ans need to make our world a little less imperfect. call... and ask about all the ways you could save. liberty mutual insurance -- responsibility. what's your policy? happening now, situation room special report the mystery of flight 370. search set backs. we're getting new information about the sea and air operation and why so many things have gone wrong. deliberate action. malaysian authorities say more about the possibility of foul play as they release full details about communications from the cockpit. and a cnn exclusive, we'll hear from a friend of one of the iranians who boarded the plane with a stolen passport raising suspicion when the jet first vanished. we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer and you're in

"the situation room". right now planes are ready to take off for the search zone, flight 370 search zone and chinese relatives of passengers are getting ready for a closed door briefing from officials and technical experts in the coming hours. malaysian authorities are publicly saying that the jet's moments are consistent with quote, deliberate action by someone on the plane. but they still have no solid proof. our correspondents and analysts are around the globe. they are here in the situation room as well to cover every angle of this story. let's go to jim shutto who has the very latest. >> we're learning about a new military asset joining that search in the southern indian ocean. the uk announcing the british submarine hms tireless has arrived in the southern indian ocean to help locate flight 370. it has advanced underwater search capability and it is hoped it can do what planes and ships have yet to accomplish

there and that is find any trace of the missing jet. they are scouring the indian ocean from the air and sea but all the clues so far have turned out to be false leads. ocean trash. and dead jellyfish. and today the australian officer in charge of the search for flight 370 made clear the end is nowhere in sight. >> this could drag on for a long time. it's not something that's necessarily going to be resolved in the next two weeks. >> equally stalled is the investigation into why flight 370 vanished. today authorities released the full transcript of air chatter between radio control and cockpit. perfectly routine. air traffic control, 370, 32 right, cleared for takeoff, good night. the cockpit responded, 32 right, cleared for takeoff, malaysian 370, thank you, bye. this has led malaysian authorities and experts to

declare the transcript neither abnormal or suspicious. >> the transcript has absolutely no clues of any criminal activity. as transcripts go and i've read a lot of crash transcripts this one is pretty clean. >> still the last communication to good night malaysian 370 have critics again pointing to continuing confusion and contradiction in the investigation. now malaysian authorities are set to ask for more help. the malaysian defense chief will meet defense secretary chuck hagel and ask for more u.s. military assets designed for deepwater search and recovery. malaysian authorities promised family members and loved ones and passengers a private closed door briefing on the investigation on wednesday. there will be technical experts to answer questions on how they arrived at this current search zone. of course questions they will

not be able to answer is exactly what happened to that plane and why and the exact location of the debris field. >> we may not know for some time tans to those questions. jim, stand by. australia is sending an air traffic control plane to the southern indian ocean to prevent a collision of all the aircraft in the search area, so many of them flying around in the same area. let's check in perth, australia. do you see planes taking off? it sits wednesday morning where you are. >> reporter: we normally hear planes gearing up to take off right now. you can see that's just about daylight here. this is typically the time that we hear and see these planes take off. we haven't heard anything yet but all signs are that the search will resume as scheduled. they should be taking off at any moment. there are approximately ten ships at sea already. they say they are overnight despite the fact there's been some pretty rough sea conditions

and joining them at sea is that nuclear submarine from the uk. hms tireless. it can comb through the sea, it will be an extra set of eyes underneath. will it be successful? what we're hearing here is it's still a tough search. it's a tall order. but the search planes, wolf, returning to the sky, hoping to find a piece of debris for these families. >> i know it must be so frustrating for the searchers who are involved. do you think they are losing hope right now? they losing confidence that eventually they will come up with something? >> reporter: nothing that they are actually sharing with us. i mean we see them every single day walk by. they are cheery. they seem to be on task. the last i had any contact with the u.s. navy teams that were going up in the air, they all seemed very determined, that this is a different sort of mission. this is something that they can all personally connect to.

