this guy! bringing our competitors' rates to you -- now, that's progressive. the oscar pistorius murder trial heads into its final phase. we'll bring you a live report this hour. and welcome back. i'm rosemary church. >> and i'm errol barnett. we're happy you're still with us. >> we sure are. and it is 9:00 a.m. in cairo where israeli and palestinian negotiators will be back at the bargaining table again today,

although not meeting face to face, of course. >> we want to give you all a sense of what's happening behind the scenes. egyptian mediators are talking with each side separately trying to extend the current 72-hour cease-fire that has now held for two full days. of course, that means we've only got one day left. an unnamed israeli official says israel is on board, but palestinian leaders say such talk is premature. >> well, u.s. president barack obama says he supports the effort to extend that cease-fire, but he made it clear he has no sympathy for hamas. >> yeah, mr. obama says there must be a way to protect israel's security and help the people of gaza who are struggling. listen to this. >> the short-term goal has to be to make sure that rocket launches do not resume, that the work that the israeli government did in closing off these tunnels has been completed and that we are now in the process of

helping to rebuild a gaza that's been really badly damaged as a consequence of this conflict. >> israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu is praising his country's military for their work in gaza. >> yeah, this is despite the very high civilian deaths. mr. netanyahu says hamas positioned rockets in residential neighborhoods and then used civilian casualties as, quote, pr fodder. >> israel deeply regrets every civilian casualty, every single one. we do not target them. we do not seek them. the people of gaza are not our enemy. our enemy is hamas. our enemy are the other terrorist organizations trying to kill our people. >> israel has come under heavy

criticism for the high civilian death toll in gaza, but israel holds hamas responsible, as you just heard there, accusing it of launching its rockets from densely populated areas. our jake tapper shows us now new video that goes to the heart of that controversy. >> reporter: caught on tape. palestinian militants reportedly launching a rocket from gaza while a reporter was live on air. >> what happened? what happened? >> this was a rocket -- >> reporter: that reporter with france 24, gallagher fenwick says he saw rocket launchers outside a united nations building. >> it wasn't there last night. it came up just this morning. >> reporter: another international news organization released this video reportedly showing militants setting up rockets. >> we're seeing hamas setting up a rocket launch just meters away from our hotel. >> reporter: indian news channel

ndtv then aired this video saying it shows rockets being fired from a residential area. >> that's the rocket being fired tuesday morning, a day after at the exact spot. >> reporter: the israeli government has repeatedly accused hamas of firing rockets from densely populated areas in gaza. and just last week, the israeli military released another video saying it shows just that. this video caught on clos closed-circuit tv appears to show one of those rockets landing in israel about 20 miles from gaza. >> jake tapper reporting there. and we do want to turn now to senior international correspondent matthew chance. he is in jerusalem this morning. and he joins us now live. so matthew, of course, we are now in the third day of this 72-hour cease-fire. it's critical now with time running out that this cease-fire get extended.

so where do these talks stand right now? >> reporter: well, as far as our understanding is -- and remember, these talks are going on behind closed doors in the egyptian capital, cairo, not directly between the two parties but through egyptian mediators. as far as we're aware, there's still no agreement on extending the cease-fire. there's still no agreement on the key issues that both sides want for a more lasting settlement. we know that an israeli official has told us here at cnn that israel is prepared to, in his words, unconditionally extend the 72-hour cease-fire. but at the moment, hamas is saying that that's not something that that's on the agenda or that's something that's been agreed. obviously time is running out for that. i think the big problem, the broader problem, is that, you know, it's on the one hand talking about extending the cease-fi cease-fire. if we're looking at a broader, more long-lasting peace, there

has to be a political settlement. i think both sides understand that. the trouble is is that both sides are coming to these negotiations from very different perspectives. the israelis on the one hand are saying they want hamas to disarm if it's going to be a more lasting settlement. the palestinians saying, hamas saying, that they want to have the borders -- border controls lifted and the blockade, the siege, as they call it, of gaza lifted as well to allow products to go in and out and the free movement of people. and so both sides at this point are very far apart on that broader political settlement that could lead to a lasting peace. >> yeah. but of course as that's playing out, time is running out. and the main point here is extending that cease-fire, isn't it. and of course, at the same time, we're hearing, as we just played prime minister benjamin netanyahu, talking about hamas setting off these rockets within dense populations. how is that playing out there? how are the two sides with what they're having to say, how does that play out in the midst of these talks?

