, the south and east china seas as an extension of their continental land mass, they see these adjacent seas the way we, the united states saw the caribbean in the 19th and early 20th century. we became a great nation by dominating the caribbean, thereby dominating the western hemisphere allowing us to effect the balance of power in the earn hemisphere. the chinese seek to dominate vietnam, malaysia, the philippines and south kai know sea and japan and the east china sea thereby unlocking the door for the navy and ma lock awe and strait of the indian ocean and the entire block of islam. chinese are supporting more and more oil and natural gas from the middle east across the indian ocean through the south china sea. and they bristle at the idea that the americans would come from half a world away with their great navy and air force and seek a balance of power in the region. the chinese feel they should dominate the region. >> rose: they do recognize that united states is a power in the region and not going to go away. >> they do. they're very realistic. they recognize that the, remember

china has deployed two ships to the south china sea to help in that effort. these are pictures of family members that had been gathering at beijing airport to greet their loved ones arriving on the plane and as you can see the distress of learning that plan would not be landing. it was to have landed saturday morning in beijing. using rather bleak language in a statement malaysia airlines said we are working with the authorities to have activated their search and rescue team to locate the aircraft. our team is currently calling the next of kin of passengers and crew. the focus at the mama was to work with emergency responders. we will have more about that in a moment. most of the people on board flight came from china but as the ceo of malaysia airlines told reporters earlier there were passengers from a dozen other countries, too. >> there were 14 nationalities among the passengers. china, 152. plus one infant. from malaysia, 38. indonesia, 12. australia, 7. france, 3. the united states of america, usa, three plus one infant. new zealand, too. ukraine, too.

, off the south china sea. in the south china sea, sorry. >> raj, thanks for that information. just a short time ago i tuk tald to our florence lui and asked her what she knows. >> the official said the company had lost contact with the flig flight. rumors are going and that the plane landed in a city in china and they are working to verify the authenticityivit authenticie reports. working very closely with emergency responders and have also contacted passengers next of kin to notify them yet to be able to make contact with the plane. now he also said that the -- that they've not as far as they're aware they have not received a distress signal from the flight before they lost contact with the aircraft. the last point of contact was at a point somewhere over the south china sea which would have been on the rare craft flight path on its way to beijing. >> florence lui in kuala lumpur. it can hold up to 37,000 gallons of fuel, it weighs 545,000 pounds. can travel 6,000 miles, typically flying routes london to new

it is just not up to the level where he can handle a crisis like this. >> talk about the south china sea and japan versus china, what the implications of that are. seas, an extension of their continental landmass. they see these the way we solve the caribbean in the 19th and 20th century. we became a great nation by dominating the caribbean. dominating the western hemisphere. allowing us to affect the balance of power in the eastern hemisphere. the chinese seek to dominate vietnam, malaysia, the philippines. japan and east china sea, unlocking the door to the wider pacific for their navy. which encompasses the entire arc of islam. the chinese are importing more and more oil and natural gas from the middle east across the indian ocean through the south china sea. they bristle at the idea that the americans would come from half a world away with their navy and air force and seek a balance of power in the region. the chinese feel they should dominate the region. >> they recognize the united states is a power in the region. >> they do. they are very realistic. the recognize. china may be aut

let's talk about these oil slicks on the south china sea. next to find out if indeed those are ma markers that the plane went down there? >> kind of a simple matter of checking out those oil slicks and find out what kind of oil are we talking about. is it gt4 kerosene or just some oil from boats or whatever. that would give us an indication of what kind of a slick it is. you've dealt with having oil slicks from almost any number of different sources. the fact is there does present a real possibility. that we're hovering over the accident silgt. the thing is a puzzle of enormous proportions with all kinds of different scenarios. >> so, give us an idea -- >> it's getting through a waiting game. how soon and how sure can we be of what we're learning and it has to be absolutely horrible for the surviving families to go through this, but there's nothing else we can do about it. >> right, so, when you're dealing with something of this magnitu magnitude, help us understand how investigators go about trying to locate this plane. we know one vietname

