thought. they're not opening body bags that are actually brought to them on the train. they're taking those body bags, x-raying them, checking for any suspicions items inside and then putting the body bags inside the coffins. so those coffins moved today and that we'll move tomorrow are not necessarily the remains of one individual. the process in the netherlands of working out who is who and how many were on that train will continue and perhaps take some time. >> weeks, maybe months. nick payton walsh, thank you so much. that's it for "the lead." i'm brianna keilar and i turn you over now to wolf blitzer live from jerusalem in "the situation room". happening now. "a situation room" special report. day of mourning remains of malaysia flight 17 victims as the u.s. learns about new information about troop move am in the area where the plane was shot down. michael bloomberg tlies into tel aviv in a show of support as the u.s. bans flights into

israel's airport. my interview with michael bloomberg coming up. raging war, hamas unleashes new rocket attacks while diplomats work desperately to try to halt the fighting. are they on the verge of a cease-fire? i'm wolf blitzer in jerusalem. we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. you're in "the situation room." -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >> this is cnn breaking news. we're following two major breaking news stories in the world's spotlight right now. the war between israel and hamas now in its 16th day and the growing diplomatic pressure to end the fighting that has already claimed more than 700 lives. also new developments in the downing of malaysia airlines flight 17 including victims' remains return to the netherlands and new intelligence about what's happening on the ground in ukraine and in russia. we have cnn's global resources on both sore stories our

correspondents are standing by and so our guests. let's begin with barbara starr. she's working the the flight 17 story for us. you have new information, barbara. what are you learning? >> reporter: tens of thousands of dutch citizens having the sad honor of standing watch for the fallen of flight 17. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> sounding the call known as the the last post, a centuries-old military tradition that a smallen soldier's duty is over, now rest in peace. as if they fell on a battle fee, the dutch rendering full military honors, saluting the victims of malaysia airlines flight 17. like the roads, the people of the netherlands making clear respect will be paid, even the

smallest citizens laying flowers. ♪ ♪ >> as the solemn tribute continued, the accusations did not stop. the the ukrainian counterintelligence chief telling cnn's kyung lau he has no doubt the rebels knew they were firing at a passenger jet. >> if they possess this kind of weapon like buk automatic missile launcher they should know that the plane was not a military plane. it's a big target. they should analyze and they should knew that it was a civilian plane. >> the united states laying the blame on russia. >> responsibility lays at the feet of president putin not just for this, but for every incident that we've seen throughout this conflict. >> vladimir putin's intentions on ukraine's eastern border with russia are unclear as u.s. officials question moves by the rebels and their backers in mosc moscow. u.s. intelligence is looking at

whether these two ukrainian su-25s shot down wednesday could have been brought down by surface -to-air missile fire frm the russian side of the border. cnn has learned the latest u.s. intelligencendicates, in fact, some russian troops have moved right to the border giving them the ability to attack into ukraine without entering the country even as they continue to send tanks and artillery across into rebel-held territory. intelligence also indicates some rebels have fled from their ukrainian strongholds and gone back into russia. now the u.s. calculates that the missile that hit flight 17 perhaps blew for less than 10 seconds before it hit the plane. so where are we if the russians indeed are moving closer to the border which u.s. intelligence believes they are, that puts their rockets and artillery in range of ukraine territory and, wolf, it puts the region even

more on a hair trigger. wolf? >> it certainly does. barbara starr at the pentagon. let's go to eastern ukraine. cnn's phil black is on the scene for us. phil, we just heard about those two u ukrainian jets shot down. what do you hear where you are? >> reporter: what the pro-russian militants are telling us that they shot down these two fighter aircraft a short distance from flight 17 and they did it using shoulder-mounted missiles. they show beyond the range of any shoulder-mounted system. they have preliminary information showing that the weapons may have been fired across the border in russia. once again in this conflict, one event and two different versions and what it shows is despite the international outrage, really, towards the separatist forces over the downing of mh-17.

it has not deterred them or their willingness to take on and surface to air attacks in ukraine's air power. wolf? >> phil, what's the latest from the malaysia flight 17 crash site? it's an eerie sight out well. no investigators, no emergency workers, some journalists and locals trying to get back to their normal lives and really, that's it. no progress, really, in answering the key questions that still need to be answered and crucially, i think, no further searching for more human remains or bodies. international leaders and officials have expressed concern that it is possible that there could still be more passengers' bodies out there that have yet to be found and it is certainly possible, it is a wide search area and the search that we've

witnessed up until this point has not been particularly thorough, wolf. >> phil black on the scene for us in eastern ukraine, thank you very much. let's get more on the situation from the crash site. joining us is michael cue, he's spokesman for the organization of security and cooperation in europe, the osce. explain what the access crash site was if you can describe pieces of interest. you seem to have been able to uncover today for the investigators. >> right. thank you for having us back, wolf. i don't want to contradict your correspondent, but there was activity out there, not from the rebel side, but certainly on our side and we spent the whole day and we combed more area than we had ever before. yes, we did stop for quite some time at two or three pieces of fuselage which if i can describe

