aljazeera.com/considerthis or google or facebook, twitter. see you next time. hi everyone, this is al jazeera america. i'm john siegenthaler in new york. flight 17, the investigation, the compromised crash site and president obama's warning for vladimir putin. we'll have reports from ukraine, moscow, kuala lumpur and washington. the human toll, families, prominent age researchers, one american sit zn. the life lost. escalating violence, israel's invasion of gaza and

hamas's rog et -- rocket attacks. we show you what it means for those caught in the crossfire. . >> it is saturday morning in ukraine and gaza. two volatile regions separate by 1,100 miles. you are locking at video of the crash flight of malaysian airlines flight 17, and live images of gaza city where the death toll is rising again. we'll get to that in a moment and we'll begin with that. pictures that remind us of how much was lost. here you see some of them lined up. a picture, a surreal one of a minor searching in a sunflower watch. >> and then scattered in the

grass a notebook with a drawing, playing cards. 298 people were killed. the investigation takes on new urgency and anger. scott heidler was one of the first journalists to arrive at the crash site. here is his latest report. >> as the sun rose it revealed the scope of how difficult the recovery and investigation will be for flight mh17. the debris is a vast area around the wheat fields, a circumference of 10km. there was an explosion in the sky above the house. i came out to see what happened. the plane fell in many pieceses as it fell, it broke apart, all the pieces fell in the sky. >> reporter: emergency workers began the task marking the bodies and parts. the markers dot the scorched landscape. as the rescue workers fanned out

across the fields identifying the human remains, we were close though this debris field when some came up. we overheard one say to the other, he said "there's too many bod yois on there, i don't have enough stakes or flags." before working their shifts, mibors from a coal -- miners from a coal plant came to help. >> we came, it's a tragedy. we want to find out what happened and stop people thinking they are terrorists. a few hours after the crash leaders of a pro-russian separatists were on the site. now, unfortunately, people from other countries bament the victims -- became the victims in this non-declared war. >> the ukranian prime minister reached out to families of those killed, and placed blame. >> everyone is to be accountable and responsible.

i mean everyone who supports the terrorists. including russian frags and russian black federation and russian rageam. . >> to accurately determine who is behind the attack on civilians, international investigators need to get in. both establish a corridor through a battlefield to allow that. >> the investigation into the deadly rash is a joint international effort, a job made difficult because it's in a combat zone. lisa stark has more. >> the first outside observers made it to the crash site on friday. monitors from the organization for security and cooperation in europe helicoptered into the area and drove to the debris fields. they were not able to move around freely. >> they had limited access and left after 75 minutes, calling the need for unfettered access important, in our view.

>> the observers will try again on saturday. >> there's a lot of dire and eager innocence to get experts and emergency workers here to start caring for the bodies. >> safe access to the site is critical. investigators from the fbi are heading to ukraine to assist in the probe. they are going no further that kiev as of now, worried about security. in the rebel held areas. the missile that brought down the plane was fired from inside ukraine, from an area controlled by russian separatists. at the pentagon they are pointing fingers at the russians themselves. >> the missile itself, the fa 11, the -- sa 11, the one we believe was used is a sophisticated piece of technology. it strains credulity to think

that it could be used by separatists without some measure of russian support. >> there's no firstly information on whether either of the plane's two black boxes have been recovered. independent investigators will want to find them. the other priority, identifying the remains of those that host their lives and returning those remains. >> under the law ukraine would head up the investigation the obama investigation is stressing the need for a credible investigation. the hope is that icao, the international civil organization based in canada would play a leading role. ukraine agreed to offers of help from a host of groups and countries, including the u.s., malaysia and the netherlands.

