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U.S. Evacuates Embassy in Tripoli; Israel, Hamas Agree to 12- Hour Ceasefire; U.S. Citizens Join Israeli Military; Searching For Missing Remains; U.S. Evacuates Embassy In Tripoli

Aired July 26, 2014 - 11:00   ET

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

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: And if you'd like to nominate a hero, go to CNNheroes.com.

Hey go make some great memories today. But stick around -- we're leaving you in very capable hands.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. We're turning things over to our colleagues Ana Cabrera here at CNN World Headquarters and Martin Savidge in Jerusalem covering for Fredricka Whitfield today.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you.

ANA CABRERA, CNN ANCHOR: Hi guys.

All right. I'll take it from here. Thank you so much, guys.

The 11:00 hour of NEWSROOM starts right now.

The United States suspends operations at its embassy in Libya as violence rages in the capital of Tripoli. 150 American staff members, including some 80 marines evacuated under U.S. military escort this morning. Will it ever be safe enough to return? And a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas runs out in just two hours;

diplomats working to extend the truce in a war that has killed more than a thousand people. Hospitals, flooded; bloodied children, adults, doctors overwhelmed. Is any relief in sight?

Plus, more than a week after a Malaysian plane is blown out of the skies, investigators still have not been able to access the entire crash site -- who isn't letting them in and why? Will we ever know who shot down the plane?

We begin this hour with developing news out of Libya. The United States has evacuated now everyone from its embassy in the capital of Tripoli. The U.S. State Department says intense fighting between militias in this area of the embassy is what prompted the urgent removal of staff there. Now, the embassy workers were driven out of the country to neighboring Tunisia. It marks the second time in a little more than three years that Washington has closed its diplomatic outpost in Libya.

Secretary of State John Kerry talked about this situation just a short time ago, and he said the U.S. is removing personnel, but is not closing the embassy, and is not giving up the country.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KERRY, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: We are deeply committed and remain committed to the diplomatic process in Libya. Our envoy will continue to be engaged with the British envoy and other envoys. And we will continue to try to build out of the election the legitimacy of the government formation and the efforts to end the violence.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: Our Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr is following the story very closely for us -- Barbara.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Ana, by all accounts, the evacuation of the 150 American personnel from the embassy in Tripoli, Libya went smoothly. That actually included about 80 Marines who had already been at the embassy for security duty. The Americans made their way to the Tunisian border. They were driven out in a convoy, but there was plenty of American fire power nearby if that convoy had come under attack or run into trouble.

We now know there were two F-16 aircraft overhead. There was a drone flying, following the convoy. There was an American warship offshore and there were also several dozen Marines flying overhead in their V- 22 aircraft, ready to move in, land and get the Americans out if that convoy had come under attack.

What we know is that the area of Tripoli where the embassy is located had come under repeated shelling in that neighborhood. The airport had actually been destroyed several days ago by rival militia attacks. Once the airport closed, there was no way for the Americans to get out; as the violence grew, no way to get out by commercial air. So finally, the white house, the State Department and the Pentagon made the decision. It was time for the Americans to go -- Ana.

CABRERA: All right, thank you, Barbara.

Let's talk more about the military's role in these evacuations. CNN military analyst and former U.S. military attache, Colonel Rick Francona is joining me now. Rick thanks so much.

COL. RICK FRANCONA, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Sure -- Ana.

CABRERA: We're hearing that the evacuees had military air support even backup from a navy warship that was offshore in the Mediterranean in case things went bad. What's your assessment of how this evacuation went down, given what we know?

FRANCONA: Well, it was only way out was to go over land, since the airport was unusable. And it's 100 miles from Tripoli over to the Tunisian border. So that's quite a ways to be stringing out, you know, in what could be hostile territory.

Of course you had 80 Marines with you. That's always good. Plus two Osprey aircraft full of Marines, two F-16s, a Navy destroyer. That's a lot of fire power. I don't know how close they were because I'm told that we told the Libyans after this was done.

So a lot of this was done probably without their knowledge, so the aircraft probably would have been just in a standoff role, very close. All you have to do is be 12 miles off. It doesn't take long to go 12 miles in an F-16. So there was a lot of fire power, a lot of support, everything went well.

CABRERA: That is the good news.

What about the timing about this? Obviously, the U.S. did not want to see another Benghazi, nobody wants that. The Pentagon has actually been wanting to see the U.S. take some action to get Americans out of this area for weeks after some attacks on the airport. So why now, do you think?

