hello and welcome to our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm max foster in london. coming up in this hour. another large explosion shakes gaza this wednesday morning. we'll take you on the ground inside the city. but, first, tough new sanctions against russia are reminding many of the days of the cold war.

there's a new and strong warning to russia from the international community, the u.s., japan and the european union have now agreed to apply more economic pressure in the form of sanctions over moscow support for rebels fighting the ukrainian government. u.s. president barack obama said the sanctions will take direct aim at the russian arms, and the finance sectors. >> russia is once again isolating itself from the international community setting back decades of genuine progress, and it doesn't have to come to this. it didn't have to come to this. it does not have to be this way. this is a choice that russia and president putin in particular has made. >> the european union has imposed its toughest sanctions yet against russia.

the first stage involved the suspension on talks about visa. the second stage included travel bans and asset freezes and now stage three include wide scale economic and trade restrictions. cnn's international correspondent nic robertson joins us live with the latest. how concerned are they in russia? how damaging could these sanctions be? >> reporter: they could be damaging. it will take time. how concerned are they? president putin is meeting in the next couple of hours with the government, but what he did say in a meeting with the government on monday night was that they should accelerate their ways and means of finding alternate supplies for their weapons industries here, not only raw materials but also components, and that was before these sanctions were announced by the european union and clearly the indication was he can see them coming. and this is a big concern. however, the deputy prime minister today has played these

sanctions targeting the defense industry here which will stop its export limits, its imports of raw materials, they might have a civilian use that could be used in the military sphere. the deputy prime minister said this shows how concerned the west is about the growing navy and this is a reference to what russia has done in crimea since annexing that boosting the black sea fleet. so this is really being played here about the west is worried about us and we're in control, but that said, ross sneff, the oil giant who will be hit by these sanctions as well hurting future oil explorations, technologies that would help it do that in the arctic, for example, going to be limited. they're saying that they will have to sort of change the time frame of that planning. b.p. who has 20% stake in

rosneft saw a drop in the shares. what specifically is president putin saying so far? we may learn in a couple of hours, max. >> you mentioned b.p., a british based company. there's a great deal of concern in the financial sector here in london about the huge amount of business, particularly banking, for example, done here, and they worry that they'll be a response from moscow to further damage business in london. london is one of the capitols that is going to be affected. do you think russia will respond with its own sanctions? >> there have been all sorts of rumors, $500 billion between russia and the european union. there is scope for russia to try to inflict some damage back towards europe, but precisely what it will choose to target, the united states, europe, japan have used so far sanctions that are graduated and escalated and not hitting for example, the

current sale of two warships by france to russia. it's only new, if you will, contracts that would be affected. it's not affecting gas, the gas sector. 30 to 40% of gas coming from russia goes to europe. europe's gas requirements are about -- 30% of europe's gas requirements are met by russia. they're not targeting gas, only the oil sector, only future explorations but it's not clear how russia will tackle this. renault announced 4.5% knockdown on profits because partly russia one of its grand markets will be affected but the financial institutions in brittain could be hard hurt. the european union making it near impossible for the state owned banks to get financing, mid term, long-term loans from

the united states and financial institutions. brittain really perhaps of all nations could be hardest hit by that, max. >> nic in moscow, thank you very much indeed. the fighting in ukraine, donestk, shells struck a city block. they're hoping to visit the crash site of ma flight 17 nearly made it out of the city. nick peyton walsh reports. >> reporter: for inspectors trying to reach the crash site of mh-17, this town is the major headache. just holding but barely. we saw them exhausted, edgy, unsure how close the ukrainian army was encircling them. this man, a looter they say, seen jumping through fences. he said he ran from shooting. led away perhaps to dig their trenches. four days they have endured the

blasts. at 5:00 in the morning he says i heard a jet approaching. i don't know what the separatists used to shoot but it was heavy caliber. when you hear that, you just run to the basement. she shouts, now they bomb the peaceful people. why? to make us run away? at this apartment block hit by shelling belief is more militants rag tag unwilling to be filmed. one told me he was fighting for his town. and then quickly the quiet broke. it's getting closer. we're now hearing what sounds like an exchange of artillery being exchanged. moving back. we left along with many other locals. some on foot, all now fleeing down the road the inspectors want to travel up. this is what met them unsuccessfully later that day. another complication when in the