it this way, they bore characteristics that were not consistent with everything else we've seen. kind of shrapnel and hoses that were very, very bizarre. the malaysians took interest in that and we documented it carefully and then on the other side, wolf, and we know our hears go out to the victims and their families. we made an intentional effort today to keep a very keen eye out for any sign of human remains. we did only see in one spot some human remains and we noted that and told the rebel escort about it and then also there were reports coming tonight from journalists who hadn't been out in the field that they perhaps have seen more bodies. so as a monitoring mission our policy is to follow up those types of reports and we will be doing that tomorrow with the malaysian experts. >> do you know how many bodies have actually been recovered and how many still remain at that

wreckage site resumablresumably? >> wolf, we have no way of independently verifying that. when that train left shortly before it left we were told by the rebels in the vicinity of about 260 or 270, but at the time we are careful to say we have no way to verify that. all that we're going by is we put the figures of what we actually saw in body bags that a few dozen, but again, that was a very limited area. tomorrow, and for as many days as necessary, we will keep our eyes very widely open and travel as much territory, as we can to spot that type of remains because, you know, there's a lot of -- wolf, there's a lot of heavy debris still out there and not quite sure what could be underneath so we will do our best to document that and -- >> i'm sure you will. let's not forget, 298 people

were aboard that malaysian aircraft. you've also said that parts of the plane were actually hacked into possibly with saws. explain the state of the wreckage, what you and your team actually saw. >> yeah. sure. that was about two days ago when we were leaving one of the main impact sites and, wolf, this is where the cockpit and the forward section, the first-class section came down and kind of pancaked very compactly, but as we were leaving that site the other day there were workers in uniform taking out a power saw and hacking into it quite invasively, and we took note of that. we reported on it and then also, wolf, at the other main site, the site where the earth was really scorched by a lot of fuel that came down, that's where the wings came down, was there big parts of the fuselage that were propped up yesterday. again, we noted that difference

and we reported on it and it will be for others to draw conclusions, but there were marked differences from when we first came here. >> do you think that that chaos, that horrible scene you saw will jeopardize the entire investigation? >> well, you know, at the beginning there was chaos and as phil black accurately described it, was there calmness all over today and even yesterday. it's like everyone picked up and left. there were no tents there anymore that they were using to manage the whole site. no activity going on except, you know, ourselves. we had about almost 15 people out there today and we had the malaysian experts with us, but, no, we feel somewhat on our own right now. as i've said many times there are people far better placed and trained than we are to do this very specialized type of work. and just quickly, wolf, i will

say within our monitoring mission, over 40 different countries are pressened and we have former military, former law enforcement and human rights experts and we will do what we can to help this process as much as possible. >> we've spoken several times with the u.s. ambassador to the osce, daniel barons who has helped us appreciate what's going on and michael, you've helped us as well. keep up the good work and good luck to you and your entire osce team. we'll stay in close touch with all of you. thank you very, very much. up next, the faa extends the ban on on u.s. airlines flying into tel aviv. why did the former city mayor michael bloomberg hop on one of the few remaining flights? we'll ask him. growing talk of a possible cease-fire between israel and hamas, i'll get the latest from the spokesman from hamas and also i'll speak with the spokesman for the prime minister of israel.

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we're here in jerusalem covering day 16 of the war between israel and hamas and the faa ban on u.s. airlines flying into and out on of israel's main airport. that would be ben gurion international airport just outside of tel aviv. it's now been extended to a second day. cnn aviation correspondent renee mar ssh wosh is working the sto us and she's back in washington. >> in short, the faa still believes the situation on the ground in israel is dangerous and no clear indication tonight as to when the agency will lift the ban on on u.s. flights

there. sirens in tel aviv near ben gurion airport shortly after the u.s. extensed its ban on flights and a day after another rocket hit less than a mile away. today's attack interscented, but u.s. flights there grounded for another day. >> the rocket landed very close to the airport and i think if you were a passenger taking off or landing you'd be pretty nervous about that. >> the official reason, hazards created by the armed conflict in israel and gaza. the danger, evident to passengers. >> i came to fly and my flight is delayed and then it was canceled, and then there was a bomb alarm. the whole airport rushed into the bomb shelters. >> the majority of european airlines also suspending flights. hamas calls it a victory saying, quote, the resistance success in stopping the air traffic and

isolating israel from the world is a great victory for the resistance and a destruction of the enemy's dignity. but israel insists the airport is safe and has lobbied to reverse the faa's ban on flights. >> i think this decision only rewards the hamas terrorists for nothing. >> reporter: not all flights are canceled. el al still flying from the u.s. onboard one flight in a show of solidarity, former new york mayor michael bloomberg. el al, unlike any american passenger plane is prepared for missile attack with defensive systems. even if the faa lifted the ban today, some airlines like delta would not necessarily resume flights. >> we're going to need concrete information from our government that lets us draw an independent conclusion and keeping with our much higher duty of care that it is going to be safe. >> one italian airline shows

