than she's getting credit for. that does it for us. "now" starts now. >> could the captain's flight simulator tell us what happened to flight 370? it's monday, march 17, st. patrick's day. this is "now." >> search for flight 370 is an unprecedented stage. >> go back to amelia earhart. >> still no sign of the missing malaysian airlines plane. >> this is the largest search in aviation history. >> australia is agreeing to take the lead in scouring the southern indian ocean. >> it's a vast expanse of ocean. 28 million square miles. >> the pings from the black boxes carry only 15 miles. >> it would be like looking for one person somewhere between new

york and california. >> malaysian investigators say the plane's disappearance was no accident. >> the focus is on the pilot. >> it was the copilot who spoke the last words to ground controllers. >> it's not clear if that was before or after one of the critical flight transmitting systems was turned off. >> all options are on the table. >> if you are confused you're not the only ones. >> i'm luke russert. 11 dais and no sign of malaysian flight 370. it is now a criminal investigation with officials concluding the airliner was deliberately diverted and the communications equipment disabled slightly after it took off from kuala lumpur en route to beijing. they are look at the pilots. over the weekend authorities

returned to the pilots' homes in search for clus and removed a flight simulator from the captain's residence. today authoritieses confirmed it was the copilot who issued the chilling final words, "all right, good night" to malaysian air traffic control at 1:19 a.m. as the 777 transitioned if from ma p litigation to vietnamese air space. two minutes later the tran responder was switched off. as for the second tracking system, acars, authorities now believe it stopped transmitting between 1:07 a.m. and # 1:37 a.m. ma p litigation authorities suggest it was switched off prior to the copilot's final sign-off at 1:19 a.m. the plane flew for several hours after that. at least until 8:11 a.m. the satellite data indicates it

could have taken one of two tracks, either north over central asia or, as investigators believe, more likely south to the vast expanse of the indian ocean. 26 countries are helping with the search. rescuers are in a race against time. 11 days in, the batteries on the black box flight recorders will run out after 30 days. increasing the chances that the flight 370 may never be found. joining me now is retired nbc news correspondent and aviation specialist bob hager. from washington, counter terror analyst michael lieder. thanks for joining us. bob, we'll start with you. the batteries on the black boxes. there is a 30-day limit. >> right. >> we are in day 11. i understand that the black box, you can only get the signal 14,000 feet away. they only work 20,000 feet deep in terms of pressure.

there is a likelihood we may never find them. >> absolutely. >> what happens then? >> i never thought we'd come to a crash where''d say, we may never know what caused this. if they don't find anything in the lives of the pilot, copilot, a passenger to lead to the idea of suicide you really need the black boxes to tell what went on. besides all the negative things you mentioned about boxeses there is the fact that the cockpit voice recorder which records the conversations in the cockpit would be key to telling what happened in the cockpit. you know, did somebody break in and take over or did the pilot overcome the copilot or vice versa? the cockpit voice recorder may help determine that. but this thing records over itself every two hours, we believe in the case of this one. that means if the plane flew on

for hours you don't even have that. >> you don't have the crucial recording. >> there is so little to work with. >> michael, interestingly enough, there are no terrorist groups taking responsibility for what happened with this airplane. from your reading of this, does this seem like the work of possibly a lone wolf that was a deliberatele criminal act or a suicide mission? >> luke, i don't see a great likelihood that this is an organized terrorist group behind this. i say it because of are where the plane was flying, the route it was on, the region and the lack of any indication from any intelligence service in the world. and any credible claim of oh responsibility. i think all of those things push us in the direction of it's likely being one or maybe two but not part of a larger network on the plane.

