armed separatists forced them to leave. let's talk about this and the effort to get to the site and to those victims with cnn law enforcement analyst and former fbi assistance director thomas fuentes. and tom, i want to start with you. we heard from the malaysian transport minister they have the cooperation of the ukrainian government that they will get access to this site. that stood out to me. we know not the ukrainian government have control over that site. talk about the challenge the malaysians and ever other group will get to mh17 and those 298 victims. >> you're exactly right, victor. the ukrainian government promises to the world that, you know, there will be a full investigation, there will be full access, there will be all of the ability to find out what happened. you know, is irrelevant and ridiculous if they can't control that site. in a way, it tends to defend the

ukrainian government they wouldn't have the necessary military hardware in the vicinity to shoot that plane down because they don't have any military presence and can't control the crime scene. by the way, just besides just controlling a crime scene ten miles long, they are going to have to set up the logistic sport. they need a convoy of refrigerator trucks to go in there and take the victims out and take them somewhere to some facility, probably the capital of that region, and then find facilities there to house those bodies. they can't leave them out to decompose in a field forever. you need to bring equipment in. you need to be able to bring in hundreds of people. not a handful of observers from europe but that is what is happening now is that the fbi agents, other experts have arrived are giving advice to the government here is what you need

to do this. here's what we have seen in the past. if you look at the downing of pan am 103 in scotland. investigators at that crime scene for months and they turned up key evidence as to what happened and how the explosive was constructed. you can't just send in a handful of people. you can't just look at this and go, well, all they are going to do is gather up. they need not only a place to take the victims and the family members' bodies but they need a place to take that aircraft and all of the fees they can recover to resembassemble. they pulled a million pieces off the ocean of that floor and still here in a training

facility. you need to take the victims out and the piece of the aircraft out and set up a place they can do examination of all of it. the people and the pieces. and none that have is in progress as we speak. i checked weather before going on the air. it's going to be 82 degrees in the capital of ukraine today, so this is summertime there. the bodies need to be taken care of and need to be removed quickly. >> you're right about that. i wanted to ask you about some things that the transportation minister said as well because he did seem to spend some time during this news conference defending why they took this flight and this route in particular. he said 75 different airlines had flown this route over the two days prior to them doing so. but there are a lot of people right now questioning. this still was a war scenario going on in this area. why do you think this flight path was still open? >> good morning. that's a very good question. what they have done is they are

abrogated their responsibilities to deem this route safe by the authorities. other airlines from the west and perhaps from america too had been avoiding this area because it was a conflict zone. in defense to the malaysians they were within their right to fly in that air space and there were other airlines. i'm not totally convinced that they have -- in the sense that it clearly was a conflict zone where aircraft were being shot down. i mentioned this several times. even a couple of days, one had been shot down at high altitude, 22,000 feet. vertically -- as the malaysian transportation minister said it

could have been any one of these other aircraft that were flying along there, including a number of western airlines. so, you know, it's important not to heed a lot of blame on the maulgsi i malaysian airline or you might think what are we flying over a war zone why aircraft is being shot down. >> who makes that decision? who authorizes this is a safe flight path? and i have to believe at this point it is no longer -- there are no longer planes flying in that path. >> no, of course not. the air space is closed. it's highly dangerous. but who authorized it? well, basically an airline can't operate in any air space that is restricted and even if there is a restricted area on the ground it may not affect aircraft at higher altitudes so you can have

zones at certain levels but not higher but something the airline does not make a decision on that. this information is provided at the time of departure of the airline and the airline operates in the case of malaysian airlines will produce a flight plan for the flight crew. the flight crew have the option of accepting or objecting that route. 99.9% of the time the flight crew will accept it. the only times where flight crew in my experience have changed routines has been because of exceptionally bad weather and that might be severe turbulence or moderate severe turbulence where the flight crew would rather do a smoother route or flying over a hurricane or typhoon which is deemed safe to fly above it but the flight crew might decide, no, they would rather fly somewhere for the south or north, east or west to avoid it. i've made those decisions

myself. >> thank you both so much. we will check back with you later this morning. >> you're welcome. >> thank you. >> thank you both for being here. we do want to take some time this morning at the end of the day, as he said, this is a human tragedy. we need to focus on the victims here. >> 298 innocent and we have to say innocent men, women, children on board. we know three infants included in that number. all of them gone and we are learning much more about their lives and the families they have now left behind.