there could be another option. using a different airport like uvda 150 miles to the south. today, 14 air flights shifted there from tel aviv. >> we are still trying to find out if landing at a different airport in israel is something that the faa would allow. we have asked the agency what it would take to lift the ban, no clear answer to that tonight. it would only say that it is monitoring the situation. wolf? >> all rate. we'll see what happens. that other airport just north of israel, the southern city of eliat. thank you, remay. in doha, qatar, the leader of hamas emphatically rejected a full cease-fire unless israel lifted its blockade of gaza. osama hamdan was there and he's joining me live from qatar. mr. hamdan, thanks very much for joining us. are you ready to accept a

humanitarian cease-fire right now with no strings attached, deal with some of the other demands down the road? >> if it's clear that hamas declared from the first day that we are ready to deal with the cease-fire for humanitarian reasons and that happened twice and on both times israelis violated that at the end of the time. six hours they violated that after five hours and the second time it was three hours and they violated it after 12 hours, but we are ready for that. there is an israeli attack, killing the palestinians by bombs and killing the palestinians by siege. we want to make a complete end on this attack on both levels and this is the idea of the cease-fire including the lift of the siege. >> if there is a humanitarian cease-fire agreement will you stop launching rockets and

missiles into israel? >> well, in both times before, the united nations talked to hamas directly and we accepted their offer and i want to remind you, the first time i told you that we have some questions, and there were answers and we said yes. on the same conditions and terms we said yes directly for the second time. if there was a direct contact with hamas and they are under the same conditions i don't think that there would be any problem for hamas to say yes. >> so where does the egyptian proposal for an immediate cease-fire stand right now? as you know, the egyptians put forward a plan. the israeli say they accept it. do you accept that egyptian proposal? >> we've said clearly and we've informed the egyptians that this proposal is not accepted by all of the palestinian resistance movements and that was informed also to abu mazen. yesterday there was a meeting

for the palestinian political leadership for the plo leadership and they declared the position insisting to lift the siege at the same time of the cease-fire which means now we are talking about a united palestinian position. we have to have both together. if that had been, regardless to who may offer that, they will accept it it and it is clear that we are not against the egyptian rule. we've rejected some ideas, but that doesn't mean there were good ideas from egypt we will accept it. we will accept any gooded whys if it comes from egypt or any other place. >> do you have a commitment from the new egyptian government from president al sissy and his top leadership that egypt, in your words, would lift the siege. as you know, they've blockaded an entrance from gaza into egypt and into the sinai. >> well, there is no commitment from the egyptian government and leadership and what we have

heard from them all the time that the israelis are responsible and in charge, if they have crossed a crossing point they will do that, but must be a commitment from the international community and the israelis have to accept that so there will be no excuse to close this point or any other closing point surrounding gaza. we are not only talking about hafa. and we have gaza and the other side. we want them all open for the needs of the palestinian people and their daily needs. >> i guess the bottom line question right now, given the concern that obviously israelis have about ben gurion international airport outside of tel aviv is this, is hamas deliberately trying to target ben gurion airport with rockets and missiles?

well, it's clearly that the troops declared a warning for the airlines to stop flying to the ben gurion airport in order to prevent any civilian casualties and i believe what had happened the last two days was a good sign for protectioning tprotectiong the civilians from being harmed by what's going on. it is clear that israelis now may understand what is the meaning of putting the palestinian people under the siege. what is the meaning of preventing the people to go in and out. i hope that it can be a good message for netanyahu to understand the meaning of the situation in gaza under his siege and he can think logically and in a practical way. >> so, i guess the question is are you targeting ben gurion airport? >> well, in fact, in this fight

ben gurion airport is used by militaria air jets so it's targeted because it's used by the israeli air forces. >> one final question. i get this question from a lot of our viewers in the united states and around the world upon. right now you're in doha qatar. the leader of hamas is also in doha qatar and they keep asking me awhy aren't you in gaza with your fellow palestinians? well, as you know, the palestinians were departed and kicked out from their country as refugees in 1948 by the israeli soldiers and troops and from that time, all of the palestinians who became now around 10 million palestinians outside palestine are seeking to go back, but they are still prevented by israel. if we were allowed to go we would go directly.

i think the israelis are supposed to be asked this question, why that you are still prevening the palestinian people to come home back and we are willing to come home back ask we are working for that and hopefully we'll be seeing as most of the civilians in palestine. >> osama hamdan, spokesman for hamas, joining us tonight once again from doha, qatar. thanks very much for joining us. coming up, we're going live to gaza city where humanitarian relief workers came under fire today and later, you won't want to miss my interview with former new york city mayor michael bloomberg. he flew into israel to el al to show his support for israel. >> hamas is trying to kill the palestinians and kill the israelis and someone's got to say that they've got to stop this and along comes the faa which i think made a mistake, and i hope they'll rectify it soon. stay with us for the full

interview including his rather fiery answer when i asked him about suggestions, and allegations including here in israel of possible political motives behind the faa's flight ban. stay with us. you're in kw"the situation room" which generously lowered its price and tipped off the house which used all that energy to stay warm through the storm. chipmunk: there's a bad storm comin! narrator: the internet of everything is changing how energy works. is your network ready?" ♪he cadillac summer collection is here. ♪ during the cadillac summer's best event,

