marie harf, the state department spokesperson. rie, thank you very much for joining us. >> thank you, wolf. >>> just ahead, a united nations shelter hit with a deadly strike as both sides trade the blame. our reporter was on the ground in gaza. we're going live there to see what is going on. also we'll get palestinian reaction, the chief negotiator. he will join us live, we'll get his take as far as a cease-fire is concerned. really... so our business can be on at&t's network for $175 dollars a month? yup. all five of you for $175. our clients need a lot of attention. there's unlimited talk and text. we're working deals all day. you get 10 gigabytes of data to share. what about expansion potential? add a line anytime for 15 bucks a month. low dues... great terms... let's close. introducing at&t mobile share value plans... ...with our best-ever pricing for business. purina dog chow light & healthy is a deliciously tender and crunchy kibble blend. with 20% fewer calories than purina dog chow. isn't it time you discovered the lighter

joining me now is deputy spokes person for the state department, marie harf, thanks for joining us on a very busy day. >> thank you. >> at this point, does the state department hold out any hope that the situation in ukraine can be resolved diplomatically? >> absolutely, alex. we have always said there's a diplomatic path forward if the russians are willing to take it. we've also always said that we will continue to impose increasing costs on russia if they don't deescalate. that's exactly what you saw us do today. we've imposed additional sanctions on huge sectors of the russian economy and energy and finance and arms. these firms want desperately to have access to the u.s. and eu financial sectors and that will increasingly be cut off. we'll keep imposing costs and sanctions have more of an impact the longer they are in place and president putin has a choice to make. will he take the diplomatic path forward? >> sanctions have not moved putin thus far. my question is, if these do not change his calculus on ukraine, what then? >> you've seen us over months now continue to ramp up the

joining us now from washington the states department spokeswoman marie harf. good news? bad news? what do you think about this 24-hour extension by the israeli security cabinet, marie? >> well, wolf, the secretary kerry remains in constant contact with the different partners here including with israel to see if we can get an extension here, but more importantly, to see if we can get this seven-day humanitarian cease-fire we've all been talking about for a few days here into place because that's really what we need, to have some time and space to both get some supplies and medicine to the civilians on the ground, but also, then, to hopefully negotiate a longer-term cease-fire to get where we need to be. >> but an additional 24 hours that just began a few minutes ago, going through sunday, that could presumably be extended further. so, i assume you would welcome at least this on the part of israel. we're going to get hamas reaction shortly, but this would be an initial gesture on the part of the israeli cabinet. i assume you welcome that, right? >> we do. and, look, things are happe

we're going to be speaking with marie harf later here in "the situation room."arbara starr at the pentagon, thanks very much. meanwhile, crash investigators complained today people they described as huna ticks and criminals continue to block their access to some off the wreckage. cnn's phil black is in the east certain ukrainian city of donet donetsk. you were at the site today. what was the scene like? >> reporter: wolf, it is an eerie scene because for much of the day it looks seemingly abandoned. there is no one there examining securing the site. there is no one maintain agon going operation to try to find remains, victims. the only people out there at the moment are the observers, some malaysian experts and today for the first time, some australian diplomats and a forensic expert, as well. they're traveling around in a convoy from one keel site to the next. and it's very much an assessment that they are doing. it is not an ongoing investigation it is not an ongoing search. the fact that this is not taking place, that no one is still taking responsibility for

> are you prepared to go further than you were yesterday and say that -- >> you're listening to marie harf speaking at the state department in washington, d.c. reiterating the condemnation of a shelling of a u.n. school in which 19 palestinians are killed. we know over 3,000 palestinians had been sheltering in that school after being told to leave their homes ahead of israeli strikes. we traded what we heard from the white house a little earlier on, a white house spokesman saying there wasn't much doubt about whose artillery was involved in the strike on the u.n. school. that's significant. we have u.the u.s. careful abou placing blame or mentions who they thought was responsible for the attack. here indirectly the usa not much doubt about whose artillery was involved. some of the strongest language yet from the u.s. with regards to that attack on the u.n. school. then, again, just speaking about the importance of unconditional and immediate ceasefire to deal with the desperate humanitarian situation there, marie harf citing the more than 200,000 more displayed and seeking shelter with the