>> reporter: well, i mean, obviously benjamin netanyahu and the israeli government has been stung by the international criticism that its response to the attacks and the tunnels inside gaza was disproportionate. remember, there were nearly 2,000 people killed in gaza. many of them children and women. there's a debate under way about the level of -- the number of militants killed. israel says 900. the u.n. says 75% were civilians, and so that's likely to be an ongoing debate. certainly, once again israel laying the blame for the civilian deaths at the feet of hamas and the other militants that have been firing rockets. we've seen that video of hamas and the other militant groups firing rockets from inside civilian areas. and israel then strikes at those rocket positions, killing civilians in the process. but it says that hamas should bear ultimate responsibility for that. >> all right. matthew chance reporting there live from jerusalem. many thanks to you, as always.

and you can take a closer look at who is supporting whom at the negotiations in cairo. just go to our website. that's all at cnn.com. i want to bring you new information now, a heightened alert in liberia and a stark warning from u.s. health officials. all of this as these fears of ebola continue to rise across the globe. >> and liberia's president declared a 90-day state of emergency wednesday night after the number of confirmed probable and suspected deaths in her country rose to 282. now, the declaration will allow the government to, quote, institute extraordinary measures and possibly suspend certain rights and privileges. >> here's an update on the numbers. the world health organization says the global toll of confirmed probable or suspected deaths has risen to 932.

that's prompted the u.s. centers for disease control and prevention to issue its highest alert yet on ebola. >> and europe's first ebola patient is arriving home for treatment this morning. he is a spanish priest who contracted the virus in liberia. >> and still, you've got concern growing in nigeria after that country's second now confirmed ebola death. >> yeah. the lagos state health commissioner is appealing for outside help to avert a possible epidemic. take a listen. >> we need volunteers now who are extremely necessary to assist us in tracking contacts, but more importantly to manage those cases already in isolation. so we need doctors. we need nurses and mental health workers. >> if you listen to him there, they basically need everything to tackle this. niger january officials also

stepping up screening measures. >> but will it be enough to keep the virus from spreading? that's the big question. jonathan mann looks at the growing fear in nigeria's largest city, lagos. >> reporter: worry on the streets of lagos, nigeria. in this mega city of 21 million people, fears of an ebola epidemic are growing after nigerian health officials confirmed five new cases and a second death from the virus. the latest victim, a nurse who helped care for patrick sawyer, an american who died days after arriving on a flight from liberia. >> nigeria is the most populated country in africa. and boy, we hope it doesn't have an outbreak there. >> if this thing is not contained in lagos, i can bet you before you can say jack robinson it's going to be everywhere in nigeria. >> reporter: all ports of entry are on red alert, and they've stepped up screening for incoming passengers.

>> if there is any suspicious passenger, the passenger goes to this holding area which we are providing for further investigation and interrogation. after which if it is established, we have a quarantine area where the patient will be quarantined for necessary action. >> reporter: but lagos is one of the world's most crowded cities. many residents say medical care is not easily accessible. many others can't afford it. >> to be very frank, i think that we started our remedy or preventive measures rather a bit late. the ebola scare has been around for a while, and we are supposed to do much more than we are doing now. >> reporter: not just people in lagos, but health officials all over the world are hoping nigeria is not too late to head off a possible epidemic. jonathan mann, cnn.

>> we will, of course, stay very much focused on this story in the days and weeks ahead. but still to come here on this cnn coverage, sentenced for crimes against humanity. >> yeah, a cambodian court hands down its ruling on two former top khmer rouge members. we're going to bring you all the details on this next. and a government offensive is intensifying in eastern ukraine as the military moves in on pro-russia separatists in the key city of donetsk. and people use their brains and brawn to rescue a man trapped between a train and a station platform. we'll give you all the information on this next. female announcer: sunday's your last chance to save big

