we do begin with breaking news this morning. a passenger plane shot down over ukraine, 298 people killed. now, the hunt to find those responsible begins. ukraine blaming pro-russian militants, russia blaming u crane for the situation. this morning, live team coverage with new information we are learning about the crash. this morning, possible motives for the crime and the innocent passengers caught in this awful, awful cross fire. >> certainly a lot to tell you

about. >> i'm in for christine romans. >> i'm john berman. we have the latest in the attack that brought down malaysian flight 17. this jet was blown out of the sky by what officials say was a surface-to-air miss sill. right now, the evidence points to pro-russian separatists as the suspected attackers. president obama warning the world is watching as concern grows as the crime scene, the area where the plane was brought down is being compromised. our coverage of the crash begins with nic robertson. what is the latest this morning? >> reporter: just 121 bodies recovered so far. 95 search and rescue people involved by the government in

kiev. they are using 18 vehicles to get around but they are hampered in the beginning of the investigation by the fact the debris is strewn over such a large area. because the government doesn't control the area, they are hampered by armed separatist groups on the ground. we have seen evidence that the crime scene, as it's called, has been tampered with. there's a possibility of debris and wreckage being removed. the ukrainian government already established a committee to begin an investigation. malaysia and the united states have had a hand in getting the committee established. john? >> there's finger pointer going on in a serious nature. the ukrainians believe it was pro-russian separatists who shot the plane down. >> reporter: indeed. the president here and the head of the security chief presented

evidence, audio tapes, video tapes they have made that are recordings of phone conversations between separatists and what they call their russian agents. we can't verify the recordings, but indicate the separatists fired at what they thought was a ukrainian military aircraft. they have shot down two in the same area. then there's a discovery. you can hear it on the audio recordings. no, it's not a military act, it's sill v it's civilian. suitcases, holiday brochures found on the ground. this points clearly that the separatists were involved. we cannot verify the recorded phone conversations, but the government convinced it was pro-russian separatists that fired at the plane.

>> it comes at a very dangerous time, a tense time for this region. the russian president, vladimir putin not saying it was the ukrainians that shot it down says the ukrainian government bears responsibility. explain that. >> reporter: yeah, he doesn't say they are responsible for bringing the plane down. he doesn't say that the separatists shot the plane down, either. he does say the ukrainian government, because it reengaged in hostilities with the pro-russian separatists is somehow responsible for what happened here. we also know this morning the organization for security corporation in europe that's had monitoring teams here on the ground since the conflict got under way has a team headed in that area. the pro-russian separatists will get the international monitoring team access to the site there. it continues to be a very tense

situation. monitors from the same group have been held captive by the separatists in the past. john? >> let's hope they can make it to the site. what we need this morning is facts. nic robertson, we'll check in with you in a bit. >> we are our witnesses and the people who witnessed malaysian airlines flight 17 in ukraine. they are describing what they say was a gruesome scene as it exploded in the sky and it rained down in bits and pieces, not just the plane, but the people inside. one of the witnesses described the scene to cnns anderson cooper. >> the rescue crews number one priority right now. get as many bodies as they can and gather it under the gathering points. some people are walking straight by them. it's, you know, keep in mind,

it's long grass. like i said again, a really wide field and finding things like passports. >> we are waiting to find out the identities of the 283 passengers and 15 crew members on board malaysian airlines flight 17. president obama reacting to the tragedy in delaware. >> we'll offer any assistance we can to help determine what happened and why. as a country, our thoughts and prayers are with all the families and passengers, wherever they call home. >> the president has directed secretary of state, john kerry and the rest of his team to reach out to the countries directly impacted by the downing of flight 17. he released his own statement saying we are horrified by the crash. the united states government remains prepared to assist with an international investigation anyway we can and we will continue to be in touch with all

