Transcripts For CNNW Wolf 20140318

Altered by computer, by someone in the cockpit. Airline Officials Say the course was originally set for beijing, but they couldnt rule out the possibility that the flight was reprogrammed. And the search area now covers, get this, 2. 2 million square nautical miles. Thats about the size of the continental United States. Were covering this story as only cnn can. Our correspondents and analysts are all standing by. Lets begin with a closer look at the report that the planes course was most likely altered by a computer by someone inside the cockpit. Our justice correspondent, evan perez, is joining us now. Evan, you have some new information. Well, yes, wolf. We know from the government from the latest government briefings that the u. S. Believes it has enough information to indicate that the heading of the aircraft, when it deviated course from its scheduled from where it was scheduled to go to beijing, somewhere over the gulf of thailand, it decides to start heading west. And that course was set using via the input via the computer that controls the aircraft. Now, who did this, you know, when was this done exactly, that is still very much an open question. But we know that there was enough data that was being sent in during the first 40 minutes of this flight that the government now has and is taking a look at. And that information indicates that the specific course there was some specific coordinates that the aircraft was heading towards. And those were specifically inputted in the flight Computer System. Now, im not sure im not an aircraft engineer, so i dont know all the technicals of how this data gets sent back. But this is how the government has determined, malaysian government and u. S. Government has determined with some certainty they know this aircraft decided to go west and then, you know, falls off the radar. Is it technically possible, evan, for that computer to be hacked, the cockpit computer to be hacked . Someone on the ground to key in and change the autopilot from the ground, as opposed to the pilot or co pilot changing the dimensions inside the computer, inside the cockpit . Over the years, there has been a lot of concern about whether or not especially the more modern aircraft, could be subject to Something Like a cyber hey jacking or Something Like that. Its been discussed over a period of time here. You know, i just dont know whether or not its exactly i mean, its in the realm of possibilities, im told, by officials looking at this. But they just dont know enough information to indicate that thats even likely here. Again, its the more modern these aircraft become, the more connected they are. It is possible to do Something Like that. But, you know, its not there is nothing indicating yet that that perhaps happened here. Again, the headings that were entered into the Computer System appear to have been done, they believe, inside the cockpit. Whether it was done preflight, which is what happens most times, with aircraft and with pilots, or whether it was done while the plane was already in the air, that they just dont know and they dont know with any certainty and probably wont until they can recover the black boxes, wolf. All right, evan perez, thanks very much. Lets bring in our chief National Security correspondent, jim sciutto. Youve been talking about your sources, jim. What does this suggest, this new information. How significant, potentially, is it . If its true, it core ran ates the working theory. The pilot or the co pilot or the pilot and co pilot under duress, being forced to do it or someone else managed to get into the cockpit had knowledge about how to do this. But it adds to the sense whoever did it knew details about how to fly the plane. And it also undermines another theory thats been put out there, some kind of catastrophic failure of systems could also have been responsible for that turn of the plane. Here its still possibe there was a fire or something that led a pilot or someone in the cockpit to it take that turn. But it looks unlikely now that you had a sudden failure, a sudden decompressionization of the plane. That kind of thing. They had the wherewithal and ability to plug into the flight Management System or fms, to change direction. So it adds to the working theory. But again, more evidence there was a deliberate act involved in that turn. As opposed to some sort of catastrophic mechanical failure. Or whatever. All right, thanks, jim sciutto, for that military radar in thailand seems to confirm what malaysian radar had also suspected, that a signal thought to be from the flight, flight 370, showed it was turning west. Cnn now confirms the turn was likely and initiated by a computer in the cockpit. And a former Malaysia Airlines pilot tells cnn, the whole thing is very suspicious. I know for sure, i flew this plane. You flew this airliner. Yeah, how many times. And so what do you think happened . Being someone who has actually been behind the controls of this plane . Its very strange. Because the lack of communication is the one thats really, really puzzling. That we the pilots are not communicating. There was an emergency. And i think from the second or third day, ive already come to my own private