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welcome back. well, it is a guilty verdict for two former senior leaders of the ousted khmer rouge regime in cambodia. a court in phnom penh comprised of local and international judges backed by the united nations handed down life sentences to chea and samphan. that was just a short time ago. listen. >> translator: finds the accused chea guilty of crimes against humanity, of extermination, encompassing murder, political persecution and other inhumane acts, surprising forced transfer, enforced disappearances and attacks

against human dignity committed within the territory of cambodia between 1975 and december 1977. >> nuon chea and samphan are the first and highest ranking regime leaders to face justice. khmer rouge leader pol pot died before he could be brought to the courts. the khmer rouge was, of course, responsible for one of the worst mass killings of the 20th century. under communist leader pol pot, they ruled cambodia from 1975 to 1979. most people know the name from the 1980s movie "the killing fields." now, the khmer rouge forced millions of people to work in labor camps. almost 2 million cambodians, about a quarter of the country's population, were killed or died from disease, malnutrition or overwork.

vietnamese forces finally removed the khmer rouge from power in 1979. now let's get you the latest information out of ukraine. the search for plane crash victims in the eastern part of the country has now been suspended. the dutch government says heavy fighting has made that recovery mission just too dangerous. it's not saying when searchers might return to the scene. of course, they're waiting for the fighting to calm down. all 298 people on board were killed when malaysia airlines flight 17 was shot out of the sky last month. so far 228 coffins with human remains have been sent to the netherlands. and it is a national day of mourning in australia which lost 38 people in that crash. ♪

this is just part of the memorial service at st. patrick's cathedral in melbourne. australia's top leaders attended along with grieving relatives. across the country flags flew at half-sta half-staff. meantime, back in eastern ukraine, the head of that dutch recovery mission says small arms fire came very close to investigators who were searching at the crash site. and our correspondents are telling us that there's constant shelling heard north of donetsk as ukrainian government forces continue to try and take back control of the city from pro-russia separatists. nick paton walsh has more from donetsk. >> reporter: the day after the violent night before and the scan of what may be ahead dawned on donetsk. this is what a bomb did when it didn't detonate. this when it did. we think here they were from a jet we heard. while nobody was killed near these garages, the hope the heaviest weapons wouldn't be used in this fight died. closer to the city center, one

man was killed here waiting for a tram. someone posting a parody of the ukrainian anthem. ukraine isn't dead yet, but it already smells, and we can see its end. just around the corner, another man died from shelling. places like here, the shells land. and while both sides blame the other for the loss of civilian lives, it's almost impossible in places like this, markets, homes all around that the fight for donetsk will happen without a lot of innocent ukrainians losing their lives. who fired these shells, separatists or ukrainians, was the question nobody could answer as they queued to get out late pensions. that's the interesting question, one woman says. they don't advertise who does it. it's hard to tell. in the city's center, too the remains of a night gun battle we heard. unclear who was fighting so hard to control this local government finance building.

the rare appearance from a separatist leader tried to bolster morale but did not explicitly appeal for russian military help. we're hearing now ukrainian army advancing every hour. we hear explosions in the town as we speak. how can you win without russian help? "we think we're holding out okay," he says. "for over 100 days, the entire war machine of a state has been crashing down on our young republic. if they lose part of the territory, they are defeated, and this is a huge victory. and we think we have this victory as ukrainian society doesn't want to fight." but outside in the blue, another ukrainian jet flew overhead. the sky is starting to fall in on this uprising. as the moment for russia to bail out the rebellion it started seems about to pass. nick paton walsh, cnn, donetsk. u.s. president barack obama says western sanctions are putting

enormous pressure on russia's economy. this after the russian president delivered his strongest response yet to those economic penalties over ukraine. as phil black reports, vladimir putin is banning many food and agricultural imports from countries imposing sanctions on russia. >> reporter: this move is classic russia. it is a standard play here. when moscow is in a dispute with another country to ban certain products from that country usually citing health concerns. but this is potentially much bigger. the decree bans or restricts imports of agricultural goods and farming materials from all countries that have signed up to sanctions against russia. so at the very least, you're talking about all the members of the european union, the united states, australia, canada, japan. but the language in this decree is important because it talks about certain products and materials, not all. and it talks about restrictions as well as bans. so what we don't know just yet is how big, how wide russia is retaliating here. and we won't know until the government announces its final

list of products and materials that are affected. the russian government agricultural watchdog tells us that it is the organization responsible for coming up with that list. and it's going to take a few days. but it believes certainly that fruit, vegetable, meat and dairy products will all be included. and that russia will now have to seek new imports from countries in south america or asia. and russia's ability to fill that gap left by the bans and restrictions is significant because if it doesn't do that, it means that russian customers could face shortages and even price rises. phil black, cnn, moscow. you've got to see this. it could be one of the funniest selfies you've ever seen. >> but a british photographer isn't laughing about it. find out who he's threatening with legal action. that is up next. ups is a global company, but most of our employees live in the same communities that we serve. people here know that our operations