figuring out what the motivation is for that, we still don't know what happened. so understanding the motivation, think, of any actors involved, it's still very difficult to say. >> something that's alarming to me is if this is a suicide mission by a pilot, we have seen it with commercial planes before. they went on for the duration of the plane's fuel. it went on for seven hours. we know the flight was airborne. if it is a suicide mission, that's pure speculation, why carry it on that long? >> it's another piece of the puzzling circumstances of this. why wouldn't you nose it down after they broke off communications or whatever? if suicide was the motive. here you have a crazy thing of going on and on. i thought about that. oh, this is just speculation. that's all you can do in the ab centimeters of fact -- absence of facts. what if instead of suicide you have someone who's deranged, off

the deep end and they are flying around without a certain end in mind. flying until it falls out of fuel and into the drink. >> a perilous joyride. from your reading of the events, one thing that stuck out to me is how closely the malaysian officials played everything to the vest. every briefing. angering even the chinese saying you're not giving us information. the united states is not actively involved in investigating this, we know. how much do you think malaysian authorities and the way they have conducted themselves throughout the process has compromised the investigation. >> i think i can understand why the malaysians are tight-lipped at the press briefings. on the other hand, where they can't be tight-lipped is working with key partners, whether it's the chinese, the u.s., the australians now, the indians. i think the lack of really effective investigation of oh all angles of the crash from the very earliest days through the

current of not frankly working with partners who are probably better than the malaysians are. that's the troubling piece to me and what i think slowed down the investigation. it would have been a hard investigation anyway but they haven't made it easier. i'm hopeful that now that they are turning to the australias for some of the search in the southern industry kwan ocean there is a chance for ooh oop improvement. but the malaysians haven't batheed themselves in glory at any stage in the investigation. >> bob, quickly, this area of the indian ocean west of the perth, there is not a lot of radar activity there at all. this is somewhat of a black hole of the world. >> that's true. there could be secret radar around. a lot of time you find out all the radar we didn't know about turns out. it's also deep there.

they have got wreckage up from deep holes bf. took a long time but they got it up. >> in the likelihood we don't find anything, is it possible? >> it's a real possibilities. >> not crazy? >> no. the stories will go on for years. >> conspiracies. >> absolutely. >> michael, one last one to you. you know how intelligence works in the world. you know how much we have our satellites up on every nook and cranny. just how shocking is it to you as an intelligence professional that we don't have a solid lied in any capacity? you can go through g mail but can't find a 777. >> that suggests to me it isn't organized. it was in the cockpit, one or two people. that's what intelligence won't pick up and it suggests to me they went south.

radar coverage isn't perfect to the north but someone would have seen something. this points to me something in the plane and not something broader. >> thanks for joining us. we appreciate it. coming up, just today president obama announces new sanctions against russia following crimea's vote to break away from ukraine. there may be more to russia's role than meets the eye. susan glasser and jonathan the upperman joins me ahead. first, d.c. is shut down and i get out of donl. a new round of heavy snow halt it is federal government. a live report next on "now." look at the beautiful snowy images. we have baseball coming. (knocking) hello? hey, i notice your car is not in the driveway. yeah. it's in the shop. it's going to cost me an arm and a leg.

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this thursday may mark the first day of spring, but from st. louis to the midatlantic, well, it looks like winter may be lingering longer. heavy snowfall in d.c. closed federal offices and most schools in the area. it also caused massive delays for travellers and commuters who had to go to work. call it the st. patrick's day storm. one we'll never forget. the snow system dumped over several is en inches in washington making this the third biggest snowstorm on record to occur so late in the season in the district. joining me now from rockville, maryland, chris gordon of wrc. chris, i know the snow stopped at noon. is it fair to say this is, in fact, the end of it hopefully? >> oh, i wish i was the weather

man. i would say exactly that. my credibility as far as the weather is questionable. take a look at the snow. we've got at least seven inches here along rock arevil vill-- re pike. closing school systems in maryland, virginia, and the district. now just to show you, we had 18 hours of snow. it was such a precipitous change because of saturday, people played golf and ate outdoors. it was 67 degrees. it is 27 now. i know that will not get a reaction from the midwest or new england of sympathy, but in this area we are not used to having snow at this time of year. we also want to say that traffic has been affected. we've had ten days of snow that closed school. some students will have to

continue school into mid june. so a lot of people will have to change their plans for camp and summer vacations as well. that's the story right now from rockville, maryland, a suburb of washington, d.c. back to you, luke. >> chris, one of the worries that we had a few weeks ago was it snowed and then the terribly cold temperatures came in and made the roads icy. it looks like the roads are are pass able. is this a worry ta the roads could ice over? >> reporter: it's going down below freezing. in fact, now it's 27. so the wet roads you see and some of the slush could get slippy tonight and pose a danger. >> lastly, really quickly, nats opening in 18 days. will we be snow-free? >> we hope they will say "play ball" instead of "snowball." the boys of summer are in

florida getting ready for the early bird special this hour. hopefully they will be back. we have not had a delay of an opening day here or in baltimore with the orioles in a long time. >> i have been out of the district my entire life and i don't remember that. chris gordon, thank you. give pat kol lcolilins our best. coming up, one of ireland's most iconic brands boycotts the st. patrick's day parade over the exclusion of the lgbt community. first, does made in america still mean making it in america ? the new face of manufacturing in the u.s. and the outsourcing of opportunity. it's a fascinating article next on "now."