conclusion that there must be some form of unlawful human interference. It could be anyone on the airplane. If youre convinced its not the pilot, does your attention turn to the co pilot . Well, like i said, unlawful human interference says that a human is involved. We start going down, personally, we start going down. The entire interview, by the way, will air later tonight onnerin burnett outfront. With us ntsb managing director, peter goelz and mark weise and law forcement analyst, tom fuentes, assistant director of the fbi. Mark, if there had been a fire or some emergency, wouldnt the pilot still have been able to communicate at least Something Back to Ground Control . Weve got an emergency, sos, or whatever . Yes, absolutely. And there is a couple ways. Certainly with a transponder, by alerting an emergency code. But remember the three tenants of aviation, navigate, and communicate. Somebody would always be flying the airplane, somebody working the problem. And it same time, going off the intended track, intruding somebodys air space so you could communicate that event to air traffic control. So you would generally agree, working assumption that something someone something nefarious, an individual or individuals were responsible for whatever happened. Absolutely. And thats just want to make sure. Peter, lets talk a little bit about the notion that someone 40 minutes into this flight reprogrammed that automatic pilot computer to make it fly in a different direction. First of all, could it be done, someone hacking in to that computer from the ground and changing the direction of that plane, or is that too wild . I find that hard to believe. But the captain would know better. What do you think . I dont believe that that really was going to be the case. You think its technically possible in this day and age of hacking, someone on the ground to hack into the computer on board inside that cockpit . Well, you know, wolf, i think that thats been looked at for years. And i know that there has been a lot of roadblocks put up inside the cockpit to prevent that from happening. I assume that that would be unlikely. But in this at a and age, you never know. If somebody had been planning that, they would have tried to test it somewhere. And i think i just think that is really farfetched. As you know, a lot of folks out there think this whole thick was just a test for something bigger down the road. Youve heard that theory. I have seen it all through the internet. Absolutely. Yeah, so they thats one of the things. So what do you make of this reprogramming . When you see these reports, and weve confirmed these reports now at cnn, that that flight plan was reprogrammed, presumably during the first 40 minutes after the plane took off, what do you make of that . Well, i think it focuses the attention on the flight crew. And that is real estate reinforced by the conclusions of the ties that they had seen the plane change direction. That we have to wait to almost two weeks to get that confirmed is disappointing. But that kmps i think in my mind that the plane was deliberately, the course changed its course, and then was altered inside the cockpit. Heres what also is disappointing, tom. And i want you to weigh in on this. Apparently, based on what we know, at least as of last few hours, the malaysians have not yet allowed the ntsb, the faa, u. S. Authorities or the fbi access to that Flight Simulator that was taken from the pilots home to determine if there is anything sinister, any clues discerned from that. I think right now, wolf, you have the malaysians themselves examining that. If this ends up being a criminal case, you know, theyre investigating all possibilities. But i think they may believe they can look but they dont have the experience that the United States has in going through these kinds of hard drives. No, thats true. Seeing if there is some nuance that maybe could give a clue to what happened. I think thats true. It is true. But they may be looking at it, that, you know, a normal Flight Simulator, like the one that Martin Savidge has been reporting from, costs about a quarter million dollars. The one he had in his home was homemade and maybe cost 6,000. And lacking additional sophistication, it really becomes more of a computer forensic search, which the police does all of the time. So its not so much the sophistication of the gear of simulating a flight. But what gets programmed into the software. I mean, using the software and the hardware they could look at and is see the previous routes. But malaysians, i dont think there is anything sinister going on and theyre wellintentioned. They dont have the experience to undertake a massive investigation like this. I assume you agree. Well, i agree that, you know, this is a huge investigation compared to anything they have seen. Probably never done anything like this. Peter, i want you to weigh in, as well. Hold your thought for a moment. I want to take a quick break. Our experts are going to stay with us. Thai officials shedding new light on what happened to flight 370. Radar systems may have spotted the missing plane. Going to go deeper. Tom foreman standing by to take a look at whether the 777 veered west. Predibut, manufacturings a prettin the United States do. Means advanced technology. 