all of that means little if investigators can't get the proper access on the ground. >> president obama commented on the internet today saying what happened to flight 17 should be a wake-up call to the world. the u.s. says it convinced a russian-made missile fired and shot the american airline are out of the sky. mike viqueira reports. >> the white house says it will await the results of an international and impartial investigation. on friday president obama walked to the edge of casting blame. his administration says it has not reached the final judgment. president obama left little doubt about who he thinks is responsible. >> evidence indicates that the plane was shut down by surface to air missile launched from app area celled by russian backed separatists in ukraine. >> the president laid out the evidence.

russian-backed separatists shot a ukraine transport plane and helicopter, and claimed shooting down a fighter shet. >> we know that they are heavily armed and trained and we know that that is not an accident. it is happening because of russian support. >> warning of miscommunication and tampering with evidence. the president called for a ceasefire, to allow safe and rapid access to the crash site. as president obama cast suspicion on the separatist and russia, officials insist they'll wait for a verdict from international crash experts. our focus is seeing a thorough investigation. >> u.s. officials believe investigators, if given access to all the evidence will implicate the separatist and their sponsors. a resolve that will strengthen

europe oops. >> this will be a wake up call for europe and the world that there are consequences to an escalating conflict in eastern ukraine. >> speaking of european resolve. president obama spoke to angela merkel, and david cameron. they spoke of a need to maintain the integrity of a crash site, forwarding a cover up. they talked about sanctions against vladimir putin and russia. >> mike viqueira at the white house. here is a look at the radar monitoring flights, taken within of the hour. no planes are flying over eastern ukraine. many have been avoiding the region. >> british airways, korean airlines and quantity along

those. the jet was on his way to amsterdam. this is the second time in four months. malaysia airlines is facing anger and demands. florence louie is in kuala lumpur. >> the malaysian prime minister, in his second statement on the crash of mh17 used strong words calling it inhumane irresponsible. he said malaysia are not interested in assigning blame, but they want to condemn the violent senseless act and the country's flags will fly at half mast as a sign of warning for those on board the flight. now, the transport minister earlier on friday had to field tough questions about why malaysia airlines was flying the route, despite the fact that some aviation body deemed it risky and advised airlines not

to take the flight path. malaysian airlines responded by saying it was an approved flight path and other airlines, 15 out of 16 counties in the association of asia pacific airlines used the route. we have to look at what impact this will have on malaysia airlines, the national carrier. this is the second major aviation did asker for the aircraft following the disappearance of flight mh17. >> we are learning more about the passengers. 298 died in the crash. bts has some of their -- jonathan betz has some of their stories. >> nearly 300 were on board the flight. most from the netherlands, nearly 200 passengers, including aid reachers, a nun and families going on fake vasion.

the final moments before the plane took off. no one could have expect what followed. candles flickered. memorials crew as we put faces to 298 lost. among the stories, an australian tomb returning home. >> mum and dad, we love you. we'll miss you so much. they wanted to see the granddaughter walking when they came home. >> most of the passengers were dutch, including carr line, a student and rower. >> she was positive and willing and hardworking. the only american was quinn. 19, he was a citizen of the u.s. and netherlands. travelling to meet his family. the president spoke about him. >> quinn luce ag shansman was

killed. our thoughts and prayers are with his family. at the world health organization a moment of slps. glen thomas was amongst a few heading to conference in melbourne for aides. >> what if the cure for aids was on the plan. we don't know. there's prime minister incident researchers doing this for a long time. >> there's the families on vacation. people like this woman, about to visit her 86-year-old mother. and this grandfather takes his children back home. they said goodbye to the grandparents, and headed back to

school. and for one australian family, they lost family on the malaysian airlines flight that disappeared. yesterday she found her stepdaughter and stepsop was on the night. and those that avoided tragedy. >> we were supposed to be on the flight. >> they didn't board, 298 others did. across the globe families are important apart, facing an assistanceless sorrow. >> 80 children were among the dead, an indication of how many families were on the flight. >> as you heard, the leading h.i.v. aids researchers kld were on their way to a conference in australia. courtney kealy has that part of the story. >> i'd hike to call for a minute