declaration in two thousand and two in debt peacefully resolving territorial issues in the south china sea. china has been increasingly active in the sea claiming most of it has its own. the top officer of u s marines says planning for the construction of new infrastructure and mom will start early next to it that is completed the buildings would post some of the u s marines now stationed in japan's okinawa the commanders of the marine corps james amos was testifying before the house armed services committee on wednesday. the supplemental environmental impact statement. should be complete schedule be complete. towards the end of this year. battle as in the planning for the construction. chief of naval operations jobs in the green areas also attended the hearing. i don't wanna go back to me all the way to the us it's a long way back the inner there to do should prepare and i agree with me i haven't tried at the facility there as soon as feasible the japanese and us governments have agreed to transfer to guam summer reads now stationed in okinawa. but the us congress has a freeze in place on

originally, they were looking in the south of china sea. they are stopping that investigation and moving it somewhere else after looking at the data they have received to reevaluate where they are looking. >> and we are past day six now of this just amazing mystery. and of course, we are keeping you up to date as we get the information. we pass it on. you will have all the very latest if you keep it here to kpix5. we will have regular updates on kpix.com and we want to just let you know that it is a fluid situation and the reports are continuing to change a little bit just to recap briefly. the malaysian prime minister is holding a live news conference in kuala lumpur says there is a high degree of certainty that the transponder was disabled, other communication disabled by someone consistent of deliberate action of someone on the plane in his words. >> not confirming or denying that it was indeed hijacked but they are looking at all possible scenarios and they are reevaluating where they are going to continue the search. we are going to st

sea. we are now pushing further east into the south china is sea and further into the indian ocean. we want nothing more than to find the plane as quickly as possible. but the circumstances have forced to us widen our search. a normal investigation becomes narrower with time, i understand. as new information focusing on the search. but this is not a normal investigation. in this case, the information forces us to look further and further afield. >> further and further afield. let's go live to bbc jonah fischer at kuala lumpur airport. that area that extends north and west of the indian sea, what is it? >> the the reason he was giving in the press conference was simply they haven't managed to find anything in the existing area so it was a natural progression to reach outwards. there have been reports which haven't been confirmed by the authorities about signals being emitted potentially from the aircraft after the last radar plot was given in the south china sea in the early hours of saturday morning. as i said, it's not been verified, but we think that potentially it may have been t

originally, they were looking in the south of china sea.e stopping that investigation and moving it somewhere else after looking at the data they have received to reevaluate where they are looking. >> and we are past day six now of this just amazing mystery. and of course, we are keeping you up to date as we get the information. we pass it on. you will have all the very latest if you keep it here to kpix5. we will have regular updates on kpix.com and we want to just let you know that it is a fluid situation and the reports are continuing to change a little bit just to recap briefly. the malaysia

we begin the news of the malaysia airlines flight which went missing over the south china sea on saturday a plane carrying two hundred and thirty nine people on board took off from kuala lumpur. headed for beijing. some ninety one and two hours after takeoff radio contact was lost at this hour airlines officials are still denying the plane has crashed no wreckage has yet been found. ships from malaysia china and vietnam are currently carrying out search operations. all family members wait for news of their loved ones posting cats mark thompson has more. and of the suites are friends on from the passengers on flights in each three seventeen. i was off the plane was due to land the arrivals board in beijing still reports the croft is delayed. both ortiz lost contact with the malaysia airlines flight on syria to forty local time and that the south china sea. few hours off the plane took off from quantum foam. in that it is. though our eighth and ninth. these. unknown poet and korea. the poem. the man who had been on board the boeing seven seven seven jets. two hundred and twenty seven passen

acian countries signed a declaration aimed at peacefully resolving territorial issues in the south china sea. china has been increasingly active in the sea claiming most of it as its own. >>> search crews have been sent to check a spot where satellite images found what could be debris from the missing malaysian jetliner. they have been scouring the ocean for almost a week looking for the passenger plane. officials at a chinese space development agency say their satellite on sunday captured images of three objects floating on the south china sea. the fragments range in length from 13 to 24 meters, floating some 200 kilometers southeast of where contact with the plane was lost. the airliner carrying 239 people left kl for beijing early saturday. 50 minutes later it vanished from radar screens over the south china see. the search has been extended to the strait of malacca as the team may have turned westward. >>> teams from japan and india have joined the search that is a joint effort with 12 countries. crews are trying to determine if the debris is part of the missing jet. >>> western leaders