they all have families. they all work in the sky. they want to give these families answers. it's a bit of a different task that they have at hand and they are all aware of it the. >> thank you. let's bring in our panel our aviation analysts. miles, this move by malaysia airlines to step up security in the cockpit what does it say to you >> the horse is out of the barn here. security in the cockpit is crucial. we know that since 9/11. the hard cockpit door is what this aircraft had. we've seen quite a bit much evidence it was a porous cockpit, the co-pilot bringing in young woman. you wonder if little pieces of procedures were ignored. is it possible one member of the flight crew, perhaps the captain managed to get himself alone in

the cockpit at some point during this flight. >> understandable they would be doing that even if they don't have any hard evidence out of an abundance of caution. >> plenty of good reasons to do it separate from this. >> you're getting information on the fbi report on the pilot's hard drive, the co-pilot hard drive, the simulator taken. >> senior government malaysian source contacted me and just said they received the report and there's nothing in it to indicate anything negative against either pilot. >> they've come up with no smoke gun or anything like that. earlier they said maybe later upon reflection there might be a nuance or something like that. have you heard anything along those lines or anything like that? >> they provided the report. so far nothing indicated. if somewhere down the line a new fact develops that maybe would

relate to that it's possible. so far they've received no indication. >> what does that say to you, peter, they studied the hard drives of the pilot and co-pilot and found nothing incriminating to suggest either one of them is involved in some sort of a criminal act. >> it's perplexing because at the same time they came out and said we believe this plane was diverted by somebody in the cockpit. once you say that, then you're almost obligated to increase security in the cockpit, aren't you? if you say that's what happened then you got to say we got to make sure this doesn't happen again if we don't have any evidence that the pilot or co-pilot was involved. >> the australians today, renee are clearly suggesting this could drag on and on. >> they were careful in saying look we're searching the best area we can search based on the data we had. you heard that uncertain ti

saying a lot of assumptions are going into this data. they don't know what the speed of this plane was. they don't know what the altitude was. there are these variables which they don't have precise information on so they are searching the best place they possibly can. at the end of the day it could be the wrong place. 3 million pieces to a 777 and not one piece found commonwealth. >> i want to go back to kuala lumpur, nic robertson is there. he's been doing some serious investigating. what else are you picking up on this day? >> reporter: we understand that there will be today a briefing, a high level briefing for the chinese families that are here. they will be given access to officials to investigators that they wouldn't get if they were in beijing. this does seem to be an attempt to answer some of their questions. we know they have this air traffic control communication transmission two weeks ago. it does seem to be the same --

it hasn't changed over those two weeks compared to what the government released. we're told families will be talking with the experts involved in the investigation about their methodology, about how they collect the data. it does appear the chinese families will get more of what they have been asking for, more answers. not clear if we will get to find out anything from those briefings. these have been up until now closed door. >> any new information, nic, on that map that chinese families based on information they had, that showed that plane going in a rather convoluted area after it left malaysian airspace? >> reporter: wolf, this presentation seems to have been made and drawn up out of desperation by the families. all those connected to that particular map have not been able to tell us the precise providence of that map. it's something that they believe that they wanted answered to

their questions about the exact routing that the flight took during that left-hand turn back, if you will, back to fly back across malaysia. so at the moment they aren't able to offer us any further clarity on where they got this from. >> just to pinpoint what you've been hearing and you're there in malaysia, you're in kuala lumpur where malaysian source they seem pretty convinced this was not a mechanical failure, this was some sort of deliberate act by someone, we don't know who, someone in the cockpit to do this. >> reporter: and that public statement officials here in malaysia continue to say a deliberate act in background briefings they continue to say that the aircraft was being flown by someone who knew the aircraft well who knew what they were doing and sources close to the investigation are telling us that it is being described behind-the-scenes, if you will, as a criminal act. everything we're being told points to precisely those

concerns, wolf. >> nic robertson reporting from kuala lumpur. thanks very much. let's get back to our panel. peter, let's talk a little bit about the families, because all the investigations, when you were involved in the ntsb, the investigations you did, that's the most heartwrenching part of it having to explain what's going on to the families and now these chinese families are going to be meeting with malaysian authorities once again in kuala lumpur. will the malasians, should the malaysians share the most sensitive information with the families information they are not willing to share. >> they are in a very difficult situation. these briefings should have started three weeks ago. the ntsb starts briefing with families the first night they are there and they make a commitment the first day that information will released to the public will be released to the families first. they establish a level of trust. the malaysians haven't been able to do that. is this going to be a very

