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 statement saying "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." your reaction to senator cruz? >> they are simple, he's wrong. we didn't use the faa to do anything. the faa makes independent judgments for safety and security of our airlines and passengers. they made a judgment and we're not in the business of second guessing the faa or overturning what they do. they are working closely with israel to the address the concerns raised and i'm confident they will get on that. the only people playing politics are the the ones that accuse us of playing politics. just a day ago, the administration strongly endorsed a request from israel to increase funding for iron dome, the missile defense system that

has done a great job of saving lives. more than a quarter of a billion dollars in additional funding that we have gone to congress to request. >> i'm sure the people of israel will be grateful for that. that iron dome has been amazing in what it's done. a couple thousand rockets and missiles has come in and worked about 85 to 90% of the time. let's talk about ukraine. two ukrainian war planes shot down today. there's some officials that are accusing the missiles that shot down the two planes of actually having been launched not from eastern ukraine but from russia itself. what can you tell us about this? >> so wolf, we know the two planes were shot down. we don't know who shot them down. it could have been separatists or from the russian side of the border. what's clear is this. we have seen multiple shootdowns of planes. this only strengthens the case

that the mh-17 flight was taken down by separatists. and once again, this is an action that is escalating a crisis in ukraine and needs to stop. we put out a very strong and compelling case about the evidence demonstrating that the spraiss responsible for shooting down the malaysian airlines plane and this is getting increasingly dangerous and unfortunately the russians can add fuel to the fire by supplying heavy weapons. that has to stop. >> i assume the u.s. intelligence community is trying to figure out where those missiles were launched from that brought down the two war planes. i don't know if you have received any intelligence reports, but i assume you're trying to figure that out. >> we're trying to figure out exactly that, who shot the planes down. unfortunately, we have seen multiple shootdowns of planes by

the separatists taking down transport planes, taking down jets and tragically taking down the malaysian airlines flight. >> do you anticipate president obama extending -- expand iing e sanctions against russia and businesses and associates close to vladimir putin? >> we're looking at all that. here's what we have done and what we have seen. as a result of the president's leadership over these many months, in particular in bringing many of the europeans along with them, we have exerted extraordinary pressure through sanctions and seeing a dramatic impact on the russian economy. we're seeing capital flight that in the first half of the year exceeded all of last year. we're seeing investment drying up. we're seeing their bond rating go down to junk status.

the result is significant, it's dramatic and the pressure is increasing on president putin to stop escalating the crisis. >> the president's deputy national security adviser, thank you for joining us. >> thanks, wolf. appreciate it. just ahead, did the faa make the right decision in ban ining flights to israel? you heard what michael bloomberg had to say. our aviation and law enforcement analysts are stand iing by to weigh in as well. did you know, your eyes can lose vital nutrients as you age?

[ male announcer ] that's why there's ocuvite to help replenish key eye nutrients. ocuvite has a unique formula not found in your multivitamin to help protect your eye health. ocuvite. help protect your eye health. for over 19 million people. [ mom ] with life insurance, we're not just insuring our lives... we're helping protect his. [ female announcer ] everyone has a moment when tomorrow becomes real. transamerica. transform tomorrow.

we're changing the way we do business, with startup ny. we've created tax free zones throughout the state. and startup ny companies will be investing hundreds of millions of dollars in jobs and infrastructure. thanks to startup ny, businesses can operate tax free for 10 years. no property tax. no business tax. and no sales tax. which means more growth for your business, and more jobs. it's not just business as usual. see how new york can help your business grow, at startup.ny.gov

we're back live in jerusalem with breaking news. the u.s. expanding a ban on flights to israel for another 24 hours. let's bring in our aviation analyst and law enforcement analyst. peter, what do you make of the faa decision of another 24-hour ban on u.s. carriers flying in and out of israel? you heard michael bloomberg say that's a mistake. >> it's not a mistake. it's the right call. it's the right call for a couple reasons. one, there are clearly safety issues concerned in flying in and out of a combat zone like this. secondly, there are liability issues. if you're one of the owners of the air carriers and you knowingly allow your plane to go into danger and it's shot down, the repercussions are enormous.

the reason we have the safist aviation system in the world is because the faa makes tough decisions. they made it, it was the right one. >> tom, you know the israelis though. they are very, very strict on security. you know their record of the airport. you know their record and no one worries about security more than the israelis do. if they say it's safe and secure, why shouldn't the u.s. believe them? >> because they are not correct in all aspects of the security. it's simple. they can have the best metal detectors and best safety process getting ready to board flights. that's all great, but it's internal airport security. they didn't knock down that rocket. how can they guarantee a future rocket won't land on top of an airplane with 300 people on it. so having the best security is not the same as blocking rockets landing on an airport.

