// -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com good evening. welcome to our viewers in the united states and around the world. this is the second hour of our special edition of "outfront." news at cnn. we are getting new pictures of the crash site from our crew on the ground. it is the reality of what investigators are facing on the ground. bodies of the 298 passengers that lost their lives in body bags along with debris and luggage. we do not know how many bodies at this time have been transported and we don't yet know exactly where they are

being transported to. it was just two days ago may malaysia airlines flight 17 en route from amsterdam to kuala lumpur was shot down by a russian made surface to air missile. chris cuomo is in ukraine. ivan watson is in kiev. a reporter in kuala lumpur and another in washington. our foreign affairs correspondent lisa is with me now. i want to go to chris cuomo who was at the crash site earlier today. let me start with you, i know you have some breaking news for us tonight. >> reporter: you know that our barbara starr and jim sciutto and others have been reporting that the initial assessment of the intelligence community, the buk missile, this s-a-d 11 surface-to-air missile.

now the officials are saying they believe that to definitely be the case. what is new is that they believe since the shootdown of flight 17 that that launcher and other missile that's were operational have been brought back across the border. and the implication here is that russia is trying to scrub the scene of the crash site and cover up any evidence that might implicate it in having supplied this missile to the separatists. they do not know whether russian operatives were in eastern ukraine and actually fired that missile. what officials do know is that these separatists if they fired it, had to have had some training from the russians. this is not as we've been discussing an operational system that is really good to go. officials say it doesn't matter though. it doesn't matter whether russian officials actually fired the missile or whether russia just gave the separatists the missile with the instruction manual and said go to it. the u.s. does believe russia has serious culpability here.

>> you're saying that the information now that you have is that they actually confirming that the missile system that they believe was used has now been transported back over into russia. >> that's right. they do have evidence that it is being brought back into russia. and again, the implication is that russia is trying to cover up some evidence. and in a very tough phone call between secretary of state john kerry and foreign minister lavrov today, secretary kerry expressed grave concern that there was some tampering with the evidence. and i think this is one of the thing he was alluding. to i think you're going to see the u.s. laying out this case in the coming days. really pointing the finger. not only the separatists but the russians as well. >> it begs the question of, if the russians know the u.s. knew which they did, why would they bring that back over the russian border. it sort of proves culpability programs.

is there any way it could be brought over the border without russia approving of that? could it be a rebel initiated thing to try to get rid of it? >> whatever the culpability is, the russians and the separatists are in pretty close communication, and clearly the belief is that they brought it back over. this really does buttress what the ukrainians have been saying since the shootdown of the plane. the ukrainians had some video of this coming across of this missile system moving across. we had that missile system with one of the missiles actually missing, that launcher system with the missile missing. the u.s. officials i've been speaking to say this is not only based on what they're hearing from the ukrainians but their own intelligence. >> thank you very much. i want to go to ivan watson in ukraine. i know you had a chance to speak to the prime minister of ukraine. now we have this new development that the u.s. is confirming the missile system they believe was responsible for shooting down

the plane has been brought back over into russian territory. this fits with exactly what you were told. >> that's right. the chief of ukraine's counter intelligence agency, he made the claim on saturday that no less than three of these buk m-1 missile systems had been brought into ukrainian territory. since the downing of mh17, that all of them have since returned to russian territory. he went one step further in a briefing with journalists arguing that the missile system that he claims was used to bring down mh17 was operated by russian nationals, fired by russian nationals. the ukrainian prime minister said that he didn't believe that whoever pressed the button was some drunken separatist rebel, but that this had to be somebody who was trained, who could handle the sophisticated piece

of technology. the ukrainian government has been building quite a compelling case against the separatists and against russia which it claims arms and trains and support those separatists. that they are ultimately responsible for bringing down flight 17. they've released videos and photos of what they say are the buk missile systems that were moving around in eastern ukraine. they released recordings of phone conversation that's they claim are between rebels and russian handlers. before and after shooting down the plane. that they say proved that they had a hand in this. we do have to keep in mind that there is not only a hot war going on between the ukrainian government and the separatists but also, a very fierce information war underway between kiev, between separatists and moscow as well with counterclaims and accusations and both sides have proven to be