city center of donetsk the war widened. three shells hit this apartment block killing at least one. locals came to stair at signs that their city was the firing line. this is exactly what the city of nearly 1 million people feared the most, and the violence swirling around it not actually touching it has now come straight to people's homes. the militants had a base nearby. one saying that the army may have targeted that. this isn't really a military unit though he says. we're a security service with only pistols. we tried to evacuate people, but we don't know when they will push the button next. even the eerie dead of night brings no solace. donetsk people hoping this fight will pass. nick peyton walsh, cnn, donetsk. matt through walsh is in the

city. he joins us live. you're near the site. at what point will they be able to get there, do you think? >> reporter: that's a good question, max. that's not one that the inspectors are able to answer. they tried for through consecutive days. we heard in the report that you just broadcast that the fierce fighting around the crash site though not at the crash site itself. our vantage point is that that fighting is still continuing. the united states overnight has called on the russian government to use all of its influence to put pressure on the pro russian rebels to allow unfettered access to the international investigators who were divided between the city of donetsk and here. it's not just the rebels engaged in a military confrontation

right now. the military forces are also trying to retake territory from the pro russian rebels. that's underway as well. and while that fighting takes place in the region around the general area of the crash site, it's very difficult, very dangerous certainly for the international investigators to get up there. what we saw yesterday is the dutch prime minister call the ukrainian president poroshenko asking for a hiatus in the military offensive to allow the teams get to the ground, but as far as we're aware, that call has so far gone unheeded. >> much pressure on moscow to try to intervene and use their power in the region. how responsive would separatists be to a call from moscow to make sure that the inspectors can get through? >> reporter: well, as i say, it's not just in the hands of

the rebels to grant the inspectors and the investigators access, but in terms of what influence moscow has over them, i think that's a big question mark. i mean, the united states and the ukraine and other observers as well believe that it's essentially moscow pulling the strings of the rebellion and whatever moscow says the rebels will carry out. on the ground i don't think it's quite as simple as that. the rebellion in eastern ukraine has a momentum of its own. it's unclear how much influence moscow wields complete authority and influence on the ground. they're the major backers. th

taking place being built along 75 kilometers of the border. it's a huge engineering undertaking. it's taking a long time, bulldozers trying to build a ditch that would prevent weaponry from coming across. it's a long border and a trench isn't going to stop the rebels if that is indeed what they're doing. moscow denies they're supplying weapons. while the fighting continues again, the international teams, australians and dutch are just not able to get to the crash site. >> matthew, thank you. we'll turn our focus on the crisis in gaza when cnn's special coverage continues. >> the area around here seems to be completely abandoned. there doesn't seem to be any

relief away. >> this is the scene following weeks of air assaults. plus, how each side in the conflict is using video to win in the court of public opinion.

after another failed cease-fire which israel's

military says it struck more than 75 targets today in gaza. this blast rocked gaza city just over an hour ago. israel says it's being targeted by two rockets from gaza since midnight and the u.s. has 19 people killed when one of its schools was shelled. palestinians blame israel and israel say it's looking into it. on tuesday ten people died from a strike on a gaza refugee camp. the u.n. said it found militant's weapons stashed inside one of its schools. for the third time palestinian held officials say the death toll has climbed to more than 1200 with more than 7,000 wounded. israel reports 53 soldiers and three civilians killed including a guest worker. meanwhile, they're facing new hardships after israel's assault on gaza city.

our john ball toured the aftermath. >> reporter: crossing the border from israel and the destruction is everywhere. the buildings still standing seem deserted. the area around here seems to be completely abandoned. the only vehicles on the road are ambulances prepositioned and an israeli airstrike nearby. right now amid all of this destruction there doesn't seem to be any signs of life. so dangerous here firefighters can't get close enough to put out a blaze at the only power station. it was hit by the israelis but israel's military says it wasn't a target. >> i've gone through our air force, navy, ground forces haven't be been able to confirm that it was idf activity. >> reporter: palestinians say it could be a year to repair the facility. without electricity many in gaza are no longer working. sewer systems have been damaged. raw effluent is flowing into the

