St. Patricks plans for millions up and down the coast chilled by a last blast of winter. Dont worry, enriqueiglasias warms um our plaza. Announcer live from studio 1 a in rockefeller plaza. Welcome to today. This week off to an eventful start for the west coast. Absolutely. L. A. Was jolted by a strong earthquake within last 40 minutes. 6 25 pacific. Centered about five miles northwest of westwood. Lets get to Miguel Almaguer. He is on the phone with us. Good morning, miguel, what can you tell us . Miguel . Do we have miguel . Apparently we dont. As we said, 4. 4 on the scale. We will go back to miguel in a couple of minutes. To a Major Development for the search for Malaysia Flight 370. Nbcs tom costello has been falling this. Following this. Hi, matt. Malaysian investigators say they believe it was the copilot on the radio with air Traffic Controllers saying good night. But its not clear if that was before or after one of the critical flight data transmitting systems was turned off. The two possible tracks of this plane based on those limited satellite pings suggested the plane either passed over some of the worlds most volatile countries with advanced air Defense Systems or over one of the largest bodies of water on earth with no radar and limited satellite coverage. More than ten days since flight 370 disappeared, and the mystery still dominates the world headlines, the last satellite signal received from the plane, somewhere along these two arcs running to the north and south. Up to seven hours from the planes last known radar hit off malaysias west coast. But half dozen countries in central asia have already said the plane never appeared on their radars. Further south of the indian ocean, 28 million square miles of water. And what were going to do, is monitor across the world and it may change aviation history. I think it seems to be that way. Reporter over the weekend, Malaysian Police searched the homes of the captain zaharie shah and first officer fariq hamid, confiscating the sophisticated Flight Simulator in captain shahs home, looking for any evidence he might have practiced flying unusual routes. Also, this morning, the pilot was known to be a supporter of the malaysias political opposition. Seen here wearing a tshirt that reads democracy is dead. Meanwhile, nasa tells nbc news, its checking images from satellites and the space station for any signs of the plane. But many aviation experts believe its highly unlikely the 777 with the wingspan 2 3 the size of a football field could have been stolen and flown undetected to another country. Were talking about a very, very large airplane. If it goes over land where there are people, people are going to see it. Theres going to be comment about it. Still, with so little to go on, the indian navy has now suspended its search, and other countries may be forced to do the same. How much more can they afford to put into this search before they have to give it up because they just wont have the resources to be able to pay for it. The Australian Navy is deemploying assets as well. We talked about those underwater pingers attached to the black boxes. Depending on the water temperature and depth, they can only be heard by a submarine or a ship, if they are almost on top of those pingers. And those batteries are set to die in about 19 days now, matt. Tom costello, thank you very much. Were joined now by nbc news terrorism analyst don borelli and former ntsb investigator greg feith. Good morning to both of you. And don, let me start with you. I want to start with that final radio transmission about 1 20 in the morning from the cockpit. Someone we now believe was the copilot. Says, all right, good night. Calm, collected, no emotion. And we also note that transmission came 12 minutes after the acars Communication System on this plane was turned off by someone in that very cockpit. What does it tell us . Well, it speaks to the fact have said, this was a deliberate act. Next thing is, if it was a deliberate act. Number one, who did it . And two, what was the motive . Which is why the investigation has turned heavily looking at the pilots or anybody else on that plane that had the capacity to take over and fly. When you talk about the capacity because there were a series of steps taken that require a level of expertise not only disabling the Communications Devices and the transponder, but then the flight path, knowing where they were going in an area that probably was going to evade radar. Exactly. And im sure an aviation expert like greg could speak to the tactical maneuvers involved to avoid the radar. But again, the deliberate act to avoid detection speaks to there is a motive there. We just need to figure out what that motive is. Investigators now are talking to the family members and the friends of the pilot and the copilot. We should mention these two men did not request to fly together according to the airline. It doesnt seem they were in on it together. What are they going to hope to glean from their homes, the Flight Simulator and their family and friends. Essentially anything to figure out were there emotional issues . Financial issues . Im a terrorism guy. So naturally, im thinking. Do they have links to any organized Terrorism Organization like jamas lamia thats been active in Southeast Asia . Again, that could take time to find those threads of evidence to trace them back to any organized group. And real quickly, in terms of a criminal investigation, some questions about whether this plane could have been landed at some remote destination to be used for another purpose later. Your gut on that is . It would take. Theres a