cities. >> martin, appreciate the update. "smerconish" is next. this is cnn breaking news. good evening, i'm michael smercanish. we're going to get the latest on flight 370 in just a moment. breaking news tonight, tsunami waves 6.5 feet hive off the coast of chile' following an 8.2 magnitude earthquake. chile''s national emergency office tweeted tonight it's asking for everyone to evacuate the south american nation's coast. shasta darlington has the very latest. shasta, what are you hearing from the local media? with, that's right, michael. we're actually already seeing some evacuations under way. what we've seen so far that they're very calm, they've been ordered to get to higher ground. but they're doing it in a very orderly fashion. we've actually also talked to

people in the capital in santiago who said they did not feel the earthquake. it was up along the northern coast off the coast of the mining town of akika where the epi center was. a lot of people in northern chile', southern peru that's where it's really being felt and that's where the evacuations are being carried out with a bit more urgency. this is where the waves have already started crashing on shore. as you said the 6.5-foot tsunami. and this is where we're going to see a lot of the action moving forward. hopefully again the warnings are getting out fast enough for people to get out of harm's way. that's what we'll be keeping an eye on, michael. >> shasta, you're in sao paolo. how common are these? >> we've seen earthquakes and tsunamis before. it is just something that happens time and time again, which means they're better prepared. they know when the warnings go out what to do. they gather what's absolutely necessary and head for higher

ground. that's what they're doing. it could take even hours for any possible tsunamis to get to further coastlines. there was actually the pacific tsunami warning center said, for example, that if waves were to impact hawaii it wouldn't be until the predawn hours. so what we're seeing in northern chile' is just the initial reaction of this earthquake, which could continue to spread. so we're going to have to wait for that, michael. >> is there any anticipated time by which waves could hit landfall or is it premature to know that. >> reporter: well, right off the coast or the coast near the epi center we are already seeing those waves. i guess the big question is, could they get bigger? 6.5 foot waves, not something anybody wants to see. but the concern is that we could get a bigger tsunami as the ripple effect is felt as it reaches further shores will the

tsunamis get bigger or could we perhaps not see any at all? these are the questions we're trying to get answered as quickly as possible, michael. >> and shasta, now it's just all unfolding as we speak, but you mentioned a moment ago there is a certain level of preparedness by folks in this part of the world because these things are not all that uncommon. any sense of panic, or is it orderly as far as you can tell at this moment? >> reporter: really the images we've seen it's been very orderly. i think in part because this wasn't felt in the capital of chile' and san santiago this isn't one of the bill biggies. nonetheless they've been ordered to evacuate. everything we've seen so far those vehicleses are being carried out in an orderly fashion. the same goes for southern peru where they've also ordered evacuations there. everything we've seen so far things are being carried out in an orderly fashion, michael. >> shasta darlington, thanks so much and stay safe. now i want to go to frank gonzalez of the national oceanic

and atmospheric administration. he joins me via telephone. frank, school me on some of the basics between a relationship between an earthquake and a potential tsunami. >> yeah. well, these particular kinds of zones are called subduction zones. subduction refers to a specific plate diving under the continent. in this case it's the pacific plate diving under chile' and the rest of south america. so those plates stick together. because the rocks rub against each other and so forth. and the pressure builds for years and years. and finally the rock breaks. the earth's crust springs back. and the vertical motion generates the wave at the surface of the ocean. >> how long does it typically take before we can discern whether the tsunami could meet some of the expectations?

>> well, the measurements have already been -- i mean the tide gauges along the coast have already picked up as shasta was saying 6-foot waves. i don't see a lot of other reports, but undoubtedly there's very high waves all along the south american coast there. >> and i was going to ask, frank, where else might this make landfall? what would some of the affected areas that would be most of concern? >> well, conceivably you could have waves hit japan, all the way across the ocean. they would take about 20, 24 hours to get there. we will see landfall along the california coast for waves somewhere between 12 and 15 hours. 12 hours at the southern edge of california, and 15 or so up in washington state. >> frank, is there precedent in this part of the world for this type of event, an 8.2?

