you here alisyn camerota, and i really enjoyed being with you. >> great to work with you. >> we're enjoying the new format and we're enjoying it as well. i wish it was a happier story we were covering. thanks for joining us. cnn's coverage of the shooting of the downed malaysia airlines flight 17 continues. i'm don lemon. >> i'm alisyn camerota. thank you so much for joining us. have a good night. >> who shot the passenger plane out of the sky? cnn is at the crash site. >> and we look at the lives of those on board the plane from children to renowned aids researchers?

>> we would like to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. hi, everyone, i'm john vause. >> and i'm isha sesay. well, we begin in eastern ukraine where u.s. officials are insistent that malaysia airlines flight 17 was brought down by a missile possibly fired by pro-russian rebels, most likely with the backing from russia. >> obtained from the organization pour the security and corporation in europe, osce visited the crash site just over an hour on friday. but they say they were met with hostility from the separatists and not given access to the full site. >> meanwhile, ukraine's government has released this video, which they say shows a truck carrying a buk missile system with one of the missiles

missing, driving toward the russian missiles missing. a driving toward the russian border. they've also released audio recordings, which they say are pro-russian rebels talking about acquiring the missiles from russia. take a listen. [ speaking in a foreign language ]

[ speaking in a foreign language ] >> and to be clear, those are audio recordings released by the ukrainian government. let's talk about the situation at the crash site. there are serious concerns about the situation there. the bodies of the victims are starting to decompose and analysts say investigators need to start their work as soon as possible. there at the crash site and has this report. >> reporter: what remains of malaysian airlines flight 17 is passengers, crew, their belongings and baggage are now spread across a wide area in this region of eastern ukraine. the landscape here is not dramatically by large pieces of wreckage of the boeing 777 and

it is marked very poignantly of the many pieces of white ribbon tied to sticks, which mark the location of bodies, which are yet to be recovered. and there are many of them. this region, this territory, is still controlled by pro-russian militants. they have allowed some emergency workers to come in and begin a very small scale, quite disorganized, recovery operation, but what we do not see here are the many highly qualified people that are required to come in, secure the site, begin an investigation, and recover the bodies of the many people who had no direct connection to the violence, the crisis in ukraine, until the moment of their death. i'm phil black in eastern ukraine. >> now ukraine is accusing russia of covering up its role in this attack. nic robertson joins us now live from kiev. one of the big problems right now securing that crash site, are authorities closer to being

able to do that? >> reporter: no, it doesn't appear that they are, the international monitors hope to be back on the site today, hope to have better access and be given freer movement, but the hostility which they were met for the 75 minutes they were on site yesterday is an indication it is not something that's giving them great krauz for hope at the moment and the government isn't in the position of being able to guarantee their safety and security there either. what there are calls for a humanitarian corridor, cause for a cease-fire, but even in the area around where some of the crash debris landed, the government reported late yesterday 19 incidents of different exchanges of gunfire and contact between both government and pro-russian rebel forces there, so it doesn't appear that it's any closer to being secure. what we do understand from the osc is they are looking for ways and means in the area of not

only securing access to the site, but also finding a way to recover and store all those bodies. they said the leader of the group yesterday discussed how he might be trying to find an old ice cream factory somewhere with refrigeration, the temperatures here reaching up into the upper 20s, low 30s degrees centigrade and those are the conditions that continue to be around the site, john. >> no local morgue can deal with that number of bodies. nic, in terms of the investigation, compelling evidence implicates moscow. i guess the question is, how much of that is credible? >> reporter: well, there's certainly credibility in it as far as the white house is concerned. the obama administration believes that the missile system, the buk missile system, was transferred from russia to eastern ukraine.

