wiring a car. Yeah. The acar system basically youd have to rummage around, find the circuit breaker, rip it out of play. Transponder can be turned off. Its a deliberately turning off. You know what youre doing. You couldnt just hit it or thats exactly right. But the acar system, you have to actively rummage around. At that point you think if we go back and look at 9 11, 3 of the 4 aircraft that were used had their transponders turned off. We see time and time again, these terrorists are using this as part of their core playbook. Theyre obsess ld with aviation as one of the threat factors. It does raise the issue. No matter what happens here, no matter what we find, this is a teachable moment where weve identified vulnerability that needs to be addressed. If youre flying aircraft over a certain way, over with a certain number of passenger, should bit the case you cannot manually disable the transponders. Safety issues have to be addressed but its an important counterterrorism issue that has to be addressed. Tell me about the data blocks, what weve called the black boxes, the data bocks which basically would tell us recordings in the cockpit. Because we know u. S. Officials are looking at the cockpit saying somebody that knew something about this plane did these things deliberately. Could they have also messed with the data box and the voice boxes . When it comes to the emergency locator transmitter, you can mess around with that, yes. But on the other hand, you should have recording for up to two hours of what happened in the cockpit. Now, one possibility they left it on, kept fly, in which case it might be erased by just mere noise. That would be unfortunate. So it is possible they could find those at some point and not have the information that were all trying to figure out at that point. Right. If they flew for three hours after whatever struggle took place, if there was a struggle, its possible they may just find noise. What about reinforced doors . Is that strictly a u. S. Requirement . The whole thing after 9 11 was make it so you cannot get into the cockpit. Is there a possible that someone did get into the cockpit and forced these pilots . Youre touching on an important point because post9 11 we have implemented a number of security provisions that are in agreement with International Organizations to reinforce the cockpit. But at the core assumption is that is pilots are in the trusted inner circle. What weve seep in the case of the 1999 egyptian suicide flight by the pilot as well as what we may see here, which is all fingers are pointing right now to looking at the pilot having a simulator in his house, there are a number of indicators that would suggest that whoever did this knew how to disable the transponders and did it precisely at the moment of handle auch between air Traffic Control people might not have noticed right away. Correct. Youre touching on no matter how much we reinforce the cockpit door, we may have to ask the question of do we need additional screening of both psychological as well as security of the pilots themselves . Is there any wonder whether this particular 777 had a reinforced door . Its believed it was. It did have a reinforced door. Yes. By not, not just the flight attendants standing there with, you know, the drink cart. It had a door you actually were not supposed to be able to get into. Thats right. But of course you still have two people inside and a lot of people outside, and not just the possibility there are bad guys inside but the possibility they might be coerced by action outside. The flanlt aight attendant a gun and all that. Exactly. If we look at all the things were told happened, the transponder, no more voice contact, turning off the communications system, is there any way for that to happen by a failure of something on the plane . For the things that we know that did happen, could there have been something on the plane that would cause all those things to happen . Absolutely not. There are simply too many backup systems. This wouldnt happen just by accident. Thats what i would say too. Before theres been rightfully a lot of caution over not overly asserting this is some sort of foul play or terrorism but i think theres enough preponderance of the evidence, coincidental information the. Preponderance of the proof, its shifting to those who argue its not terrorism to those who have said it is. And so and we should say youre a huge supporter of the 777, you believe its p perfect plane and all that. You see no many way any accident could have caused any of this . Absolutely not. And of course the track record speaks for itself. Youve got an extraordinary 19year Service Record with 1,200 jets in service. There are 14 , 15 of world capacity, no fatalities associated with the design of the jet. When you look at this, it sounds to me youre both looking at somebody inside that cockpit did something to cause this plane to veer and maybe ran out of gas, maybe it was a suicide mission, Something Like that. Correct. And i think what well have to see in the coming days is on the voice recorder, the black box, there is an underwater beacon that will last for about 30 days for depths up to 14,000 feet. So the searchandrescue that will take place now, we have about 30 