relevant partners as we seek the facts of what happened. the u.s. joined a host of countries banning flights over eastern ukraine. this morning, we learned the nationalities of many passengers and crew on board this flight. more than half, 154 were from the netherlands, heading to australia to attend the 20th international aids conference. 45 others from malaysia. 27 from australia ya. so far, we don't have any word of victims from the united states, but, but, 41 of the fatalities and nationalities remain unverified. vladimir putin, the russian president insisting ukraine is responsible for the attack on flight 17. the russian president ordered the top military officials to provide the help needed to shed light on what he calls a criminal act. the russian leader saying there's no doubt the country whose territory this happened in

bears responsibility. this tragedy would not have happened if there was peace in the country, if military operations had not resumed in the southeast of ukraine. >> they have determined the ukrainian military did not have the ability to do it. hillary clinton says the evidence looks pretty clear. >> there does seem to be some growing awareness that it probably had to be russian insurgents. how we determine that will require forensics but then if there is evidence pointing in that direction, the equipment had to have come from russia. what more the russians may or may not have done, we don't know. i read as i was walking in today to talk to you, the russian stock market dropped. there's a great deal of concern that not only was a civilian plane shot down, but what this means about the continuing

conflict in eastern ukraine and the role russia is playing. >> let's go to moscow and bring in maria. she joins us by phone. thank you so much for joining us. i want to talk about the statement and actions by the russian president vladimir putin. he said the ukrainian government is responsible for the situation that brought down the plane. however, he has not said who pulled the trigger that fired this missile. what do you make of his words so far? >> caller: what president putin implied by saying that the ukrainian government is responsible, i think, is happened in ukraine territory. other than that, i think president putin is being cautious and would not say who is to blame. he had a conversation with president obama last night, shortly after the crash and he

informed president obama. he had known about the tragedy before that. however, this conversation in itself, i think, shows president putin, right now, is being cautious, is being careful. he knows there are people pointing to russia as the responsible party and what he says is the ukrainian government is responsible. it is ridiculous to blame russia and denies like they have before, that there is any involvement of the russian military in the armed conflict in eastern ukraine. >> maria, as someone who's written several books about putin, how russian television is

covering this terrible tragedy right now because in eastern ukraine, really russian television is all they are able to get. >> caller: yes, indeed. they only receive russian television. ukrainian television is blocked. russian television tries to suggest to make statements. it is the ukrainian side that is maybe to blame for that focusing on -- many years ago when a passenger jet was hit over the ukrainian territory and it seemed, at the time, it was a military maneuver that was to blame for that. the suggestion that happened before his time, venturing some of the wildest theories. this is what russian television did not necessarily citing it

but they did not sound credible at all. >> while those theories are played and replayed on russian television, several flights and planes, military transport, cargo planes have been shot down in this region very, very recently, including over the last several days by the pro-russian separatists in eastern ukraine. is there any russian response to that so far, maria? >> caller: the russian respond to what goes on in eastern ukraine eased up. there's a brutal operation by the ukrainian government, ukrainian military. and there are people who are referred to as militants or in other ways who are fighting for their cause. going into detail is not part of the russian coverage. however, it is well known that

planes have been down several times already during this conflict by the pro-russian separatists. this, in itself, serves as indirect evidence pointing to pro-russian separatists as maybe responsible for the tragedy. >> maria in moscow, thank you for giving us an interesting perspective on the situation going on. we appreciate your time. in response to the downing of flight 17, faa expanded flight restrictions over yeern ukraine. >> there are questions about the route flight 17 pilots took on their way to kuala lumpur. most have been avoiding that air space because of this fighting below. >> indra petersons is taking a look at the dangerous air space over the region. >> good morning. it's important to know, this was not in a restricted air space. the original air space included crimea and the black sea.

nontheless, we were seeing it since only 100 flights were going in this area. since the downing, faa expanded the restricted zone. take a look during the actual incident. many planes were flying in that air space. 21 planes. it was not the only plane there. of course, since the downing of the plane, things drastically changed. two hours after, only six airlines in that region. a lot of things are changing and evolving. it was not restricted at the time. >> it is now. it will affect how people look at conflicts in the future and commercial aviation over them. thanks so much for that interesting look. we are going to follow the latest on who shot down malaysian flight 17. there are many, many developments. breaking news in gaza.