it's not clear precisely who may have been operating it, but it is believed by the obama administration that that type of equipment could not have been operated without professionals who know how to use it as a very sophisticated weapons system. therefore, what we're seeing presented by the ukrainian government, these recordings of telephone conversations between what they say are the pro-russian rebels and their russian handlers, again, the government puts it and the video the government released showing what they say is a buk weapons system being driven back across the border from eastern ukraine into russia, does seem to be finding some support. although, again, the video we cannot verify it, but the fact there's a missile missing from that truck as it goes back across the border, there's a widespread concern by the government here that the rebels, the pro-russian rebels, are trying to destroy the evidence that links them to the downing of this flight. again, making it all the more

important there is this independent international access, which the government here is pushing for, john. >> nic, as always, thank you. nic robertson live for us there in kiev. as we talk about the investigation and who is behind it, we can't forget the victims, john. >> can you imagine the families knowing the bodies of the passengers are on a field and it's been that way for a number of days now. >> indeed. we heard the u.s. president say this is a global tragedy, for the family and friends those aboard the doomed jetliner, this is a tragic loss. grief is being felt right around the world. >> reporter: a candlelight vigil in australia for the passengers of malaysian flight 17. many on the doomed plane were headed to melbourne for an international aids conference. >> people have been devastated. this is just a terrible, terrible blow to the whole hiv movement. >> reporter: among those lost, langer, considered a giant in aids research, colleagues call

him a tireless advocate and pioneer in his field. >> it's going to be huge impact, both on people who worked closely with him, people in his lab, and on the society as a whole. it's an incredible loss. >> reporter: in geneva, staff at the u.n. and world health organization held a minute of silence for one of their own. glennis thomas, who worked for the who, was also on his way to the conference in australia. friends say the 49 year old had a big heart and infectious smile and laugh. gina missed thomas during a recent trip to chicago. >> you always think you have plenty of time. i told him i was sorry i couldn't make it. he said, don't worry, i'll be back again. i'm really sorry i did not get to see him then. he was a wonderful person doing great work in the world, and it's just an absolute tragedy. >> reporter: in malaysia, family members gathered at a hotel in kuala lumpur looking for any news of their loved ones. many could not hold back their

emotions. a friend of one of the flight attendants says they'd only spoken days ago. >> she just told me that she didn't have a transport and then she says if it is all right for you to come and pick me up. i said, why not, i just sent her to the airport and i just said i'll wait for you come back, and never come back. >> reporter: 25-year-old doctoral student at indiana university and a member of the women's rowing team. meanwhile, a daughter in australia fought back tears, remembering her parents. >> we love you and we love you so much and we're going to miss you so much, and they really wanted to see their little grand daughter walking tonight. >> reporter: an especially cruel loss for another family from australia. nick norris and his three young grandchildren were all onboard

flight 17. norris's nephew says he's trying to focus on the good memories. >> nick himself was an inspirational hero to so many people, a real story teller and natural leader, and my memories have been very fond. he's been a great role model for me. >> reporter: all told, 298 lives lost and grief felt around the world. frederik pleitgen, cnn. >> 298 people gone way too soon. >> it is such an incredibly large number of people, large number of victims all at once. >> of those 298 who died in the crash, 15 of them were crew members, and they were all malaysian citizens. >> earlier, i spoke with the father of one by phone. he told me that his son was not originally scheduled to work on flight 17. my condolences to you for the loss of your son. it must be incredible difficult to deal with this, especially knowing that he wasn't meant to

be on that flight, that he had swapped out with another colleague. do you know why he did that? >> yeah, he did that because he wanted to come home to be with his parents so he could get extra leave. he swapped with another colleague. >> this comes just a few months after his wife, who's also a flight attendant for malaysia airlines, she was meant to be on flight mh 370, so she swapped out. this is an astonishing twist of fate. >> she had swapped her flight to someone else. she was supposed to be on 370, and she swapped. my daughter-in-law survived. well, my son swapped the flight, he didn't survive. instead, he's gone. >> you want to have a service for him, you want a funeral, but his body is still on a field somewhere in eastern ukraine.