difficult briefing and i think family members will come out and report on it completely and the malaysians will take that into account and not be completely candid. >> they won't be happy, i assume the chinese families who have come from china to malaysia because they are not goils to get satisfaction with what they hear and maybe because malaysians themselves don't know what's going on. >> the malaysians won't be briefed and are already complaining the only information they learn typically is from the media, not from their own government. now you have the chinese getting preferential treatment and the other 13 or 14 countries, the victims on that flight being ignored. again we'll see how this plays out tomorrow. but, you know, it's questionable. >> i suspect there will be more frustration. let's get back to the transcript that was released today and all of us have gone through it. not very long, two and a half pages. we've read it. no suspicions as far as i can tell, most experts i've spoken

to don't see anything unusual. what we need is the audiotape. >> we need the audiotape of that transcript it would be very helpful. we hear a lot of things by who was on the radio, there was a mic microphone clip and who about ho chi minh side of this. there's a lot of information that could be there on their attempts to reach the plane and there was apparently -- unconfirmed reports they tried to relay through another aircraft and some sort of mumbled or garbled response. >> they know whether it's a pilot's voice or co-pilot's voice. >> originally they came out and said it was the co-pilot and now they walked back on that and say police are investigating that part of it. they are analyzing the tapes.

it would be interesting to know if the person who was on the ground before takeoff is the same voice you hear once they are in the air. those are all things we won't know until we hear that audio and to your point about the vietnamese airspace how long did it take before they started to check in as to whether flight 370 was coming their way. those are all -- so many questions that this transcript raises, but you're right it looks very routine but leaves a lot of unanswered questions. >> peter, the last words in this official transcript that was released today at 1:19 a.m. local time, good night malaysian 370. that was the last -- >> standard response. >> not unusual at all. then what? two, three minutes later the plane makes that turn. >> starts to turn. that is the question. >> because that has raised so many suspicions, that's not coincidental. early on, my sources had said we

don't believe in coincidences. two or three minutes after they say good night the plane goes in a mysterious direction. >> to miles point, during that transmission do you hear a click of the cabin door opening? do you hear, you know, a slide on the chair? do you hear anything else that might indicate that something else was going on or that somebody else was entering or in the cockpit? >> how surprised would you be, tom, if tomorrow malaysian authorities, australian authorities, new zealand, u.s. everybody comes out and says you know what? we refined the information, the data, the radar, the satellite images and now we're moving this search 600 miles in another direction. >> not a bit surprised. >> you wouldn't be surprised. >> not at all. >> people would say are they competent? >> i understand. >> why wouldn't you be surprised? >> because, you know the flight path was calculated early on

with the radars and adding the inmarsat satellite, new data, then re-value waited. in this situation this is not the malaysians fault. this is analysis being conducted by british, french and american experts telling them the search is here or the search has moved up to here or where it should be and the actual direction of the search is being conducted by the australians and new zealandians. in this sense if that data changes or the analysis of the data i should say changes it's the experts that are changing. >> would you be surprised? >> no. all it takes is a very minor change in an assumption to move that area even 50 miles. and it is so hard to find a plane. >> i totally agree. the big assumption here is that it was on some sort of circle that would be demarked by the inmarsat satellite transmission, the time it takes from the plane to inmarsat. we don't know the range of the

aircraft. we know it was in the air we think for seven hours but how far did it go? there's a huge amount of variability and huge amount of assumption. >> not to know the speed and altitude for certain those are two major factors that you don't know. altitude alone determines how far this plane can go and the fact we don't know that for sure makes everything so cloudy. i wouldn't be surprised if we get that announcement. all right, guys, stand by. still ahead what if searchers never find flight 370. the answer could affect the safety of everyone who flies. "wall street journal report"er is standing by to share his newest information about this investigation and the mistakes that have been made. i'm looking forward to... for some, every dollar is earned with sweat, sacrifice, courage. which is why usaa is honored to help our members