unfortunate by, around the china sea, south china sea, around cambodia and vietnam, there is lack of constant radar coverage. there are certain areas where you have radar coverage and i'm afraid in some parts of this flight track, there were no aidar coverage. furthermore the -- radar coverage. furthermore the communication is sporadic. some of those countries down there use the antiquated high frequency or hf transition to talk between airplanes and the ground controllers. whereas majority of the airplanes these days that are flying around the world can have satellite communication, instant satellite communication. my fear is that if there was any transmission from the aircraft, any distress transition or a may day signal, may not have been heard by the vietnam es authorities on the hf communication. >> that is because it's not reliable, not every transmission is received? >> that's correct. it's a very old system, almost 50, 60 years old. actually prewar, and they are still used in certain parts of the world. it - it relies on very, very old technology. it's affected by sun activit

blue ridge in the south china sea. more resources? >> there are plans in the works to have some more resources available in case some of the aircraft debris is located. you know -- we have new information or new -- this is simply just a prudent effort to preposition the equipment and train personnel so that we're able to respond more quickly if debris is actually found. lieutenant can you tell us or would you know how long the navy would stay committed to the search? >> we will stay on the search as long as we're needed. right now we're focused on -- on the mission itself, the crews from the p-8 and the p-3. these are long days for these pilots and air crews. these are dedicated professionals that will continue looking as long as we're needed. >> are all u.s. assets directed to the search near the australian coast or are there more places along? >> the p-8 flight out of perth is directed to the -- the identified search area by the australian authorities. the other aircraft, the p-3 that's flying out of malaysia is still searching anot

the vietnamese state media report that the plane could have gone down near the south china sea, near vietnam's sworn coast. the acting transport minister gave this update. >> we have been working closely with our neighbours, especially with china, vietnam, philippines and indonesia, where we have requested assistance. first on information or whereabouts the plane may be, and secondly there is a need for search and rescue which we cannot - i've been told that cooperation from the military side is very forthcoming. we are doing everything we can to ensure that every possible angle in this situation is addressed. the second point i wanted to raise is to avoid speculation. there's two issues that have been raised. the first is not true, and the second is that they found wreckage on an island on the south side of vietnam. d.c. a and our foreign office have said that is not true. since the report mentioned the vietnamese navy, i'm getting confirmation through the military on that. we should be able to get an answer regarding that piece of information in a couple of hours. >> live now to be

they've been scouring the south china sea, where chinese satellites have captured three specific objects. a navy destroying has been diverted to the west coast as the search area widens to both sides of the peninsula. the "wall street journal" is reporting flight nh370 was in the air for four hours after its last confirmed location. the plane vanished about an hour after take you have from kuala lumpur as it was thought to be flying over the south china sea. let's speak to our correspondent. more confusion. the chinese government saying they have satellite images, they didn't release it for four days after they were discovered, and malaysians and vietnamese saying they can't find them. >> they are saying it was a breach of protocol. the officials say they should have had the information about images that satellites from china picked up, that could have helped them to direct the search operations to these areas specifically. it was in a bigger area they were looking at. because they waited for so long, they are calling it - malaysian officials are calling it a breach of the protocol. they

we could not factor the search operations over land in the south china sea, and the indian motion. every stage, we acted on the basis of very fine information, and we followed every credible lead, sometimes these leads have left nowhere. there has been intense speculation. -- frustration. we understand the need for information from the families cm investigation and the families to only release information that has been corroborated, and our primary motivation has always been to find the plane. in the first place of the search operation, we search near mh370's last known location, in the south china sea. at the same time, it was brought to our attention by the royal national air force that based on the primary radar, an aircraft, the identity of which could not be confirmed may have turned back. the primary radar data showed the aircraft proceeding on the flight path, which took it to an area north of the strait of malacca. given this credible data, which was subsequently corroborated with irrelevant -- >> you're listening live to the news conference from ma laze yam the prime minis

it is well into the south china sea roughly halfway between malaysia and vietnam. the administration for national defense saying on march 9th suspected crash at sea. there were three suspected floating objects. that's about all i can tell you at moment. this is march 9th, a sunday. that flight took off on -- early saturday morning so, we need to get a lot more background checks on this, but that's what they are saying at the moment, which as i say it's on the flight path but a lot of the theories now are pointing very much towards the plane actually going to the west, going in totally the opposite direction on the other side of malaysia. >> andrew, stay with us. i want to go to michael goldfarb, former official with the federal aviation administration. when you see a report like this, the chinese government saying they've detected an image 22 by 24 meters in the south china sea -- >> sunday? it's wednesday. it's three days out and we're just getting this information now. the image was taken on sunday, three days ago. where has that been? that would have greatly help

