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MH17 Victims' Bodies Under Control of Pro-Russian Rebels; Former President Bill Clinton Discusses Palestinian-Israeli Conflict; Fighting Continues In Gaza; Typhoon Matmo Bears Down On Taiwan; Art of Movement: Buzz Aldrin On the Moon; Rory McIlroy Talks Winning British Open
Aired July 21, 2014 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MICHAEL HOLMES, HOST: Hello, everyone. I'm Michael Holmes at the CNN Center, and welcome to NEWS STREAM, where news and technology meet.
Another bloody day in the battle between Israel and Hamas - dozens of Palestinians killed in more air strikes and artillery fire.
The victims of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 were loaded onto this train, but who is taking them and where are they going?
And we'll hear the thoughts of former US president Bill Clinton on Ukraine and the fighting in the Middle East.
(MUSIC)
All right, let's start by bringing you up to date on the downed Malaysia jetliner in eastern Ukraine. 272 bodies have so far been
recovered, most of those retrieved victims on a train in Donetsk under the guard of pro-Russian rebels.
Dutch forensic experts inspected some of those bodies at the railway station earlier today. Now this same team from the Netherlands has now
arrived at the crash site. And the U.S. and Ukraine are pointing to Moscow's role in the crash. On Sunday, the top American diplomat John
Kerry said there was no shortage of evidence showing that pro-Russian rebels did, indeed, shoot down the plane.
The Ukrainian Prime Minister said a short time ago that it should be a, quote, "key priority of the world to stop Russia's aggression," unquote.
Plus, we have heard from a Ukrainian official that there is no fighting in the area between Donetsk airport and the city, some of it reportedly
fierce. We are going to have more on that a little later this hour.
All right, let's turn now to the still escalating conflict between Israel and militants in Gaza. Isarel says it is investigating claims from
Hamas that it has captured an Israeli soldier. It has been a bloody Monday in Gaza. Israeli air strikes reportedly killing another 30 Palestinians in
Khan Yunis and Rafaa (ph). The aerial bombardment now accompanied by ground fighting, of course, between Israeli troops and Hamas militants.
CNN's Ben Wedeman is in Gaza City, joins us now live with the latest.
Ben, the death toll still going up, the fighting continues. People being warned to leave by Israel. Are they? And if so where to?
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, at this point, Michael, the death toll is the latest figures 516 death, more than 3,400
wounded. And what people are finding is that there's really no where safe in Gaza.
We saw yesterday, for instance, in Shejaia camp being pummeled for hours and hours and hours. And it was only in the afternoon for a brief
period that the people still in that camp got a respite.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WEDEMAN (voice-over): For a brief moment -- every so brief -- the guns went silent in Shejaia. Just enough time to take away the dead and wounded
and for everyone else to leave. Or beg for help.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
WEDEMAN (on camera): When? When, his daughter?
(voice-over): "My son is in the house," Emida Helis (ph) tells me. "He's wounded! I called the Red Cross! I called for an ambulance, but no
one came? Can you help me?"
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
WEDEMAN: We would have gone to look, but...
"Go back! Go back!" shouts this man, who said a tank was about to open fire. Everybody ran.
A few blocks away, house after house battered by shelling. An ambulance blown to shreds. Another, its windows shattered. With the clock ticking,
it's time to get out as quickly as possible.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Very bad.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
WEDEMAN: "We went to get our things, but the Israeli soldiers fired at us," this woman tells me.
(SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
WEDEMAN (voice-over): I asked this man why he didn't leave his home after being warned by the Israelis. "Because we didn't expect it to be like
this," he responds.
(on camera): Clearly this is a shaky -- shaky cease-fire at best. Everybody's jumpy.
(voice-over): Even more jumpy when word spread that the cease-fire had collapsed. Fe people had much time to talk for long, though. Holding his
year-old daughter, Hala, Bassam bells me he's going to take his family to a nearby United Nations school, but a man tells him it's already full. So
many searching for safe ground where there isn't any.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WEDEMAN: And of course another thing, Michael, those people who were in the camp under shelling all night Saturday into Sunday, the problem is
if you've experienced shelling before that you're really torn between staying put and staying out of range of the artillery or just running away.
And running away can oftentimes end in death. So it's a hard choice for people in places like Shejaia.
