happening right now, disaster in the sky, the jumbo jet brought down by a missile. nearly 300 on board. >> it's a very grim scene that we're seeing here. >> debris scattered across miles of countryside in ukraine. >> this is truly a grave situation. >> from europe to asia, shocked and devastated families. the world wants to know who did it and why. we're live with breaking new details just coming in. good friday morning to you. the malaysian plane crash is just one of two breaking stories we're following. >> that's right. in the middle east the first israeli soldier has been killed in action since the recent conflict erupted with hamas. it happened during an intense ground operation launched by the israeli military.

we'll go there live in just a moment. but first it's being described as an act of terror. a missile shooting down a malaysian passenger plane with nearly 300 people on board. >> the plane was blown from the sky near the ukraine/russia border 30,000 feet over disputed land. this morning both sides are pointing the blame at each other. abc's tahman bradley begins our coverage of the crash. good morning, tahman. >> reporter: good morning, reena. good morning, devin. the debris field is deep in territory held by pro-russian separatists complicating the work of investigators. this morning, the fbi and ntsb are headed to help investigate the malaysian airlines flight 17 disaster. along the debris path, the fuselage, human bodies, clothing, passports, all clues about what brought down the boeing 777. all 298 people including 3 infants were killed. >> when you see wreckage and people still strapped in their seats along a path of five, ten miles like we have here, it indicates the airplane most

definitely split up at higher altitude. >> reporter: u.s. officials say the working theory is that the plane was shot down by a surface-to-air missile. officials are still trying to determine who launched the missile and from where, but officials from around the world say the initial evidence is clear. >> not an action, blown out of the sky. >> this looks less like an accident than a crime. >> reporter: investigators are trying desperately to get to the crash scene, but it's controlled by pro-russian rebels who say they've recovered the plane's data and voice recorders and will send them to moscow. >> an international team must have full access to the crash site, and no one should interfere with the area or move any debris including the black box. >> reporter: the rebels and russia deny any involvement, but ukrainian officials claim they have evidence, two intercepted phone calls including this one. [ speaking a foreign language ] >> reporter: in which a separatist at the scene reportedly tells russian

military intelligence, "we have shot down a plane." at amsterdam's airport where the flight took off and in kuala lumpur where it was supposed to land, desperate family members are gathering. we are still awaiting word about whether there were any americans on board. the u.n. security council is holding an emergency meeting today. they want to know what happened, reena and devin. >> tahman, you mentioned that the pro-russia separatists claim they have the voice recorders and black boxes. is it possible they can alter them, and how much pressure do you think they will face to turn them over? >> reporter: a lot of pressure. there is worry about the integrity of the scene. it's a crime scene in a war zone. experts say the data can be altered but not without detection, and the other thing that everyone is worried about is the possibility this group may try to sell the black boxes, hold them for ransom, if you will. obviously they don't want to see that happen. >> abc's tahman bradley live in washington, thanks so much, tahman. and an eerie footnote to the tragedy. a dutch passenger posted a photo of the plane before takeoff on facebook along

with this message, "if it disappears, this is what it looks like." >> that's an obvious reference to another malaysia air jet, a boeing 777 sh, of course, which went missing back in march. friends confirmed that the man who posted that message died on board flight 17, which crashed yesterday. and then there was this family. they were supposed to board the doomed flight, but by twist of fate, they did not. the couple says they almost always fly malaysian airlines, and there was only one seat left on flight 17, so instead they switched to a later klm flight. >> very fortunate there. the first journalists arriving at the scene of the crash were met by pro-russian armed rebels who are controlling the area and searching for bodies. in fact, abc's freelance reporter john wendell got a look at the vast debris field. >> reporter: yeah, they're walking through these fields, and it's kind of high grass, and occasionally you'll catch part of the fuselage or one of the wheels. i was walking along, and somebody's flashlight fell upon

some children's playing cards that were kind of scattered. we found part of the tail fuselage here. there is a body next to it. you know, it's a very grim scene that we're seeing here. >> more reaction on the crash overnight from former secretary of state hillary clinton weighing in. >> clinton appeared on pbs telling charlie rose that she sees a growing awareness that pro-russian insurgents shot the plane down. >> if there is evidence pointing in that direction, the equipment had to have come from russia. what more, the russians may or may not have done, we don't know. the russians may or may not have done, we don't know. i read as -- >> clinton said european leaders should be outraged by russia's role in eastern ukraine and should follow the u.s. in imposing tighter sanctions on russia. victims of the crash were honored in australia. senators there holding a moment of silence. 27 australians were on the doomed flight. the australian foreign minister said if the plane was, indeed, shot down, it's an unspeakable crime.