quite a lot of time the plane would have seared over the china sea.dynamic of what we thought was the case here which was mainly over land. >> it also explains as he noted probably the lack of radar. be interesting -- of course we don't know what was said on the company channel before they lost contact. we don't know if there was any kind of a may day call to anybody. >> and james kallstrom, you've investigated major plane crashes before. if it has crashed into the sea and we have no idea yet what has happened to this plane. but if it has, how much more difficult is that from an investigator's point of view to try and get to the bottom of what happened? >> oh, i think it's -- i'm not really a crash investigator, i'm a criminal investigator. but in order to do that you've got to take advantage of the people that know the plane. but my comments from that standpoint would be it's geometrically more difficult depending on the depth of the water it might be almost impossible. but 800 was in about 20 feet of water and it was hard enough. >> james stay with

of late, however, as china has claimed most of the south china sea, and lots of island chains within that great region, that are also claimed by vietnam, malaysia, philippines, and brunei, there's lots of tension. this search for this plane has actually brought at least momentarily everybody together in a common endeavor. this is not something that's always come easily to china, which has always been circumspect about violations of other countries' sovereignty, for humanitarian intervention, or efforts that have involved sort of collective international community. so this is a good example, i think, of china joining such an effort. but i don't think in the long run it's going to mitigate the tensions in the south china sea. >> all right. orville shell joining us from san francisco, thank you very much. >> pleasure. >>> to the other major story, the crisis in ukraine. this afternoon ukraine accusing russia of sending troops outside of crimea. they said russia deployed 80 troops, three armored vehicles and four helicopter gun ships in a region north of crimea. back here in new york, at

rescue crews are now searching an area in the south china sea under darkness.h helicopters and airplanes are also being deployed. the biggest clue so far, traces of oil that a vietnamese plane spotted in waters over the search area. officials say the oil slicks are between six and nine miles long. and now, to the confusion surrounding the identities of two of the passengers. malaysian airline says there is one austrian and one italian passenger on board the missing jet, but austria and italy deny that. renee marsh joins us by phone. what are we learning as to why they are saying that their citizens are on that plane? >> right, at this point, this part of this story here is really raising a lot of questions because we're not just talking about one passenger, but we're talking about two passengers. one from austria, one from italy and both saying their citizens were listed as being on this plane, however, they say they were not on the plane. so, this creates a big question for investigators that they're really going to want to get to the bottom of and i would ima

a search in the south china sea will end.opean observers invited by russia are arriving in crimea for sunday's referendum. it will decide whether the region will split from the ukraine. saturday the u.n. security council is expected to vote. >> syrian forces take one of the the last rebel-held areas. the army entered the area. a syrian activist groups said lebanon's hezbollah is spear heading the fight. fighting is taking place in northern hama province. >> the number two leader in al nusra has been killed in fighting. he was the armed group's negotiator in talks to release a group of nuns. he was the commander. >> it was three years ago that a peaceful protest in southern syria triggered a conflict. it reduced much of the conflict to rubble. the conflict started in march 2011. anti-government protesters took to the streets. dozens were killed in the start of a brutalal bragg down. the free syrian army was formed. made up of army defectors and volunteers. more armed groups continued the fight. al nusra began to operate in syr

was on board to be revived wreath on the seven i always said manila intended to hike up the south china sea issue to bolster its attempt to illegally scenes when i read he said the move cannot change the fact that china holds sovereignty of the match items which includes a red eye. he stressed that china would never allow the philippines to undermine the two thousand and two declaration on the conduct of parties in the south china sea between china and as iam in the country is. in nineteen ninety nine the philippine war ship ran aground in red ivory. the lara has refused to tell him what he has in a recent statement claims the warship was put there to serve as a permanent installation. the philippines has repeatedly attempted to deliver construction materials to build on the reef to intensify and expand its military presence the dprk engine hasn't started high level government hopes that the dprk and the city of ageing. it's the first time in more than a year that officials from the two countries have held talks. a major issue for japan during the two days of talks is the place of at least

