posiedne, the new surveillance plane won't be flying today, is that right? >> that is a true statement, sir, we are taking the day off, not flying today, we have crew limitations so we're giving the crew off today, we coordinated this ahead of time through the australian rescue coordination center and they have taken that into their overall search plan. >> what about the orion, are you going to be flying one of those today. >> we're not, sir. the u.s. only has the signal p-8 here. >> you don't have any orions, australia, japan, other countries will be searching this area in the southern indian ocean, but the u.s. is not involved. what about other naval vessels, anything like, that any ships involved? >> there are at least two civilian ships out there working. i understand there are several different military ships from different nations inbound to the

area that may be there at this point. we will be taking off in the morning about daylight tomorrow morning to go out and continue the search. >> did you actually personally fly over this area in the indian ocean, commander? >> i did one mission over. >> what was it like when you were flying the first few days, everyone thought it was in a totally different area. but it looks like those first six days, that entire search was a waste of time, how frustrating is that? >> i wouldn't say that it's a waste of time. we were given areas to go search and we went out and we were able to determine that there wasn't anything there on the surface for us to find. that allowed the folks who coordinate the search effort to

coordinate searches in other areas. >> i heard that u.s. aircraft based in kuala lumpur weren't actually taking off because indonesia refused to give those u.s. planes permission to fly through their air space. has that been cleaned up? >> sir, i don't have any details on that, i probably can't comment on that one. >> all in all, are you confident that this airliner is going to be found, commander? >> sir, i would say if there's any bits of this aircraft on the surface of the ocean, that we will find it. >> adam shauns is the lieutenant commander for the u.s. navy, he's in perth, australia right now. we hope you have some success soon, thank you. flight 370 was scheduled to land in beijing about this time exactly two weeks ago, and its failure to arrive has set off a

nightmare with no end in sight. david mckenzie is standing by, the families were briefed today, how did that go? >> reporter: it went well because families have been asking for this for several days, in fact weeks now as you know. they got their answers, some of them at least that they wanted, they were given a very detailed description of the search effort and what clues that might be out there. interesting the families asked very pointed questions about the information that's coming through and also any scenarios that might suggest that their loved ones were alive. they asked many questions got whether there are uninhabited islands in that search area where people might have ended up. so certainly they're still clinging to hope in this saga. there was some criticism of the prime minister of australia for getting everyone interested in this current lead but he said

that what they need to give is any information as it comes out so those families can have real-time information as they search for this mysterious plane that vanished. >> the chinese have pretty dramatically increased their own involvement in this massive search, what's going on in this part of the story? >> well, they really are doing a huge effort on the search, wolf, a and they want to make sure that everyone knows about it. they have put out 21 satellites, they say. they have several warships heading toward the southern ocean to help the australians and others with that search. they have also scrambled as it were an ice breaker that was on its way to antarctica to do research, they're moving that, the snow dragon with a skeleton crew to the area to help other merchant vessels in the search in terms of having kind of human assets on the water to look. so china has been frustrated with the malaysian response

because they can't go in there and run the show. there is a lot of suspicion of southeast asian countries capacity at times here in china. so they want to show very much in china to the domestic audience that they're doing everything they can to find this plane. up next, disaster delays, we'll take a closer look at the problems that have plagued the search for flight 370 from the moment it disappeared. plus more on the new transcripts of the plane's final 5 4 minutes of communications with ground controls. pay my bill. phone: your account is already paid in full. oh, well in that case, back to vacation mode. ♪boots and pants and boots and pants♪ ♪and boots and pants and boots and pants♪ ♪and boots and pants... voice-enabled bill pay. just a tap away on the geico app. ♪ huh, 15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance. yup, everybody knows that. well, did you know that some owls aren't that wise.

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from the beginning, this search for malaysia flight 370 has been marked by delays of critical information. joe johns is here with more. how unusual is this? >> unusual, wolf, this is all about the time that was lost while search crews may have been looking in the wrong place. malaysian officials waited for days before switching the focus area of the search and they said they were waiting for expert analysis. >> reporter: within hours after flight 370 vanished, malaysian officials had radar data tells

them the plane had flown on for six more hours after it left malaysian air space. yet the malaysian launched a massive search area. the malaysian officials told why they waited. >> the flight we had scheduled from the communication with the pilot, atc angtd pilot, we have not come to any conclusions. >> reporter: wednesday march 12 is when the malaysian government got the raw satellite data. his country consulted u.s. officials recognized by many as the best in the world. >> the u.s. teams and the investigation teams of malaysia, they reached out to the u.s. for assistance in processing the investigation. >> reporter: malaysia says initial results came back but it was agreed by the u.s. team and

the investigations team that further refinement was need sod the data was sent back to the u.s. again. friday the 14th, malaysia says the results were received about 2:30 in the afternoon and presented at a high level meeting where the u.s., the uk and others processing the information concurred. saturday the 15th the malaysian prime minister was briefed on the results and presented them in a news conference. >> it then flew in a westerly direction back over the peninsula of malaysia before turning northwest. >> reporter: experts agree that it's hard to analyze the kind of satellite data. but the prunlt move would have been to scramble the search teams as soon as possible. >> if they had an indication of where this possibly could have gone in, we should have had assets on it absolutely as soon as possible. >> reporter: another area where

malaysian officials have been pressed for answers is on communications with the cockpit, a pilot and a 777 flying 340 minutes ahead of mh 370, reported making emergency contact and said he heard mumbling, static and interference on the other end, so far no word from malaysian officials on what to make on that. >> that's a disturbing development as well. thanks very much, joe johns for that. let's dig deeper right now with cnn's richard quest, he's joining us from new york. so why has there been so much confusion from the malaysians, richard? you know them, you were just in kuala lumpur, you actually flew on one of those planes with the co-pilot in this particular case. what's going on here? >> i don't think there has been confusion, wolf. i'm going to take a contrarian view here, i think what you're looking at is an investigation that has been this point relatively thorough. we would all be excoriating the