days to get it right and its a huge amount of area to cover. If this plaep did land in some other location there are about 600plus other airports it could have landed but well focus on the ones privately controlled you could land without having been dee texted. Well have you on later in the hour. Richard, well be back with you. When we get back to this story later, coming up, crimeans are voting to join russia or become an independent state. What does western europe do next . Predibut, manufacturings a prettin the United States do. Means advanced technology. We learned that Technology Allows us to be craft oriented. No ones losing their job. Theres no beer robot that has suddenly chased them out. The technology is actually creating new jobs. Siemens designed and built the right tools and resources to get the job done. Salegets up to 795 highwayeals the passamiles per tank. Sel salesperson 2 actually, were throwing in a 1,000 fuel reward card. Weve never done that. Thats why theres never been a better time to buy a passat tdi clean diesel. Husband so its like two deals in one . Avo during the salesperson 2 first ever exactly. Volkswagen tdi clean diesel event, get a great deal on a passat tdi, that gets up to 795 highway miles per tank. And get a 1000 dollar fuel reward card. Its like two deals in one. Hurry in and get a 1,000 fuel reward card and 0. 9 apr for 60 months on tdi models. Oh, theres a prize, all right. [ male announcer ] inside every box of cheerios are those greattasting little os made from carefully selected oats that can help lower cholesterol. Is it a superhero . Kinda. That would be my daughter hi dad. Shes a dietitian. And back when i wasnt eating right, she got me drinking boost. Its got a great taste, and it helps give me the nutrition i was missing. Helping me stay more like me. [ female announcer ] boost complete nutritional drink has 26 essential vitamins and minerals, including calcium and vitamin d to support strong bones and 10 grams of protein to help maintain muscle. All with a delicious taste. Grandpa [ female announcer ] stay strong, stay active with boost. But something about spending this time together sailing past ancient glaciers in alaska makes you realize how old time is and how short life is. She can take all the time she wants. Princess cruises. Come back new. [ female announcer ] plan your sevenday cruise from just 549. Call your travel agent or 1800princess. I takbecause you cant beatrning for my frzero heartburn. N. Woo hoo [ male announcer ] prilosec otc is the number one doctor recommended frequent heartburn medicine for 8 straight years. One pill each morning. 24 hours. Zero heartburn. A turning point in ukraine. Voters in the countrys crimea region are casting ballots on whether to become independent or rejoin russia. Western nations have said they consider the referendum illegal. Nick paton walsh joins us from the capital, crimea. Nick, what have you seen today . Reporter well, results here have never been in doubt. Weve heard from the Prime Minister about twothirds have voted and they think about an 8 vote will go towards joining russia so it seems to be pretty much in the bag here. Celebrations are getting under way. You can see behind me the writings crimean spring. Really on the ground weve seen strange scenes. One colleague has seen two ballots stuffed into a box by one voter. Weve seen ourselves electoral officials expecting only a fifth of the people turning up to be on the electoral role. The rest are asked to show a passport and they decide on the spot whether or not to vote. But these small irregularities in a part of the world where often elections are about endorsing decisions politicians have made weeks earlier, those irregularities arent the big deal. The key thing is the fact there are 21,500 Russian Troops on this peninsula according to ukraine defenseman, whose presence have led this. Otherwise the ukrainian capitol would have prevented it from happening. The outstanding questions are what happens to the crimean troops. But celebrations under way behind me, candy. Earlier this morning arizona senator john mccain fresh off another trip to ukraine said while the situation in ukraine will not take a turn toward traditional war anytime soon, he did seem to concede that russia has won in the short term. And let me ask you, because just the tone of some of the things youve said lead me to believe that you do agree that crimea is gone and that now it is about protecting the rest of eastern ukraine. Candy, i hate to say that, because obviously it has an effect on those brave people in ukraine, including those 4,000 that are in bases in crimea. What i would like to see is a longterm commitment to the freedom and democracy and the assistance we can provide ukraine, including, over time, regaining crimea. That would be one of our goals. It is an integral part of that country. But it is not a shortterm goal at the moment. Id love to tell you otherwise. Joining me now, peter amman, germanys ambassador to the u. S. , britains, and frances ambassador to the u. S. We have a power panel here today. John mccain did seem to concede that crimea belongs to russia at the moment if not in legalities but certainly indeed. I cant agree with a lot of things john mccain