investigators focus on the backgrounds of flight 370's passengers and crew, but the expanded search for the missing airliner yields few clues. a magnitude 4.4 quake jolts southern california causing little damage but leaving many feeling rattled. coming up, more trouble -- >> an earthquake! how to tell if your food is fresh. a new type of packaging can tell you how to keep something in your fridge or throw it away. and new science detecting evidence of the big bang's aftermath. >> we're talking about the

earliest time that can be observable. this is the "cbs morning news" observable. this is the "cbs morning news" for tuesday, march 18th, 2014. captioning funded by cbs good morning. thanks for joining us i'm searching for its territory. and signals indicate it could have flown anywhere from the indian ocean. susan mcginnis is in washington. >> reporter: good morning, marlie. this unprecedented search for this plane keeps on widening as the mystery. here is the latest as you said, that last communication that "all right, good night." also, china has looked into all its nationals on the plane and found no links to terrorist.

and now the yts y"the new york reporting that turn was not manually done but was programmed into the computer in the plane's cockpit. u.s. navy teams searching for flight 370 are looking for any sign of aircraft in the indian ocean. >> radar will give images of anything big on the water. >> r satellite in the indian ocean. >> up in that area, most of the interest is moving towards the south. >> reporter: malaysian officials say someone deliberately diverted the 777 on march 8th during its trip from kuala lumpur to beijing. investigators are still not sure who is to blame. sources have told cbs news that authorities have not found

anything in the pilot's background nor in in the simulator taken from this home. and also malaysian authorities have searched the home of co-pilot who uttered the final words. and this morning, background checks of 154 chinese passengers uncovered no ties to terrorism. their relatives are demanding answers and say they want to meet directly with members of malaysia's government. now, the u.s. navy is also making a change, pulling the u.s. off of the search saying that long-range surveillance aircraft are much more efficient. it's going to peep the p-3 and p-8 aircraft involved in the search. this involves 15,000 square miles in a nine-hour flight. >> susan mcginnis in washington. thanks so much, susan. now to the russian crisis, russian president vladimir ukraine's eastern

border but as charlie d'agata reports pro-russian sentiment isn't confined to crimea. >> reporter: winding our way between buildings on this board, ukrainian coups showed us the new line of defense in case russian soldiers cup across. ukrainian soldiers told us they got the order four days from local officials to start digging the ditches. they can't tell us how far back they go, but as deep as they go with a bank of 15 to 20 feet on the other side, they're clearly designed to slow down any advance. over the weekend, russian forces and helicopter gunships took over a natural gas plant six mile from the crimean border. it only added to the tensions

here. we had to make our way through hundreds of pro-ukrainian riot police guarding the government building to get to the governor holed up in his office, he is the ola czar appointed. is this building under siege? this is a security decision, he told us, i'm not afraid. but i was told i need this protection until the situation calms down. in the past 24 hours, pro-russian protesters have stormed two government buildings. there wasn't a single pro-ukrainian to be found among the crowd. and on the streets, the russian voices are growing louder. if you had a referendum here like in crimea how would you vote? everybody here would vote. the pro-russian supporters may

be louder, but there are pro-ukrainians here, too, too frightened to speak out. they're worried what would happen here should president vladimir putin choose toe annex crimea. charlie d'agata, ukraine. this morning, another winter storm is brewing in the upper midwest are there are winter weather warnings and advisories posted from womening to wisconsin. a good part of that area could see up to ten inches of snow. and another storm is cranking up for later in the week followed by another batch of some very cold air. a late winter storm dumped up to 8 inches of snow on the nation's capital yesterday as president obama returned to the white house, his helicopter blew snow everywhere. journalists covering the arrival were not -- >> the storm moved up the

atlantic seaboard several inches of snow fell in atlantic city, but other parts of new jersey got more than 7 inches. on the "cbs moneywatch," janet yellen takes the lead for the first time. and new recalls for gm. jill wagner is at the new york stock exchange with that and more. good morning, jill. >> good morning, marlie. janet yellen this morning as head of federal reserve in february, but her era officially begins today. she'll chair her first two-day policy meeting and then tomorrow she'll hold the first news conference. in the financial world they find out if the predecessor ben bernanke or move the fed in the right direction. asian markets finished higher. tokyo's nikkei rose 1%. hong kong's hang seng rose 0 the 05. yahoo!'s stock jumped 4%

yesterday. thanks to china's hottest internet company. yahoo! owns 34% of ali baba. ali baba has been good for ma reeceia meyer. the to be has doubled but most was driven by ali baba. another round of recalls for gm. this is in addition to last month's recalls 1.6 million small cars with theics in addition switch. the new recall involves 1.5 million additional vehicles mostly suvs. gm says it will spend about $300 million to repair all of the recalled vehicles. ceo mary barra said the auto giant is undergoing an intense review. and good news for people who want to get rid of old video games. on wednesday, march 25th, walmart will begin collecting old video games and reselling

them. but you won't get cash. you'll get credit to buy something in the stores or on their website. >> thanks so much, jill. coming up on the "morning news," california quake. a series of quakes and rattling nerves. you are watching the "cbs morning news." some not so giant. when managing your weight, bigger is always better. ♪ ho ho ho ♪ green giant dear armpit... in the lottery of life, you drew the short stick. people shave you. pour hot wax on you. and your name... is armpit. people don't treat you like skin.