making exaggerated claims in the past. we can't take anybody's word at face value. but certainly it is important that the u.s. government is stepping up and saying that it too has intelligence to back up these claims made by ukrainian intelligence officials earlier on saturday. >> yes. they absolutely are. as elise reported on that. i want to go to chris cuomo who was at the crash site earlier today. and i know it is hard to ask you this question because so much of what you saw is something you'll never forget and something you don't want to talk about. but tell us, because the state of that crash scene matters so much for people to understand who did this and why and who pull the trigger. >> reporter: the problem is the scene is so raw and there's no accountability. let me help you out. first it is 4:00 in the morning now. small arms fire coming this way.

more importantly we're hearing heavy artillery coming from the direction of the crash site. that's a problem because that region is very hot with conflict and it may make it more difficult for the investigators to get in there. in terms of what we saw there, the reason we took that footage that you're using on the scene, the militants didn't want us to tate. it would show what they're supposed to be doing responsibly here. we took it any way because we weren't getting answers for where the bodies were going. the team hadn't elementary school since thursday so we weren't sure whether our eyes were deceiving us. but we couldn't believe how raw this site is. the bodies exposed to elements and dogs in the area. how they were playing with the fuselage, the military there and joking around. the lack of dignity being accorded the dead. and i'm watching the show, you're doing a brilliant job

getting these different perspectives. and you're hearing big statements from important people. that this is the most important crime scene in the world and all eyes are on it. and we're really worried that evidence is being taken. two points to that. one, i've never covered a story that matters so much where there is so little presence as there is right now. the media is here thankfully to document what's going on. but all these people saying they're so concerned. all these countries who were involved by having their citizens on board this plane. the talk to action ratio here is really deplorable and it matters because that scene has been corrupted. while the experts say that's okay, they'll be able to re-create what that, what about the families, what about the dignity of their loved ones, what about their remains and their personal effects? who is going to do that and it is not being done quickly enough and there is no excuse. >> that is the horrible part of the story. and andrew stevens is now, the

other country most impacted by this outside the netherlands. kuala lumpur, malaysia which has had to deal with two horrific plane crashes within five months. 317 is still missing and now 298 lives have lost their lives in ukraine. where you are, what is happening? >> reporter: it has gone, it is eight clog in the morning. we're at the airport where it is pretty much business as usual. not far from here though. the player i don't hotmarriott next of kin can get their information. there is a growing sense of frustration across all levels of society here. chris talking about the dignity of those victims in the plane. add to that here in malaysia, this is predominantly an islamic country. one of the beliefs of islam is that the bodies of deceased need to be buried within 24 hours.

we're now heading toward the fourth day of the downing of mh17. the government here is pushing hard to try to get that cheer corridor through to the site so the remains can be gathered to be brought back to families here in malaysia. indeed, families across the world, grieving families across the world. the prime minister, his own grand stepmother, the second wife of, she was a very widely respected woman across society in malaysia. the prime minister himself is directly affected by what has happened. and he single a senior delegation, they're in the air now to kiev. as one of his people told us yesterday, that he thinks just with eye to eye contact with people on the ground in kiev, to try to get movement on getting to the crash site to get those bodies, get those remains and

also get the investigation underway to find out, establish what really happened. the government keeps coming back to the perpetrators need to be brought to justice to get closure in malaysia. some 44 malaysian nationals. this is less than five months after the tragedy of mh 370. still a complete mystery. still month evidence there. so a double blow and the people continue to ask, why us? >> thank you. out front, the breaking news that russia has been tampering with evidence. plus a dutch cyclist claims he was booked on both flights. and the flight 17 passengers. the people who died in the crash and the ones who didn't get on the plane. [ woman ] i've always tried to see things from the best angle i could.