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Again, flight took off from kuala lumpur about a week and a half ago, a little more. Flew newspaper way. Disappeared off this coast. So how does that fit into the big picture . Think about all the search areas weve had so far. The main search area there to begin with. And then these big arcs that we developed out of the information from the satellites. And where the plane might be in the arcs. This fits into the upper part of the arc and the idea that this plane would have turned left at the end. If you look at where we are in here, if you look at thailand up there, you can see that if you took the box on the right there, the red box on the right, the first search area, and the one on the left over there, it could have turned that way and headed that way, assuming it was not going further up into asia along one of these routes somewhere else, wolf. So at least this information from thailand fits the model as we have heard it so far. That there was some sort of turn, and that it would have at some point been in the strait of malacca, as people have said, wolf. How hard is it to believe, tom, this plane actually flew through such a wide, wide space without being picked up by radar . I find it very hard to believe, wolf. Because thats just a lot of countries and a lot of areas to see nothing. Now, heres one theory about how it might have done it. All the experts say this is a very difficult theory to believe. But that this plane turned off all of its communications and in the process of turning off all of its communications at some point it basically slipped into the radar shadow of another plane. And this other plane was flying along, unaware of the presence of this plane. So they had full radar working just fine on the small plane, or the other plane, not a small plane, but the other plane, it was doing everything normally, being tracked normally. And this one slipped in behind it. And together they just created a single dot on the radar map. So nobody noticed it as it worked its way up the country amid all the other dots out there. Because remember, the asian air space is one of the most heavily traveled in the world. Tremendous number of flights there. So maybe you wouldnt notice if one dot was a little odd or bigger, especially since one plane is sending out a normal signal. That seems the reach. So wolf, how could it slip past the other radar sites if it continued going north after the thais saw it . Seems very unlikely, wolf. All right, tom, thank you. Just ahead, the dawning challenges of searching for the mit missing boeing 777 in a body of water the size of the United States. And evan perez getting more information right now. Hell share with us right after this. Im beth. And im michelle. And we own the paper cottage. Its a stationery and gifts store. Anything we purchase for the paper cottage goes on our ink card. So you can manage your business expenses and access them online instantly with the Game Changing app from ink. We didnt get into business to spend time managing receipts, thats why we have ink. We like being in business because we like being creative, we like interacting with people. So you have time to focus on the things you love. Ink from chase. So you can. With roc multi correxion 5 in 1. Hydrate dryness, illuminate dullness, lift sagging, diminish the look of dark spots, and smooth the appearance of wrinkles. Roc® multi correxion 5 in 1. High performance skincare™. Now for a flawless look, roc perfecting cream. The only bb cream with the wrinkle fighting power of roc retinol. New from roc. This is cnn breaking news. Getting new information right now. Lets go back to justice reporter, evan perez. What are you learning . Wolf, we know malaysian authorities have shared with u. S. Authorities some of the initial findings they have got from doing some of the searches of the pilots homes. As we know, they have taken computers, they have looked theyre looking at email traffic, theyve looked at the Flight Simulator, that one of the pilots, the captain, had on his computer. And so far, they found nothing it to indicate that any of this could have been preplanned. For instance, they were looking to see whether or not perhaps this heading that the flight went on after it departed from its scheduled route to beijing, whether that was on the computer. And so far, they have found nothing to indicate any of this. And so thats adding to the mystery that investigators still are focused on right now. We also know that they have reviewed cockpit conversations with air traffic control, for instance, and again, theres nothing that has been that they find that is suspicious and that indicates anything that perhaps that could explain the mystery of why the flight deviated from its course. So here we are, day 11, i suppose, and this only deepens the mystery of what exactly happened to flight 370, wolf. Do we know if the malaysians are allowing u. S. Investigators access to the computers, the hard drives, the Flight Simulators, the audiotapes, the videotapes, or are they just getting reports from malaysian authorities about what malaysian authorities have discovered . Well, they are sharing. Theyre