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a 4.4 magnitude earthquake shook the studio. the tremors jolted many l.a. residents awake around 6:25 local time. >> all of a sudden, the entire apartment started shaking. >> reporter: the quake erupted five miles beneath the surface around the santa monica mountains. it knocked over a street lamp near the epicenter in encino. jo jose marino was cutting bagels in west l.a. and ran for cover as it began to shake. >> i looked at the roof and the roof was moving. >> reporter: the earthquake was one of the largest to hit the area since a deadly one devastated the area 20 years ago. antoine mcknight and his crew immediately responded as soon as they felt the quake ripple through the station and spent the entire morning serving their district. >> in westwood, bel aire, palisades, so far, we have not reported an incident. >> reporter: a number of small

aftershocks including a 2.7 magnitude occurred. seismologists called monday's earthquake moderate but should serve as a reminder for residents to be prepared. >> we have quakes all over southern california and the possibility of having a larger more damaging quake is always present. >> reporter: bigad shaban, cbs news, los angeles. fashion designer l'wren scott was found dead monday some an apparent suicide. scott was also the longtime companion of rolling stones' mick jagger. jagger was shocked and cancelled their concert in perth tomorrow. police say scott hanged herself in her apartment. there was no sign of foul play. still ahead, spoiler alert we'll show you how new packages will help you tell whether your food has gone bad. [ male announcer ] with gogo squeez,

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here's a look at today's forecast in some cs ar here's a look at today's forecast in some cities around the country. spoiled food could be a thing of the past. a scientist has invented a device that can tell when food is about to go bad. and as omar villafranca tells us, that could save american families a lot of money. >> sit at the table and eat it, okay? >> reporter: casey thompson always keeps snacks in her house for her hungry 2-year-old

stella. >> fresh fruit, eggs, milk, strawberries. >> reporter: she keeps tabs on expiration dates but if there's any doubt about freshness, last week's snack becomes today's garbage. it's estimated the average american family throws out more than $2,000 worth of food every year. >> milk, for instance, my husband will smell it and test it that way. i don't want to smell rotten milk. >> reporter: but a new tool could make an old smell taste a thing of the past. chinese researcher zhao zhang flew all the way to dallas to show off his new smart food tag. >> i'm a germophobic. >> reporter: gel-based tags are placed on the packaging and change color over time, mimicking the rate at which food goes from fresh to foul. red means the food is still fresh but as the food starts to go bad, the tag changes color. green means the food is spoiled.

zhang is now trying to sell his invention to foodmakers. he believes one day it could help parents like casey from throwing out valuable food that's still good and avoiding food that's gone bad. omar villafranca, cbs news, dallas. when we return, subway attack. a rider violently charges an officer on the platform in front of the train full of passengers. of passengers. [ woman #3 ] to travel the world without leaving home. [ male announcer ] whatever the reason. whatever the dish. make it delicious with swanson. and irresistible aroma of nescafe clasico stir what's inside of you. ♪ [ engine revving ] [ tires screech ] ♪ [ male announcer ] that was bold.

real bold. ♪ so we made our own commercial to tell you why. chex makes seven gluten free flavors. like cinnamon, honey nut, and chocolate. when you find something this good, you want to spread the word. [ all ] we love chex! blaring -- and a man goes ie path of a train anyway. ande somehow survived bay area firefighters facing trouble. they're getting the call for help--t it's getting out the door ts slowing them down. in a kpix exclusive we'll show you wh a new timeline of that missg malaysian jetliner. plus, wt detectives just found at the pilot's home.