HOLMES: Reality is of course with shelling you don't know where the next one is going to land, of course.
Ben, tell me, let's get some analysis here. Even if Hamas is hurt militarily, as surely it will be, will be again be in a situation where
Israel claims that military and tactical, if you like, victory, but Hamas claims the moral one inside Gaza, not in spite of, but because of the human
toll there?
WEDEMAN: I think this time around it's different, Michael. What we're seeing is that Hamas is putting up a much harder fight in terms of
dealing with the Israeli military. They are inflicting casualties on the Israelis, fatalities on the Israelis, so in a sense they'll be having a
double victory that, of course assuming that this thing will end relatively quickly, which I'm not sure at all about, but they will be able to say,
look, we bloodied the Israelis. And of course at the same time, yes, Israel inflicted a huge civilian death toll. Of course, according to the
Unietd Nations more than 70 percent of those who have been killed are, indeed, civilians.
So, Hamas at the moment, politically I can tell you speaking with people in Gaza, is riding high. And I don't know if the same can be said
for Prime Minister Netanyahu and the Israeli government on the other side of the border.
HOLMES: And Ben I suppose, you know, along that same line Hamas hasn't wrought much of an Israeli death toll, civilian anyway, but they've
certainly wrought disruption to daily life for Israelis psychologically in a way they haven't really before. Is that, too, to Hamas a success?
WEDEMAN: There's no question about it.
You know, in Israel they always talk about the bubble, the Tel Aviv bubble. Whereas people in Jerusalem do feel the tension.
In Tel Aviv it's the sort of place where people go and they feel like they're in a different country. It's relaxed, the beach, very liberal,
very secular and sort of removed from the conflict. The conflict, however, has now come to Tel Aviv. It's come to many of those Israeli cities which
were in a sense insulated from the situation in Gaza.
So, there again Hamas burst that bubble. They've bloodied the Israelis over the last few days. It's a whole different situation not
unlike, for instance, what Israel discovered in Lebanon with Hezbollah, which during the 2006 war Hezbollah also inflicted significant casualties
on the Israeli military, in a sense shattering a myth that had existed for many years -- Michael.
HOLMES: Ben Wedeman in Gaza, appreciate your reporting. As always, thanks, Ben.
Well, the U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry headed to Egypt today to push for a ceasefire. His conversation with an aid, though, was caught on
an open microphone on Sunday off air, but an open mic, as he discussed concern about the escalation in Gaza.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN KERRY, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: It's a hell of a pinpoint operation. It's a hell of a pinpoint operation.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right. It's escalating significantly. It just underscores the need for a ceasefire.
KERRY: We've got to get over there.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yep. Yep.
KERRY: Thank you, John.
I think, John, we ought to go tonight. I think it's crazy to be sitting around.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Well, efforts to negotiate an end to the fighting, of course, so far coming to nothing. Earlier, CNN's Wolf Blitzer spoke to the Israeli
prime minister about the situation, which Benjamin Netanyahu called insane.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: Some of your Cabinet ministers think the only way to do that is to reoccupy Gaza, which you evacuated from and gave it up back in 2005.
Do you support reoccupying Gaza?
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, PRIME MINISER OF ISRAEL: Well, I support taking whatever action is necessary to stop this insane situation.
Just imagine -- I mean, imagine what Israel is going through. Imagine that 75 percent of the U.S. population is under rocket fire and they have
to be in bomb shelters within 60 to 90 seconds. So, I'm not just talking about New York -- New York, Washington, Chicago, Detroit, San Francisco,
Miami, you name it.
That's impossible. You can't live like that. So I think we have to bring back, restore back a reasonable, sustained quiet and security. And we
will take whatever action is necessary to achieve that.
BLITZER: But that includes possibly reoccupying Gaza? Because a lot of your military planners are afraid of what they would call a quagmire, a
dangerous quagmire.
NETANYAHU: Nobody wants to go to excessive military plans, but what is happening here is excessive.
They're not only targeting our cities. They're deliberately firing thousands of rockets. They have already fired 2,000 rockets in the last few
days on our cities. You can imagine this. It's not only that. And they wanted to kill as many of our six million Israelis who are targeted as they
could.