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on the scene for us. ben, what's going on? >> reporter: well, it's been another bloody day here, wolf. the death toll mounting to 693, well over 4,000 wounded. there was fighting in a variety of parts of gaza strip, but we went with the red cross. before we had gone in with relief workers when there was -- what was you will qaaed a humanitarian cease-fire and the red cross went in today, but there was no cease-fire. they came to look for the living and the dead, but had to turn back under fire. as did we. there's a sniper back there. >> the red cross and the palestinian red crescent entered the embattled gaza city

neighborhood. red cross veteran larry maibe cautiously confident they can do their job. >> up until now, i'm relatively comfortable with the security situation. i expect it might get a bit more difficult as we progress down this way. >> reporter: israeli military has shelled this area almost around the clock for more than four days as part of its offensive against hamas. the rescue workers well aware they needed to tread carefully. >> obviously, this is making me nervous. we don't want to make them nervous. >> reporter: some residents took advantage of their presence to retrieve possessions. my brother's house is gone says this man, nobody there was a fighter and now we're homeless. ahmed fled before the fighting began. his house is now in ruins. do you see, he asks? they're hitting civilians. they didn't hit one of the fighters or any of their

so-called military targets. look at what they did. they destroyed the houses, the street and killed civilians. the fireman tells me i've never seen destruction like this. they tried, but failed to retrieve either the living or the dead. the shooting, it's not clear from whom, was too intense. >> small arms fire is increasing in intensity and directed at us. i think the problem is there are too many people here. too many civilians. if it was just us, it might be different. so we're coming back. there are two people trapped in rubble, wounded. i want to try to go in on foot to get those two before we go back. >> did you find anybody? >> no. there is the front line there and there is a serious fire

fight. >> reporter: and, wolf, it does appear that it was a little too risky for the red cross. they did pull out shortly afterwars, wolf? >> ben wiedman on the scene for us in gaza. thanks, ben, very, very much. be careful over there. let's bring in mark regev now, spokesman for the prime minister benjamin netanyahu. thank you for joining us. >> my pleasure. >> reporter: when you see a report like that what goes through your mind? >> it's a tragedy. it's a very difficult situation. you have hamas taking over a civilian neighborhood and what we saw were the pictures above ground, but below ground there is a whole system of tunnels where they store missiles and they fire missiles at israel with their command and control and they have from that area,

tunnels that go into israel under the border so they can pop out on our side of the frontier with automatic weapons, explosives and rocket-propelled grenades and do rocket attacks and we had to go in there and deal with the very real threat. we asked, requested the civilian population area and told them it was a combat zone. hamas told people not to go. hamas deliberately wanted to use the civilians there as human she'lls for its underground network of terror tunnels. >> the prime minister, your prime minister benjamin netanyahu met with secretary of state john kerry today. is there any progress towards a cease-fire. >> well, we're working hard. the goal is clear. the goal is to end terror attacks from gaza into israel. to end those rockets coming in on our city and as was reported some 70 rockets today from gaza into israel to end attacks through those tunnels, palestinian terrorist, hamas terrorists coming into israel to try to kill our people.

for us, ending this victory for us is just peace and quiet for our people. if that can be achieved through diplomacy, we'll embrace that. >> the the leader of hamas and you heard osama hamdan, the spokesman for hamas. they would accept a cease-fire, but israel, they argue it violates, they claim, violates the cease-fire. >> that's just not true. we've accepted every cease-fire proposal that was in place. we ak sepped the egyptian cease-fire proposal for total and complete cease-fire. you were with me that morning. israel held fire for six hours and hamas fired on israel. they were clear in their words and their deeds they didn't support the cease-fire. for him to say otherwoiz ise is frankly, ridiculous. hamas rile eighted those cease-fires. >> what's your reaction to the faa, the federal aviation administration back in washington, d.c., for a second day now extending this ban on

u.s. aircraft, u.s. airliners flying in and out of israel? >> well, i understand they've got -- they want to do their job. we think they're mistaken. my prime minister, benjamin netanyahu went today to ben gurion international airport and he said if it's safe for me, it's safe for everyone, and the truth is planes were taking off, landing, one of them brought the mayor of new york michael bloomberg to israel and there is not a security problem at the airport. we've had all of these rockets fired at israel, but that is a uniquely protected facility. we've had 2,000 rockets in israel and not one rocket has landed on the terminal or runway. that airport is safe because israel takes airline security and airport security very, very seriously. >> you heard osama hamdan tell me they are targeting ben gurion airport with their rockets and missiles because israeli military aircraft use that as well.