for more let's go to marie harf the deputy spokeswoman for the state department. there's a lot of things happening right now. i want you the to help me sort this out. we've heard from secretary kerry that prime minister netanyahu has agreed to a 12-hour halt in the fighting as a down payment towards presumably something larger but then we're also hearing from a reporter with haaretz that israel's minister of defense is telling soldiers to be prepared for the possibility that israeli defense forces will be ordered to expand the gaza ground operation very soon. explain this to us. these seem like contradictory moves here. >> well, thanks for having me on today. i know there's a lot of news coming out of secretary kerry's conversations he's been having. i think right now what we're trying to determine is how to get as quickly as possible to a cease-fire. the secretary today talked about a humanitarian cease fire of seven days that would start in 48 hours. what he's going to be doing over the next 48 hours is talking with the qataris, with the turks, with other partne

arrangement isn't made and soon meanwhile at the state department today state department spokeswoman marie harf spoke about the amount of evidence that is piling up against russian backed separatists in ukraine describing which she is calling quote a pattern of behavior there is a preponderance of evidence at this point both sort of out there in the public domain and also from our information that points to the fact that there was a sale have been launched from separatist controlled territory we assess of course that the russian backed separatist have this system. and one of the main reasons we have called for a full investigation is so we can get all the facts out there is far from to say that she hopes russia will fully cooperate with the investigation but that now is the time for actions instead of words of support and she warned that the u.s. might take further action along with its european allies if something isn't done. in front of the white house meghan lopez r.t. russian president vladimir putin has been in the international spotlight since and since this incident took place last week

arrangement isn't made and soon meanwhile at the state department today state department spokeswoman marie harfspoke about the amount of evidence that is piling up against russian backed separatists in ukraine describing what she is calling quote a pattern of behavior or perhaps familiar with the briefing that the russian defense ministry gave this morning. in which they laid out. the satellite images or radar tracking images talking about a ukrainian fighter plane that was apparently near this the malaysian airlines plane. they also asked a question should a series of questions to you meaning the u.s. government to produce the documentation the evidence that secretary kerry basser power. but it didn't for any. forensic evidence or at least until evidence. how do you respond to that well a couple points you saw the secretary yesterday speak very clearly about our system and that this was an essay eleven fired from russian back separatists controlled territory. that we know we saw in social media afterwards we saw the videos we saw photos of the pro russian separatists bragging about shooting do

understanding that they have held the cease fire around the crash site state department spokeswoman marie harf also address russian allegations were guarding u.s. claims that american satellites show the plane was indeed shot down by a missile take a listen we've seen a history throughout this conflict of the russian government putting out just sheer propaganda false about what's happening we have a great deal of open source evidence and intelligence to back it up that supports what we believe to be true and we'll talk about that more in the coming thank you so lots of questions raised today regarding this incident and at this point we're just waiting for more details to emerge reporting and washington david our team in an emergency meeting of russia's security council president putin address the situation on the ground in ukraine parties maduna question of the looks at what was set. the president says that russia is a red sea a to ensure of small scale and transparent investigation into the m h seventeen crash in eastern ukraine the one that will be available to the international community an

understanding that they have held the cease fire around the crash site state department spokeswoman marie harf also address russian allegations were guarding u.s. claims that american satellites show the plane was indeed shot down by a missile take a listen we've seen a history throughout this conflict of the russian government putting out just sheer propaganda false about what's happening we have a great deal of open source evidence and intelligence to back it up that supports what we believe to be true and we'll talk about that more in the coming thank you so lots of questions raised today regarding this incident and at this point we're just waiting for more details to emerge reporting and washington david our team. senior u.s. intelligence officials say they have no evidence of direct russian government involvement in the shooting down of malaysia airlines flight seventeen now they say the passenger jet was likely felled by an essay eleven surface to air missile fired by russian backed separatists in eastern ukraine. that. russia created the conditions for the downing by arming the separati

