audiotape. ukraine says that's russian separatist admitting to taking down the plane. vladimir putin pointing the finger right back as we learn more about those that were onboard. this morning, how was it taken down? will rebels let investigators on to the crash site? will this push the region to war. i'm wolf blitzer in jerusalem. the ground operation has begun in gaza. israel rolling into the gaza strip. >> we're not willing to beat our hostage. israel will pay a heavy price. >> i don't think it can be a solution. a special edition of "new day" starts right now. good morning and welcome to "new day" everybody. it is friday, july 18th. chris is on his way to ukraine right now. he's going to be joining us

later in the show. maciaela is on assignment and we're following two stories. wolf blitzer is on the ground in israel as they launch a ground offensive. the military trying to close off tunnels. we'll get back to wolf in just a second. he'll cover all of that for us. but, first, we must begin with the stunning realization according to a senior u.s. official that it was a missile that brought down flight 17 over a rebel-controlled part of eastern ukraine. >> 298 people were on that flight when it was shot from the sky. most of the passengers have been identified. none so far are american. ukrainian officials now calling for justice. they accuse pro-russian separatists of shooting down the plane. but russian president vladimir putin is pointing his finger at ukraine, blaming its military campaign against the separatists. this disaster may only inflame

the already white-hot tensions between the u.s. and russia, as well. >> that is for sure. we'll put to work the full resources of cnn into this breaking story. let's begin with nic robertson. he's the very latest on the ground in kiev on what happened to flight 17. nic, what are you hearing on the ground? >> well, so far 121 bodies of those 298 people onboard have been recovered. international monitors, we understand, are on their way to the crash scene, not clear if they're going to be able to get access. they hope to get a hold of the black boxes and pass them to ukrainian authorities. all this began a little over 24 hours when flight mh 17 disappears from radar over eastern ukraine. erupting in a ball of flame and a plume of black smoke, malaysia airline 17 headed to kuala

lumpur. it was shot down in mid-air on the ground 298 bodies and debris scattered across eastern ukrainian fields. overnight, a newly released phone call provided by the ukrainian government purports to show a pro-russian militants revealing to a russian agent how they were the ones who accidentally shot down the boeing 777 with a surface-to-air missile system. thinking it was a ukrainian military plane. cnn cannot independently verify this phone call. further alleged evidence of pro-russian involvement an ominous message on twitter.

we warned you, stay out of our skies posted by someone claiming to be a russian-backed commander. that post later removed, not long after the plane was identified as a passenger plane. travelers from all over the world, killed. ukraine's president is calling the incident a terrorist attack. >> we ask all respective governments to support the ukrainian government to bring to justice all thesis who committed this international crime. >> reporter: and u.s. senator john mccain is laying blame right at russia's door. >> separatists could have only gotten that capability from russia and, so, therefore, the culpable party here is vladimir putin. >> reporter: but russian president vladimir putin says ukraine is to blame saying, "this tragedy would not have happened if there had been peace on that land or in any case if

military operations in southeastern ukraine had not been renewed." now, the obama administration says it hasn't been able to pinpoint precisely who was responsible for this attack so far. the government here says that fighting is still going on in that region. getting an international independent investigation seems a big challenge at this time. john? >> a big challenge, indeed, the separatists controlled the re l region and the crime scene. we have complete analysis, the response here abroad and much, much more. joining us an aincredible, richard quest, host of "quest means business." rick francona former u.s. military in syria. michelle kaczynski eand mary schiavo also a former inspector general for the department of

aviation. you're standing on a map of ukraine right now. military officials tell cnn that they do not believe the ukrainian government, that in the region where this plane went down, they do not believe that ukraine had the capabilities to shoot this plane down. explain to me why they think that and the implications there. >> the ukrainians had the capability, but not in this region. the ukrainian military has it in its arsenal. this is controlled by separatists. we know the separatists have acquired the capability to shoot this down. now you see the blame game back and forth. >> they have the capability, which means they have this missile. the buk missiles that can do this kind of damage. >> it's a radar-guided, very capable system and acquire multiple targets and engage them up to 17,000 feet.

hitting with this system is very, very simple. >> let's get over to the white house right now because what we do know is less of what we don't know after the early hours after a disaster like this. michelle is standing by. what are you hearing from the obama administration? what do they know and what do they believe at this point? >> very careful not to confirm anything we don't know and, remember, we still don't have a number of how many americans might have been on that plane, any names or identities, anything that has emerged. i think that's been interesting especially since some of the numbers come out from other countries. that's where it stands right now. i think what we expect to hear throughout the day from the white house are the continued calls from the international community for transparency and an international investigation and that means international participation with investigators from other nations on the

ground. also an emphasis that the evidence there on the scene remains securely that way until international observers and international investigators can get there and participate. that's what the president emphasized yesterday in his phone calls with the president of ukraine, the prime minister of malaysia and the president pledged all possible assistance immediately, help in any way we can, the white house said. in fact, vice president biden said that a u.s. team would be on the way and the white house said that we're ready to offer resources of the fbi and ntsb. it's unclear, though, when that team as it's been described would be leaving, would be arriving, kate. >> all right, michelle kosinski at the white house, thanks so much. stick around. nic robertson in kiev. i want you to explain to me the environment in which this is happening right now. there have been shootdowns of other planes in this region over

the last several days. >> there have. the government says that an army transport aircraft was shot down about three days ago. the following day they say one of their fighter jet aircraft was shot down in the same area pilot ejected safely and picked up by government forces safely. they also say another was shot down. surface-to-air missiles operating in that area and this is also an area that the government doesn't control. this is terrain control by various pro-russian separatist groups. no clear line or chain of command, if you will. some groups come together at certain times. they're trying to get them to speak with one coherent voice, something that's not happening.

that's confusing the situation on the ground. the other fact there, of course, the debris field is very wide and scattered. that, of course, hampering investigations, as well, john. >> the fact that the separatists have shot down planes over the last couple days coupled with this audio that nic was telling us about that points so many fingers that likelihood this was the pro-russian separatists in this area that did this. >> it happened just this morning raising a lot of questions. if there have been planes taken down in this region before, why was this air space open? i want to bring in richard quest on this exact question because you say, richard, that is a dangerous road to go down and we need to be careful. >> yes. the issue here is the flight path that the plane took. if you look, of course, at the map you'll get a very good idea of exactly that flight path. it leaves amsterdam and goes out

across western and that's where the tragedy took place. why was it taking that route? it had on different days taken different routes. on that day for various reasons whether it was taken a northern route. if this flight plane was entirely planned in advance, this wasn't made up at the moment. it was the flight path of being on airway l980 that was the flight plane it had taken. closer analysis of that flight plan shows it was an open airway. the international organization you and i have talked about this many times they are the ones that decide which of the roadways of the sky you can fly and which ones you can't. what we know, of course, in this case it was entirely right that it was taken because it wasn't open pathway. so, kate, the question really is

why the regulators didn't close that pathway. why did they allow air traffic to continue to fly over what they must have known by this stage was a dangerous area to be flying over. bearing in mind that parts of crimea and the black sea had already been closed. >> richard, also on that point, i heard you and others remind others that if we could describe it this way a major kind of highway for air traffic. they are traveling at a very different altitude than other military aircraft would be and they would be out of range. they would think of this type of most types of missiles that anyone would get their hands on. >> the ukrainians had restricted, up to flight level 30, flight level 32,000. but this plane was above that. so, it was supposedly higher than the danger zone. now, of course, this whole area has been closed by the faa.

but this whole area planes going backwards and forward. not only long haul flights going across to asia but one ceo e-mailed me last night and basically said, we have planes going backwards and forwards. dozens of planes every day over ukraine. we're rewriting their flight plans now, obviously, with new restrictions. the question, what happened yesterday is not where they right to be flying there? they were following an open pathway. the road was open and they flew it. the question is, why was the road open? why hadn't euro control and why hadn't the regulators closed those roads in that dangerous part of the world? >> that is a great question. all right, i want to bring in mary schiavo right now because a crisis on top of a crisis. who shot down this plane, how

did it happen? but the fact is that on the ground now where this plane went down, it is under the control of the pro-russian separatists there. how crucial is it to get impartial investigators to this scene to find out what really happened? >> it is very, very crucial. most important, of course, to safe guard those black boxes. someone who doesn't know what they're doing and opening them and trying to download the data could destroy it. that's a crime scene and a major, major crime scene and any piece of evidence could be crucial. bomb residue and missile residue off the various parts of the plane. the cockpit voice recorder will reveal whether or not the separatists tried to contact the plane to identify itself, to know if it was a civilian jetliner and the flight data recorders, of course, will have tell tale signs of a missile strike. the recordings probably stopped about the same time. so, just crucial. >> is the crime scene already compromised? >> yes, to a certain extent, it

already is. of course, the most important items other than the remains of the people, of course, are getting those black boxes. >> isn't it also who those black boxes go to, mary? >> get them in the right hands. >> get possession of the black boxes are so crucial. >> who even has them at this moment. >> indeed, reports that they have been sent to moscow. we don't know if that is the case at this point. that would mean impartial observers would not have their hands on them. i want to talk about a little fit for tat on who did this for who is to blame. nic robertson has been reporting a lot of the case being made by the ukrainian government that it was pro-russian separatists conversations between some of the militants and russian officials over the fact that this plane was shot down. i believe we have some more audio right now that i would like to play. let's listen.

>> all right, nic robertson for us in kiev, ukrainie officials that listened to that audio. >> you almost sensed they were shocked when they realized that it was civilian plane. >> nic, seems like a matter of fact conversation from people on the ground who did not realize what they'd done. >> john, if you're talking to me, that certainly seems to be the case and this is we're not able to independently verify the recordings but certainly the way the ukrainian government here understands it and this material could now be evidence in what

one ukrainian official is calling an international war crime. calling for the people to be tried for this, for this shooting down of the malaysian airlines flight mh17. so, at the moment, this is not just, not just evidence for the government, but they're saying this could be evidence that could be used against those very people you hear speaking, whether or not it was an accident, they're saying these people are culpable and should pay a penalty and should face justice, john. >> now, nic, let me ask you, we could call it a theory, definitely being viewed by many as a conspiracy theory that is out there and published by russian media outlets and at this point we have to talk about everything and get your take on it. the russian president vladimir putin's plane was flying the same route as this malaysian flight 17 that the planes looked very similar that, of course,

suggesting that whoever shot down this plane could have been targeting vladimir putin's plane. are you hearing anything about that on the ground? >> it's certainly not something that the ukrainian government here is talking about. they've been very clear and very singular in what they believe and that is to blame pro-russian separatists in this case. we do understand that there are international monitors who are closing in on the crash scene. these are military monitors, not international investigators, but they do hope to be able to gain control of the data recorder boxes. again, these are people, the same organization, the organization for security and cooperation in europe whose monitors have been taken prisoner by some of the pro-russian separatists and held in some cases for a number of days and number of weeks. not clear what their authority would be if they could get access to this site.

but if you will, rumor, that there was another flight on the track belonging to the russian president, that is not something that has any currency that we're hearing in kiev, the capital of ukraine at the moment, kate. >> absolutely important to point out those contradictions when we're hearing them because we're sure hearing a lot of different reports. mary schiavo and nic robertson and we're going to have much more covering of this tragedy on the show but also coming up next on "new day" the other major story we're following. israeli boots on the ground in gaza. continued rockets from hamas and wolf blitzer has been on the ground doing amazing reporting and he is going to be joining us and help us understand what's happening now and what happens next. our clients need a lot of attention.

there's unlimited talk and text. we're working deals all day. you get 10 gigabytes of data to share. what about expansion potential? add a line anytime for 15 bucks a month. low dues... great terms... let's close. introducing at&t mobile share value plans... ...with our best-ever pricing for business. and other car insurance companies? yes. but you're progressive and they're them. -yes. -but they're here. -yes. -are you... -there? -yes. -no. -are you them? i'm me. but the lowest rate is from them. -yes. -so them's best rate is... here. so where are them? -aren't them here? -i already asked you that. -when? -feels like a while ago. want to take it from the top? rates for us and them. now that's progressive. call or click today.