>> that's right. until i get some body, we will have the funeral and the prayers, and then maybe we'll worry about one or two things. our son is already resting in peace. very difficult at the moment. >> okay. we shall leave it there. again, condolences for the loss of your son. >> there are so many stories like that, like the family that had relatives on mh 370 and now relatives on this flight, as well. it's incredible. >> it is incredible and so difficult. as you see these pictures, we were just talking about that, you can see the books, you see the clothes, the cuddly toys, the fragment of peoples lives, it's incredible difficult to take it all in and our thoughts and prayer go out to everyone touched by the tragedy. >> that dimension, the political

dimension, and experts say this is one of the most difficult situations that the russian president has ever faced. coming up we'll tell you why vladimir putin is coming under pressure from both outside and inside his own country. plus, gaza's conflict causalities, look at the innocent civilians, some who are not even school aged, trapped in the violence. 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. 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.

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welcome back, everyone the air crash in ukraine compounding the pressure on vladimir putin. >> mr. putin may be finding himself just where he does not want to be, caught between increasingly harsh critics outside and inside his own country. brian todd explains why from washington.

>> reporter: vladimir putin responded to his horror in traditional fashion, by hunkering down, deflecting blame toward ukraine. >> translator: this tragedy would not have happened if there had been peace on that land or if military operations in southeastern ukraine had not been renewed. >> reporter: but u.s. leaders are blunt, while he didn't set the launch codes, putin's support for pro-russian rebels in ukraine. >> he has the most control over that situation. and so far at least he has not exercised it. >> i think he is responsible. >> reporter: analysts say in the immediate aftermath of the malaysia airlines crash, vladimir putin is under enormous pressure. >> this is one of the most difficult situations that vladimir putin has faced since he first became president back in 2000. >> reporter: of his most powerful partners, germany is pressuring him to pull back support of the pro-russian rebels and china is not saying anything one way or another.

analysts say his only visible supporters may be syrian president bashar al assad or cuba's raul castro, and it could get worse. the consequences for putin if he interferes with the crash investigation, if he doesn't ratchet back from ukraine. >> severe sanctions, for example, the west could cut off any access to the russian financial markets from any financing from any loans in the west. >> reporter: but experts say putin's under pressure inside russia, as well, from hard lined nationalists who want him to take back some of ukraine. >> he's already come under pressure from him because they say he allowed the ukrainian government forces to take back one of the major cities that was under occupation. >> reporter: all prompting the inevitable question, how will this man who hates to be painted into a corner respond to all the pressure? his unpredictability there has many on edge. analysts say putin could get more aggressive with ukraine. he could simply ride this out.

he could de-escalate with ukraine while helping nominally with an investigation. one thing putin's not likely to do is bring whoever fired the missile to justice, a trial or any proceeding like that, they say, might reveal hard information about where they got the weapon. brian todd, cnn, washington. let's talk a little bit more about this question of who fired this weapon. glenn schoen has been studying terrorism issues for 25 years, senior manager and head of security for earnton young. it seems to be this passenger jet was shot down by a sure surface to air missile. what is in dispute is who is responsible. as you look at the situation and that question, what stand out for you? >> i think the fact that several countries notably the united states will likely start furnishing some evidence in the intelligence cycle, it will have to be cleaned so that it doesn't

show the means by which they've got the information, but i think we will start seeing a coming together of technical proof and hopefully because of the investigation some physical proof that can give an indication where it was fired from, location of the vehicles, what kind of people were moving around it, and what happened subsequently to it, so i think we're moving from what everybody is talking about to actual proof of imagery, telemetry data, that will indicate which party or at least the direction from which the party was operating. i think we're going to go to a hard proof phase here. >> is the focus going to have to rely especially on the technical proof more so than the physical proof given the challenges there on the ground and access to the site and the fact that the site in itself is not secured at this stage? >> there is good hope there. the dutch team that arrived last