welcome back. this morning another mh17 is going to take off. >> they didn't retire that number which i think a lot of people are surprised to knee. >> from amsterdam to kuala lumpur. we have with us on the phone roger barrier who joins us from the airport where mh17 took off. he lost a friend on that flight and he is about to board that flight this morning. it's good to have you with us, roger. we mourn with us the loss of

your friend. what are you feeling now as you wait to board mh17? >> well, that's a good question. i'm a business anxious to actually board the flight. taking into account that my friend didn't make it back home. but this is a flight i've been taking for the past 23 years from malaysia so i guess and hoping lightning doesn't strike twice in the same place but it's still difficult to fly in this type of atmosphere. >> is this flight a full flight? i have to believe -- what are your conversations there in the airport as you're getting ready to board maybe with other passengers? >> i'm flying with my family so we were arranging the luggage and stuff like that so we didn't really get a chance to talk to many other people at the

check-in. >> any hess tanthe flight is de mours now so we have to wait. >> was there any hesitancy on your part so soon after mh17 was shot down earlier this week to fly again essentially in -- from amsterdam to kuala lumpur? >> the first thing that really comes to mind, maybe we should take another airline back home, but then we found out there wasn't any technical or mechanical issues. we take the same flight back because we have been doing that for many, many years, so we -- as i said, we just hope for the best and see what happens. >> roger, we understand that the friend you knew who was flying the doomed flight mh17 was on board with his wife and his

child. tell us a little bit about him. >> can you repeat? >> tell us a little bit about your friend. >> oh, my friend. i have known my friend now about 20 years. we used to work together and we became very good friends and day before yesterday, still very good friend. his wife was very nice lady. and they have a son 10, 12 years old. very happy, lucky guy and everywhere he comes, you never get into an argument or a problem with him. he was just a very nice guy. he was always smiling and always happy, but no longer. >> roger, after the disappearance of mh370 and some of the decisions to fly this route for mh17, douv you have a

concerns about the competence or the decision making of the managers there at malaysia airlines? >> yeah. that's another good question. initially, as i said, we were devastated and thought maybe get on a sister flight or another airline because, you know, after 370 and now this, your confidence level goes down into the red zone but because it wasn't a technical matter this time so we said we will stay loyal to malaysian airlines which we have been doing the last 23 years. it's a good airline. the service is good. they treat you well. it's not too expensive so i think i will continue to fly malaysian airlines for my yearly trip back to holland.

>> our thoughts and prayers with you and all of the people who are trying to reconcile what has happened as they had family and friends on that flight, and safest of travels to you and your family today. thank you for your time. we appreciate it. >> thank you for having me and all the best. >> you too. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> roger, as he said, lost a friend. many people lost friends, relatives. let's go now to cnn's erin mclaughlin. you're at amsterdam's airport where roger is. we know that is where that ill-fated plane took off. almost half of those who died were from the netherlands. >> reporter: that's right, victor. this is very much a country in mourning. all day, people have been coming here to the airport to lay flowers at a make-shift memorial.

just a short while ago, the former u.n. secretary-general coffee an coff-- was here. calling a full independent international investigation into what happened. not far from the airport in a hotel that is where they are taking care of the relatives of the victims of those that were on board mh1737. the hotel covered in security. officials here very concerned about the family members privacy. now, yesterday, we were really traveling all over the country just talking to people. one of the really interesting things that you got a real sense of was not only the diverse members of passengers their on board mh17 but the number of people that have been impacted and affected here in the netherlands. family members and entire communities mourning this loss.

we were speaking yesterday to hu twa who lost three members on board the flight. take a listen to what had he to say when he found out about what happened. when you came to that realization what was going through your mind at that time? >> everything. you lost someone you never expected. no words for that. >> reporter: the couple owned a well-known chinese restaurant in rotterdam and really their life's work. all day, people had been stopping by there. some very tearful. you got a real sense of the community lost. the couple left behind their 30-year-old son. take a listen. >> we build up this restaurant in about 15, 20 years. it's a very good restaurant.