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flight 370 is resuming after more than three weeks without finding any trace of the plane. our aviation correspondent renee marsh is back. a lot of people are wondering if this search will winds up finds nothing thing. >> right. as we move into week four it's a question that you can't help but ask, what if flight 370 is never found. one thing seems apparent. proof that flight 370 had mechanical problems would likely lead to safety improvements, proof it was hijacked would lead to security improvements. with proof of nothing and a whole lot of speculation no changes may come out of this. as searchers race to find any wreckage of flight 370 the cost of not finding the plane could impact the safety of future flights. accidents equal safety and security improvements. in 1983 a fire broke out in a

laboratory on air canada flight 797. the plane landed but 23 people on board died. after that smoke detectors and automatic fire extinguishers were mandated in aircraft lavatories. in 1996 hazardous cargo on a flight caught fire. the plane crashed in the florida everglades. 110 people died. it led to new cargo hold safety rules. but not finding flight 370 or its data recorders could be a missed opportunity for change. >> whatever brought down that flight, whether it was fire, hijacked, pilot suicide, explosive decompression, a bomb, whatever, it's important to find that out so we can fix it so it doesn't happen again. >> and it's security too. the september 11th hijackings led to strengthened cockpit

doors, the shoe bomber led to shoe checks. >> unfortunately, we've had a history of sort of graveyard policy making, you wait until enough people die and you make a change. >> with so few crashes in recent years the faa is more proactive in finding problems that could cause crashes before they happen. now with malaysian airlines flight 370 there could be lessons to be learned but only if they find out what went wrong. one example of why finding hard evidence about what went wrong is so important in the words of a former ntsb investigator, if there was a problem with the plane it could be fleet wide and if that's the case and no one knows it, he says guess what? they will know about it the next time it happens and that's not a good thing at all and of the course the same goes for security issues if there's a hole that way. >> let's not forget these are boeing 777. there's about 1,200 of them flying around the world right

now. if there's a mechanical problem they have to figure out what is it, fix it and make sure it never happens again. renee, thanks very much. we're joined by andy pastor who has been some serious dig on this story. in your investigation, the most recent reports you've suggested, andy, that international investigators they are going to have to come up with some major revisions in how they operate as a result of what we're learning now. >> i think that's true, wolf. what we're looking at four weeks into this event, into this investigation, unfortunately, the probe looks very fragmented, disjointed and really without a clear sense of direction. your viewers may be familiar with a phrase that there's a black swan, an event that's supposed to happen so rarely, so infrequently that it's virtually impossible and unfortunately despite all of the pain and the effort and the valiant search,

aviation safety officials are starting to talk about how this may be the black swan of black swan events. many are concerned we'll never get an answer and that's so contrary to the way the system works. aviation safety improves by building on lessons learned, sometimes it's accidents and people start making fixes and doing things even before the report is written when you have a good idea they have a good idea what happened. often it's just incidents, nobody gets hurt the plane isn't damaged but some potential danger, a threat that needs to be dealt with. at this point many safety officials are looking at this and saying they are bewildered, there are no solutions because we don't know what happened. >> you reported this in the "wall street journal" some serious mismanagement during the first three weeks. tell us one or two examples. >> well, the malaysians have had

a series of problems and been well documented by many newspapers and tv stations, certainly the most recent example is the search that was shifted just a week ago into a whole new area and it appears from the reporting that my colleagues and i have done that this was really a basic problem of lack of coordination. they brought in all these outside experts from all over the world as has been said and they were doing analysis, some looking at satellite data, some looking at fuel consumption and aircraft performance data but, unfortunately, it appears the two strands of this investigation were never properly merged. so you really had for at least three days looking -- the searchers were looking in an area that clearly has turned out to be wrong and it's ironic because now after all of this effort, according to people who know the malaysian government and the malaysian society very well and some reporting that we've been doing over there, the newest position of the malaysians is to say look we

have all these experts who are helping us. they told us what to say. they told us what to do. we relied on them. if things haven't gone well, if you're not pleased with the outcome it's not our fault blame them. that's a counter productive stance, i think. >> who is to blame for the misenactmenmi mismanagement, your reporting, your analysis, wasting those three days looking in the wrong place? >> an extremely complex situation with cutting-edge analysis and technology that was never meant to be used to locate a missing plane, and i think an over eagerness on the part of the malaysians at this point in the investigation to come out with information as quickly as they could. in the beginning they were reluctant to provide information and they were roundly criticized for being too slow to divulge details. i think the search mistake or the problem with the search really stemmed from an over