night will get access to the site. it's been supported not just by the government of ukraine and not just by the observers already on the ground from the oce, but the dutch national crime laboratory, dutch national investigation council, and some people from bureau poll, the european police agency, will at least be able to look at some of the harder forensic data. you're absolutely right when we look at what cnn has already covered on the scene, the problems with access there, but the hope is today, particularly with the personal presence of the dutch foreign minister, the access will come and at least there will be a start to the actual field investigation in some organized fashion. >> you know, there can be no good answer. there was no explanation for why this happened, really, for the families and the entire world looking at the situation, but people are still trying to

understand what kind of motive would have been at play here. do you see a clear motive here? >> no. everything we've heard so far, it does look like they simply made a mistake in hoping they were striking a ukrainian aircraft, at least that's what the early data gives us that hasn't yet been verified, that was released by the usb, the ukrainian intelligence agency. based on the twitter, the interview, the intercepts of voice, that is what the picture still looks like, that rebel-held forces made an error in identifying an aircraft and shooting down an airliner. >> glenn schoen, we appreciate your time, your insight and perspective, thanks so much. >> you're welcome. you heard what he said there, it's going to come down to the technical proof more so than the physical proof because of the challenges. >> the other problem, too, the black boxes, how much use they are going to be.

>> where are they? >> the plane was blown out of the sky. obviously, this case, pretty much of no use. >> indeed. now another big story that we continue to follow for you here at cnn, that conflict ongoing between israel and gaza, a warning from israel's prime minister benjamin netanyahu says israel's defense forces are prepared to further expand the defensive in gaza. mr. netanyahu did not say what would trigger another escalation in the campaign. >> third day with tanks and soldiers backed by aerial and naval support. the military says it's targeting tunnels to smuggle weapons and to attack israel and in the process parts of gaza are being reduced to rubble. palestinian officials say more than 270 gaza residents have been killed in this latest round of violence. >> many, many more than that have been injured and children are among them.

there in gaza with more on the price civilians are paying as this conflict rages on. >> reporter: a soft plea, daddy, don't leave me. he's only three. he's never picked a fight in his life, so he can't understand why he's being punished. just go ahead and tell the world my son was firing rockets in tel aviv or jerusalem, his father says, words loaded with irony and anger. an israeli missile slamm into their home in eastern gaza just before dawn. cnn teams saw that neighborhood under heavy bombardment as israel launched its ground invasion. this was the gaza skyline through the night, ablaze with bombs and artillery fire.

benjamin netanyahu accuses hamas militants of using civilians as human shields. he says his troops do not want to harm, quote, a single innocent person. but the united nations estimates more than 70% of the causalities are innocent civilians. the ground operation is creating the worst situation, we have hundreds of people going to hospitals in just the last 24 hours, he says. on thursday afternoon, cnn cameras recorded this. three youngsters were killed. we went to their funerals. this high school student survived. his younger brother and sister died at his side.

we met him at the hospital friday. >> translator: we were playing on the roof and i went to play the pigeons. they hit the roof. the others were playing while i was feeding the pigeons, he says. back at bedside with muhammad, back in daddy's arms. his 1-year-old daughter pock marked by shrapnel. he gives his baby girl a hug. he has the harrowed stare of a father who knows he can no longer protect his family. cnn, gaza. >> tough to watch. okay, we'll take a short break here on cnn newsroom. when we come back, typhoon rammasun after the storm leaves dozens dead in the philippines. details after the break.

