Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Malaysia Flight 17's Black Box Might Be In Rebel Hands; Fighting In Gaza Gets Even More Brutal; Actor James Garner Dead At 86; High Jumper Alice Coachman Has Died

Aired July 20, 2014 - 15:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello again, everyone. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. These stories are topping our news this hour.

Crucial evidence the hands of pro-Russian rebels? The very group blamed for shooting down a Malaysian plane may have its hands on the flight recorders. The group's leader says he'll turn them over if they're confirmed to be the black boxes but can he be trusted?

U.S. secretary of state John Kerry is outraged at how rebels are controlling the crash site.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KERRY, SECRETARY OF STATE: We want the facts and the fact that the separatists are controlling this in a way that is preventing people from getting there even as the site is tampered with makes its own statement about culpability and responsibility.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: The deadliest day so far in the Middle East conflict. Israel says Hamas fighters lured Israeli tanks into a field with hidden bombs. Thirteen Israeli soldiers died and at least 87 Palestinians were killed today. Israel's prime minister calling Hamas fighters the worst kind of terrorists.

Plus, a tobacco company is told to pay billions to a woman whose husband died after smoking for years. How she was able to argue that he didn't know about the dangers of smoking.

Black box which is could provide answers to what happened when a Malaysia airlines plane was fired upon may be in the hands of the rebels who are accused of taking down the flight with 298 people on board. The leader of the pro-Russian rebels says he has technical devices that might be the black boxes. He said if experts determine the devices are indeed that flight recorders, they would be turned over do international investigators.

Reuters news agency distributed this video of what appears to be one of the flight recorders, the orange boxes, being recovered by a rescue worker. The video was shot Friday.

Also today, search teams have now found the remains of 233 of the 298 people on board flight 17. European observers say many of the bodies have been loaded on to refrigerated train cars at a station near the crash site.

British Prime Minister David Cameron expressed outrage today at the disorderly situation at the crash scene. He tweeted quote "I've just spoken to President Putin, I made clear he must ensure access to the crash site so the victims can have proper funerals."

Let's go straight to CNN's Phil Black at the crash site.

So Phil, if the rebels do have the black boxes, what is possibly happening to the boxes? And where are those train cars with the bodies being taken.

PHIL BLACK, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well firstly, those train cars at the moment they are somewhere locally still, still within areas that are controlled by the pro-Russian militants and the next step in that now is negotiating their release.

What the international government or the Ukrainian government wants to do is try and negotiate with the rebels to try and get those train cars to Ukrainian government control. And then, it is now or will now be the Dutch government that coordinates the efforts to identify those victims to ensure the right remains are returned to the right families.

When it comes to the flight data recorders and cockpit and voice recorders, they may now be, as you say, in the possession or be possessed by the rebel leadership. They say they have them here securely technicalized (ph). They say that might be what the whole world is wondering about. They said they are not going hand them over to the Ukrainian government. But when international experts get here, they will hand them over to be examined, but only then they say, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: And then today at the scene, what were you able to witness?

BLACK: What we have seen is a significant change, I think at the scene over the last 24 hours or so. Early yesterday it was still really quite a horrible scene with most of the bodies still laying out there in the open several days after they fell from the sky. Within the last 24 hours or so, it seems that most of those bodies that were lying, they openly have now been collected. And so, the search effort, the recovery effort to find the bodies of the remaining victims is now focused on areas that were really severely damaged by fire where there may be very little to look for. But also the wide surrounding area, fields, tall grass and wheat where other bodies that may have been flung further afield could be still waiting to be found.

So, something of an improvement in that sense. Also in the sense that the area itself is more secure than it was or has been for the last few days, but still not totally secure. There's still people wandering around. People able to access it and no doubt corrupt the site as well. And that will certainly be a concern for those who want a world's best practice forensic examination to begin as soon as possible, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, very complicated, indeed.

Thanks so much, Phil Black.

And the U.S. is demanding a full-fledged investigation into the shooting down of Malaysia airlines flight 17 and is calling on Russia to step up and join the U.S. in its demands.

CNN's Barbara Starr joins us from Washington.

So, Barbara, secretary of state John Kerry says there is quote, "an enormous amount of evidence that Russia bears great responsibility for the shoot down." What can you tell us about this?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well. Hi, Fred.