lactaid® is 100% real milk? right. real milk. but it won't cause me discomfort. exactly, because it's milk without the lactose. and it tastes? it's real milk! come on, would i lie about this? [ female announcer ] lactaid. 100% real milk. no discomfort. come on, would i lie about this? can you fix it, dad? yeah, i can fix that. (dad) i wanted a car that could handle anything. i fixed it! (dad) that's why i got a subaru legacy. (vo) symmetrical all-wheel drive plus 36 mpg. i gotta break more toys. (vo) introducing the all-new subaru legacy. it's not just a sedan. it's a subaru. help keep teeth clean and breath fresh. with beneful healthy smile snacks. with soft meaty centers

and teeth cleaning texture,it's dental that tastes so good. beneful healthy smile food and snacks. amam rich. my social circle includes captains of industry, former secretaries of state, oil tycoons, and ambassadors of countries known for their fine cheeses. yes i am rich. that's why i drink the champagne of beers. ♪ hooking up the country whelping business run ♪ ♪ trains! they haul everything, safely and on time. ♪ tracks! they connect the factories built along the lines. and that means jobs, lots of people, making lots and lots of things. let's get your business rolling now, everybody sing. ♪ norfolk southern what's your function? ♪ ♪ helping this big country move ahead as one ♪ ♪ norfolk southern how's that function? ♪

welcome back to "new day." i'm wolf blitzer in jerusalem. deadly clashes intensify as israel launched a major ground offensive into gaza. operated on the ground across the gaza strip. the israeli army confirming one of its soldiers have already

been killed along with nearly a dozen palestinians, the military is calling terrorists. hamas warning israel will pay a very heavy price for this invasion as they call it. cnn's carl penhaul is joining us live from gaza with more this morning. what is the latest there, carl? >> wolf, the area where we have been staying in gaza city throughout the night was rocked by repeated heavy explosions from israeli air strikes coming from the ground, from the air and from the sea. hamas militant wing says that they are engaged in ground-to-ground fighting with those israeli infantry men who have come across the border and now we're outside the hospital. this is where casualties are being brought and we know from palestinian health officials that since the ground invagdz started, at least 24 people have been killed and more than 200 others have been wounded. but, let's take a look at what

has happened so far. one israeli soldier confirmed dead, the crisis in the middle east boiling over. israeli tanks crossing the border into gaza, escalating the conflict with hamas. israeli officials say they ordered the ground assault in order to destroy tunnels dug from gaza into israeli territory. authorities say earlier thursday 13 hamas militants used a tunnel to attack, they were stopped by the israeli military. the ground invasion follows ten days of israeli bombings in gaza, killing more than 260 people, most of them civilians. israel says its aim was to stop hamas from firing rockets into the country. all of this comes on the heels of one of the worst evenings of violence in the region, after tempered humanitarian cease-fire

continued. palestinians blame an israeli air strike for killing three children playing on the roof of their home. the israeli military says its investigating. in all seven children were killed in the span of three hours after air strikes resumed, according to the gaza health ministry. hamas immediately condemned israel's incursion and the group's spokesman telling cnn, "israel will pay a heavy price for it and adding in a later television appearance that the group's military forces are far stronger than during previous conflicts with israel. saying "the resistance will confront the israeli ground invasion and will defend the people of gaza." spend its time and money since the last confrontation investing in new tactics and new technology that they hope to employ in this ground fight now under way against the israeli

military we have to see how that goes because israel's worst nightmare, of course, putting out heavy casualties and getting bogged down in a ground war on the gaza strip. also what we have to keep our eyes on, the impact on the civilians and the gaza strip, no bigger than las vegas and no bigger than detroit. the borders are sealed. this is a civilian population that has no place to run, no place to hide. wolf? >> carl penhaul on the scene in gaza, carl, thanks very much. let's get the israeli response. mark, thanks for joining us. when you hear a report like that from karl penhaul so many have tragically been killed in this operation. >> we say we didn't want to be here. we accepted earlier this week an egyptian cease-fire proposal, a proposal supported by the arab league and by the united nation. supported by the palestinian

government of mahmoud abbas. they said no to a cease-fire on tuesday and the same on thursday and on thursday when the rockets continued to be raining down on our cities, we are forced to act. forced to act to protect our people. >> the operation itself, you're going after the palestinian, the hamas tunnels that go into israel and now expanded. the prime minister says this is going to be a bigger operation. what does he mean? >> you're correct. at the moment the operation is focused on those tunnels. we don't want to see terrorists pop up on our side of the frontier and spread mayhem and murder. we stopped them. a whole system of tunnels that have to be dealt with and that can only be done on their side of the frontier. also involved with dealing with the missiles and launching sites with those rockets that are running down on our cities being launched from. as to expanding the operation, that will take a decision we're ready to do so and called up reserves and that is still ahead of us. >> when you say this could go on

and on and on, this could last a few hours, if not weeks. >> we'll do what needs to be done to protect our people from the rockets coming into gaza. we thought about this very carefully. sending israeli soldiers into harm's way. we know the dangers involved for our people and we know the dangers involved from escalation. when hamas slammed the down shut, we have to act to protect ourselves. >> how fierce is the hamas resistance to the israeli opization? >> no one in israel underestimates the hamas military regime. they have spent energy and resources, a lot of those resources coming from iran to build a formidable military machine. and we don't underestimate the power. the mere fact that they can shoot rockets into tel aviv and jerusalem. we know what we are up against and we will reveil and act to

dismantle the hamas military machine and hamas will understand when this is over that they cannot shoot rockets. >> israeli delegation just came back here to jerusalem. they were in cairo meeting with officials as far as the cease-fire is concerned. is a cease-fire now off the table? >> hamas slammed the door to the cease-fires. >> can it be revived? >> one way or another, this will end and the people of israel will not live in fear. that's our bottom line. >> on the cease-fire, can the egyptians with connection with people in qatar or turkey or united nations, can they receive a cease-fire? >> our goal is actually very simple. and it's defensive. we want a sustained period of quiet for our people. >> so if hamas tomorrow or today even would say no more missiles or rockts coming into israel,

would you pull out the israeli troops? >> hamas could say something and do something else. we also don't want to give hamas a time-out because they could lick their wounds and then rockets on israel tomorrow or the day after. we're looking for sustained period of quiet. >> israeli military officials have told me they want to destroy as much as possible because they anticipate pressure for cease-fire will grow. is it accurate analysis? >> we are acting today our military to take apart hamas' terrorist infrastructure that is happening as we speak. when this is over and hamas and the hamas leaders come out from their bunkers deep underground the terrorist machine they once commanded very little left of it. >> i know he's meeting with his cabinet right now and we'll continue to get updates. thanks very much. >> my pleasure. >> there you have it, kate. this will continue. i see no opportunity in the next

few days for a cease-fire. diplomats will be working to achieve it, but that does not look very likely, at least not now. >> seems clear at this mome. wolf, you're on the ground as things change and they do change very quickly as we've seen since you've been there in israel. coming up next on "new day," who shot down malaysia airlines flight mh17. the latest on the investigation and the grim recovery effort that is now under way and international outcry in response to this tragedy. we're covering the breaking news from every angle for you. we'll be right back. layer upo, so destroy these layers with listerine®. its unique formula penetrates these layers deeper than any other mouthwash. for a cleaner, healthier mouth, #1 dentist recommended listerine®. power to your mouth™.

the ambulance racing by you. the ambulance chaser... chasing the ambulance. a rollerblader with headphones who's oblivious to everything. the cab driver who's checking out the rollerblader. it's 360 degrees of chaos out there. but with driver-assist technology, including a blind spot system and a rear-view camera, the ford fusion will help tell you when it's coming. ♪

♪the ford fusion will help tell you when it's coming. i voted for culture... ...with a 'k.' how are you? i voted for plausible deniability. i didn't kill her, david. and i voted for decisive military action. ♪ xfinity presents the people's hotlist where you choose this summer's top 100 shows and movies. and all you have to do is watch with xfinity on demand.

now through july 23rd. vote! welcome back to "new day." it is friday, july 18th. we are following two huge breaking news stories for you this morning including israel's ground offensive into gaza. one soldier has been killed as the military targets tunnels being used by hamas militants. we'll get much more on that, coming up. first, more on the malaysia airlines disaster. ukraine has now closed air space over rebel-controlled areas in the eastern part of that country and now that a u.s. official has confirmed the worst fears, that it was a missile that shot down malaysia flight 17 killing 298 people. most of the passengers have been

identified so far, no americans. the blame game well under way, unfortunately ukraine officials calling for blood. they accused pro-russian separatists of shooting down the plane, but russian president vladimir putin is quickly firing back. the military campaign in the area that is to blame. the united nations security council, including russia, set to meet as countries step up the pressure on the separatists to let impartial inspectors reach this site safely. we are putting the full resources of cnn into our breaking news coverage. we are back now with our excellent panel, senior international correspondent nic robertson in kiev and richard quest, our military analyst, rick francona and michelle konsinski and mary schiavo.

nic, i want to start with you. ukrainian intelligence is now saying that not only are the black boxes from this flight in the possession of russia in moscow, but also somehow the missile launcher, perhaps the buk missile launching device that fired this missile that brought down this plane. what are you hearing, nic? >> that's something, that, obviously, is going to point the fingers very firmly at the russian separatists here backed by russia. this is the situation all along from the ukrainian authorities and released audiotapes that purport to show pro-russian seprists talking to what they call their russian handlers. this is the narrative of responsibility for the shootdown the government is painting very clearly here. this new information that the government says it has that the black box recorders are now already in moscow, that moscow

has the launching device, if you will, again, paints a very clear picture. a picture that the government here is trying to put across almost since the get go, almost for the whole 24 hours since the plane was shot down. hearing the confirmation of that from moscow and hearing what moscow intends to do with those devices, will it pass them to the expected chain of command, the expected government responsibility ukraine. all of that is unclear. until we hear from the russian authorities on this confirming this information, it seems at the moment it's just more that we have from the ukrainian authorities that needs further inquiring and investigation, john. >> all right, nic, thanks so much. let's on this very point bring in rick francona. rick, what do you make of what you're hearing from nic on the

ground. ukrainian intelligence has this information. >> they're good in their territory. they have good sources there and also been able to get the signal intelligence data, they were able to get that translated and broadcasted. they are monitoring this very carefully. >> what do you make, sorry, i have to read it off my blackberry here. from ukrainian intelligence they believe the missile launcher, they believe the mislaunchmissi launcher is now in russia and destroyed. >> every one of the missile launchers have their own radar. they're very easily detectable and unique signature. if you can get your hands on the radar, we know what the signature is of the radar that hit that aircraft. if they can get their hands on it, we can definitely say it was this launcher that did it. the s the separatists didn't want us to know that. get it out of there and destroy

it. >> even if it's in russia. >> joining us now here in studio is debbie wasserman schultz, leader in the house of representatives in so many ways. congresswoman, what are you hearing? what is the latest you've been told? >> well, what we've been told is, obviously, what we already know that this was a plane, you know, a commercial airline shot out of the sky in an area where there are russian separatists that are in disputed territory and that have been the subject of the reason that we've imposed economic sanks. what's critical right now from our perspective in the united states is that there be an immediate international credible investigation. >> do you think, do you have confidence that will happen? that is a big question right now even getting international monitors to the area is a big question. we heard from the president and every nation involved calling

for the same thing. you have confidence that is going to take place. >> i'm not sure we have confidence at this moment. ukraine has accepted the united states offer of fbi and ntsb investigators. they're en route now in the role of advisors. this is an area controlled by separatists. if they were the perpetrators, then, you know, there is some uncertainty and doubt whether there is going to be, that they will allow a credible international investigation. there also needs to be a cease-fire. ukraine has offered a cease-fire, but that cease-fire is a two-way street. and then, of course, we need to make sure that a full investigation takes place so that we can get to the bottom of what happened and perpetrators are brought to justice. you know, of course, this is all in the atmosphere of a very delicate relationship that we have with russia. >> let's talk about that relationship. what kind of pressure would you

like to see the administration now put on vladimir putin in this crime and what more pressure would you like to see over the conflict that is now raging in eastern ukraine? >> we have a delicate relationship and we work with russia in areas making sure iran is not allowed to achieve their goal of a nuclear weapon and then the temporary negotiations that are on going and worked with them to bring all the chemical weapons out of syria and disarm that country in that way. what we need to see here is for russia to be fully supportive of a cease-fire. they certainly have significant influence over the separatists and can have a great deal to do with whether a cease-fire happens and they should be fully supportive of a full and credible international investigation. we just levied economic sanctions against russia because there has not been, not only

been not only a de-escalation of the violence, it's pretty clear their support for the separatists have included arming themt and, in that case -- >> that's what i want to ask you. i think at this point john mccain has come out very quickly to say that he is pretty darn sure that the separatists have not had this capable, if it is a separatist they would not have the capability without the help of russia. without russia allowing weapons in and russia made weapons being allowed to be brought in. at this point, i mean, let's be frank, is this russia's fault? >> i don't think we're prepared to connect these dots correctly. increasing economic sanctions it's been because it's clear that russia has been arming those separatists and increasing the strength in their ability. >> is this proof, though, that the sanctions haven't had enough teeth? >> we just added pretty serious economic sanctions.

we have been doing that in an v escalating way and we have to make sure we do so with the information that we have and, again, balancing it with a delicate relationship we have with russia where they are a member of ours. >> we want to bring in wolf because we also want to, sorry to hit you with all the news that we've got. real quick, do you have word yet that any americans were on this flight? >> at this point we don't know if there were americans on the flight. my conversations with the state department and the administration, it's still not clear. >> as kate was just saying, this is just one of two major breaking stories developing this morning. the other one is the israeli invasion, the ground invasion of gaza. we want to bring in wolf blitzer right now who is live in jerusalem to join this conversation. wolf? >> congresswoman, i know you're a very strong supporter of israel, are you comfortable with what the israeli government and the israeli military is doing in gaza given the large number of

civilian casualties that clearly have emerged? >> i know israel takes every step that they can to avoid civilian casualties and that's what we've communicated and i know secretary kerry has communicated that to netanyahu, but there's no question that israel has the right to defend itself. no country should be in a position where they have to repeatedly take incessant launching of missiles into their territory unprovoked. i mean, there are israeli families sleeping with their shoes on, literally, because they never know at a moment's notice when they have to leap out of bed and run to a bomb shelter and also no question where these rockets and missiles are coming from. so, there has certainly been every attempt and israel has agreed to scease-fires and hama it has been suggested by mahmoud abbas' lieutenants that hamas

has made unreasonable demands for their demands that they would agree to at a cease-fire and at a certain point israel has the right absolutely to go in and take out the origins of where these missiles and rockets are coming from. but, of course, the goal should always be and i'm confident is to avoid civilian casualties. wolf, i think hamas has a track record of using civilians as human shields in these conflicts and that is absolutely unconscionable and that's where any criticism, a lot of criticism about civilian casualties can be directed. >> do you think the secretary of state john kerry and maybe the president himself should get more immediately involved to, "a," get a cease-fire and then, "b" reviving what used to be called the peace process because that peace process for now seems to be dead.