>> let's ask peter if you think all passengers should be worried? >> ll has additional security on their planes, but they are facing the same challenges that u.s. passengers face. but there are political decisions that the israeli have made and they are continuing to make them. we are not obligated to make those political decisions. we make the decisions based on the safety of the passengers. >> peter, you're familiar with the faa. you worked at the ntsb for many years. when you hear senator ted cruz of texas suggest that the faa is being manipulated by the president for political purposes in going ahead skpshing this ban on flights to and from israel, you say -- >> it's preposterous and he

doesn't know what he's talking about. simply, we have safe aviation because the faa makes the call based on data, based on facts, not based on politics. >> and tom, do you agree or disagree? >> i could not agree more. that statement was ridiculous and he ought to be ashamed o of himself for saying something that ridiculous. >> let's talk a little bit about what's going on in ukraine right now. peter, let me get to you first. the malaysia flight 17, do we now know for sure based on everything you have investigated and heard how that plane was destroyed, if you will? >> i think we're pretty clear that a russian-made missile took that plane down. and no matter what the russians and their surrogates, the separatists are doing to the debris field, they will not be able to cover up all of the

physical evidence in the wreckage. it will be there. the investigators will find it and they will make the call. the dutch are very serious about this. >> what do you think, tom? >> i think the problem here is that this is similar to a drive-by shooting in a major city only in this case a fly-by shooting. the airplane gets hit. we know it was a missile and all the details of that, but we don't have the ability to have investigators on the ground interrogate i interrogating the people that might have been involved, developing informants, doing a full investigation. therefore, we're not going to know who pulled the trigger or pushed the button to launch that missile. >> peter, we're told that cockpit voice recorder is in very good condition. so how important is that going to be in this investigation? >> well, it will be important because at the very least, it will pick up a fraction of a second of sound and we'll be

able to analyze where the sound was originating and give us some indication of where this tragic event started. but it's not the critical information. the critical information is the radar data that we've got already and what's on the ground that they will not be able to hide from us. >> here's the problem that i have and a lot of people have and tom, you're a former stapt director. that crash site, it's not even secure. it's a mess. it's awful, it's heartbreaking to see it. what do you make of that? >> if the missile went, as we think it did and as the reports indicate, there will be shrapnel embedded in the side of that aircraft, in the wings, almost the whole side, whichever side that missile hit will just spray like a shotgun blast. they will be unable to hide all

that. we have had crash sites where planes have been underwater or buried in the ground even for a couple years before really true forensic work was done. so frankly, i don't think they will be able to hide the fact that that plane chs hit by the missile, that that caused the catastrophic failure and caused it to fall out of the sky. but again, that's not the same as knowing who pushed the button. >> 298 people aboard that flight 17. peter, what's the major lesson all of us, the flying public, aviation authorities, airlines, everyone else should learn from what happened last week? >> i think the most important thing is that we need to have better risk analysis when missile launchers that have the ability to strike airplanes, commercial airplanes at all ttie fall into irresponsible hands, we have to avoid that spot. and the world air carriers and

the world aviation organizations need to act promptly on that. >> guys, thanks very much. always good to have both of your insight. just ahead, the russian president vladimir putin in the spotlight once again because of flight 17. why some say the leader's tough shell is beginning to crack a bit. brian todd has that and more when we come back. what they get from alaska, they think salmon and energy. but the energy bp produces up here creates something else as well: jobs all over america. engineering and innovation jobs. advanced safety systems & technology. shipping and manufacturing. across the united states, bp supports more than a quarter million jobs.

when we set up operation in one part of the country, people in other parts go to work. that's not a coincidence. it's one more part of our commitment to america. really... so our business can be on at&t's network for $175 dollars a month? 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. if you don't think "feed the then you don't know "aarp". our drive to end hunger has donated 29 million meals, and counting. find more real possibilities at aarp.org/possibilities.

if your denture moves, it can irritate your gums. try fixodent plus gum care. it helps stop denture movement and prevents gum irritation. fixodent. and forget it.