and flowers and comments on the internet, always working and they were there for vacation. >> reporter: so many people on board that flight were on their summer vacation. chuah says he wants a full investigation and answers to these questions. yesterday, we heard from the dutch prime minister who said, at the moment, they are not going to be pointing fingers. they want to establish exactly what happened, but if they find out for certain that the plane was downed as a result of the attack, then he said this country will not rest until they find the perpetrators. >> erin, thank you so much. let's go to nick. i know you've been getting to know some of the other victims here including the scientists, revered aids researcher was on

this flight as well. >> it's so important to give meaning to the numbers. you see that 298 but really these are individuals with their own stories and lives and we heard a lot there from erin mclaughlin talking about the impact in the netherlands. the doctor was a professor at amsterdam university and pioneer in hiv/aids research and you're looking at a photo of him there. i spoke to dr. lang's friend dr. patrick sullivan of emory university here in atlanta. he was a prominent voice in the hiv/aids community and he spoke to me about the impact and leadership role that dr. lang had in this field. >> i've met him at research conferences but i think everybody in the field would know his work as well. and he's one of these folks who started, you know, as a clinician, saw a problem and he stepped up into leadership roles

that really helped the field move forward. >> some of that research included developed and underdeveloping countries as well. he was linked with research and mother to child transfer of hiv/aids. it was reported about a hundred people on their way to this international aids conference. earlier this morning we heard that figure lower to at least six people. dr. sullivan i spoke to yesterday, he said this is a really tight-knit community and they have all been exchanging e-mails and text messages to figure out if anybody else was on that flight. he fears he knows other who have yet to be reported on that flight because they have yet to return his e-mails so very chilling there. very sad. a lot of people impacted by this. >> six is still a great loss. >> tremendous loss. >> nick valencia, thank you. >> we will have much more on this tragedy mh17 in a moment. we do have another story we are watching very closely. the night sky light up over gaza as israeli launches its ground

defensive now. we have a reporter in gaza city watching all of it unfold and we are taking you live there next.

israeli tanks and soldiers are now going deeper into gaza and for palestinians, the death

toll continues to rise. >> palestinian officials say more than 300 people have died in this conflict now. another 2200 have been injured. take a look at some of the pictures we are getting in here. with more than 40,000 displaced from their homes as parts of gaza, i mean, you see what is happening there. some reduced to are you able. >> we understand the damage is coming from israeli forces who say they have no choice but to fire back against hamas rockets. karl penhaul is in gaza city right now. what are you seeing there now? >> reporter: i wish i could tell you but is there no let up in the fight for gaza. a flurry of activity going on overnight. down south the israeli military told us hamas militants sent a donkey bomb towards them. you heard it. a donkey ladened with explosives. they shot into the donkey and

exploded the bomb without it doing any damage to their forces. later on this morning, we heard from a military wing of hamas saying that despite the israeli ground incursion, they had once again burrowed under the border and attacking tanks on the other side. we haven't heard what the israeli military had to say there, because they say the incident is under military censorship rules. on the northern part of the country clashes on the ground and morning is punctuated by the sounds of bombs and artillery fire and before coming on air, we saw five hamas rockets coming out from about the position 400 meters across there. but don't forget the civilians. according to the united nations estimates, more than 70% of the casualties so far have been civilians. take a look at this toddler.

a soft plea, daddy, don't leave me. mohammed is only 3. he has never picked a fight in his life so he can't understand why he is being punished. [ speaking in foreign language ] >> reporter: just go ahead and tell the world my son was firing rockets at tel aviv or jerusalem his father says. words loaded with irony and anger. [ speaking in foreign language ] >> reporter: mohammed saad says a israeli missile slammed into their home in eastern gaza before dawn. cnn saw that neighborhood under heavy bombardment as israeli launched its ground invasion. you know, all war is dirty, but any war here on the gaza strip is dirtier than most. why is that? because we are talking about an area that is no larger than the metropolitan area of las vegas. the borders are closed, though. so if anybody wants to try and

run, they have no place to run and no place to hide, so when you see fighting in the east of gaza up in the north of gaza, these are densely areas. no place to flee and this is why hamas is accused by israeli of placing itself within the civilian population. there are no green areas for them to fight their guerrilla war. this is definitely a war of an urban nature at the israelis coming in and they say they need to have boots on the ground to destroy militant tunnels that have been used to burrow into israeli and they need to destroy they say rocket launchers buried underground and haven't been able to destroy in air strikes and that >> karl, that is a report we will not forget anytime soon. thank you so much for letting us know what's happening.

stay safe to yourself and your crew as well. there's a lot of important news this morning. and we're bringing it to you as it happens. so grateful to have your company. >> the next hour of "new day" starts now. all right. it's 6:00 exactly on a saturday morning. i'm christi paul. we're glad to have you with us. >> i'm victor blackwell. welcome to our viewers here in the u.s. and joining us from around the world. this is "new day saturday." first this morning, malaysia is demanding full access to the crash sight of mh-17 they're in eastern ukraine. >> as saw live here on cnn a short time ago, malaysia's transportation minister said it's inhuman if not allowed into that sight. >> the