>> israel as a sovereign nation has the right and it's completely understandable that she'd be doing everything she could to defend her citizens. remember, the united states and israel have a very significant and close knit daily relationship in terms of military and intelligence cooperation. i mean, we are talking literally to israel every day at every level and depth in terms of military and intelligence cooperation and secretary kerry, as i said, just spoke to prime minister netanyahu. this is not an instance in which we have to suddenly initiate communication about whether, about where we are in the peace process. i think it's pretty clear that the peace process, you know, we're not at the point where we can can consider that it should be restarted. what we absolutely have to ensure is that the violence stops, that israel should have every expectation that her citizens would be safe and not

subject to unprovoked rocket attacks. if there is a restarting of the peace process, that a cease-fire has to be agreed to and the unity government that fatah and hamas have agreed upon, hamas has to agree that israel has the right to exist and they have not been clearly been able to do, which we see unfolding in front of us. >> this military operation is about to escalate and get even more intense. >> thank you, wolf. we appreciate it. we're also following all the developments right now over eastern ukraine where mh17 shot down yesterday. our chris cuomo has just arrived in kiev. he is on the scene there on the ground getting miked up, as we speak. we'll bring you to chris as soon as he's ready to go. we're joined in the studio by

mary schiavo and ntsb inspector. this scene right now, this scene where the plane crashed is under the control right now of pro-russian separatists. we're hearing that the black boxes, according to ukrainian intelligence, are already in possession of moscow. what does that do to the investigation? >> well, it's going to compromise the investigation and that comment based on past history and the shootdown and in the previous korean airliner shootdown by russia five years before that. in both cases there was great discussion and disagreement over whaum what happened. attempts to identify the plane as a commercial jetliner before shootdown and all that was on the black boxes and they were hidden, the russians kept them and, in fact, denied their existence and what was on them for years. so, it could greatly compromise the situation. you know, there are other

investigators other than the ntsb if they have an issue with the united states, the australia aaib, of course, they're very busy with mh370 and the british. so many communities that can do the job like the ntsb, if they have an issue with us, one of those need to get in there and do it right. >> when they can get in there. that remains a huge question and we are getting, 12 hours out, approaching 24 hours out from when this happened. no one really that is independent, we can say, is yet on the ground. what is the first thing they need to do or establish in order to try to salvage this investigation? >> control. the first thing they have to do is secure the site and that's one of the requirement s of an accident investigation and it is not being complied with at this point. controlling the site and then systematically gather the evidence and, most of all, take care of the remains and protect

the remains of the humans. >> you say that's the single most important thing. the one thing we do not know if it will happen at all at this point. >> often the easiest and fastest thing that happens. not often does any kind of this tragedy happen in such a disputed area. >> we have seen pictures of this area. we have seen pictures of the wreckage right now. and it does seem like we will get more evidence from military analysis and intelligence of what actually happened to this flight. so, do you need the black boxes? what would the black boxes then tell you that we won't be able to find out on our own? >> in this case with the wreckage and all the information out there included with the intercepted phone calls, the black box is pinpointed down and a tell tale way they will sound. if it's an explosion mid-air they will stop recording and any chance at all anyone tried to ascertain this is civilian flight on the cockpit voice

recorder and also how much time they had, if any. to tell you what happened, yes, from the debris field and the sites and the information and evidence they already have, investigators will have a pretty good idea. but the black boxes are always the best and the most important evidence. >> let's get over now and i think chris is on the ground miked up in kiev after a long day of travel, chris, i know that you're on the ground there. the first thing that we're seeing is that the fingerpointing is continuing and the u.s. making clear that they believe at this point this was shot down by pro-russian separatists. what are you hearing on the ground in kiev? >> well, the good news is that here in kiev life is very stable. this is very largely a situation that's going on in the eastern part of the country and, obviously, as we all know, ukraine is the largest by land country in europe other than russia. so, this is a very far away

aspect. one of these kind of makeshift sta stockaid that has been left to keep a level of quiet. however, the propaganda campaign is very red hot right now. fingers being pointed by separatists saying the ukraine military did this. there's a propaganda thread out there very popular among separatists or militants, depending on how you see them. that this was done by the ukraine military taken down by this plane and they thought it was vladimir putin's plane. no factual basis for that at this point. they don't believe ukrainian military has the capabilities, the military assets in that area of the country to even do something like that. so, that's one level of it. on the ukrainian side, it's the question of, well, was this done by militants or was this done by militants with help of the russian government? now, the russian government, of

course, has denied that altogether, however, they have not denied that it was done by militants which at this point seems to be most likely. the really bad news other than the ultimate tragedy of this plane being taken down and the 298 lives lost is that now on the ground there things are very unstable. the ukraine military is not in control. that means that while they're calling for international response and allow humanitarian bodies to come in, there is real no agreement among tillitants for who is going to make the decision that this is okay. there is violence in the east and when we try to get there later on today, udon't know the one checkpoint is controlled by somebody by you being there. very unstable and the area is being looted and the debris field is being compromised and the black boxes in moscow and we hear whatever assets used were taken back into russia and those are all concerned of that region of the country.

but here in kiev, life is stable and that's good news. >> good that you are on the ground and we'll get right back to you. the families of the 298 folks, people onboard, they are still waiting for answers of what happened to their loved ones. chris, straight back to you. let's get straight to a break, though. more continuing coverage of malaysia airlines flight 17. how does ukraine respond now and does this change the dynamic of the fight against the separatists? ukraine's foreign minister will join us in our next hour. more breaking news. tensions escalating in the middle east as israel launches a ground offensive against hamas. we are live in gaza with the very latest. narrator: this is the storm sea captain: there's a storm comin narrator: that whipped through the turbine which poured... surplus energy into the plant which generously lowered its price and tipped off the house which used all that energy to stay warm through the storm.

chipmunk: there's a bad storm comin! narrator: the internet of everything is changing how energy works. is your network ready?" thank ythank you for defendiyour sacrifice. and thank you for your bravery. thank you colonel. thank you daddy. military families are uniquely thankful for many things, the legacy of usaa auto insurance can be one of them. if you're a current or former military member or their family, get an auto insurance quote and see why 92% of our members plan to stay for life. really... so our business can be on at&t's network for $175 dollars a month? yup. all five of you for $175. our clients need a lot of attention. there's unlimited talk and text. we're working deals all day. you get 10 gigabytes of data to share. what about expansion potential? add a line anytime for 15 bucks a month. low dues... great terms...

let's close. introducing at&t mobile share value plans... ...with our best-ever pricing for business. now get the unmistakable thrill... and the incredible rush... of the mercedes-benz you've always wanted. ♪ [ tires screech ] but you better get here fast... [ daughter ] yay, daddy's here! here you go, honey. thank you. [ male announcer ] ...because a good thing like this... phew! [ male announcer ] ...won't last forever. see your authorized dealer for an incredible offer on the exhilarating c250 sport sedan. but hurry, offers end july 31st. share your summer moments in your mercedes-benz with us.

breaking news on two major fronts, the attack on malaysia airlines flight 17. the u.s. says it was shot out of the sky over a rebel-controlled area in ukraine. all 298 people onboard were killed. ukraine blaming pro-russian separatists releasing an audiotape that said to be them

talking about taking the plane down. russian president vladimir putin pointing his finger at ukraine. saying the government bears responsibility for the tragedy. this morning, what we're learning about those who died onboard. how was the plane taken down and will this push the region closer to war? chris cuomo is in ukraine. i'm wolf blitzering in jerusalem. israeli tanks and troops rolling into gaza. >> no one takes the decision of putting ground forces into combat gaza likely. >> palestinians say israel will pay a heavy price for the military offensive. >> there is no military solution to this. when the rockets stop, the siege does not stop. a special edition of "new day" starts right now. good morning, welcome once again to "new day." it's friday, july 18th. chris is in ukraine and we'll get to him in just a moment.

just on the ground. michaela is on assignment and following two breaking news stories today. wolf blitzer in jerusalem as israel steps up operation sending troops into gaza. military is targeting tunnels being used by terrorists targeting israel, but civilians are still in harm's way. we're going to get back to wolf in just a minute, he's covering all of that for us. first, calls of justice from malaysia after a missile brought down one of its plane. a u.s. official says it was a missile that shot down malaysia airlines flight 317. the plane fell in a rebel-controlled part of eastern ukraine and officials there say both black boxes and the missile launcher have now been taken to russia. that development just a few moments ago. 298 people lost their lives in this disaster. so far no americans believed to be onboard. ukrainian officials accusing pro-russian seprists of shooting down the plane. the ukrainian prime minister but

vladimir putin says ukraine shoulders the blame because of the military campaign against the separatists. now the question looms, will tensions escalate even further and how will ukraine respond with its border with russia lurking ominously miles from this site. begin breaking news coverage with chris live from kiev this morning, chris? >> hey, kate, john, how are you? a lot of fluid information on the ground here. obviously, fingerpointing, the only thing we know for sure is that those 298 lives appear to have been lost. nobody has been recovered alive so far. news about how many bodies have been recovered and then the intrigue on how this happened. here in kiev, life is very much as normal. the news very disturbing. fears of escalation are very real. a vestige of stockade built

during the revolution. but out east a completely opposite reality. the military not in control. in fact, no particular faction of militants in control, so, it's very unsafe there. unsafe for those on the ground. let me bring in nic robertson, very fluid in changing but we have some things that we can report. first, what do we know about how many bodies have been recovered? >> latest information 181 bodies recovered. 121 just a few hours ago, that recovery effort is under way. what's unclear at the moment is who precisely is actually recovering them. we know that the government has an unknown number of rescue recovery and investigators in that area. they are saying they have limited access, however. >> they're having difficulty moving through checkpoints because different militant groups. they were reporting back in new york, i heard john saying the boxes are rumored to be back in

moscow and ukrainian authorities can't control that. you're hearing the same. >> we're hearing the same and the international monitors have been monitoring the military situation on the ground here. they are trying to get a team close to the crash site. they may be a few hours away. these are the same people who were held captive in the past by the pro-russian separatists. not clear if they'll get access to the site, but they made one of the priorities when they get to the site to try to ascertain if they can get the black boxes. >> give you the latest information from his office, we're hearing they believe they can show, nic, russian military has had involvement in terms of giving the type of military assets to bring down this plane to the militants. >> they may have given some of that evidence already. they released audio recordings between the militants and the pro-russian handlers. the plane went missing now and almost 24 hours ago when it

disappears from the radar. >> you have been doing some reporting here. set up your package for us. >> the plane was passing through the air space here, really, 24 hours ago, almost to the minute that's when the plane disappeared from the radar and that's when this began. erupting in a ball of flame and a plume of black smoke, malaysia airline 17 headed to kuala lumpur. the u.s. says it was shot down in mid-air. on the ground, 298 bodies and debris scattered across eastern ukrainian fields. overnight, a newly released phone call provided by the ukrainian government purports to show a pro-russian militant revealing to a russian agent how they were the ones who accidentally shot down the boeing 777 with a surface-to-air missile system. thinking it was a ukrainian military plane.

cnn cannot independently verify this phone call. further alleged evidence of pro-russian involvement, an ominous message on twitter, we warned you, stay out of our skies posted by someone to be a russian-back commander, that post later removed not long after the plane was identified as a passenger plane. travelers from all over the world killed. ukraine's president is calling the incident a terrorist attack. >> we ask all respective governments to support the ukrainian government to bring to justice who committed this international crime. >> reporter: and u.s. senator

john mccain is laying blame right at russia's door. >> the separatists could have only gotten that capabability fm russia and therefore the culpable party is vladimir putin. >> reporter: saying ukraine is to blame, saying this tragedy would not have happened if there had been peace on that land or in any case if military operations in southeastern ukraine had not been renewed. and you have to remember the context here. this is a horrible tragedy of this airplane going down. 298 lives within a larger tragedy of this conflict that is still very much ongoing. it's faded from media recognition because of what's going on in israel and else where in the world. but it's still very hot in the exact area where this plane went down. now, nic, two big issues.