of silence. the world health organization confirmed the death of a spokesman, killed aboard the plane, shot out of sky. >> it is with deep sadness that we have to inform you that who lost one of our colleagues. >> thomas is one of several killed while on route. social media shared reports that possibility as map as 100 -- as many as 100 scientists, distress and researchers and members of the ad community may have been on the flight. >> the tributes lit up. it read: the conference will go ahead. president obama paid condolences. >> in this world today we shouldn't forget in the midst of

conflict and killing, there are people like these, people focussed on what could be built, rather than destroyed. it was put into words: earlier i spoke with dr rachel breeman, an h.i.v. research are and a professor of pead attics. i asked her what the loss of renowned aids researcher means to the community. >> dr langer's loss is significant. as a scientist and advocate, he spearheaded efforts to provide h.i.v. treatment in the world's poorest places. in particular his research revolutionized how we prevent

h.i.v. infections in babies. he was concerned on how to take care of children. his work was to change the cores of an ability to have app aids-free generation. >> what does this mean for aids research? >> we are a community used to mourning losses. many of us are in the fight because of the 33 million people at risk of losing their lives at h.i.v. we have lost patients, colleagues and friends. we think we'll be cata leased by these losses, to weres forward and do the work that they were strong advocates for. >> we'll look at the international aid conference. sunday, 8:30pm. here on al jazeera. the streets of gaza during an israeli invasion.

nick schifrin is on the ground. he shows us what life is like in a war zone. >> an emotional toll. what the u.s. is doing for vulnerable palestinians.

you're looking at live pictures of gaza city. it's early morning, day three of a ground offensive. israeli officials say the

invasion could expand and last two weeks. so far u.s. rail says -- israel says it hit more than 200 targets and found for than 20 tunnel entry points. two israel yits died. 370 -- israelis died. 370 palestinians. and 73 of the victims have been children. nick schifrin reports tonight from gaza. and he's been reporting since the israeli invasion began. he talks about the human element of people of gaza in the war zone. >> the violence is close, flying in above you head. there may be a ground war, but most strikes are fired from the air. the tart a television station fired from hamas.

>> hit by israeli missiles three times in five minutes. other targets are people's homes. this family was given a 2 minute warning. his home was pulverized by an air strike. everyone survived, thanks to the warning. his children are terrified. the big sister tries to console her little brother, to no avail. to find an escape kids try to be kids. in gaza they play the beautiful game in enclosed mezzanine. open spaces are too dangerous. this 12-year-old doesn't like sacer, but he needed to get out of the house. for more than a week the family keeps them upstairs, inside, because of air strikes. when you get scared what do you

do. stay in my house and don't move. >> when there's a bomb or an attack. he is scared. >> abdul's favourite distraction from the booms... ..his cannes un, a traditional middle eastern harp. it soothes him through a third war in six years. >> i'd like to live in peace. >> and to try to live with a little security he sleeps in the hallway hoping form is more peaceful than today. >> for those children living in gaza the toll is immeasurable. the relief and emergency agency helps those displaced by the conflict. the director of operations, robin turner, talks about the most vulnerable.

>> as we have seen for the last 10 days, streets are empty, shops closed. 43 schools are sheltering displaced. we have between 45 and 50,000 people sheltering in the schools. for the population, it's terrifying. the air strike comes without warning. gaza is 150 square mile. there's if 1.8 million people here, and they can't leave. when we say the displaced are coming to the school, they are moving a mile. it's not like you are in washington d.c., and somebody is going to attack it so you go to west virginia and nebraska, this is your third war if you are a 6-year-old child. i'm not seeing injured children, i see children acting like children.