said, but i think theres no doubt about it. This referendum was illegal. On the other hand, again, legally results dont count but is the fact of the matter on the ground that russia controls crimea . I think we have to wait and see how this turns out. We do not believe it to be constitutional or legal as peter says, but this referendum has taken place. It is a fraud and asking people what they think at the barrel of a gun is not exactly an exercise in participatory democracy. Lets see how this comes out. I think tomorrow you will see a close coordination between the International Community coming together to determine its response. We are a very long way from accepting crimea should be chopped up and handed on a plate to russia. Right. I dont expect the west, the United States, or any of your countries would accept it. Im trying to figure out if theres anything that you believe that will in the short term push president putin out of crimea. You know, candy, and you said it very well, as president Francois Hollande said, we cannot accept the validity of this pseudoconsultation. It is a violation of the crimean constitution and in International Law has no basis. We have to put things in perspective here. What is at stake in ukraine and in this crisis, one of the most dangerous crises since the end of the cold war, is number one the future of a country, ukraine, of its territorial integrity and sovereignty. Two, its also about the danger of returning to cold war, to an outbreak of nationalism in europe. And number three, you know, candy, accepting the russian fait accompli here would mean opening pandoras box and challenging orders worldwide. It is simply something that we cannot do. And we as a democracy, by the way, are the strongest when our values and our interests are aligned. And this is exactly the case in the ukrainian crisis. They are allied and that is why the europeans are together and americans are solidly together in supporting ukraine. Imposing costs and potentially high costs on russia. Whats a high cost on russia . What do you think that European Countries and the u. S. Would do in unison . Because there are russian interests in europe. Western europe certainly many countries are dependent or at least rely heavily upon russias gas. So what do you think you could get unanimity on to punish russia . Never seen such a degree of unanimity across the atlantic. We are singing from the same hymn sheet, as you say here. And well have the european Foreign Ministers meeting tomorrow. They will discuss sanctions for the first time probably including travel bans, visa bans and asset freezes. This is hard stuff. Across the board, travel bans across the board, asset freezing so you say to the russian e elites, sorry, youre not coming here, weve frozen your assets . They will hammer it out tomorrow, but let me say it clearly because it was discussed in the u. S. Quite often, the German Foreign policy is not written about anything about gas or oil. And the German Industry Federation has made it very clear Foreign Policy is the priority and all other interests have to step back. Would you all agree, and i want to a answer sort of what sangs but in terms of actual military action thats a nonstarter in western europe as it is in the u. S. . I think thats right. None of our countries are thinking of getting involved militarily, but what we are about is trying to show clearly to putin this is a miscalculation if he thinks he can simply get away with this because the west has lost its will to stand up to him or something. At the same time, what we are doing is offering a number of different ways in which putin can back down or, if you like, back down maybe not that term but change his strategy so that russia can define its relationship with the west in some other way than simply being in opposition to us. We understand there is a special relationship between ukraine and russia. We ourselves are integrated in many respects to the russian economy. We would like to work with russia, but we cannot accept this sort of behavior. That is why russia was completely isolated out of the United NationsSecurity Council yesterday even with china not supporting it, which is not something that happens every single day, on principles of territorial integrity and sovereignty, which is something sometimes that russia believes is important. I think what youll see is a you nighted response with a number of different measures, some of them speaking what they will be, exactly who is on which list and when remains to be seen. And if we do not make progress there may need to be a further wave of measures taken further down the track by the International Community to make this point absolutely clear. Whats at that extreme end . It does seem to me that putin has made a calculation that what you could do to hurt him is not worth as much to him as crimea. Thats a really good question, candy. I think our efforts have to be guided by two principles, firmness and dialogue at the same time. Firmness as the two peters very well said, eloquently said, were going to take tomorrow as early as tomorrow importance sanctions at the european level, and the third round that could follow in the coming days. At the same time we have to keep the channels