They haven't succeeded not for lack of trying. It's because we have developed, with American help -- and I appreciate the help that President
Obama and the U.S. Congress have given us to develop these Iron Dome, fantastic systems.
But some of the missiles perforate. And they hit our schools. So we have to stop that. But, in addition to the rockets, they have got now
terror tunnels that they build in Palestinian homes in Gaza. They penetrate underground into Israeli territory.
Terrorists pop up there, try to murder civilians, kidnap Israelis, as they did with Gilad Shalit. So we're taking action right now to neutralize
those tunnels. And we will continue the action as long as is necessary.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: And the prime minister also said that he is sad for every civilian casualty of this fighting, but he accuses as he has all along
Hamas of being behind those deaths, using civilians as human shields as he says.
Now, more than 500 Palestinians we heard Ben Wedeman tell us have been killed in the Gaza conflict so far, more than 3,000 wounded.
Well, we've covered what is happening in Gaza. A little later in the program, we're going to check in on the view from the Israeli side of the
border.
Also, a closeup look at MH17's crash site in eastern Ukraine. We'll see the painstaking work that search teams are trying to conduct under the
watchful eye of pro-Russia separatists.
Also, former U.S. President Bill Clinton weighing in on the downed plane. And a range of hot topics. More on that later on News Stream.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: A team of Dutch forensic experts has arrived at the crash site of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in eastern Ukraine where of course
those armed separatists are keeping a very close eye on the search operation when they're not interfering with it. Earlier, the team from the
Netherlands traveled to the Torez railway station, that's where the bodies of many of the recovered passengers have been stored in train cars since
the plane went down four days ago.
CNN's Phil Black has been on the ground in eastern Ukraine tracking the latest developments in this recovery. He filed a report a short time
ago.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PHIL BLACK, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Fire touched everything here -- MH17's wings, engines, much of its fuselage and the people on
board. These men are searching by hand for what remains of those victims. It is slow, difficult work.
In other places, some progress, bodies left lying in the open for two days have now been recovered. But dozens are still missing.
This is supposed to be a solution, bus loads of coal miners. Still grimy from an underground shift, they're ordered to fan out through tall
wheat and grass. Some hold a line, most don't. It's not precise or thorough, it's an improvised attempt to death with a desperately under
resourced and unqualified disaster response.
These men tell me they want to help. They don't believe pro-Russian militants shot down the aircraft.
The rebel gunmen are also here watching, not searching.
It is emergency workers who answer to the central government in Ukraine who are handling the cleanup here. But there can no doubt about
who is really in charge.
The victims' bodies fell across a wide area and not only in fields. A 10 minute drive from the main crash site, Eina Tiponova (ph) shows me where
a naked woman smashed through the roof and into her kitchen. She says the body lay here for more than 24 hours before it was collected.
We meet others in this village who are still traumatized by what they saw.
Marissa (ph) tells me she saw people fall, including a boy. She says it was like a horror movie.
In a nearby sunflower field we find what's left of MH17's cockpit and emergency workers cutting through its twisted instrumentation.
Across the crash zone, there's no effort to secure wreckage or preserve it as it was when it fell from the sky. No one is cataloging the
debris field, or the passengers' belongings spread across it.
When qualified investigators eventually get here, they will find the evidence significantly altered and the opportunity to prove how 298 people
died may have already been lost.
Phil Black, CNN, near Grabove, eastern Ukraine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Absolute tragedy. That wreckage and the remains of the 298 people on board flight MH17 cover an area stretching across 34 square
kilometers. You're looking there at satellite imagery of the site. It is a remote area of eastern Ukraine, not all that far, as we've been
reporting, from the Russian border.
You can see debris from the downed aircraft in the pictures shown there. Busloads of volunteers from nearby coal mines have been among the
teams fanning out across the wheat fields filled with remains and what is left of that aircraft.
Still to come, former U.S. President Bill Clinton weighs in on whether it is time for peace in the Middle East and how that might actually come
about.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILL CLINTON, 42ND PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I don't see it, but I feel that it could happen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: More details on that and his views on some other major issues when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Former U.S. President Bill Clinton traveling through Asia with the Clinton Foundation, the charity he started after he left the White
House back in 2001. His trip taking him to India, Vietnam, Papua New Guinea and Indonesia. And that is where where he spoke with CNN's Anna
Coren who joins us now from Jakarta.