>> yeah. this place manufactures earthquakes all the time. back in 2010, there was a large earthquake that killed more than 550 people. and it's because of the nature of the subduction zone. it's just the way that nature works. the pacific plates are always moving. and where there's a junction between the pacific plate and land, eventually the pressure builds up and breaks. and so it's a recurring cycle. the same thing happens off of the washington-oregon coast. >> frank gonzales or noaa, thanks for joining us. now on the phone lucy jones of the u.s. geological survey. lucy, reuters is saying early reports of landslides partially blocking some roads. is that what we can expect from an 8.2 earthquake? >> they misspelled my name and didn't get the right -- >> i think we lost lucy.

we will come back in just a moment after the break with lucy and all the updates on this evolving story. breaking news again, an ♪ ben! ♪ [ train whistle blows ] oh, that was close. you ain't lying. [ ql guy ] let quicken loans help you save your money.

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because we don't have shareholders. join the nation. ♪ nationwide is on your side ♪ breaking news again, an earthquake and tsunami waves off the coast of chile'. we'll bring you updates throughout the hour. now let's get to the mystery of flight 370. but tonight we'd like to do it in a different way and take you behind the scenes of the search.

is everything being done in the right way before time runs out? more on that in a moment. here's what's happening right now. the search area has moved yet again. this time to the east closer to perth. planes and ships are closing in on that area at this moment. in fact, there are so many aircraft in the sky that australia is sending an air traffic control plane just to keep them from crashing into one another. and now a nuclear sub, britain's hms tireless, is joining the search. take a look at the search area. there's a lot of open water to cover. and they're running out of time. the batteries in the plane's data recorders, the so-called black boxes, are designed to last 30 days. the plane's been missing for 25. until they find wreckage the u.s. navy's pinger locater and submersible are of no use. meanwhile, malaysian officials, airline officials are meeting with chinese family members behind closed doors today in kuala lumpur. here's an intriguing detail. technical experts from three

countries will be there along with the chinese ambassador to malaysia. what will they tell the families about their missing loved ones? we'll bring you news from that high-level meeting as soon as we get it. >> some experts say malaysia has bungled this investigation from day one. we'll dig into these unanswered questions. what does the transcript of carater between air traffic controllers and pilots reveal. now let's get started. so first off, what we've learned in this investigation. why it's taking so long and who's to blame. joining me now to sort it out, mild goldfarb, a former faa chief of staff. ken massback with extensive experience in intelligence gathering and aviation attorney steven marks. he represented families from air

france flight 447. that plane's wreckage was found in the atlantic within days but the black boxes were not recovered for almost two years. michael, let me begin with you. you're the one who believes this investigation has been bungled from jump street. tell me how. >> i know we're beating up on the malaysians, michael. and i know we have the best assets in the world and everybody's putting a good face on this and trying to do the best they can. so there's no question of that. whether it was by design or default, the malaysians were either caught off guard or just didn't know how to carry out this investigation. let's go back and understand why we're in the situation we're in all we really know the plane took off from kuala lumpur, it went missing between two air traffic control facilities, ho chi minh and the malaysian air center. it supposedly made a left turn and went west. we know that turn, we don't know fit was criminal, whether it was willful. whether the pilots were responding to an emergency. we have a malaysian radar which is the primary radar that just

paints a target, gives you know good information. seeing that plane in the straights of malacca. then the inmarsat satellites which are getting this handshake ping. that's an incredibly small amount of information to base this investigation on. so we have that and basically using old-fashioned advanced algebra and geometry, the experts have been able to look and plot what they believe are these search zones. but quite frankly, at this stage of the investigation we would consider success finding just a piece of that plane. to find those so-called black boxes is highly unlikely. and most people believe could take many years. michael, the reason the difference between this search and air france comes down to a couple of things. malaysia air made a decision not to buy an application, a, that would have upgraded their avionics. so when acars, that reporting system went out, whether by design or whether someone took it out and the satellites just got a handshake, all the information that air france had