one, how are we going to get over there to see what's going on and how are the rescues going to get in there and the recovery people. how unsafe for them at this point? >> absolutely anyone's guess. you are saying you don't know when you get to different checkpoints. different chains of command. a hodgepodge of different separatists groups. when you go to one checkpoint, you don't know what will happen. the separatists saying they will assist but at the outset of this, the rescue recovery team were delayed in getting in. they continue to say they have on the ground and we have from the ukrainian military and security today saying just in that area alone the fighting continues and there have been 19 separate incidents of ongoing conflict there. gun battles and this is the picture of what investigator is going to face when they go in there. >> usually you talk about preservation of the scene and how good of an investigation. here, active fighting going on and sounded like being back in

iraq. team up with some militants and make sure they host you and sponsor you through the area and otherwise you won't be safe and through all the trouble and difficulty, the ukraine military. >> they want them involved in finding them to get involved in the investigation. they say that the malaysians, the dutch, the united states already been involved in helping set up a commission here for the investigation. >> and to remember what nic had told us, 128 bodies recovered and now about 180 bodies recovered. but the efforts of humanitarian aid, the foreign minter of ukraine just showed up. for now, back to new york. >> thanks so much, chris, we'll get back to you in a second. we want to dive in more. joining us, cnn aviation correspondent rick francona and cnn white house correspondent michelle kosinski and mary

schiavo. colonel, i want to start with you on the map of ukraine. u.s. administration officials telling cnn that they do not believe in the area where this plane was shot down that the uy ukrainian government had the ability to do it. talk to me about these devices, though, that they used. this buk missile system. who knows how to use it? who has it? how hard is it? >> that's the big question. we know the separatists have one of these. they put it out on social media and they showed a picture of it and we noted the sa11, sa17. where did they learn to use it? stealing one might be easy but operating one is a different matter. very sophisticated system. onboard radares and several different kind of radars and you have to use the equipment and very sophisticated electronics.

you can say some of the seprists may have had military training prior to this, we don't know this or provided by the russians or, worse-case scenario, you have a russian crew using this equipment. the fact that they've taken this equipment out of there tells me that there's something in that system that they don't want us to see. >> a signature they don't want us to know much about. >> i want to get over to richard quest. we heard from the ground those eyewitnesses there. they keep talking about the area, the farmland and there is nothing there, small ukrainian town and also how massive the debris field is. what do we know? >> if you look at the debris field, you get an idea of what we're looking at. this is the thing you would expect to see from an aircraft that was fully fuelled for a long flight say from europe to southeast asia. complete and other destruction. but the experts will certainly be able to get within that. they will be able to recognize

certain parts of the aircraft. that missile, i'm suspecting, was already there. they'll be able to recognize different aspects of it. when you put it together and you look at the fragments, then you can start to work out where the plane was hit, how it was hit, but crucially the sort of massive destruction we're seeing is exactly what you would expect from a plane falling out of the sky at altitude fully fueled. >> interesting, richard. i want to go to michelle kosinski at the white house. just days ago the united states issued more sanctions against russia. after this tragedy you hear russian president vladimir putin blaming ukraine for the situation there, but doing a very delicate dance not saying who pulled the trigger exactly. michelle, the question is, what is the white house saying? what are they indicating about how they will move forward now in treating this disaster and

treating russia? >> they're also using a delicate, diplomatic and repeated language. we're hearing a lot of the same phrases over and over. very clear messages here. the white house hrepeatedly called for a full, credible, prompt, unimpeded and international saying that is critical and also vital that the scene remain safe and undisturbed. that evidence is available so there is safe and unfedered access to those international investigators and to ensure that the u.s. is calling now on all sides for a cease-fire. the white house offered ukraine u.s. experts to provide all possible assistance immediately. it's understood that ukraine accepted that offer and we could see a team of fbi, ntsb, u.s. intelligence head to ukraine and at one point the white house said a u.s. team was ready to go soon, but that is all still being worked out right now, john. >> michelle, thanks so much.

>> let's get the latest directly from ukraine. back over to chris on the ground in kiev and he has the former prime minister with him. chris? >> all right, kate, thank you very much. i am already talking to the foreign minister. we are discussing about what michelle wads saying about the white house and its commitment. you extended an invitation to the u.s. to come in and investigate and they said they would, but the u.s. is not on the ground here yet, correct sph. >> i invited the u.s. national transport safety board because of their great experience. i very much hope they will join the investigation. >> now, one of the obvious concerns on the u.s. side is u.s. people on the plane. you said you heard that there may be, but you cannot confirm that. that will be with the malaysian authorities? >> now, the big question is, why

does the ukraine believe this happened? what do you think the cause was? >> intercepted a number of phone calls between the terrorists and they are talking about shooting down the plane. >> terrorists talking about shooting down the plane and the timing was close to when it happened. >> and the message about shutting down the plane. so, it's absolutely, it's absolutely clear, it's up to us for the responsibility on that. >> so, why do you think they would shoot down a passenger aircraft? >> that i don't know. you never know what is the head of terrorists? >> nothing in the phone call to suggest a motive? >> it is, indeed, a real tragedy. >> the separatists, the militants, the terrorists, depending on your perspective. they say they blame the ukrainian government that this was an attempt to take down the president putin's plane and, you know, to basically hostile

action from ukraine to russia. how do you respond to them? >> it's ridiculous. almost all the separatists leaders are actually russian. some russian special services. if they're going to shoot putin's plane -- >> no, they're saying that you did it. the ukrainian government used their own assets to attack the russian president. that's why this happened. >> we don't have such assets on the ground because we simply don't use any military capabilities there. and we don't have such capabilities and we check it with our military forces. there's no way our forces could be engaged in any way in this incident or in any of the incidents all around. >> now, another question that is very important right now is, okay, so, if it were militants. if it was a group of militants that did it, how did they get this weapon? is it true that this type of

surfac surfac surface-to-air missile was taken by militants? >> no way. with our authorities, there is no way they could get uukrainuun assets. you can buy anti-air missile. >> an assault rifle, but this is the size of a telephone pole. >> exactly. >> you would have to be given this you would have to have special training and you're saying as far as you know, there is no buk system or similar surface-to-air missile that was taken from the ukraine military. >> not at all. given to one of the military groups. >> or probably bought by some, you know, exercise by separati t separatists. we have to find it out. >> the russian government, russian president putin says this is your fault the ukraine government because you're maintaining hostilities in that

area. you're causing this trouble and this is what happens. do you accept that? >> if you see there isn't, if you see the whole in-flow of money, weapons, heavy weaponry including tents and armored vehicles and including anti-air missile, you clearly see what's going on. so, we understand whose responsibility is that. and now it's up to russia to clearly influence on the terrorists to talk in the really effective way about the bilateral cease-fire. about being present on the ground from the very beginning and the break down on releasing hostages is critical. >> we're not hearing that from the russian government. they're saying this isn't us, this is their territory and their hostility. that doesn't give much promise for the type of actions you're

asking for. >> we need russian influence on the terrorists because, they're almost all russians with different russian security services. and, of course, it's about in-flow of weapons of masonries across the border. you have to stop it. that's why the effective control on the border is a key point for any successful settlement. >> now, the reason i'm in kiev right now is because it's too difficult to get to the eastern part of the country because it's not safe. why have you not been able to use your military capabilities to control the area? >> because it's about saving human lives. it's not about any sort of military offensive for us. our president is the president of peace. and we also proclaim unilateral cease-fire for ten days and we paint this unilateral cease-fire

and the terrorist abroad of unilateral cease-fire more than 100 times. and now we are ready any moment to proclaim bilateral cease-fire and observers on the ground and releasing hostages, of course, and with effective control of the border because we have to stop the in-flow of weapons and heavy weaponry across our border. >> you're asking for international assistance here in figuring out what took down this plane and giving the peace to the families of those lost, but you can't guarantee their safety in that part of the country, can you? >> we can negotiate with separatists for hours and it was difficult, but now the relevant government went to the place with oec observers. >> we heard there is violence going on there right now. it is hard to figure out which group of militants is saying

they want peace and which is saying, no, if you come here, you're in danger. >> exactly because they've been trying to weed out any sort of traces who is responsible for this crash. and we need to secure all kind of evidences to find out who is responsible and we are quite sure we could pull it off. >> so, the ultimate message here is that why you want to help find out what happened to this plane and identify the bodies and create the investigation, you have many other problems going on here. i mean, here in your square right in front of the church, you still have one of the blockades up from the revolutionaries here. this is a very unsettled situation. is that fair? >> it's symbolic, of course, because it's actually in our head. it's not about the signs you could see here, but it's legendary now and symbolic. we need the symbol for the new

ukraine. >> to be clear when it comes to the plane you put the blame squarely on russia, yes? >> we said from the very beginning we need transparent, unbias investigation. secondly, we need to intercept a number of phone call and we intercepted a number of messages in the internet and we now the anti-air missile and exactly the evidence that someone is trying to wipe out any sort of traces of this tragic event. but we'll definitely find out who's responsible because it's not just a tragedy, but one of the most tragic cases for the eastern ukraine at the moment for the whole ukraine. >> so if the russian authorities say we don't know anything about this, you don't believe that? >> i simply don't believe in the message that one is not

responsible for putin to the seprise separatists more and more different kind of weaponry. and history of what has to be stopped and has to be stopped now. >> everybody hopes the violence in the east stops as quickly as possible and we can get answers as to what happened to the plane. let us know how we can help while we're here. >> it was very important. let me express, once more, the deepest condolences to any relative or friends to anyone on this plane. we have been working around the globe to find out who was responsible and working around the clock to help everyone who would come to ukraine to find their relatives and friends here. it is, indeed, critical. >> thank you for taking the opportunity. >> thanks. >> back to you in new york. >> chris, thanks so much. speaking with ukrainian foreign

minister right there who made very clear he believes in no way was ukraine involved or engaged in any way in this incident, clearly suggesting that russia is somehow involved, but being very careful on laying the blame on vladimir putin. we'll cover this throughout the morning and take a quick break. coming up next, a new development in this attack on flight 17. cnn obtained new video from what we believe is inside the plane before it took off. show it to you coming up. breaking news in gaza. israel launching a ground assault. thousands warned to evacuate. our wolf blitzer will talk with a gaza resident who has been living under the threat of air strikes. that's coming up.

a body at rest tends to stay at rest...cs... while a body in motion tends to stay in motion. staying active can actually ease arthritis symptoms. but if you have arthritis, staying active can be difficult. prescription celebrex can help relieve arthritis pain so your body can stay in motion. because just one 200mg celebrex a day can provide 24 hour relief for many with arthritis pain and inflammation. plus, in clinical studies, celebrex is proven to improve daily physical function so moving is easier. celebrex can be taken with or without food. and it's not a narcotic. you and your doctor should balance the benefits with the risks. all prescription nsaids, like celebrex, ibuprofen, naproxen and meloxicam

have the same cardiovascular warning. they all may increase the chance of heart attack or stroke, which can lead to death. this chance increases if you have heart disease or risk factors such as high blood pressure or when nsaids are taken for long periods. nsaids, like celebrex, increase the chance of serious skin or allergic reactions, or stomach and intestine problems, such as bleeding and ulcers, which can occur without warning and may cause death. patients also taking aspirin and the elderly are at increased risk for stomach bleeding and ulcers. don't take celebrex if you have bleeding in the stomach or intestine, or had an asthma attack, hives, other allergies to aspirin, nsaids or sulfonamides. get help right away if you have swelling of the face or throat, or trouble breathing. tell your doctor your medical history. and find an arthritis treatment for you. visit celebrex.com and ask your doctor about celebrex. for a body in motion.

humans. we are beautifully imperfect creatures living in an imperfect world. that's why liberty mutual insurance has your back, offering exclusive products like optional better car replacement, where if your car is totaled, we give you the money to buy one a model year newer. call... and ask an insurance expert about all our benefits today, like our 24/7 support and service, because at liberty mutual insurance, we believe our customers do their best out there in the world, so we do everything we can to be there for them when they need us. plus, you could save hundreds when you switch, up to $423. call... today. liberty mutual insurance -- responsibility.

