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 viewers

in the united states and around the world. i'm john vause. >> and i'm isha sesay. it is 8:00 a.m. in eastern ukraine, where international monitors say they will try again today to visit the site where malaysia airlines flight 17 crashed. >> the team from the organization for security and cooperation in europe, osce, visited the crash site for just over an hour on friday, but they say they were met with hostility from separatists and were not given full access to the site. u.s. officials say they believe the plane was brought down by a missile, possibly fired by pro-russian rebels. most likely with backing from moscow. >> meanwhile, ukraine's government has released this video showing a truck carrying a buk missile system with one of the missiles missing driving towards the russian border.

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

>> audio recordings released which will undoubtedly be pored over. >> what is credible, what is not. united states is looking, as well as other governments around the world. yeah, our cnn's phil black is the first network correspondent to reach the crash site and he has this report. >> reporter: what remains of malaysian airlines flight 17 is passengers, crew, their belongings and baggage now spread across a wide area in this region of eastern ukraine. the landscape here is not dramatically by large pieces of wreckage from the boeing 777 and it is marked very poignantly by the many pieces of white ribbon tied to sticks, which mark the location of bodies.

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. >> well, u.s. president barack obama says russia likely bears some of the responsibility for the apparent downing of flight 17. he says separatists would have needed sophisticated equipment and training to operate an advanced missile system. he also warned of the potential for ukraine's crisis to spill further into europe.

>> i think that this certainly will be a wake-up call for europe and the world that there are consequences to an escalating conflict in eastern ukraine, that it is not going to be localized, it is not going to be contained. what we've seen here is just in one country alone our great allies, the dutch, 150 or more of their citizens being killed. and that, i think, sadly brings home the degree to which the stakes are high for europe. not simply for the ukrainian people and that we have to be firm in our resolve in making sure that we are supporting ukraine and separatists to bring about a just cease-fire and move

towards a political solution to this. >> so could this really be a turning point in the crisis in ukraine and what options are open to the u.s., if, in fact, it is true moscow-backed separatists fired a russian-supplied missile at mh17. for more now from washington, with the atlantic council and advised both presidents george w. bush and barack obama on defense policy. mr. pavel, john mccain says there will be hell to pay if it turns out russia or russian-backed separatists were behind this, but is that really the case, does the u.s. have a lot of options here? >> i don't think this white house in particular is going to significantly change course in regard to this unfolding crisis. i think you might see an escalation of the economic sanctions, you might see the european union join the level of sanctions that the united states just issued earlier this week. you might see a little more assistance to the ukrainian government with the thinking that a successful ukraine is the

best way to resolve this crisis, but i don't see putin changing his perception of russian interests. i don't see the united states changing its view of its relative states, nor europe, but i do think this could get a little worse before it gets resolved. >> i'll get to that in a moment, but is it fair to say if something like this doesn't get the europeans onboard for tougher sanctions on russia, then nothing will? >> i'm not sure that's quite clear. this was likely an accident, it was incompetence, i don't think even if it was the rebels they were looking to shoot down a malaysian civilian airliner, but i do think the russian assistance, when you unleash this kind of military assistance, military machine, these are the kinds of horrible, tragic consequences that can result, so i think it would be most useful if russia stopped this kind of direct support to rebels in eastern ukraine. >> you did say you expect it to get worse and vladimir putin

essentially putting the blame on ukraine, so do you think he's going to double down and keep moving ahead with this? >> i think he's going to keep moving ahead. look, it's early in understanding what actually happened. we're learning a lot more almost by the hour, but my speculation at this point from talking to experts about the actual weapons system is this is not an easy system to just use. it's not the kind of thing you can pick up, push a button, and hit an aircraft. this is a very complex system, usually a four-man crew, usually that crew requires months of training, so either that means they've been training for a very long time, which i don't think is as likely, or that means there was some direct russian assistance at the site of the weapons system or even possibly russian personnel themselves. this is a sophisticated system. it's not easy to use. that tells me that some very

experienced military personnel were the ones right there with the weapon when it was launched. >> and if that is the case, how does that change the calculation? >> that makes direct russian fingerprints involved in ukraine. putin will still use propaganda like he's using right now with his own people, but that will make it even clearer to the european union that this is no time to be soft or slow with increasing economic sanctions as they've been. so as i said, it could make the crisis quite a bit worse before it gets resolved. >> is there a calculation in moscow right now, as you say, putin has unleashed a force which he has influence over but seems no direct control over? >> i doubt putin's the type of person, unfortunately, to regret, you know, the fact that this type of incident happened. i think he thinks it's in his interests for ukraine to remain in that sort of frozen conflict stage for there to be continuing instability in eastern ukraine so that it doesn't move with