>> and stay with abc news for the very latest on the crash investigation. we have another live report coming up in this half hour. abc will also have live team coverage coming up on "good morning america." and our other major developing story this morning, the crisis in the middle east escalating with israel's ground operation in gaza. >> abc's hamish macdonald joins us live on the phone right now from southern israel. hamish, thanks for being here. what is israel hoping to achieve with this operation that it couldn't with air strikes? >> reporter: well, its objectives are very clear, and what the military, the israeli military has said to us in the last few hours is that the operation that they've been conducting for the last ten days from the air and from the sea simply was not working. they were not destroying the infrastructure that hamas has. they were not destroying the underground tunnel network, and, therefore, the decision was taken to go in on the ground. a significant number of troops. a total of 64,000 reservists have been called up.

we're seeing many of them in evidence here on the border of gaza this morning, and there is ongoing heavy bombardment. >> hamish, we can hear the audio behind you. can you describe the activity right now in southern israel? is there any shelling or explosions? >> reporter: what we've been seeing over the last few hours is constant bursts of artillery fire coming in from the eastern edge of the gaza strip. big plumes of smoke rising up above gaza city. they seem to be targeting the -- the israelis seem to be targeting the east and northern edges of the gaza strip this morning, but clearly they are ready for more. we've just seen quite a number of tanks rolling in towards the border area, but a few hundred soldiers waiting in position ready to move in. it is a significant number of troops and tanks, and as the israelis are telling us, they're ready to expand this operation even further.

>> abc's hamish macdonald live for us in sderot. thank you so much, hamish. and, reena, you've spent time reporting from the region and you've been telling me that this ground operation is all about this network of tunnels from gaza to israel. >> that's right. in fact, i've gone inside some of the tunnels and the day i went, they were bringing in mercedes-benzs and chocolate bars and egypt no longer plays ball with hamas. they've shut down the tunnels on the egyptian side. and my big question is after all of this is over, the ground invasion, the rocketing back and forth, this will clearly weaken hamas. that's one of the tactics that the israelis are hoping to pull off, but will that lead to the rise of other, more extreme militants in the gaza strip like islamic jihad? we'll have to see. >> we will be closely following this all morning. but coming up next, fedex under fire now. the federal drug charges the shipping company faces. plus, also breaking overnight, a wildfire burns several homes and forces an entire town to evacuate. and we're following breaking news in ukraine. the passenger jet shot down by a missile.

those recovery efforts now under way. a live report in minutes. stay with us. in minutes. stay with us. connection to nature is a right

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breaking news overnight from the fire zone in washington. an entire town is now being evacuated in the central part of the state. a local hospital also evacuated. they're in the path of a fast-growing cluster of wildfires that's burned 28 square miles and destroyed 3 dozen homes. hundreds of other homes are threatened. also this scene from washington. a massive highway pileup, 24 cars and trucks involved. the drivers blindsided by thick smoke from nearby fires. and to the south, a body has now been located in the area charred by a wildfire in northern california allegedly started by a man growing marijuana.

on wall street, the markets are down as a result of the news from ukraine and the middle east. the dow dropped below the 17,000 mark thursday suffering its biggest one-day loss in more than two months. the s&p 500 and nasdaq falling, as well. investors were also disappointed by several corporate earnings reports and news from the housing market. and this morning fedex is facing drug trafficking charges. the justice department says the shipping company knowingly delivered prescription drugs from illegal internet pharmacies. prosecutors say fedex ignored warnings from government agencies. the company denies the charges. if found guilty, though, it could be fined billions of dollars. broadway will dim its lights tonight to honor comic actress elaine stritch. her career spanned more than 70 years and also included dramas, cabaret shows and tv. well into her 80s, she had a recurring role on "30 rock" playing alec baldwin's domineering mother. elaine stritch was 89 years old. we're following all the