asking for help with some of the technical data that they have recovered. And we know that they are sharing some of the that information. In the early days of this investigation, there was some frustration on the part of the u. S. That the malaysians were holding back some of the information. Im told that that has changed in recent days, and that the malaysians are being more forthcoming. Today they have shared information they have retrieved from the computers, which was seized just in the last couple days. So im told that a lot of that information is being shared, raw data. And so the u. S. Is trying to make some of its own conclusions to check against the other information that the malaysians are coming up with. I should also mention, there are british investigators, french investigators, theres an entire team now that is working on this. And theyre looking at the same data, im told, wolf. All right. Thats encouraging to hear. Evan, thanks very much. Lets assess what we gist heard. Once again, joining us, aviation analyst, mark weise and peter goelz and tom fuentes. What do you make of this new development, tom . I think that shows, wolf, they are having the other experts, the u. S. And the british and other experts look at the data, look at the information. As i mentioned earlier, in terms of the Flight Simulator, would they need to look at the monitor, the joystick or the wires. They need to look at the memory in the computer itself. Or did he have any other evidence in the house, like thumb drives, that might have flight plans for some other exotic city that he might have intended to take that airplane to. So so far, if theyre finding none of that information doing that kind of a computer search is definitely not as difficult as searching raiders and satellite and that type of information. Its a much its something the police do all of the time, practically every day. To look at data on a computer. Peter, what should the malaysians do to reassure the families of the of those 239 people who were on board that they know what theyre doing, that theyre on top of this investigation, and that everything is out there. They may have lost that opportunity. To be honest, wolf. During the opening days of this investigation, it was so chaotic. Im not sure that particularly in beijing whether the family members are going to believe anything the malaysian government says now. Because theres been so many twists and turns to this. And the one thing we learned at the ntsb was, you need to tell the family members the truth and tell it to them first. They dont want to see something on tv they havent been informed of first. And with the ubiquitousness of the internet, is this a terribly challenging event. Should they hand over the investigation to another outside source . I dont think theres any question that sometime in the future the malaysians are going to step back. This has stopped their country in its tracks. And the investigation Going Forward is so massive and so expensive that theyre going to have to step back. Mark, youre a pilot. Is it possible that a 777, a huge plane like this, could go into the indian ocean and disappear without any debris, without any evidence whatsoever and just go right to the bottom of the ocean . Well, you know, i think most of the aircraft would probably sink. But there are parts of the aircraft that would float, whether now or in a short period of time from now. I think youre going to see something, some debris coming to the surface that either through serial number or through paint youll be able to determine that it was this aircraft. Even if it just flew straight in, there would be some debris that would crack off or whatever that would be at the top. Now, what if they did a Sully Sullenberger type landing, tried to land on the water and actually landed in the middle of the indian ocean, and then slowly the plane began to sink . Well, you know, i dont know how the currents run over there. But i think when you take an airplane and try to ditch an airplane like that remember, sully landed in the hudson. It didnt have waves, didnt have currents like that. It was calm and it was daylight. I mean, this aircraft didnt have anything going for it. If that was the case, im sure its in the bottom. And even if it were floating for like the Sully Sullenbergers plane on the sudden son, people would start getting out of the doors. So they would be floating, if you will. So its these are all the theories that are out there. As you guys well know. And its heartbreaking to think about. Lets not forget, 239 people. Absolutely. Were aboard that airliner. Stand by. As new data from thailand reveals a possible change in course, were also going to check in with our own Martin Savidge in a Flight Simulator to get a feel for being in the cockpit. Just how would someone switch the path of a huge jumbo jet like this one . Put it on my capital one i earn unlimited double miles. Hey, youre not the Charles Barkley . Yes i am. Nah Charles Barkley is way taller. Theres my picture on the wall. Yeah that could be anyone. What about my jersey over there . Oh yeah, thats your jersey. Theres my bobble head right behind you. Alright well let me see you bobble. Yeah, im just not buying it