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a commuter is fine in and out, but he did have a very close call trying to board a train. >> you've got to see this. dramatic images all caught on surveillance camera. >> reporter: the morning train rolls in as commuters wait to board. one of the last to step on is the man in the gray hat. but then he steps back. somehow his left leg drops down the impossibly small gap between the step and the platform, narrower than the width of his hand. he was stuck fast. >> someone just yelled out "a guy's leg's caught in the train." >> reporter: passengers inside were told to move to the far side of the train. still, it wouldn't budge. but then rail staff rallied a rescue. they asked the passengers to get out and push. it worked. hidden behind his helpers, the man finally pulls his leg free and rolls inside the train.

>> you didn't notice it very much. but it only took two pushes and he was out. >> reporter: the ill-fated traveler was helped out to ambulance officers but was remarkably unhurt. in the end, the train left just 15 minutes behind schedule, taking the volunteer rescue squad back to their day jobs. >> i think he was more embarrassed about the incident than hurt. so he kind of quickly ran out. >> reporter: no doubt next time he'll take some english advice and mind the gap. nick echols, 7 news. >> now, would you say this is a good representation of the australian spirit? >> it is. >> everyone get together and help out? >> truly. aussies all band together. look, there it is. an example. >> an impressive shot to see everybody push. teamwork. >> they're probably still talking about it when they head off to work. >> oh, yeah. guess what i did today. saved a man's life. a leg, at least. british nature photographer david slater was on a trip to indonesia. he's hoping to get the perfect picture of a black macaque.

>> and this is what he ended up with. yep. the only problem is, slater didn't take the picture. >> here's the interesting part. this monkey grabs his camera and took hundreds of shots including this fantastic gem. the first monkey selfie, is it? now slater's demanding that wikipedia remove this picture from its web page. >> but wikipedia says since the monkey took the picture, she is the copyright holder. slater is considering legal action. >> got good framing, good coloring, good personality. >> smile. >> interesting stuff there. we've got serious stuff in the world of weather. typhoon halong continues to be on track for major landfall in japan saturday. >> let's go back to our meteorologist alexandra steele who joins us now with more on that. alex. >> you know, it's the third super typhoon of 2014 in the western pacific. so a very active year. now, halong was a super typhoon. it is now a typhoon. it is down. but winds still

165-kilometer-per-hour sustained now. a minute sustained in the open water. also the wind gusts at 205. it is moving north-northeast and making a beeline for southern japan. but it's had quite a history. you see its westerly trajectory and then its north-northeast trajectory. again, now a typhoon. it is strengthening, though. but the biggest really fear with this will be when it makes landfall, its winds up to about 150 kilometers per hour. but flooding will be the biggest factor with this. and believe it or not, intensity, whether it's a super typhoon, a typhoon or a tropical storm, the intensity doesn't really -- isn't as big a factor as forward speed. forward momentum. so the problem with this thing, the slower it goes, the more flooding we'll see. and it will be exacerbated by the flooding we've already seen from a tropical storm three days ago. here's the look. again, it moves on shore and

kochi once again under the again. it became a tropical depression when it came to japan. but look what it did. now, you can see here it was tropical storm nakri, but making it the fourth wettest august ever on record for kochi. so the second wettest august there. sunday was the wettest august day ever on record. so the ground is saturated. we've seen an inundation of rain from the prior tropical storm. now comes, of course, this typhoon. and in the next 48 hours, the heaviest of rains stay south. but it, too, will make its way. and you can see where this bull's-eye will be, unfortunately. so an inundation of rain. more to come as this typhoon has a beeline for southern china in the next couple of days. >> alex, thanks very much. four weeks of airstrikes and shelling have left parts of gaza in ruins. >> up next, those who survive face the grim task of burying

the dead. also, inside the u.s. center for disease control's war room. dr. sanjay gupta tours the facility that's keeping track of the growing ebola outbreak. stay with us here on cnn. where the reward was that what if tnew car smelledit card and the freedom of the open road? a card that gave you that "i'm 16 and just got my first car" feeling. presenting the buypower card from capital one. redeem earnings toward part or even all of a new chevrolet, buick, gmc or cadillac - with no limits.