it manifests in behavioural ways impacting the ability to learn. there's damage to water. hundreds of thousands of people are without running water and damage to infrastructure. in the best of times, gaza has power. you can imagine what it's like now. if they are far away you hear them. if they are closer then you feel them. try to avoid getting caught up in the statistics. whether there has been 45, 50, 60 killed, whatever the numbers in, they are lives that will not be lived. experiences that will not be had. they are young people with the same rite to life as anybody

else. we need to remember this is a human story. >> while the displaced want a ceasefire, nothing will change unless the conditions in gaza improvements. >> israel's ground all the into gaz e, what will it take. i speak to two gs guests. and u.s. intelligence used to try to figure out what happened to flight 217.

welcome back to al jazeera america. i'm john seigenthaler in new york. coming up, hunting for hamas, israel troops on the ground in gaza, rooting out tunnels and destroying equipment. russia reacting. the kremlin blaming ukraine for the flight 17 disaster. a report from moscow. and the rebel commander, a mysterious man leading pro-russian separatists and his connection to the airline crash.

israel says operation protective edge is aimed at desmantli desmantling hamas's military ability. >> the israeli sought on gaza pressed forward as rocket attacks come out of gaza. the stated objective of the israeli campaign is to launch a ground invasion stopping the ability of hamas to launch rockets out of gaza, and to target the tunnels allowing palestinians to infiltrate the israeli side of the border to allegedly sneak rocket parts and other weapons across the egyptian border, and tunnels allowing leaders and some weapons to be hidden under ground. the israeli prime minister binyamin netanyahu had a cabinet meeting in which he was authorised to accelerate the

ground campaign. the israeli military of staff said the campaign will accelerate. but both lowered expectations and binyamin netanyahu said there was no guarantee that this will be 100% successful. he went on to ta the other options, a ceasefire negotiation. without action the cries would be higher. he went on to say there are facts he kont reveem to the -- he cannot reveal to the public. some officials say tunnels have been found and could take days to exploit. all of this contributes to how the israeli army are taking a measured approach at going into gaza. there are not israeli troops in gaza city. they remained in the north and

south. how the campaign conditions is left to be seen. it is conceivable that we won't see air strikes, but possibly israeli troops there as well. >> ambassador pinkers is in tel aviv. he joins us. ambassador. let me start with this question. the death toll has risen 300. a large portion is civilian casualties. we heard from the israelis, they wanted to minimise civilian deaths. no, i don't think they failed. i think as the correspondent, as your correspondent reported a moment ago, it's a measure of operations. until now, there's not been open

battles between hamas and israeli defense forces, and there has been a very concerted effort to avoid engagement. what you see is casualties, the tragic loss and the tragic killing of children, is that population centers, where hamas uses the civilian population as human shields as israel and egypt indicated. they were aerial bombardments and mess isles in drones that have been launched previous or proceeding the ground operation which i emphasise is limited at this point. >> why do they continue to fire into the areas if they know fillons are used as human sheeds? >> that's a good question. i think that israel is doing its

utmost to minimise the friction and not go after civilian populations. in fact, the military issued in the last four days two air force to ground reports where pilots have reported that they see too many civilians in the proximity of the argument area. both missions were aborted. ahate. i hate to use those horrible words, collateral - or terms, collateral damage. this is what happened. given the volume of fire and the extent of the changes that have been going on in the last nine or 10 address. and every man is a world in of and of himself and herself. the level of casualty chris is kept at a minimum.

it sounds horrible, look i'm talking in a laboratory and simulation, and people are people are people. as military confrontations go, this has been on almost non-engagement military confrontation. i hope it stays that way. the operations have a tendency to become rolling operations. and i hope - i truly hope the level of engage. between the israeli forces and hamas - definitely the civilian population will be kept to a minimum. >> a reminder, 70 children. the israeli military handed out warnings to evacuate civilians. we heard palestinians say they have got nowhere to go. what do you say? >> i don't know about specific cases. i know the israeli military is