sea. despite the israeli offensive, the shop is opened every day but now he sits there in the dark. >> translator: this is not fair. we have children. hospitals need power, he tells me. the israelis are not human. >> reporter: everywhere it seems there are long lines, especially bread. tempers are beginning to frey after waiting here for hours, someone tried to cut in line. this man told me, we want the situation to end because our families and children. along with the rocket and tunnels, israel is also targeting hamas leaders. this is all that's left of the home of isma'il hamir, he's the most senior political leader in gaza. it's just reduced to rubble. no one was home at the time of the airstrike but the message

from israel is clear. just across the road at the home of mahmoud abbas, a mosque was hit by israeli fire. three weeks as the death toll continues to climb many here face life without electricity or running water. the israeli prime minister has warned the military campaign might still be far from over. john vause, cnn, gaza city. as the attacks rage, both sides have engaged in a public relations war. they're using videos to convey their messages. this one from hamas shows their soldiers raiding a tower and killing soldiers. cnn's martin savidge has more from jerusalem. >> reporter: there's no way that cnn can authenticate the hamas video, but it does match up with information that we do know. for instance, hamas claims that this video shows an attack on israeli soldiers by militants using a tunnel on monday.

the israeli military confirms that there was an attack on israeli soldiers on monday by militants using a tunnel. israel says five of its soldiers were killed in the attack, hamas says it killed ten. the issue of tunnels is more than even the threat of rockets. the rocket threat has been pretty much knocked down as a result of the success of the iron dome, but the idea of tunnels, in other words, the concept that a terrorist could pop up in an israeli home, that really scares people here, whether it's real or not. so, many israelis are very heavily backing the ongoing conflict. over 80% of israelis still support what is happening inside of gaza. they're dropping leaflets and saying they're doing all they

can to have less casualties. they're using robo calls, text messaging and a roof knocker. a nonexplosive device. israel is well aware of the amount of criticism to be launched against the country because of the number of civilians killed but israel is sending a clear message to its enemies. that is, if those enemies think they can attack israel and hide behind a civilian population to do 2, israel is essentially saying they better think again. martin savidge, cnn, jerusalem. coming up on cnn, health officials in africa battle what they call the deadliest ebola outbreak in history. now fears of the virus spreading to the united states.

millisent fighters stormed the city of benghazi forcing soldiers to flee. 30 people were reportedly killed. a government war plane that crashed during the fighting. the pilot was able to escape. benghazi and the capitol tripoli have seen heavy violence the past two weeks as rival militia groups battle the territory. canada is the latest country to pull its diplomatic workers out of libya. west africa's deadly ebola

outbreak has claimed the first american life. patrick sawyer became infected in liberia before travel to go nigeria where he died. as pamela brown reports, the case is raising grounds of the possible spread of ebola on planes. >> reporter: right now u.s. health officials are seeking anyone who may have had contact with this u.s. citizen, patrick sawyer. he flew to the nigerian city of lagos and became violently ill. >> he arrived in lagos i understand by plane. he left -- he departed initially on the plane with no symptoms. he reported being symptomatic on arrival so i understand he was vomiting and he then turned himself over basically, made it known that he wasn't feeling well. >> reporter: when sawyer landed in lagos he was quarantined.

his wife said he was supposed to fly home soon. >> it hit hard because he was well known in the community. like everyone knew him. everyone feels like they've lost their best friend or their brother. >> reporter: sawyer's wife telling cnn he came this close to our girls. we all could have been infected. that's what government officials are trying to prevent. >> it's only a plane ride away. >> reporter: the airline who flew him has suspended flights. more than 50 people who came in contact with him have been identified. some tested for ebola. they haven't said how many who flew with him have been contacted. liberia closed some of its borders and set up screening checkpoints at the air portsz. here in the u.s. the centers for disease control warned them to watch out for any patients who traveled to west africa and

could have contracted the virus. the cdc has also sent guidance to american air carriers on how to identify and deal with passengers displaying ebola symptoms and how to disinfect an aircraft after an infected person leaves the plane. >> airports can be very important partners in that front line. >> reporter: since march the disease has spreads across more than several nation's borders with 1,000 cases in guinea, sierra leone and liberia. more than 600 have died. it tests people only after people have shown symptoms. some of the early symptoms are fever, sore throat, chills, muscle aches and nausea. pamela brown, cnn, washington. we're going to turn back to ukraine when cnn's special coverage continues. we'll take a look at the new sanctions imposed on russia and the impact they're expected to have.