[ chainsaw buzzing ] humans. sometimes, life trips us up. sometimes, we trip ourselves up. and although the mistakes may seem to just keep coming at you, so do the solutions. like multi-policy discounts from liberty mutual insurance. save up to 10% just for combining your auto and home insurance. call liberty mutual insurance at... to speak with an insurance expert

and ask about all the personalized savings available for when you get married, move into a new house, or add a car to your policy. personalized coverage and savings -- all the things humans need to make our world a little less imperfect. call... and ask about all the ways you could save. liberty mutual insurance -- responsibility. what's your policy? the pressure is mounting for the russian president, vladimir putin. while he continues to deny involvement in bringing down mh-17, some analysts say putin isn't necessarily guilty of political posturing. rather, he and his cabinet appear to be panicking. cnn's brian todd joins us now from washington with more. what are you learning, brian? >> wolf, those observers believe

putin and his close circle are simply up to their necks in this and are grasping. they say in the aftermath of the shoot down, things in ukraine have gotten beyond putin's control and he knows it. bursts of white smoke. observers on the ground, clearly agitated. at the scene of burning wreckage, armed men in fatigues pick up fragments of what's purportedly a ukrainian fighter jet, shot down in eastern ukraine. not yet confirmed, whether this was the work of pro-russian rebels inside ukraine or russian forces themselves. and whether russian president vladimir putin knew about or approved the operation. if putin's behind the attack, just days after the downing of malaysia airlines flight 17, the question, what's driving his aggression? >> his objectives are, preferably, to take control, at least informally, of a large swath of ukrainian territory, but he's failed with that. if he can't do that, his lesser objective is to destabilize portions of ukraine's east.

>> reporter: but some observers say putin and his cabinet are in panic mode. with intelligence pointing to russian involvement in the malaysia air shoot down and with crippling sanctions possibly imminent, they say putin is deflecting blame towards ukraine and nato, accusing the alliance of building its forces in eastern europe to threaten russia. a nato official scoffs at that, but putin does seem to be using nato's actions as a rationale for his military posture. >> translator: a scale of the training and preparedness is also increasing. it is important to prepare our defenses on schedule. >> body language of a guy who's panicking? >> i don't think, again, he's panicking, but he is in really a hard place. he has enormous pressure coming from the international community right now, and domestically, he's under pressure. >> reporter: pressure from russia's business elites, to avoid more sanctions. pressure from russian nationalists, to get tougher on ukraine. so if he's not panicking, analysts say, putin's at least

in his judo stance. >> you can almost see it, his balancing. he does this when he talks. he is a judo expert, and he is prepared, he's ready to parry, thrust, and protect russia from what he expects are going to be the threats. >> but what about his top security cabinet? the people in that room with vladimir putin in that video. some of them in those images look visibly uncomfortable as he spoke. there you see their faces. the analysts we spoke to say they're not likely panicking, but they are worried, plenty, about the pressures on russia's military and economy. as one analyst said, they don't have the gambler's gene that vladimir putin has. wolf? >> brian, putin may have some other headaches, as well, due to a personal connection he has to the netherlandses, right? >> it's pretty extraordinary. according to various reports, one of putin's lives in the netherlands. most of the victims of the malaysia air shoot down lives

there. at least one political leader there wants putin's daughter deported, and there are reportedly calls for a protest to be held outside her home. vladimir putin tonight, wolf, taking it from all sides. >> brian todd reporting for us. thanks very much. stand by, we've got more breaking news. we're just getting a statement from the white house. the president has just spoken with john kerry, the secretary of state, about the efforts to achieve a cease-fire. we'll update you, right after this. [announcer] word is getting out. purina dog chow light & healthy is a deliciously tender and crunchy kibble blend. with 20% fewer calories than purina dog chow. isn't it time you discovered the lighter side of dog chow. purina dog chow light & healthy.

and there's more breaking news in the crisis here in the middle east. aboard air force one, just a

little while ago, president obama got an update from john kerry on the cease-fire efforts. the statement that the white house released, let me read it, aboard air force one, the president spoke with secretary kerry on the latest developments in his efforts to effect a cease-fire. over the last few days, secretary kerry has been engaged with the israelis, the palestinians, the egyptians, the europes, the u.n., the air iraq league, qatar, jordan, turkey, and uae to determine how to build a sustainable path forward. that's it for me. thank you very much for watching. i'm wolf blitzer in "the situation room". erin burnett o"outfront" starts right now. two more planes shot down in ukraine. tonight, ukraine's ambassador to the united states is out front. plus, flights to and from israel grounded, not flying due to fears of rocket