You know, the U.S. has been collecting intelligence literally since a few moments after this all happened looking at everything it has. Now some of the information being made public, the U.S. making the case that Russia bears very direct responsibility for this and laying out the case why.

Secretary of state John Kerry, revealing today for the first time, that there had been a deadly arsenal of Russian weaponry shipped into Ukraine. Have a listen to what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KERRY: There was a convoy about several weeks ago, about 150 vehicles with armed personnel carrier, multiple rocket launchers, tanks, artillery, all of which crossed over from Russia into the eastern part of Ukraine and was turned over to the separatists.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STARR: In that list included multiple rocket launchers, a clear indications of surface-to-air missile weaponry being turned over, coming across the border from Russia to the Ukrainian side of the border turned over to pro-Russian separatists.

When the U.S. began to look at its intelligence, what we now know from what Kerry and others have told us, is they found a couple of key pieces of evidence. They found that indeed when this happened a surface-to-air missile launcher had been turned on U.S. radar detected it. They also found it. There had been a large explosion in the sky. U.S. satellite saw the essentially, the heat signature of that explosion the sky. And today, we also have learned that the U.S. intelligence community was able to voice match, if you will, intercepts from Ukrainian separatists, pro-Russian separatists, claiming they shot down -- they thought they shot down a transport plane. And now, they have voice matched those recordings that appeared on social media to known separatists.

One of the most concerning pieces of evidence, one of the most direct links possibly to the Russia side of the border, the U.S. also says it has intelligence evidence there is a site just across the border in Russia where the separatists have been getting training in the surface-to-air missile systems -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, Barbara Starr, thanks so much for that information.

All right, still to the come, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sits down with CNN's Wolf Blitzer and calls for the demilitarization of Gaza. We'll have that discussion straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Bloodshed and death mounting in the Middle East.

Thirteen Israeli soldiers confirmed dead, caught in an ambush. At least 87 Palestinians killed, hundreds wounded near Gaza city. All of that today during a brief cease-fire. Those civilians caught in the cross hairs of the fighting could get medical attention and get out of harm's way. More than 400 Palestinians have died in the conflict along with 18 Israeli soldiers and two Israeli civilians.

Eighty one thousand Palestinians have fled the fighting to take refuge in U.N. schools in Gaza city. Israel says it has struck 2,300 terror targets in Gaza and found 13 tunnels used for weapons smuggling.

At a briefing with key officials today, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israeli soldiers have destroyed most of the Gaza tunnels. Netanyahu also received a phone call from President Obama expressing concern about the growing number of casualties and telling him secretary of state John Kerry will soon travel to Cairo to seek an end to the conflict.

The prime minister has been prepping Israelis for long days of fighting but he's also getting hard questions about the conflict with Hamas.

Earlier today, CNN's Wolf Blitzer sat down with the prime minister and asked about an exit strategy from the ground offensive in Gaza.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR, SITUATION ROOM: We're being seen now by viewers in the United States and around the world in more than 200 countries around the world right now. Quick question, your exit strategy from Gaza. What is it?

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: Sustainable quiet. I mean, we didn't seek this escalation, Hamas forced it on us. They started rocketing our cities, steadily increasing the fire. I called for de-escalation; they refused. I accepted an Egyptian cease-fire proposal backed up by the Arab league and the U.N.; they refused. I accepted a humanitarian law proposed by the United Nations; they refused. We'll stop our operations when we can bring back quiet to our people.

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? NETANYAHU: 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 reasonable, sustained quiet and security and we'll 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 lengths but what is happening here is excessive. They're not only targeting our cities but deliberately firing thousands of rockets. They're 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 progress because we've 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've gotten 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 Shahlead (ph). So we are taking action right now to neutralized those tunnels. And we will continue the action as long as it is necessary.

BLITZER: You see these painful pictures, though, these Palestinian children and these refugees, thousands of them fleeing their homes, it's a horrendous site what is going on if you look at the images, heart wrenching. What goes through your mind when you see that?

NETANYAHU: I'm very sad. When I see that I'm very sad. We're sad for every civilian casualty. They're not intended.

This is the difference between us. The Hamas deliberately targets civilians and deliberately hides behind civilians. They embed their racketeers, their rocket caches, their other weaponry from which they fire -- which they use to fire on us in civilian areas.