that being said the south china sea search will be shut down and all attention focussed west. >> scott updating us on the situation from kooum bur. >> tom valentine joins us, the chief correspondent from orient aviation, a commercial aviation magazine. first of all, looking at the latest evidence that has arisen so far, what scenarios does the evidence point to? >> well, it probably points to one of two things - either a hijacking where someone took control of the aircraft and coerced the pilots to do what they did, or that something happened in the cockpit, that either one or both of the pilots - there was some sort of issue, a psychological thing. they decided to take this plane off to do whether they wanted to do with it. i think it's quite significant though that there has been some take of pilot suicide, for instance, one would have thought if that was the aim, then they would simply have crashed the plane in the south china sea, rather than flying for hours in the other direction. my feeling is that we are looking at some sort of a hijack, a taking over the aircraft. what the pur

otherwise into the vacuum come the bad guys, iran, russia, china in those islands and the south china sea. we will see it happening everywhere. the world knows it and they're scared to death.

further into the indian ocean. >> right, east into the south china sea, where they've been looking,t into the indian ocean. >> right. >> which is where, talking to u.s. officials, according to cnn, this is where they may be headed. they say they're basing this supposition on satellite pings that had been received, showing that that plane had pointed in the direction of the indian ocean and may have been flying for hours that way. now, this malaysian official would not comment on the satellite pings. >> right. >> said they are still analyzing that data, though he did go out of his way to deny the reports of engine data from yesterday, which was a totally different issue. >> citing statements from rolls royce and boeing. >> right. but the important thing is he did not address the key issue, which is whether they have satellite pings confirm taking was heading to the indian ocean. the fact they're searching there is almost confirmation of that. >> also saying look, we're sharing more information than we normally would due to national security concerns with other agencies, saying this i

we are pushing further into the south china sea and the indian ocean. we want nothing more than to find the plane as quickly as possible. but circumstances have cost us to widen our search. as new information focuses on the search. but this is not a normal investigation. it forces us further and further afield. >> not a normal investigation. the words of the acting transport minister if malaysia. we go to bbc's martin patience. you're at the hotel where relatives and family members of those who disappeared on the plane are at the moment. can you just help us on this report about a seismic event tracked by chinese scientists. >> there is anger, grief and exasperation here. one man's sister was on board that plane which disappeared almost a week ago. according to this gentleman, she has two children. you get the sense that people are desperate, still searching for answers. as the search goes on, as time goes on, there was one report that a university in china spotted usual seismic activity in the south china sea. it was 100 kilometers from where flights m

as it moved between the south china sea and the strait of malacca.

malaysia saying satellite images showing debris in the south china sea did not show debris. they were released by mistake by china. malaysia dismissed reports that the plane carried on flying up to four hours after it lost contact with conventional radar because of speculation that the engines would have still been transmitting the telemetry. life with crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis is a daily game of "what if's". what if my abdominal pain and cramps come back? what if the plane gets delayed? what if i can't hide my symptoms? what if? but what if the most important question is the one you're not asking? what if the underlying cause of your symptoms is damaging inflammation? for help getting the answers you need, talk to your doctor and visit crohnsandcolitisinfo.com to get your complimentary q&a book, with information from experts on your condition. still running in the morning? yeah. getting your vegetables every day? when i can. [ bop ] [ male announcer ] could've had a v8. two full servings of vegetables for only 50 delicious calories. scotts wraps each seed in a br

rescue crews are searching on land for a boeing 777 that went missing over the south china sea. the malaysia airways flight suddenly vanished seven miles in the air, and tonight, brand new video and international coalition of at least 22 aircrafts, 40 ships now actively scouring an enormous search area. vietnamese officials just a few hours ago sent ships to get a closer look at debris near a large amount of oil they suspect could be part of the aircraft missing. crews also are searching the ground along the coastline for any sign of that plane that went missing 48 hours ago now. it had reached 37,000 feet about two hours into the flight from koala lam pure. it was on it way to beijing, china. crews lost contact with the plane. 239 people onboard, including three american citizens we know at this point. two of them children, just 4 and 2 years old. but the word of a u-turn has been making headlines. malaysian officials say the jet may have turned around just minutes before it vanished. >> normally, there is if the pilot is unable to proceed as per plan, and normally, then he mak