clarity towards the european union so that it's a country sort of in turmoil that cannot move firmly in the direction of the west. >> okay, thank you very much, barry pavel in washington, thanks for being with us. >> my pleasure. as we talk about the accountability and response to this tragedy, let us not forget 298 people, almost 300 people, lost their lives on flight 17, and among the victims aboard that flight were a number of hiv research experts. dr. sanjay gupta says their loss is a blow to the fight against aids. >> reporter: the health community around the world in utter shock. the international aids society says a number of its members were onboard malaysia airlines flight 17 headed to the aids conference in melbourne, australia, scheduled to start this sunday.

former president bill clinton is one of the keynote speakers at the conference, he says it's awful, sickening what's happened to so many gifted people. >> they were doing so much good. this gathering, we do this on a regular basis, and i try to go to all of them because i'm always so inspired by what other people are doing and what we can learn from them and so since i left office, it's been kind of a regular part of my life thinking about those people being knocked out of the sky, it's pretty tough. >> reporter: one of the victims, prominent dutch scientist joep lang. i met him in 2004 in bangkok. those who knew him say he was a hard core scientists with the heart of an activist who worked tirelessly to get affordable aids drugs for hiv positive patients living poor countries.

one small example of his work, he argued if coca-cola could get refrigerated beverages to places all over africa, we should be able to do the same with refrigerated hiv medications. >> people in his lab and on the society as a whole, it's an incredible loss. we're all just bracing ourselves to arrive and find out who else may have been on that flight, it's just unbelievable. it's not really real yet. >> reporter: the world health organization tells cnn the spokesman glen thomas was on the flight. he most recently worked with us during the coverage of the ebola outbreak in guinea. a friend says he was a wonderful man doing great work in the world and was also planning his 50th birthday celebration. his life and so many others cut tragically short. >> so, so sad. well, the conference will go on as scheduled, but organizers say

there will be opportunities to remember those who were lost on the plane. >> and more than half of the 298 people onboard malaysia airlines flight 17 were from the netherlands. the flight originated in amsterdam and people there have been leaving flowers and other momentos at the airport and people from at least nine different countries were onboard that plane, including families heading to holiday in bali and as you just heard, prominent aids researchers heading off to an international conference in melbourne, australia. well, aaron mclaughlin is there in amsterdam with more on the dutch victims. >> reporter: posted this to his facebook account moments before he and his girlfriend boarded mh17 for their summer holiday. he joked, this is what the plane looks like in case it goes missing, a reference to malaysian flight 370.

hours later, mh17 disappeared from radar and crashed in eastern ukraine. a photograph of them now sits outside her flower shop. >> it's just lovely girl. >> reporter: going to miss her? >> yes, we all. >> reporter: the irony not lost on many here that they are now laying flowers at the shop where they used to buy them. in nearby rodderdam, similar scene outside the chinese restaurant asian glories. he tells me of the moment he learned three family members weren't coming home. when you came to that realization, what was going through your mind at that time? >> everything, you lost someone you never expect, so no words for that. >> reporter: the restaurant was the life work of his cousin

jenny and her husband. he says their 30-year-old son is struggling to cope. >> reporter: this restaurant in about 15, 20 years, it's a very good restaurant and the flowers, of course, all the comments on the internet, and always working for the son and for the business. this was their vacation. >> reporter: another family was also on vacation aboard flight mh17. upcoming deejay was on his way to vietnam. his close friend and fellow deejay says he could have been one of the greats. >> he was one of the biggest in the netherlands that was an upcoming deejay producer. >> reporter: but that wasn't enough for him. he wanted to give back. >> he said, i want to help people, so he was going to study for doctor to help other people. i think if you think like that, it's already in a different

level of being a human being on this planet. >> reporter: the florist, the restaurantuers, the deejay, some of the dutch passengers who were killed. this country mourns them all. >> well, at the airport in amsterdam, joining us now on the phone. erin, we've heard that in kuala lumpur, family members have been turning up at the airport there demanding answers. what have you been seeing and hearing there in amsterdam at the airport? >> reporter: well, there's a small makeshift memorial just outside the terminal where malaysian airlines passengers are continuing to check in. small group of flowers and mourners paying their condolences. as for family members, well, they are being cared for at a hotel not far from the airport. officials here very protective of their privacy. there's very heavy security, but