what's your policy? (water dripping and don't juspipes clanging)ncisco. visit tripadvisor san francisco. (soothing sound of a shower) with millions of reviews, tripadvisor makes any destination better. deadly clashes in gaza. israel launches a new ground operation in gaza. already one israeli soldier has been killed. the escalated effort is designed to destroy tunnels leading to israeli territory. controlling the military offensive saying they would pay a heavy price. pulling diplomats out of turkey following demonstrations at the israeli embassy there last night. let's get the palestinian perspective now. joined by a gaza resident going through the ten days of israeli air strikes, naval strikes and

now a ground assault on gaza. amas targets there. i ing living in an area under fire for several days. ramas, thank you for joining us. what is it like? give us a little flavor, briefly, what it is like during the course of the past 24 hours. >> hello. this is ramas and can you hear me? >> yes, i hear you. >> well, it has been a very, very difficult night last night and the bombardment and the air raids were from everywhere and we were not able to have any kind of sleep, actually. the air missile hit something like 20 meters away where i'm living now and it was and now

the bombing and the shellings started, again. and the fear maybe you'll hear something on there now what we're talking. >> are you in an area, ramez, where the israelis dropped leaflets and sent out, a relatively secure area? >> i'm in a very dangerous area in the upper northern east part. just near to the city and near to the university and the regional education department. and we received during the past ten days many messages on the

landline and the mobile. the last one came 5:00 this morning and it was asking us to put, asking me, i'll be very arrogant here to put pressure on the activists to drop their weapons. well, 5:00 in the morning and this is serious or just joking with us under these circumstances. >> ramez, quickly, when the israelis say get out of where you are, you're in a dangerous part of northern gaza, why not leave? >> where to, my friend? you know gaza strip. it's the density of the population is around 4,000 and inhabitant square meters and most people are living in apartment buildings and,

actually, if you tell me what is a safe area in gaza where to go to downtown or to what? well, actually, if they would like me to leave, i would be glad to stay and they like me to go there. i have no problem. or maybe we are just adjacent to the yellowstone park and they want us to go there for a week or so. this is not the case, my friend. >> ramez, be careful over there. we'll stay in touch with you. obviously, this is a very, very dangerous situation in gaza unfolding right now. and the hamas air strikes, military strikes rockets continuing into southern israel, even as we speak. ramez, thanks very much. let's get a different perspective now. joining us from capitol hill back in washington, republican representative member of the

defense appropriations subcommittee. congressman, thanks for joining us. you hear a palestinian in northern gaza express his fear, his deep concerns about what's going on. i'd love to get your reaction. >> well, frankly, obviously, it's a tragedy, but i think israel is acting in self-defense. we had an unfortunate series of incidents. these murders of teenagers on both sides. the israelis, at least to their credit, appear to have apprehended the people responsible and no doubt will hold them to justice and this raining of missiles on innocent civilians, no country is going to tolerate that. i don't know if this was designed by hamas to create an incident and i would expect the israeli military to respond and they certainly have and i think they'll do so professionally and i think they'll do so decisively. >> i know you've been critical of the obama administration on many different fronts. when it comes to israel and

gaza, what's going on right now, how do you think they're doing? >> i think they've expressed support and so did the congress and my colleague steve israel and i have pushed through the resolution supporting israeli action and i shouldn't say push through, it was voice voted and overwhelmingly supported. i think congress unquestionably supports israel. i think the administration needs to aggressively do so in this case, as well. again, when hundreds of rockets are rained down in your territory, any government in the world is going to respond. i think that's what israel is doing. >> congressman, i know john and kate have questions for you back in new york. go ahead, guys. >> thanks so much, wolf. congressman, thank you so much. i want to ask you some questions about the real tragedy that is unfolding in ukraine right now. obviously, everyone is searching for answers and still in the 24-hour range of this tragedy happening. what do you know, more importantly, who do you believe is behind this? >> well, frankly, i can't tell you i know anything more than

you do. most of the information i've received has largely come from news accounts and interestingly, this was subject to some discussion on defense subcommittee in recent hearing. i actually tend to believe the ukrainian government. i have no reason to believe that they would be shooting missiles at airplanes, as far as we know, rebels don't have any. the rebels had shot down ukrainian military aircraft in recent days. so, it looks to me like they've gotten their hands on hardware, either directly or indirectly from the russians. somebody's trained them how to use them and they've been r reckless in this case and they thought they were shooting a ukrainian aircraft and they weren't. we have almost 300 dead civilians as a result. >> it comes during a period that was incredibly tense between the united states and russia. just a day and a half ago, president obama issued new

sanctions based on their action and inaction based on the ukrainian crisis there. what more do you want to see from the administration in regards to russia? >> look, i've consistently said i think we ought to give the ukrainians a direct military assistance. i think, number one, this is a pro-western democratic society. it has a new president who has shown a considerable amount of backbone in dealing foreign sponsored terrorist activity within his territory. they requested military assists in the past and not asked us to put boots on the ground or planes in the air, but they have asked us to help them with equipment and advice and those are things i think we ought to do. this is a country that is friendly to the united states, it shares our values that, frankly, is fighting for its survival and territorial integrity against a neighbor that is unquestionably, not only bullying it, but actively supporting peaceful neighbor.

so, to me, this calls for us to do more than sanctions. >> i want to ask you much more about that. real quickly, do you believe americans were onboard? there is a question that other nations know the gnaif their ci were on board. >> i don't know if americans were on board and i wouldn't be critical of the administration if it's trying. if there were americans i'm sure they are trying to contact those families ahead of any publicity and that's the correct thing to do. >> chris cuomo is in kiev, he just arrived on the scene. i know he has question for you. chris? >> thanks, john. listening to the conversation very helpful to people and understanding what the u.s. would do next. congressman, thank you for joining us. one practical question and one political question from the ground. the foreign minister was just saying, that he reached out to the u.s. authorities to come here and investigate, he thinks

the u.s. is the best at this. the question of how the u.s. could keep its people safe on the ground here because the ukrainian military cannot guarantee their safety. what are you prepared to do if you are going to bring investigators over here to keep them safe? would you have u.s. troops as escort? >> again, i don't think there's a call for u.s. troops here. i would, if we're going to put investigators on the ground, again, i suspect we'll try to take the appropriate security measures. again, i wouldn't introduce u.s. troops into an armed conflict. i would do all i could to encourage the ukrainians to not only investigate, but protect nr international investigators. the russians are probably as shocked about this as anybody else and they know some sort of response, not only from the united states, but probably from the broader european community, as well. certainly citizens of some of our nato allies that were on that airplane. so, it's clear that pin brick

sancti sanks aren't going to get the job done. i think it calls for a stronger response. >> that leads to a very important question, congressman. i know you are very close with the thinking of leaders like house speaker john boehner. you guys are close. tell me what do you think the house, what do you think congress should be doing now? >> first, anything i say should not be taken what the speaker thinks. we have not conferred about this. we are actively considering the administration's request for what is called overseas contingency operations. it's basically how we fund our military operations outside the united states in places like afghanistan or the middle east. there's also been some discussion and a request from the administration for additional money for redeploying forces in europe in response to what the russians have been doing along their western rim. i think this is the appropriate vehicle to also add in direct

military assistance for the ukraine. i think that's an unmistakable sign that we're going to support them and that we're going to try to give them the wherewithall to defend their integrity. >> thanks for coming in, we appreciate your time, we really appreciate it. let's take another quick break and get right back to it. nearly 300 lives lost in the plane disaster over ukraine. we'll talk to someone who lost several members of his family when the plane got shot down. amamamamamamamamamamamam rich. my social circle includes captains of industry, former secretaries of state, oil tycoons, and ambassadors of countries known for their fine cheeses. yes i am rich. that's why i drink the champagne of beers. dust irritating your eye? (singing) ♪ visine® gives your eyes relief in seconds. visine®. get back to normal.

humans. even when we cross our "ts" and dot our "i's", we still run into problems. that's why liberty mutual insurance offers accident forgiveness with our auto policies. if you qualify, your rates won't go up due to your first accident. because making mistakes is only human, and so are we. we also offer new car replacement, so if you total your new car, we'll give you the money for a new one. call liberty mutual insurance at... and ask us all about our auto features, like guaranteed repairs, where if you get into an accident and use one of our certified repair shops, the repairs are guaranteed for life. so call... to talk with an insurance expert about everything that comes standard with our base auto policy. and if you switch, you could save up to $423. liberty mutual insurance -- responsibility. what's your policy?

when you're voting for this summer's top 100 shows and movies with xfinity on demand, beep, beep, beep... watch to vote for family values on family movie night. this message paid for and approved by xfinity's family hits. tell me the whole thing again, i wasn't listening.

watch to vote with xfinity on demand. for this summer's top 100 shows and movies. and remember, the only thing to fear is fear itself, and spoilers for shows you haven't seen yet. global...pandemic. ♪ mh17 malaysian airlines flight 17 shot down over ukraine. it was a crime. there are questions this morning about who shot it down and why but we cannot forget that it is a tragedy. especially for the families of the 298 people who were onboard that flight. this morning, they are mourning their relatives. they are in disbelief over what happened. we're joined by matt jones from sydney, australia. his cousin and three young

uncles were onboard when it was shot down. our deepest condolences to you and your family for your loss. no one should have to go through this. how did you first learn this plane with your family members was shot down? >> yeah. hi, john. and thanks for your kind thoughts. look, it was a real shock this morning. i was having a coffee this morn morning and i saw, i was just completely crazy story of a plane crashing down. and then i returned home and was getting about the day i heard from my mother which alluded the fact that she was saying aboard

that plane with his three grandchildren. and we sort of determined that was like a likely outcome and the severity of that situation became very real at that point. >> loss is always so difficult to deal with, matt. i can't imagine dealing with the loss while you're also dealing with the knowledge that it comes from an act that was so incredibly senseless. >> well, that's right. and, you know, i think people in our family looking for some answers. nick, himself, was an inspirational hero to so many people. a real story teller and natural leader. and, you know, my memories are very fond, a great role model for me. and, so, i think you're exactly right. everything he offered to australia and his community and

his family, just to be cut away like that makes it all the more a tragedy, not forgetting the three beautiful children. >> the three beautiful children. 298 beautiful lives, no doubt, on that flight. matt, are you getting the answers that you want this morning about what went on in that sky over ukraine? >> well, i think it's such an unusual incident that no one really can make sense of it at the moment. certainly the news feeds we're getting in australia from our government very good and information is given and we're well informed here in australia. >> matt jones, thank you so much for being with us. again, we're deeply sorry for your loss and we send our best thoughts to you and your family.

>> thanks, john. >> as you point out, so many other families dealing with the same reality today. 298 people onboard that flight. almost 300 lives lost in an instant. we'll take another break. coming up next on "new day" back over to chris on the ground in kiev. talk more about the flight and the attack that brut down flight 17. plus, we're also looking at the breaking news coming out of the middle east. israeli boots on the ground in gaza after ten days of exchange and fire. wolf blitzer will be joining us next and speaking with the former israeli ambassador to the united states. narrator: this is the storm sea captain: there's a storm comin narrator: that whipped through the turbine which poured... surplus energy into the plant which generously lowered its price and tipped off the house which used all that energy to stay warm through the storm. chipmunk: there's a bad storm comin! narrator: the internet of everything

is changing how energy works. is your network ready?" we're trying our best to be role models.dels. we don't jump at the sound of the opening bell, because we're trying to make the school bell.

corner booth beats corner office any day. we make the most of our time... and our money. the 2014 malibu. highest ranked midsize car in initial quality the car for the richest guys on earth. free hot breakfast options. hampton, enjoy our you did a great job. it looks good! ...then fuel up with double points or double miles on your next getaway. make every stay more rewarding and feel the hamptonality

could help your business didavoid hours of delaynd test caused by slow internet from the phone company? that's enough time to record a memo. idea for sales giveaway. return a call. sign a contract. pick a tie. take a break with mr. duck. practice up for the business trip. fly to florida. win an award. close a deal. hire an intern. and still have time to spare. check your speed. see how fast your internet can be. switch now and add voice and tv for $34.90. comcast business. built for business.

welcome back. i'm wolf blitzer on the ground here in jerusalem. we'll have much more on the attack that brought down malaysia flight 17 in a few moments. there's another major story we're following, israeli troops surging right now into gaza. the israeli military launching a major military offensive against hamas, targeting tunnels initially to infiltrate israeli territory. israel says more than a dozen terrorists, they call them terrorists, have now been killed, one israeli soldiers that died during this initial on the ground incursion. we'll get a palestinian perspective. mustafa farguti is standing by. michael loren is our cnn analyst, former israeli ambassador to the united states, joining us from ashkalon, not far from the border with gaza. this looks like it will be a prolonged military operation. what is your assessment?

>> always good to be with you, wolf. that is the assessment that is going to be a prolonged military maneuver. i've heard military sources tell me a week, two weeks, perhaps even longer in order to get the job done, the immediate job finding the openings of the tunnels that go literally under the ground, zha in the backgrou background, israel in front of us and the 13 palestinian terrorists came through the tunnel, tried to attack a civilian farm near here. they were prevented from doing that. israel has to locate the openings of the tunnels which are in the buildings behind me. they have to go house to house, it's going to take time and be very tricky. >> i've heard there may be half a dozen, maybe a dozen of the tunnels that were constructed going from gaza into israel. is that your assessment?

