breaking news overnight. the united nations urging israel and hamas to stop the violence, calling for an immediate cease-fire. they did this at an emergency meeting overnight. the death toll rises over who is responsible for a deadly attack on a gaza school. we are live in jerusalem with the new developments. breaking this morning, russia firing back at

accusations as intense fighting persists near the crash site of malaysian flight mh17. investigators are on their way to visit the scene. good morning, everyone. happy monday. welcome to "early start." i'm poppy harlow in for christine romans. >> i'm john berman. we welcome all our viewers here in the united states and around the world as well. breaking overnight, we are talking the fighting in gaza. blood has been spilling despice calling for a humanitarian cease-fire. they launched 70 rockets sunday. israelis 40 attacks onuo hamas. jerusalem is denying responsibility for 16 deaths at

a school in gaza. they are confirming there was an air mortar that struck the schoolyard. martin, give us a sense of what is happening right now. it is a holiday in gaza. >> reporter: it is, indeed. the celebration of the breaking of the fast, the festival that officially ends ramadan. normally a joyous time. it's anything but that right now. let's talk about the peace process. there's not a cease-fire and there's not going to be a cease-fire for the immediate future. there were hopes yesterday, it might happen. they both agreed to a humanitarian but they agreed at different times. the israelis were first. at that time, they were willing to observe 24 hours of the humanitarian cease-fire, hamas said no and continued firing. 12 hours later, into the day

sunday, hamas said yes, we are ready for the cease-fire. israel said they weren't ready for that and didn't see signs hamas was ready. the rockets continued coming, striking israel. 74 rockets yesterday. there has been one rocket already today. the death toll, meanwhile in gaza for palestinians rising ever more. it is now 1,032. number of israeli soldiers killed, 43. much higher than previous incursions and three civilians killed in israel. i think they would love to see a cease-fire, but it does not appear to be in the works right now. john and poppy. >> martin, thanks so much. president obama and israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu said the president made it clear america supports israel but delivered a sobering

message. here is erin mcpipe with more. >> reporter: over the weekend, secretary of state, john kerry returned from paris where he was trying to broker a deal for a cease-fire in gaza, but was unsuccessful. he was placing calls for the same purpose. later in the day, the u.s. escalated the urgency tr stopping hostilities now with president obama speaking by phone to israeli prime minister, benjamin netanyahu. according to the read out, the president supports israel and their right to defend themselves, but reiterated about the rising number of palestinian civilian deaths and the loss of israeli lives and the humanitarian situation in gaza. he underscored the importance of ensuring israel's security and the humanitarian crisis and

demanding a cease-fire that allows palestinians in gaza to lead normal lives and addresses the long term developments strengthening the palestinian authority. the interesting thing there is now president obama is applying increasing pressure to netanyahu and the israelis. poppy and john? >> erin, thank you. now to the crisis in ukraine, the u.s. releasing photos showing russian forces in ukraine in support of the rebels, backing claims russia is involved in the conflict. telling john kerry, moscow is not contributing to the conflict or the downing of flight 17. he reiterated the claims. let's go to diana for this. interesting listening to the long press conference.

pushing this narrative that russia is on the side of reason and international cooperation here and also, interestingly lavrov saying he's not sure what policies they want, right? >> reporter: exactly. we have been at the meetings where there were guidelines to find a resolution to the conflict to get both sides to talk together and agree on a cease-fire. it wasn't us who didn't play ball, it was the west. it is the west who is supporting kiev who does not want to sit down with the separatists in the east to talk. lavrov concluding the west keeps saying to us we have to change our policy in eastern ukraine. we are not sure what they mean by that. clearly, the position of the west is russia is fueling this conflict by providing weaponry

for the separatists in eastern ukraine. but, that is something that russia has denied. despite the evidence to the country and despite there is clear evidence a lot of military vehicles has just crossed the border from russia. lavrov, in that press conference accusing osce of dragging their feet. we are happy. we have invited them to come and inspect our border crossings to see whether there is any activity. he didn't deny in the press conference, which i thought was interesting, the fact weapons were crossing, which he was asked. the west provided evidence of russian shelling into ukraine, but what about the shelling coming from the ukrainian side into russia. already one russian civilian has been killed as a result of shelling.