employing civilian populations, and we are not talking about tens of thousands, just hundreds or tens of thousands in targeted areas to evacuate, and they are given ample time to do so. all that established and employed the policy. there's bound to be a misunderstanding and miscalculations. obviously not everyone has heard of this and obviously not everyone has a place to flee. when they do flee, it doesn't mean that they will not be caught in the cross fire. it is a tragedy and something that israel, to the best of my knowledge at least, is trying to avoid at a high cost. but, as you said, some people find themselves in those zones, or in those targeted areas, and there are civilian casualties unfortunately, yes. >> thank you for getting up

early to talk with us. we appreciate it. >> linda is a palestinian american and executive director of arab america association of new york. welcome. >> thank you for having me. >> talk a little about - let me start with this. the israelis say that they have had rocket attacks fired from the palestinian areas, fired by hamas into israel, and that's why they have launched this offensive. how do you respond to that? >> the israel yi government is using collective punishment in response to the tragic killing of three teens in the west bank. this is deja vu for 2009. let's remember this is happening all over again. every day, year round, there are air strikes, and the people of gaza are always under attacks. because we don't see the headlines doesn't mean that it's

happening. the way the people are being talked about. the palestinians in gaza, he's talking as if he was hurting sheep, and there's calculations. israel has the most presencicly sofist aid equipment in the middle east. the fact they can kill four little boys in an open beach area in front of a hotel occupied by international journalist is a message that israel believes it is above the law, and are targetting civilians in parts of that or... >> they are targetting civilians. what evidence do you have of that? >> four innocent boys playing on a beach. there's no military rockets. the beach is not a hamas target. >> you don't know that they targeted childrenful. >> four kids are dead right now. >> there's no question about that. let me go back to the point - you say this is collective

punishment, and there are a number of people that call it that. but you don't think israel has the right to defend itself op attacks against its country. >> israel militarily occupies the west bank and has a siege on gaza. >> what is not the question. >> they have the right to protect civilians in land that they occupy. let's - this is not an equal and fair fight. let's be clear, when we look at the casualties in ratio to the casualties on the israeli side. you call up the numbers. they are clear. over 300 dead. 80% civilians killed among the palestinians. for me, it's hard to understand how a country that is so militarily sophisticated is defending itself against rag tag mortars that are coming out from hamas. >> do you think the majority of

the people in the palestinian areas agree with hamas's rocket attacks on israel. >> i think the people of gaza are looking for self-discrimination. they believe they have the right to resist the siege and occupation of israel. the israeli government has been feeding the government that gaza equals hamas, and hamas gaza. >> you don't think so. >> i don't believe that at all. people should not be collectively punished based on the government that they have. >> what do you think - why do you think hamas related the ceasefire from egypt? >> it was a negotiation between egypt and abdul fatah al-sisi's government of the they have been hostile last year. it was a deal brokered and they

were never consulted. hamas said they were not consulted on the ceasefire. if you want a ceasefire between two parties, it would make sense you consult both parties. egypt agreed to an agreement including not lifting the siege on gaza. i think if you went to gaza, asking the palestinian people that left there, they want the siege lifted. israel violated the previous ceasefire agreement brokered between hamas and israel. the israeli government, i think, is trying to undermine the palestinian unity government. this is in response. they are trying to under mine what accomplishment the palestinian government has to do by uniting hamas and the palestinian authority. >> now, u.s. military satellites have been focussed on the russia

ukraine border since february. intel is providing key information on what happened to flight 17. david shuster has more. >> according to u.s. intelligence officials, the evidence of the jetliner came from a group of military satellites orbiting 22,000 above the earth. quick to detect heat sits, the satellites recorded a plume from an area controlled by russian-backed separatists. 30 seconds later a blast was detected when the missile hit the plain. u.s. analysts say they reviewed imagery equipment capable of an attack. >> russian backed separatists made no secret they produced the missile system. they showed off their weapons.