i haven't seen so far, isha, any family members at the airport itself. >> all right. this must be a country in shock. we just saw your report on some of the victims there from the netherlands, 189 of those passengers on flight 17 were dutch nationals. just give us a sense of the broader mood there in the country at present. >> reporter: you know, yesterday we were driving around the country, what really struck me, isha, not just the diversity of the passengers is that were onboard mh17, but just the number of people affected, the family members, the friends, an entire community really gathering together to mourn this tremendous loss. >> yeah. and on the part of the dutch authorities, are they saying anything at this stage about the role they will play in this investigation into what exactly happened to flight 17? >> reporter: well, dutch prime minister yesterday was speaking

out. he said he's being very careful not to point fingers. he says he wants all of the facts first. yesterday he said, though, if that was an attack, the netherlands will not rest until they find the perpetrators and, you know, in speaking to the family members yesterday that something they really emphasized, as well, they want a full investigation. they want to know exactly what happened to their loved ones. >> yeah. just finally, i just want to get a sense of whether this is resinating there in europe. we heard from u.s. president obama on friday saying this may well serve as a wake-up call to europe, these events there in the ukraine. are you getting a sense that people are now beginning to look at this conflict in ukraine from a different perspective now that it's touched so close to home? >> reporter: isha, i think so. i know the prime ministers around europe have been calling here to the netherlands to pay

their condolences, yesterday calling the dutch prime minister and we're also understanding that vladimir putin had a phone call with the dutch prime minister yesterday. his condolences, as well, and asked the prime minister to convey those condolences to the victims, the families, and the friends, as well as to the entire country, isha. >> all right, erin mclaughlin joining us there on the line from amsterdam. erin, thank you. john? >> okay, we just have some news coming in, special investigators have arrived in kiev from malaysia, 131 in all. also coming up on cnn newsroom, israeli tanks have been rolling across gaza and prime minister netanyahu says more may be on the way. plus, typhoon rammasun finally loses strength after ravaging parts of china and the philippines.

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and there has been a warning from israel's prime minister benjamin netanyahu who says israel's defense forces are prepared to further expand their offensive in gaza. he did not say what would trigger another escalation in the campaign against hamas militants. israel's ground offensive is now entering its third day and tanks and soldiers backed by aerial and naval support. the military says it is targeting tunnels used by hamas to smuggle weapons and attack israel and in the process parts of gaza are reduced to rubble. more than 270 gaza residents have been killed in this latest round of violence. >> michael joining us live from jerusalem, former u.s. ambassador, thanks so much for joining us as we get word israel is prepared to expand its offensive in gaza, in the short-term it can degrade

capabilities to fire rockets but it can't get rid of hamas, so what do they get out of this long term in your view? >> good to be with you. israel's initial information for entering on a ground exertion into the gaza strip was to locate the tunnels used by hamas government to try to infiltrate israel to attack civilian farms and towns there. overnight, a number of these tunnels were discovered. they are difficult to detect, the openings are in houses so the army has to go house to house and find them. and once they do, they destroy the tunnels, but the big problem is the rockets. last night we had to run to the shelters twice, the rockets continued to come in and the rockets are much deeper inside gaza, inside civilian neighborhoods. very complicated. so i think israeli leadership right now is debating what is the end game here, is the end game just to get the tunnels,

stop the rockets, or is there a broader goal? is the broader goal the demilitarization of gaza, removing the rockets entirely like the syrian chemical weapons were removed from syria, or is the goal to bring down hamas? >> either of those end games, those options that you lay out there that the israeli government is likely considering, come with a price that comes in the form of lives, basically. we have seen a large loss of life on the palestinian side and huge numbers of people injured. let me ask you about the cost for israel in the court of public opinion. >> it is a significant cost, isha. and it's one i myself and other analysts here in this country keep on pointing out, every day that goes by, there is this cost and international opinion is aroused because of it and ultimately organizations like the u.n. will be spurred because

of it. today, u.n. secretary general ban ki-moon is coming to the region to help mediate a cease-fire because he's looking at the rising number of causalities. the israel defense forces has one of its central doctrines, the mandate to minimize to the greatest degree possible civilian deaths, but the israeli defenses are also fighting an enemy that doesn't wear a uniform, hides deep underground, that's what the rockets are being fired and all of israel's efforts to get these civilians to leave combat zones in a situation like this, we have a large army on the ground fighting in densely populated areas, civilian causalities become almost unavoidable and also has not just a human price, but a diplomatic price, diplomatic price is going to be increasingly prominent. >> you have written this latest clash between israel and gaza offers several potential game changers. how so?