What choice do we have? We have to protect ourselves. We try to target the racketeers, we do. And all civilian casualties are unintended by us but actually intended by Hamas. They want to pile up as many civilian dead as they can because somebody said they use -- it's gruesome. They use telegenically (ph) dead Palestinians for their cause. They want the more dead the better. BLITZER: The argument your critics make is that you're overreacting

right now, overkill.

NETANYAHU: Well, look, I want to say this. I mean, there are very few examples in history of countries that have been rocketed on this scale. If you look at our response, it's actually very measured and trying to be as pinpointed as we can. But I think when people say that -- I appreciate the support we've received from President Obama and many world leaders for Israel's right to self-defense.

But others are saying, yes, you have to right of self-defense as long as you don't exercise it. What can a country do? What would you? What would the people of the United States do if your cities were rocketed now, 2,000 rockets falling on American cities? You know, people would say in the United States, as they're telling America, obliterate the people. We don't obliterate them. We don't have any battle with the Palestinians in Gaza.

BLITZER: But it is brutal there now.

NETANYAHU: It's very difficult because Hamas is using them, Palestinians, as human shields. We develop anti-missile systems to protect -- we use anti-missile systems to protect our civilians. They use their civilians to protect their missiles. That's the difference.

So, again, such a cynical, brutal, heartless enemy. We try to minimize civilian casualties. We try to target the military targets. And unfortunately, there are civilian casualties which we regret and we don't see. They all fall on the responsibility of Hamas.

BLITZER: And President Obama urged you the other day, all of the parties, to return to the cease-fire that was reached in November, 2012. Are you accepting his proposal? Go back to that cease-fire?

NETANYAHU: I already did. I already did.

BLITZER: If Hamas were to say to you right now "we accept the cease- fire," would Israel withdraw its forces from Gaza?

NETANYAHU: That was the Egyptian proposal which we send and they refused.

BLITZER: If they accepted now, is it too late?

NETANYAHU: I don't know. I don't want to speak about it being too late. I think the first thing is a cessation of hostilities.

BLITZER: Would Israel withdraw the forces as part of a cessation of hostilities?

NETANYAHU: First, we have to deal with this tunnel business. We're not leaving those tunnels.

BLITZER: So you would stay until those tunnels are destroyed?

NETANYAHU: We're doing that right now. WHITFIELD: How long is that going to take?

NETANYAHU: It's being done fairly quickly. But I think the important thing right now is not to begin put terms. I think the important thing is to end the hostilities and then get into a situation where we have a sustainable cease-fire. That means beginning to discuss the demilitarization of Gaza.

Gaza under all the previous agreements should have been demilitarized. Instead of being demilitarized, it became basically an Iranian financed and equipped fortress of terror with thousands and thousands of rockets and other weapons being smuggled and developed in it. That has to stop.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And of the more than 400 Palestinians killed so far in the fighting, United Nations estimates that 70 percent are civilians.

Up next, is a cease-fire possible? We'll tell you what officials say must happen in order for that to take place.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Within with casualties mounting on both sides in the Middle East, it seems like there are more questions than answers on how to end the fighting.

Aaron David Miller is the former advisor to six secretary of states on the Arab-Israeli peace process. He's vice President and distinguished scholar at the Woodrow Wilson international center for scholars and he is the author of the book "the end of greatness: why America can't have and doesn't want another great President." He joins us now from Washington.

All right, so there's word today that secretary of state John Kerry will head to Cairo soon. What can he do to make some kind of progress in this crisis?

AARON DAVID MILLER, WOODROW WILSON INTERNATIONAL CENTER: You know, if you want a cease-fire, and Fredricka, remember, cease-fire, even in agreement is not a solution, it is probably an outcome, you need three things and none of these things were are not in place.

Number one, you need urgency, and I mean real urgency. Enough pain and gain that would compel both Hamas and Israel to consider de- escalation. And as terrible and as horrible as the situation is right now, I don't think you've got that urgency yet. Number two --

WHITFIELD: You mean the death count we're seeing is not urgency enough?