of communication with russia. Thats why our three countries together with our american and european friends have been from day one at the forefront of International Efforts to promote political solution of the crisis. We all know, to answer your question, that the only solution can be will be political so we are, you know, joining efforts in that direction. We all know the lasting solution would be would be to respect ukraines sovereignty and, you know, territorial integrity. There is no doubt about it. There is no other solution. At the same time, we have to take into account the history, the geography, the diversity of the ukrainian population. So i believe its along these lines, firmness and dialogue, that we have to continue working. In the coming days and weeks. Ive got 20 seconds. The first step, you cant have diplomacy unless both sides are willing to participate in it. At the moment it does not appear, despite some efforts certainly made by all of you of trying to press putin into talking to the ukrainian government, it hasnt happened. We continue to have this contact with russia and ukraine together with us. Trying to get a political solution. And youre absolutely right, the threat of sanctions and the phased increase of sanctions. Theyve all spoke on the putin and done their best. We have done all we can to find a way. And we have to prop up ukraine. Ukraine needs our assistance and this must be part of our strategy. Thank you so much. Ambassador ammon, ambassador westmacott, and ambassador francois delatre. We appreciate your time. Ahead, u. S. Intelligence officials are leaning toward a theory saying the pilots of malaysian flight 370 were responsible for the jets disappearance. Next up, the clus leading them down this path. Not that one. That one. The one who seems like hes already got the job cause he studied all the right courses from the getgo. And thats an accountant, a mom, a university of phoenix scholarship recipient, who used our unique scratch that awesome careerplanning tool. And thats a student, working late, with a day job, taking courses aligned with the industry hes aiming to be in. Ready to build an education around the career that you want . Lets get to work. Tthe will. , mobilizing to take on the world . You dont know aarp. Aarp and its foundation are taking on hunger with 29 million meals donated. Drive to end hunger teams with local agencies to reach the hungriest among us. If you dont think feed the hungry when you think aarp, then you dont know aarp. Find more surprising possibilities and get to know us at aarp. Org possibilities. So our business can be on at ts network for 175 a month . Yup. All 5 of you for 175. Our clients need a lot of attention. Theres unlimited talk and text. Were working deals all day. You get 10 gigabytes of data to share. What about expansion potential . Add a line, anytime, for 15 a month. Low dues, great terms. Lets close new at t mobile share value plans our best value plans ever for business. [ female announcer ] we eased your back pain, you turned up the fun. Tylenol® provides strong pain relief while being gentle on your stomach. But for everything we do, we know you do so much more. Tylenol®. We know you do so much more. Ido more with less with buless energy. Hp is helping ups do just that. Soon, the worlds most intelligent servers, designed by hp, will give ups over twice the performance, using forty percent less energy. Multiply that across over a thousand locations, and theyll provide the same benefit to the environment as over 60,000 trees. Thats a trend we can all get behind. Back now to our top story. A u. S. Official says investigators have renewed their focus on the pilots of Malaysia Airlines flight 370. Police have searched the homes of both, even confiscating a Flight Simulator that belonged to the pilot. Atika shubert joins us in kuala lumpur. Weve heard experts rule out malfunction. Naturally that means you go to, you know, the Human Element here. Thats the pilots. What do we know so far about them . Reporter what we know is the captain of the flight, ahmed shah, was a very experienced pilot, somebody who was known as someone who was very active in the commune, followed politics very closely, and also had his own homemade Flight Simulator at home. Now, police did spend two hours searching the home and also took a look at what he had built at his home. Apparently to simulate a 777 flight. Take a listen to what was said at the press briefing earlier today. Sorry. We dont have that spot. But ill go ahead and let you know it appears to be something that he basically constructed on his own at home and according to friends for his own enjoyment, just to sort of share his passion for aviation. And i do have to say that malaysian officials have not only focused on pilot and the copilot but also on the other passengers on board. Theyre screening all of them to see if anybody else might have had any experience flying a plane but also ground crew here that might have helped to get the plane off the ground. So at this point theyre not ruling anybody out. Theyre looking at anybody who had anything to do with flight 370. Atika shubert thanks for that report. Well be back to you throughout the day. Im joined by dr. Christopher unger, a physician