about attitude, heading, speed, altitude, all those things that are critical to kind of zone in on the crash site, they were out of this. we did not have that capability. so i think the decision was $10 a flight. $100,000 an airplane. the view is that the boeing aircraft is a very safe aircraft and they just didn't want to do it from a cost standpoint. now we're paying a horrific price. we have no stability in the investigation. we don't know where it is. and now we're moving the search zone. so this is kind of a case study in looking back on this and how not to do it. it's going to change aviation forever in some very important areas going forward. >> steven marks, you heard what michael goldfarb had to say. you were involved in the air france litigation. does what he's just articulated make sense to you? >> absolutely. in air france we had the acars. we knew in real time what was transpiring. the search site was pretty narrow in as much as we knew the general area. it wasn't shifting by thousands of miles as is the constant day-to-day shifts that we're

seeing right now. i'll be a little less diplomatic. i think there has been terrible mistakes made early on in the investigation. it was obvious to me early on that the malaysian government didn't have the capability of doing it. a lot of foreign governments don't. they don't have the expertise which is a good thing because there aren't that many crashes. so they never see this before. in this particular case, i understand nationalism. but they should have called in the ntsb, which foreign governments routinely do in these accident investigations. there's no pride in not knowing. the problem here is you have boeing and the malaysian government, the only two parties who are the likely responsible parties who are investigating themselves. they're running this investigation. it seems like they've jumped to conclusions prematurely. like when they say that the transponder was turned off intentionally, no one knows that. there's no factual basis for that statement. we know it stopped working. and when you start piecing these

little bits together, it's clear that the assumptions are leading up to a conclusion instead of looking at all of the facts with an open mind and keeping all the possibilities open. and i think it's a dangerous thing that they've done. and it's unfair to the families. >> steven, your belief is that boeing is playing a critical role in this investigation. i've not seen anything from boeing out in front on this case thus far. what's the basis for you saying that along with the malaysians they're playing this pivotal role? >> well, i have been involved in most every accident investigation and representing families for the last 30 years. i know in every one of them under annex 13 of iko, the international civil aeronautics organization, foreign governments are allowed to invite participants. boeing and airbus, the two leading manufacturers, are routinely instantly invited. they have the technical capability of analyzing the plane, telling the investigators how it works, giving them drawings, giving them flight simulators, doing flight tests. and it's necessary.

i'm not saying it's wrong. it's part of the process. it all happens. in this particular case if you recall in one of the briefings where the woman was escorted, that horrible scene with all the reporters. the official press conference i noticed on the wall a boeing sign. it looked to me like they were holding press conferences at boeing facility. i know from prior experience there's no doubt, silkair, boeing had an intimate role in the indonesian government. they floated these intentional misconduct theories very early. we see the same thing happening here. it may turn out to be the case. but it's wrong to start off with conclusions without factual basis. and that i think is what's occurring here. >> keith massback, you've been making many appearances here on cnn because of your expertise. i'm curious with your new notoriety when you're out and about, what do people stop you and most want to know about this case? that's part a. and what misconceptions do you think exist in the minds of the public? >> well, i think it comes back to the idea of hey, i've got google earth.

cane see things in my yard. why can't we find this plane? it gets down to some basic understanding of how satellites operate. they're not on all the time. they're not searching the globe 24/7, 365. the decision to employ a satellite with finite inageing time over the earth is a strategic decision. where you've got assets you've got to apply them against your most pressing problems. and what they're good at. right now when we've got ships with helicopters flying over the search area, we've got this very capable p 8 plus its p 3 predecessor from other nations. those are the things of choice right now i'd tell you, michael, the interesting thing is the addition of this british trafalgar class nuclear submarine. >> gentlemen, thank you. keith massback, steven marks and michael goldfarb. malaysian's claim that the plane's move off course was a criminal act. is there any proof?