>> are we supposed to believe that hamas only targets military targets? why are they on the targets of canada, australia, and the european union, of japan and others? why have all of these international organizations and countries officially declared hamas a terrorist organization? because it targets civilians. not once, not twice, but over the last 20 years, hamas has been directly responsible for the most gruesome atrocities against civilian and that's why it's a tourist organization and when hes they don't target civilians. guess what? they're not telling the truth. >> mark regev, thanks very much for joining us. >> mark regev is the spokesman for benjamin netanyahu. >> we'll follow all of the breaking news with what's going on, including the spontaneous outpouring of grief in the netherlands as the crash victims arrive for identification and right at the top of the hour, my interview with the former new york city mayor michael

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city. what's next in this awful, grueling process? >> reporter: that's right, wolf. tomorrow we expect 74 more caskets to arrive at this military base in the dutch town of hulverson. they'll drive through those gates and be brought to the med dal center inside for the beginning of the verification process. some 74 technicians will be there to greet the carvingets. a team of 80 investigators, dutch investigators have already been interviewing family member, checking things such as dna fingerprints, descriptions of bodies and dent records. one family that i talked to told me the entire process lasted four hours for them. they lost two boys to mh-17. they said it was incredibly emotional and the chief forensic

investigator told me that it takes that long because they want to collect as much detailed information as possible. there's no room for error here and he said that the last thing they want to have to do is go back to the families to get more information, and the dutch really are experts at this. they actually established the international protocol for this type of forensic investigations. the very same team that is working here in the netherlands while they were in the tsunami in 2005 identifying bodies there. so it's a meticulous, and a precise process and it's currently under way here in holland tonight, wolf? >> what a heartbreaking story it is indeed. erin mclaughlin on the scene for us. thank you very much. coming up, the latest from here in israel including talk of a possible cease-fire as the death toll soars after more than two weeks of fighting. plus, more into the the investigation into malaysia

flight 17 and disturbing discoveries by international monitors who were combing the wreckage.

president obama on air force one just arriving in los angeles. the president sticking with a schedule of democratic party fundraisers despite the crises around the world and the growing criticism he's getting from republicans. let's go to jim acosta with the very latest. >> reporter: in light of russia's continued arming of the rebels, a top white house official says the u.s. is considering expanding sanctions against moscow, but there's no timetable and it's not clear how far the u.s. is willing to go.

with the president keeping a low profile raising money for democraten of the west coast, critics have only gotten louder calling on president obama to come down hard on russia. >> i want the russian people to feel pain in response to the pain they have caused. i want to put sanctions on their economy so they understand that what putin is doing is not good for them long-term. >> by contrast, the white house is responding with caution. the president's top aids note how some of these crises can be related. they have both prompted flight restrictions over israel and create created new problems in syria. the white house is now even more leery of sending surface to air weaponry. we have always been concerned about the danger that those types of weapons could fall into the wrong hands or pose a risk to civil aviation.

as for vladimir putin, senior administration officials say russia's help is still needed to reign in the program. >> i think the administration is showing signs of fatigue. >> reporter: foreign policy analyst michael say the president needs fresh ideas to deal with these crises. >> it's the president himself who is sending strong messages to his team and staff that e he doesn't want to be very ambitious. they are hearing that message and devising policies accordingly. it's time for more ambition because the world sense this is president is too disengaged. >> the public is not happy. the president's aremoval rating now stands at 42%, placing mr. obama in the second term company of george w. bush, below clinton and reagan. despite all the chaos, the president appears determine d t

stay the course. just one day before the crash of flight 17 he asked for patience. >> we live 234 a complex world and at a challenging time. none of these challenges lend themselves to quick or easy solutions, but all of them require american leadership. if we stay patient and determined that we will meet these challenges. >> reporter: one of his fundraisers today the president urged democrats to get energized for the midterm elections but with all of these crises happening at once, the president's political job of rally i rallying the party is getting tougher every day, wolf. >> certainly is. thanks very much, jik acosta reporting for us. breaking news coming up next. the latest from je reduce legal including efforts to broker a cease fire. are they anywhere close to paying off? and more on the downing of the flight 17. two ukrainian military jets shot two ukrainian military jets shot down in -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com the same area. imagine if everything you learned

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to learn about our whole range of life event discounts. newlywed discount. new college graduate and retiree discounts. you could even get a discount when you add a car. call liberty mutual for a free quote today at see car insurance in a whole new light. liberty mutual insurance. happening now, a special report, breaking news tonight. urgent moves towards a cease fire in the middle east. our hamas militants giving any new ground. i'll ask an insider on the talks. plus a new show of support for israel. michael bloomberg flying to tel aviv as the u.s. expands access.

standby for my interview with michael bloomberg. he has tough words for the faa. and a grim procession. the remains of flight 17 victims arrive in the netherlands as two more jets are shot down in ukraine. we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and orarou the world. i'm wolf blitzer in jerusalem. you're in "the situation room." tonight hamas leaders are declaring a victory over israei. now the that the united states is banning flights for another day. terrorists are getting what they want as the battle with hamas rages on with deadly results. we're following all the breaking news here in the middle east. and in europe, we're learning more about the investigation into the downing of malaysia flight 17 as the first remains of victims are returned to the netherlands. we have our correspondents, our