welcome back to cnn newsroom. rammasun heads further inland, slammed into china with a power on friday. >> yeah, it certainly did. damaging winds and torrential rain have forced thousands to evacuate. look at these pictures on your screens. the storm has caused at least one death there in china. it killed at least 64 people as it raked over the philippines. the typhoon made landfall there on tuesday before regaining

strength over the south china sea. >> more now on the typhoon joining us from the international weather center. this has been one of the stronger storms to hit china in decades. >> since we've been keeping records, strongest ever, ever, to hit mainland china. this super typhoon and the pictures we were showing from the philippines with upwards of 60-some dead, the storm hadn't even peaked. it wasn't even a super typhoon. it's going to be awhile before we know the scope not only of the damage, but the causalities that are going to be likely mounting here across portions of china. not just because of the storm surge and wind, but the rain upcoming over the next couple of days. they are done with the advisories. that's the final warning, so the winds are now going to weaken, but the second threat will be the rain. we'll talk about that in a second. look at this thing as it began to peak here. worst case scenario with a

typhoon situation here, sometimes they weaken prior to landfall, this was ramping up and reached its peak intensity with 250 kilometer per hour winds, gusting to 300. that's up into the 150s as far as miles per hour, which would make it a category five in the atlantic basin. here's the satellite, look at this reaching perfection here which is a frightening scene if a land mass is anywhere near that. as far as the rainfall, so far, 300 plus millimeters of rainfall. in haikou it's still raining. we're going to continue to see problems here with flooding and also landslides. keep in mind this entire area has been under the gun over the last several weeks and months at this point because of the east asia rainy season. ground is saturated and now we're dumping incredible amounts of rain on top of that. that's going to be our next issue. i know we probably don't want to talk about this, but we have another one. this is about to become a typhoon and this is going to be

an issue i think for the philippines. not that it will hit them directly, but the rain bands associated with this storm are close enough that it will worsen conditions there, that they are already experiencing because of the flooding from the last typhoon. we're now reaching john and isha, as you know, peak typhoon season here in the western pacific. >> oh, dear. >> yeah, okay, thanks, ivan. >> appreciate it, thank you. still to come on cnn newsroom, an ominous warning from isis militants to christians. more on that when cnn newsroom continues. you guys mind warming this fella up for me? i'm gonna go back down, i saw some recyclables. make it happen with verizon xlte. find a car service. we've doubled our 4g lte bandwidth in cities coast to coast. thanks! sure. we've got a spike in temperature. so save the day... don't worry, i got this... oh yeah, i see your spaceship's broken. with xlte on largest, most reliable network. get 50% off all new smartphones like the lg g3.

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viewers here in the united states and around the world. you're watching cnn newsroom. i'm isha sesay. >> 30 minutes past midnight on the east coast, time to check the headlines. >> confusion over who exactly has the black boxes from the malaysian airlines flight that was shot down over eastern ukraine. investigators say they can't waste any time in getting to the crash site, which is deep inside a war zone. all 298 people onboard the plane were killed. >> the death toll continues to rise as israel's ground invasion of gaza moves into its third day. palestinian officials say more than 270 gaza residents have been killed since hostilities began last week. u.n. secretary general ban ki-moon is set to meet to try and broker a truce. in syria, isis militants have overrun a natural gas field near homs, according to prominent syrian opposition group. it says the militants killed at

least 270 people when they stormed the facility. almost 100 others are missing. and to the east of iraq, isis militants controlling the city of mosul have issued an ominous ultimatum to christians, leave mosul, pay taxes, or face death by sword. human rights activists say it's the latest example of isis's per cushion of religious and ethnic minorities in the areas under its control. iran and six world powers agreed to a four-month extension on negotiations over iran's nuclear program. as part of the agreement, washington says it will free up more than $2.5 billion of frozen iranian funds. in return, tehran has agreed to convert some of its enriched uranium into fuel. let's get more now on the intensifying conflict between israel and hamas in gaza. rick stoll is a professor at rice university, joining us from