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breaking news again. an 8.2 magnitude earthquake and tsunami waves off the coast of chile'. a tsunami warning is in effect for chile', peru and ecuador. we'll bring you updates throughout the hour. now back to the latest on flight 370. >> the left turn that you see here on this map is generating controversy, embarrassment and a lot of unanswered questions about flight 370. a malaysian government source tells cnn they consider the airline's left off course turn a quote criminal act either by one of the pilots or by someone else on board. but authorities have found nothing in the days of investigating the two pilots that leads any to believe that the motive was political, suicidal, or extremist. so does malaysia have the evidence that back up its claim of a criminal act? could this still be a catastrophic mechanical failure? i want to bring in mary ellen

o'toole, the former senior profiler for the fbi, and mary schiavo, former inspector general of the d.o. it. mary now represents victims of negligence by transportation companies including airlines. and she joins me via skype. mary ellen o'toole, let me begin with you. is it time to stop giving consideration for the language barrier? time to stop believing this is maybe just all honest mistakes on the part of the malaysians? might there be something more sinister at stake here as you look at the investigation from afar? >> well, there could be something more sinister that's going on. but certainly at best it's very confusing. and it's creating a lot of doubt about how they're reaching their conclusions, how they're reaching their opinions. so for example, today when they said this was a criminal act, i'm unclear as to what they're basing that on. as a behavioral scientist, i have to have reasons to support

my conclusions that something is criminal or not criminal. and i'm certainly not seeing the totality of the circumstances that allow them to say that. now, they may be withholding the rest of the information because it's proprietary or illegal to give it out because of laws and so forth. but certainly as someone who studies behavior for a living, i don't know what they're basing that on. >> let me ask it this way. what i'm trying to suggest is that perhaps the ineptitude of the way in which the investigation has been communicated to the rest of the world doesn't necessarily suggest that the investigation itself has been inept. do you follow my question, mary ellen? >> i think i do. i'll answer it from this perspective. when you're in a task force environment, there is a lot of behavior going on. and there's a lot of power struggles and there's a lot of egos involved. and there's a lot of different agendas. and over the years i've spent a lot of time on task forces.

when i see information being given out that's conflicting, that's confusing, oftentimes it goes back to the dynamics in the task force where people are coming up against one another to get that power and to get that control. so in other words, it comes down to the human element. when you add onto that a lot of leaking coming out of a task force, it can mean that the health of that task force is not good. >> mary schiavo, a lot of parsing today of these few words. "good night malaysia 370." of what significance if any to you? >> well, the significance is that they're not significant. it's just how pilots communicate. i was a pilot, too, for a number of years. you don't always say it exactly right. but when you read this transcript something leaps out at me. the pilots were conducting business as usual. it was the tower that said good night first and they were responding. this is me interpreting it. they seem to be a little

irritated with air traffic control because they had to repeat their altitude and their call number twice. they had to ask air traffic control to repeat themselves because the transmission was garbled. so if anything the pilots were behaving very professionally and extremely normally, and it was air traffic control that wasn't on top of their game. so i take nothing from this transcript other than a flight as usual. and there's no excuse for them not knowing who said it because all they have to do, this is admissible in any court, is ask people familiar with their voices. is it the pilot or the the copilot. >> so mary, what then could justify, what then could substantiate a characterization in this case as a criminal act having taken place? there must be something more than the transcript. what could that be? >> you know, i'm concluding just like you. for what we know and what's been released publicly, there is not one shred of evidence. i was a federal prosecutor before i.g. i work in evidence. i work in facts. they're just not here.

so i am assuming, based on that statement that they made, because it's quite a far-reaching statement that it's a criminal act, that they must have something that they haven't released publicly. because what they've released publicly does not support a criminal case. >> mary ellen o'toole, any investigation that would have been done of the crew, any investigation that would have been done of the pilots only as good as the questions that would have been asked. going back to the question of potential ineptitude on this investigation, doesn't that also raise questions just about how vetted the folks on board that plane might have been? >> it does. because when you have a large group of people that have to be vetted, you have to have certain questions that are being asked. and it has to be standardized across the number of investigators that are asking these questions. and then you have to have people that are trained to interpret and analyze the answers. so you're not making just kind of real fly by the seat of your pants conclusions on the kind of information that you're getting. so the way it's vetted and how the information is analyzed in