designated by the faa to perform physical exams on pilots to determine if theyre fit to fly. I say exams because i have to imagine there are standards both in the u. S. And around the world for pilot ls but they differ. Thats true. As i mentioned earlier, the standards that exist around the world may not be quite as rigorous as the standards that are used here in the usa. And i feel that those governments are looking to the u. S. To eventually improve and upgrade their standards. Theyre very actively outreaching to us. So, for instance, in terms of mental health, because people can be perfectly well and then get dressed for any number of reasons, and, you know, that would be missed if the exam was a year ago. So how often and what do what constitutes passing an exam for pilot flight here and abroad from what you know about it . Well, the exam is very comprehensive and a really good exam should be based on continuity. Its more difficult for us to screen somebody that weve never met before. We attempt to spend an extended period of time, especially with our new pilots. And were able to ask questions in such a way as to avoid evasion, essentially. And a lot of times pilots dont think that, for example, taking over the counter medicines because theyre not prescription medications. The point that you have made is that combinations of medicines, circumstances, and events can converge and give rise to relatively acute psychological factors which would make someone essentially not at their normal level of judgment. And those things do have to be screened for. And so what were talking about is we do know from reporting from Barbara Starr is that they are focused on what happened in that cockpit. There was talk of, you know, is this a suicide pilot. And as akita just reported theyre looking at everybody who got on that plane because there are other scenarios that would not, you know, have anything to do with the pilots or at least the pilots doing something voluntarily. But in your line of work as you work with pilots, it would seem to me and we heard it from a couple neighbors saying hes a really nice guy, well respected, all of those sorts of things again. So how does one even detect if you have a pilot thats in trouble . And as we know, there have been some pilots in the u. S. That didnt end apparently as badly as this has but have had some mental problems and been taken off planes. Candy, let me give you two examples. One example is medicines we use to lower cholesterol. These may be among the most prescribed medicines in the world. These medicines give rise to memory deficits. They give rise to transient global amnesia, and were sort of naive to that, especially when they might be mixed with Something Else. We also have conditions such as what is called spatial disorientation. Spatial disorientation may not be detectable while were examining the pilot on the ground, but it can happen in the air. And essentially in those situations the pilot may be n the plane may be losing altitude while the pilot thinks theyre at straight and level flight. These things can converge and can cause havoc in a situation like this. Now, we also had a situation i believe a year or two ago where both the pilot and the Flight Engineer fell asleep. I also have some concerns about pilots everywhere overusing flight Management Systems. In my generation we called it autopilot. Flight Management Systems are something that makes life very nice for the pilots. But im not entirely sure they can be trusted. And one of the reasons why they cant be trusted is if there is an attack such as an electromagnetic pulse, that thing is blown and its shot, then you have to recover the airplane. One of our incidents was in an aircraft that went down over the atlantic a number of years ago was that the pilots came back in the system. When that system failed. And they were expected to fly the plane manually but they didnt know how to fly it really well. So overreliance on technology is a concern. Right. Yeah. I think the one thing we do know about this pilot, he was quite trained on the 777 so i think theyre looking at other things, as to whether he had planned this for whatever reason. I want to thank you for your time today for beginning to look into this subject matter for us. Christopher unger. Enjoyed it very much. Thank you. When we return, the search area expands north to kazakhstan and central asia and as far south as the indian ocean near the coast of australia encompassing some 35,000 square miles. Can it be found . The recent increase in cafeteria prices is not cool. When you vote for flo, well have discounts. Icecream discounts. Multicookie discounts. Pizza loyalty discounts [ kids chanting flo ] i also have some great ideas on car insurance. [ silence ] finding you discounts since back in the day. Call or click today. I like her. Does your mouth often feel dry . A dry mouth can be a side effect of many medications but it can also lead to tooth decay and bad breath. Thats why theres biotene. Available as an oral rinse, toothpaste, spray or gel, biotene can provide soothing relief, and it helps keep your mouth healthy, too. Remember, while your medication is doing you good, a dry mouth isnt. Biotene for people who suffer from dry mouth. A dry mouth isnt. Are you still sleeping . Just wanted to check and make sure that we were on schedule. The First Technology of its kind. Mom and dad, i have great news. Is now providing answers families need. Siemens. Answers. Spcan go 795 highway milesen on a single tank. Huh. So you could drive from los angeles all the way philadelphia with just three stops for fuel. Thats just a hop, skip, and a jump. Try that in another midsize sedan. Its more of a hop. A skip. A jump. A leap. Maybe a schlep. Probably a hurdle. A little bit of a trek. Avo during the tdi clean diesel event, get a 1,000 fuel reward card and 0. 