>> put it this way. back in 2008 when israel lost its previous ground operation into gaza, the assessment was there were 200 tunnels under the border between egypt and gaza. it turned out there were 1,000 tunnels and it depends on how you define a tunnel. i tunnel can have many branches going off in different directions. double can be a labyrinth. they're deep tunnels, 25 yards down, reinforced with concrete and again from a military perspective, very difficult. israel technologically advanced country able to develop the iron dome system did what no other country has done, take down rockets in mid flight. those rockets were similar that nazi germany fired at great britain in world war ii. it's not a new technology. tunnels are from the middle ages and it's hard for an advanced society to deal with what is basically a very primitive but lethal military technology. >> israeli officials, military

officials have said the tunnels may be the initial target but there are other targets that israel will be going after as well. what do we anticipate on that front? >> well the hamas continues to fire rockets into israel unabated. the israeli forces will be looking for the rocket launchers and rocket stockpiles and looking for the people who shoot the rockets and give the orders for shooting the rocket. again, a complex jimilitary tas almost inevitably involves going into densely populated areas. >> you know there are going to be a lot more palestinian civilian casualties, little kids, elderly, women, that is inevitably going to happen. it's been happening for ten days. >> well, israel is an army which is trained from day one to try to minimize the greatest extent

civilian casualties. there's a code of ethics revised by theologians, philosophers that mandates israeli soldiers do their utmost to avoid inflicting civilian casualties but wolf as you know we're dealing with, israel is dealing with a terrorist organization that is hiding deep beneath the palestinian civilian population, it's hiding in mosques and hospitals and schools. israel's trying to tell the palestinian population, civilian population to leave the areas by drops tens of thousands of leaflets, giving personal phone calls, text messages but hamas has been working to keep the palestinian population in place because hamas knows that palestinian civilian population casualties among the civilian population make for very dramatic photos and those photos translate into international efforts to tie israel's hands and prevent it from defending itself. >> michael oren, the former israeli ambassador to the united states, he's a cnn middle east analyst. ambassador oren, thanks very

much for joining us. in the next hour we'll get a major palestinian perspective, miu ta far barxw huti will join us live on "new day." back to you in new york. >> thanks so much, wolf. lot of news we're following this morning, breaking news. let's get to it. the attack on malaysia airlines flight 17. the u.s. says it was shot out of the sky over a rebel-controlled area in ukraine. all 298 people on board were killed. ukraine blaming pro-russian separatists releasing an audiotape that's said to be them talking about taking the plane down. russian president vladimir putin pointing his finger at ukraine, saying the government bears responsibility for the tragedy. this morning, what we're learning about those two w.h.o. died on board, how was the plane taken down, and will this push the region closer to war? chris cuomo is in ukraine.

>> i'm wolf blitzer in jerusalem. israeli tanks and troops rolling into gaza. >> no one takes the decision of putting ground forces into combat inside gaza lightly. >> palestinians say israel will pay a heavy price for the military offensive. >> there simply is no military solution to this. when the rockets stop, the siege does not stop. >> a special edition of "new >> a special edition of "new day" starts right now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >> good morning, withal come once again to "new day" everyone. it's friday, july 18th. very busy friday, 8:00 in the east. chris cuomo is on the ground in ukraine. we're going to get to chris in just one moment. he's got all of the stuff going on, on the ground there in kiev. michaela is on assignment this morning. john berman and i are here to talk about two major breaking news stories. wolf blitzer is in jerusalem. israel is stepping up "operation protective edge" targeting tunnels in gaza being used by

terrorists. first the latest on the doomed malaysia airlines flight, flight 17. we may be getting a look inside the plane before it took off. take a look at this video. it was posted on instagram actually t purports to show passengers boarding and putting their luggage away, a simple thing that takes on a whole new significance right now. >> indeed. u.s. official says it was a missile that brought down the plane. it came down in a rebel-controlled part of eastern ukraine. that is key, because officials there now say that both black boxes and the missile launcher have been taken to russia. 298 people were killed and there are no reports as of now of any americans on board. ukraine and russia pointing fingers really at each other. ukrainian officials accuse pro-russian separatists of downing the jet. it was ukraine's military campaign against the separatists that's to blame here. >> chris is on the ground in

kiev, he has the very latest on all the developments there. chris? >> all right, kate. the violence is going on, on the opposite end of the country in the eastern end. the violence is active there. there's word the militants have allowed for humanitarian aid to come in for relief. that is not completely true. there's a lot of skirmishing going on presidents' difficult to get to the debris field and very much unsettled nerves while life is ordinary in kiev where nic robertson and i have. you've been with us from the fing. >> so far the government says 181 bodies have been recovered. they have search and rescue teams on the ground, the area they're in is controlled by the pro-russian separatists, that there are ongoing conflicts, 19 different incidents of ongoing conflict, battles in that particular area right now. the plane disappearing from radar other this country almost 24 hours ago right now.

erupting in a ball of flame and a plume of black smoke, malaysia airlines 17 headed to kuala lumpur. the u.s. says it was shot down in midair. on the ground, 298 bodies and debris scattered across eastern ukrainian fields. overnight, a newly released phone call provided by the ukrainian government purports to show a pro-russian militant revealing to a russian agent how they were the ones who accidentally shot down the boeing 777 with a surface-to-air missile system thinking it was a ukrainian military plane. cnn cannot independently verify

this phone call. further alleged evidence a of pro-russian involvement an ominous message on twitter "we warned you, stay out of our skies" posted by someone cla claiming to be a russian-backed rebel commander, igor sktrelkov that post later are he moved. travelers from all over the world killed. ukraine's president is calling the incident a terrorist attack. >> we ask all respective governments to support the ukrainian government to bring to justice all these bastards who committed this international crime. >> reporter: u.s. senator john mccain is laying blame right at russia's door. >> the separatists could have only gotten that capability from russia and so therefore, the culpable party here is vladimir putin.

zb >> reporter: but russian president vladimir putin says ukraine is to blame saying "this tragedy would not have happened if there had been peace on that land or in any case, if military operations in southeastern ukraine had not been renewed." >> so while the russian president is blaming the ukraine government for creating a hostile environment, putin does not say the militants did not do this. >> it is. he's not specifying at the moment but at the same time he seems to be clouding the issue as well. >> that's right. and so nnic, thank you very much for the reporting. you were here when i was interviewing the foreign minister of the ukraine. is he not mincing words. i asked him whom do you think is responsible for this, with an emphasis on russia. here's what he said. >> we intercepted a number of phone calls between the terrorists and they are talking about shuttiotting down the pla. >> terrorists yesterday talking about shooting down the plane

and the time was close to when it happened? >> yes, exactly putin's facebook message about shutting down the plane so it's absolutely clear that it's up to us to have responsibility on that. >> so why do you think they would shoot down a passenger aircraft? >> i don't know. you never know what is in the head of terrorists. >> there is nothing in the phone dulz sugge calls to suggest a motive? >> it's a tragedy but for the terrorists it's a different thing. >> the separates, the militants, the terrorists depending on perspective they blame the ukrainian government, this was an attempt to take down the president putin's plane and you know, to basically hostile action from ukraine to russia. how do you respond to that? >> it's ridiculous. almost all the separatist leaders are actually russian. some of them with russian special services. if they're going to shoot putin's plane, it would be the russian system i would say.

>> they are saying ukrainian government used their own assets to attack the russian president. that's why this happened. >> firstly, we don't have such assets on the ground because we simply don't use any anti-air missile capabilities there and we don't have such capabilities in donetsk. there's no way our forces could be engaged in any way in this incident or any other incidents all around. >> another question that is very important right now is okay, if it were militants, if it was a group of militants that did it, how did they get this weapon? is it true that this type of surface-to-air missile was taken from the ukraine military recently by militants, is that true? >> no way. we've checked also with our relevant authorities. there is no way how they could get ukrainian assets, but you should understand, you can buy probably kalashnikov on the black market but you can't buy

anti-air missile or -- >> a kalashnikov is an assault rifle but this is a big truck mounted to the size of a telephone pole. you'd have to be given this and have special training. as far as you know there was no buk system or similar surface-to-air missile. >> not at all. >> it was given to the military group? >> probably both by some exercise by separatists. we have to find it out. >> the russian government, russian president putin says "this is your fault, ukraine government, because you are maintaining has nilts that area. you're causing this trouble, and this is what happens." do you accept that? >> if you see the recent events, if you see the inflow of money, mercenaries, heavy weaponry, including tents, including armored vehicles, including anti-air missile, you clearly

see what's going on. so we understand whose responsibility is that. >> so two quick points. one, we do not really know yet what brought down this plane, and there's so much information for the people who matter most, the families of the victims here that has not been ascertained yet and that has to be a priority. that leads to the second point. the foreign minister is not certain about some of his answers because ukraine is not in control of the eastern part of this country. there's violence going on there right now. we're being told it is a better opportunity for cnn to get into the region going under the host of one of the militant groups than with the ukraine military, guys. so that just gives you some context and the foreign minister made very clear and the situation makes very clear this hostility in eastern ukraine will not be settled without russian influence. back to you in new york. >> all right, thanks so much, chris. we get news moments ago a

preliminary classified u.s. intelligence analysis of the situation, says it was most likely a missile fired by pro-russian separatists that brought down mh17, that analysis also says intelligence officials telling cnn "we cannot say with complete certainty but we do not think the missile came from the russian side of the border." so all signs continuing to point to pro-russian separatists in eastern ukraine. >> further complicating the situation, quite honestly, with all of this, let's discuss all the new developments and what we know and where this investigation, when it begins is going to go. joining us now are cnn aviation correspondent richard quest, lieutenant colonel rick francona, as well as cnn white house correspondent michelle kosinski and cnn host fareed zakaria trying to weed through this all. fare fareed, we have this new analysis coming out from u.s. intelligence analysis, they believe it's most likely a

missile that shot down this flight. it was from fired by pro-russian separatists inside eastern ukraine. it leads to the fact that this offers huge implications politically, we were talking about the military, geostrategic. that can't be overstated. >> it can't be overstated. this is very rare, it's very, very unusual, and it is important to point out, to kind of underscore something chris pointed out. that part of ukraine, eastern ukraine, is not under the control of the ukrainian government. it is under the control of these pro-russian separatists who are trained on funded finance by the russian government. many people believe that a lot of those so-called pro-russians are actually russians, that is to say they are russian special ops forces. the strategy vladimir putin has had all along in crimea and in ukraine has been to do stuff with plausible deniability, with the ability to say what?

what are you talking about? we weren't involved, because you're using various freelanc freelancers, mercenaries, free agents. well that looked good when he did it in crimea, he was able to do the annexation and nobody could point a finger at him. here we see the cost of it. these are likely trained poorly armed not very well integrated into a military structure and probably the radar they were using was able to tell them there was an airplane, but it was not the kind of sophisticated radar that the russian military would have which plugs into the larger aviation systems and can say that's a civilian airliner. now you see the cost of russia's special ops strategy, which has been this tragedy, you know, which killed these 295 souls. >> also when you look at it, this can't be just a ragtag group that finds this buk miss sill system and launches it off.

this takes training and capability to operate it correctly. chris cuomo is on the ground in kiev, and i know he wants to join this conversation. go ahead, chris. >> fareed, something that would be helpful to understand, on the ground here, something that's a little startling, very little confidence that the united states can do anything to push russia to do the right thing in this situation. the ukrainian foreign minister said in no uncertain words, somewhat humbling for him i'm sure, this will not end unless russia gets involved to make it stop, but then i was told, and they don't know what the u.s. can do, because right after putting the sanctions in, that was supposed to be harsh, a plane was taken down. what do you believe the u.s. can do vis-a-vis russia to make a difference in this situation? >> of course, you're exactly right. the thing to remember is the united states may be the world's only superpower t may be the one that has all the capacity. the problem is russia is the 800-pound gorilla right next

door, and at very low cost, the russians can destabilize ukraine, even while pretending not to, even while promising what they're going to do is to cooperate, they send in these special ops. they allow these things to happen, so what we have to hope the united states and europe have to tell vladimir putin, you have got to let the government of ukraine get back control of that territory. that is the key. once the ukrainian government actually has control over the territory that is ukraine, that putin says he recognizes that government, he recognizes its authority. well, let those, the government forces clear out these pro-russian militants, take control of this region and then you will have some stability, but right now, as you point out, chris, the only way you can even get to that region is to do it through the cover of those pro-russian militants. the ukrainian government does not have control of its country, that should be our first goal. >> i want to bring in military analyst lieutenant colonel rick

francona. we just got a look at the preliminary classified u.s. intelligence analysis of the situation, confirming what we've been talking about for the last 20 hours or so, the suspicion it was this buk missile system that brought down this flight. it was a missile that shot it down. explain to me the capabilities of this missile system, and what kind of training it takes to operate it. >> this is a very sophisticated system. it's a radar-guided missile b 16 feet long and it can take out targets as high as 72,000 feet. so the flight envelope that this civilian aircraft was operating in was right in the middle of that, it would have been very easy. civilian aircraft does not carry any defense armament or electronic warfare. it's not a maneuvering target so it was easy to shoot this down. that said you can't just turn it on and fire it, you have to be trained. so the training regimen for something like this is usually six to nine months. they've only had this for a very short period of time, and they were able to use it? that tells me there was some

training or there was some advisers there helping them do this. >> one interesting point that came out this morning, richard quest, ukrainian intelligence sources they say that missile launcher is now back in, now in russia, and the black boxes as well are in russia. you said maybe a little bit of a surprise because they're not so easy to find. >> well, look at the debris field. we know it's five to six kilometers wide, several miles across. just look at the debris field, and start imagining how you would find it. this would be relatively challenging, not terribly challenging for experienced investigators, who remember the size of these boxes, they're about this big, and if you just look at where they would have been, we know if we look at this area, you will be looking for the boxes near the rear of the aircraft, which is where they are stored, and near the tail, supposedly where they will be least impacted by any craft.