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we continue with our news coverage. the crash site called the biggest crime scene in the world. our safety analyst and aviation correspondent, richard quest joining us from washington. cnn aviation analyst mile

o'brien. let me start with you as you join this conversation. we have some new headlines in. she's saying the ntsb has just said the ntsb investigators, i guess that ill applies there's one at this point, is now in kiev. obviously that's a far cry from being at the crash site. but there are i believe national investigators coming into the country. what's your sense, given what we're hearing is happening at the scene, their ability to reconstruct what happened? >> it gets harder by the day. thing are frankly literally decaying. the evidence won't last there forever. and there is this other issue of tampering with the evidence. where are the flight data recorders? the flight data recorder? could there be a key piece of wreckage that suddenly goes missing? all these things come into mind when the chief suspects in the crime are those that are guarding the wreckage itself.

so having one ntsb investigator in kiev, that's better than nothing. but we're a long way from a proper investigation. >> and david, to that point, you and mary schiavo were talking about earlier in a way that assuages some of the fears. even if people tried to tamper with the evidence, that it would be in a sense impossible to do. you're not going to be able to hide what kind of missile hit it. you won't be able to hide what hit it. >> there's not a the love mystery here. to destroy that type of evidence, you would have to have a backhoe and a tractor and driving over it. right now you can see. i can see from the photographs, it is probably very well documented. psych from the photographs pretty much what happened and the sequence of the events. i think what's important is when it becomes a criminal case chrgs it appears it certainly will. when that happens and you have to have a chain of evidence and you have to have where it went from, the chain of custody, who took it and what did it and was

it altered, those are the things that get thrown out of court that can change the results of a court case. >> one of the thing that will be so crucial on what kind of an act this was. a terrorist act. what was it? is going to be was, this truly unintentional, they meant to hit a cargo military plane. or did they not even check to see what they were going to hit? that could be a very, very crucial point. is there anything that would show that on the black box or anything? they tried to figure out whether it was civilian? >> what you would get from a cockpit voice record he, if there had been any discussion, any callout, if they had heard from the ground. anything like that. but i can't see that that is going to be an issue here. i mean, we don't know. the core point is, as lawyers would say, the facts speak for themselves. they shot down a civil aviation aircraft. therefore by definition, the crime is being committed. >> it is a crime.

>> in other cases these things have not necessarily been called terrorist acts. did they know what they were doing or not even care to find out? >> right. where we get the cockpit voice recorder, the data recorder, you will get an idea of whether there was an attempt to find out what was going on. and they will get the data. they will get the recorders. the question is who gets them first? >> that is the crucial question. that information might be on that crash site. >> it could be. i think it is important to look bigger. we're looking at what happened right there at the site. was it intent? why was it there in the first place? not because malaysia air did a mistake because it is like saying i'll going on down the highway. but if there is a huge hurricane coming through and you flake decision to go through that, that's a little bit different. there's no system, no hurricane warning system on this highway.

it didn't work. we have one. it is the aeronautical information system and that system should have warned. but it can't anymore. it was designed in the 1940s. it's been around forever. and it would warn what? >> it would have warned the airlines, it would have told them what's going on in that country. we rely on those countries to report their situation. we can't do that anymore. we have to have external countries do that. >> but miles to the point that you have talked about a bit over the last few days, there were some airlines who felt this was not a place they wanted to fly and were not flying there. not all airlines. there were plenty going through but there were many that were not. >> some airlines are clearly smarter and better than others when it comes to this kind of thing. they have better connections to security apparatus. they have a longer history dealing with conflicts and they make those decisions on their own. captains make their own decisions as well. it occurs to me, erin, that both malaysian incidents we've been