man. Earn unlimited double miles with no blackout dates from the capital one venture card. My brother john, he works here. John, you know this guy . Whats in your wallet . Millions have raised their hand for the proven relief of the purple pill. And that relief could be in your hand. For many, nexium helps relieve heartburn symptoms from acid reflux disease. Find out how you can save at purplepill. Com. There is risk of bone fracture and low magnesium levels. Side effects may include headache, abdominal pain, and diarrhea. If you have persistent diarrhea, contact your doctor right away. Other serious stomach conditions may exist. Avoid if you take clopidogrel. For many, relief is at hand. Ask your doctor about nexium. We want to take a closer look at the news today that the missing Malaysian Airlines flight route may have been changed by someone inside the cockpit. Our Martin Savage is outside a Flight Simulator. What is it take to reprogram a flight path from inside the cockpit where you are . Well, wolf, it does take a certain amount of expertise and knowledge. But it also can be done relatively simply. Let me point out a new piece of avonics equipment for you here in the cockpit of the 777. The flight Management System, or fms. This is basically i guess you could say for this explanation, a gps. A very robust gps. But it works kind of like one in your car. Would you pick out where youre headed, and you would enter that information. Now, with the flight 370, they went from kuala lumpur to beijing, all the waypoints, all the information the aircraft needs to do that would be loaded in before the plane takes off. However, once theyre in the air, it is possible to reprogram, choose a different waypoint, head in another direction. Mitchell cassado, the pligilot,n demonstrate. Absolutely. So this screen here, we have a potential this is our flight path. This triangle here, the apex of the triangle is us. To modify air path is very simple. All we do is enter the waypoint, or the destination where we want to go. And we enter into the computer. The computer then asks us if we want to verify that. And then we would go ahead and execute that. And, of course, the airplane would do that. So in this case, we can see the new path on our left side and you would see the airplane outside turn. I dont know if you can see that, wolf. But actually the aircraft now is beginning to respond to the input that its just received. If youre a passenger back there, really, its not like this is some sort of very strange maneuver or that youre suddenly reeling over on your side. The aircraft is doing it in very casual way. I mean, you wouldnt really think anything was wrong, even though now we know the plane is going very much off the course it had originally been programmed for. Yeah. And is there you know, give us an explanation for some reason why the pilot or co pilot, might want to to reprogram the flight path along those lines. There are legitimate reasons for doing it. Yeah, of course, theres legitimate reasons. I mean, weather. Theres things that come up. Sick passengers who want to deviate or you want to divert an airport for help. All kinds of reasons. But, you know, regardless of the objective, the airplane, if you know how to use the computers, its actually a very simple procedure physically. Its the back knowledge to that thats difficult to obtain. That would have to come from a professional, some sort of professional training to know how to do it. Of. And its pretty common, on takeoffs, they will have to make a change like this, an adjustment. However, not so common at cruise altitude, which is where they were at. Thats right. Its a little less common in cruise, although it does happen from time to time. Like im saying with the weather. But definitely every flight commercial flight taking off and landing, theyre deviating from their original flight plan, getting vectors for a more efficient approach to the airport. All right, guys, thanks very much. Good explanation. Well check back with you, obviously, throughout the day. Malaysian has come under fire for its handling of the missing plane investigation. Up next, aviation attorney gives their assessment and well talk about the Legal Recourse that the families might have. Cut [bell rings] this. Is jane. Her long day on set starts with shoulder pain. And a choice take 6 tylenol in a day which is 2 aleve for. All day relief. Hmm. [bell ring] roll sound action add vanishing deductible from nationwide insurance and get 100 off for every year of safe driving. We put members first. Join the nation. Nationwide is on your side and less saturated fat . Easy. Its eb. Egglands best. Better eggs. Its eb. Malaysian officials have been criticized for the way they have handled the disappearance of flight 370. Information has been confusing, often contradictory, from one day to the next. Keep in this mind. This is one of the most baffling aviation mysteries we have ever seen. Joining us now to talk a little bit more about it, the aviation attorney, steven marks, has handled the Legal Investigations of plane crashes date back to 199. Also joining us, the former fbi agent, forria eunice middle east consultant. Thanks very much for coming in. Steven, let me ask you. What