terms of the pilots and the passengers and the rest of the crew, that's really very important. >> mary schiavo, how important are these next five to seven days because of the battery life? >> they're extremely important. and what's really sad is that it is down to the next five to seven days. the battery may have already gone. in many cases it may last longer i've seen in some investigations. at this point they need a little luck. i'm glad they sent in the sub. anything will help. there are so many planes they need an air traffic control plane is actually encouraging. it is clear that the australians are throwing everything they have at this problem. and frankly, i wish we'd have had the australians since day one. >> and it would seem that what we need in this case is we need to find debris, we need then to find a crash site, we need from the crash site to find those black boxes. even when we get the black boxes, the voice recorder might be silent. >> the voice recorder might be silent as to human voices.

but we will hear some very important things on there. for example, the engine spooling down. we will know if one spooled down before the other. if there was someone actually still flying the plane you will hear very telltale clicks and sounds of controls being moved. i suspect we will not. i suspect it will be silent. all along i think there's a noncriminal explanation. but any little click or sound just as in the case of the payne stewart plane about which engine failed first and with the helios plane that was very useful, too. it will be very important for aviation safety and security to get that. it won't help the families here much. but for flights in the future they'll be safer if we get them. >> mary ellen o'toole, from a distance is it also your impression that perhaps it's a noncriminal explanation that's driving these events? >> you'd have to allow for the fact that it's a noncriminal explanation until you can really look at all the behavior based on really sound, solid evidence to be able to say analytically

this is how it's unfolding. you can't say it just based on a few snippets here and there. at this point in my opinion as a behavioral scientist i'd have to say that both options are very open. >> mary schiavo and mary ellen o'toole, thanks so much for your expertise. back to our breaking news, tsunami waves 6.5 feet high reported off the coast of chile' following an 8.2 magnitude earthquake. chile''s national emergency office tweeted tonight that it's asking for everyone to evacuate. the south american nation's coast. and a tsunami warning is also in effect for peru and ecuador. shasta darlington is back on the phone with us. shasta, what's the very latest in sao paolu. >> reporter: the deputy minister of the interior says no deaths, no major damage to infrastructure. there were some small landslides

in northern chile'. of course we've had those initial waves about 1.5 meters to 2 meters. and they're waiting to see whether or not they get more tsunamis coming to the shore. they're waiting for that. that's the big issue. that's why they've ordered these evacuations. they have ordered the evacuations of the whole coast. but it's really the northern coast of chile' what's concerning them. the epicenter of this earthquake, 8.2 magnitude was off the coast of iquique, a mining town. that's where the real focus is and that's where we'll be watching, michael. >> how are the evacuations proceeding as best you know? >> reporter: what we have seen are some images of people in nearby cities, basically looking for higher ground in a very orderly fashion. getting their belongings together, basically the bare necessities, moving to higher ground, not running screaming. this has all been very orderly.

and that probably is because what we're seeing initially isn't next to the epi center itself. it's a little further away. as we get more images and more information closer to the epicenter, this impression may change. but for now it has been orderly. that's what we've seen so far, michael. >> shasta darlington, thanks for your report. technology from around the world is being used in the search for flight 370. but without a crash site will it do us any good? and gm's ceo on capitol hill today with a big apology. so how do the families feel about the mea culpa? [ male announcer ] this is kevin. to prove to you that aleve is the better choice for him, he's agreed to give it up. that's today? [ male announcer ] we'll be with him all day as he goes back to taking tylenol. i was okay, but after lunch my knee started to hurt again. and now i've got to take more pills. ♪ yup. another pill stop. can i get my aleve back yet? ♪

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some of the most impressive technology on the planet is headed to the southern indian ocean as we speak. everything from nuclear sub marines to pinger locaters to submersibles. but do investigators have all the tools that we need to find flight 370? and what can we do to make sure this never happens again? joining me now. mark rash, a former justice department prosecutor for cyber. >> it comes down to how much

area can you search in a given time. the most effective sensor for searching a lot of area in a given time is satellite imagery. it's just like a camera in orbit in outer space taking pictures. the next one down from that the search radars and other sensors on the orion. >> it's good for once you've found the plane figuring out what happened inside.