eagerness to come out and say we know the plane is down, here's where we think it is and then a day later, a few days later there was this recalibration to say well maybe that's not exactly what the data shows us. i think that's an unfortunately state of events. >> we have a statement from the ntsb, a spokesperson saying this and i'll put it up on the screen, andy. while the "wall street journal" may want to suggest there are issues with information sharing there aren't. everyone who is working this event is doing so as part of a large multinational team. >> they are working as hard as they can. at this point they are sharing relevant information but it's obvious that that was not the case before. and if you talk to folks who have been watching this really closely, you really get a sense that, from the very beginning of this investigation, because it

was both a criminal and classic aircraft accident investigation, there have been tremendous problems in coordination and the malaysians as hard as they try, as tragic as it is for them, as much as they are in anguish for the people who died and embarrassment for the country, for their country, they just haven't been able to get a good oversight and supervisory situation so i believe the investigation is not being handled in what you call an appropriate way that typical major aircraft investigations are handled. >> is it too early to draw some lessons? >> well, i mean as we were speaking before it's hard to take lessons if you don't know what happened. air safety experts that i talked to are increasingly starting to talk about how we're going to do investigations in the future. some of them say this will change the way accident investigations are done for

commercial airliners because they are much more complex than they used to be and in the old days and currently the country that has control, whether it's because the aircraft crashed in that country or because it's an international waters and a flight carrier of that country, that country basically has control. but in the future, these experts say it will be a much more coordinated, much more international effort from the beginning, because people are beginning to realize that that's what's necessary. unfortunately, this probe will be looked at as not a very good example of that, former chairman of the ntsb has call it a textbook case of how not to conduct such an investigation. >> i've been suggesting now for a few days some sort of international commission of inquiry or presidential commission at a minimum needed to learn lessons site doesn't happen again. andy pastor of the "wall street journal," thanks very much for your reporting. appreciate you joining us. a reminder "crossfire" won't

be seen today so we can bring you more of our special report on the mystery of flight 370. just ahead new information about the iranians who boarded flight 370 with stolen passports. one of their friends is speaking exclusively to cnf. and the heartbreak that toledo a massive recall by gm. did the apology by the ceo satisfy families? a house, under siege. homeowner calls in the big guns. say helto home defense max. with the one-touch continuous-spray wand. kills bugs inside... ...and prevents new ones for up to a year. guaranteed. nothing to see here people. ortho home defense max. get order. get ortho®.

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we're 26 days now. the families of 370 passengers have more of their missing loved once and news conferences and religious ceremonies. one family is mourning in silence after their son came understand suspicion for using a stolen passport to board the plane. cnn international correspondent has the exclusive untold story. >> reporter: of all the grieving families of missing flight mh-370 the family of this 18-year-old is suffering alone. he and his friend were two iranians on the flight. the family has stayed away from the epicenter of information. not attending briefings or getting the counselling provide. in this case the airline says it has not been in contact families. their case it said is in the

hands of investigators. they boarded flight mh-370 with stolen passports. able to pass through security without a problem, at first they came under suspicion but they were cleared of having anything to do with the plane's disappearance. on facebook his mother pours out her grief. from the moment i became a mother she says all i wanted and asked from god was to not see my children die before me, but, of course, that didn't happen. we tried to talk to the mother but she didn't respond to your calls or e-mail. we managed to get in touch with a friend who said good-bye to him at the kuala lumpur airport on march 8th. he refused to show his face for fear he'll be harassed by authorities. he says the two are from christian families. the facebook message four days before he got on that plane shows him standing below the

iconic malaysian skyscraper with the words "feeling excited." >> translator: she was so sad. she was asking me when my son there was, he was happy, he was enjoyin enjoying. i said yeah. he was enjoying. he was okay. and then he just said thanks god. >> reporter: he saw the plane ticket with another man's name on it and questioned him about it. ultimately, he would only say he was trying to leave iran forever to live with his mother in germany. >> he said there's more freedom, there's more freedom there. >> reporter: instead he disappeared with the other 238 people aboard flight mh-370. his mother left these words for her missing son. i dedicated my life to my son and all i wanted was for them to be happy in life. i wanted them to live a free