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welcome back. i'm rosemary church. >> and i'm errol barnett. the headlines. with the number of ebola cases spreading, the cdc has now issued a level 1 alert, that's their highest possible. the world health organization, meantime, says there are now 932 confirmed probable and suspected deaths from ebola in west africa. liberia has declared a state of emergency. a court in cambodia has handed down guilty verdicts for two former leaders of the khmer

rouge regime. nuon chea and samphan are now in their 80s but were sentenced to life in prison for crimes against humanity. at least 1.7 million people were killed during the khmer rouge regime between 1975 and 1979. the skies remain clear over gaza city with a 72-hour truce between israel and hamas now entering its third day. talks aimed at extending the cease-fire are set to resume in cairo today. an unnamed israeli official says israel is on board, but palestinian leaders say such talk is premature. well, secretary-general ban ki-moon says the u.n. is ready to help rebuild gaza, but he says it must be the last time. >> yeah, ban chaired a special meeting at the general assembly wednesday calling for an end to the cycle of violence between israel and the palestinians. listen.

>> the nightmare over the last four weeks has been a terrible reminder that only a negotiated political settlement can bring security and peace to israelis and palestinians alike. this cease-fire has come at a price that is almost too much to bear. the massive death and destruction in gaza have shocked and shamed the world. perhaps nothing symbolized more the horror that was unleashed on the people of gaza than the repeated shelling of u.n. facilities harboring civilians who had been explicitly told to seek a safe haven there. these attacks were outrageous, unacceptable and unjustifiable. the senseless cycle of suffering in gaza and the west bank as well as in israel must end. do we have to continue like this, build, destroy and build and destroy.

we will build again, but this must be the last time to rebuild. this must stop now. they must go back to negotiating table. we must not repeat this way. >> ban ki-moon there. meantime, in the southern gaza town of rafah on the border with egypt, families have been very busy over the past few days burying the dead. >> yeah, here martin savidge walks us through one cemetery filling up. >> reporter: there are many ways to measure the intensity of conflict. destruction, that's definitely one of them. and this is another. we are on the outskirts of rafah. this is the cemetery. we're only a couple hundred yards, maybe a couple hundred meters, from egypt. and let me show you. there's one, two, three and here makes four rows.

these are all relatively fresh graves. we're told that these were the graves dug in the first few days of the fighting down here. i'm told there are well over 100 people here. and you can tell that they were done so quickly that they didn't have time to do the burial properly. the headstones are just simple bricks. and in some cases they just try to record what they know about who was buried here. and maybe later families can figure it out and properly bury. but this isn't the only part i wanted to show you. the other part's just up here. this is the newest section of this cemetery. the city has actually been working to make this happen to bury the dead. so many of them and quickly in time with keeping with the muslim tradition. it's just finishing up here. this young man helping to care for these graves. these were actually yesterday. and then there's more over here.

these are the open graves, which is an indicator that they still expect many more bodies to be found. in fact, just this afternoon, a few minutes ago, we witnessed the burial of several people there. they actually died, the family says, over three weeks ago. early in the conflict. but their bodies were only found just today. this was how they take care of them. [ speaking foreign language ] >> reporter: this shows you that there's a lot more anticipated. this here, this is the next row over. and there's even one more row of that. and the man looking after the cemetery here pointed out each one of those graves is not for one body but for three. it's clear those taking care of the dead here have been very busy.