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imagine, this is the big story. take a look at "the sun," one of the tabloids here in london, they're calling it "putin's missile." absolutely no hesitation in pointing the finger at russian president vladimir putin. "the guardian," "murder in the sky" and "the daily mirror," "slaughter at 33,000 feet." no one is calling this a catastrophe here. they're calling this an act of terrorism, and that certainly seems to be the theme. >> those headlines definitely not gray lines there. jeffrey, what do we know about the plane's black boxes this morning? >> reporter: so we know, or we are told that the russian separatists who are controlling that area of eastern ukraine have recovered one of them. there is a report they've recovered a second one. the concern is what's going to happen to the box. the bbc was saying this morning on its morning radio program that there are reports that the one box has already gone or is on its way to moscow. now, the problem, of course, with that is that it's the russians who are accused of supplying the russian separatists with the

ground-to-air missile that downed this plane, so the credibility of the investigation is very much potentially compromised by what's happening. >> and, jeffrey, we know you've been monitoring the developments at the scene. what do we know right now about what's taking place there? >> reporter: well, it's almost midday at the crash site on the russian border 50 kilometers, about 35 miles from the ukraine/russian border. we know that obviously rescue workers are combing the area, although rescue is perhaps not the correct word. there are no survivors. there are 298 people dead, so it's really a question of collecting the bodies. they've already collected more than a hundred bodies. we are told that it is such a vast crash site, that even coal miners who are off duty are helping. >> that's fascinating to hear. well, jeffrey, thank you so much, live in london, thank you. >> thanks, jeffrey. well, the images of that plane bursting into flames and wreckage with human remains have been so chilling.

>> but imagine what it was like for the villagers, the villagers who actually witnessed the disaster knowing in their hearts that nobody could have survived. abc's kirit radia has their story from moscow. >> reporter: that remote field of eastern ukraine a wasteland of fire and smoldering debris. just 25 miles from the russian border, the black plume rising high above the horizon. villagers looking on in disbelief. [ speaking a foreign language ] >> reporter: "an airplane, an airplane over there," they yell, the smoke creeping ominously above the roofs of houses. [ speaking a foreign language ] "what exploded over there," one asks as it billows higher. [ speaking a foreign language ] "there was fighting, and i heard shooting in the sky," this man says. "several shots and then some loud bang. i was scared. i looked up and saw fragments flying. "i knew it was an airplane right away," says this man. "it fell right over there. it curved and went that way." an eyewitness describing the screen to russian television.

>> translator: i personally saw malyasian passports scattered around the site of the crash. so far the area has not been sealed off. firemen have just arrived, and so far the debris is still smoking. >> reporter: that little village is in absolute shock. they've been through months of war, but nothing could have prepared them for the carnage they saw in that field today. kirit radia, abc news, moscow. >> stay with abc news as this story unfolds. the latest coming up on "good morning america" and always on abcnews.com. and still ahead, a meteor lighting up the night sky caught on camera on the east coast. also, is he back? tiger woods returns, but one of his shots was extra painful. we'll explain, coming up. much thought to the acidity in any foods. never thought about the coffee i was drinking having acids. it never dawned on me that it could hurt your teeth. my dentist has told me your enamel is wearing away, and that sounded really scary to me,

