>> i'm victor blackwell. we have new information about the bodies, the victims there of mh-17. we're getting reports from our team there that is with this convoy of osce observers, the organization for security and cooperation in europe, they say large numbers of bodies are now being collected and placed on to refrigerated train cars at a station near this crash site in eastern ukraine. the bodies, as we know, you see them here are in black body bags. now, the people who are loading these on to the train cars say they are the bodies of those who are -- who are the victims of mh-17. but as cnn obviously and osce cannot confirm that element of it. >> the 14-member osce team that is there says the train will remain in place until specialists arrive. the question is, when will that be and from that point where will the bodies go so they can be delivered back to their

families. we're told that even though these carts are refrigerated, there is a smell that is a bit overwhelming. >> it has been three days. >> right. and they have been saying -- all the experts have been saying we need to get to the bodies so we can make our assessments and get them home. and that apparently is the stage at which we are in, hopefully for that to happen. >> malaysia airlines officials are tweeting that it will retire, they will retire the mh-17 flight number as of july 25th. here it is on your screen, out of respect for the crew and passengers of all of those who were killed when that plane was shot down, the groups of coal miners we can also report this morning, have searjoined in the search effort. government search and rescue crews have recovered these 196 bodies at the crash site. now being loaded on to those trains. that's the number we have this morning, 196. as we know, 298 perished when the flight was shot down.

>> international observers say armed pro-russian rebels are still blocking complete access, access in its totality. they say that they have seen unidentified men photographing some remains and taking them away. not clear where they may have been taken. if they were, you know, really taken. they have could have been taken to the refrigerated train cars. because of the rebels holding things hostage, so to speak, in certain parts of this crash site, there are a lot of questions and confusion about all the bodies and where they are going. >> there is also the question of, if we're talking about two separate groups of these remains, are these these bodies that are being taken by according to osce by identified men, are those some of the bodies being taken to the train car and they did not know these men were working for the security officials there from the ukrainian government, or are those 196 bodies being taken to the train cars and these bodies,

these remains, and i hate to talk to about them in these terms, but have been taken to a different location. >> by different people. >> by different people. >> we're trying to -- and they obviously at the scene are trying to clarify whether we're talking about two different groups of bodies or if the 196 is -- are the only bodies that have been recovered thus far. but ukraine and the u.s. say they're adamant that a russian-made missile shot down this plane thursday. and ukraine released images that it says shows three missile launchers being transported back to russia. this, though, as we have been saying, it is being called one of the biggest crime scenes in the world right now. and they have got besides the bodies and thankfully they're finally recovering some of those, but you seat backpacks, there are passports, there were plane cards and children's books displayed across the flight 17 crash site. >> and now calls for greater access and getting louder as workers continue to face pushback from the armed militant

s. chris cuomo is on the ground with more for us. >> reporter: this is an act of civil war going on here. so within the tragedy of this plane being taken down, you have complete hostility all around it, including the fact that the scene is controlled by men in the circle of suspicion for who caused it in the first place. so it is very difficult to travel. there are tons of checkpoints. they're very heated, very much want to show of force, want guns in your face, they fire into the air. so it is not an easy place to get around. and yet all of that disappears when you get here, and you see how raw this scene is and how little dignity to this point has been given to the victims of this crash. there are so many families out there who aren't going to be able to come here, who are hoping that in situations like this, the people on the ground are taking care of their loved ones who are now victims. and it is just starting to happen, we're watching finally the bodies are being collected

and put into bags, where they're going to bring them, who they'll have identify them, how long it will take, at this point we can't know. >> all right, chris cuomo, thank you so much for that. >> the tragic crash of mh-17 left air travelers around the world wondering how safe is it to board an international flight now? >> let's bring in alistair rosenshine, former ploet ailot consultant. thank you. we want to thank you for being here with us. alistair, i'll start with you. i think the first question a lot of people are wondering is should i get on a plane and should commercial airplanes be flying over conflict zones? >> well, airlines, first of all, let me say it is safe to fly on airlines and i wouldn't hesitate to get on board one myself right now. is it safe to fly over conflict zones? very good question. over most conflict zones it is

surprisingly, even though people may find this difficult to accept, but it is safe to fly at high altitudes over most conflict zones. but conflict zones where aircraft are being shot down, clearly is not. and that will remain the case forever more. whether or not airlines should in the future be equipped with some sort of gadgets to defend themselves against missiles, i don't believe there is any such technology that is, you know, economically or feasible to fit to airliners. i wouldn't hesitate to fly airliners today in the world, clearly not over ukraine at the moment. >> let's push this a step further here. after there were the two planes that were shot down above the range or beyond the range of shoulder-fired missiles, was this a failure of protocol and, if so, on the part of which agency? >> i really don't think it was a failure of protocol.