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the labor department reported today 43 states saw unemployment fall in january. 30 states dipped to post recession lows including manufacturing hubs like wisconsin with, michigan, indiana, and tennessee. nationally the jobless rate in the manufacturing sector has dropped from a high of 13% in 2010 to a 5.5%. what does this so-called manufacturing boom look like? the washington posts has a sobering answer. the article profiles chris young, a 37-year-old who builds nissan cars in tennessee. the only thing is he doesn't work for nissan. he works for yates services, an in house contractor who's hired thousands to ramp up production as people start buying vehicles again. young represents what may be the new norm in american manufacturing. since young is a temp worker he has no job security, no sick days, and can't refuse overtime.

recompares his job to that of a typical nissan employee saying, bob is able to lease a vehicle. i cannot. long term disability, bob gets that. i do not. i can provide this much for my family when i die. bob can double his base but bob and i are on the same line busting our butts. nissan would not confirm how many workers are are contract workers, but the advantage of going with a temp agency is clear. fewer benefits, lower wages, and a flexible number of employees. this trend of contract workers is happening across the country. the number of temp workers is at an all-time high. 2.8 million. in the a pro report last year there was an overwhelming majority of growth in the temp sector has come from blue collar jobs and factories and warehouses. the results of the recalibration of the american dream for workers is good enough money to live on but without the other comforts that used to come with the middle class job.

no reason for an employer to offer them up. after the break, it's not hearts and minds, but russia is offering crimeans other incentives beyond independence and in its push to break away from ukraine. we'll p push with susan glasser and foreign affairs jonathan tepperman. that's coming up on "now."

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illegitimate and imposed sanctions against a handful of russian and ukrainian officials that contributed to the crisis. speaking from the white house, president obama announced the new sanctions and warned russia of further isolation if its forces remain in ukraine. >> the referendum in crimea was a clear violation of ukrainian constitutions. and international law. it will not be recognized by the international community. today, i'm announcing a series of measures that will continue to increase the cost on russia and on those responsible for what is happening in ukraine. we are imposing sanctions on specific individuals responsible for undermining the sovereignty, territorial integrity and government of ukraine. we are making it clear that there are consequences for their actions. if russia continues to interfere in ukraine, we stand ready to impose further sanctions. >> as a result of the

president's executive order 11 russian and ukrainian officials will face visa bans and have their assets frozen. some include president putin's closest advise rs but under international pressure and increased sa ed sanctions it's clear what vladimir putin is doing with crimea. he signed a decree recognizing a sovereign and independent crimea and a possible precursor to annexation. joining me from politico magazine susan glasser and jonathan tepperman. thanks for joining us. >> a pleasure. >> i want to go to you, susan. putin signed a decree making crimea independent. is this a precursor to full on annexation? what does it mean? is it similar to what happened in russia? what should we look for? >> i think tomorrow could be a big day. president putin is scheduled to address the russian parliament.

i think there is a widespread thought that tomorrow would be the day he would then announce what next steps forward. it does appear that he's resisted the american pleas over the recent days. he's been on the phone with president obama. but there is no indication that he's backing off of plans for a full scale annexation. tomorrow may be the day we get a clearer sense of vladimir putin's next moves. >> the obama administration is leveling sanctions earlier. some of them are the most significant since the cold war. but the well respected josh rate of growth -- rogan wrote there are signs the measures being contemplated will not be biting enough to put pressure on putin and his friends. is that accurate? how much can be done through sanctions in regard to mr. putin and his wealthy allies? >> i think it is absolutely accurate. first of all, i want to say i agree with susan that crimea's