lot of moving parts to do that. Youve got to land a plane in some sovereign countrys territory. Then youve got to take control of 200 plus passengers. And to what end. And the fact theres no chatter in the Intelligence Community talking about such a plot, it seems unlikely, but im not going to rule it out. Greg, lets go inside that cockpit once again. We showed the simulator last week. To turn off the acar system on this plane is not as simple as the flip of one switch, is it . No, it isnt. Because the acar system, its two parts, matt. Its actually a box that provides information. Its always on. Its always hot, if you will. Its energized. What the pilots can control is the data portion. That is the information thats the repository from the airplane that will eventually be sent over the acar system by a satellite. They can turn that off and they can do that on one of the control heads on the Center Pedestal in the airplane. They have to follow a sequence of switches that leads to a computer screen that leads to keyboards, then information has to be put into that computer. When it comes to the transponder, its a dial, we showed that, you hold it down and you turn it. There is one place you can stop that dial setting 7500. What does that do, greg . That fourdigit code is a universal code that blossoms on an air Traffic Controllers radar screen that indicates that the crew in this particular instance has a situation going on in the airplane, a hijacking. And that pilot, if hes under duress, if hes good, he could turn that dial, put that 7500 code in before if hes been told to turn it off, he could get that code in there and send that signal. But they did not do that, indicating they were either told not to do that or didnt want to do it. Whichever pilot. Greg, with all of your expertise, focus clearly on the pilots right now in your opinion . I believe that for the, you know, the past week. I mean, ive seen too many of these things. And when you have all of these deliberate actions, matt, where the flight track has changed and, of course, now this southerly track, which ive talked about in the past, as well. All of the northerly track countries have said, we dont have this aircraft in any way, shape or form on our radar or any other tracking device. And its evidence they didnt whoevers flying this airplane didnt want to be tracked, didnt want to be identified, and the best place to go is south because there is no radar coverage and little satellite coverage because its not a volatile area. Greg feith, don borelli, thanks to both of you. Appreciate it very much. Lets go over to savannah. Thank you. We have more out of the breaking news from los angeles. A 4. 4 magnitude earthquake from los angeles. We have Miguel Almaguer with more. Reporter savannah, a steady earthquake. The 4. 4 happened 15 miles away from downtown los angeles. Felt 40 miles away. A strong jolt at 6 25 this morning. It began as a subtle roll and shake and rattle and roll depending where you are. There are no early reports of damage across the city. Lucy jones with the usgs says there will likely be no structure problems from any buildings in the region. She did say it is a reminder for folks living out west this is earthquake country. We need to be prepared. I can tell you savannah, i was at the gym when the earthquake happened. There was a calm roll and a steady more significant jolt. People began to run for the exits. Many looked around and stunned. As i made my way in, folks on the freeway were going slower here in los angeles. It was certainly a significant jolt this morning here. Always a scare. Miguel almaguer live in los angeles. Thank you. There is breaking news right now on the crisis in ukraine. The people from crimea voted to secede from ukraine and join russia. Nbcs chief Foreign CorrespondentRichard Engel is in crimea. Richard, good morning. Reporter good morning. With the sanctions, this is an enormous victory for Vladimir Putin. Returning crimea, which was part of the soviet union to russia. Preparations are underway to phase out the currency and replace it with the rupel and replace the time zone with moscow time. The riot police are out in force in the crimea capital this morning to make sure no one dare try to reverse the march toward joining russia. Officially, 97 of crimeans voted to become part of russia. It seems like we got a little freedom and justice. Reporter but many said the vote can hardly be considered free or fair. Russian troops, which captured crimea by force last month, stood guard as votes were cast. Russian Armored Vehicles outside polling stations were a sign of how moscow wanted this vote to go. Activists like you have been beaten here. Reporter activist dennis matzolo said posters were put up warning his neighbors he was a traitor. According to the deputy Prime Minister, this is just the beginning of ukraines division. You think this is the first step . Yes. Other regions will follow . I think so. The second step will be with east ukraine. Reporter protests have already begun in Eastern Ukraine asking for a referendum and to join putins expansion plan. Cold war rhetoric is also increasing in moscow. A Russian Television presenter said on russian state tv said that russia is the only country that can reduce u. S. , quote, to radioactive dust. Back to you. Richard engel in crimea. Thank you. And natalie is following breaking news in the pentagon. Thats right and high drama on the high seas this morning. U. S. Navy s. E. A. L. S taking control of a commercial tanker that had been seized by armed libyans earlier this month. Nbcs Jim Miklaszewski is at the pentagon with the very