flights whether areas of vast open there could be lots of aircraft crossing the china sea that aalf an hour how toum guadalupe paw or beijing. they could all be wearing this. >> what you are saying there is no way to specifically identify this aircraft. >> let's go to the next. this is a cockpit door on the 777. now is this door automatically locked when it is closed on all 777's the boeing? >> ever since 20 -- well, 9 the-11 they had a need to bolster the security for the cockpit doors. that only applied to aircraft that were entering and leaving the state. they could say with malaysian airline 777 had a falty door. we think it is likely to have happened. >> what are -- look at these altitude changes. this was information given by the malaysian military. if what you have just told us about the transponder not being able to identify altitude malaysian governments said it was off, how is it that they can possibly say that the altitude or the height of this aircraft. >> great question. something i am really struggling with personally. once that transponder is off it is incredibly h

the air identification zone and aids in the east china sea encompassing midly raised attentions, and now while the declaration of that identification zone is not affected u.s. military operations in the area, there is a concern that china is attempting to change the status quo in the east china and south china seas. i'm thinking these incrementdal steps to a sort of territorial claim. admiral, let me ask this question. as china declaration of the io debilityification zone change status quo between china and japan with regard to the claims? >> >> pr moi observation, first it had not, as you correctly stated, it's not changed our operations at all, and we don't recognize it or comply with it. i have not seen any change in the activities of our allies, japanese self-defense force as they area, based on the proclamation by the chinese. >> what's your assessment of antiaccess and area denial capabilities? what are the implications of such capabilities on the ability of other nations including the united states to move freely in the international waters of the western pacific? >> we've know

declaring a no fly zone over a section of the east china sea, inhabiting islands claimed by japan. the philippines has taken its dispute with china to the highest level. >> it is about defending what is legitimately ours. it is about securing our children's future. it is about guaranteeing freedom of navigation for all nations. it is about help to go preserve regional peace, security and stability. >> earlier on sunday, they gave evidence to an international tribunal documenting beijing's increasingly aggressive claim over the south china sea, despite beijing warning doing so would damage ties between the two nations. >> people in thailand have been voting in the senate elections, a key test for the government there. the prime minister votes to fill 150 seats in the upper house of the parliament could be crucial to removing her from her post. those results expected to be announced later sunday. >> voting underway in elections in france. the poll is likely to cement gains for the far right national front party which made a huge break through in last week's first round. live in paris

speaking of the east china sea and the south china sea issues teaching things that the u s should hold a fair and objective back into it and make more efforts to promote a proper solution. president barack obama said his country does not intend to undermine time is devoted to all contain it and it supports the country's reforms of the mass and the us is unwilling to handle its differences and attractions with china in a constructive manner and to work with a chain to send a positive signals that the two sides are both committed to developing better nation's president in champaign fact president obama for his recent phone call about the missing malaysian and i know she didn't he also thanked obama for us efforts in the such but the plane obama sent the us would continue its efforts in the search operation. talking cctv. all four more home the miracle of some of their they'd we joined our correspondent doug barton and jack the meeting there is in this last day how much progress has been a. we're always dealt a blow to progress was going to be made here that seems to be the case of the ma

when it was somewhere over the south china sea. on board the flight, 227 passengers, including two infants and 12 crew, all from 14 different countries. among the missing, 51-year-old philip wood who worked for i.b.m., and two other americans. foreign ministry officials in italy and australia say the names of two nationals from those countries listed on the flight manifest matches passports reportedly stolen in thailand. two-thirds of the passengers were from china. distraught family members rushed to beijing's international airport, hoping for news, any news about their missing loved ones. "my son is only 40 years old," this woman cried. many are frustrated with what they say is the airline's lack of response. "nobody has gotten in touch with us. nobody talks to us," she said. malaysia airline says they're dispatching all information when they receive it. >> reporter: malaysia airlines c.e.o. also said that there was no indication that the pilots had sent a distress signal, suggesting that whatever happened to the airplane happene