vote yesterday never had suspension to it. certainly because of the way the referendum was worded. it was either join russia or join russia. the big suspense is what does vladimir putin do now? does he annex crimea and make it part of the russian federation in which case we have a very big problem or does he just sit on the status quo? the sanctions that the united states and that europe imposed yesterday are mild, as you said. 11 travel bans and asset seizures or freezes. a few more impose bid the europeans. this is part of a graduated process that could get more severe. with the virtual nuclear weapon here being iran-style isolation and massive sanctions, not just on individuals but on russian companies specifically in energy

and in banking. >> i want to ask about that. how possible is it? i was reading that the government of russias has millions of dollars worth of lobbying going on in washington on their behalf. they have a cable news channel. they supply energy to many places around europe. a lot of american brand dos business in russia and are successful there. could we see those type of iranian sanctions in russia? would american businesses allow it? >> no. you put your finger on the reason why. the united states has so much to lose if we clamp down harder. the europeans get so much from they will and have more to lose. i can't see it happening at this point. if russia does annex ukraine, the united states and europe have to react that you cannot seize another territory by

force. i think it would be some time before we deploy this nuclear option for the simple reason apart from what i have stated already that it would be our last option. it's something to keep in reserve until the last moment. >> susan, one thing people are fearful of who pay attention to this, almost going back many decades this domino theory. we gave up crimea. what's the to say putin won't march into eastern ukraine and areas that are welcome to that type of oh russian involvement. is there a fear that this is the tip of the iceberg and could continue into sfwourt ukraine going to the march to areas that are not pro western? >> that's an excellent question. i think in many ways the mildness of the sanctions we saw president obama and the european union put out today suggest what they are holding in reserve. a goal of the diplomacy now is to really communicate strongly

to president putin and allies, do not go any further beyond crimea, what you have already taken. i do think tomorrow if he goes ahead with the annexation of crimea you will see another step on the ladder that the goal of the diplomacy taking place is to try to convince putin not to let tanks roll into eastern ukraine which is a real fear i have heard expressed from senior u.s. and european officials in the last few days as has become clear that putin wasn't taking the off-ramps offered to him by the obama administration. i think that's a real fear. remember, vladimir putin in 2004 said the break-up of the soviet union was the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the 20th century. his agenda has been clear. he's not radically looking to expand willy-nilly the borders but that's what he's done here.

>> one thing i think we are looking over in the united states is there is a sizable part of the ukrainian population that is receptive to russia, speaks russian. i want to put on the screen what they could get as members of russia. it's interesting. russia assumes the obligation for pensions. there is a big leap in benefits. public schools, new history books with russian history and that version of world war ii. all native russian speakers will be eligible for russian passports. if soldiers go to the russian army they are paid better. when we talk about russia expanding into ukraine to some degree it's not a terrible deal for people if they want to be russian, bigger benefits, better pension stuff. there is a degree that that's appetizing, right? >> pick your poison.

russia also isn't a free country. one of the questions is whether you want to make the putin trade-off. that's what vladimir putin was trying to do with ukraine. remember, we had a revolution in ukraine because he tried to buy off victor yanakovich with $15 billion in loan guarantees to get him to turn away from a possible entrance into the european union and turn toward russia. he offered a carrot and a stick. he's doing that to the residents of crimea. it's important to remember that crimea is a peninsula not connected to russia. they could build a bridge over the straits. they have not done so. they have talked about it. crimea is dependent on the rest of ukraine for things like the water supply, fuel supply and food supply. there has to be some kind of negotiated settlement if the residents of crimea continue to

get food and water. outright hostility between russia and ukraine could prevent that and cause a miserable situation for the residents of crimea. >> i want to put this in the context of where we are in world history. it seems we have approached another area of american retrenchment, if you will. david sanger said, quote, america's adversaries are testing limits of the post iraq, post afghanistan moment. we are seeing the light footprint run out of gas. this is one of mr.ball's former national security aides. we are a war-weary nation. people say we have more problems in the united states. where are we in the history of american foreign policy that we are essentially letting russia move. there is not a lot of opposition here. >> all of that you said is true. the united states is war-weary. it faces severe financial constraints.