A long and fascinating conversation across a range of issues, Anna.
ANNA COREN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, absolutely right, Michael.
It's always a pleasure when you get to spend time with the most charismatic person in the world. But certainly extremely knowledgeable,
has his finger on the pulse. You know, we discussed a range of issues -- obviously his charity. You mentioned the Clinton Foundation, which does
some amazing work here in southeast Asia. He is currently visiting those projects on his way to Australia where he'll attend the AIDS conference,
which some of the researchers who were due to attend that died aboard MH17.
We also spoke about global issues, namely the Middle East peace process and the -- or the, I should say the conflict underway in Gaza, the
ground offensive at the moment. This is a subject that is very close to his heart considering he tried very hard to establish a peace agreement
between the Israelis and Palestinians while he was in office however failed.
But let's have a listen to what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLINTON: I hope that this will lead to everybody doing a little soul searching and trying to get back to the baseline issue of a peace
agreement.
Now with Hamas involved, it raises a different issue, which is that there is no way the Israelis are going to give up the West Bank and agree
to a state unless Hamas agrees to give up violence and recognize Israel's right to exist. They won't do it. And that's sort of a nonstarter. And I
think it should be. That is, I think -- you can't just have a one-way peace, you've got to have both sides that have got to give up what the
other side most objects to.
COREN: Do you see that happening any time soon?
CLINTON: I don't see it, but I feel that it could happen. I know that Prime Minister Netanyahu could make a peace that a majority of the
Israelis would support. They have said over and over again if he says that this is good for their security they would support it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COREN: President Clinton has said that it is up to the Israelis to find a peace agreement with the Palestinians. And, you know, he believes
that this is possible if there is a shift in the way that people think. He doesn't necessarily think it's something that's going to happen any time
soon, but he certainly is hopeful, Michael.
HOLMES: Certainly nobody holding their breath there.
Now Anna, among the other issues, I suppose every question that goes to a Clinton concerns Hillary 2016. I presume that came up.
COREN: It did come up. I was hoping to get the scoop, Michael. Sadly, that did not happen.
We tried. We pushed. However, he remained tight lipped.
He actually said that Hillary hasn't made a decision as yet, that she's enjoying this break, although since resigning as secretary of state
she's been extremely busy, as we know, writing her memoirs in a very long book.
But, yeah, we asked him that question and this is what he had to say.
HOLMES: Yeah, I don't think we got that one, Anna. But, yeah, I empathize with you. Everybody who has asked any Clinton about 2016 gets
the same answer. They'll let us know when they decide.
COREN: Absolutely.
HOLMES: Anna, good to see you. Anna Coren there in Jakarta.
COREN: But I must say...
HOLMES: Go on.
COREN: I was going to say -- sorry, Michael, love live television, that he's -- I got the sense from him that he would like his wife to run.
He said that he supports her no matter what she wants to do, but he -- I really got the feeling that he would like her to run in 2016. Of course,
they would be making history, she being the first female president of the United States and they being the first husband and wife team to run the
free world.
So, I guess it would be a waiting game until she makes that official announcement, but either way he will be there by her side, Michael.
HOLMES: I think my smart money is on a yes. But we will have to wait and see.
Anna, thanks so much. Anna Coren there in Jakarta.
COREN: Thank you.
HOLMES: All right, you're watching News Stream. Still to come here on the program, fighting between Israeli troops and Hamas continues, of
course. The death toll rising for Palestinians above 500. We're going to have an update from the Israeli side of the border.
Also, more on our coverage of MH17 as accusations are traded over who was responsible for the crash. The Ukrainian prime minister with strong
words for Russia.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Welcome back everyone. I'm Michael Holmes at the CNN Center. You're watching News Stream. and these are your world headlines.
Israel's aerial and ground bombardment of Gaza shows no signs of easing. At least 30 more Palestinians reported to have been killed today,
many more wounded. Meanwhile, Hamas rockets continue to head towards Israel. The group claiming also that it has captured an Israeli soldier.
In eastern Ukraine, a team of Dutch forensic experts have now gained access to the crash site of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 that went down
four days ago now. Earlier, the team traveled to the Torez railway station where most of the bodies recovered have been stored in refrigerated rail
cars.
