forward. she is never truly free. >> i am going nowhere. chris cuomo gets the exclusive. amanda knox with chris cuomo and not only that on "new day" i'm sure you will have additional material. good work as always. standard protocol here. our other colleague, wolf blitzer takes the hem now. m right now we're learning new information on the timeline of flight 370's disappearance and the communication between the cockpit and ground control part of the report kept out of the public eye until now. right now the controversy over the gaza attack reignited on capitol hill and the e-mails from the white house on the attack. and whether donald sterling

will be forced to sell the clippers. hello. i'm wolf blitzer reporting from washington. how can a plane disappear from radar for 17 minutes without any noticing? why did it take four hours for the official rescue operation to even begin? these are troubling questions and raised by the preliminary report on malaysia airlines 370 released today. the report also includes the clearest audio so far from the plane's last contact with air traffic control. [ audio playing ] >> we have in-depth coverage of the report from our experts. our aviation analysts. let's begin with our aviation analyst, richard quest. you described this report as the barest possible they could get

away with. does it explain the time gaps between the plane's disappearance and start hours later of any search effort? >> no, it doesn't. the preliminary report is designed as a barebones statement of facts. peter will be well familiar with the very shortened three-page form the ntsb uses. ntsb gives a lot more details in press conferences and various briefings on the way to the preliminary. that is why i believe the premier in malaysia, having authorities the release of the preliminary report made it clear to officials it had to be more than the barebones report. they had to give more information. so we've got this wealth of documents this morning, the passenger list, we have maps and we have, wolf, the transcript of the ticktock, if you like, of air traffic control.

the unpalatable truth is that for four hours, misinformation, miscommunication and downright delay, four hours worth of it, meant that nobody called and pulled the alarm. >> it is pretty shocking. when you read the report. i got a copy of it myself. at 1:21 a.m. their time obviously the plane disappeared from the radar screen and it wasn't until 5:30 a.m. cu lal lum burr kuala lumpur rescue center was activated. did they give us any information why it took so many hours to begin the preliminary search operation? >> this is the document that does that. this goes into the four hour delay. we had a situation where malaysia airlines told air traffic control they thought it was over cambodia. that was untrue.

then we had a situation somebody wondered whether it was somewhere else or had radio failure. there are gaps when nobody seems to have been saying anything. in some cases, 37 minutes. in another case, 44 minutes, two minutes, 16 minutes, 13 minutes. these are gaps between where one air traffic control is calling another, ho chi minh or kl. everybody is looking. i'm prepared to be marginally charitable and say an hour and half. planes do go off radar. there is a bit of delay, but four hours before somebody said, this is urgent, this is a crisis, frankly the traveling public has a right to expect better. >> peter, what's your main take away from this report? >> i think it is a little more detailed than expected. richard is exactly right.

the prime minister ordered the detail out there. the idea of putting out a barebones report was simply unacceptable at this time. the report really is kind of disappointing. the idea that it was a slow night, the air traffic controllers were asleep, but what were the malaysian military doing and what were they thinking when this unidentified plane came hurtling back towards their country? >> it's interesting. i went through the whole report, appendices and index, most of it i didn't understand but that's another matter. i didn't see anything from the assistant former director of the fbi telling us why this happened. was there an individual or individuals responsible? was there a mechanical failure? do you see anything in this report at all that gives any indication what happened? >> no. the report doesn't indicate what happened to the plane. the take away from the report is the lack of response from civil aviation authority and their defense ministry.

i think it gives me the impression they could not imagine this plane disappeared or something sinister happened to the plane or it was going to possibly be hijacked and used as a weapon and maybe come back and crash into the towers of kuala lumpur. it seems like, no, there must be something wrong with the radios, the equipment, the plane is well on its way to beijing and everybody is safe, it can't be a bad thing. >> they have no obligation to tell us who is responsible, if an individual is responsible for catastrophic mechanical failure occurred. did we get any hints at all about that? >> nothing at all. nor would i expect it at this stage. that is part of the much wider investigation and why the search is so crucial. it is only finding the plane that will answer that one. this is not per se a malaysian issue. we saw it with air france.