do you think of malaysias handling of this investigation . How do you think theyre doing . Well, i think theyre doing a very poor job, transparency is critical to the families. The roller coaster of emotions with the misinformation first that the transponder was turned off. All we know was the transponder stopped working. We dont know if it was intentionally turned off. We also dont know, because they havent released any raw data, whether or not the acars messages did continue, when they stopped, whether it was before or after the radio communications. And most importantly, these radar blips and the unofficial reports by the military that the aircraft was sited was insist. If they knew this after the accident, why did they allow the search and rescue assets to be located and wasting all that money and time in an area that the aircraft was known not to be. I dont think its that complicated, although everything needs to be considered. Its terrible for the families. Certainly is. And forria, youre a former fbi agent and trained malaysian Law Enforcement authorities. Is there a cultural problem here . Or is it just, you know, theyre not you know, evil or anything like that. Maybe theyre just not experienced in dealing with an investigation along these lines. Yep. And i dont think its much to do with culture. I think what it is is, not having the same amount of crashes we have had in the u. S. , they probably havent had anything big, catastrophic like this happen. So i dont think its culture. I think its more that it takes a lot of experience to know what to do when a big thing like this happens. I think its you know, you can practice and theorize all you want. But until you have experienced some of these issues, such as crashes or terrorism attacks, its almost like going into it for the first time. I know theyre proud people. I know theyre sovereign rights and all of this. But would it be smart for them to hand over the main responsibility to australia or even the u. S. Who have a lot more experience in dealing with an investigation along these lines . Well, theyll have to make an assessment whether or not they have the ability or the confidence to go forward in this investigation. They are very intelligent people. Im sure they have a lot of Country Pride like we do. But theyll have to make a decision. Its not unknown or not uncommon for countries to turn over investigations. So when pakistan had an assassination, they turned over the investigation. That has been done before, but im sure they might do a teaming effort. There are other things they can do if they feel they need extra help with the investigation. You know, steven, youre an aviation attorney. Lets talk about the families. They have been going through agony, as all of us know right now. 239 people were on board that aircraft. What kind of Legal Recourse do these folks have . Well, they have Legal Recourse against the carrier, no matter what happens, because its an International Flight and montreal convention, International Treaty will govern the air carriage for almost everybody. If there was a third party such as a manufacturer, which i still believe, like i said before, is not as complicated as everybody is making it, from assuming there was a catastrophic failure. That would explain a lot of things. But even if there wasnt, the recourse is still against the carrier, because automatic liability. The difficulty under the convention is what law is going to apply and how to get the victims fair compensation and the best and fairest form possible. Thats not going to be easy, im sure. Foria, you think this was terrorism . Was it commandeering, some criminal act, pilot suicide . Mechanical failure . Youve studied this now for almost two weeks. Yes, ive been looking into it just as much as you have. What it looks like to me, right now as an investigator, and i can comment as an investigator, it doesnt seem to be any nexus to terrorism. But Airport Security and knowing what employees and what Access Control you have at airports is very important to prevent Something Like this from happening. It does appear to me, wolf, that somebody either they watched the air france missing plane back in 2009, somebody out there might have enjoyed the fact that this plane was missing for five days. Could be a copycat type of thing where someone was thinking about making a plane go missing and enjoying what would happen afterwards. So i dont see any nexus to terrorism. The different agencies have would have immediately started to look into that through cell phone connections, Internet Connections and all of that. None of that has come up. If it was a hijacking, we would have seen some indications of where the plane is now, some demand. So since we dont have that, all we can keep doing is go back and keep looking at the people that are involved and taking a closer look at that. Good point. All right, guys, thanks very much. Up next, more on the missing Malaysia Airlines plane, and a move now by israel tied to the disappearance cutting off possible threats with new rules for foreign flights anywhere near israel. Were going to go live to jerusalem. At farmers we make you smarter about your insurance, because what you dont know can hurt you. What if you