he pointed to the influx of refugees from eastern ukraine who fled the conflict. it all fits into the picture you get here that there is a humanitarian crisis building in eastern ukraine. tens of thousands fled the conflict into russia and russia is trying to protect itself in the border from the conflict spilling over in the russia direction. of course, it is a completely different picture to the one the west is painting of how the conflict is unfolding. poppy? >> the world continues. we appreciate the update, thank you. the downing of flight 17, data is said to be consistent with a missile strike. even though there is an agreement between the rebels and malaysian government to the wreckage, to the site, a new offensive by ukrainian forces to recapture that area is keeping

investigators away. matthew chance joins us live from kharkiv. what's the latest? was the government keeping investigators out? >> reporter: well, certainly, it's true, john, there is a new offensive under way in various areas around the crash site. despite assurances from the ukrainian government six days ago there would be a cease-fire zone around the area, which is in rebel controlled territory for the international investigators from the netherlands and australia to gain access to the site and conduct very important work. they need to undertake it to get human remains out of there. there's lots of personal belongings that have to be collected and evidence to give us clarity of what happened to mh17. that work has to be done. at the moment, the european

security body escorting the experts is on the road now from donetsk toward the crash site a short distance away. yesterday, they tried to get access with the international experts to the area. because of the fierce fighting raging around there over the course of the past 24 hours, 36 hours or so, they were unable to reach the crash site. today, they tell us they are more optimistic about reaching the site. they have had negotiations with both sides, the rebels and ukrainian governments, but they are not there yet. the coming hours will tell us. the coming hours will tell us whether they get access to this site or not. john? >> you are right. we have someone with the convoy. we'll check in with them. hopefully they will reach that site. matthew chance in kharkiv, thank you so much. an agreement has been reached between house and senate

negotiators. lawmakers are expected to release the details of their plan for veterans who live too far from a v.a. facility. this measure is expected to pay for visits to private doctors. it will earmark billions of dollars to hire doctors and nurses within the system and build new facilities to treat the veterans. with the summer recess around the corner for congress, lawmakers have days to act on the crisis at the border. president obama requested $4 billion in emergency funds. he is not going to get that much. republicans spent the weekend at the border, condemning the way the president is handling the crisis as donations pour in to help the tens of thousands of children fleeing their countries in fear for their lives. >> these are our brothers and sisters who are suffering and

many of whom are not being welcomed. >> coast guard troops called in to secure the border do not have the right to make arrests -- sorry, that's national guard troops. they were employed by rick perry, not federal officials. the governor can give them powers to make arrests, but he most likely will not. time for an "early start" on your money. in europe, the stocks are higher. asian stocks up as well. industrial profits rose in china boosting optimism about the second largest economy. u.s. futures are lower kicking off the most important week of the summer. investors will weigh a lot of earnings reports. the july jobs report comes on friday morning, stocks fell broadly when you look at last friday. we'll see what happens today

when we open. reports this morning that malaysia airlines is considering a name change. they have been part of two tragedies, as you know this year. that tarnishes the brands image. kogt the malaysian government that owns a majority stake in the airline is looking at rebranding and changing their name. we will see what happens with that. 13 minutes after the hour. a deadly strike from the sky. one man killed, a dozen more injured when a rare lightning storm just terrorizes a california beach. a survivor is sharing his story, next. [ female announcer ] hands were made for playing. legs, for crossing. feet...splashing. better things than the joint pain and swelling of moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis. if you're trying to manage your ra, now may be the time to ask about xeljanz. xeljanz (tofacitinib) is a small pill, not an injection or infusion,