six hour delay before the alarm was sent between rio and paris. we've seen it before. peter is probably much more familiar with these delays and rules and regulations around it. these delays where nobody really gets their hands around the neck of it and says, hang on, everyone, we haven't heard from this plane several hours. following france 447 it shouldn't have happened again. no questionnaire traffic krcontl kl will have to answer the serious issue whether it's time to tighten up global air traffic control. >> i will give you the answer, the answer is, yes, it is time to tighten up. richard, we will have you back and more on this story with tom geist. other important news we're following including new controversies over the benghazi attacks, reignites after white house e-mails are released 18

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for blaming the protest on an anti-muslim movie. on e-mails, top white house aide ben rhodes showed the white house made a hard push for rice to relay that account which later proved to be inaccurate. one e-mail states one of the goals for the prep session with rice's quote to prove these are rooted in an internet video and not a broader failure of policy. our jim acosta asked the white house a moment ago, jay carney about the controversy. >> in 2012 the president said i'm happy to provide information about the controversy that congress wants and we have provided everything we have. >> right. >> that e-mail was not provided. >> have you read the e-mail, jim? >> yes. >> here's the thing. back aeering ago now roughly,

when republicans on capitol hill were feeding information to reporters about what was in a bunch of e-mails that had been given to congressional investigators, feeding false information about what was in those e-mails and in those talking points that were produced by the cia, we voluntarily released all the information regarding those talking points, causing those organizations to have to correct what they reported because it turned out to be false because they were lied by folks on capitol hill about what was contained within them. you've seen the deputy director of the cia testify repeatedly, including, i believe last week, that he produced-the cia produced those talking points and he made the decisions about what ultimately would go in those talking points and he felt no political influence from the white house or anywhere else about what should go in, the talking points that were such a focus of conversation. the talking points that were provided to members of congress

of both parties and by this administration to our representative, who was going out on the sunday shows to talk about benghazi and everything else that was happening in the muslim world at the time, which included huge protests outside of numerous diplomatic facilities, violent protests that included scaling of walls, taking down the american flag. molotov cocktails and the like, right? the talking points that ambassador rice used, again, produced by the intelligence community for members of congre congress, in the interest of having everybody use the same information, used by the administration and ambassador rice on those sunday shows were divulged. like so many of the conspiracy theories promulgated by republicans from the beginning of this, this one turned out to

be bogus. >> the oversight hearing on the issue today, here's the republican chairman, daryl issa. >> the white house produced the talking points that ambassador rice used, not the intelligence community. in pushing the false narrative that a youtube video was responsible for the deaths of four brave americans, it is disturb i disturbing and perhaps criminal that these documents, that documents like these were hidden by the obama administration from congress and the public alike. >> joined now by our chief political analyst, gloria borger and chief congressional correspondent dana bash. you've been monitoring what's going on on capitol hill. when he uses the word "criminal" what his he talking about? >> the fact republicans are jumping on this like nobody's business not a surprise and jumping on two things, this

e-mail wasn't revealed long ago when they asked for documents and only revealed because this outside group got it through a request and turns ott his committee got it at the same time that group did but also because of the content they're jumping on the fact it backs up the whole idea the administration was trying to make it clear that this was not terrorism because the republicans accused them of trying to cover it up because of politics. >> is he saying that because the e-mail a year ago or so wasn't made available the white house was breaking the law? is that what he's saying? >> covering up. i haven't talked to him about exactly what he means by criminal. the concept of these people who are u.s. citizens ultimately were killed without getting help from people around, armed forces around the region, that was a big issue. i want to play for you a sound bite from lindsey graham who is a republican among the chief accusers of the white house.