didnt know that taking pictures of your belongings helps when you have a claim . Or that farmers offers a policy thatll replace your car with a new one, if its totalled within the first two model years. And that parking near a street lamp deters thieves. The more you know, the better you can plan for whats ahead. Talk to farmers and get smarter about your insurance. We are farmers. Call 18004708502 and see how much you can save. As the search depose on in the indian ocean for Malaysia Airlines flight 370, israel is preparing for the possibility of a repeat. Nic robertson is joining us live from jerusalem now. Whats the theory . What are officials in israel doing about this, nic . Reporter wolf, this afternoon, we spent time at israels aviation operation center. This works in parallel, in partnership with air traffic control. They are on a heightened state of alert. They have tightened up, if you will, their procedures, their checks, theyre more rigorous, theyre more thorough. What are they doing . They have a multilayered approach they describe as sort of datamining on a matrix of information about security at different airports, about passenger lists, about air crew, about every piece of information they can have about the plane, where it comes from, who might have who might be on board. And that goes all the way down to when their pilots are trying to enter israeli air space and making the requests. We heard those pilots requesting to come into israeli air space today, to land at the international airport. So israel is taking much tighter control of identifying aircraft from a further distance. The checks they have in place, wolf, theyre using on these aircraft, and the airports their coming from are sometimes days in advance of the aircraft actually taking off. And this is a sign of how seriously they are addressing the situation sort of post mh370 disappearance, wolf. Nic, hold on for a moment. Tom fuentes, former assistant fbi director, Law Enforcement analyst, and peter goelz, former ntsb managing director. Quick thought. The israelis have incredibly tight air Defense Systems to begin with. And for them to ratchet it up even more now says to you . Well, they have to worry, wolf, about the thousands of aircraft take off every day in europe, africa, asia, middle east. That could easily change course and crash into israel. So the threat theyre facing is from thousands of aircraft, dozens of airlines, which then multiply out the number of people on those aircraft. So obviously, the threat is bad for them. What do you think about this israeli decision to ratchet up their air defense . Sure. I think it makes sense for them. Because, you know, they have been a constant target of terrorism, and they are going to continue to be. So i think its a wise decision. And nic, let me go back to you. I guess the big fear the israelis might have, and correct me if i am wrong, this plane, this missing plane, may have landed someplace. It could be refueled and then used as a missile to hit one of the high towers in tel aviv or along those lines. I assume thats what theyre worried about. Reporter theyre worried about that but theyre also worried about the implication of what this means. I was talking to an aviation expert that helped design this sort of threat matrix assessment, which looks at the number of people that are actually cleaning, mechanically working on the planes before they even leave the airports to fly towards israel. He has a very worrying assessment. He says, look, in the past, we were looking and scouring the passenger manifest, we thought the passengers were the threat. Post9 11, we thought the aircraft were the threat. He says, what hes concerned about now is that the last ring of trust, as he calls it, may be broken, and that is the air crews. What he is concerned about now is the level of checks that the Different Airlines are making on their air crews. Some pilots, he says, passed those checks 25 years ago. They need to be more rigorous. He said there are 75 airlines every day trying to fly into israel, different carriers trying to come into israel. He wants to know that those airlines are doing better and more routine checks on their air crew. This is his concern Going Forward. He points to the Ethiopian Airlines jet that the copilot hit the hijack button, through the plane to geneva, flew it in circles before landing safely. A mozambique flight a couple of months ago where the pilot ultimately crashed the aircraft. These are his concerns. Its the air crew now that are on the radar now here, wolf. Very quickly, tom, you have a thought . That ring of trust should have been broken in 1999 when the copilot of the egypt air flight crashed his plane deliberately into the atlantic ocean. So this phenomenon that a pilot could crash his own plane or hijack his own plane or fly somewhere else and ask for asylum, thats nothing new. That just didnt arise with this malaysia flight. A lot to worry about. Guys, thanks very much. Well have much more on the missing plane coming up as our continuing coverage unfolds. Also, Vladimir Putin comes out swinging today, blasting the world for messing in russias personal business. Well have more on the crisis in ukraine coming up. 