latest. Jim, good morning. Good morning, natalie. U. S. Officials are calling this operation flawless. This happened in the Eastern Mediterranean off the coast of cyprus when the team of the navy s. E. A. L. S team slipped aboard the hijacked libyan oil tanker and quickly overpowered the three libyan hijackers. U. S. Officials say that nobody was hurt and its not clear that any shots were even fired. Now, the three hijackers themselves are members of a powerful libyan militia. And they actually seized the ship while in port in libya. Evidence once more that the Libyan Government is still pretty much powerless more than two years after the overthrow of moammar gadhafi. Meanwhile, jim at the pentagon, you have been following the other big story, the militarys high profile case of Sexual Assault is going to come to an end later today with some of the most serious charges being dropped against a Brigadier General in favor of a plea deal. Tell us more. Thats right, natalie. This is a huge black mark against the entire army. Its the first general ever to be charged with Sexual Assault. Reporter the militarys expected to drop Sexual Assault charges against Brigadier GeneralJeffrey Sinclair accused of assaulting a female captain in his command. In exchange, hell plead guilty to lesser charges. That means sinclair will not face a number of Sexual Assault charges and charges of alleged Death Threats against his accuser. The agreement ends a 27year military career. Sinclair is accused of engaging in illegal Sexual Conduct even as he led americas 82nd Airborne Division in afghanistan. The deal comes in the wake of a new pentagon report that shows a 60 increase in reported military Sexual Assaults last year. And the renewed congressional push for an overhaul of just how military courts handle the cases. Just last week, the Senate Unanimously passed a widereaching measure authored by senators Claire Mccaskill and kelly ayotte. If youve commit Sexual Assault, you need to be held accountable for your actions. But the bill provides less protection for military assault victims than many wanted and still may not make it through the house. I frankly think the agreement that was struck in the house, in the Defense Authorization bill strikes the correct balance. And so i dont, frankly, see any reason at this point for any further action to be taken. Theres no indication that general sinclair is totally off the hook. He pleaded guilty to several other charges. No matter the sentence, the victims will claim that the military Justice System has failed them again. Natalie. Jim, thank you. Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas will be at the white house today for a critical meeting with president obama. On the agenda, the progress in the Palestinian Peace negotiations. The Obama Administration is backing off that april 29th deadline for a deal. Instead, it is looking to build the framework for negotiations. Some scary moments for passengers on board a Delta Airlines flight on sunday after a panel on one of the wings fell off. Imagine looking out your window and seeing this. Well, happened during a flight from orlando to atlanta. A delta Spokesman Says the detached panel did not impact the aircrafts ability to fly and landed safely in atlanta. The airline is inspecting the plane to determine why that panel came loose. And honda is recalling the odyssey. It affects the 2005 to 2010. A fuel pump cover is known to crack and cause fuel leaks. It says van owners will be notified next month. And being stuck in traffic can be maddening, but its not as bad if you have someone to pass the time. Take a look at this Youtube Video shot in england. The driver in a complete stop. Amused by the fact that the two drivers in front of him were playing Rock Paper Scissors out the window. No word on who won the impromptu competition. What do you take . Three, two, one shoot. I dont want to cover that rock. You have a new accessory this morning. Anything you care to share . I got married this weekend. I forgot to mention. Yes. Shouldnt that be at the top of the news rundown . Quake. We were out in arizona. We had the best time. There we are saying we did it. Finally. Were so excited. And your husband, mike feldman. Small and beautiful and intimate. Look how gorgeous you look. Mike looked great as well. The setting was perfect. The weather wperfect. We had a little wind. It exceeded all my expectations. At one point, the sun was setting after the wedding with a full moon. A perfect setting. And a unicorn walks out. They paid a lot for the unicorn. It was ridden by a leprecaun. We have a storm in the southern states. Here in out west in los angeles, although a bit of an earthquake, no problems. Airport never shutdown. You have a gorgeous day today. By 3 00, sunshine and breezy. Temperature 70 degrees. Up to the north and east, we have a bit of a snowstorm going on. You cant see it right now because of the mountain regions. They block the radar scan. We are looking at activity over we will dump 6 to 9 inches of snow from western montana all the way in to parts of northern minnesota as the clipper comes across. Denver may see snow as well. The western weather, showers in seattle and 50. L. A. , sunny and inland is nice and toasty. Denver looking at sunshine and 69 degrees today. Rest of the country, a risk of strong storms down south. Know anybody going to florida for spring break . You will have problems. Icy conditions in the Midatlantic States. Sunny and chilly in the northeast. Temperatures from 10 to 20 degrees below normal. That will start to change as we make our way into the latter parts of the week. H