FRANCONA: You know, there's always in these situations a little bit of, not friction, but discussion between State Department and Defense Department about when we should evacuate. Of course, the state department, they're there to represent the United States. They need to be there. They want to be there to represent the United States to that country and it's hard to conduct negotiations if you're not there doing face-to-face talks.

The Defense Department, on the other hand, is responsible for the security and has to move these people out. So if they're going to conduct this kind of operation, the Pentagon would like to do it as soon as they can, as safely as they can. So they wanted to get out of there a little bit earlier, because things were closing in. The airport was no longer an option, and that neighborhood around the embassy was becoming very dangerous. So you could see a push from the Defense people to get out, State wanted to stay. I think they waited as long as they could.

CABRERA: And everybody's safe. That's most important.

FRANCONA: Exactly.

CABRERA: Colonel Rick Francona, thank you so much for your expertise.

Coming up at the half hour, we'll talk to the State Department spokeswoman and hear more about why they decided it was time to get their people out of Libya.

A temporary quiet has fallen over Gaza this morning after Israel and Hamas agreed to a 12-hour ceasefire. That ceasefire appears to be holding but it will be up in just two hours -- scheduled to be up at 1:00 p.m. Eastern time.

Diplomats from seven different nations are urging both sides to extend the ceasefire. Palestinians in Gaza went out to survey the damage today. People found homes destroyed -- only piles of rubble in their place. And under all that brick and stone they're finding more bodies.

The Gaza health ministry says more than 1,000 people have been killed in Gaza since the start of the Israeli operation. On the Israeli side, four more soldiers were killed since last night bringing the total number there to 40.

Diplomats are scrambling to bring an end to the bloodshed. Secretary of State John Kerry is in Paris today working on a deal for a longer, perhaps a seven-day ceasefire. He has been working on that all week in Egypt with no luck.

CNN has crews covering every angle of this crisis in the Middle East. Martin Savidge has been in Jerusalem and he's joining me there live. Martin, what is the situation like there on the ground this morning? Is there any hope of extending this ceasefire?

SAVIDGE: Hello, Ana. Good to be with you. I think there is. I mean the fact that the ceasefire has held now for ten hours and we are just two hours away from an 8:00 p.m. local time, when it was scheduled to end. The fact that it has held in place is a very positive thing. Remember, the previous two ceasefires did not hold. This one has.

Admittedly, it's only got about a 12-hour time limit, but small steps here and the fact that it is going so well, there is a possibility that it could be extended. However, there are some rumblings that are starting to come up now that suggest maybe -- maybe not. We'll have to see.

Hamas right now is suggesting they may not hold to it, but the reason they say they may not extend beyond is because they've heard Israel won't. So really it's a kind of brinksmanship going on at the moment -- Ana.

CABRERA: And that being said, why is Israel so hesitant to say, yes, to a longer ceasefire?

SAVIDGE: Well, it depends how long "longer" means. And it also depends, at least from the Israeli perspective what kind of conditions exist here? Would Israel be willing go say another 12 hours? Quite possibly it would, especially since Israel has continued to destroy the so-called terror tunnels it says Hamas has been digging.

And also, if it starts looking beyond that, say to a seven-day ceasefire, then Israel would be very concerned that Hamas might use that time to re-arm and get ready to carry on the fight again especially if it was part of the demand that Israeli forces had to withdraw from Gaza completely for that seven days. So it's the conditions under which the extension would be made that Israel and Hamas both might question.

But let's talk about what is going on in Gaza, and over there as you mentioned, Ana, people have been able to venture out of their shelters today for the first time in a long while to see what exists still after days of fighting. Correspondent Ian Lee is in Gaza city and he shows us what it's like in those neighborhoods.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

IAN LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: When the clouds of war cleared this is the devastation that was left behind. We have a child's mattress, we have clothes, we have pots and pans. This area completely destroyed and it's not just this house. As you can see, there's other buildings down here that have been damaged and devastated. We've seen some people come through here and try to pick at little things they can take back with them to their shelters.

This crater just highlights the massive amount of fire power that's being used in this area. This hole has to be at least ten meters deep and if you look, there's slabs of concrete. It looks like building was here. And what we're hearing is that this was likely the result of a 500-pound bomb.

Neighborhood after neighborhood, house after house has been reduced to rubble like this, and really, without any permanent ceasefire, this sort of devastation is likely to continue.