>> one of them is one i'd mentioned earlier in passing, that is the demilitarization of gaza, and there are a number of presence for this, again, removal of chemical weapons from the arsenal of bashar al assad in syria. the weapons weren't a problem in a warehouse, it was when they were used against civilians. hamas's rockets aren't a problem unless used against civilians and if the international community could remove those weapons, i think israel would accord at least implicitly with a continued hamas role in gaza. keep in mind there are other terrorist groups in gaza even more radical than hamas, elements of al qaeda, hamas at least is an organization that has some structure, has some welfare operations. so it is a big question here whether taking down hamas is the goal, because if you take down hamas, you're going to have to deal with chaos. nobody wants to do that.

demilitarization is one of those opportunities. >> yeah, very interesting perspective, michael oren, we always appreciate your insights here on cnn. thank you so much. >> have a good day. okay, we'll hear from a palestinian spokesman in the next hour, but for now we'll take a short break. be back in a moment.

welcome back. typhoon rammasun continues to lash inland areas of china and vietnam and continue further inland. it slammed into southern china friday. >> damaging winds and torrential rain forced thousands to evacuate. the form has caused at least one death in china and 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. meteorologist ivan cabrera is here with much more on the storm. ivan, is the threat over now? that's the big question. >> as you mentioned, i think for coastal areas, i think we're in much better shape at this point, but inland areas, vietnam and the hilly terrain across china still under the gun for very heavy rainfall, which will prompt flash flooding, along with the potential for landslides, it's been raining a lot here, even before the typhoon made landfall, which at this point here, this is the fourth landfall. i'm going to take you on a tour of what this has done over the last week. latest advisory and the last one

from the joint typhoon warning center, 185 kilometer winds. they are done issuing advisories so in the next six hours, more of a rain threat and then we'll see about the damage, that death toll in china we are hoping stays that low, as you know in the philippines it is not. here's what happened, just a nonmenacing looking thing, watch what happens as i put this into motion. it arrived in the philippines as a category 3 storm with ferocious winds and torrential rains and ramped up and moved right over the heart of manila with very heavy rainfall. death toll stands into the 60s from the philippines, despite the fact we had a week to prepare, over 400,000 people evacuated, some did not heed the warnings and paid the ultimate price. here it is weakening as we would expect after crossing the philippines over the south china sea and then it exploded within

hours, within a day, essentially, we haven't from a category one to category 5 monster, making landfall in the northeastern tip there in haikou and eventually a fourth landfall there in china. now at this point the threat will remain the rainfall. look at this, 100 to 300 millimeters of rainfall, up to about 13 inches on the higher end. take a look at this, some of the first responders getting themselves into trouble. this is pre-rammasun flooding. imagine over the next couple of days, john and isha, as a result of more heavy rain on top of that. >> wow, 20,000 people also were evacuated alone. chinese authorities are very good at organizing those mass evacuations. much more on the downing of malaysian airlines flight 17 just ahead. we'll go live to the ukrainian capitol to see what the next steps are for international investigators.

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after 1:30 on the east coast of the united states and these are the stories we're following this hour. >> analysts say there is no time to waste getting started on the investigation of what happened to malaysia airlines flight 17. a team of malaysian investigators arrived in kiev today hoping to begin that process. all 298 people onboard were killed when the plane was shot down over eastern ukraine. >> the death toll rises 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. ban ki-moon is to meet with israelis and palestinians in hopes of brokering a truce. >> in syria, isis militants have overrun a natural gas field near homs in a bloody battle. it says the militants killed at least 270 people when they stormed the facility. almost 100 others are missing. >> and to the east, in iraq, isis militants controlling the city of mosul have issued an ominous ultimatum to christians, their choices, leave mosul by noon saturday and accept islam and pay extra 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 turn back to our top story, apparent downing of malaysian airlines flight 17 over eastern ukraine. correspondent nic robertson joins us now live from kiev. nic, good to have you with us. as we said time and time again, the clock is running on this investigation and the great focus now is for international monitors to gain full access to that crash site. that did not happen on friday. will it happen today, what are you hearing? >> reporter: well, of course, the need for them to gain full access is because they want to make sure they can get access to all the dee bree and gather all the information necessary for a full and thorough and transparent international investigation of the ukrainian government and many other

capitals around the world are calling for. yesterday the osce, organization for security cooperation in europe monitors, 25 turned up on site, one site of where the debris lay. they said they were met by heavily armed guards, pro-russian rebel guards, who were in no mood to do business with them, if you will, and give them free access to the site, which is what they were expecting. so today they are hoping through further talks to be able to get more unfettered access. yesterday it was just 75 minutes on a site about 200 meters long, they said. the debris is scattered over many, many miles and many different locations. clearly, they are hoping to get a better access and one of the things they want to get and there's pressure on them to try to locate are the black boxes. ukrainian officials have said that the black boxes are still on ukrainian territory, but they don't appear to be in control of the ukrainian government.