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. 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Were going to get back to the search for the missing Malaysia Airlines plane in just a few moments. First, theres other news out of russia today. Vladimir putin signed the treaty, making crimea part of the russian federation. Over the weekend, voters in crimea chesney to be part of russia. Afterwards, the United States, the European Union started leveling new sanctions, protests against russia. President putin alluded to those sanctions during his speech to his parliament this morning. Translator as far as ukraine is concerned, our partners have crossed a line. This is unprofessional and unacceptable. Russia is an independent country. Part of the International Community thereof. National interests that we need to be taken into account and respected. We do not want to divide ukraine. We do not need that, as far as crimea is concerned. Crimea was and remains russian. Got lots of applause for saying that. Putin, after his speech, the white house announced president obama will meet next week with g7 members to discuss the ukraine. Thats the g8 without russia. Joining us is a contributing editor at the atlantic and the national journal. So what do you make . I guess crimea according to putin is now part of russia, but is that it . Is he going to stop with crimea or continue to try to take other parts of ukraine . Well, i think the conventional wisdom would be that sending your forces into Eastern Ukraine would be a bad idea. Will be very much harder to control. A much more open area. Really would need military resistan resistance. Also its an economic basket case. Lets say you do manage to control it. I think that what hes still doing is putting pressure on the government in kiev. I think one of the things thats really significant about that speech is he said this is not a legitimate government, which is to me code for saying im going to either try to bring this government down, or try to bring it to its knees and force it to become more russian. I think that might be the next move. The u. S. And the European Union, they opposed some sanctions, a couple dozen russians and crimeans, if you will, and now the russians presumably are going to retaliate by imposing some sanctions on u. S. , or whatever. That doesnt sound like a big deal to me, but whats your analysis . I think Vladimir Putin is loving that. This is a guy who said that the soviet unions collapse was the greatest tragedy of his life, virtually. So now he gets to look like hes going toetotoe with the other superpower with the United States. You have sanctions on us. We have sanctions on you. Hes a dominant figure on the international stage. Hes very popular at home. I think in many ways, this is really what hes always wanted. So if the u. S. Imposes sanctions, travel restrictions on leading members of the Russian Parliament or some senior Foreign Policy advisers, they do the same thing to dick durbin, senator from illinois or john mccain, and thats going to be that . Is that where this is going . Well, i think unless he goes further. The question is what are the additional events that take place . If its just crimea, i think robert gates is sadly probably right. That crimea is lost. The question i think is we are holding sanctions in reserve as a way of having something to hold over his head to try to keep him from further destabilizing the rest of ukraine. The tension between the u. S. And russia is about as bad as its been since the collapse of the soviet union. It has big implications. We would need russia to put some pressure on bashar assad to make some kind of agreement. It may have implications for the russians relationship with iran, which could make our efforts at cutting a diplomatic deal much harder. So its a problem, because we have these terrible relations with russia, understandably now, but we also still need to do business with russia. The thought is the u. S. And the rest of the europeans basically came to terms with russia occupying parts of georgia. An independent sovereign former republic of the soviet union. And the world got used to that. Now will the world get used to the russians occupying crimea . I think sadly the world will get used to that. Even the Ukrainian Government is going to get used to that and its going to be difficult because they still have these soldiers who are still sitting there in crimea who they are going to presumably have to evacuate at some point. Thanks very much for joining us. Thats it for me. Ill be back 5 00 p. M. Eastern, a special twohour situation room. Newsroom right now starts with brooke baldwin. Wolf blitzer, as always, thank you. Great to be with you. Im brooke baldwin. News just into cnn, police have not found anything suspicious inside the homes of those flight 370 pilots. You know theyve been searching, specifically that one pilots athome Flight Simulator. Nothing nefarious, according to our sources. But we do have something concrete to tell you about right now. New radar evidence to bolster the belief that flight 370 did, in fact, change course. This is the left turn we have been talking about and showing you on all these animations for days and days now. A reminder. At 2 15 a. M. ,