malaysians if they had diverted resources to the indian ocean for those pings to be proved to be untrue. what they got here, wolf, was data from imarsat on the 12th. the americans and the brits were part of the analysis on the 13th. they said we need more data, we're not happy with what we have got, it went back to the americans and the brits, and by the 15th, you get, yes, we all agree. if you're going to start moving ships from the south china sea all the way down to the western coast of australia, you better be sure of what you're doing. i'm not defending the malaysians, but they seem to be damned if they do and damned if they didn't. >> the suspicion is the malaysians knew more than they were letting us know, that whole

search that first six days was a waste. >> with hindsight, yes, it was a waste. but at the time, if you remember, let's not be too clever with hindsight, let's go back to what we knew, but knew there was a ping to the north and there was one to the south. but the malaysians handed over the raw data. they gave them an analysis, they finally got the raw data, not malaysian security data. they handed it to the americans and the americans said we need to redo the tests. so i'm left wondering what more would people have wanted the malaysians to do at that point? they were forming a protocol of an investigation that says you better be -- you better have credible reasons to do what you're about to do. >> richard, stand by, we're going to continue our analysis, coming up, much more of the breaking news, the mystery of flight 370, with the kind of

coverage you'll find only here on cnn, including this, new information on the final 54 minutes of communication between air traffic control and the cockpit of flight 370. what clues could a newly released transcript hold. up so we're up early. up late. thinking up game-changing ideas, like this: dozens of tax free zones across new york state. move here. expand here. or start a new business here... and pay no taxes for 10 years. with new jobs, new opportunities and a new tax free plan. there's only one way for your business to go. up. find out if your business can qualify at start-upny.com meet your biggest competitor: philips slimstyle led bulb. beautiful quality light with a slim design, at a slim price.

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following all the breaking details this hour including what's being revealed by the final 54 minutes from the cockpit. richard quest is back with us from new york. richard, the telegraph, the daily newspaper in london, they have released this transcript, it's the original conversation was in english. you've had a chance to go through this 54 minutes. anything suspicious standing out in your mind? >> no, not at all.

the focus of attention has been the fact that there's -- i looked at my screen, forgive me while i get to the bit we're talking about. one particular point they say, it's about one minute past the hour, he says this is malaysia 370, flight altitude 350. in other words, 35,000 feet. and then a couple of moments, six minutes later pilot we assume the pilot he says malaysia 370 remaining in flight altitude, 350. in other words, he repeats the same thing six minutes later. and the implication being why would you do that? if you've just given information. it's meaningless in my view, wolf. either he forgot to do it or decided to do it again or was distracted for a moment. there's nothing in this, having

read it that's rings an alarm bell with me. if anything it's a very poor translation. i'll give you one example, wolf. when they are talking about getting on the runway, they have air traffic control saying position 32 right, runway ready, permitted to take off. good night. now, you know, the normal way of doing it, telling a flight they can take off is much more rigorous. you tell them the wind, you tell them the wind speed, the wind direction. you don't say runway ready. so i'm assuming it's a really poor translation from what we're reading. >> because other experts have said that "all right good night" is way too informal especially when you're going from one air traffic controller in malaysia to vietnam. there's a whole procedure you're supposed to do and been subtle suggestions this co-pilot was sending a message, a signal that may not have been picked up.

we'll learn a lot more. richard don't go too far away. thank you very, very much. just ahead here in "the situation room," the navy's most powerful search tool, the p8 poseidon. the mystery of flight 370 right after this.

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we'll return to our breaking news coverage of the mystery of flight 370 in a moment but first this urgent story. the obama administration expressing concern about what it sees as a potentially imminent

russian incursion into ukraine. united states is closely monitoring russian troops amassing on the ukrainian border. russia says troops are there for exercises. our senior international correspondent nick peyton walsh is joining us from crimea with the latest. nick? >> reporter: wolf, a day for tit for tat document putin signing the final order that makes this now part of russia in his mind but also ukraine's new government signing paper work. it brings it closer to each u. vital step in ukrainians taking them east instead of westward. very little has changed. we went to one air base where the commander said he's still holding out, still obeying orders from kiev. hopes to hear something final tomorrow morning whether to stay

or return to the ukrainian mainland. people watching how these sanctions will impact on the russian government. they said they would respond to tough measures from barack obama tomorrow in kind. relations deteriorating. what's happening in crimea a done deal. all eyes on eastern ukraine. 20,000 troops u.s. military officials say motorized, able to move very fast, amassing on the border and the concern everybody still has ringing in their ears russian officials say they reserve thing right to protect compatriots. still tense times ahead. >> nick peyton walsh, thank you. here's the latest on the disappearance on malaysia flight 370. they will look for debris. and there's a transcript of the final 54 minutes of communication between the

cockpit and air traffic controllers. and the pentagon says it's looking at what underwater surveillance equipment it can use to help with the search. that's it for me. thanks very much for watching. i'm wolf blitzer in washington. erin burnett "outfront" starts right now. next breaking news what the pilot said moments before malaysia airlines flight 370 disappeared. finally a transcript between the cockpit and ground control. plus just eight minutes before the plane took off the pilot used his cell phone. who did he call and what did he say? and now for an exclusive. we're on board the navy's powerful search tool. p8 poseidon. it will be involved in this search. let's go "outfront". good evening i'm erin burnett. "outfront" tonight breaking news