MILLER: Well, it depends. I mean, Hamas appears to be willing to tolerate and acquiesce in a lot of Palestinian civilian casualties in order to achieve their end. Now, I don't want to be cruel and seemingly heartless on this. I'm just trying to create a political frame of reference not from the standpoint of the public's, but from the standpoint of Hamas and Israel.

WHITFIELD: So what's number two?

MILLER: I don't know. I mean, all I know is if it was truly urgent you would have seen de-escalation. You haven't seen that.

Number two, you need a mediator. And a mediator that seems to be trusted by both the Israelis and Hamas. You don't have one of those either right now. The Egyptians played that role in November 2012 when Mohamed Morsi, who's now in prison, was the President.

Abdel Fatah Sisi, former commander of the Egyptian military really wants to squeeze Hamas. And in this respect, he shares a common interest that what the Israelis -- at violence, Fredricka, you need a deal. You need some framework that would allow both sides to justify and explain what the last ten days and probably a few more to come have been all about. And the truth is, you just don't have that right now. And that, it is the truce of the deal, frankly. Better going to be the most elusive.

WHITFIELD: So in terms of the mediator, it wouldn't be the U.S., in your view, that's what I'm hearing from you and it certainly couldn't be Egypt even though the secretary of state is heading to Cairo to help broker something. So, you know, as we try to understand why this is taking place, you actually write in "Politico" that this is bound with happen, that Israel really had no choice and you spell out the justification as to why Israel is taking this route.

MILLER: Yes. I mean, I think basically you have an Israel/Hamas problem and it's not going away. This is the third sequel to this terrible movie that we've watched. First in '08 and' '09 and then in 2012, and now this. And the reality is, until you figure out a way the prime minister talks about demilitarization, that basically means taking all of Hamas's high-trajectory weapons away and fundamentally changing the nature of that organization.

WHITFIELD: That's not going to happen.

MILLER: Not going to happen. So the reality is the best you're going to do -- I think you can probably do better than quiet for quiet. Maybe you can be -- do stability for stability. A longer term agreement which somehow opens up Gaza economically and creates with the Egyptians, with the Americans.

The Qataris are going to be involved because they'll need to pay the salaries probably about $20 million a month of the 43,000 Hamas employees that run Gaza and that's a central Hamas demand. I just don't think you're going to get out of this with one side basically victorious over the other. And the problem is so many innocent people are killed and injured?

WHITFIELD: Yes. And based on your writing, it seems like both sides it would have really have the same kind of justification because neither side feels like it can't afford to do something to act because of its business of government to guarantee some kind of security or normalcy. Aaron David Miller, thanks so much. Appreciate it.

MILLER: Pleasure.

WHITFIELD: The other big story we're following today, the world wants answers about Malaysia airlines flight 17 and why it was shot down. The strong message one U.S. senator has for Russian President Vladimir Putin, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: We're learning new information about the downing of Malaysia airlines flight 17. Here is what we know right now.

A self-declared pro-Russian rebel leader in Ukraine seen standing in the middle there, in civilian clothes, says his troops found technical objects that may be the plane's black boxes. He says if experts confirmed they are flight recorders, his group will turn them over to international investigators.

Today, Reuters news agency released video of a searcher carrying what appears to be a flight data recorder that (INAUDIBLE). The video was shot on Friday. So far, 233 bodies have been found. Russian news agency reports that the train with the remains on board is now headed away from the site.

The Royal Malaysia air force is sending planes to fly back crashed victims' remain. There are reports of people stealing credit cards from the victims' bodies on the ground d. The Ukrainian President says the way the rebels are dealing with the bodies is quote "beyond moral boundaries."

World leaders want Putin to pressure the pro-Russian separatists to allow more access to the crash site and the victims' families want answers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. Putin, please take care of my son and my daughter.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who knows where they are? Who knows where the bodies are? Where did they take them?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I can do nothing but wait for the bodies.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: CNN's Erin McPike is live for us from the White House.

So Erin, what is President Obama able to do to help in the situation?

ERIN MCPIKE, CNN GENERAL ASSIGNMENT CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, the Obama administration is sending FBI officials as well as officials from the national transportation safety board assist in the investigation and the search. And they're also putting more pressure on Russia.