it's not easy to find them and once you have found them, you've got to make sure they're in reasonable condition for transportation, and once you do that, of course, you have to be incredibly careful how you open them, so you don't damage the digital information inside. i'm not saying for a moment that they could not have found them relatively quickly and have them on their way to moscow. i am saying that, in this wide debris field we have to take a hint of caution that these two boxes have been found so quickly by untrained searchers and shipped off to russia. >> and the answers do lie in that field which is which control over it is so crucial. fareed i want to ask you one more question. we talk about the tragedy, 298 lives lost and the extraordinary tensions in the region before yesterday and remain today. however, is there a new opportunity now, because if the facts bear out the way we think

they will with russian separatists responsible for this, won't the world finally gather together to put the pressure on vladimir putin to somehow solve this situation? >> i think that is the opportunity. the opportunity here is that putin is probably feeling somewhat defensive, and is not going to use this as an opportunity to try to press claims. so as i say, the first goal has got to be to allow the government of ukraine to take control. just think about what richard quest was just talking about. the russians are going to control the debris. they're going to control the black box. this doesn't make any sense. this is all happening in ukraine on ukrainian territory. it should be handled by the ukrainian government obviously in collaboration with international authorities. this is the opportunity particularly because, let's be honest, the united states has been pretty tough on russia. the problem has been europe. lots of the people unfortunately who died here are europeans, and so there might be an opportunity, might change public

sentiment, which then will change political sentiment. i was struck by the fact that president obama did not come out very strongly and forcefully and condemn this. the white house seems to be somewhat cautious. so are the major european capitals, and you wonder, we know that putin spoke with president obama. he might have spoke within chancellor merck until germany as well. is there something going on behind the scenes that we don't know about, because it is striking that all the western countries are being somewhat quiet about what is frankly a blatant act of international terrorism. >> is he giving vladimir putin some room here, vladimir putin had some bluster there, but certainly not the extent of the bluster that we often see from the russian leader. >> that's absolutely right. fareed thank you so much. rick francona and richard quest with us here as well. let's take you to the other major story we're following this morning, the israeli ground offense ive taking place in gaz.

wolf blitzer is on the ground now. wolf? >> thanks very much, kate. the ground operation in gaza turned deadly. an israeli soldier was killed as "operation protective edge" as the israelis call it expanded. they're trying to destroy hamas tunnels militants are using to try to infiltrate israel. hamas says israel will pay a heavy price for the latest ground actions in gaza. let's get the palestinian perspective. dr. mustafa barghuti, thanks very much for joining us. i want to get to this substantive issues. you came from a palestinian hospital here. what did you see? >> i saw three people injured in gaza, two of them are children, a young boy and a young girl who were hit with israeli shrapnel in the head. they have serious brain trauma. i saw another palestinian

20-year-old a disabled person. he cannot speak, he cannot hear, yet he was hit with an israeli bomb which blow him up and he is now completely pa arized from the waist below. >> how do they get from gaza here to jerusalem? >> through ambulances. >> the israelis open the borders to allow them to come through? >> the border was open that was one week ago and now it's closed, but they couldn't come with an ambulance straight to the hospital. they had to be transferred from one ambulance to another, walk a distance in very serious condition. the problem here is that you see the israeli army using indiscriminate and disproportional force which is becoming like a massacre. 270 palestinians have been killed so far, two-thirds of them are women and children and more than 2,000 people are injured and two-thirds of them are children and women. >> when the israelis say hamas is to blame because they should

have accepted the egyptian-sponsored cease-fire, what do you say? >> i say this is a misrepresentation. in my opinion what is happening is an effort to dehumanize palestinians and ensure that israel is a victim in a war it is conducting on palestinians. this is not an attack on hamas. it is an attack on all palestinians. they bombard five hospitals including a house with disabled people. >> rockets and missiles are still coming into israel from gaza. >> this can be stopped immediately, and hamas as we were told and i spoke to them, they are ready for a complete cease-fire, if it is competent with lifting the siege on gaza which has been there for eight years, it is an act of aggression. the most important thing is at that moment the israeli army cut electricity for 300,000 people. we as health professionals are unable to reach the people in this district and it's very risky and dangerous. >> you believe the obama administration, secretary kerry,

even the president, partially responsible for this current escalation. explain why. >> in my opinion, the whole international community is responsible, because -- >> is responsible? >> is responsible, because they are not restraining the israeli attack on gaza, and on this very small, little enclave with 1.7 million people living in this 100 square miles. in my opinion prime minister netanyahu made sure this happens by making strategic field. he made everything possible to destroy the option and possibility of peace based on the two-state solution. he knew he was dragging the area and this place into serious conflict and now he's trying to solve the problem of the longest occupation in modern history with an expanded occupation. >> we just got word that the pope has telephoned both president shimon perez of israel and mahmoud abbas of palestine

urging he says actions on behalf of fanatics don't leave us anywhere. many innocent suffer and pay with their lives. we have to move forward and insist on this path of prayer for peace. can the pope help? >> he can help morally but the country that can help most is the united states because it is the country that is giving israel the money, it is the country that is giving israel the weapons. if president obama wants can he immediately tell netanyahu please stop because you are killing civilians, you are creating one of the worst massacres in modern history and you are complicating the situation instead of solving the problem of occupation and a system of apartheid on the ground against palestinians, you are making it worse. >> dr. barghouti thank you for joining us. >> michael oren was joining us here on "new day" so this conflict clearly kate and john, continuing. >> absolutely wolf. your coverage continues on the grouped there in israel. thank you so much.

wolf, we'll get back to you. coming up next on "new day," how will the obama administration respond now to the attack on malaysia flight 17 in we'll talk with congressman peter king of the house homeland security committee. what he thinks should happen now. (son) oh no... can you fix it, dad? yeah, i can fix that. (dad) i wanted a car that could handle anything. i fixed it! (dad) that's why i got a subaru legacy. (vo) symmetrical all-wheel drive plus 36 mpg. i gotta break more toys. (vo) introducing the all-new subaru legacy. it's not just a sedan. it's a subaru.

your studied day and night for her driver's test. secretly inside, you hoped she wouldn't pass. the thought of your baby girl driving around all by herself was... you just weren't ready. but she did pass. 'cause she's your baby girl. and now you're proud. a bundle of nerves proud. but proud. get a discount when you add a newly-licensed teen to your liberty mutual insurance policy. call to learn about our whole range of life event discounts. newlywed discount. new college graduate and retiree discounts. you could even get a discount when you add a car.

call liberty mutual for a free quote today at see car insurance in a whole new light. liberty mutual insurance. welcome back to "new day." i'm wolf blitzer in jerusalem. all eyes are on ukraine to see

how the country will respond to the apparent missile attack that brought down that malaysia flight 17. so how should the united states government help after months of escalating tensions with the russian president vladimir putin? we're joined now by congressman peter king, he's a republican from new york, key member of the house homeland security committee, as well as the intelligence committee. congressman, thanks very much for joining us. how much blame do you put on the russian president putin for what happened? i know a lot of your republican colleagues and even some democrats say he's at least partially responsible. >> wolf, from almost erg we know right now, you have to say that putin is largely responsible. if you're a world power and you give this type of sophisticated weaponry to a group of insurrectionists you're responsible. i don't believe putin wanted to have this plane shot down but it's almost criminal negligence on your part if you give this type of weaponry to the separatists and also i would raise the issue of whether or

not there are any russian special operators in there, because again, are these rebels trained enough to be able to carry out an attack of this type? one way or the other to me the blame is largely on putin and i think we have to hold him accountable. i'm not trying to be partisan here, i think the president has to show more world leadership. for him to barely mention this, or next it in passing in a speech in delaware, and then go to two fund-raisers last night in new york. i can't imagine eisenhower or reagan or kennedy or bill clinton doing this. so i think it's important for the president to step up today and mobilize western support as far as economic sanctions, severe economic sanctions and the fact that so many europeans have been killed, again, may give them more impetus to get involved and also we should consider taking away landing rights to our airports and western airports as a signal to putin that this violates to me all norms of international behavior by a world power. >> well that would be a major,

major developmendevelopment. chris cuomo is in kiev, ukraine, congressman, he has some serious questions for you as well. >> sure. >> hey, thank you, wolf. i've been listening to the coverage there. please stay safe where you, congressman. thank you for joining us. let me give you a feel of what's going on there in kiev. very unsettled, pause it seems to be fairly clear at this point, at least the belief of the ukrainian administration, this was who they call the terrorists, the separatists, the militants that launched this with russian-based assets, probably from the ukrainian side of the border. behind me you'll hear the church that was famous during the most recent revolution wherer was running away. that's what you heard behind me. the question about the united states is pretty clear. you passed sanctions against russia, a plane comes down the next day. the feeling is, it wasn't enough. right now the focus is on how to help these families whose loved ones were just taken out, 298 of them, but there's a feeling that the osc teams and the relief

teams can't be kept safe. do you think the united states should be willing to have military escorts to come in, keep the area safe and secure it before the entire investigation is shot because it's corrupted? >> chris, again, that puts american troops at risk if we do that. it should be in coordination with other countries and we have to make clear to putin we're doing it. i think the long-term issue and not just long-term, short term and long-term is to put real economic sanctions and to get the european nations to go along with it. as i mentioned to wolf, do something that hits putin, send a signal, and also there's going to be no doubt once the telemetry and the forensics are in, we'll know where the missile came from and who did it. it will be obvious i believe that it was ukrainian separatists perhaps with the help of russian special operators using sophisticated russian equipment and those black boxes they can't be allowed to remain in moscow. so i think we have to put the pressure on russia to say they have to provide security.

they know what's going on there. that's the very first step. they have to provide the security rather than having american troops go in, have the russians provide security and have osce there. for to us put in troops at this stage brings it to a different level and puts us almost at a disadvantage over there. i want us to keep the upper hand. i want the president to show lo leadership. between what is happening in ukraine and gaza and i fully support what the israelis are doing in gaza, this is almost a 1914 sarajevo moment. either one could erupt and the president has to be seen and has to be heard. >> well, but you know what congressman, as you know that's easy to say but it comes down to what actions make a difference. just passed sanctions, it didn't really matter. the concern on the ground you have the osc teams on the ground now, more people are coming in, international humanitarian aid is being asked to figure out this scene. there's going to be violence, congressman, know that. it's going on right now. there is gunfire going on, in the eastern part of this country right now, there's going to be

violence, people are going to be hurt. to just send them in, that's not going to work. you say we need to do more, we need to step up, like what? you say you're going to close airports. why would that make a difference to vladimir putin at this point? you do have an opportunity. this is shameful for the russian authorities if these separatists are using russian assets to take down a passenger plane. the question is specifically other than just closing air rights, what do you think you can do to move vladimir putin? >> first of all as far as air rights, that would have a devastating effect on the russian economy, if they are no longer able to fly. that would have a real economic impact on them. as far as the sanctions, get the europeans to step up. europeans have been lackluster in this, they've been staying behind and my point is to be sending american troops in with osce, that is putting us at the disadvantage. we are at a numerical disadvantage, that is almost an act of us going to war unless russia approves it. russia is the only one who can provide that real security other than having a shooting war break

out. if we're going to have a shooting war, let's do it on our terms, not on ukrainian border. >> jerusalem, how do you think the president is handling the current israel/gaza crisis? >> i believe he's doing the right thing as far as not trying to stop israel from what they're doing. i thought he made a mistake at the very beginning when he was calling on both sides to show restraint. that showed a moral equivalency which is not there. to me, hamas is clearly guilty. israel is fighting for its life here, and the fact that there are civilians being killed, that is the fault of hamas. they are putting their rocket systems in place in civilian locations, and that is absolutely disgraceful. i don't know of any other country or any other force which has ever allowed its, in fact it encouraged its own civilians to be killed to get world opinion on this, willing to make that type of horrible act, so no, i think we have to stand with the israelis, allow, i believe what

netanyahu is doing is exactly the right thing, go in, cause as much harm and pain to hamas as possible. the tunnels have to be taken out and israel, we can as tragic even as 9/11 was, that wasser in going to threaten our survival as a nation. israel, if they have one or two or three bad days, they could be gone as a country. every day is a day of survival for them and we cannot allow hamas to be carrying out these attacks from gaza and if there's any opportunity that was ever given to the palestinians, it was gaza. i was in israel in 2005 when the us railies were taken out of gaza. it was israelis fighting israelis, they were pulling settlers out of gaza. palestinians have the opportunity, they squander every opportunity and launch attacks on israel. netanyahu is doing exactly the right thing. i hope the president behind the scenes is telling him we will not get in his way until

netanyahu believes the job is done. >> congressman peter king of new york, thanks for joining us. let's go back to kate and john in new york. >> wolf, stay safe. >> thank you. >> absolutely. thank you, congressman. that's what we try to tell him all the time. we'll be back in one second. coming up next on stunning findings about the missile attack that brought down malaysia airlines flight 17. if it was pro-russian separatists how will it affect already strained relations with russia? we'll be right back. [ male announcer ] don't just visit miami.