it is mounted on a reinvolving turret and launched from a vehicle with high-tech stronics. the missile is 18 feet long, guided by radar. the warhead travels at the speed of souped, so fast the pilot would not be able to see it coming. ukraine's military as the system. ukranian intelligence released this video showing a buk missile system in operatist hands short of a missile. the video was recorded in separatist territory, hours after the jetliner crashed. russia denies it had anything to do with the jetliner crash. >> it's traping to think they --

strange to think they can do this without russian assistance. >> based an intelligence intercepts collected after the crash analysts are convinced missile operators thought they were firing at a military plane, not a civilian jetliner. >> light 17 was carrying passengers from all over the world. leaders are calling for a thorough investigation. phil ittner reports from london. >> the move in europe is changing from shock and sorrow from the downing of the plane and moving to anger and calm for action. the first is to get teams on the ground, and it's going on for a period of time where debris is deteriorating. there are reports of theft and

leaders who want to make sure the bodies are returned to their loved ones. the second call to action is russia's support for the east of ukraine. russia said they have limited control over them, the separatist movement. they are not providing them with soldiers or arms. we heard from the british prime minister that they are starting to come to the conclusion that it was a missile and there are major questions in the british capital about whether russia had involvement or whether it was giving the military system to the ukranian separatists, whether it was giving them personal. but this call for access in the immediate term. what will be interesting to see is whether this was a watershed moment when the europeans take a stronger not for actions against

russia and business sectors and military sectors. it's something the military wanted them to do for some time. we know the president has been on the phone with angela merkel and david cameron, calling for stronger sanction, there's a mood of intense anger, and that may result? a resumed drive towards trying to get harder sanctions. >> phil ittner reporting from london. scrooutin called the down -- vladimir putin called the downing of the plain a tragedy. rory challands reports from moscow. >> i think we'll see three different types of russian response. the first is on the higher level diplomatic stage. the kind we heard from the russian ambassador to the

security council. he blames ukraine, saying they must take full culpability because it was in ukranian air space that the disaster happen. domestically we'll see bluster. as president obama made his press conference, there was a tweet from a united russia party deputy saying that president obama was lying without plushing. thirdly, behind closed doors, there'll be deep worry in moscow. >> if any party looking into the tragedy can point the finger at the pro-russian separatists active in eastern ukraine, that puts russia in active position indeed. hugely damaging for it on an international level and it will have to make a difficult

decision. does russia support the rebels as the u.s. accused it of doing or does it died to cut them adrit. in it doesn't. there may be more damaging sanctions down the line. >> if pro-russian rebels are responsible for shooting the plane down, if they are, who gave the order. paul beban is here with more on the insurgents and their commander. >> we should emphasise that solid information about the separatist groups are tough to come by, who they are, who is supporting them. all of this remains murky. slowly but surely a portrait is emerging of the man in charge. >> reporter: he is mysterious and fear some, seep in cam influentialing fatigues and a mask. igor is believed to be a former russian intelligence agent with

a resuma of working and fighting in the shadows. . >> he has a prolific and long career as someone who has attempted in a lot of wars and campaigns for pan russian causes. >> he lived in moscow where his neighbours mu him as a po item mild mappered man. analysts say the button down personae was a front for a complicated character. >> he is an historical figure. he wrote a series of battlefield diaries for a far-right-wing newspaper. he's a romantic, you know, nationalistic figure. >> a little more than a half an

hour after malaysia airlines 777 plunged into a wheat field on thus, links to footage of a plane burning in the distance appeared on vk. there was a message reading in part:. >> the post was deleted, there are questions about its authenticity. it intensified the focus of a man many say is experienced and ruthless. orchestrating insurgencies in ukraine and those responsible. >> the big question is how much support are they getting from moscow. back in april he told his forces that they hadn't been given a single bullet. in may he asked for russian

support. whether it was a diversion, we don't know. >> if the investigation points to him, how does vladimir putin handle this? >> it's interesting. what analysts say is vladimir putin would have to put a distance between himself and the separatists. the question becomes do they continue to fight. they have the equipment and the mann power. this question of how much control moscow has gives them plausible deny ability and control. what analysts say is what vladimir putin wants. >> next a complex and potentially dangerous investigation - who is looking into flit 17 disaster, and the -- flight 17 disaster and the complicated research. plus this. >> literally bodies were falling out of the sky. >> our journalist were some of the first to rasp the site of flight 17. the disaster there.