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severe storm turned deadly along the california coast. a man was killed after being struck by lightning at venice beach. the severe weather came out of nowhere. >> all of a sudden, there was a flash of light and a boom. it felt like someone punched me in the back of my head. it went down the right side of my body and my calf locked up and i fell over. i looked up and everybody else

was fallen over. >> a lucky guy. this is unusual for this area. officials say it was sparked by monsoon moisture. a tornado ripping through areas of the state causing significant damage to homes in washington and sullivan counties. downed power lines blocked the roadways there. no injuries. crews are working to restore power to hundreds of residents in the area. a violent storm damaged homes in lexington, kentucky. they responded to emergency calls after lightning disabled their communications. it knocked down trees and power lines in central kentucky leaving thousands without electricity. an early morning hailstorm pummeled central wisconsin sunday morning. that's hail. you are looking at the pictures correctly. hailstones, two inches across, some of them t. 15-minute storm

blanketed the streets with ice. more severe weather is in the forecast. let's get an early look at that with jennifer gray. >> the severe threat is going to focus on the southeast. we could see severe storms from the carolinas to the gulf coast, including south louisiana. large hail, damaging winds and a slight possibility of an isolated tornado or two. we'll watch that. in the meantime, nice, comfortable cool air filtering in across the north. chicago reaching a high temperature of 71 degrees. later today, 79 in minneapolis. 82 in kansas city. in the northeast, temperatures in the 80s. boston at 80 degrees. new york city at 82. tomorrow, mostly sunny skies move into the southeast after the storms clear out. they'll be pushing into southern portions of florida. more showers push into the west. that's good news. we need rain in the west to help

out with the wildfire situation and see scattered storms push into the great lakes, the ohio valley for tomorrow as well. high pressure in control across the mississippi river valley bringing nice weather to folks in the midsection. warm temperatures, though, in the 80s. 91 in dallas. atlanta, we drop to 83 degrees, a little bit of relief there. feeling relief in the northeast as well as temperatures drop into the upper 70s. john and poppy? >> thanks, we appreciate it. crazy weather all summer long. every few days we are talking tornadoes and hail in wisconsin. it's crazy. thanks, jennifer. two americans affected with ebola. why this is the deadliest yet. the concern for three journalists in tehran. we have the latest. next.

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fewer calories. fewer carbs. more to experience. michelob ultra. the superior light beer. all right, this important story to tell you about. a second american aid worker in liberia tested positive for the ebola. her diagnosis comes after dr. kent brantley noticed symptoms last week and isolated himself.

health officials say the current outbreak is the deadliest ever. of the 1,093 confirmed and probable cases, 660 people have died. happening now, an official confirming his country has taken four journalists into custody. including a journalist from "the washington post." the ukrainians are not giving a reason for the arrests. what can you tell us about the journalists and what the iranian government is saying? >> reporter: there's not a lot of information about the arrests. a lot of people are getting concerned here. journalists here in iran and throughout the world. a lot of people know the individuals who have been detained. let's tell you what we know. these four individuals were

arrested tuesday night. three of them iranian-americans. jason has been here since 2008. "the washington post" bureau chief since 2012. i personally know jason. he has an exceptional reputation. he came back to iran because he loved his country and his culture. he and his wife were detained tuesday night. the two others -- six days passed. iranian officials continue to say we'll have information about the arrests, but a lot of people waiting for answers. >> a well-known guy. we are looking at picture ofs this man along with anthony bourdain. breaking overnight, the united nations holding an emergency meeting urging an immediate cease-fire, a

humanetarian cease-fire between gaza and israel. this morning, the violence and finger pointing continues. we'll take you live to jerusalem after the break.

breaking news overnight, the united nations urging israel and hamas to stop the vie lensz, calling for an immediate

cease-fire at an emergency midnight meeting. this, as the blame game continues over who is responsible for an attack. we are live in jerusalem with the developments. russia firing back at accusations. it has been arming rebels in ukraine and might be culpable for malaysia airlines flight 17 going down. this, as fighting rages between separatists near the crash site. there is new hope that investigators will begiven access to the scene. we have live team coverage ahead. welcome back to "early start." i'm john berman. >> i'm poppy harlow in for christine romans. we welcome our viewers here in the united states and around the world. fighting overnight continuing despite the humanitarian cease-fire. hamas