. >> we reached out to marie harf to confirm what she said.as talking about the russian military firing artillery across the border into ukraine. this should not come as any surprise because in recent weeks there have been russian fighter jets who have been accused of the ukraine government of firing from the air, firing on their fighter jets, the ukrainian military fighter jets. remember, there were two of those su-25's brought down by either antiaircraft fire or firing from russian planes flying into the vicinity. so russian planes have acrossed into ukrainian air space in recent weeks. this is not the first time the russians have been accused of actually crossing the border, not only with weapons but also firing across the border. >> you're on point as almost always. seems to me what is different here is the pentagon and the state department now say the russian military is firing on the ukraine military, and if that is confirmed by state and pentagon, as it appears to be now, this is an escalation and a dramatic one. >> its an escalation an

marie harf told reporters -- speaking at the united nations, a high commissioner for human rights, navi pillay, said israel may have committed war crimes in its attacks against civilians in gaza and called for the request to lift the blockade. >> respect to the right for life or civilians, including children, should be a foremost consideration. not abiding by these principles may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity. the crippling effects of the israeli blockade and other measures linked to the israeli occupation of gaza suppress the ability of the people to go about their daily lives and prevent them from rebuilding their lives and communities after repeated military operations. i reiterate my numerous calls for this blockade to be lifted once and for all. >> she also condemned the rocket fire by palestinian militants into israel which has so far killed three israeli civilians. three more israeli soldiers were killed inside gaza wednesday. palestinian militants are claimed to have killed another eight israeli soldiers today which would bring the israeli military told to 40.

state department spokesperson marie harf said russia is escalating military aid to the rebels. >> newdence that they plan to deliver heavier and more powerful rocket launchers to the separatist forces with evidence that russia is firing artillery from within russia to attack ukrainian military positions. >> on friday that union joined the united states in imposing travel bans and freezes targeting russian officials. president obama hosted central american leaders at the white house on friday to discuss the influx of migrant children on the u.s.-mexico border. obama met with the presidents of guatemala, el salvador and honduras, the three home countries for the bulk of migrants fleeing violence and poverty. obama said he warned the three that those children without valid claims will be deported. >> we have to deter the influx of children and families putting themselves at great risk. i emphasize that within a legal and humanitarian framework and proper due process, children who do not have proper claims, families with children that do not have proper claims at some point will be subjec

marie harf had a press conference and was asked to rebut claims she probably hadn't heard yet, put forwarde russian government five days after the fact. i think the u.s. is actually being very wise to take its time and deliberate on the evidence and intelligence that it has. but, again, if they're saying they probably -- it was probably the separatists using russian-supplied material, look, as far as i'm concerned, nobody has seriously alleged that the separatists or russia intended to shoot down a commercial airliner out of the skies of ukraine. i mean, that would be the most idiotic thing the kremlin or people's republic of donetsk could have attempted to do. we have on record, social media backs it up, the separatists admitted. they shot down a few before including ukrainian helicopters. it wasn't in the separatists arrived at the crash site, saw 300 dead bodies, and malaysia airlines on the plane, that day screwed up. this was reflected in the intercepts of communications not just between the separatists and each other but the separatists and russian military intelligence saying, uh-oh

let's bringing in marie harf -- the deputy spokeswoman for the state department.re have been rounds of sanctions against russia that began in march. how will this new round that president obama announced with regret in this voice, how is this going to be any different and change putin's calculus at all? >> we've been very clear over many months we will continue to increase the pressure on russia if it does not take steps to de-escalate. >> they keep escalating. >> the longer sanctions are in place, the tougher and more impact they have. today you saw us put additional sanctions on three very key sectors of the russian economy, arms, finance and energy. these firms desperately want access to the u.s. financial sector and to the eu financial sector look, president putin has a choice to make. he can either further isolate his country and pay the consequences or he can de-escalate and move it in a different path forward here. so it is as the president said, really up to president putin make a decision here. >> i think he's made his decision. but on the subject of tryi

and we've got marie harf who is the spokeswoman for secretary of state john kerry and she'll be joining hamas spokesman who will be joining us. we'll get the hamas reaction and the israeli reaction and the u.s. reaction. a special two-hour "situation room." that's coming up right after the break. >>> now israel's fight with hamas goes back decades. world leaders have tried over and over to end the conflict and find a two-state solution between israel and the palestinians but what we're seeing playing out in gaza this past week shows just how far that prospect is away. cnn's michael holmes explains how we got here. >> reporter: question one, what are they fighting over. a sliver of land between the mediterranean sea and the jordan river about the size of maryland, roughly 10,000 square miles, but that land is some of the most sacred in the world for three religions. christianities, judaism, and islam. why is it so important to them? sacred sites for all three, for christians bethlehem the birthplace of jesus and jerusalem where he was crucified and rose to heaven. for muslims, the third