analysts and news makers standing by to keep up to the minute developments for you on all of these major stories. first, new details in the fighting in. gaza and the devastating fallout. >> reporter: it's a massive blow to israel. traffic dramatically cut back during the tosummer tourist season. they are banning flights for another 24 hours. >> safety is the very first priority for the u.s. d.o.t. and for faa. >> reporter: many countries are following the u.s.'s lead and hamas is declaring a great victory. this was the frantic scene a day earlier. >> the whole airport rushed into the bomb shelters and it was terrifying. >> reporter: the israeli prime minister went to the international airport to welcome michael bloomberg. the mayor flew from new york in a show of support for israel and

its insistence that the main airport is safe. >> we protect this airport. there's no reason whatsoever for the fis mist take in the faa decision to instruct american planes not to come here. >> reporter: another american that landed, secretary of state john kerry. he flew on a u.s. government plane from cairo to press ahead with the cease fire talks and hold separate meetings with prime minister benjamin netanyahu. >> we will continue to push for this cease fire and i can tell you that we have in the last 24 hours made some progress in moving towards that goal. >> reporter: on the ground and from the sar israeli forces pound pounded more targets in gaza including tunnels. hamas released this video showing fighters on the move underground. israel has killed 230 militants,

but civilians are dying too. one child was killed in gaza every hour over the two-day period. a third civilian was killed, a foreign worker when a bomb shell hit. now a second american soldier was buried, a california native killed on the bloodiest day of the conflict so far during a ground attack in gaza over the weekend. right now, israel is face iing first major disruption in air travel o to since 1991 when saddam hussein launched scud missiles. i spoke with mayor bloomberg. i began by asking bloomberg why he decided to fly to israel right now in defiance of the ban on u.s. flights to tel aviv. >> i just wanted to do something personally to show my support for standing up for what's

right. i think israel is doing that. hamas is trying to kill israelis and somebody has to say they have to stop this. and long comes the faa, which i think made a mistake. hope they will rectify it soon. they didn't want americans flying into the world's most secure airport. so i decided i would take a trip over here to the most secure airport. it's a good lesson for all of us how to run security. too many tinetimes we find people carrying guns and getting through security on the planes, baggage not being claimed afterwards and so it's a good lesson for us how to run an airline, how to run an airport and the faa should try to make sure that american airlines follow what is done here and we certainly don't want to stop flights into airports in america. it would be devastating for

america and it's devastating for israel. >> what do you mean when you say hamas is trying to kill palestini palestinians? >> hamas is hiding among palestinians and firing rockets all the the israelis knowing they have no choice but to do anything they can to stop the carnage of the rockets falling on israeli citizens and knowing full well if israel does do that, civilians sadly are going to also suffer. >> the whole notion of coming here, the faa has extended for another 24 hours this ban on u.s. airways, delta, the major u.s. airlines. >> all planes registered in the united states. >> but don't you think they are primarily concerned, their job is to protect american passengers. they saw this rocket come into near the airport and land about a mile away and they want to ere on the side of caution especially after what happened in ukraine. >> if you have a standard, you

would close down every airport in the united states. our security isn't very good then. the real world is that there are things going on near airports all over the world. because israel has been threatened since it was formed in 1948 is the most secure airport because it's their national airlines of israel it's the most secure airline. so what we have to do is say you have to take a reasonable precaution that you cannot shut down everything just because one terrorist some place on the other side of the world says i'm going to be a threat. >> you're a pilot. but these are experts at the faa. are you suggesting that the faa is being politicized? >> i have no idea, you'll have to call the faa. >> the faa in their statement -- >> i didn't write the statement. you can't put words in my mouth. i'm just telling you what i think about the faa. they are well meaning, it's a great organization, they make

airlines and airports safe in america. but not as safe as this one are. the fact that one rocket falls a mile away doesn't mean you should paralyze the country. >> here's what the faa said today. the agency is working with the government of israel to review the new information they have provided to determine whether potential risks to u.s. civil aviation are mitigated to the agency can resolve concerns as quickly as possible. here's the question. do you trust the faa that is providing accurate information to pilots, airlines, the american traveling public that maybe it's not a wise time to fly in and out of israel. >> the israeli government and air force and security forces carry about americans and israelis the same, about anybody. so i anticipate that we'll talk about rockets that are fired

indiscriminately. this is not a guided missile. if we would have thought that there's a risk for anybody, i would call michael and say, don't come. we know how to protect it. follow our strategy, follow the iron dome. if it would have been problematic rocket, we would have taken it down. so the security in israel is as good as it gets and i want to repeat and thank michael for his leadership in coming here. the reality is that the risk coming to israel is minimal. >> as soon as the faa announced it didn't want u.s. carriers to fly, the europeans did the same thi thing. >> that's not true. british airways had the courage to fly. >> most of the major european airlines aren't flying in and out of israel right now either. >> british airways is.