i don't think that's constraining us in this case. ukraine means much more to vladimir putin, especially crimea than it does to the united states. there was never a chance under any administration we would have gone to war over this. i can imagine most previous administrations following a relatively similar playbook. remember when russia invaded georgia a few years ago when the perception at least of american power was greater. the american response wasn't that much different. >> indeed. susan, quickly. i want to get you out of here with this. there was a protest on saturday in moscow. 70,000 russians saying down with putin, no war with ukraine. there is an element within the russian population that's not necessarily entirely behind what putin is doing here, correct? >> that's right. two things to consider quickly. number one, this has caused a boost in putin's approval ratings. that may well be one of the

reasons he's doing it. it's a popular and no shots fired way to say russia is great again. on the other hand, you could argue that putin is doing this because of his fear of domestic opposition, fear of weakness. there is nothing that made him more upset than the fact that there was once again a street revolution that took hold in kiev and toppled from power yanakovich. you could argue both ways. on one hand he's buying political popularity. it shows potentially his real concern about getting protests out this the street in russia. that could turn into more serious opposition to him at home. >> susan glasser, jonathan tep perks erman, thank you. coming up, there are no reports that house republicans are working on an alternative to

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now an update to a story alex brought you on friday. st. patrick's day parades went ahead as planned in boston sunday and new york today but without the support of the city mayors and major corporate sponsors. brewers guinness and heineken with drew support after parade organizers prohibited hgbt participants from displaying gay pride signs. this came after the main sponsor of boston's parade, the boston

beer company, maker of sam adams, backed out of sunday's parade for the same reason. also boycotting the city's two mayors, boston mayor martin walsh and new york mayer i don't bill deblas who was the first mayor in 20 yearses to skip it. he participated in the st. patrick's day for all parade in queens. coming up, nba superstar lebron james is all about march madness this year. it's just not the kind you think. let's discuss the white house's push for one shining moment when robert accosta joins me next. [ sponge ] welcome back to "you make a choice."

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how much money do you think you'll need when you retire? then we gave each person a ribbon to show how many years that amount might last. i was trying to, like, pull it a little further. [ woman ] got me to 70 years old. i'm going to have to rethink this thing. it's hard to imagine how much we'll need for a retirement that could last 30 years or more. so maybe we need to approach things differently, if we want to be ready for a longer retirement. ♪

hi. i'm lebron james. i know how important it is to take care of yourself, your friends, and your family. that's why i want to tell you about the health insurance marketplace at health care.gov. you can go there to find an affordable health plan as part of the health care law. the deadline to enroll is march 31. sign up thousand. you never know when you might take a hit. >> you never know when you might take a hit. miami heat forward lebron james aiding in the white house push for enrollment in the health care exchanges. with two weeks to go before the deadline to get covered march madness is showing supporters and detractors. democrats are participating in a full court press to get young americans to sign up complete with big star thes, brackets and gifts.

as republicans, eyes on the midterms denounce the affordable care act as bad medicine. >> obamacare is poison in the field. number one, you have to hit the main target which is obamacare. >> sounds like bon jovi. despite obamacare being the gop's main target there are pieces of it that could be part of a conservative plan for health care reform. things like allowing young adults to stay on parent plans until age 26. house republicans are are allowed to put forth their sigs this month. whether they put a bill on the floor, one that doesn't repeal, delay or fund that's another question. joining me the national political reporter for the washington post, robert costa. i call him bob. thank you for being on the program. >> great to join you this afternoon. >> all right. you did some reporting about this, about what we could see in the gop plan, the ability to buy

insurance across state lines, guaranteed renewability of policies, changes to medical malpractice, tort reform, children on parents' plans until they are 26. a lot of this reads like a rehash from are the ideas of 2010. what are we seeing? is there a big difference from 2010 until now? >> not so much. i sat down with kevin mccarthy, the republican whip and the gop conference chairman soon after florida '13. they were enthused about the republican chances. they thought obamacare was a big help to the republican candidate david jolly but recognized that just opposing the affordable care act may not be enough to keep the house majority and maybe pick up the senate squormt. they are tying to craft an alternative. as you mentioned it will be difficult to get a bill on the floor to win consensus and support of all house republicans. what they are doing now and what they did in the interview with the with washington post is try