The UN nuclear agency, the IAEA, says Iran has completed the process of downgrading its enriched uranium. A deal between Iran and the world's
six leading powers, it was due to expire on Sunday, but over the weekend they agreed to another four months of talks. Iran has been curbing its
nuclear activity in exchange for relief from economic sanctions.
Libya is seeing some of the worst violence since the 2011 revolution that brought down Moammar Gadhafi's regime. Rival militias are battling
for control of Tripoli's international airport. Staff from the UN and other international groups temporarily evacuating. At least five people
have died in this fighting. But over the past week, many estimates put the death toll around 50.
Israeli airstrikes continue to hammer Gaza. They also pound from the ground. There has also been fierce fighting from the Hamas side of this
conflict.
CNN's Atika Shubert is on the Israeli-Gaza border, joins us now with the latest.
Almost seems surprising given the level of fighting inside Gaza, but those rockets keep on coming out.
ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The rockets keep on coming. In fact, one of them hit metropolitan Tel Aviv today. It's rare
that they actually do land in Tel Aviv. They're often intercepted by the Iron Dome anti-missile system, but they continue.
I'm on the main highway, you can probably see some of those tanks being transported. We've actually been blocked from going closer in to the
border so far, so this is the main highway that goes along the Gaza-Israel border. And we're seeing quite a bit of heavy weaponry being brought down
this road as it comes by.
But what we've been seeing, not only are the rocket attacks, but also a number of infiltrations, the fact earlier this morning two infiltrations
right in this area by Hamas militants according to Israel Defense Forces, they say 10 militants were killed there, apparently an air strike on one
squad. But they spent a few more hours actually looking for a second squad of militants in that area.
These are militants that are able to use tunnels to go under the border and pop up behind Israeli lines in this case very close to a
Kibbutz. So this for the Israel troops is a new thing that they now have to deal with. And this is exactly why they've been focusing a lot of the
offensive on dismantling the tunnel network, Michael.
HOLMES: And I suppose, you know, is there any sign at the moment that Israel might consider scaling back or coming to some sort of peace
arrangement? There doesn't seem to be much motivation for it at the moment.
SHUBERT: No. The short answer to that is no. If anything, it seems as though the IDF wants to hit harder. I mean, you have to consider that
there's been a tremendous loss to Israeli forces. 13 soldiers killed in 24 hours. That's what happened yesterday. And we do believe that death toll
is likely to rise after the fierce fighting we witnessed earlier this morning. And that is a large number. Israel hasn't lost that many troops
in such a short time for many, many years.
Here we have another set of armored personnel carriers going by. This is the kind of environment that we're in now. We see these kinds of
equipment being trucked back and forth across the border here.
Essentially, what it means is that the Israeli defense force is now going to be even more committed to going into Gaza. And unfortunately that
is likely to mean more hand to hand combat, hitting harder in these areas. And that will, off course, impact civilians in Gaza.
HOLMES: As it always does.
Appreciate it, Atika. Good to have you there. Atika Shubert on the spot there on the Israeli side of the border.
Well, civilians, as we've been reporting, continue to run for their lives in Gaza, a desperate rush to find any safe corridor from this
violence. CNN's Karl Penhaul was there as people fled.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Fleeing for their lives. Few belongings, just the clothes on their backs as they go, Israeli bombs
blast their neighborhood. This man says he had to abandon his own mother.
SAMEH GREGA, RESIDENT: She refused to leave our home. She asked me to leave.
PENHAUL (on camera): Since first light, thousands of people have been streaming down this street, one of the roads that the Israelis in a
pamphlet drop told civilians they could transit safely along without fear of being bombed, but as they walk we're hearing explosions all around.
(voice-over): Israeli tanks, artillery and planes pounded Eastern Gaza throughout the night. But Hamas militants were fighting back. As human tide
just trying to cling to life. On foot, in cars, on donkey carts, anyway, just out. "They're just hitting us, hitting and hitting" he says.
(on camera): And when they leave, where do they come to? Well, one of the United Nations schools that has been opened to shelter the displaced
people. I just talked to United Nations' official, he has no time to speak on camera, but he said this is a critical situation.