talking about these many months just underscore the need for a robust international organization that not only looks after air space and makes decisions on where airliners should and shouldn't be, but also can come in and conduct an investigation. both incidents for disparity reason cry out for the creation of such an entity. we don't have that right now. >> i disagree. i'm with miles on this. >> go ahead. tell me why. >> because i've spent the last few days trying to get sense out of them. they have said specifically that it is, it was not its responsibility to close the air over ukraine. it was ukraine's permission. euro control specifically told me it was not their responsibility. but you have left the responsibility with a country

that has got deep military issues at the moment. >> a country which is dysfunctional. >> remember, the purpose in the chicago convention, the purpose is to set standards and practices. those are what need to be revised. not the organization. they don't have enforcement which in addition to what miles has said, they need to have the ability to investigate and report. >> don't you think it is high time that we had such an entity? we really need it. we've had two major incidents that have cried out for this. >> how do you know though when you're trying to, you're buying a ticket on an airplane. whether the airline that you're looking at buying at is, you know, making these decisions with extreme caution. there have been reports, quantity as, british air, emirates, we're not flying here. plenty of others were because they were technically allowed to do so.

how would you ever know as a member of the flying public when you go to buy that ticket. do you just avoid the cheap ticket? >> you can do what i do. go to flight aware.com and look at the flight path for the last month on the flight you're about to go on. if they fly repeatedly over ukraine and you don't want to do, that i wouldn't book that flight. just as simple as that. >> we have to raise the bar generally. this the issue. and they were not fit for purpose. the european infrastructure which is something i do know something about. single european skies they've been trying to get. that was not fit for purpose. that air space should have been closed.

to have it in a fashion, especially in this era, is never going to work. >> of course it so hard. many of our viewers are well aware of whrgs it comes to buying into global edicts that would supersede the national laws has not supported. up next, the world's largest crime scene. why are investigators getting such limited access? and new questions about russia's involvement in the crash. here's the bottom line. does it go all the way to the kremlin?

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flight 17 was shot down over two days ago but investigators still do not have access to the crash site. an ntsb investigator has arrived in kiev from the united states and is now en route to the crash site in the eastern part of the country where there are reports of looting, gunfire has been heard nearby as we can report this evening. and the grim task of removing the bodies has started. david cameron has been slamming russian president vladimir putin over the plane. in the single times he writes, if the evidence does conclude that russia was involved, quote, this is the direct result of russia deestablishing a sovereign state. our phil black reports from the crash site tonight. >> reporter: this is where mh 17

scarred the earth with the force and heat. the wreckage was big. both the engines and wings, it is likely this is where the fuel load burn off as well. the blaze so intense. melt components melted into the ground. down the road, other big pieces of the aircraft marked the farming landscape. but the smaller debris here also holds real power. some, the common place possessions of travelers everywhere. but there is also the more personal. giving little insights into the lives of those who fell with the plane. these were people from around the world with no connection to the conflict but their bodies now lie across this war zone. their positions are marked with sticks and white cloth. most of the injuries are too terrible to show or even talk about. pro russian militants are in control here. there is no obvious intention of quickly recovering the bodies or securing the aircraft.

this is a strange, eerie experience walking through the debris field of a passenger jet. the remains of its crew and passengers are everywhere. and yet there is no one here trying to work out what happened. no one here to take responsibility for this. the militants' leader say they are deliberately not altering the site so it remains intact for the ukrainian and international experts to inspect. they're blaming the central government in kiev for not getting the experts here sooner. until both sides act together, there can be little dignity for mh17's victims. phil black, cnn in eastern ukraine. >> richard quest is with me along with save yags analyst rachel schiavo. watching that piece makes me think of. this he said i didn't see any looting myself but i didn't see the things, the high priced

things. i didn't see the watches. didn't see those things. the reports of credit cards being looted. it is hard to imagine that that could be happening. but it appears that it is. people are looting from the dead. >> i don't think there's any doubt. you know, we've heard reports of it in the early days it's been there. we heard other people talking about what is not there. it is taking place. we saw people standing on the wreckage as if it is some sort of amusement park in the early hours of this incident. so this is unspeakable. >> sadly for accidents outside the united states and the iron fist of the fbi and the ntsb, looting is more common than not. i've even had parts of planes that have crashed in other countries come back for sale on the secondary parts market. of course, they're bogus parts. >> they're trying to sell them