houston, texas. thank you for being with us. is there an off ramp any time soon? how much longer does this bloodshed go on? >> i don't think there's a will on either side to call for a cease-fire. i think the israelis have certain objectives they want to reach. i think hamas started this because they wanted the attention and hopefully from their point of view to develop some sympathy for the world, so unfortunately, i think the conflict will go on. >> talk about hamas did this to create some sympathy, but really their aim seems obscure to me because from a military point of view they simply can't win this, so why do they continue? >> well, you're absolutely right. i'm not saying it makes sense, but here they are striking israel and i can't imagine a country in the world, in the history of the world, that would allow rockets to rain down on their people, regardless of whether they are killing anyone, and not respond to it, so i think hamas very cruelly and

deliberately decided we're going to do this because we know the israelis will react and then we'll run to the world and say the israelis are killing our people, which unfortunately is true. >> yeah, dead palestinians never look good on television. the israelis announced this ground offensive probably about an hour or so after flight mh 17 went down. is that a coincidence or something more going on here? >> i think it's just a coincidence. i think the israelis decided that in order to achieve their objectives, they couldn't just do it from the air. excuse me. and so they decided to muay in and what happened over ukraine was totally independent. >> okay. is there a danger here for israel as they continue on with this ground offensive if they are going too hard they, in fact, topple hamas and that leads the way for a more radical group to create power or create

a power vacuum and you have somalia on the doorstep? >> i think you can't get rid of hamas. i think the israelis, if everything works perfectly, they will take out or capture leaders, they will devastate at least in the short run the infrastructure hamas has, the tunnels, some of the rockets, but this is not something that they can eliminate by a military option. >> okay, ric, thank you very much, professor of political science at rice university. been good speaking with you, thank you, sir. >> thank you. more now on malaysia airlines flight 17 shot down over eastern ukraine. u.s. officials say a surface to air missile brought down the plane killing all 298 people onboard and they believe it was possibly fired by pro-russian rebels who likely had help from russia. >> a team from the organization for security and cooperation in europe, osce, visited the crash

site for just over an hour on friday. >> we counted dozens of bodies and the sad thing there is that there is we're starting to see the beginnings of composition. there was a fire when the plane crashed, but also some hot weather here, so these mangled bodies are starting to decompose out there in the field, and that's the saddest thing we're seeing. we need emergency workers, refrigeration is needed right away and really a sense of organization and security, so that this rescue recovery operation can get on its way. time is really of the essence right now. >> time is really is of the essence. one can't imagine for family members knowing that their loved ones are lying out in the open, you know, subject to all the elements, it's truly distre distressing. >> ukrainians are no closer to trying to secure the site at

all. >> no, not closer at all. getting to the bottom of what happened to flight 17 will undoubtedly pose significant challenges. for one thing, the plane went down right in the middle of a war zone. >> investigators say this is not just a crash site, it's a crime scene. justice correspondent pamela brown has more details. >> as of now, they'll be staying put there while they await more zbiens from ukrainian officials as to how and when then get to the area where the plane went down. the first team of investigators to make it to the scene were already dodging bullets not long after arriving. the first team of international investigators to make it to the malaysia airline crash site were able to inspect about 200 meters of the scene, shooting this video just moments before guns started firing into the air right next to them.

>> one of the biggest in the world, fire power, quite hospitable. >> the crash site right now is controlled by armed pro-russian rebels. the immediate challenge, trying to secure the massive scene. >> in this case, you're talking about what's tantamount to a war zone, so you would have to negotiate a safe passage and safe work environment. >> reporter: the evidence is spread out over several miles and the rebels who are believed to be responsible for shooting down the plane with a ground to air missile have had free reign over the crime seen for more than 24 hours. recordings released, two rebels are overheard discussing the crash. now i'm nearby the place where the first bodies started falling. here are remnants of internal brackets, chairs, bodies. are there any weapons asked the other? nothing at all, civilian belongings, medical scraps, towels, toilet paper, he