(voice-over): Overflowing but a safe haven for now at least at Gaza's main hospital, no more space for the wounded, no choice except to transfer
the bleeding and dying to other clinics. Others may still be lying in the combat zone.
NASSAR EL TATAR, DOCTOR: Many people are still underground. You see, those people, we couldn't arrive with those people and extract them so
surely from those people are dead people, injured people and those who might die if we didn't something very urgent.
PENHAUL: For those who didn't make it, a resting place on the blood- soaked floor of the morgue. No need to understand Arabic to understand this
man's pain. He says he saw a missile slam into his brother and mother. No time for a full autopsy, no time except to announce time of death.
Karl Penhall, CNN, Gaza.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Well back to other news we're following this hour.
The investigation into flight MH17 that sent down over Eastern Ukraine four days ago now. We heard from Ukraine's prime minister today over he
believes is at fault for this disaster. He was clear on one point especially, Moscow should be the one shouldering the blame.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ARSENIY YATSENYUK, UKRAINIAN PRIME MINISTER: I don't care about not rebels, but these Russian-led guerrillas. They are not rebels. I expect
nothing from the Russian government. What they can do, they can supply weapons, they can send well trained agents, they can support these
guerrillas, but they have to stop.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: All right, more now on reports of violence at Donetsk Airport. Ukraine telling CNN that the government now has full control of
the airport in Donetsk and the road leading up to it, pretty crucial development there.
For the latest, let's go right to Ukraine. CNN's Kyung Lah joining us from Kiev.
And, you know, this is quite extraordinary, really, the rebels have held that city of months now. What is this? Is this a big push by Kiev to
retake Donetsk?
KYUNG LAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Certainly it appears to be so. What they have been focusing on are the checkpoints, Michael. And
it's really trying to sort of chip away at that. And what we're seeing is a back and forth of that between the rebels and the pro-Russian rebels and
the Ukrainian government.
So both sides here really trying to make a stand. But caught in the middle of all of this are the people, the victims of this plane crash.
What we're seeing is the continued recovery of these bodies.
We've just gotten some new figures from the government, 282 bodies now have been recovered from the crash site, 251 of them are in refrigerated
train cars that we are hearing from the Ukrainian prime minister, which are stuck. They're not moving. And the reason why is that pro-Russian rebels
are preventing those trains from leaving the area.
The goal is to try to get those bodies to a Ukrainian held area and then move them up to Amsterdam. But because the bodies aren't moving, this
is really leading to some international outrage, Michael. We're hearing from families from Amsterdam to Malaysia begging them via the international
media, the rebels that is, to release these bodies to allow them to come home -- Michael.
HOLMES: That seems almost extraordinary. I mean, the lack of humanity being demonstrated out there at the crash site. I mean, what sort
of level of concern are you hearing from Ukrainian authorities and anyone else involved from the outside on the disruption to the debris field and
whatever evidence may still exist there undisturbed? There can't be much.
LAH: There is a very large concern about what's happening with this crime scene. Whether you're listening to the Australian prime minister,
the independent investigators, the United States government, you're all hearing the same thing what's happening at this crash scene? There are
reports that jewelry is being stole from people's fingers, from victims' fingers, that the black boxes have been moved by rebels and are now in
rebel control.
So, how are you supposed to do an investigation if you don't even have the evidence there to begin with? So, there is a very large concern about
what's going to happen to the evidence, how they're going to get to the bottom of this and then that humanity that you're talking about. You know,
these families begging, begging the rebels to release the bodies that they need to have some sort of humanity just so they can bury their relatives
who were on holiday, many of them on holiday, and they simply got caught in this crisis.
HOLMES: Just horrible.
Kyung Lah, thanks so much there in Kiev. I appreciate it.
Well, the majority of the passengers, as we know, were Dutch. The royal family of the Netherlands has just paid their respects to the victims
and their families.
Our Saima Mohsin is there and joins us now live.
Saima, just tell us what's been happening there.
SAIMA MOHSIN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Michael.
Yes, Mark Rutte, the prime minister, was one of the first to arrive at this gathering. They're not calling this a memorial service. They're
saying this is a private gathering for the families, next of kin, or friends that they've managed to get in touch with. They said that they had
got in touch with and invited all of the people related to the 193 Dutch victims that were on board MH17.