9 apr for 60 months. Joining me now, colleen keller, former Operations Research analyst for the u. S. Navy, a licensed pilot who helped find air france 447 when it crashed into the Atlantic Ocean in 2009. Steven wallace is former director to for the faas office of accident investigation, also a cnn aviation analyst. We are rejoined by chad sweet and richard aboulafia. Thank you all for being here. Were going to solve the thing right now. Right . So they have widened is is search area, something that is almost impossible it seems to me just in terms of how big it is. How do they winnow down, colleen, where you look in this gigantic area . Something we were talking about earlier is a way of using negative information to contain the search area. By that i mean if theres a radar or Something Else that should have detected the aircraft in a certain area and did not, you can say the aircraft never made it to that area. We were talking about the radars on the coast, india, pakistan, some of those countries up there in that northern arc, if we could get them to look at their radar tapes and see that there was no target when the aircraft should have gone through there then that would make us focus more on the water or down south. So you could rule out, look, theres no way this plane its being reported that india said theres no way they could have flown through here. We would have noticed it in some way, shape, or form. Possibly and possibly not. Most likely they do have coverage. This is a country . A state of tension with several of its neighbors. On the other hand, the if there were gaps in that coverage thats the last thing they would admit. Right. In 9 11 well all remember that it took a long time for us to actually detect what was going on with the aircraft that were off track. We also were very slow in responding to that. With all due respect to the indians i think they are still working on upping their game and theres certainly a scenario where it would be not likely but you cant rule it out. Seems impossible something that large could go undetected by radars or satellites. So many of them in that area when you look at it you think it has to be completely covered but its not. The accident investigation is not solely a matter of finding the aircraft or the wreckage of the aircraft. Theres a lot going on and i think were starting to see two things. This is clearly a simultaneous criminal and civil investigation. I think were seeing an improvement in the level of cooperation im getting, the best information before the best experts. Theyre doing things like looking at that pilot depicting where it was used or which by the way nothing weird for a pilot. They tend to be fanatics. Youre a pilot. Right . They love flying so that he would build himself a simulator is not necessarily absolutely right. He was very open about it. Facebook page, join me sometime for flying. Not unusual at all. The only issue would be if he was looking to do something unusual, i. E. Something like this, thats where you mighe mi try to train himself do a different standard. Secondly the theory they wouldnt fly the northern route because of the intensive radar coverage is on the presummings that they wouldnt get detected. If the intent was to actually hit a target along the coastline of india, for example, then the presumption that the radar is there is actually irrelevant as being a cause for this not being a likely route. So weve got about 90 seconds. I want to ask each of you if you could have one piece of information now that could tell you something important, what is it that you would first want to know that would lead you down the right path . I would want the flight data voice reporters. What we used to call the black boxes. Theyre orange. Now we call them the data recorders. Like which we assume are at the bottom of the ocean someplace or we can assume theyre in the tail section of that airplane. Thats right. Someplace. We talk about the because it does have an underwater beacon that is activated when it hits the water theyll have about 30 days to find this at a level of at least 14,000 feet. So i would agree with steve, thats the data that you need. I think its absolutely essential but on the other hand, in the absence of that until we find it, the best thing they could do is look over the manifest and discover every possible International Link of every person on board, where theyve traveled, who they know, everything. And thats where i think the focus is now. Sounds a little like they are doing that. And who actually even touched the plane in terms of putting things on board and that kind of thing. Colleen . And the flight