>> in the senate, not the house. >> listen to what he said. >> this is the closest thing to a smoking gun i've seen to prove beyond any doubt the white house was trying to shake the sunday appearances by susan rice to get it away from a coordinated terrorist attack that would show a broader part of foreign policy failure, reassure people we have done everything we could to secure our folks before the attack. this was an e-mail trying to shake the story away from what would have been a damaging admission of failure of foreign policy seven weeks before an election. that's why it's important. >> what this does, it gives people like lindsey graham who have a primary election next month and very much using this because this is a raw meat, red meat issue for the republican base but it also gives other republicans who are really focusing on this issue another excuse to say, look what the administration did both again on timing and -- >> here's the question, gloria.

what's the white house strategy here? >> change the subject? >> they released a lot of documents a year ago. why didn't they release this one? >> this came from another direction, they say. this was a different request from the original request. they say it went through kind of a different procedure. what the white house is trying to say, this is where people are kind of in cred louse, this memo itse itself, jay carney was saying, was not actually about benghazi per se but about the ongoing strife in the region. that's kind of a hard explanation for daryl issa to accept because it's all part of the same subject. the question is, is the administration being venal, a smoking gun, a full-blown cover-up here? or were they either a, just not trying to be forthcoming or was it kind of stupid, right? we really can't get the answer to it but it does look like that

this is a white house that wasn't anxious to sort of unload every document in the interest of full disclosure. again, jay carney says that's not what this document was about. if you read this e-mail from ben rhodes deputy national security advisor, its a about what was going on in the region at the time. it is also clearly the implication is, susan rice was going on tv to talk about what happened in benghazi. so it's very hard to separate one from this other. >> i will play a clip from the republican congressman who had this exchange with u.s. army brigadier robert lovell from the u.s. military's africa command who was directly involved in dealing with this at the time. listen to this. >> we didn't run to the sound of the guns. they were issuing press releases. we had americans dying. we had dead people.

we had wounded people and our military didn't try to engage in that fight. would you disagree with that? >> four individuals died, sir, we obviously did not respond in time to get there. >> could we have? >> the gentleman's time is expired. go ahead. >> we may have been able to but we'll never know. >> he's a retired u.s. marine -- underscores the tension that was obviously very evident during this hearing. >> absolutely. republicans are highlighting this testimony, brought him on in order to try to make the point that military was taking orders or at least was deferential to the state department at a time this was something the military should have been focused on as an attack not something a diplomatic measure. this is the first military

personnel, retired now, who was in the region to testify before this committee. that's why they're saying this is, you know, maybe from their privilege this is another smoking gun on a different part of the benghazi controversy, which is not about the e-mail, about why weren't these america americans -- why wasn't the rescue attempt more aggressive by the military. we should point out his superior ten times over, carter ham, probably was the guy who at the time would have sent the military in there has said publicly it wasn't clear that it would even make a difference at the time. there definitely are other people more senior who said, look, we could -- >> this will be played over and over again in 2016 if hillary clinton runs, be sure of that. >> thanks very much. still ahead, the los angeles clippers owner, donald sterling said his team is not for sale. he may have no choice in the matter. a live report next.

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this is awkward. check your speed. see how fast your internet can be. switch now and add voice and tv for $34.90. comcast business built for business. he says his team is not for sale but clippers owner sterling may not have a choice after he was banned for life from the nba for making racist comments. stephanie, what's next for the clippers hand sterling, what has the latest you're learning? >> clippers are focused on game six ahead in that series, 3-2. as for the nba they said they wanted swift action. that action begins today.

>> i am banning mr. sterling for life. >> now that nba commissioner ed a d adam sterling has ousted donald sterling for life -- >> donald sterling is not going out without a fight. >> he told fox the team is not for sale. >> if three-quarters of the owners agree he has to go, sterling could be forced to sell, saying he will do everything in his power to make sure that happens says he will get the backing he needs. and the harsh punishment and not yet clear if those positions would translate into votes. sterling does have the right to get the other owners to side with him? >> any owner who decides to side with donald sterling in this is a fooling.