in a secondary, the air parts market? >> sure. >> that's why, the thing i remember from lockerbie, if you go back to lockerbie, within minutes, within hours, what's that famous picture of lockerbie is the nose cone on the hillside in scotland. but what is also in that picture? a policeman standing next to it. the protection of the scene. the dignity of those involved. >> and our reporters, we have cnn reporters there. we've been talking to the investigators who say they've gotten slightly better access. but they are far from unfettered. and now reporting on some developments on that front from the state department. >> reporter: well, you heard today secretary of state john kerry having a very tough call with russian foreign minister lavrov about the need for a credible investigation and making sure that the evidence was secure and not tampered with. and getting access to those

investigators. now the state department coming out with a statement from spokesperson saying the u.s. is very concerned about the lack of access, the safe and unfettered access for the osc investigators that you've been talking to. and even today they got in. it was a few hours, a very small area. and these reports of bodies being moved, evidence being tampered with, parts of the plane and other potential evidence being tampered with. parts of the plane being hauled away. and all talking about the idea of a credible investigation. and erin, this goes to show what we were talking about earlier, the u.s. being concerned that some of these separatists with russian orders are acquiescence are moving some of the parts of the debris of the plane back into russia to try to hide evidence of any culpability. >> richard? >> i just want to, on this geopolitical point if i may,

prime minister cameron tonight writing in the british newspapers, along this point. you heard what he said. he says if president putin does not change his approach to ukraine, then europe and the west must fundamentally change our approach. >> what does that mean though? david cameron, obviously is very close with the united states. you have others in europe who have been very hesitant. angela merkel in germany. a huge important relationship. does it change the game? when it come to putting the rubber meets the road, does it? >> oh, yes. >> so this really will change things. >> is it going to do what some would want? maybe not. but there is no question that thisquantum leap. this is one that moves things forward. the electorat will demand it. the dutch certainly. >> certainly in the netherlands.

>> and ten people from britain and 27 people from australia. you know, this is when democracy and the democratic sort of view, people say what are you doing, prime minister? we want to bring our people home to die peacefully? >> they say that. but these investigations, then all of a sudden germany ups the annaly and gas prices start rising in winter. there are repercussions for the electorate on the other side. >> it never ceases to amaze me how quickly people forget about these terrible aviation tragedies. and within a year or two they'll be booking back on these airlines or forget about these tragedies. the other thing that's important to know, this wreckage belongs to someone. these are someone's possessions. in the u.s. we have a law. there are several companies that do this. they catalogue every single piece. and then these three ring binders, binder after binder of what they find. some of these possessions actually get returned and people

are allowed to have them returned. and the plane belongs to malaysia's insurance company. there is a the love angles to look at this. and it is not just a simple case, they want to hide the evidence and take it into russia. they're stealing. that's yet another crime compounding this site. >> anyone who went to the site and seeing the bodies which we won't show. >> exactly a week ago we saw president putin there, angela merkel, back, in the middle at the world cup final. could you imagine angela merkel now being prepared to watch a football match next to president putin? >> absolutely not. but pictures and actions aren't always the same. let's see. perhaps you will be right. maybe you really will be. it could be a real quantum leap this time. thanks to both of you. up next, the buk missile system.

the united states says they've confirmed was indeed used in taking down this airliner. what exactly can it do? and where did the pro russian rebels get it from? and the passengers of flight 17. the people who died on that plane. and those who were going to get on and didn't at the last moment. ing our country. thank you for your sacrifice and thank you for your bravery. thank you colonel. thank you daddy. military families are uniquely thankful for many things, the legacy of usaa auto insurance can be one of them. if you're a current or former military member or their family, get an auto insurance quote and see why 92% of our members plan to stay for life. they're about 10 times softer and may have surface pores where bacteria can multiply. polident kills 99.99% of odor causing bacteria and helps dissolve stains. that's why i recommend polident. [ male announcer ] cleaner,