there are other airlines that are. and they have to make their own decisions. but we have to stand up and do what's right. you can't just get coward when somebody says something and everybody goes on the side of ultimate caution. that's how terrorists win, wolf. can't do that. >> here's the statement from a mass today. i want both of you to react to this. this is taken from a hamas spokesman. the success in stopping the air traffic and isolating israel from the world is a great victory for the resistance. >> i probably don't agree with very many things, but that is clearly true. somebody who didn't come close to doing damage at the airport, didn't come close to damage to any airline has paralyzed air traffic, which is the only way we get around this day in age. if they were to say that about jfk, what would you expect us to do? >> mr. mayor, what do you say

when hamas boasts that this is a great decision to stop u.s. car carriers from flying? >> when somebody says boo and get scared, then it's your problem. we're not scared. we think it's a nonissue. if we thought it's an issue, we would guide all including and maybe first of all to maybe do something else than the normal. but right now, residents of israel, americans, europeans fly all airlines. they are all the same for us. the reality is if hamas goes boo and you get scared, you're helping hamas get its goal. >> you spent most of the day here in israel. a couple days ago the state department issued a travel advisory saying americans shouldn't come for nonessential visits to israel. >> couldn't disagree with that more. >> what have you seen? >> everybody seems comfortable. everybody thinks they are well protected by an army and an air

force that knows how to fight and is out there trying to protect them. and when they walked on the streets, when they send their kids to school whrks they go to the parks, get to a concert, they feel safe. if you don't feel safe here, i don't know where you'd feel safe. i think the state department is overreacting in typical bureaucratic fashion. >> political reasons for that? >> why would you think that, wolf? >> i'm asking you. >> why would you think that? i'm outraged for you to accuse one of our agencies by asking the question you're implying that our government does things for political reasons. maybe every once and awhile they do, but it's your job to prove it. just the allegation i personally take as an offense. >> i'm just asking if you thought there was a political motive behind the travel advisory? >> i wouldn't know. >> a lot of people in israel do. >> we don't know. just the tone of the question i'm trying to create desengs,

it's insulting to america. >> what do you think? >> when terrorists try to terrorize us, their ability is minimal, especially with israeli government and army does in protection and in offense saying you walk the streets of the city of jerusalem, speak to people. we met a group of teachers who came in for the week. we asked how safe they feel. they feel safer than they do at home. and so you walk the streets, you go to the restaurants, you go to all around the country practically and people are very cautious but running their life as usual. we don't get scared from terrorists. we'll haunt them. >> so much of the economy is based on tourism. but the tourists are not coming right now because they are worried about what's going on. >> why do you think that? >> becaus there's a war with hamas. >> the airplanes can't fly, the

tourists can't come. >> now especially. >> i have never seen statistics that tourism has slowed down. now you want to see an outpouring of people that want to demonstrate that they value their freedoms. if you take away the freedom ps of the people here. >> tourism is down though right? >> new tourists came here tonight. i want to thank michael for his leadership. the reality is that it's not real. that's what terrorists try to do. they try to terrorize you. the best way to fight terrorism is exactly go on with your normal life. >> that's what we did in new york city. we didn't let the journalists scare everybody away. . more people live in downtown new york than before 9/11. more businesses are down there. today it's become a thriving community. and all of those people, the talking heads who kept saying it was the end of the world for new york, they couldn't have been more wrong because new yorkers

and americans pull together. you see the same thing happening over here of israeli. >> mr. mayor, thank you for joining us. thank you to you as well. . i have been here for almost two wee weeks. >> how does security feel? >> i feel very secure. people are watching you right now back in the united states. they will be watching you around the world on cnn international. >> everybody watches cnn. >> thank you for joining us. >> the allegation that politics may at least partially have been involved senator ted cruz from texas issued a statement a little while ago. "president obama has just used a federal regulatory agency to launch an economic boycott on israel in order to try to force our ally to comply with his foreign policy demands." a strong statement from senator cruz. we'll get reaction from the deputy national security adviser to the president.

you heard he got really angry the former mayor of new york when i asked if he thought politics were involved. how could i raise that question? a lot of people here in israel are raising that question. you just heard senator ted cruz raise that question as well. another grim set of numbers. gaza officials say 695 people have been killed. israel says its death toll is up to 35, all but 3 of them soldiers. let's go to ben wedeman who is standing by with the the latest from gaza. ben? >> reporter: yes, wolf, it's a fairly loud evening in gaza. we have had a series of large explosions around gaza city and just to update you, the death toll according to the ministry of health has now topped 700. according to the united nations around 77% of them are civili

civilians. now there were clashes that we have been hearing clashes to the north of here near the town not far from the border with israel. in several places, however, in gaza today, they with respect even cease fires. the red cross and the palestinian red crescent wept into three separate areas where you had the intense clashes in recent days. they went in coordinating between hamas and the israeli army to go in, find wounded, retrieve the dead, perhaps rescue those still stuck inside. but as we were in with the red cross, they came under fire and the head of that mission, was trying to coordinate between the two sides. listen to this. >> fire is increasing in intensity and directed at us.

pi think the problem is there are too many people here. too many civilians. if it was just us, it might be different. so we're coming back. there are two people trapped in rubble, wounded. i want to try to go in on foot to get those two before we go back. >> reporter: of course, wolf, what happened was that as they were trying to go down one of these rubble-strewn alley ways, there was small arms fire and suddenly a very large explosion just up the road and they had to leave. wolf? >> ben, the israeli military says about 200 of the deaths in gaza are actually hamas militants. based on what you're seeing there, what you're hearing, is that number fairly accurate, not so accurate? what's your sense from experts in gaza? >> reporter: it's really hard to say because, of course, the u.n. has fairly good statistics.