,,,, here's a look at today's forecast in some cities around the country. a subway showdown in philadelphia. it all started when a traffic cop asked an unruly passenger to get off a train monday. surveillance cameras caught the two as they fight each other. the suspect repeatedly tried to reach for the officer's gun. the officer eventually subdued the man with help from some

passengers. for astronomers, the search for their holy grail could be over. they may have discovered a ripple in the fabric for space in time. as don dahler tells us if it tons out to be true, it could answer the question of when the universe began. >> reporter: for four years scientists used this telescope at the south pole to search for evidence of the astonishing speed at which the universe grew. it found evidence of gravitational waves something like shock waves sent out almost immediately after the big bang. the cosmic explosion that created the universe. john kovac of harvard led the research. >> they've sometimes been called the first tremors of the big bang. and they do arrive at what's believed to be the first instance of the expansion of universe. we're talking about earliest times that can be observable. >> reporter: light waves can be bent by gravity. kovac's team detected a pattern in distant space that shows

light being affected by a force that he says could only be gravitational waves. >> the idea of pushing the frontier of science captures our imaginations, many people's imaginations when it pushes how closely where we came from. how the universe began. >> reporter: bill harley. >> would it make anyone's life better in terms of better economy? no. but it's one of the great intellectual achievements of our time, coming up with this big bang theory and get something proof that it actually worked the way they think it did is is an amazing achievement. >> reporter: if confirmed, this discovery would give scientists a new tool with which to explore the universe. in addition to light and telescopes they would now be able to use telescopes dedicated to exploring those elusive gravitational waves throughout the cosmos. don dahler, cbs news, new york. in sports it was selection monday for the ncaa women's tournament. the university of connecticut and notre dame highlight the field. both teams are undefeated and grabbed number one seeds.

tennessee and south carolina are the other number ones. meanwhile the men's tournament officially starts tonight. the university of tennessee team leaving monday for dayton, ohio. they're one of eight teams playing in the first four games of the tournament today and tomorrow. the action begins tonight at 6:40 eastern on trutv. the university of albany facing off against mt. st. mary's and coverage of the round of 64 starts right here on cbs this thursday at 12:15 eastern with ohio state versus dayton. you can follow along over the next three weeks and see how you stack up against the experts by filling out your own bracket on cbssports.com. finally, the luck of the irish was not with an umpire during a spring training game on monday. in the second inning cincinnati's brandon phillips hits a line drive to short stop.

it hits umpire brad myers. and you can see from the replay it hits him in a bad spot. myers would be on the ground for several minutes but before leaving, he says he's okay. this is the "cbs morning news." . colorburst matte and lacquer balms

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a man decided to play chicken. with a high-speed train in redwood city, california. he gets across the tracks a split second before the locomotive screeches by. caltrain said near misses like this have to be investigated and end up slowing down everyone's commute. a federal grand jury convenes in raleigh, north carolina, to investigate the relationship between duke energy and state legislators. it stems from coal ash spilled last month at a duke energy plant in eden. it coated the red river with miles and miles of sludge. mark strassmann looks at the

aftermath. what's below us on the bottom? >> it's filled with coal ash. >> reporter: brian williams is a conservationist. he took us 20 miles downstream at a coal ash spill. >> it was a giant gray sludge pouring into the river. >> reporter: on february 2nd, a pipe below a duke energy storage pond blew out. 39,000 tons of ash and water gushed into the river. wildlife officials estimate a layer of sludge that included chemicals known to cause cancer traveled 80 miles downriver. >> it's down here on the bottom and it's mixing in with the sediment and it's continually leaching out in the toxins in the coal ash. >> reporter: duke energy said in an online interview but said in a statement we will do the right thing for the river and surrounding communities. we are accountable. drinking water has remained safe.

the pipe has been permanently plugged. we take responsibility for this event. mike powell's farmer 100 acres it four miles down from the leak. the main concern is? >> flooding. if it takes it out of the land, i don't know what the results will be. >> reporter: flooding often happens in the spring. powell worries what the coal ash will do to his tobacco and other crops. and how far in will the water go? >> it will go to the other side where you can see the tree line. >> reporter: we took three samples of the river bottom to an independent lab. test results found arsenic levels nine times higher than a area unaffected by the spill. and double the level of selenium, a medal found in studies, to cause mutations in fish. while the epa says so far there's no threat to drinking water it warns people to avoid direct contact with the coal ash. you have three grandchildren, would you let them play in this river? >> i would not let them play below the spill site right now

in the water because there's too many unknowns. >> reporter: the dan river spill is the third worst of its kind in history. duke energy has pledged to fix owl of its 33 coal ash basins in the state. mark strassmann, cbs news, greensboro, north carolina. coming after your local news on "cbs this morning," the latest from kuala lumpur on malaysia airlines flight 370. and we'll speak with physicist michio kaku on the challenges of the underwater search. and we'll meet the ceo of the website blogher. that's the "cbs morning news" for this tuesday. i'm marlie hall. ,,

griego. and i'm frank mallicoat time is 4-- here's meteorologist lawrence with check of weather.

a man came within a second and so far so good on the east shore freeway. there's still some overnight road work powell to buchanan and the bay bridge toll plaza is very quiet there. all right thank you. a man came within a second of getting himself killed. kpix 5's reporter boar boar shows -- andria borba shows us the newly released video. >> reporter: this is what the luckiest man in redwood city looks like. caltrain released this surveillance video of the near miss at the ledwood city stn.