in the south china sea. at the same time, it was brought to our attention by the air force that based on their primary radar, and aircraft, the identity of which could not be confirmed, made a turn back. the primary radar data showed the aircraft proceeding on a flight path which took it to an area north of the straits of malacca. given this credible data, which was subsequently corroborated with the relevant international authorities, we expanded the area of search to include the straits of malacca and later to the sea. early this morning i was briefed by the investigation team, which includes the faa, ntsb, the aaib, the malaysian authorities, and the acting minister of transport on new information that shed further light on what happened to flight 370. based on satellite communication, we can say with a high degree of certainty that the aircraft communications addressing and reporting systems or acars was disabled just before the aircraft reached the east coast of the peninsula. shortly afterwards, near t

this sounds like a disaster waiting to happen in the south china sea.the united states' role in all of this? >> not exactly. because the bottom line of this book is that there's not going to be a war, but we're entering a more nervous, anxious, complicated world with waterways packed with warships, packed with oil tankers, packed with container ships. and what -- for decades, china was internally occupied. building its economy. japan was in a quasi pacifistic state. vietnam had its wars, malaysia had its wars. all that's passed. all of these states have now strongly institutionalized, and sustained capitalist growth, guess what, leads to military acquisitions. and so, they're all building navies, air forces, cyberwarfare capacities, and they're projects power outwards. and lo and behold, they have come into conflict about what their borders in the blue waters of the south and east china sea should be. because these seas may contain significant hydrocarbon reserves. and also, china looks at the south china sea the way the united states, we, looked a to t

flights whether areas of vast open there could be lots of aircraft crossing the china sea that aalf an hour how toum guadalupe paw or beijing. they could all be wearing this. >> what you are saying there is no way to specifically identify this aircraft. >> let's go to the next. this is a cockpit door on the 777. now is this door automatically locked when it is closed on all 777's the boeing? >> ever since 20 -- well, 9 the-11 they had a need to bolster the security for the cockpit doors. that only applied to aircraft that were entering and leaving the state. they could say with malaysian airline 777 had a falty door. we think it is likely to have happened. >> what are -- look at these altitude changes. this was information given by the malaysian military. if what you have just told us about the transponder not being able to identify altitude malaysian governments said it was off, how is it that they can possibly say that the altitude or the height of this aircraft. >> great question. something i am really struggling with personally. once that transponder is off it is incredibly h

its way from the gulf of thailand to the strait of malacca the hunt initially honed in on the site china sea east of malaysia. on the plains intended to break from kuala lumpur to be saying but it's not expected to cover an area stretching from inside china sea to the tendency to run the size of portugal malaysian officials that the airliner may have doubled back after takeoff. six days after at least three seventy i love to read your screen there have been many false leads. on a wet tuesday night claims potential capri has been sculpted by tiny satellites into nothing released to a website the photographs appeared to show fragments that are not far from the original flight path. mason and tiny settlers he said are not connected to the missing plane. yudhoyono at that. but found nothing we have protected the chinese embassy. we're going to try to squeeze out the new and unique gifts were released wednesday. and did not show any different from and each piece into place authorities also deny media reports the plane and on for four hours from the last comparable position. the set manufacturers

actually to rescue ships to south china sea to help search for the nation many see as lines and cried and chinese opinion he could tell what heads and the media to imagine series almost touching the civil aviation authorities to lepak many cf in the rescue operations and vietnamese rescue officials say any ripples that the signal from the pain had been detected to look for walks. and chinese presidents eating peanuts or dead imagine seam edges to be taken in response to the disappearance of them in a scene flights bound for beijing to let me sing with more than hundred and fifty chinese nationals on board and see what this is the ministry of foreign affairs and chinese embassies and cause rates to strut through contact with a couple minutes. im better than countries and pay close attention to this such and the rescue act and dead chinese panini could tell just sit or down to this must be made any nexus read that c treatment at a press conference the head to my lacy outlines has expressed the second is whether the missing plane carrying more than two hundred people commented on how rea

stop all of the searching in the south china sea. focus in the indian ocean.s going to hold consultations with the countries that may be involved in that search effort. there's been a lot of the neighbors that have come together. unclear whether they want to continue on into the indian ocean. the indian navy has joined that. the u.s. navy is there as well. they're beginning that search already before the prime minister spoke today. but he said he's instructed the foreign minister to give a full briefing to the countries that may be involved here and he said it goes all the way from the border of kazakhstan and turkmenistan in one corridor, all the way down to just open water in the southern indian ocean, from indonesia. so a huge area, to be covered. no doubt about that. and he wants to bring in some of these countries that might have radar records. he says they're being invited. they're going to be briefed, and they're going to try to find out if they can collect even more data that will yield some solid clues, particularly if it took that northern route. the