responds. >> i'd be very concerned about how badly the scene's been contaminated already, what's already been moved or taken away from the scene. >> reporter: it won't be the first time investigators would be working in a conflict zone. in 1998, u.s. officials helped investigate the terrorist attacks on american embassies in tanzania and kenya. there's also the 2000 bombing of the u.s.s. cole off the coast of yemen, where u.s. officials were met by special forces threatening them with ak-47s. a key focus of this investigation, of course, examining the plane's black boxes. the plane's black boxes are in ukraine, but wouldn't say if it's in a government possession. despite the hurdles, officials do believe they will eventually get their hands on evidence to help prove what exactly happened to mh-17 and its 1 298 passengers who were killed. pamela brown, cnn, washington. while a lack of full access

to the crash site continues to be a problem, officials are already working on their investigation and they are using evidence from electronic surveillance. tom foreman explains. >> that is also true of the buk missile defense system. it uses a powerful radar to paint the sky and pick out targets. when it fires a missile, that gives off a heat signature of its launch and in air, that missile will also give off its own radar signal as it tries to narrow its flight into its target. when you put them all together, what you wind up with is a way to draw a line from the launch up to the plane, back down to the launcher. that is how investigators have already been able to narrow what was a very big circle of

suspicion yesterday down to something that is much smaller now and allows them to focus their efforts. add to that things like this video released by the ukraine ministry of the interior showing what they say is a buk launcher with one missile missing and this is what is allowing them to focus the investigation even as they wait for the access to the crash site, which eventually they must have. >> access they must have. our thanks to tom foreman there. next on cnn newsroom, shock, sorrow, and grief as malaysia reacts to the news of the fate of those aboard the doomed jetliner. stay with us. 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.

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>> for malaysia airlines, it is the second, second passenger plane lost in just over four months. relatives of the flight 17 victims showed up at the airport in kuala lumpur friday with questions about what happened to their loved ones. it's a daunting task for the airline to try to provide answers, especially after the disappearance of flight 370 back in march. >> andrew stevens is in kuala lumpur joins us live. the scenes are so similar to what happened in the days after flight 370 went missing. >> reporter: the grief and the shock so similar, john, but the key difference is that we do know tragically what happened to mh 17, whereas mh 370 remains the greatest mystery in aviation. the grieving next of kin here do know what has happened. there has been a lot of counseling here, questions, too, raised about malaysian airlines and why they continue to use that route, which took the plane over ukraine air space.

i should point out many other airlines were, as well, also it had been approved by the international airline authorities, but that is of no comfort to the families of those lost on that flight. yesterday i went to a local mosque where the pilot of that flight was a regular attendee and i spoke to some of the people there about the pilots and found out a little bit more about him. in a neighborhood mosque they pray for the soul of the captain of flight mh 17. one was a regular here, he was both active in the mosque and in his local community. friday prayers allowed this close knit group to pray. he was a good man, he was always helping and joining in with activities. he was also a very good family man. members of this small congregation say they are in

shock, as their small country grapples with its second aviation catastrophe in less than five months. >> this is a test from god for us and all malaysians. i advise everyone to keep calm and face the test with patience. >> reporter: grieving families gather at the airport, the televised images a bitter deja vu for a country that's already seen so much pain. the #prayformh370 now replaced with mh17. >> this is a tragic day in what has already been a tragic year for malaysia. >> reporter: these two shutters behind me at the international airport were until just a few days ago hidden by a giant board, a memorial board, for those who went missing on flight mh370. messages left by loved ones to those on the plane. it is the most enduring mystery

in modern aviation, but now it's been overlaid by yet another tragedy. it's also a message shock for malaysia airlines. yet the national carrier is cherished at home. so much so that malaysians like these men won't give up on it, despite all the grief and damage done to malaysia abroad. >> i'm proud and i still feel proud of mas. >> reporter: now the government, john, is focusing very much on the investigation and calling for access to that crash site and the crash site remain untampered so the investigators can do their job. this is the focus here in malaysia, but as it continues to -- we continue to see these scenes of families being shielded from the media, newspapers reporting, again, tragic stories.