Mark Rutte, the prime minister, as I say first to arrive. Shortly after that, the king and queen. King Willem-Alexander, Queen Maxima
arrived here to pay their respects to meet personally with all those people related to the passengers on board MH17.
Now King Willem and Queen Maxima actually on Friday signed a book of condolence at the ministry of justice and security. They also canceled a
planned royal photo. It's a traditional photo called -- that they have -- to mark the beginning of the summer holidays. They canceled that and
poignantly it is of course, as Kyung Lah pointed out, too, it was the summer holidays of many of the people on board MH17 were traveling for.
The family of six that are -- I went to their home town on Saturday. They were on holiday together, four young children, two young parents
traveling to Kuala Lumpur. So many stories like that -- Professor Joep Lange as well of course, a world renowned professor working on AIDS. He
was traveling to Australia via Kuala Lumpur.
Now we've seen a stready stream of people arriving here. If Alex, my cameraman, can zoom in we can show you, Michael, that this building, it's a
convention center, but I don't know if you can make out that there is actually a curtain there that's just behind that glass door and window.
That just shows you how much they want to try and respect the privacy of the people arriving.
I must point out to you, though, we are allowed to be here. We've been provided this area. There is a lot of media here, of course. We are
also trying to be respectful. We're not approaching them ourselves. If they want to, we've been told families will come and talk to us.
We're also expecting an announcement by the Dutch prime minister or a statement after they've met inside -- Michael.
HOLMES: All right, Saima, thanks so much. Saima Mohsin there in the Netherlands.
All right, just want to point out, too, that we're expecting the Russian defense minister Sergey Shoygu to speak soon about MH17. We will
bring that to you when it happens. Obviously crucial what the Russians are saying at the moment. Plenty of heat on Vladimir Putin's government.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: 45 years ago humankind made its giant leap in exploration, that was of course the mission to the moon. U.S. astronaut Neil Armstrong
taking that first step. And within moments Buzz Aldrin following him to the moon's surface.
Kristie Lu Stout now has this week's Art of Movement on the second man on the moon.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN F. KENNEDY, 35TH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal before this decade
is out of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the Earth.
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The challenge was set. And astronauts Neil Armstrong, Mike Collins and Buzz Aldrin were on
their way to making history.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Three, two, one, zero. All engines running.
Liftoff. We have a liftoff. 32 minutes past the hour.
LU STOUT: 45 years ago, Aldrin became the second man to ever set foot on the moon.
BUZZ ALDRIN, ASTRONAUT: I can't say I was destined. My mother was born Marian Moon in 1903, the year the Wright Brother's flew.
LU STOUT: Aldrin may not see it as a destiny, but the Apollo 11 mission made history by not only putting men on the moon, but by executing
one of the most strategic, dangerous and highly coordinated space missions ever.
ALDRIN: The most critical decision in the Apollo program was to use one Saturn V and do the rendezvous around the moon.
LU STOUT: But of course there's the moment that everyone remembers.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The eagle has landed.
LU STOUT: First, Neil Armstrong...
NEIL ARMSTRONG, ASTRONAUT: That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.
LU STOUT: Then Buzz Aldrin.
ALDRIN: So, I start back and I say I'm going to reach back and carefully close the hatch, being careful not to lock it on my way out. I
get down to the bottom. Now our procedure was to jump back up to convince ourselves that we could do that when we were fresh.
Now Neil had done that before, so I jumped up and I miss estimated what it took. So I didn't quite make the bottom step. So I had to go down
and jump again.
If you look at all the pictures that I have, there are smudge marks on my shins, that's the dust that Neil put on the bottom rung of the ladder.
I was fascinated by the boot prints, the precision of which that dust on the moon replicated the impression of the boot. Amazing, really.
LU STOUT: Aldrin's boot may have made an impression on the moon's surface, but the Apollo 11 mission has made a lasting impression on just
what a leap this really was for humankind.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Kristie Lu Stout there.
Coming up here on News Stream, fresh from his victory at the British Open Rory McIlroy reflects on the honor that brings and his expectations
for the future. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCAIL BREAK)
HOLMES: Welcome back.
We're hearing about another typhoon in the Pacific, extraordinary stuff. Mari Ramos got the details on all of that. Hey, Mari. What's
going on?