Ian Lee, CNN, Gaza.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE: Ian Lee, thank you very much for that. So the question remains, can we extend this ceasefire that's been so effective so far today? We're still waiting to hear officially from both sides. Certainly the hopes will remain high that it can be extended.

Let's get back to Ana Cabrera now in Atlanta for the other stories that we're following today -- Ana.

CABRERA: Gosh, Martin, we see those images -- it's just terrible. Thank you.

Our other big story, victims still lying amid the debris of Malaysia Airline Flight 17, the plane that was blown out of the sky over eastern Ukraine more than a week ago now and a proper investigation hasn't even started yet.

Observers say pro-Russian rebels who control the crash site in eastern Ukraine are apparently losing patience with the investigation. They also say rebels are suggesting they want the investigation now wrapped up in a week.

Still, Dutch and Australian officials are trying to negotiate full access to the site. In fact, just a short time ago, another 38 coffins were given a somber welcome in a Dutch city after arriving on two planes from Ukraine.

When it comes to who is responsible for taking down the plane, former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says Russia's president bears at least some of the blame. She spoke exclusively to CNN's Fareed Zakaria about that. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON, FORMER U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: I think if there were any doubt it should be gone by now that Vladimir Putin certainly indirectly through his support of the insurgents in eastern Ukraine and the supply of advanced weapons and frankly the presence of Russian special force and intelligence agents bears responsibility for what happened to the shoot-down of the airline.

Therefore, we have to up the sanctions that are required. The United States has continued to move forward on that. Europe has been reluctant. They need to understand they must stand up to Vladimir Putin.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: Don't miss the entire exclusive interview. It's tomorrow on "FAREED ZAKARIA GPS" at 10:00 a.m. Eastern and the former Secretary of State very candid in that interview.

Now, the latest from Ukraine is good news, actually, for a CNN freelance journalist there. Anton Skiba, a producer has been freed. He had been taken captive covering the fighting in Ukraine and in part for CNN. In a call to us a short time ago, Skiba confirmed he is free, he is fine, and the we have gotten visual confirmation from the sources there in Donetsk. So, some good news.

In Mali, a U.N. spokeswoman says the second flight data recorder from that Air Algerie flight that crashed in Mali just a couple days ago has been found. The jet wrecked on Thursday ill canning everyone onboard -- at least 116 people. Among them, one family that took an exceptionally large toll -- 10 members of the same French family are among the dead. The plane disappeared from radar 50 minutes after takeoff after pilots changed the flight path because of bad weather.

Police defused a tense situation in Toronto. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Heads down, hands up. Heads down, hands up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Heads down, hands up. Heads down, hands up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: That might catch your attention if you're onboard that plane. This is a SWAT team storming a plane at Pierson International Airport with their guns drawn. They forcefully removed a passenger who we've learned had apparently threatened the plane. This is a cell phone video from another passenger who captured all the action as it happened.

Witnesses told CNN affiliate CTV that the man said he wanted to bomb Canada. Now the Sunwing aircraft turned around, it went back to the airport, 45 minutes into its flight to Panama. 25-year-old Ali Shahi, a Canadian citizen is now charged with endangering the safety of an aircraft.

Back here in the U.S., police are tracking some new leads this morning in the mystery of those giant white flags, remember that were place on top of the Brooklyn Bridge this week? They say DNA may play a key role in solving this case. We'll have the latest on the search for suspects. But first, Americans are joining the fight in the Middle East. I'll

ask one of those who volunteered for the Israel Defense Forces why he did it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CABRERA: Hello again. I'm Ana Cabrera in Atlanta.

SAVIDGE: And I'm Martin Savidge live in Jerusalem where a ceasefire is scheduled to come to an end in less than two hours. The violence between Israel and Gaza may be half a world away from the United States, but there are Americans that are caught right in the middle.

CABRERA: That's right. U.S. citizens who actually want to be part of the fighting, who risked their lives to join the Israel defense forces. Dan Simon has one soldier's story.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESONDENT: Each year hundreds of U.S. citizens join the Israel Defense Forces. They're called Lone Soldiers. What makes them do it? Why not join the U.S. military? We spoke to a former member of the IDF.

David Meyers is a 47-year-old who today is working in sales in Silicon Valley.

DAVID MEYERS, VOLUNTEERED FOR IDF: As much as I'm an American and a proud American, there's an incredibly deep and long connection that I personally have both to Israel, to its history, to its people, from relatives that survived the Holocaust to relatives that helped to establish the state of Israel, both from within and from outside of Israel, and that connection runs extremely deep.