I want you listen here to Senator Dianne Feinstein who was on CNN's "STATE OF THE UNION" this morning saying what more she wants to hear from Putin.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. DIANNE FEINSTEIN (D), CALIFORNIA: The issue is where is Putin? And I would say Putin, you have to man up. You should talk to the world. You should say if this was a mistake, which I hope it was, say it. Even if it was a mistake, it's a horrendous mistake to make. And I think it points out the futility of what is happening in the Ukraine because there will be repercussions from this. I can't tell what those will be.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCPIKE: And also, President Obama will be reaching out to a number of world leaders to see what more they can do to assist in the search in the investigation, Fred.

WHITFIELD: And Erin, today has been the single deadliest day in the Gaza conflict for both sides. I understand that President Obama did talk with the Israeli prime minister earlier today and what more is being said?

MCPIKE: Well, Fred, that's right. And President Obama reaffirmed his belief that Israel should have the right to defend itself in this conflict. But he did express some concerns about the number of casualties. Now, he also said that he is sending secretary of state John Kerry to Cairo and there John Kerry will call for an immediate cessation of these hostilities and wants to see a return to the November 2012 cease-fire agreement, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, Erin McPike at the White House. Thanks so much.

More on the Malaysia airlines tragedy now. It's been just four months since Malaysia airlines flight 370 disappeared over the Indian Ocean. Now Malaysia must struggle once again with the tragedy that is belong belief.

Here's CNN's Kyung Lah.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): One by one, the full names of the 298 passenger, the manifests released by the airline. They are grandparents, children, students. Malaysia mourning the souls aboard flight 17. It's an all too familiar feeling.

ISMAIL NASARUDDIN, NATIONAL UNION OF FLIGHT ATTENDANTS, MALAYSIA: Now here we are again. You know, we've been through a series of tragic incidents. This is something which I think that a lot of our crew members are unable to accept. LAH: Disbelief says the head of the union representing air flight

attendants in Malaysia, just four months after the disappearance of flight MH-370 over the Indian Ocean.

And unprecedented loss for our country and it is symbolic national airlines. Malaysian crew members say they were just beginning to step away from flight 370's ugliness. The question -- why them again?

NASARUDDIN: We cannot believe that this incident can happen over such a short period. And it happened to Malaysia airlines again.

LAH: But this time there is a difference. With flight 17 there is debris, there is evidence of what may have caused the crash. With flight 370, no answer, no debris, no proof your loved one is gone.

Rage and grief followed the missing airliner as families screamed their frustration on international television. But with flight 17, the rage is directed not internally but at an outside force. Malaysia this time is not a bungling country grappling with the mystery but victim demanding answers.

LIOW TIONG LAI, MALAYSIA'S TRANSPORT MINISTER: This outrage cannot go unpunished. Once again, Malaysia condemn this is brutal act of aggression and calls for those responsible to be found and to face the full force of justice without delay.

LAH: The clarity of what happened in this crash doesn't make it any easier, say grieving friends and family. They say it is simply different.

Kyung Lah, CNN, Kuala Lumpur.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And coming up in the NEWSROOM, pain and suffering on the ground in Gaza. It's also being felt by Palestinian families right here in the U.S. we'll meet some of them next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: The fighting between Hamas and Israel has left thousands of civilians caught in the middle dead, especially Palestinians in Gaza who have few places to seek shelter. And watching the violence from afar right here in the U.S. are Palestinian family members.

CNN's Alexander Field has their story of hope and helplessness.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hundreds of Palestinians seek refuge in Gaza city with Israeli forces targeting the neighboring town of Shujia. Another 60 are dead, 300 wounded according to the Gaza health ministry. The target, according to Israel, Hamas infrastructure.

NETANYAHU: In addition to the rockets, they've got now terror tunnels that they build in Palestinian homes in Gaza, they penetrate underground into Israeli territory. We're taking action to neutralize the tunnels.

FIELD: This video shows similar tunnels shot by a Palestinian American film maker who says they lead from Egypt into Gaza. This was filmed last summer when she was documented life in Gaza she lives in New York City but has family in Gaza.

Hadeel Assali Lives in New York City, but she has family in Gaza. Assali's uncle (INAUDIBLE) has lived in Gaza for 54 years. They connect through Skype as often as they can.

HADEEL ASSALI, HAS FAMILIES IN GAZA: You know, I've been calling my family and every time they call I can hear their voices getting worse and worse and worse. And I also guilty to call them because, you know, they probably feel that they have to muster up some energy just to have a conversation with me.

