coming up on early today

over 7 million. president obama crosses a threshold. >> the ceo prepares to face congress today. >> view from behind. it may be t biggest change to automobiles since the rear third brake light was at it. and you know it was big and the boys of summer are back in action. it's tuesday, april 1st, "early today" starts right now. good morning, i'm francis rivera. general motors announced its expanding the number of vehicles it's recalling because of safety issues involving power steering. the announcement comes as new ceo of gm is set to testify before congress this morning. tracy potts is live on capitol hill. tough questions ahead.

>> she is going to face tough questions today on capitol hill today and tomorrow. she has two hearings. it will be a tough day for the families too. many of them are going to be here because they have been looking for answers as well. not only answers to the faulty ignition switches but a brand new recall that involves a sudden loss of power steering that may or may not be linked because the national highway traffic safety administration said they investigated some of these issues a while back and didn't have enough information to link it to these faulty ignition switches. mary bara publicly apologized. she said they don't know, which is the big question here today, why it took the company ten years to come to the recalls. the recalls just happened in february and with the brand new one announced yesterday there are 6 million gm vehicles that have now been recalled. we also confirmed that last night, mary bara, the ceo of gm,

met with some of the families and apologized to them privately. saw some of the photos of the victims. gm admitted that 13 people died as a result of the faulty ignition switches they will be discussing today. >> tracy, thank you. beating eck peckations. the obama administration has reached it's health care enrollment goal. it's sign up was on pass to surpass 7 million on monday's deadline day. they saw a surge in consumer interest yesterday but there were also several problems for health care.gov. the site didn't crash but it was experiencing substantial volume. the website recorded about 2 million visitors through yesterday afternoon alone. >> last minute tactics like president obama apeerg on "between two ferns" proved beneficial. that according to health and human services secretary kathleen sebelius.

>> an unsettling new development in the search for missing flight 370. new final words aboard the boeing 777. it was good night malaysia 370. the cause of the discrepancy is unclear. 11 planes and nine ships are scouring the indian ocean. australia is also deploying a 737 as an air traffic controller. this to prevent a midair collision in crowded skies. we also learned a u.s. navy pinger detector joined the search to help detect the black box. it was fitted on to an australian navy ship. >> bodies are still being pulled from the mud and debris following the devastating landslide in washington state more than a week ago. the official death toll stands at 24. 18 of those victims have been

positively identified by the medical examiner. meanwhile, 2 people are still missing. they're asking for a major disaster declaration in an effort to cover losses and expenses. we'll get more from kurt gregory. >> reporter: day 10 of search and recovery efforts as ground crews press on. wading through the muck and debris searching for victims buried in the landslide. >> this is hallowed ground. it's humbling to be here. >> reporter: the death toll continues to rise each day as remains are found and the medical examiner identifies more fatalities. meanwhile, 22 people are still unaccounted for. >> these are 22 people whose loved ones are grieving. we want to do all we can to find them and put some closure in place for their families. >> thank you so very much. >> reporter: meanwhile, this tight knit community is coming

together. volunteers are making deliveries to survey volunteers who have lost their homes. >> it's just been overwhelming and amazing that all of our community members that have come together for us. >> reporter: while kids got a much needed distraction monday from members of the super bowl champion seattle seahawks. >> to be able to offer a little bit of a release or a distraction from what's going on, i mean, that's all you can do. we are just trying to help people as much as we can and this is just our way. >> reporter: a community coming together as it tries to cope with an unimaginable tragedy. kurt gregory, nbc news. what you are about to see may look like a scene but it's one of the ways china is dealing with it's pollution problem. the people in the photo are breathing in air from loud june

mountain. china's pollution forced them to declare a war on smog. in the meantime, maybe they were on to something with their perri-air, right? well the record for the largest ferris wheel comes back to london soil. it's 100 feet shorter than this. it's located in the heart of the vegas strip appropriately dubbed high roller. it can fit 1100 people on board but passengers you have to be a little bit patient when you're going on the ride because one single ride takes about 30 minutes alone. so you're that far up in the air. so maybe they can help people like meteorologist bill karins. >> after i lost a lot of hands in the row at the black jack table i can go for 30 minutes and have a time-out on the wheel. now if they put the slot machines in the litt booth as we spin around. >> at least they can tell you what it's like. how's the weather up