in the court of public appearing he is just as guilty. >> reporter: buyers already waiting in the wings ready to pay big bucks. a smokesman for oprah winfrey says she's talking to entertainment mogul david geoffn and software larry ellison and oscar de la hoya. what about sterling's family? his wife, michelle was there but only after asking for and getting the green light from head coach doc rivers. >> this ruling applies specifically to donald sterling and donald sterling's conduct only. >> reporter: the nba says no decision have been made but the players saying they won't accept any sterling. >> the players are in charge of this franchise and they get to decide who buys and who doesn't. i have no doubt they will

prevent any from the sterling family from owning this franchise. >> keep in mind sterling bought the clippers in 1991 for $12 million and now valued close to $600 million. if the wishes are to get him out as quickly as possible any way you cut it, sterling will walk away with a whole chunk of change and could be close to a billion dollars. >> probably will be given the bidding war given the fact the milwaukee bucks sold for $600 million, a much much smaller market than los angeles. he could walk away with a billion dollars relatively easily. thanks very much. up next, malaysian officials go public with a preliminary report on flight 370 but raising as many questions as it answers. we'll have a live report on kuala lumpur. a former doctor at a v.a. hospital says dozens of u.s. military veterans died waiting for a doctor's appointment.

tracking down the woman at the heart of the investigation. >> reporter: this is public property, correct? is it not owned by the federal government? will she not talk to us? okay, guys, you have to listen to the police officer. across america, people are taking charge of

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it apparently took 17 minutes for any to notice flight 370 disappeared from the radar and no explanation for the time lapse. also, get this, four hours elapsed between the time the plane went missing and the start of the search and rescue operation. no explanation why. it says officials in kuala lumpur contacted sing apore and hong kong and canada. it calls for real-time tracking of commercial aircraft not required now when flying over remote areas. let's get more on our report from our correspondent, will, joining us live from kuala lumpur. will this report, although short on delaytails, it does leave ma important questions unanswered advance the story at all for the families who want answers? >> reporter: you know, i think the malaysian government was releasing this report in hopes

to silence critics who have been saying there was a real lack of transparency. what this report is telling us and more importantly the attachments tell us what happened in that four hour gap, it illustrates there was so much confusion in those four hours having kuala lumpur thinking it was flying in cambodian airspace and didn't have evidence that was happening and lost the plane off radar, that wasted valuable time. you can see going through the transcripts here, there were whole chunks of time every 30 minutes, have you heard something yet? how about now? that went on for an hour and half, time that could have been sent possibly deploying planes to search for this aircraft with 239 people veering off course heading somewhere where today the biggest question the families want answered, where is the plane? we still don't have the answer and this shows valuable time was wasted. >> sure does. a lot more coming up throughout the day in the "situation room" as well. will ripley reporting. thank you.

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but that would require wifi. switch to comcast business internet and get two wifi networks included. comcast business built for business. juvenile she or won't she? everyone wants to know if hillary clinton will run for president in 2016. while many think she's a shoo-in for the democratic nomination she has yet to commit to the race. what potentially could be stopping her. that's the focus of cnn's analyst in the latest issue of political magazine joining us in new york. what's the answer? your article is entitled "what is hillary clinton afraid of? >> it is in large measure the

media. people who know her well think she is very concerned about dealing with the press. does not mean that she worried about thin skin or she reads her clips she actually really is not known for that at all. it is the process and the grind. she has very well documented reasons for disliking the media. this goes back a long way. you saw that in the dianne blair pictures released recently and hillary clinton papers released. this goes back to the white house era, 1992 campaign. that has never really changed for her. she does not enjoy this. to the extent she is trying to figure out what factors would go into running again, not dealing with that is way up there. >> on april 8th, only a few weeks ago, i will play this clip. >> it gives you a sense of being kind of dehumanized, i guess, is part of the experience. you know, you really can't ever feel like you're just having a

normal day. >> she's referring to the media coverage, if you will. obviously, she's very very sensitive to that, even after all these years in the public eye. >> even after all these years in the public eye and even, this is in large measure because of, she is going through some of the most positive press she's had in a very very long time during the entire time she was at the state department and really in the last year and a half and the obvious exception is benghazi and what surrounded it. in terms of the overarching narrative and coverage of her it is generally some of her most favorable since going back to the white house day, the 1992 campaign. her aides are very very aware of that. they refer to that period in the state department as the golden age and worry about it coming to an end and know with the campaign it could and would and she is very well aware of it. >> one clinton campaign veteran said, i'll put it up on the screen, look, she hates you period. that's never going to change.