government says they don't have them. the international monitor says they don't have them. the indication appears to be the rebels still have those black boxes and they are vital to the investigation. so all of these things are on the agenda for the monitors today, but it's not clear yet if they are going to get what they want and they certainly don't have the means, if you will, to pressure the pro-russian rebels to get access. they are not armed. they are there with flat jackets alone, working only on the good will of those rebels and so far that good will hasn't been forthcoming, isha. >> no, certainly hasn't. there's a call for a thorough independent investigation into what happened to flight 17, begging the question as to whether ukraine will relinquish control and jurisdiction of this investigation. have they spoken to that issue so far? >> reporter: the ukrainian government has called for all the international support that it can get on this. it says it's formed a commission

for an investigation. they say they've formed that commission with the help of the united states, with malaysian authorities, dutch authorities, they also say any country that had nationals aboard the aircraft, mh17, should be involved, can be involved. they called for wide ranging help. they've asked for the u.s. to send air accident investigation team, the fbi are sending two people, forensics expert and general investigation expert here, so for relinquishing control of it, it's not -- that doesn't appear to be something that's gaining ground at the moment, because at the moment the ukrainian government doesn't have control over it, but it is trying to establish an operations and control center not far from the region about five hours drive from kiev, but at the moment all hopes for a transparent investigation really rest on a truce in the area, which isn't happening, and

unfettered access. there's no indication that that real substantial breakthrough is happened yet, isha. >> cnn international correspondent nic robertson joining us from kiev with important information, nic, always appreciate it. thank you. a senior white house official tells cnn the buk missile system which brought down mh 17 was moved from russia to eastern ukraine in recent days or weeks and could not have been operated from recent training. with more, cnn's security analyst joining us from los angeles. good to speak to you. let's start with the how does the u.s. know this? >> very simply. they can watch these systems move over land by overhead photography, the coverage on eastern ukraine is very good. they also have been able to intercept, i suspect, communications from the system, when it turns on the radar, awax can pick it up.

these things are fairly easy to follow. they always have been. it's not something you can hide like a shoulder-fired weapon, so when they brought this over, i don't know what the russians or the ukrainian dissidents were thinking, but it doesn't surprise me it left a trail. >> okay, so given how difficult it is to fire one of these surface to air missiles, do you think these were pro-russians or russian pros at the controls? >> you know, that's the question. there's suspicion that the gru, russian military intelligence, special forces, are operating in the eastern ukraine. wouldn't surprise me. i spent two years with these types. they are very protective of what they call the near abroad. there's ideological reasons, they are mercenaries, but where official russian control starts and ends, it's impossible to know, but if you told me that putin approved these missile systems going across the border, i would believe it. >> why was this airspace open in

the first place? why wasn't it restricted and i guess a lot of people might be wondering what other war zones are now open for commercial passenger jets? >> well, frankly, it's complete incompetence. there's been four or five planes shot down already in the last couple months and the systems, their capabilities are well known and there's been information out there, open intelligence, that this sa-11 was there and even the rebels were boasting about having captured one of these. and you just look at the altitude, they should have never allowed planes to fly over, but no one's been paying attention to this conflict. that's the problem. >> there's an investigation under way, sort of an investigation under way, trying to get out to the crash scene, everyone's sort of dancing around pointing fingers at moscow and putin's involvement, but at this point, does an investigation actually matter, because it seems unlikely that

vladimir putin will accept any findings which actually implicate moscow. >> i don't think it matters. i think the crew that fired this is safely across the border, unless putin for some bizarre reason decided to cooperate and arrest people. i think the russians by now would know who fired this missile. i don't think we're going to see any real opening up of the investigation. yes, we'll be able to figure out if it was shot down, there will be fragments of a missile and what the imprint will look like, there's going to be nothing on the black box that truly matters, you know, so it doesn't really matter at this point. and the russians aren't looking as of today, like they are just going to tough this out and just deny it, and pretend it was the ukrainians who did it. >> bob, we'll leave it there, bob baer, former cia operative live in los angeles. thanks, bob. of course, there's also the