>> it is shocking and confronting, isn't it, when you see. this is the result of so many people dead. nearly 200 people killed in gaza. and of course hearing from ban ki-moon, the u.n. secretary-general, enough is enough. this has to stop. >> the death toll approaching 2,000. you rarely see the u.n. secretary-general get emotional with the way he speaks. seeing him the way we just saw at that special u.n. assembly kind of in a way says it all. we'll continue to track this throughout the days and weeks ahead. >> hopefully those talks in cairo, we'll see an extension of this cease-fire. >> one day left. one day left now. >> time is fast running out. want to get you the latest information on the ebola virus. the spread of it now has prompted the u.s. centers for disease control and prevention to issue its highest possible alert. >> yeah, the cdc director calls the current ebola outbreak the biggest and most complex in history. dr. tom frieden says it can be

stopped, but it will take many months and won't be easy. >> now, we have an update for you here in the u.s. a patient who traveled to west africa and was hospitalized in new york with suspected ebola symptoms tested negative for the virus. you can almost hear a massive sigh of relief in the new york area on that news. and those you two u.s. medical workers in atlanta each received an experimental drug, you may remember. >> yeah, it isn't clear right now if the drug is effective. and there's a very limited supply. u.s. president barack obama is downplaying hopes it can be used to contain the outbreak. take a listen. >> i think we've got to let the science guide us. you know, i don't think all the information's in on whether this drug is helpful. what we do know is that the ebola virus, both currently and in the past, is controllable if you have a strong public health

infrastructure in place. >> so what does it mean that the cdc has moved to the highest alert level? well, essentially it just means all hands on deck to deal with this still-spreading virus. >> right. and chief medical correspondent dr. sanjay gupta visited the cdc facility charged with responding to the outbreak. take a look. >> reporter: this is the cdc's emergency operations center. think of it as the nerve center of its response to the ebola outbreak. just a few minutes after i walked in, phones and blackberrys started buzzing everywhere. while we were here, the activation level just went up to level 1. just in the last couple minutes. what does that mean? >> what that means is just more people and more resources dedicated to the response. >> reporter: in that room, you could feel a quiet determination and a sense of urgency. let me give you a little bit of an idea of how this all works. what you're looking at is what the cdc looks at, a map of the

world, trying to figure out what infectious diseases are happening and where they're happening. as you might imagine, a lot of focus on ebola right now. they're tracking that as well realtime. they've been doing it since march. take a look in here. this really jumped out at me. mid-may, they thought things were basically under control. but then look what happens at the beginning of june. everything takes off. this is on its way to becoming the worst ebola outbreak in history. >> this is our emergency operations center, or eoc, as we call it. >> reporter: dr. stephan monroe is helping lead the cdc's ebola response. not an easy task at all. was there mistakes made? is there a reason why this outbreak is worse than any other outbreak in history? >> the initial event, the lightning strike, if you will, was right in this corner between three countries in a very remote part of each of those countries. and so it quickly spread across the borders. >> reporter: many more resources are needed. and some of it is on the way. the cdc is sending 50 more people to the region in the next month. dr. meredith dixon just returned from two tours in the remote

part of guinea. where she was trying to help control the outbreak. >> one day we were removed from that area because there were rumors that a group of young men would be coming to destroy the treatment center because they wanted to destroy ebola. >> reporter: she says that situation never escalated. but it shows the kind of hurdles and confusion the health workers face there. here in the united states, a different sort of confusion. different questions. for example, if ebola is not airborne, then why were there such extraordinary precautions taken for dr. kent brantley and miss wrightbol? turns out it was an abundance of caution rather than a necessity. >> we're pretty confident that any large hospital could handle an ebola case if one were to show up at their doorstep, using traditional isolation rooms with negative pressure room and with traditional droplet and respiratory precautions. >> reporter: and while i suited up in multiple layers when i was in guinea just earlier this year --

>> worn by health care workers when they come into contact with patients. >> reporter: the cdc says a mask, goggles, face shield, protective gown and gloves can provide all the protection you need for most situations. dr. sanjay gupta, cnn, reporting. >> and you you'll want to keep track of this ever-growing epidemic or this ebola outbreak. and if you're away from the television, you can keep track of things on our website. >> yeah. just go to cnn.com for news and videos. and do give us your comments on this growing crisis. we want to hear from you. still to come this hour, the murder trial for south african athlete oscar pistorius is set to resume very soon. >> yeah. both sides are preparing to give their closing arguments. we will head to pretoria for the latest. and a milestone for space exploration. we'll tell you about the big occasion just ahead. when folks think about what they get from alaska,