one of their accounts of the terrible event in eastern ukraine:

. >> after a long appeared of drought in the west, we are watching wildfires build in. we have video of the carleton complex in washington state moving through the town destroying a number of oms. we have anywhere between 83 to 85 homs push in the fire. and the town was evacuated. up to 500 homs around the complex vicinity. a lot of destruction. the good news is there's slight cooling on the way and a little more umidity moving in. looking at the satellite, smoke plumes are billowing down. into eastern idaho as we get

through the day. winds will be shifting. they come out of the north-west. shifting to south-south-west. bringing the smoke into the areas of the northern most portions of the state. the washington fires, 0.4% are covering the state. it is a higher amount. 0.6% in oregon. high temperatures around the fires. the last three days in the '90s, the hundreds. wind gusts through the day will continue to be strong - 30 to 40 men's , as a new disturbance moves in, exacerbating the fire activity. al jazeera america news continues.

investigating a plane crash can be difficult and complex the

the flight 17 investigation is tougher because the fighting in ukraine. here is our science and technology correspondent. >> the carn site is unstable. it doesn't make o for an ideal investigation. here is how it would work. an investigation team, which would probably be led by the fbi if it's on american soil, with report from the ntsb would gather and set up an hy there, off the debris field. it would be a group of tents and facilities obvious by 100 investigators would be working, and they'd divvy the event no a series of committees. one is focussed on the nows lij. they draw out a diagram. there's the avionics group into the guidance system and the wiring. there's the engine group, and a group in charge of voice and

data recordings. they'll combine the findings into a report. the views large is what is going to play the key role here. typically we think about the voce and flight data being the most important thing. that's true. it's the case of a mechanical failure. that doesn't seem to be the case. it's the fuse lij that is crucial. it tells the tale. when the plane comes down it leaves a linear compact. a lot of burning and cratered impact. that's not what we are seeing here. we are seeing the disappearsal of debris over a big area. >> in addition we'll see effects such as where the engines are, if the right engine is on the rite side of the field. you know that the plane was in

its proper configuration. if they were op side sides. human being will. it's how you have to think of it. it will absorb the effects of the explosion. once they understand who everyone was, shrap them, and whether or not there were signs of burns. they'll know where the explosion was. finally they'll be looking for setler effects. all of this will be waiting quickly, there's a dangerous situation. it needs to be done with great sensitivity. that's jake ward reporting. >> al jazeera's digital journalist was one of the first to reach the wreckage site. we talked to her. it sets the scene in detail,

that some may find graphic. >> you look into the field, you see where they tried to mark where the bodies are. they stick a white ribbon or cloth, or marking part of a body. you rook across the there's white marker after markers, and it's over a huge expanse of territory. it's just unbelievable. it was almost 24 hours later. there hadn't been a lot of clean up, and the investigators hadn't gotten it to the second. it's a war zone, and a tragedy

that happened. i think no one knows it happened. we asked people in the rural area, they will say - a lot of people say we don't care for ukraine or russia, we want piece. >> to read the report or get the latest developments visit aljazeera.com. we end tonight with a memorial for the victims of flight 17, a tribute placed at the site of the crash - a candle, a rose, remembering the 298 people who perished. "america tonigh "america tonight" is next. we'll be back on monday.

>> this, is what we do.

>> al jazeera america. on "america tonight," new developments in the airliner shot down over ukraine and the search for answers. who president obama thinks did it. and the continuing questions about why. also in this hour's special coverage. mothers and children brais bracr another round acids reel invades gaza. and warns there could be more to come. ♪