listen, airplanes, commercial aircraft fly every day over conflict zones and the reason they do is because they fly very high, they are obviously commercial airliners, by the altitude, the way they fly, the transponders that they emit, and so really you would think it would be safe. it is not safe to fly over a conflict zone when there are government-controlled heavy weapons systems that are being used. and in this case, this weapons system was given by the russian government to the rebels, and let's call this what it is. this was just mass murder. >> alistair, i'm wondering what are the hot spots? some people might be thinking about taking trips. what are the hot spots in terms of, you know, you think iraq, you think afghanistan, you think the tribal zones of pakistan. are there areas that you deem unsafe or that the airline

industry deems unsafe and should not fly? >> well, airlines have been flying over afghanistan during the conflict and over pakistan for many years and have done so many times myself. and it remains safe to fly airliners. we have to point out here, very important to point out, this does appear to have been a horrible mistake. it was not a targeted -- at least i imagine it is not targeted. had this been a deliberate terrorist action, then that would be completely different ball game and one would start to look at other conflict zones in, you know, with much greater detail. but at the moment, i think that the international aviation industry has got the balance right between risk and the economical aspect of their operations. you know, it is utterly irresponsible for any nation, be it iran or russia, to hand

sophisticated weapons over to unregulated, you know, terrorists or rebels, who, without proper knowledge of how to use the equipment or with malicious intent, can, you know, prove dangerous to airlines. but at the moment, i think that, you know, i would not be unduly concerned about flying on -- in regulated air space in international -- on international airlines. >> so, david, we're now seeing what the political consequences will be of mh-17. do you see that there will be or can you envision any consequence or any changes in the aviation industry based on what happened on thursday? >> you know, this wasn't a breakdown in aviation safety. this was an act of mass murder, either directly by a government or by complicity by giving the weapons to the -- to the militia groups. what you've got is you've got a

diffused system of warnings that go around the globe. the international civil aviation organization issues warnings to governments and governments give out warnings to their airlines. so there is no global system for warning planes away from conflict zones. but flying high, flying very high is -- will continue to be safe unless we have a situation like we had in the ukraine. >> all right, alistair rosenshine, david fuscus, thank you for joining us this morning. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> you know, infants, teenagers, parents, grandparents, these are the victims who were flying to kwul kuala lumpur was shot out of the sky. it is their dreams and their relationships that are going to tell the true stories of these people. you read the labels on the foods you eat -

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and i said, please be safe, kiddo, i love you.

and that was it. >> that was text messages, those pictures, those last few communications -- >> they're precious. >> so dear now. that was the sister of her andrej angel. he died in the crash of mh-17. we're hearing a lot of those stories now. >> angel was a college student on vacation with his girlfriend. and one of the 298 people on board that plane. he was the lone canadian on board. well, cnn's erin mclaughlin is live at amsterdam's airport, where the flight took off. more than half of those who died were from the netherlands. erin, good to have you with us this morning. i know you spoke to a grieving mother who lost her son. this has got to be so hard to have these conversations, but people are talking freely about it? >> that's right.

solena fredericks and her family were here at the airport a few hours ago. they were here to lay flowers and sign condolence book, the makeshift memorial that is growing just over my shoulder, that way, it was an incredibly emotional scene. she told me how she lost her son bryce just 20 years old and his girlfriend daisy, who was just 23. they were on board mh-17 on their way to bali for holiday. she said she's horrified at some of the reports that are coming from the crash site in eastern ukraine. she said that it is a mother's human right to be able to bury her son. she wants their bodies brought back home as soon as possible. >> mr. putin, take care of my son and my daughter. >> who knows where they are. >> home. >> who knows where the bodies

are. where did they take them. >> did you have any idea of where your son's body and his girlfriend -- >> no idea. i don't even -- >> maybe they took it. maybe it is there. maybe it is in one piece. maybe many pieces. >> no one knows. >> are government officials telling you anything? >> no. they don't know. the only thing we know is from the media. how do they know? officials don't know. >> can't give us any answers. >> must be horrifying for you. >> it is horrible. >> no doubt about that. >> impossible to imagine their pain. she told me she was the one who purchased the tickets to bali. they said daisy's mother died two and a half months ago. the trip was meant as an escape