FIELD: Living conditions for (INAUDIBLE), his wife and two boys are increasingly tough, he says. No electricity, no proper sewage system, and are living on vegetables and donated water.

ASSALI: They're basically living off of fresh vegetables and fruits because they can't really cook because they can't put on the refrigerator because there's no electricity.

FIELD: The United Nations relief agency says there are over 70,000 Palestinians living as refugees in their schools.

ROBERT TURNER, OPERATIONS DIRECTOR, UNRWA IN GAZA: For many of the Gazans, it will be a pretty terrifying time. And we've had massive displacements, we have had a tripling in the number of displaced in the schools that we run here in Gaza. People are scared.

FIELD: That fear being felt here in places like Charlotte, North Carolina, and Denver, Colorado. Hundreds are rallying for an end to violence. It's a world away but it is hitting home.

ASSALI: We can't go about our daily lives in a normal way because our relatives at any moment either going to be bombed or killed.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FIELD: Hadeel Assali says that she has a number of family members who are in Gaza. She is trying her best to keep in touch with all of them. She says that some have been notified that they should evacuate but she says they're choosing to stay where they are because they feel, Fred, that they don't have a better place to go.

WHITFIELD: My goodness. All right, very sad.

Thanks so much Alexandra Field in New York.

A tobacco company is told to pay up big to a woman whose husband died after smoking for years. How she was able to argue he didn't know about the dangers of smoking, next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, other stories we're following right now. Hundreds of people in Washington state and Canada are fleeing their homes as a massive wildfire gets even closer. The fires, which have been burning since Monday, have destroyed 130 homes causing thousands of evacuations, 250,000 acres have burned so far. There have been no reports of injuries.

And people in a Massachusetts neighborhood screamed when they saw a hot air balloon come crashing down to the ground there. Five people were hurt when their balloon hit power lines while trying to land just like that.

A witness said one minute they were all laughing and then suddenly they were panicking. The FAA is investigating.

And it's no secret that smoking cigarettes can cause health risks but one Florida woman is claiming that knowledge was not available to her late husband. And a court agreed, granting her $23 billion in her lawsuit against R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company.

Joining me right now is Nick Valencia with more on this.

It is hard to believe that some people didn't know about the risk because of the big campaigned that have really canvassed the nation.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, this goes back to 1996 when her husband, who chain smoked, she's not denying that at all. He started smoking about 13 years old, continued to his death at 36 years old. She says that R.J. Reynolds, this is giant tobacco company, didn't do enough back in the '90s to tell people that nicotine was addictive and that smoking was bad for them. So $23 billion in settlement. We are not stuttering her, $23 billion, a lot of money. Her lawyer and her were able to convince this jury in Florida that she deserved that money. She spoke exclusively to NBC News earlier this morning and this was her reaction to the verdict.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CYNTHIA ROBINSON, PLAINTIFF WHO WIN $23 BILLION IN LAWSUIT: First I heard millions, I didn't know it was "b" with a "b, billions." and I still can't believe it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VALENCIA: Robinson's case was initially part of a class action lawsuit where a separate jury awarded those plaintiffs about $145 billion. That verdict was overturned in 2006 by a Florida Supreme Court. But it did open the window for individual lawsuits, that's where Robinson saw her opening. She's been in litigation since 2008. Now this verdict.

WHITFIELD: Well. So now the likelihood of Robinson actually seeing and of that money?

VALENCIA: That's where this gets interesting. There's a chance, according to legal analysts, that she may not see any of it at all.

WHITFIELD: Zero?

VALENCIA: Zero dollars of this. Also R.J. Reynolds is filing an appeal. They sent us a statement just a short time ago. I want to read part of that.

It says, this verdict goes far beyond the realm of reasonableness and fairness and is completely inconsistent with the evidence presented. We plan to file post-trial motions with the trial court promptly and are confident that the court will follow the law and not allow this runaway verdict to stand.

Robinson's lawyers, Fred, they say it is never going to be about the money. This is about saving lives against big tobacco. But what we know right now is that this case is not over yet.

WHITFIELD: That is significant.

All right, thanks so much, Nick Valencia. Appreciate that.