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officials say a buk system was smuggled into ukraine prior to flight 17 being shot down. the official say they believe it was moved back to russia after the attack. they say they have evidence that it was moved back over the russian border in the past day or so. the implication is that russia is trying to tamper with the evidence. the buk missile system is something we've been hearing about over the past couple days. tom foreman is in washington to take a look at what it is. what is the buk? it is spelled b-u-k. what is it capable of? >> it is a four-man unl. it has four ready to fire missiles up on top. it can set up and fire very quickly and it can move away after firing very quickly. and those missiles have a tremendous am of power. let's bring one in here and talk about that. each one is about 16 feet long. we're showing them a little bit

smaller to make it all fit. it will weigh about 1,500 pounds. and it has a 154-pound warhead on it. that means 154 pounds of high explosive. it doesn't actually have to hit the target. it has to get close to it. but with electronic guidance systems, kit get very close and it can do it in a short period of time. 22 seconds from the time its radar acquires the target to the time a missile like this can be launched. and look at the speed. it travels at a top speed of 2684 miles per hour. even if it were fired from 30 miles away, it could have hit a plane like this in 40 seconds or less. that means people on board would absolutely never even see it coming. >> thank you very much. never even see it coming. programs some solace as we have been learning. programs some on that may not

may have been aware that something catastrophic happened. i want to bring in our military analyst, lieutenant colonel francona along with the kornl for the daily beast. colonel francona, reporting on these missiles. it is very difficult. on the one has not, there is emphasis on you can move it around in five minutes. it is incredibly mobile. on the other hand there is the fact that it is an incredibly sophisticated missile system even though it is not the most sophisticated in the russians' arsenal. how easy is it for someone to train and operate it? >> six months. the army uses about a six-month training period for someone to operate a system this complicated. to believe that this was given to the separatists and they were able to operate this just doesn't, it defies logic for me. the russians either had to take them to russia, train them and take them back. we're talking about a six-month lead time. or the russians sent advisers in

quotes to run the system for them. >> it sounds like what you're saying, you believe they sent the advisers in. when you look at the lenlth of this conflict, there isn't a six-month lead time. >> as we get more information about what happened, and more intelligence is being released, i'm coming more and more to the conclusions that the russians must have operated this system. >> what does that mean if that turns out to be the case? it was russians who actually operated it? i'm probably using the wrong word, pushed the button, pulled the trigger as opposed to a pro russian group. >> according to the intercepts, this was operated by rebels on the ground in close coordination and contact with russian officials. either way, the russians have their handled prints on this. so let's say that is the case. what do we do? the problem is even if we prove the russians are complicit and even if we prove they're still causing trouble in eastern ukraine which of course they are, it is not clear that

increased sanctions are going to work. it doesn't seem like this is ever going to be as important to the u.s. and europe as it is to vladimir putin. there is a gap between strategy of raising the sanctions on russia and actually achieving the goal of solving the problems of what's going on in eastern ukraine. there will be a lot of work to discover who is responsible. we can stay russians are involved. they are intheir presence and military support including high end weapons systems. they're not going to stop based on the sanctions. so we have to figure out what to do after that. >> this is where my question come in. isn't this a case for if you can back very big country with a very big arsenal, and have nuclear weapons, and obvious there's all sorts of other weapon, you can do what you want. you are not going to have a country like the united states be willing to engage in a military conflict or a proxy war with a country like russia. >> this is the calculus that vladimir putin will do right now. what can i get away with?