to our viewers around the world, i'm maxwell.

fighting rages after another cease-fire was rejected. hamas wants an end to israel's military operation and its blockade of gaza. israel says it won't stop until it's safe from the tunnels used by militants to attack israel. meanwhile, the death toll rises. palestinians report more than 12,000 people have been killed and 7,000 wounded. israel reports three civilians were killed by rocket fire. they have sent a reconnaissance convoy from donetsk to find possible route to the mh-17 crash site. fighting has kept them away from three straight days. shells hit this apartment building in donetsk on tuesday and investigators never even left the city. the u.s. and european union has slapped russia with a tough round of sanctions. they want russian president

vladimir putin to ends his help. they target russia's weapons, banking industries. president barack obama is not removed from the cold war. it's a move to make russia realize the ukraine has the right to determine its own future. white house correspondent michelle kaczynski reports. >> reporter: the u.s. rachets up the efforts on russia. >> we are targeting the key sectors, energy, arms and finance. we're blocking the exports of specific goods and technology to the russian energy sector, we're expanding our sanctions to more russian banks and defense companies and we're formally suspending credit that encourages transports to russia. >> reporter: the administration today clear in its condemnation of russia's actions. >> they have displayed an appalling disregard for human

decency. >> reporter: as russia continues even now to move heavy weaponry over the border into ukraine, fire on ukraine from russia. so short of getting physically involved in the military conflict, which the u.s. has said is absolutely not on the table, economic pressure is the west's only weapon. europe today banned all arms trading with russia. that only applies to new deals and europe and russia don't trade that much in military equipment. like the u.s. russia has frozen out banks and russia's access to technology benefitting the technologies. >> russia's actions and the sanctions we've already imposed have made a weak russian economy even weaker. >> reporter: the white house is adding pressure by accusing them of an arms control treaty that bans mid range ballistic missiles. president obama has written a letter to vladimir putin about

it. the timing is nothing to do with ukraine but admits there are worries about the weapons being used or falling into the wrong hands. despite all of this, just 12 days after the downing of a passenger plane by pro russian separatists there is still talk of diplomacy. >> it's not a new cold war, what it is is a very specific issue related to russia's unwillingness to recognize that ukraine can chart its own path. >> reporter: this week the administration laid out a long list of the effects it has had on the economy. all of this investment money leaving russia. the desired effect of all of these sanctions over a period of months now is to change putin's strategy and so far that has not changed at all. michelle kosinski, cnn, the white house. as soon as merging markets are here, we're being joined from abu dhabi.

we've had two other rounds of sanctions, haven't we? we hear that these are much more severe but how do they differ from the previous two rounds? >> well, it's fair to say that the european leaders took about four months to kind of rev up their engines. in fact, max, as you know they were cred sit for having a tepid response when the u.s. was trying to put sanctions on them. let's look at the three rounds. the first stage kind of basically had to do with visa restrictions and holding off talks to advance the restrictions. stage number two dealt with some asset freezes and some travel bans around vladimir putin but the third round is the most severe. it goes after key pillars of the russian economy. financial services and the russian economy. the idea is to go after the state run banks, the ceos are very close to vladimir putin, by the way, from tapping the

capital markets, particularly in london where they like to raise money through ipos and the issuance. that will be restricted going forward. number two, this is tricky, they're trying to target the energy sector. russia is the second largest behind saudi arabia. the idea is to limit the advance in the fields particularly eastern russia. this will be very tricky because rosneft has partnerships with exxonmobile. b.p. of course in the u.k., b.p. has a 20% stake in rosneft. where do you draw the line here? will you allow the technology to come from europe and the united states and go into russia and boost their production? this is where they have the gray area of the signals. the signal is we're taking this much more seriously than we have

had in the last four months. in some parts of the world the economy is not very delicate. it's not a one-way thing. you put sanctions on a country like russia and you'll see for yourself. >> yeah. in fact, this is a two-way street. let's tick off russia first. this is a $2 trillion economy. in fact, vladimir putin is taking it with a brave face along with sergei lavrov. we're almost too big to fail and our trade is too big to push offensively. if you go back six months ago. the central bank of russia is suggesting that growth will only be half a percent in 2014 because of the capital flight, because of this cloud hanging over investment going in to russia. conversely, the european union has a great deal of trade with russia. germany, for example, a million dollars of bilateral trade.