>> we are focusing both on the south china sea and in the straits of -- in the statements i have issuedthere are 42 ships and 39 aircraft, and these are searching the two areas i mentioned. -- the primeof minister indicated that the area of the search and rescue is going to be expanded. he extended this to the straits of -- [inaudible] >> i fully understand that. this is unprecedented, what we are going through. green countries together -- this is not something that is easy. we are looking at so many aircraft. for the search and each time, the process, it appears that the search-and-rescue becomes just a search. but we will never give up hope. this is what we owe to the families. and the longer it takes for us to find the aircraft, i think are the family members ones -- as i said in my early statement, they are the ones who suffer so much. >> [inaudible] this relates to any particular nation. china obviously still agrees because so many other nationals are involved. -- a crisis ofis this magnitude, sometimes they're driven by emotions and motivations but the goal is to find the aircraft

the route is over the south china sea near the coast of vietnam during that time. vietnam has said the plane didn't enter it's air space. the plane went off radar south of vietnam. weather along the route was reported to be good at that time. friends have been waiting anxiously for the news. some voiced their frustration at the lack of information about the plane. the boeing 777 200 is a long range aircraft and was introduced in 1995. it's in service in many airlines around the world and has a good safety record. the airline also has a very good safety record. >> thank you very much. now, for more on the search that's underway for that aircraft, let's go to retired air force lieutenant general tom. thank you for joining us, sir. i know you have been involved in these kind of search operations. the most difficult aspect of this, of course, is that this jet disappeared off the radar a few hours after taking off and yet there is still no indication as to what happened even though they found some oil slicks on the ocean in that area: what do you see as the way to go fo

on seasoned from a government satellite over the south china sea. the images, according to the chinese show three objects that seem to be floating in the ocean, large pieces. 78 by 72 feet. they are identified as being in the very area of the south china sea over which this plane was last reported, halfway between malaiysia and vietnam. the cord pennants put the wreckage south of vietnam. this is an area that's been searched heavily by dozens of ships, planes anden helicopters from a dozen navies. again, if it shows plane debris, then it never made a u-turn and headed back to malaysia as the military has been suggesting over the past two days. the development comes as the defined search zone today grew to 31,000 square miles. to the east of malaysia, the south china sea and the gulf of thailand to the west, the strait of malaka and the indian navy joining the search, pursuing the theory that the plane did double back. again, the images do deticket the wreckage, it would immediately refocus this investigation on what caused the crash, mechanical, hum

the route is over the china sea near the coast of vietnam during that time. vietnam said the plane didn't enter its air space. the government's website says the plane went off radar south of vietnam. weather along the route was reported to be good at that time. friends and relatives have been waiting anxiously at beijing's airport. some voiced their frustration at the lack of information about the plane. the boeing 777-200 is a long-range aircraft powered by two engine and was introduced back in 1995. it's in service with many airlines around the world and it has a good safety record. malaysia airlines also has a very good safety record. of course, that search mission will be ramping up at first light. back to you. >> that is quite a harrowing situation for those waiting to hear what's happened to their loved ones. do you have details at all how soon they might be able to find out what happened? >> reporter: i think it will be a long process now. thief been searching now for really we are talking 15, 16 hours since this plane was lost. information is very har

this area, south china sea, there is no really -- not heavily trafficked by ships, by air. very strange that we're finding all this activity going on there and hopefully that debris field will lead us to that is accurate. >> i hate to be negative here. but mr. abend, thanks. les abend, thanks to so many of you. do you think in today's technology and the advances we have, you think we will absolutely find this plane? >> i'm optimistic. >> okay. thank you very much. we now know that flight 370 had a dramatic drop in altitude. coming up. we'll take you inside our flight simulator and let you know what that looks like. latte or au lait? sunny or bubbly? cozy or cool? "meow" or "woof"? wheels or wheeeels? everything exactly the way you want it ...until boom, it's bedtime. your mattress isn't bliss: it's a battleground of thwarted desire. enter the all-new sleep number classic series. designed to let couples sleep together in individualized comfort. starting at just $699.99 for a queen mattress. he's the softy: his sleep number setting is 35. you're the rock: your setting is 60.