You know, Michael, we're just getting over of course one storm that moved across the Philippines, remember and then a super typhoon the same
storm, Rammasun that moved into China and Vietnam.
They're still cleaning up from the damage of that one storm, Rammasun, across parts of China. About two dozen killed in China and Vietnam
overall, pretty significant stuff because they had a lot of damage to buildings, even bigger buildings like that.
This is in the Philippines, because they've had some pretty nasty weather there as well, of course, as the storm was moving through.
And the flooding across parts of China has been significant, across Vietnam as well. That water starting to recede, just some lingering rain
showers now.
But here comes the next storm. The name is Matmo. And winds now 130 kilometers per hour, so it is a typhoon. That threshold is right at 120.
You can see that because of where the storm is located it enhances the monsoon across the Philippines.
So you guys have had a lot of rain from this already. And unfortunately more is on the way as the storm slowly begins to move away.
Your weather here in the Philippines will start to improve.
So even though you're not getting a direct hit from the storm, you are being influenced by the weather from the storm. And it is bringing you
some very heavy rain across that area, the threat for flooding and mudslides is still there.
I want to show you some of the rainfall totals expected. Even in Manila we could get maybe 100, 150 millimeters of additional rainfall
before the storm actually moves away.
So, yes, because the ground is already so saturated from Rammasun and other weather that you've had even before that, this is a big concern again
for flooding across these areas.
And then the storm will slowly move away and we think it's going to make a direct hit across Taiwan. There's a margin of error. It could go a
little farther to the south. And we're talking about the center here, or maybe farther to the north, but either way I expect some significant
rainfall here across Taiwan and of couse some very strong winds.
Sustained winds could be as high as 170, 175 kilometers per hour by the time it moves inland. And that is going to be a concern even though
buildings and structures for the most part are ready to receive this kind of weather. This is a very significant event. Look at winds there gusting
close to 150 kilometers per hour by Wednesday early morning.
So late Tuesday night, early Wednesday morning that's when we're expecting this storm to make landfall in Taiwan, maybe a little farther
north, maybe a little farther south. Taipei, you will also get more than tropical storm force winds. We're expecting typhoon force winds for Taipei
proper.
And then there is the rain. Michael, can you believe this, maybe as much as half a meter of rainfall in some places of Taiwan. That's nearly
two feet of rain happening in less than 48 hours. So very significant stuff and another very dangerous typhoon.
HOLMES: That is just a staggering amount. Of course that much rain is going to have consequences. Mari, keep an eye on it for us. Thanks.
Mari Ramos there.
Well, a six stroke lead that dwindled to two, not enough to dampen Rory McIlroy's elation over winning the 143rd British Open over the
weekend. It was great to watch, wasn't it? The 25-year-old from northern Ireland, he struggled in the final round, sort of at Holy -- Hoylake in
England finishing 1 under par for the day. Still it was enough to get the job done leaving Spain's Sergio Garcia and Rickie Fowler of the U.S. to
settle for a second place tie.
McIlroy now joins Jack Nicholas and Tiger Woods as the only players to complete three legs of the four of golf's grand slam before the age of 25.
Now earlier he sat down with CNN's Shane O'Donoghue to reflect on the highs and lows.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RORY MCILROY, 2014 BRITISH OPEN CHAMPION: I think every major win is different. You know, Congressional was you know maybe silencing some of
the doubters or battling some demons that I had in my own head. (inaudible) coming off a bit of a slump in form, but still having a good
year. And, you know, sort of it was almost not expected, but you know I felt like in 12, you know, the only thing my year needed was to win a major
and I did.
And this year in 2014 it's been a difficult 18 months at times since he start of 2013. And it obviously, you know, went in the (inaudible)
makes it all worthwhile.
But, it's, you know, it's a very special championship and obviously very honored to have won it.
SHANE O'DONOGHUE, CNN SPORTS CORRESPNDENT: Did you have a feeling taht you could do this, this year?
MCILROY: I did. I did. I felt like my game was in good shape. You know, I had the win earlier in the year, Wentworth. And I felt like my
game was just coming into form. You know, I just needed something to click. And luckily every sort of clicked this week.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: And well played to him.
Well, that is News Stream, but the news always continues here at CNN. World Business Today is next.
END