[ jackhammer pounding, horns honking ] [ siren wailing ] visit tripadvisor miami. [ bird chirping ] with millions of reviews, tripadvisor makes any destination better.

that's why i always choose the fastest intern.r slow. with millions of reviews, the fastest printer. the fastest lunch. turkey club. the fastest pencil sharpener. the fastest elevator. the fastest speed dial. the fastest office plant. so why wouldn't i choose the fastest wifi? i would. switch to comcast business internet and get the fastest wifi included. comcast business. built for business.

>> welcome back to "new day." let's get you up to date on the latest developments of the attack on malaysian flights 17. u.s. intelligence believes it was likely the pro-russian separatists, that is who is behind the firing of the missile that brought town flight 17, based on a preliminary intelligence assessment and analysis. we also may be getting a look inside the plane for the first time before it took off. this video may seem completely benign, something you may have seen many times before, posted on instagram apparently showing passengers boarding. this video takes on a whole new significance, now that we know the fate of flight 17. >> ukrainian officials now say that both black boxes and the missile launcher have been taken to russia, are in the custody of russians. that is crucial. 298 people were killed in this attack. there are no reports at this point of any americans on board.

this whole thing really escalating the tensions around the world especially between the ukraine, ukraine and russia who each blame each other for this disaster. russia will face the world at the u.n. security council today. we want to bring in barbara starr right now, reporter at the pentagon who has been covering this situation and brought us the news of this new intelligence assessment and kk canning in the rain in kiev, philip mudd, former cia intelligence official and david soucy is here, too. barbara, tell us about this intelligence assessment and why the u.s. believes this missile did come from pro-russian separatists? >> good morning, i've spoke on it a u.s. defense official directly familiar with the situation. there are two systems, the sa-11, one called the sa-20, in that region that would have the warhead, the system, the capability to shoot down an

airliner at 30,000 plus feet such as the airliner. the sa-20, what officials tell me there's no indication that the ukrainians had an sa-20 and the russians didn't have any nearby, no indication the russians ever transferred an sa-20 to separatists or inside ukraine. so that is one of the two systems now they can rule out they believe. that leaves you with the sa-11, also called the buk, that's the russian name for it. there is intelligence that says the sa-11, the buk was in the possession, one of the systems of pro-russian separatists. the u.s. isn't sure whether the separatists captured it from the ukrainian military some time ago or was transferred by russian authorities across the border. there is a lot of intelligence that the russians have transferred heavy weapons across the border. that leaves you with the sa-11

or buk fired by separatist. ukrainians didn't fire it, the russians didn't fire it. all the trajectory analysis shows it came from inside eastern ukraine. right now this is the preliminary conclusion, the u.s. military, the u.s. intelligence community working urgency along with all the nato nations, the east europeans, they are all looking at their radar intelligence, their satellite intelligence, everything they have to see what clues they can pick up. there is intelligence that the u.s. has showing a missile radar launch system was turned on and there was a large heat signature of an explosion shortly thereafter. so they are beginning to put the pieces together. the u.s. hopes by the end of this weekend they will have that definitive picture. john? kate? >> important picture. barbara starr thanks for getting that aintelligence assessment and breaking news coming out of the pentagon. we bring in phil mudd on the

intelligence assessment. we heard from fareed earlier, he was talking about and colonel francona, one of the most important things they need to do right now is stabilize the situation on the ground. but with this intelligence assessment, with what we know is going on in this conflict in this particular place, how do you do that when you don't have u.s. forces on the ground, you don't have a lot of our allies can't get in there right now. >> i think there's a lot of intelligence both before the event and after that can be pieced together. i'm not sure we'll have a definitive picture by the end of the weekend. we can talk in a moment about why. let's talk about the picture what it looks like now. beforehand you look at satellite imagery in the weeks before did we see anything that looks like this missile system? did we see people talking about this kind of missile system. in the aftermath, there are other questions you can ask. what was in the ukrainian stocks? can they account for all the missile systems they have? did they lose officers to the opposition who had the

capability or training to use systems like this? and then one more thing that i think is critically important we haven't talked much about, that is when i've seen incidents like this in the past, you get a ton of chatter afterwards. people who didn't know about the event beforehand saying yeah i got a friend in that unit and he talked about what they shot down. you might have human sources that talk about it in the aftermath and furthermore watch satellites to see if there's equipment moving across borders that might be the equipment used in this. there is a ton of work to be done over the weekend. >> chris cuomo is on the ground in kiev where so much of this information is developing right now. chris? >> reporter: hey, john. first of all any booming or anything you hear there's just a passing thunderstorm. everything is fine here in kiev. it's a metaphor for the situation in the country. one half has sun out, the other side clouds and thunder and a lot of rain. that would be the eastern part of the country. the question i have is this. there's an academic/political component to this, who did it,

how did they do it, whose finger really deserbs the most blame in terms of pointing and the more you tie it to russian influence the better chance you have to get russia to step up and quell the violence in the east. there is a practical question i have for you professor mudd. we have an osc team, nic robertson was telling me about two hours away, asking for international help. you have an active debris field, 298 families who need closure. it's being corrupted by the second. how do you secure this area to allow people to come in and do the work of investigating and salvaging these bodies and helping these families when there is ongoing multifactorial different groups of militants right now fighting in the same area? >> i don't think you can secure the area, but that's different than the question of whether we can eventually give closure to the families. my guess is even without direct access to the black boxes that we will eventually come to

closure on this. i'm talking about months or years, if you're talking about criminal prosecution at the international criminal court in the hague. remember, there's one piece to this that we will probably get access to at some point and that might require russian assistance, and that's access to the chain of command that was responsible for this. the same kind of information we use, for example, in prosecuting boss demean war crimes 10, 15, 20 years ago. so i think we'll get closure on this, but one important thing to remember that i learned in 25 years of dealing with crisis at the cia, and that is when things get hot, the people in leadership positions at the white house, the cia and other places, have got to keep their cool for the following reason. you've got to ensure when you're looking at things like what we know from intelligence and what we can confirm, that you differentiate between the facts that we know and the facts that we think. i'm going to predict something for you. people are going to start to get confused about what we know and what we think and we've already heard that this morning. we think maybe it was an sa-11

and therefore, that must have been a system provided by the russians. that is supposition. that's not a fact. >> we're going to try to keep track of those facts as best we can, as this story develops, which is why of course control over that debris field is so important right now. there are also many questions about the entire disaster. few hours ago there was a press conference held by malaysian offici officials, they were asked repeatedly why this plane was flying over this conflict zone to begin with. i want to bring in richard quest right now. richard, they did face questions. that was a withering questions, repeated questions in fact, but in some cases you say not so fast here. >> all right, the question, of course, let's look at the flight path and put this into context. why was this plane flying other a zone that was known to be dangerous? that's the route that it took. well, if you actually look at the route, you'll see it comes out over western europe, into

ukraine, passes kiev, and then comes down to here. now, we know already, we know that this part is already restricted, absolutely restricted both by the europeans and by the american authorities. the route that the plane took was closed below 32,000 feet, but okay above 32,000 feet. this is airway l980. here's the really interesting thing, john. arguably the further south they had gone would have been more dangerous, because that would have put you more into the crimea area. instead, actually, the route they took should have been marginally safer. they took that route, let's just go back to there, they took that route because of bad weather, but it should actually have been marginally safer in the reality, of course, because the fighting that was taking place, it proved to be disastrously unsafe. the core point, that route, you

cannot blame the car for being on the road if the road is open. the question needs to be asked, why hadn't the authorities closed more of ukrainian's air space rather than whether or not the airline was legitimate in flying on that particular route, which was open. >> it's a excellent pouint and that air space is restricted and closed off. >> yes. >> david soucy, often we're talking about different malaysian airlines flight quite honest when we're often talking you and i. the situation here, there's a lot more tangible evidence that is already known. there are a lot more knowns but there are so many questions still how this happened, and who did it and how they're going to be able to complete this investigation, because this crime scene has been so far compromised to everyone's knowledge. how easy, do you think it will be easy to reach a conclusion in the end for this?

>> not from the accident scene. it's been so well compromised at this point, and frankly, it's been a little bit disturbing to see how the bodies are being treated on site, the people that are being there, and stepping on things they shouldn't be stepping on. in an accident site, when i do an accident site investigation you secure it and respect the space each body. these are people. those are families waiting for what happens there. so there's that issue. the second issue, richard had mention ikeo. all of the rules of ikeo have been thrown out the window. the fact russia has access to the boxes and access to that missile is not going to bode well for them at the u.n. meeting because united nations established ikeo for a specific reason to establish rules for who does the investigation, who is in charge. ukraine is in charge, whether we like it, whether we don't, ukraine owns that investigation. until they officially delegate it to someone else. the fact that that accident site has been violated and

compromised by russia is not going to bode well for them. >> real quick, what nation or what body do you think has the confidence of the international community? who do you think should handle that? >> in that region i think russia is capable of handle it. people may not agree with me but they have the capability. they've been doing accident investigations as long as the u.s. has, so i think if they have equal capabilities from the u.s., the u.s. i think personally i think the u.s. would do a better job of it, but the ntsb has to be invited, so does russia have to be invited and they haven't been. >> clearly questions of intent. david soucie and everyone else thank you for the analysis this morning. next up on "new day," bill clinton weighing in on the flight 17 disaster, it's a cnn exclusive, right after the break.

did you know a ten-second test could help your business avoid hours of delay caused by slow internet from the phone company? that's enough time to record a memo. idea for sales giveaway. return a call. sign a contract. pick a tie. take a break with mr. duck. practice up for the business trip. fly to florida. win an award. close a deal. hire an intern. and still have time to spare. check your speed. see how fast your internet can be. switch now and add voice and tv for $34.90. comcast business. built for business. welcome back everyone. former president bill clinton weighing in on the disaster, shootdown of mh flight 17. this is a cnn exclusive. let's listen.

>> it's awful. i mean, those people are, they're really, in a way, martyrs to the cause that we're going to australia to talk about, and i think all i can say about it now is what president obama, what our government's said. we need to wait to make any definitive statements until we know exactly what happened, but it was sickening, and i hope they will know and i hope they will know soon. >> awful and sickening. sickening and awful, those words from former president bill clinton. cnn was speaking with the former president because of his foundation work in asia. anna koren is with him in vietnam. we'll have more on his project monday on cnn. david soucie, the president saying it's awful and sickening

reminds me we've been talking about the scene, the crash site and how it is compromised as an investigatory site because it is under control of the pro-russian separatists. that may be troubling but it's also tragic. over 298 souls lost year. >> yes, that's right. being on an accident scene and being part of that, that's the hardest thing. excuse me i might get emotional. every time i see the pictures it takes me back to being at the accident scene. >> what kind of reassurance can the families have at this moment, they'll find out, is there any reassurance? >> i tell you, this maybe seem a little bit off task but the assurance they have, every accident scene i've ever been to when i get there, the souls aren't there anymore. that may sound strange but that's how i deal with it. i go there, i feel there's no presence there, there's no one really there. >> they've moved on. >> i have to believe the family members rest assured they're taken to a better place than the accident site.

maybe that will reassure them a little bit. that's how i deal with it on an accident site. >> when international monitors can get on the ground sounds like they will be the first to get there before investigators can get on the ground. what is the first thing other than security of the site that needs to be established, since it sounds like the black boxes may have already been moved out of the area. >>'black boxes are gone the first point of focus is the bodies themselves and trying to identify them. you walk around to the sites and make sure any piece of human remains is identified and those are gathered and taken off site before an investigation even starts really, that's what you do. not to be too morose but there's a lot of evidence with the bodies as well, so they are taken to a place where they can be examined as well as evidence. >> these black boxes which may or may not be in the custody of russia right now, we simply don't know, there are reports of it, it may be what they don't contain or don't say, talking about flight data recorder that are truly helpful. i imagine who investigators want to see is confirmation there was

no discussion of any kind with anyone checking with this airline to see if it was a commercial airliner, no warning of any kind. that's what would be there or not be there. >> yes, if you look at any previous one before this flight 007, there were attempts to contact the airplane, attempts to say, you need to divert, time and time and time again. there were jets around the aircraft. they still didn't divert where they were going and that's why that aircraft eventually was deemed as pilot error because of that. and they weren't squawking the right code, they were squawking a military code rather than the iff, friend or foe sequence series. that's different than this. it would be key to know was there a warning, did the aircraft vary its path. >> in the absence of that could be more damning for the people involved. >> still almost now about 24 hours into to tragedy, more unknowns than there are noenkno questions about whoo w.h.o. is behind it and what happens.

this breaking news story, all of the developments, with he'll be continuing our coverage as only cnn can, right here on cnn. let's turn to "cnn newsroom" with carol costello joined by chris cuomo and wolf blitzer. car carol? >> thanks so much. "newsroom" starts now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com happening now in "the newsroom" two big breaking stories. first horror at 32,000 feet, a passenger plane shot down, blown out of the sky. nearly 300 people on board, among them women, children, and aids researchers. >> it's like it was raining body parts. >> as new details emerge from the crash scene, outrage grows. >> bring to justice all these bastards who committed this international crime. >> who did it? ukraine got a hold of these intercepted rebel communications.