life. i prayed i would see him again but that didn't happen. we'll see each other in eternity now. sad story. just ahead, a milestone in the wars in iraq and afghanistan and much more on the mystery of flight 370. a british submarine is joining the international search. (agent) i understand. (dad) we've never sold a house before. (agent) i'll walk you guys through every step. (dad) so if we sell, do you think we can swing it? (agent) i have the numbers right here and based on the comps that i've found, the timing is perfect. ...there's a lot of buyers for a house like yours. (dad) that's good to know. (mom) i'm so excited.

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or add a car to your policy. personalized coverage and savings -- all the things humans need to make our world a little less imperfect. call... and ask about all the ways you could save. liberty mutual insurance -- responsibility. what's your policy? we'll continue watching developments in the search for flight 370 but there's other important news we're following as well. the ceo of general motors is here in washington today facing tough questions from congress over a botched recall, one that ignored the warning signs and led to 13 people's death. poppy harlow has more. >> i think how they died and it's not fair.

>> reporter: sheri lost her 21-year-old son michael in 2012 when his chevy cobalt veered off the road and hit a rockwall. she blames a faulty ignition switch. general motors admits 13 deaths and 31 accidents are related to the switch which can turn off when bumped cutting off the airbag, brakes and power steering. >> who knew what when. that includes you. >> reporter: today lawmakers grilled gm ceo at a house hearing following a massive recall of 2.6 million vehicles tied to the ignition problem. going back to 2003 models. but the automaker admits it knew about the problem as early as 2004. she testified she doesn't know why it took a decade for the safety defect to be announced but vowed to find out. >> as soon as i learned about the problem we acted without hesitation. we told the world we had a problem that needed to be fixed. >> reporter: she met monday with about 20 family members who lost

loved ones in crashes of cars included in the recall and apologized to them but the question of cost remain. a house report finds one possible reason gm chose not to act on the faulty switch sooner was, according to gm documents quote, tooling costs and piece price are too high. >> what does that mean? >> i find that statement to be very disturbing as we do this investigation and understand it in the context of the whole timeline. if that was the reason the decision was made that is unacceptable. >> how does gm balance cost and safety? >> we don't. today if there's a safety issue we take action. >> reporter: when you look back to 2005 gm was already starting to struggle financially, it was at junk bond status and some question whether or not gm's financial state played into the decision not to order recall. >> we're definitely moving into a culture that's focused on the consumer, that's focused on the customer, focused on high

quality and safety. >> reporter: at the hearing her answers lacked detail. >> that's why we're doing this investigation. the investigation will tell us that. we're doing an investigation, part of the investigation. >> reporter: lawmakers want to know why the national highway traffic safety administration didn't spot a pattern in the gm crashes? the agency says it didn't have enough information. that's leaving sherri sharky still searching for answers. >> i'm frigighting for my famil and my son. >> reporter: the big question now is liability, especially financial liability for the victims' families. because gm went through bankruptcy in 2009 technically they don't legally have to pay out for civil penalties, pay out those fines. criminally, though, they could be held accountable despite the bankruptcy they appointed ken feinberg who oversaw the compensation funds after the bp

oil spill. thank you very much. the death toll in washington state is rising. 27 people are now reported dead after that devastating landslide more than a week ago. 22 people are missing as search teams dig through the mud of the mounds of mud. >> reporter: good evening, wolf much we got a chance to go into the landslide zone today to ground zero. it was our first up close look at the devastation tlarks couple of miles up the roadway here. i was struck by what you couldn't see. you look around and so much of the devastation is now below what's become the new surface of land there, so that and the fact that everything was really obliterated when the landslide happened has resulted instead of seeing large piles of big objects that are displaced you just see splintered wood and mud every where. an up close look at the