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welcome back. closing arguments in the murder trial of south african athlete oscar pistorius are set to begin in the next hour. in fact, the next few minutes we expect pistorius to arrive at the courthouse in pretoria. then the prosecution will go first followed by the defense. each side is expected to take about a day to sum up its case. pistorius, you may remember, is

accused of premeditated murder in the death of his girlfriend. our roby robyn curnow reports. >> reporter: an emotional pistorius took the stand along with 40 other witnesses. neighbors who say they heard a woman scream. >> my lady woke up from a woman's terrible screams. >> it was clear that this person's life was in danger. >> reporter: the defense called other neighbors who say they never heard a woman's voice the night pistorius shot and killed his girl friend, reeva steenkamp. they say it was pistorius screaming that night. >> loud crying and not a woman screaming. >> it's not surprising that we've heard from so many witnesses apparently contradicting each other. we heard on day one that this was a circumstantial case.

in other words, no direct evidence conclusively proving either version. >> reporter: pistorius says the four shots boo the bathroom door were a tragic mistake. that he thought an intruder was in his home. but the state trying to prove it was nothing less tan murder. >> you killed a person. that's what you did, isn't it? >> i made a mistake. >> you killed reeva steen vamp. that's what you did. >> reporter: 18 months after the valentine's day shooting, this trial is now coming to an end. the state will present their closing arguments for the judge on thursday followed by the defense on friday. then the judge will set a date for when she'll deliver her verdict. robyn curknow, cnn, johannesb g johannesburg. we are just minutes away from the start of closing arguments in the trial of oscar pistorius. cnn legal analyst kelly phelps joins us from outside the courthouse in pretoria. so kelly, we, at last, have reached this final phase of the

pistorius murder trial. what are the expectations here as we await the prosecution's summing up of the case first? >> reporter: well, this will actually be the first time throughout this trial that we hear one clear, coherent version of events from the state. the defense have played an open hand since bail. they've given the details of what their core argument is, but the state have been very closed about the exact precise details of what they are alleging happened. so it will be very interesting to hear particularly the state's closing argument today and finally see them draw all the pieces of the puzzle into one coherent narrative. >> how strong has the prosecution's arguments been, its case in this? >> reporter: i think the prosecution, just like the defense, were actually stronger in cross-examination than they were at putting their own case forward.

of course, the big difference between the two is that it is the state who has the burden of proof, not the defense. and the question that remains now will be whether the judge feels that the state have done enough in their vigorous cross-examination of defense witnesses to have met that burden of proof with the circumstantial evidence that they're working with. >> what about the court of public opinion? where does it stand? can you give us an idea of what's being said out there? >> reporter: i think the court of public opinion at the beg beginning of this trial was quite vehemently against pistorius. i do think that one of the positive side effects of having the trial broadcast, which is, of course, the first time that that's happened in south africa, has allowed people to engage more substantively with the evidence. and you're now seeing more of a split either way. >> of course, when you look at the defense here, how would you gauge their performance right throughout this? >> well, the defense doesn't

need to prove their case. they merely need to suggest some reasonable doubt. so we've seen them focus on core things that they think are important in unseating the state's case. for example, psychological evidence to add an air of plausiblity to pistorius's story, the evidence of reeva screaming, and then also importantly evidence of police mismanagement. and that goes to the fundamental burden of proof on the state's part because essentially what they're saying is, if you haven't even investigated all possible versions, how can you possibly say that your version is the only reasonable version? >> all right. cnn legal analyst kelly phelps out there in front of the courthouse in pretoria as we await first to hear the summing up of the prosecution. that will take the first day.

and then the following day on friday, we will hear from the defense. and then, of course, the judge will set a date at which she will offer her verdict. many thanks to you again, kelly. errol? >> there we're seeing that live picture as we await oscar pistorius arriving. when he gets there, we'll bring that to you. now to another case we're following closely. day two of the questioning of bowe bergdahl in the coming hours. the u.s. army sergeant spent five years in captivity before gaining his freedom in a controversial prisoner swap with his captors. you see the moment it took place there. the military is now conducting a probe into his disappearance back in june of 2009. for

the first time wednesday. some critics, though, including soldiers who served with him have accused him of desertion. it's accomplished a milestone in space. but the mission for the rosetta probe is far from over. >> as the spacecraft soldiers on, we'll hear from a former nasa astronaut after this.