that's pretty brutal, i must say. i don't understand, maggie, how anybody could hate you. >> i appreciate that so much. i understand very well how politicians don't like us. as you know very well we saw with mitt romney who had a similar kern about the media, similar mistrust and fear of the media. it might be as ingrained as hillary clinton. mitt romney was not as public a figure as long a time as she had been and he learned it from his father and showed it in 2012. hillary has not spent a long time over her career courting the press although everyone who had a meeting find her warm and funny and see the side of her her friends talk about you don't tend to see as much publicly. >> did you get a sense in all the reporting, you did a lot of reporting. this is an excellent article, did you get a bottom sense will she or won't she? >> the bottom line, her aides say 50-50, less of a coin toss

and more on the favor she runs. it is by no means a sure thing. she herself it is important to note for all this running around she is doing is not acting like a candidate. she will act more like a candidate or we will see when she does her book tour next month. >> the article in the "politico" magazine, what is hillary clinton afraid of? thanks for joining us. >> thank you. ahead, a special investigation, a former v.a. doctor talks about the list for dozens of veterans to get an appointment and for dozens of them, it's too late.

a really powerful exclusive investigation by cnn exposing the deaths up to 40 v.a. veterans waiting to enter the hospital and now prompted president obama to order an investigation. >> the moment we heard about the allegation of the 40 individuals who had died in phoenix, i immediately ordered the secretary of veterans affair to investigate. we also have an i.g. investigation taking place. we take the allegations very seriously. >> three members of arrival delays's congressional delegation want the "todadirect

fired and they're expanding the investigation. through all of this, the director refused to answer any of our questions why our senior reporter, drew griffin tried to track down the truth from the woman herself. he got a not so welcoming response. >> reporter: after being stone walled for two weeks trying to get answers from the phoenix veteran's administration hospital, it finally came down to this. >> director, can you talk to us? >> off property. off property! >> surrounded by federal police, that is the v.a.'s director of this phoenix medical facility, sharon helman, who on monday literally sped from our cameras. >> please talk to us, director. a short time later, a change of heart. the director and her chief of staff decided it was time to answer the allegations that have three arizona congressman now

calling for her resignation. as we first reported multiple sources tell cnn as many as 40 veterans died while they were waiting for medical care at this v.a. facility. our sources tell us many were placed on a secret list designed by v.a. managers to hide the fact veterans were waiting months to see a doctor. >> those are the allegations we asked the office of inspector general to review. >> those are the allegations, i assume, you two would know direct knowledge of. >> again, those allegations are ones that the office of inspector general are reviewing right now. when we heard about this during the house of veterans affairs committee is the first time we heard of the allegations and why we asked the office of inspector general to do a thorough impartial review. >> reporter: that is an odd statement considering as early as last fall the v.a.'s office of inspector general had already been pursuing allegations of a secret waiting list and veterans

dying while waiting to see a doctor. helman's explanation, yes, investigators questioned her in december but she did not know what the question was about. >> they don't tell us what the allegations are surrounding their investigation. i can just confirm, yes, they were here. >> reporter: multiple sources inside this hospital tell cnn under direction of management a secret electronic waiting list was created and paper evidence when patients first went to the v.a. seeking care was shredded. those sources say sharon helman and her medical chief of staff knew about it because it was their plan. >> so i'm asking you, maybe you directly, sir, did this or did this not happen? >> i think what we have here, drew, i think there is some confusion amongst our staff. when we came on as a leadership team in 2012, the practice at that time was that they would schedule new veterans coming in for care way out into the

future. sometimes a year or 14 months. what we did, we took those patients scheduled in the future and put them in this national tool, electronic waiting list, so when we had an appointment that came open, if a veteran called next week and canceled their appointment we could pull them off this list and get them in that slot. it actually improved the probability of the veterans getting in sooner. i think there were some folks that did not understand that and i think that's where these allegations are coming from. >> reporter: when i'm talking to sources inside this hospital who literally in tears are telling us that patients have died waiting on these list, those people are confused? >> drew, what we're saying is we implemented the electronic wait list. any concerns staff have i share in those same concerns. >> have you found >> yes. and that is, in the course of