we've seen exports from germany to russia down 17% in the last year. as you suggest, max, that's a very tep pick european union recovery. in the last 24 hours we've heard major companies, b.p., the ceo suggesting the latest results will harm relations with russia in particular because of its stake in rosneft. we've heard from renault suggesting because of the japanese sanctions and european sanctions, we don't know where we're going. let's not forget volkswagen, siemens and pepsi have major operations in russia. they hope they will see daylight before the demand really picks up late in the autumn and in early 2015 at the height of winter. that's the real delicate window when it comes to sanctions and why the european union says let's review these sanctions

three months from today. max? >> john, thank you very much indeed. still to come, the significant capital statue turns blue. we'll talk about that next.

the operation targets gaza. that's not where this operation started. brandy k. takes us back to the actions in the west bank that triggered the view owe ledges in the first place. >> reporter: they are abducted in the dark of night while attempting to hitchhike home from religious school in the west bank. it's june 12th when the three israeli teenagers go missing.

realizing they're in danger, one manages to make this call for help. >> hello, this is udi. i've been abducted. >> hello? hello? >> reporter: it's the last anyone hears from them. three days later, june 15th, the boys still aren't home. israel's prime minister benjamin netanyahu publicly blames the terror group hamas warning of serious consequences. >> this attack should surprise no one because hamas makes no secret of its agenda. hamas is committed to the destruction of israel and to carrying outer or list ining ou on israeli civilians, including children. >> reporter: but he offers no proof hamas is directly involved. >> translator: netanyahu's

comments are stupid comments. >> reporter: june 20th, operation brother's keeper begins in the west bank. a full-scale effort to find the three israeli teenagers. more than 1,000 homes are searched. more than 150 palestinian suspects are detained. ten days later, june 30th, the bodies of the missing boys are discovered in the west bank. >> three innocent boys, they did nothing, did nothing wrong in their lives. they're so holy. they're so pure and this hamas just wants to kill them. >> reporter: the israeli prime minister delivers on his threat. with israel launching airstrikes into gaza and the west bank shortly after the bodies are found. they destroyed the homes of two suspects in the kidnapping that israel calls hamas terrorists. the ab ducked teenagers are

buried the next day, july 1st. hamas always quick to claim credit for acts of terror denies it ordered the killings and questions swirl about whether or not they were really involved. a day later a 17-year-old palestinian teen is abducted while heading to a mosque. his body was found in a jerusalem neighborhood. they condemn it. july 3rd a cell phone captures this horrifying video of what appears to be israeli police beating a palestinian american teenager, stomping on him and kicking him. he is the cousin of the palestinian teen killed the day before. israel is investigating, questioning whether the teen was an innocent bystander. on july 7th israel launches operation protective edge to stop rocket fire into israel. over 100 airstrikes since then. over 1,000 dead.

mostly palestinian civilians. what began with the death of three young teens now a full out war and still no proof of how it started. randi kaye, cnn, new york. for information on how you can help people on both sides of the conflict, be sure to check out our website. there we have posted details on information and organizations which are assisting civilians caught in the violence. do go to cnn.com/impact. ♪ ♪ now the christ the redeemer statue in rio de janeiro is a vision in blue. the blue lights have been on since monday night. it's the first ever u.n. world day against tracking persons.

the global company said there are 2.5 million people suffering in modern day slavery. brazil is making progress in ending human trafficking but says there's still a lot of washing to be done. >> translator: we know that there are still a lot of things underground, a lot that exist that people do not know about because people do not notify them of these crimes, but things are getting better. little by little preparations are being made and investigations carried out. >> well, the u.n. world day against trafficking is gaining attention in social media. they're talking from the u.s. embassy in cambodia and it's going to celebrities and city citizens. you can see where the tweets are coming in at this very moment. the chief of the united