noonan the black box isn't great for finding the plant. it is good for once you've found the plant figuring out what happened. >> is a possible either of you gentlemen think we are in the wrong area? the question i am asking evidence is such a lack of faith and credibility in the way the malaysians have handled this. why are your thoughts? >> based on my radar expertise, finding the northern route is highly unlikely. it takes an army to do that and

a good example is a lot of resources and a lot has to go and to flight operators. i think they probably are in the indian ocean, it is hard to find. >> as a former prosecutor d.c. criminal intention it simplistically explained, the left turn or the two left turns? >> not at all. it doesn't mean you should not have an incredible investigation. of building burns down you might open an arson investigation to see whether there was arson. the fact there is a criminal investigation does not mean you'll find criminal conduct. it just means you're going to use the forensic tools of criminal investigators to look to see what happened. >> greg, how do we make sure relying on your expertise, how do we make sure this never happens again, that we're not years from now back in the same position of wondering what happened to a 777? >> wow, that's a good question. i think there are a couple of technologies from radar perspective you can look at over the horizon high frequency radar. it can emit thousands of miles. more advanced transponder

systems coming on line that will beacon the airline's latitude, longitude and height. >> wish we had more time. there's a lot breaking tonight. gm's ceo apologizes for 13 deaths caused by a faulty ignition switch. but will the families ever forgive? >> i'm an angry mother. my family's hurt. i'll never forget that 4:30 in the morning knock at the door from two troopers. i want justice. gunderman group.

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today's gm will do the right thing. that begins with my sincere apologies to everyone who has been affected by this recall, especially the families and friends who lost their lives or were injured. i am deeply sorry. >> mary barra, the ceo of general motors, went to capitol hill today to apologize for 13 deaths that the company says were caused by a faulty ignition switch. 2.6 million vehicles have been recalled worldwide, but is that enough for grieving families? ken and beth melton lost their

daughter, 29-year-old brooke, when her chevrolet cobalt spun out of control and crashed. they join me now. and allow me, mr. and mrs. melton, we are so sorry for your loss and appreciate your being here. >> thank you. >> mr. melton, i know it was four years ago almost to this week on highway 92 in paulding county, georgia. that very day, that very night you, sir, say you knee it was the automobile. how did you know? >> yes, i did, michael. the reason i knew is about four or five days before the accident the car had shut off on my daughter. luckily she was in the neighborhood and going very slowly where she could wrestle the car to the curb. so she called me immediately after it did that. and i suggested that we get it into the dealership first thing in the morning. and i took to the dealership

because i thought they would have the most current information on mechanical workings of the car instead of a local mechanic. now, when we picked the car up, even though they said they fixed it, they cleaned out the injector jets, the fuel injector jets, that did not fix the car. that did not do it. i knew in my heart and my mind that something else happened. my daughter was a very conscientious and very responsible person. i know how she drives. i've ridden with her before. i taught her to drive when she was 16. so i know how responsible and careful she is. so when we were told about how her accident happened, i knew -- there was no doubt in my mind that there was a mechanical problem. >> and mrs. melton, as you've

come to learn it was as a result of the ignition, and it must be most painful to recognize that gm was aware of this defect even before your daughter bought the car. >> we were shocked to learn that they were aware of it and that they sold the car, anyway. it was unbelievable to us that that had happened. >> so today, mr. and mrs. melton, the ceo who was not on the job for all of these events, nonetheless goes to capitol hill and apologizes. and i know that you were monitoring those events. what reaction did you have as you watched that testimony? >> well, michael, ms. barra was reading from a script that her attorneys or legal department gave her. i thought the congressman asked the right questions, went in depth with the questions, but her answers were always almost like taking the fifth amendment. >> what is it that you wanted to her to say that she didn't say? >> i wanted her to take