I was in the IDF from 1987 through 1993, so it was the period right after Israel's first Lebanon war. People are definitely surprised. Americans are surprised that I joined the IDF, because it is hard to digest that concept of how it is that you can love the United States and be a proud American and yet go fight in another army.

You feel that if you don't do that, then who will? And that that state needs to be preserved and needs to be defended. And that the U.S. With its strength and size perhaps isn't quite as needing of your abilities and your efforts.

Hearing the news of all of the soldiers who have been killed is heart- wrenching. The fact that they did volunteer, that they did leave the safe and secure life makes it just a little bit harder to digest. At the funerals of those guys, there have been literally tens of thousands of people who come to show their appreciation and love for those families.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: Our thanks to Dan Simon for that report. I'm now joined by another former soldier who left Israel's military now just two years ago. Daniel Flesch is an American citizen who joined the Israel Defense Forces, or the IDF in 2010. He fought with them for 18 months.

And Daniel, as we mentioned, you are an American, so why did you decide to go half way around the world to join the IDF instead of say joining the U.S. military?

DANIEL FLESCH, JOINED THE IDF: That's a very good question. I grew up with an idea of service to my mind. In my Last year in college, I felt a strong connection with Israel. I visited Israel. I learned about my family, survival through the Holocaust and as Jews that are persecuted throughout the world I wanted to make sure that there's a homeland for Jews to go to.

Just in the last two weeks I believe, a thousand Jews have France and I want to make sure that they have a homeland they can go to and I wanted to defend and protect the Jewish state in Israel.

CABRERA: What's your take on what's happening there right now?

FLESCH: It's tragic. It's very, very sad. Israelis and Israel want to have peace. They want to live side-by-side with Palestinians, but in the meantime, they'll do everything they can and they will to defend themselves and to protect themselves, and Lone Soldiers like myself, who go over to fight in the IDF, we're there, again, to defend everyone inside Israel -- Jews, Muslims, Christian, Jews, everyone.

CABRERA: You talked about this urge to serve and your maybe connection and sort of kindred spirit with the Israelis because of your Jewish heritage. When you got there, was it what you expected in terms of fighting with the Israeli army?

FLESCH: Well, certainly no one know what's to expect when you join a military. It was absolutely similar to what I hoped for. There's certainly a brotherhood, or kindred spirits within Israel. It's a special place. I felt a lot of the other -- Lone Soldiers who come from across the world, certainly the Israeli soldiers were very appreciative that we there.

CABRERA: When you hear that there were two IDF soldiers who were U.S. citizens killed in the fighting, in just the past week or so, what it's your reaction to that?

FLESCH: Max Steinberg and Sean Kremeli (ph) from Los Angeles and Texas, they're doing what they went there to do. They went there to defend the Jewish people, defend Israel and they answered the call of duty. And so from sitting here back in the United States with other Lone Soldiers we talk a lot, and we really sympathize with them, their families, they're our brothers but we understand why they went to fight and we know that they would rather be nowhere else than inside Gaza protecting Jewish people.

CABRERA: I want to get a better sense of what it's actually like there on the ground. We've heard a lot about the rockets flying overhead, the supplies, people moving through tunnels. Can you describe the scene or set the scene for me in terms of those who are on the ground actually fighting and what they're dealing with?

FLESCH: Sure. So it's a very -- it's a very scary situation. Just a couple of days ago, some Hamas militants or terrorists were caught on the Israeli side the border through a tunnel with needles and essentially different equipment to try to kidnap soldiers and civilians. As an Israeli soldier you know the inherent dangers in combats and conflicts but you also have to always be vigilant even when you're on base or whenever you're in Israel.

But, again, thank God to Iron Dome and other defensive measures that Israel does that many Israelis both civilians and soldiers feel much safer.

CABRERA: We don't have a lot of time. But do you feel like your service was worth it, especially given that the situation seems to be getting out of control there right now?

FLESCH: 100 percent. Absolutely. I felt that it's something I had to do, as a Jew, and an American also, who really grew up learning about and loving freedom and democracy, and I felt it was incumbent upon me to do something to serve for other people.

CABRERA: And I know we were just talking during the break. You plan to perhaps even serve for the U.S. government someday as you're working on your graduate work there in D.C.

FLESCH: Yes.

CABRERA: So thank you Daniel Flesch for your service. Thank you for your time today. We appreciate it.

FLESCH: Thank you very much.