All right, new details today on the deadly conflict in the Middle East. Israel and Gaza both mourning the deadliest day for both sides in this wave of violence. We have the very latest at the top of the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Actor James Garner has passed away at the age of 86. The star of "Rockford Files" remember that and the original "Maverick" died at home in Los Angeles of natural causes.

CNN's Nischelle Turner says Garner always thought he was too shy to get into acting.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NISCHELLE TURNER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Acting never came easy for James Garner, born James Baumgarner. The actor described himself as a painfully shy introvert, masking the condition with effort.

JAMES GARNER, ACTOR: Mind over matter. I literally had to do it saying, you know, if you can't have this attitude and be an actor and I had to change.

TURNER: Garner pursued acting after dropping out of school to join the merchant marine. Later in the army he earned two purple hearts fighting in the Korean War. He got his big acting break in 1957 as the lead in the offbeat western series, "Maverick."

GARNER: At that time there were like 16 westerns on television, and we stuck our tongue in our cheek and made them laugh a little bit and mile and I think that was the difference.

TURNER: Garner moved easily between television and film roles even before that became the rule for actors. The 1966 film "Grand Prix" provided a glimpse into one of Garner's longtime fascinations, auto racing.

The versatile actor landed the role of Jim Rockford in the detective series "the Rockford Files" in 1974. He won an Emmy award in 1977 for his iconic role and continued to work after the show ended its six- year run. He shined in films like "Victor Victoria" and "Murphy's romance" which brought Garner a nomination for best actor Oscar.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't put up bail and I'm not your damn Dutch uncle.

TURNER: His career came full circle in the early '90s when he took a supporting role on a movie based on maverick playing the father of his original character.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I remember my first runaway stage.

TURNER: And in an HBO production of the satirical "barbarians at the gate". In 2000, garner was back on the big screen in the action film "Space Cowboys."

The easy going actor returned to television in the comedy "8 Simple Rules" in 2003. The following year he co-starred in "the notebook." The romancing drama was an instant hit and endeared Garner to a new audience.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I read to her and she remembers.

TURNER: Garner's ability to excel in both television and film made him an easy choice to be honored by the screen actors guild with a lifetime achievement award in 2004. The father of two who remained married to his wife Lois for 60 years won't soon be forgotten.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And the passing of an Olympic giant and family friend, High jumper Alice Coachman was the first black woman to win gold at the 1948 London games. Coachman was awarded her medal by King George VI.

I had the honor of meeting Ms. Coachman six years ago when she attended the dedication of the Tuskegee airmen's (INAUDIBLE) field in Alabama. You saw in the picture earlier. She was also reunited with my dad right there, fellow 1948 Olympian and Tuskegee airman. Now, Whitfield both seen there in that personal picture. Coachman died just last week after suffering a stroke in recent months. Coachman was 90 years old.

And John Walsh is back tracking down bad guys in CNN's new original series "THE HUNT." This week the focus is on two sex offenders targeting vulnerable young girls and boys. One fugitive Walsh is hunting is using social media to lure his victims. Have you seen him?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A message from Kevin (INAUDIBLE) popped up. I didn't think anything of it because of the last name. My family is really good friends with him and they're really well known in our home town. And I remember reading the message. It said hi, Tory, my name's Kevin. I went to high school with your mom. I said Kevin? He sent you a friend request, too? She said, yes. I said, well, I guess, you know, if you want to accept it, you can. You know, somebody my age as one of your friends. I never thought more of it.

I said, hi, kind of just small talk. Then he said you're really beautiful. Kevin continued to talk to me throughout the night. He had told me that he was in Rapid City, South Dakota, that he might be coming to town to Fort Pierre, South Dakota. I did not reply.

I went to school the next day, and a couple of my girlfriends in my grade had said, this Kevin guy keeps contacting me. I was like what? It was basically the same thing, like, do you know Tori deal? I went to school with her mom. Would ask him to hang out. Continue to tell them how beautiful they were.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I said, seriously? He's saying those things to you? So I asked for the number and I said you need to stop texting my daughter and her friends. That's just not cool, you know. They're 20 years younger than you. You just don't do that. He responded sorry, I understand. No hard feelings. I thought that was end of it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was shortly after that when she told me Kevin wasn't stopping. And I Googled his name.

(END VIDEOTAPE)