what is europe going to do? what kind of sanctions i am a going to have to live through? can i continue on my goal to reincorporate like did i crimea back into the russian empire. >> what do you think the result of that calculus will be? will sanctions, even souped up sanctions that are. farther than anyone thinks the united states would go on vladimir putin himself, for an example? would that do it? >> i'm not a russian expert. i just think, you know, given his back ground, he's an old kgb guy. i think he'll get his back up. and i think he knows where he wants to be and he will take appropriate stems to get there. and he may temporarily back off but that won't change his long term goal. i think he believes, he can wait us out. we seem to change course every four to eight years. he has a long material goal here. >> isn't there something to be said about that? that he may, even if he backs off slightly? his eye still on the prize? >> he can wait us out. if you saw the obama

administration hispanics they released this week, were carefully crafted not to affect u.s. businesses. are the u.s. and europe ready to impose the kind of sanctions that would have blowback for the u.s. economy and the european economy? vladimir putin's calculation is no. given that, we have to make a decision in the west. either we're going to put the sanctions on that would pressure hill, which we have shown no willingness to do or we have to negotiate with him and we have to find a deal. not the current deal but another deal that allows them to have a safe -- a face saving exit from ukraine which means giving them part of ukraine. >> at least a control and influence. that's what they'll to have get if they're going to stop. and the colonel is right. they won't stop ever. this is an existential issue for vladimir putin. >> thanks vex. a quick point, when you look back at the ussr, the second

biggest part was ukrainians. a very big part of what they consider their country to be. up next, we look at the people who lost their lives on the plane and those who narrowly avoided the disaster. yup. all five of you for $175. our clients need a lot of attention. there's unlimited talk and text. we're working deals all day. you get 10 gigabytes of data to share. what about expansion potential? add a line anytime for 15 bucks a month. low dues... great terms... let's close. introducing at&t mobile share value plans... ...with our best-ever pricing for business. amam rich. my social circle includes captains of industry, former secretaries of state, oil tycoons, and ambassadors of countries known for their fine cheeses. yes i am rich. that's why i drink the champagne of beers.

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welcome back to our special two-hour edition of "outfront." for all those around the world tonight who are watching this and feeling sad, feeling lonely, feeling afraid, these are just a touch of what those who are directly impacted by this are feeling. they are in shock of what has happened. and some of them perhaps, a twist of fate. people who were supposed to be on this plane and narrowly avoided it. deborah feyerick is "outfront" with two people. one who was and one who should have been on flight 17. >> reporter: if it disappears, this is what it looked like,

posting what is believed to be a picture of the flight. he made a dark joke referring to flight 370 which vanished from radar in march. his is one of the only known photos by a passenger purportedly of mh flight 17. shot down in rebel held area of ukraine. for passenger ali, the missing flight was also very much on his mind. under the #feeling a little nervous, he posted video purporting to be the inside of flight 17. listen as a flight attendant prepares the cabin. >> we are in our final stage of boarding and cargo loading. once again to ensure that there are [ inaudible ] -- >> the story is too much to believe. still grieving her brother who vanished aboard flight 370, she now lost her step daughter on

flight 17. then there is a married couple. both malaysian airline flight attendants. the wife allegedly swamd shifts off missing flight 370 and survived. her husband swapped shifts on to flight 17. sadly he died along with the other 297 passenger and crew. there are others who are counting their blessings today. thanks to a chance decision or a twist of fate that kept them off the doomed flight. >> i feel like i've been given a second chance. so hopefully that will get there safely. and we'll see my family again. >> reporter: izzy and her family were bumped off the flight. >> i feel like physically sick. i was from the hague coming through the airport. >> reporter: also supposed to be on flight 17, juan and his bride.

after a five and a half week honeymoon, they switched flights to return to work without jet lag. >> feeling lucky but my heart breaks for these families that are expecting their loved ones to come home. >> reporter: stories of improbable loss and survival. each one resonates because each one reminds us of how fine the line is between what was and what might have been. cnn new york. >> something that gets all of us thinking tonight. we'll be right back. some recycl. 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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we want to welcome our viewers in the u.s. and around the world. you are watching cnn newsroom. >> almost three days after the wreck, personal belongings still strewn. >> that's prompting words of anger from the dutch prime minister calling the situation downright disgusting. in the middle east, heavy