♪ (train horn) vo: wherever our trains go, the economy comes to life. norfolk southern. one line, infinite possibilities. a milestone has been reached more than 400 million kilometers from earth. the space agency announced wednesday that its rosetta probe has made a rendezvous with a comet. check out these images. look at that. >> yeah, rosetta traveled for more than a decade in pursuit of this single comet. and despite the milestone, the

work is far from over. a short time ago i spoke with former u.s. astronaut leroy chao. >> this is a huge deal. it's something that's never been done before, and it's a big step. >> now, this is a single comet. i guess it's nicknamed torre, but what can we learn? what can this single thing flying out there in space teach us about our origins? >> the sensors and probes will be able to tell us more about what the composition is, especially in november after the lander is deployed, and we anticipate it will successfully land, and it will shoot a harpoon into the surface so it can anchor itself there and then make more measurements. and we'll learn a lot more about what it's like -- or what the composition of comets like this are like. so it's going to be huge from a scientific standpoint as well as from an operational standpoint. as you know, nasa is working on an asteroid retrieval mission,

and this certainly has relevance to that as well as follow-on missions once we get that asteroid into lunar space. >> now, i know this comet is described to have a neck, right, a connection between two other major parts of the comet. just by observing it, some scientists believe that could be water. but what would it mean if we do discover water on this comet or anything else? what does that teach us? >> well, as you know, water is the base -- the fundamental requirement for the existence of the possibility of life. and so not necessarily that there would be life on board the comet but the fact that we're finding more and more water in the universe is significant. and it indicates that there is more possibility of life elsewhere in the universe than maybe we previously thought. >> now, we're looking at some of the animations of what the comet's doing now. it's in this dance with the comet. and it will send a probe down, try and land on it, i guess, in november. but these things are important, some people say, because it inspires young people to want to participate in science and math and maybe even one day become an

astronaut. is it possible that a young person watching right now could dream to be an astronaut and make a trip to a comet? >> oh, there's no question. i mean, you know, i was inspired by the "apollo" program, and this is just as cool. the fact that we've rendezvoused with a comet and we're going to deploy a lander and actually land on this thing, that is huge. and so i can see it inspiring a lot of young people and hopefully a few of them will be encouraged to, you know, try a little harder and reach a little higher. >> great stuff there. it has been more than 20 years since a hurricane last made landfall in hawaii. >> i'm surprised it's been that long. it's all about to change now. let's bring back in meteorologist alexandra steele with more on a place that's usually calm and serene but not this weekend. >> no, absolutely not. and it's really a one, two punch. so let me show you the first punch. and the first punch certainly will be more severe. it's making more of a beeline

right toward the islands. and it's a little bit stronger. this is hurricane iselle. maximum sustained winds now are at 150-kilometer-per-hour, mind you, and 185 for the gusts. i want to show you there is the first, and here is the second. hurricane julio. and now this, winds are a little weaker. 140, not quite as organized. and its track will be a little bit farther north. the first one, why this is happening, why we have a hurricane warning for hilo, which is the first hurricane warning for the island since 1993. so what we're going to see, you can see it directly moving over the next 24 hours and then 48 hours out. so the biggest threats with this will be flooding, heavy rain, strong, gusty winds as well. and also, of course, high surf in excess of ten feet, potentially. all right. now, this is julio. and you can see where it goes. kind of takes a little bit nort.

what's most interesting with this, though, both of these storms coming in more or less right along here. the same line from the east. now, since 1959, only two storms that have come in from the east since '59, mind you, have made landfall. there's a few reasons why. water here is about 26 degrees celsius. the water is cooler. the air is drier. but coming in from the south, guys, those are much more damaging. but this may not be the case. we are going to see one of these storms, especially the first one, hit on saturday. then one behind it. >> wow. all right. that is tough for the people there. >> yeah. >> absolutely. all right. thanks, alex. >> you're welcome. >> and that's it for us. i'm rosemary church. >> and i'm errol barnett. thanks for being with us. we'll see you same time, same place. enjoy your thursday. the news continues here on cnn. e 17 manufacturers a day shut down in america.

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people in cambodia's khmer rouge are found guilty. we'll get news from the killing fields. closing arguments in the oscar pistorius murder trial are set to begin in 30 minutes. we'll bring you live coverage. and as the cease-fire holds between hamas and israel, our john vause digs deeper into claims that hamas launched rockets from residential areas. hello. welcome to our viewers