his spokeswoman, marie harf, called the attacks "shocking and disappointing." >> the hours all of use spent with the secretary in jerusalem and trying to get middle east peace, trying to work to protect security, that's why it's so disappointing is it's so at odds with reality and flies in the face of everything we have been trying to do. >> woodruff: during cease-fire negotiations, kerry had suggested hamas' demand to end the blockade of gaza be on the table, which set off the israeli criticism. >> ifill: at least 19 people were killed today in eastern ukraine, as new clashes flared between government forces and pro-russian separatists. much of the violence targeted areas in and around the rebel stronghold of donetsk. the fighting stopped international experts from reaching the malaysian airlines crash site for a fourth day. it's been two weeks since the plane went down. a ukrainian government spokesman warned the area is becoming more unsafe. >> ( translated ): at the crash site, terrorists set up new firing positions. they moved a lot of heavy artillery there and mined entrances t

marie harf, deputy spokesman for the state department and elise, thanks for the conversation today. >u. >>> crash investigators are having a hard time getting access to the area where malaysia airlines flight 17 came down. next up, i'm going to talk to an investigation expert about how these delays might be impacting the efforts to find answers. to pitch in for an industrial-sized smoker. before earning 1% cash back everywhere, every time. and 2% back at the grocery store. even before he got 3% back on gas. all with no hoops to jump through. norm used his bankamericard cash rewards credit card to enter the bbq masters invitational. where he smoked 40 pounds of ribs and the competition. that's the satisfaction of rewarding connections. apply online or at a bank of america near you. >>> i'm martin savidge, a pofblts are t possibility of a cease-fire to continue. a little over an hour when it is set to expire. talk this afternoon about the possibility of extending that cease-fire. the way it's looking right now, israel apparently is doing a poll of the members of the cabinet member, and

marie harf, thanks very much for joining us. >> thank you, wolf. >> still ahead, dramatic video of hamasitants launching a deadly tunnel attack on israeli forces, plus ukraine warning that land mines may have been laid at the malaysia flight 17 crash site. cnn made it there even though investigators could not. we're live in jerusalem. this is a "situation room" special report. but it can also lead to tooth decay and bad breath. that's why there's biotene. available as an oral rinse, toothpaste, spray or gel, biotene can provide soothing relief, and it helps keep your mouth healthy, too. remember, while your medication is doing you good, a dry mouth isn't. biotene -- for people who suffer from dry mouth. a dry mouth isn't. when folks think about wthey think salmon and energy. but the energy bp produces up here creates something else as well: jobs all over america. engineering and innovation jobs. advanced safety systems & technology. shipping and manufacturing. across the united states, bp supports more than a quarter million jobs. when we set up operation in one part of the country, peop

more today, fired by foreign minister sergey lavrov, taking aim at state department spokeswoman marie harfrussia is about to supply heavy antiaircraft weapons to the rebels and that russian forces had fired our tillery at ukrainian troops from inside russia. now, he called these "unsubstantiated fabrications streaming from kiev," he said, who is not shy to make up its own stories. but the pentagon said that heavy-caliber, multi-launch rocket systems could be transferred to the rebels as early as today. and there may also be a burger war to report soon. a russian consumer protection agency has, in fact, filed a lawsuit against mcdonald's in russia, believe it or not, claiming its nutritional information on its packaging of its cheeseburgers and its chicken burgers is false, and therefore, illegal. but mcdonald's told us earlier today it knows nothing about the claims and that everything at mcdonald's has been approved by russian authorities. so, it looks like the golden arches, an american icon, are now in the kremlin's crosshairs. back to you. >> our thanks to jim maceda. those reports of

the marie harf said it's ridiculous and offensive that any politics came into play, a decision on thebut senator cruz said he'll hold up any state department nominees until he gets answers. let's move on to another important issue which is the border crisis. a lot of republicans, the administration has been in a debate back and forth what to do. one republican relatively silent speaking up, jeb bush, former governor of florida, very prominent in this issue for years which is why his silence was so striking. he sides with conservatives, and the white house, saying most of these kids have to go home except for those deserving few who may demonstrate true cause for asylum or protection from sex trafficking these children must be returned to their home and he goes on to say this at the very end. have to read all the way to the end, he says now is the time for house republicans to demonstrate leadership on this issue. congress should not use the present crisis as answer accuse to defer comprehensive immigration reform. do you see any indication that speaker boehner is ready to bridge a bil