landslide disaster zone reveals a seemingly insurmountable volume of mud and mostly clear. >> incredible amount of energy was created out here. pushed all this members out here digging through the pile. our commitment was we're going to be out here digging through this debris field for as long as they're willing to commit. the goal is to cover every inch

without actually remove ago the muck till. the debris is staying put. until hand crews can come and go through these piles to pull belongings for family members who lost everything. mother nature created the tragedy but now mother nature is assisting is the recovery. sunshines down drying up the land just enough for searchers to move forward in the hopes of bringing closure to a crushed community. >> again, two dozen people still missing. we're told they are laser focused on finding the victims so that each and every one of these families can at least have some solace in that. wolf? >> what a heartbreaking story that is, ana cabrera on the scene for us. a major milestone for u.s. forces. march is the first month in more than a decade without an american combat death.

the last such month was february, 2003. over the last 13 1/2 years, mo are than 4400 u.s. troops died in iraq, 2300 in afghanistan. just ahead, the mystery of malaysia airlines flight stepping up security. some are celebrating over at the white house. we're going to tell you what's going on. ups is a global company, but most of our employees live in the same communities that we serve. people here know that our operations have an impact locally. we're using more natural gas vehicles than ever before. the trucks are reliable, that's good for business. but they also reduce emissions, and that's good for everyone. it makes me feel very good about the future of our company. ♪

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the bottom line is this. under this law, the share of americans with insurance is up. and the growth of health care costs is down. and that's good for our middle class, and that's good for our

fiscal future. >> president obama gave his administration a pat on the back today after a milestone for obamacare. the white house says more than 7 million people have now signed up, meeting the original target for this, the last day of open enrollment. let's bring in our political commentators donna brazile and anna navarro. anna, big day for the white house. more than 7 million signed up. millions more young people can stay on their parents' plans till they reach the age of 26. millions more got expanded medicaid benefits. big win for the white house, right? >> the perception of it is a big win. definitely if he had not hit that 7 million mark, it would have been a huge blow. so the fact that it was hit is yes, a good day for the white house. now, we need to dissect those numbers, wolf. we don't know how many of those people are young people. we don't know how of those people were previously insured that lost their insurance due to obamacare that have now signed up with obamacare.

so there's a lot of cross taps to look at to see if the formula is going to work. let's remember this is a law that has had a lot of delays and exceptions that have been put into place in the last year. we've got to see what the full implementation looks. the bottom line is that republicans have got to realize that there's some things in this law that people like that the american people like. and democrats have got to realize that it's also not all milk and honey. >> donna, would you advise those vulnerable democratic senators up for re-election in some of those red states to run -- they au voted for obamacare, to run, make a big deal to promote this or try to forget about it? >> look, there's no question these democrats have to tell the american people this is a victory for consumers. prices, health care prices have gone down. millions of americans are pre-existing conditions can sleep better tonight knowing they cannot have their policies cancelled. senior citizens with

prescription drug benefits, there's a lot of good things in the affordable care act. they should not run from it. >> mary landrieu in your home state of louisiana, should she go out and start selling obamacare? >> what hundreds of thousands of louisianians who are poor and unable to get medicaid because of the governor she should hail the fact as a woman she's no longerer a pre-existing conditions and not paying higher rates because of it. i don't think democrats should run from it. we should tell the american people we provided access. republicans are trying to take it away. >> quickly, ana, a quick thought from you and then i'll wrap it up. >> well, look, i think we're going to see what the polls are saying based on what we see these democrat candidates that have been running away from it and from president obama do. that's yet to be seen. a lot of this story is yet to unfold, wolf. >> ana navarro, donna brazile to

be continued. that's it for me. thanks very much for watch. don't forget you can always follow us on twitter. i'm @wolf blitzer. tweet the show @cnn sit room. send me your questions, comments. thanks very much for watching. "erin burnett outfront" starts "erin burnett outfront" starts right now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com next a british submarine joins the search for missing it flight 370. a live update from the search team straight ahead. plus new security procedures at malaysia airline. why the airline may not want a pilot alone in the cockpit and gm executives grilled over a faulty ignition switch linked to deaths. why the company failed to fix what would have been a 57 cent problem. let's go out front. and good evening, everyone. i'm erin burnett. out front tonight, new