for both of them. an escape that turned into a greater tragedy for that family. >> erin, we see that the flowers here are outside of the airport. give us an idea, since we know so many people are dutch, so many people on that plane, more than half, the scene there as we see these different vignettes, the scene there at the airport. >> right now, the line, you see behind me, is growing. and it has been growing by the hour. just a short while ago, we saw the ceo of malaysian airlines stop by to pay his respects. yesterday we saw the former secretary-general of the united nations kofi annan here as well. people from all over the netherlands and the world, this is an international airport, have been stopping by there, laying flowers, signing the

condolence book, shedding tears, everyone very much mourning the loss of all passengers aboard - mh-17. >> as we all are. erin mclaughlin, thank you for joining us from the airport from amsterdam. and we'll have more can with john kerry, joining candy crowley on "state of the union" today, 9:00 a.m. eastern. we need to turn back to the crisis in the middle east, two israeli soldiers were killed overnight. >> now, the ground offensive in gaza has escalated. and the body count is growing. c'mon, you want heartburn? when your favorite food starts a fight, fight back fast, with tums. heartburn relief that neutralizes acid on contact. and goes to work in seconds. ♪ tum, tum tum tum... tums! dust irritating your eye? (singing) ♪ visine® gives your eyes relief in seconds.

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israely forces step up ground and promising more troops and a battlefield that could make its way to the city streets. >> this latest news as israeli military says five soldiers have been killed including two who died during clashes. martin savage is live in jerusalem. what do you know at this point about israel's fighting plan? >> reporter: good morning. it's pretty clear. last night that the idf, israel's defense forces announced they were expanding their ground offensive in the gaza and judging by what we've been seeing today coming from

cnn's ben wedeman and the amount of outgoing on the israeli side of the gaza border that military offensive intensified a great deal. the reason for this is according to the israeli military is the fact that they one, want to degrade the hamas military capability as you know rockets have been coming out of gaza for some time and striking israelis. but then on top of that there is another problem, one that many americans may not be familiar w. it's the issue of tunnels. we heard about tunnels used by smugglers and usually associated with a border between gaza and egypt. those have been shut down over recent times. these tunnels we're talking about israelis refer to as terror tunnels, and they are alleged to be dug by hamas militants. they would dig them for about a mile and would be under the security perimeter between gaza and israel. what the military says this is

for hamas troops to come out of the ground to attack israeli forces and potentially strike at israeli civilians. that gets to the death toll you talked about of israeli soldiers. there were four israeli soldiers that were reportedly killed yesterday. that is the highest death toll of israeli soldiers in a single day since this conflict began. now, of course there have been dozens of palestinians that have also been killed but this is why the ground troops israel says it needs to go in there to get rid of these tunnels which are so much a threat on top of the rockets. >> do you know martin, if this is a causal relationship that after those israeli troops were killed, this is why there's been this increase in the fighting there in gaza or the timing happens to be close? >> reporter: well, it's a little of the other way around. because of the increased number of troops going in on the ground any ground offensive means that israeli forces become that much more accessible to the hamas

militants. in other words, there are boots on the ground and those are targets that they can fire at so that's probably why you have seen an increase of the number of israeli soldiers that have been killed, ground operations are much more dangerous than launching airstrikes. i should point out that the rockets continue to come out of gaza. there have been almost two dozen of them reported today, there have been no reports of israeli casualties as a result. over the past two days the number of rockets out of gaza have been significantly diminished, the idf says because of its military operations that are continuing to degrade hamas's ability to launch zblmt martin, thank you so much for bringing us up to date. we appreciate it. we'll have more on the crisis in gaza later. wolf blitzer is interviewing benjamin netanyahu, that sin our 8:00 a.m. hour. hope you can be here for that. >> the story we're following this morning the big story the

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good morning to you. it is 6:00 right now here in atlanta, georgia. i'm christi paul. >> i'm victor blackwell. this is "new day sunday." we welcome our viewers in the u.s. and around the world. >> first thing this morning we're learning large numbers of bodies in the crash of flight 17 are being retrieved. >> cnn team on the ground in ukraine say the bodies are put on refrigerated train cars, this is at a station near the crash site of course. international observers say they have been told these bodies are from the downed flight but they cannot confirm that. they say the trains will remain there at the station in place until international specialists arrive. a ukrainian searcher said earlier that they found 196 bodies at the crash site. of course we know the total number of those on board, 298. >> so still