israel launching a ground assault. thousands warned to evacuate. the tanks and crew have moved in. we are live in gaza with the latest on this breaking story, next.

welcome back. breaking news right now. the shooting down of malaysia airlines flight 17 over ukraine. live pictures now of a news conference in malaysia. the officials talking about the downing of the plane and the 198 souls lost on board. let's listen right now. >> association of asia pacific airlines flight is good over ukraine. travels the same. in hours before, a number of aircraft carriers used the same route. there were no last minute instructions given to the pilots of mh 17 to change the route of the flight.

malaysia airlines released a statement which shows -- they are concerned they were all functions normally. transponder were working as normal. before i take your questions, i would like to read any attack on innocent civilians. it supports international investigations and most of all, effective by this tragedy. mh 17 was carrying 298 passengers and crew. thank you.

>> ladies and gentlemen, the floor is now open for session. we will start the questions with the local media first, following by the foreign and international. so -- yes. could you please identify yourself, your name and agency that you represent. [ speaking foreign language ]

>> you have been watching a news conference by malaysian officials talking about the shooting down of malaysian airlines flight 17. the point officials wanted to make, i think, lara is the route they were taking was one taken by other planes. european planes were in that area. there were questions of why they were over the war zone to begin with. >> especially because of what happened with the other malaysian flight airline. all systems were inspected and functioning perfectly. the aircraft had a clean bill of health. the plane was shot down.

>> he condemned an attack on civilians. when we come back, we'll show you the weapon most likely used to shoot down the plane. what terrorists, evil doers would have to do to carry out an attack like this.

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jet liner was brown out of the air over eastern ukraine. pro-russian separatists were killed in the attack. the air missile system used to take down the jet was developed by the russians. >> if you want to figure out what could have hit the plane, tough think about the circumstances of the plane at the time. it was about 32,000-33,000 feet in the air over ukraine, 30 miles away from the russian border. you cannot hit this with a shoulder fired antiaircraft missile. they are not strong enough. what you need is something much more like this. this is the antimissile system. it's one that is talked about in this case. it is a four-man unit. it has four ready-to-fire missiles on top. it can set up and fire quickly and move away after firing quickly. those missiles have a tremendous amount of power. let's bring one in and talk about that.

each one is 16 feet long. we are showing them smaller here to make it fit. it will weigh 1500 pounds and it has a 154 pound warhead on it. that means 154 pounds of high explosive. it doesn't have to hit the target, just get close to it. with electronic guidance systems, it can get very close and in a short period of time. 22 seconds from the time it's radar acquires a target to the time it can be launched. look at the speed. it travels at a top speed of 2,684 miles per hour. it could have hit a plane like this in 40 seconds or less. that means people on board would absolutely never ever see it coming. >> our thanks to tom foreman for that. i want to go back to the news conference in malaysia. they are talking about the

shooting down of malaysian airline flight 17. 20 remain to be verified. as of now, they have no knowledge of americans on board. again, 20 still remain to be verified. let's listen back into the conference. >> the airline going forward -- >> the prime minister contacted the president and prime ministers and they had several discussions. so, we will give the first to the next of kin and any assistance by the families. [ inaudible question ] >> that will be a separate issue. i will just focus on mh 17.

>> yes,. >> john starks from the uk. some airlines have decided to reroute their aircraft around ukraine. do you accept, now, that a terrible mistake has been made by allowing mh17? >> as i mentioned many times that this is an approved route. 15 out of 16, used this route. they are using this route unless -- so, all the times there is not notice of this. >> hi, i'm from nhk asia world.

i know you said the route is approved, but there's a war going on. do you think it is wise? an intent to fly family members over ukraine? >> as i mentioned, the route is the same route and most of the country are using this route. so, the next question -- >> at the moment, we do not have a plan to find the next of kin, we will comply with the next of kin of the repercussion. [ inaudible ]