they are saying 77%. so therefore, 23% are fighters. now i was in a hospital to the south of gaza city yesterday and we did see two ambulance -- actually cars ride up. one had a wounded fighter in it. he still had a pistol hold ster on his belt and then a dead fighter. so what the numbers are, we really don't know. it's this sort of thing you find out after the conflict is over. there's no question that hamas fighters are taking casualties. wolf? >> all right, ben, thanks very much. ben wedeman in gaza for us. the leader of hamas is rejecting a full cease fire unless israel lifts its blockade of gaza. this after intense talks. secretary of state john kerry meeting with the israeli prime minister and the president of the palestinian authority. joining us now once again is the chief palestinian negotiator

joining us on the phone from jericho on the west bank. when we spoke 24 hours ago, you were sort of hopeful there could be a deal, a cease fire. how close are we? >> i'm still hopeful, wolf. especially after we had this meeting with secretary kerry today. i think as i said to you last night, the balance is between having cease fire and then lifting the siege in gaza. that's the balance. so we are still waiting to get an answer. secretary kerry told us he's doing every possible effort. he met the prime minister. now he's back in cairo again. he's in touch with many arab

countries. so we're still working so hard in order to achieve the balance required to have the cease fire and lifting the siege at the same time. in this particular moment, things are difficult. things need to be ironed out, u be i think i'm still hopeful that this can be achieved because the price of the continuation of this conflict as ben just told you now, it's 710 people killed, mostly civilians, mostly women and children. and things are going to go on it's going to be much worse. >> what's the biggest stumbling block to a cease fire right now? >> the biggest stumbling block is that a cease fire must be matched and these are the demands of the people who have

suffered a great deal is that the siege against them will be left. they have been affected to travel. six passengers have been virtually closed exempt for when they hope it for supplies and so on. it must be created between a cease fire and at the same time a commitment to lift the passages to fish in the waters. to have people who receive, also the balance here is how do we instead of saying one, two, three, how can we do one, one, one. how can we see cease fire with

open the pacific to allow the fishermen to have it begin. this is going to happen through the national government. that's what we have discussed with secretary kerry. i think every effort now is being done and i hope in the next 24 hours, i hope that we can speak of the details that happened. >> let's continue this conversation in 24 hours exactly. let's hope some good news in the next 24 hours. we appreciate you joining us. let's get more inside reaction from a. top u.s. official. the deputy national security adviser to the president is joining us from washington right now. you have been getting reports from secretary kerry. how close are the parties to a cease fire, if at all? >> wolf, you're right. the secretary is working this very intensely. he's in cairo now. he's been engaged with everyone

in the region. we're hopeful we can make project toward a cease fire. we don't have it yet, but this is something he's working 24/7. >> and what is, from your perspective, the biggest stumbling block? >> right now, there's an egyptian initiative on the table. and then work some of the longer term issues. right now we're waiting to see if hamas accepts. then we can get into a cease fire. the violence can stop and the various party cans try to work the issues that can lead to some kind of longer term settlement. the main thing is this. anything that happens has to result in an end to rockets raining down on israel to try to kill israelis and take them. we need to see real improvements in the lives of people living in

gaza and living under difficult conditions. >> would it be acceptable, is it within the realm of possibility to get a cease fire that would at the same time ease some of the restrictions, ease what the leaders call the siege of gaza opening up a little bit of the borders from israel and egypt. >> i think it's certainly possible. but first things first. let's get the cease fire, let's stop the violence that is first and foremost victimizing many civilians and stop the rockets raining down on israel and the terrorists tunnelling under ground into israel. then from there, we can work these other,s and hopefully get to a durable place. >> i know the united states has already announced an initial decision to grant $47 million in humanitarian assistance to the palestinians in gaza. i assume more money is on the way. standby. we have a lot more questions. we're following the breaking

news not only on a cease fire, but on the decision for a second day now for the u.s. to stop flying aircraft into the airport outside of tel aviv. much more on my u interview with the deputy national security adviser, right after this. hey. i'm ted and this is rudy. say "hi" rudy. [ barks ] [ chuckles ] i'd do anything to keep this guy happy and healthy. that's why i'm so excited about these new milk-bone brushing chews. whoa, i'm not the only one. it's a brilliant new way to take care of his teeth. clinically proven as effective as brushing. ok, here you go. have you ever seen a dog brush his own teeth? the twist and nub design cleans all the way down to the gum line, even reaching the back teeth. they taste like a treat, but they clean like a toothbrush. nothing says you care like a milk-bone brushing chew. [ barks ]

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we're back with the president's deputy national security adviser joining us from washington. the faa, as you know, has now extended for a second day that ban on u.s. airlines flying in and out of the airport outside of tel aviv. now some republicans are criticizing you including senator ted cruz of texas. he issued a