diplomatic angle of the investigation, but the problem if they go to the united nations, russia has veto power of the security council, don't want to put nato troops on the ground, not a lot of good options. >> no, but for the families of those who lost their lives on this flight, an investigation is essential, they need answers. >> yeah, that's true. good point. close to 300 people lost their lives on malaysia airlines flight 17, each one of them has their own story. >> a scientist who changed lives for the better as a leading researcher at western australia's department of agriculture and food, he helped rehabilitate thousands of acres of land damaged by salt in the soil and water. >> he and his wife were returning from the netherlands where they were visitig family. cnn's anderson cooper spoke with his brother drew. >> my brother was one of the most generous, warmest people i've ever known.

guy that enjoyed life, liked adventure but just cared a lot about a lot of other people. he had a very, very strong family man, loved his kids and his grandkids just a wonderful individual. >> he had three grown kids, is that correct? >> that's correct. >> and i understand they live near him. how are they holding up? >> it's been really tough, as you can imagine. such a shock and that's, you know, we're just trying to process this. it just happened so suddenly and i just -- it's hard for me even to still comprehend what happened. >> when something like this happens, i mean, what is the process? did somebody contact you? how did you first learn that your brother and his wife were even on the flight. >> well my family is originally from the netherlands. my parents were dutch. they immigrated to australia. that's where i was born and the rest of my siblings. we have a lot of family in the netherlands and they were visiting there as well as other

parts of europe and my uncle had brought them to the airport in amsterdam and it was him that called me yesterday morning absolutely distraught saying have you seen the news, this plane has gone down and, you know, your brother was on the plane and i, you know, was in disbelief. how do you know? are you sure? yeah, i dropped him off at the airport and i can see. that's how i found out. >> i know your family released a statement saying you're not seeking justice or retribution for the accident or placing blame. can you explain why that was important for you to convey? >> well, yeah, we're -- our entire family, we're strong christians. our faith is very important to us and part of that faith tradition says that we should forgive those that have wronged us and in this case, we know that there were some terrible things that were done. we don't know who was responsible. it's not important for us to

come after those people. if anything, we want to forgive them for some things that they have done here that they shouldn't have done. >> incredible. >> very much so. very, very much so. well, still to come, as israel-gaza conflict unfolds, we'll look how it is affecting those most vulnerable, gaza's young children. ♪ [ male announcer ] if you can't stand the heat, get off the test track. get the mercedes-benz you've been burning for at the summer event, going on now at your authorized mercedes-benz dealer. but hurry, offers end july 31st. share your summer moments in your mercedes-benz with us. offers end july 31st. having a perfectly nice day, when out of nowhere a pick-up truck slams into your brand new car. one second it wasn't there and the next second... boom! you've had your first accident.

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welcome back, everyone. the palestinians say more than 270 people have been killed in israel's air and ground operation in gaza. that operation is now in its 12th day. many people have been injured and children are among them. there in gaza, and we want to warn you, his report contains images you may find disturbing. he tells us about the price civilians are paying.

>> 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 slammed 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. >> okay, still to come here on cnn newsroom, as details of passengers from flight mh17 emerge, the loss is being felt around the world. that's coming up next. he openin, 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.

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esurance. insurance for the modern world. now backed by allstate. click or call. welcome back, everyone. for the families and friends of those who were aboard the doomed jetliner, mh17, this is a tragic loss. >> report now, grief is being felt around the world. >> reporter: a candlelight vigil in australia for the passengers of 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. >> and we will continue to remember the victims aboard flight 17 and, of course, their families during this difficult time here on cnn. i'm isha sesay. >> i'm john vause. you're watching cnn newsroom. we'll be back in a minute with our continuing coverage of malaysian airlines flight 17. ge. would you take it? well, there is. [ male announcer ] it's called ocuvite. a vitamin totally dedicated to your eyes, from the eye care experts at bausch + lomb. as you age, eyes can lose vital nutrients.

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it has been nearly two days since melalaysia flooight 17 wa shot down. victims' bodies have begun to decompose in the heat. international outrage is directed at russia and director vladimir putin. has russia is reacting to the crisis. malaysia investigators arrive in kiev to try to start piecing together what happened. meanwhile, families of the 298 people on board are in mourning. the tributes to their loved ones.