to lay out talking points, principles that will serve as the outline, as their alternative to the affordable care act ahead of the midterm elections. whether it becomes five separate votes or one house vote remains to be seen. they are trying to move in the direction of being more than just the repeal party. >> right. we have seen it from boehner and the leadership over the past week. they point to the president's health care law as a reason as to why the economy isn't doing well. they want to be more opposed to it. you hit on something fascinating. there is not a comprehensive gop health care alternative that could get 218 votes on the house floor, more likely than not. correct? >> that's correct. what we have seen from the alternative they are talking about is they are blending four separate republican plans including the conservative republican study plan and another plan offered in the senate by tom coburn and richard burke. what we are seeing is a lot of talking points, principles that mccarthy outlined.

we have heard them before. this is a rehash of many previous conservative proposals. part of the reason is because they can't come to a widespread consensus in the conference. they are returning to positions and policy recommendations that have a lot of support on the right. this is more of a document, in my reporting, to alley conservatives in the house, to get them excited and talking about banl as a unified course rather than something that could pass both chambers in a divided government. >> who is leading the effort? doesn't seem to me like an organic idea. this is leadership trying to rein in members ahead of the midterms. >> exactly right. kathy rogers said come april when house republicans go on rece recess. this is what they say on capitol hill is a messaging operation, an initiative to get everyone talking about the same thing. who is leading the effort?

eric cantor, the broad leader of the project. then mccarthy and mcmorris-rogers. they have a group of 30 members that meets to craft the tenets of the plan. >> isn't there a risk to some degree because you have the ability if they actually go to take pen to pain and write down ideas, even if it doesn't come up for a vote it allows the media to say, oh, hey, member x, do you support this specific thing that was mentioned in one of the plans and it differentiates from member y that might be against it? there's got to be apprehension here you would think with members that could face a primary vote in the coming weeks. >> exactly right. it is a complicated path now for republicans. the leadership acknowledges that when it comes to things like pre-existing conditions, children being able to stay on their parents' policy to anyone 26, these are parts of the current law they could support

republican versions of whether they want a wholesale change, that's the message. they want full peel. it's tricky when they start trying to tweak the law wlenl insulation. the gop alternative is more of a broad document that's an outline of what could happen than something that will pass the house floor as a comprehensive bill. >> you are well sourced, bob, in republican politics, house gop politics, senate gop politics. you do a lot of stuff on the twitters, and it's well renowned, my friend. we talked about the health care law. let's opine on 2014. how confident are folks within the republican establishment that they can win the senate in november? >> i think publically you are seeing a lot of brashness, a lot of enthusiasm. i think privately there is still a concern in the republican party that you have primary contests in states like georgia

where you're not sure of the best possible candidate to win a general election will emerge. so far the republicans have done a getter job of getting electable people to the playing field. you look at colorado, for example. cory gardner, house republican. he's running for senate the. ken buck, a conservative challenger has bowed out of the race to run for the house. you are seeing a move to get more electable republicans in the field. at the same time democrats are very -- they know republicans have a lot of weakness from the 2012 cycle when it comes to things like women's issues. when it comes to social issues. there is always a vulnerability for republicans in this 24/7 twitter environment where one statement, one gaffe tilts the perception. that's what republicans are trying to do. run electable candidates but they are aware the ship could steer off course.

>> tomorrow is the one year an verse si of the gop autopsy. bringing that into this, how much have they gone the offensive internally saying, do not make rape comments. don't touch those with a 30-foot pole. don't say anything insensitive. that has to be going on. >> yes and no. when i was at cpa reince priebus said he stood with them. you have a republican party acting in concert with the conservative movement. that has a positive for republicans in the sense that it enables ground troops to come out, the party is trying to work. are we seeing a large push-back? we see a little bit here and there from boehner. mcconnell has done the same.

not a large scale effort to center the party. >> walking on egg shells to move. robert, thank you for joining us. we appreciate it. that's all for now. alex returns tomorrow live from washington, d.c. at 4:00 p.m. eastern. the "the ed show" is next and on time. good evening, americans. welcome the to "the ed show" live from new york. let's get to work. >> we need to get answers soon. >> this is a mystery. >> the malaysian authoritieses have refocused the investigation into the crew and passengers on board. >> this was not an accident. it was a deliberate act to bring down the airplane. >> consistent