health care delivery, we have patients who unfortunately pass away. we have found veterans on the list who have died, but we have not been able to connect their death to the delay in getting their care. >> it seems cut and dry to me. whatever happened happened and the people who know what happened are right before me. >> i think that's a question for the office of inspector general. >> we have never instructed our staff to create, maintain or shred a secret list. it has never come from our office. >> it has never come from me. >> are you kidding? >> dr. sam foote is a physician recently retired after 24 years. who along with several sources inside the va says there is no confusion, the secret list existed and veterans died. >> so you're not backing down at

all? >> no sir. >> so what they're telling us, false? >> i would say so, yes. >> the president of the united states has spoken out about this particular issue. >> the office of inspector general is here reviewing all of the allegations. i will continue to provide the best health care that these veterans deserve and earn. >> cnn has learned that the investigation may be expanding not just to veterans who died waiting for care but veterans who died waiting for return care, follow up appointments that they could not get. >> there have been multiple questions for interviews but the requests have all been denied or ignored.

>> president bush sets out on a 100 kilometer bike ride and takes a friend along. they are pedalling in texas. jake standing by to preview his interview with the former president and break some news. defiance is in our bones. defiance never grows old. citracal maximum. calcium citrate plus d. highly soluble, easily absorbed. captain: when i'm looking for a hotel with a wet pool, i go to hotels.com. you can get up to 50% off with their private sales. that man's privates are no longer private.

>> former president george w. bush today welcomes 16 wounded warriors who served in iraq and afghanistan. they are there for the veteran bike ride for seriously injured veterans and personnel. jake was also there and still is in crawford. you had a chance, jake, exclusive interview with the former president of the united states. you made some news but also

helping these injured service men and women is something he is passionate about and something you are passionate about. >> and we talked specifically about how to help those who have scars who are visible and also those whose cars are not so apparent. >> some of these scars are visible and some of them are not visible. >> yes, that's exactly right. many of the men who have pts will tell you that biking has helped them recover. it's -- pts is an injury which means it's fixable overtime. >> it's not ptsd? >> i have dropped the d. d stands for disorder and we don't view and a lot of the experts don't view pts as a

disorder. it's an injury. that's really important for a lot of reasons. i it's important to eliminate stigma. >> you can see the interview later on and we talked about other issues as well. there is talk about hisle brother running for president. >> i have a little brother so i know what it's like to be protective of a little brother. my little brother like your little brother is much bigger than me. >> probably much smarter, as well. >> he is probably smarter than me, too. >> i have really not talked to jeb about the presidency. it's hard for people to believe. >> i was talking about marv. >> my advice is marv, don't run. i hope jeb runs. i think he would be a great president. i have no clue what's on his

mind and we will talk when he's ready. i noticed he's moving around the country quite a bit. >> doing well in polls. >> that's fine. it don't mean anything for him. i can guarantee he's not looking at a poll to decide whether or not he wants to run. he's checking his core. as he said pubically, i'm thinking about my family. and of course he knows full well what a run for the presidency can do to a family. he has seen his dad and brother run for president. i hope he runs. hey, jeb, if you need advice, give me a call. >> of course we talked about many other topics, ukraine, donald sterling and most of all, veterans issues. >> he looked pretty good. how does he feel? >> he said he feels great. this is the first time he has done this race since he had that

heart surgery last year. he says he is in tiptop shape. he led the race. he was in the lead. he seems to be in pretty good shape for a 67-year-old. >> we will see you 4:00 p.m. on the lead. thank you very much. thanks it for me. thanks very much for watching. newsroom with pamela brown starts right now. >> i'm pamela brown in for brooke baldwin. thanks so much for being with us. a huge development. a bomb shell revelation from the malaysians. not only did it take 17 min mut to notice a plane was gone but no one bothered to launch an official rescue operation for another four hours. families are hearing a newer clearer version of the communication between the