it won't be just for malaysia, it will be in so many countries. again, stories like a family of four children traveling home from their new home in amsterdam, coming back to malaysia, tragically sending up pictures on their facebook pages, the luggage they are piling up ready for their big trip back home and tragically, they will never, ever get here, john? >> there was so much criticism of officials from malaysian airlines the way they handled 370. are they doing things better this time? >> reporter: well, certainly there does seem to be a lot more information getting out much more quickly, but they were careful about releasing the manifest, the names of the people on that flight. that came out a few hours ago now, but there was frustration yesterday the names weren't being released, but malaysian airlines said we have to get this right, particularly in the light of just how difficult it was to get concrete information about 370, but as i said before,

john, these are different cases. 370 does remain such a mystery. there was so little to go on. i was here for the investigation into what happened to 370. i was here and in beijing and in perth and it was so hard to get any concrete evidence at all. 134 days after, there's still no evidence whatsoever. at least with this case we know exactly what happened to the plane and the malaysian authorities are being able to deal a lot more in fact and then calling for investigations and transparent investigations, as well. >> it's hard to think of an airline which has had to deal with two crises like this so quickly together. okay, andrew, thank you, andrew stevens live for us there in kuala lumpur. just ahead, the question many people are asking, why did aviation regulators feel it was safe to send flights over a conflict zone? that story next on cnn newsroom.

welcome back, everyone. on the days leading up to the attack on malaysia aircraft 17, several aircraft was shot down over eastern ukraine. >> leading many to question why regulators felt it was safe to send flights over a war zone. rene marsh has more. >> reporter: the signs of danger were all around. >> this also follows a pattern of actions by russian-backed separatists. >> reporter: june 13th,

pro-russian rebels shot down a ukrainian military transport plane killing 49 people. june 24th, rebels shoot a ukrainian helicopter killing nine. monday, july 14, a cargo plane shot out of the sky, then wednesday, a fighter jet shot down. the next day, flight 17 suffered the same fate. red flags ignored? malaysia airlines says no. >> the flight path taken by 17 was approved by the international aviation administration and by the countries whose space they passed through and international transportation. >> reporter: ukraine authorized flights above 32,000 feet, an altitude considered safe. nonetheless, some airlines did avoid the area unless the air space is restricted, it's their

call whether to fly through. a new york times report says carriers like british airways and air france flew around the conflict zone all together. reuters reports so did korean airlines and china airlines. carriers like malaysia airlines flew directly over the war zone. >> you can't simply take every air space that might have a problem and say we're not going to fly there because, as i say, the global scope of that would be enormous. >> reporter: late this week, the dangers of the air space now abundantly clear. those aviation authorities took action. the aviation arms of the un and europe recommending that airlines avoid the air space and the u.s. and ukraine prohibiting flights there, but for flight 17, it's too late. rene marsh, cnn, washington.

>> so many questions. >> yeah. and the question which is being raised about the air space is, while it was allowable and, you know, approved by the regulators, was it prudent, a lot of other airlines had avoided that part of the air space. >> i've heard some analysts speculate as to whether cost might have had an implication in terms of -- >> fuel costs. >> exactly, whether that played a role in deciding the flight path. again, more questions, we seek the answers. i'm isha sesay. >> i'm john force. >> you're watching cnn newsroom, the latest news up to the minute. we will be back in jus a moment with much more. [ female announc] we help make secure financial tomorrows a reality for over 19 million people. [ mom ] with life insurance, we're not just insuring our lives... we're helping protect his. [ female announcer ] everyone has a moment when tomorrow becomes real. transamerica. transform tomorrow. (vo) you know that dream... where you're the hero? hey... you guys mind warming this fella up for me?

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this hour, people around the world are in shock and mourning as investigators try to find out who shot a malaysian passenger plane out of the sky. cnn is at the crash site. >> we will also look at the lives onboard, from children to renowned aids researchers. and some of the youngest of the conflict in gaza. >> like to welcome our