nation's office on drugs and crime, human trafficking section, we're joined live by skype in vienna. thank you very much indeed for joining us. >> thank you. >> it's gaining traction, this social media campaign, which is always difficult, of course. how would you see it developing? >> that's a great question. we're happy to see it's been embraced by union states. we need help in vienna and geneva. one thing that i wanted to highlight, 2 million of human trafficking, it's much, etch higher than that. i mean, everybody raises concerns and it's much more than we see. it's a global phenomenon. >> according to your figures, 1

in 4 of the victims are children which is always such a hare rowing part of the story. how much stress are you incurring on trafficking children? >> it's mind boggling. some of the member states are winning the war. there's no effort to be saved to save the children. >> one of the trends in this business, it is an industry, isn't it, a very big industry, is what's called virtual sex trafficking, particularly prevalent in southeast asia i understand. can you explain what that is and how worried you are about it? >> what i can say for human trafficking, finding new ways.

it's oppressing people, to abuse them and. it's very important. difficult to prosecute. much more difficult to convict. we have what we perceive to be a quite low percentage of convi conviction rates. around 15% of countries have reported a conviction in the past three years. another 35% have reported. really concerned with this and the numbers. people are behind these crimes to the courts. we need to save and protect the victims to prison, to dismantle

them and to the local business membership. >> if you're talking about a specific region in north america, we talked a lot about trafficking of children over the border into the united states. how big is this story on the u.n. radar. obviously you have such a big global problem. in terms of the united states and trafficking over that border, how are you looking at that right now? >> this is something that has been noticed. this is not -- >> people are dying trying to pursue this in countries. people dying in south asian regions. people dying in west africa so it's a global phenomenon now. >> thank you very much, indeed, for joining us. more about efforts to end

modern day slavery and ways to help by logging on to the freedom project website. cnn.com/freedom. coming up next, california's in drought and parts of los angeles are very wet after this broken water main shut down roads and flooded a university campus as well. more on that after the break.

part of los angeles's sunset

boulevard was drenched after a broken water main near the university of california at los angeles. some of its athletic buildings were flooded and authorities had to rescue several people before city workers turned the valves off. now all of this comes at a very bad time. california is caught in a drought right now. last year it was one of the state's driest ever. for more on the drought situation in los angeles and the wild weather across europe as well i want to bring in meteorologist pedram javaheri. pedram? >> yeah, the california situation, remarkable. take a look at these images. they were taken tuesday morning before you see the water levels. you see the san gabriel mountains where we know the water levels falling to historic lows because of the recent drought in recent years. the effect in this region beginning on the 1st of august, this coming friday, a $500 per

day fine will be given to people watering their lawns and washing the cars and that's because the water is limited. you want to see 10 million gallons of water being lost in that area. look at the perspective. the drought for california if you didn't know, 100% of the state is in severe drought or worse conditions and the worse conditions being what is considered exceptional drought. this region of california from los angeles up towards san francisco in that exceptional drought period. you see images of this water rushing into venues. the historic pavilion where the ucla bruins or the volleyball team taking on significant water. from 2010 to 2012 we had $133 million invested in that venue for new renovations there done and then of course that much water on the court in that region as cleanup operations

begin. take the pictures out to niece in france. we have these globular clouds indicative of thunderstorms. that's what we had in the region over the last couple of days. the storm systems exited france or portions of northern italy over portions of the alps. historic rainfall. look at the images coming out of portions of romania as the storms come in over the past 24 hours. several people have lost their lives. hundreds have fled their homes after flood waters ran into romania. these are from southwestern romania where it fell in a wet, warm period over much of the continent in recent months as well. water levels as much as six meters high in parts of romania. about 20 feet high because of these storms. you see what's in store despite what has fallen, the amount of

water upwards of 150 millimeters. that is 6 inches has come down in a couple of days in portions of romania. this is not what you want to see. our water plentiful here and not so much in the southern california. max. >> thank you very much. pedram, you are watching cnn special coverage. i'm maxwell in london. do stay with us. "early start" begins right after "early start" begins right after this break. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

♪ gaza on fire this morning. israel pounding the streets with bombs taking out hamas targets. this morning, power knocked out for nearly 1 million palestinians. another u.n. school bombarded. and there seems to be no end in sight. we're live in gaza with the very latest. happening now, russia paying the price for arming separatists in ukraine. hit with worldwide sanctions that could cost the country billions, this as fighting between pro-russian rebels and ukin