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dozens of people on the east coast think they saw a meteor last night. this video was shot near raleigh, north carolina. observers describe it as bright white, orange and green. people as far as the north and new jersey reportedly saw it coming. well, here's a caught on camera for you. a man breaking into a house in tennessee through a doggie door. the homeowner's surveillance camera -- take a look -- caught the intruder with a gun there first trying to unlock the door then climbing up through the hatch. the residents were asleep in the bedroom with their four large dogs. they woke up only when the man opened the back door to leave, and he set off an alarm. >> "a" for creativity, i guess. in pennsylvania a truck crash may have actually saved lives. trucks full of water were descending a steep hill when the brakes failed on the red one. the driver of the green truck then cut in front purposely causing the crash to slow the red truck down, but it didn't work out. the hero truck driver expected -- he actually

overturned, and the other truck just kept going. >> she just kept picking up speed, and when she hooked me right here, over we went. >> that was pretty brave. yep, he wasted his own truck to save her. she wouldn't have made it, nope. >> and the red truck finally landed in some brush crashing just 25 feet from a house, but that driver was okay. well, the tiger woods of old may be back. he's just three shots behind the leader this morning at the british open, but one of tiger's most notable moves came on the 17th hole where his tee shot -- look at that -- hit a course marshal in the face. >> ouch. >> ouch. the marshal was not seriously hurt, thankfully. tiger finished the first round with a 3 under 69. he's on his way back after a back injury there. >> yeah, he's sort of had a little bit of a bad stint, and it seems like the luck has returned. >> thankfully the ball hit the ground first before striking the marshal. that could be very painful. >> but looks like he wasn't too

hurt in that situation. >> all right. very nice. and continuing in sports news, talk about a mismatch at a tennis tournament in south america. dudi sela from israel is 5'9" tall. after losing to his 6'11" opponent from croatia, look at that, he had to get on a chair just to shake hands after his match. >> oh, i like that. and they're off to the races in southern california, and the thoroughbreds aren't the only ones drawing attention. it's also crazy hats that took center stage for opening day at del mar. the spectators showed up in their unique creations. check out the fancy flowers and the feathers. i could never rock a hat like that. >> very nice. they're going after the kentucky derby hats there trying to make something in california. >> i'm not really a hat person, though. >> nor i. not like that, for sure. >> well, "a" for creativity yet again. >> that's right. for some of you, your local news is next. >> for everyone else, we'll be back with an update on today's top stories. stay with us. >> and we've got a lot of different stories on multiple fronts this morning.

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live from the kgo-tv broadcast center this is abc7 news. >> good friday morning at 4:28. i know you like the sound of that? >> friday morning? >> yes. >> friday night is bet other sounding. >> leyla gulen is doing double duty and has the forecast. good morning, everyone. good friday morning. live doppler 7 hd shows we are waking up to fog and maybe some patchy drizzle across the bay area. a bit of a breeze, too. from the camera to the embarcadero the flags are unfurled and clear as we look to the bay bridge. it will be cloudy start to the morning and it will warm up over the weekend and it is going to be muggy and humid for the weekend. we have heat on the way. that will hit on wednesday.

i have the full seven-day outlook trait away. first we want to get to the serious accident that resulted in a fatality in san jose. northbound 101 we have a sig-alert so we have lanes blocked and emergency crews on the scene with an investigation. matt keller is headed to the scene with more details in a few minutes. we have this accident in oak land eastbound 580 at fruitvale avenue that does not appear to be causing slow downs but traffic is moving fine and our drive coming across the golden gate bridge this is a moist condition and it is drizzle around the coastal highways. more on the fatal accident northbound 101 in the south bay. matt keller is on the scene with the latest. matt? >> yes, the c.h.p. believes this

is a birthday celebration that turned deadly. a surviving victim, a young woman, turned 23 yesterday and another young woman died on the scene so this is now a crime scene. alcohol was a factor in the crash. first call was before 2:00 a.m. and c.h.p. says the vehicle was traveling northbound on 101 and exited on the express way, hit the curb too past and flipped into a ditch. two people were outside the vehicle when the c.h.p. arrived and three others were trapped. no one was wearing a seatbelt. firefighters arrived to rip-off the doors and take out the victims. throw men and a woman were taken to the hospital with moderate to major injuries and the coroner took the fail victim's body away. he is not identified but all occupants were around the same page, in their 20 and c.h.p. says they are sure they know who the driver is and are talking to the survivors at the hospital. possible charges could be d.u.i. and vehicular manslaughter. the investigation