responsibility and to name off the people, instead of just saying it was a "business decision not to change out the switch," even though they knew it was faulty. i wanted her to name who made that decision and to face up and be a man about it and take responsibility for it. >> but for the two of you, hiring a lawyer, who in turn, engaged an engineer and scoured junk yards and put this all together, we would be here today no more the wiser. the american people, there couldn't be a recall, gm would still be hiding it and the whole thing wouldn't have been figured out. >> absolutely. our lawyer did an excellent job

in researching, hiring the correct engineers to research the project and dig deep into the project. and he brought out information and got depositions from people and finally drilled down to the real problem. >> mrs. melton, it occurs to me, as far as i know, ma'am, no one has lost a job for. this i don't think that would be a just outcome if it were only someone losing a job. it would seem to me this entire case might, might have criminal implications. but the idea that nobody has even been canned thus far has got to be really painful. >> it is painful. i believe people within gm know who made those decisions and i don't think they need to wait for the investigation. i think it's already known and that's something that needs to be done about this. >> mr. melton, did your daughter have a heavy key chain? i ask that because apparently those key chains that were

heavier than others would cause it to go from the on to accessory position. >> no, she didn't. she only had four or five keys on the key chain and we actually weighed the key chain in the beginning when this started. so we proved that she did not have a heavy key chain. now, as far as her leg or knee bumping the key chain, the position of the ignition on the steering column is prone to do that. so i'm not sure if that happened or not. >> i know your case for the most part has been resolved, so you're here for advocates of other parent's children. mr. and mrs. melton, thank you for speaking with us. the president taking a victory lap on obamacare. but the program's far from perfect. i want to tell you what happened when i first tried to sign up. >> it's been contentious and confusing and had its share of

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open enrollment for the first season of obamacare ended last night at midnight and the administration is touting that it reached 7.1 million. 7 million was the original goal. it's quite an achievement

considering the botched launch in october which i experienced firsthand. for weeks i was in health care purgatory since sun rise of the day of the launch october 1. i attempted to shop for health insurance and almost eight weeks later i still hadn't been successful. my experience was a nightmare of internet denial and telephone roadblocks. but when i finally broke the log jam, i was offered 24 competitive plans by two insurance underwriters and i acquired my plan. the most expensive option was a ppo for $2100 and change per month. zero deductible and $5,000 per family on out of pocket experiences. the least expense save was $1100 per month with $12,000 per month deductible family. today, i'm a card carrying member of obamacare. while reviewing my options,

something occurred to me. you know who should be angry about obamacare? real socialists. the tea party opponents of the affordable care act promised them a government incursion that the new law doesn't deliver on. think back to those rallies in 2010 and 2011 all those words mocking president obama, the don't tread on me flags. but the health care exchanges bear no resemblance to what merriam webster defines as a way of organizing society controlled by the government rather than individual people and companies. actual socialists they've noticed. last fall, the national secretary for the socialist party u.s. told me the aca program relies on private health companies to manage health services. a socialized system would be an

actual national health care system which would be publicly funded through progressive taxation and controlled by democratically elected assemblies of health care workers and patients. and he's right. under the affordable care act, health insurance in america is still being delivered by private practitioners and paid for by private insurers. the furtherer new, those quick to level the socialist charge were advocating the right to burden everybody else. the only liberty being given up is one's ability to be up insured. look, it's too soon to know if the law's going to work. we need to know about the mix within the states between the healthy and the sick and whether premiums are affordable. the only thing for certain is

what it isn't -- socialism. i'm michael smerconish. i'll see you back here tomorrow tonight. cnn's special report "the mystery of flight 370" with don lemon starts right now. >> this is cnn breaking news. >> this is a cnn special report. i'm don lemon. big breaking news tonight. a massive 8.2 earthquake off the coast of chile. [ sirens ] alarms went off no northern chile. a tsunami warning is in effect for chile, peru, ecuador, colombia and panama. a tsunami watch in effect for costa rica, el salvador, guatemala and mexico.