data recorders are critical and they were very helpful when we recovered the wreckage of france. Unfortunately the time is ticking away and we dont even know where to put the sensors in the water to pick up those beacons. And there are sensors you can put down. Yes. On day one of the investigation, everything is on the table. And i think were still there and we need to hold out the possibility this will just be something weve never seen before. On day eight of the investigation, everythings still on the table. Our panel is actually going to stay with us and tell us if theyve ever seen an airline mystery like this when we come back. Dad, why are you getting that . Is there a prize in there . Oh, theres a prize, all right. [ male announcer ] inside every box of cheerios are those greattasting little os made from carefully selected oats that can help lower cholesterol. Is it a superhero . Kinda. [ female announcer ] we eased your back pain, you turned up the fun. Tylenol® provides strong pain relief while being gentle on your stomach. But for everything we do, we know you do so much more. Tylenol®. [ male announcer ] she wont remember this, being carried in your arms. But after a day spent in the caribbean exploring mayan ruins and playing pirates with you in secret coves, she wont exactly be short on memories. Princess cruises. Come back new. [ female announcer ] plan your sevenday cruise from just 549. Call your travel agent or 1800princess. Call your travel agent nascar is about excitement. But tracking all the action and hearing everything from our marketing partners, the media and millions of fans on social media can be a challenge. Thats why we partnered with hp to build the new nascar fan and media engagement center. Hps Technology Helps us turn millions of tweets, posts and stories into realtime Business Insights that help nascar win with our fans. That would be my daughter hi dad. Shes a dietitian. And back when i wasnt eating right, she got me drinking boost. Its got a great taste, and it helps give me the nutrition i was missing. Helping me stay more like me. [ female announcer ] boost complete nutritional drink has 26 essential vitamins and minerals, including calcium and vitamin d to support strong bones and 10 grams of protein to help maintain muscle. All with a delicious taste. Grandpa [ female announcer ] stay strong, stay active with boost. We are back with our aviation panel. Colleen keller, steve wallace, chad sweet, and richard aboulafia. Thank you all for being here. You sort of started going this way, which is, you know, have you ever seen a mystery like this . And you seem to be saying we correct things pretty quickly and therefore everything kind of is new each time something right. Like polio and smallpox. We used to have recurring things that we solved. An accident happened for repeating causes, that they did pretty well. There arent any recurring causes of large airplane accidents anymore. Every one of them is a oneoff event. Now here, this airplane went missing. In the modern jet era, this is really unprecedented. Were not talking about the Bermuda Triangle or amelia airhart, weve talking about the modern jet era and we havent seen a jet disappear like this for this length of time. Youre a huge fan, richard, of the 7777, but theres no way you can see after as many years as its been in service that it would develop a problem so serious that it could have caused any of this. No. This jets in its sweet spot. Its been around 19 years to know all the kicks and yet none of the planes have annaled out. This is only 12 years old, which in car years is 2 1 2. Its really not the jet. As we look at, chad, the fear s of terrorism, i said the terrorists can take it and take it to an island and you said in 1999 nobody would have take an jet plane and crash it into a building. Thats right. In a world with tv shows like homeland and 24, people like Edward Snowden alleging that the governments can follow our every call, our every movement, its difficult for people to understand how this can possibly happen. But the reality is you cant rule that out. Colleen, you cant find your iphone. In todays technologically connected world people find it hard to believe there can be a mystery that can go on like this, but the fact is searching is an imperfect science and a very, very big area. So theres a lot of uncertainty there. So hopefully any doubts anyplace here that this will remain unsolved . No. Im still confident i have to say not quite as confident as i was on day one that this accident will be solved to a high degree of certainty. What do you think . Too big to let go. I want to thank you all for your expertise. As we like to say, to be continued. Thank you for your expertise. Well talk to you later im sure. Thanks for watching state of the union. Im Candy Crowley in washington. Cnns coverage of flight 370 continues now with Fredricka Whitfield and a special edition of newsroom. Hello, everyone. Im Fredricka Whitfield. Two big stories topping our news this hour, the massive search for that flight 370 and the multinational investigation now into one of the biggest aviation mysteries of our time. Plus, crimeas crucial vote to join russia. It could have major diplomatic consequences around the world