CABRERA: Back to our other big story today. The parents of a young woman who was on Malaysia Air Flight 17 are making a desperate pilgrimage to the crash site.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Find her. It's mom and dad. This is mom and dad.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: They are holding out hope that their daughter could still be alive. We'll have the very latest on their quest, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CABRERA: At the crash site of that Malaysian jet shot down by a missile over eastern Ukraine, investigators are finding it tough to do their job. Malaysia's prime minister says search teams at the scene need to at least have 30 more investigators to help cover the entire site.

Now 298 people were on board flight 17, more than half of them were Dutch. 198 coffins have now been sent back to the Netherlands. Another 38 are being flown back today and the Dutch are planning to send a team of up to 40 military police to aid the search for the rest of the remains.

As you can imagine, this is a very difficult and painstaking process. For the latest are on the search, let's go live to Kiev. That's where we find CNN's Kyung Lah joining us now.

KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Ana, perhaps the most painful part of this is for the people who are directly involved, namely, the family members of the people who were aboard that plane. This is a conflict zone. It has been a frustrating search, an unguarded crash scene. So we met parents who want to take it into their own hands.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Go. Go, go, go.

LAH (voice-over): George and Angela Dyczynskis can almost feel their daughter, they're that close, but they can't get there.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Couple minutes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Couple of minutes. Please, please.

LAH: These men are local Ukrainian government officials urging these parents to not enter the pro-Russian rebel held territory of Donetsk. The Dyczynskis flew by themselves to Ukraine from Australia with nothing other than shock and grief.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have to go. There's no other way.

LAH: Their 25-year-old daughter, Fatima was aboard Flight 17 flying to Australia to see them.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We go because, yes, we go --

LAH: With an outrageous disregard of the crash scene from the very beginning and only black bags and unmarked coffins coming out, the Dyczynskis have chosen to grieve with denial.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And we believe she's alive. Every second counts. Every second.

GEORGE DYCZYNSKI, DAUGHTER WAS ON MH17 FLIGHT: And our purpose is to find Fatima. Help us, not to be angry, no, but to go.

ANGELA DYCZYNSKI, DAUGHTER WAS ON MH17 FLIGHT: I need to see the real fact. So that's why we came. Besides that our daughter promised we will find her as mom and dad. So this is the mom and dad.

LAH: They poured their lives into their only child. She was an aerospace engineer who dreamed of being an astronaut. She believed space exploration could help bring stability to earth.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The experience of space flight is a life- changing event.

LAH: How can you let a child like that go?

ANGELA DYCZYNSKI: There is an urgency, because my -- my belief that she alive cannot be sustained if this takes 30 days.

LAH: Frustration mounting as the minutes tick by.

GEORGE DYCZYNSKI: No chance to --

LAH: These government reps get embassies on the phone to talk to them.

ANGELA DYCZYNSKI: You have not sorted this out. Please, do not contact me anymore.

GEORGE DYCZYNSKI: And our daughter, we are running out of time.

ANGELA DYCZYNSKI: And the risk we know. No worries.

LAH: Finally, they're told do go at their own risk. This private car promises to drive them through the battle lines of rebel-held territory and where a parents' love has no boundaries.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAH: It is a treacherous drive into rebel territory through checkpoints, through mortar fire, and Ana, we're happy to tell you that they actually made it. I want you to take a look at this video. Today, this is the parents. They're walking around the crash scene.

They were able to lay down flowers. Whether or not this is convinced them about their daughter's fate, we don't know yet. We haven't been able to speak with them, but they were there and we were able to grab these images -- Ana.

CABRERA: Well, hopefully they have closure at the very least. Kyung, thank you so much for your reporting there.

A lot happening in the world today. The U.S. has evacuated its embassy in Libya. Next, the State Department spokeswoman will join me to talk about what led to this new decision.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CABRERA: A major story unfolding today in Libya. The United States has now evacuated everyone from its embassy in the capital of Tripoli. The U.S. State Department says intense fighting between militias in the area of the embassy is what prompted this urgent removal of staff there.

The embassy workers were driven over the border to neighboring Tunisia. Because of recent attacks on the airport in Tripoli, the embassy personnel drove out of the country in a convoy. It included about 80 Marines and support from a U.S. warship offshore and fighter jets overhead. The U.S. did not inform the Libyan government until the evacuation was complete, and that went off smoothly, we're told. The State Department has a very clear message now for Americans who may still be in Libya. Here's part of its warning that was posted today. I want to read it to you.

"Travelers should be aware that they may be targeted for kidnapping, violent attacks or even death. U.S. citizens currently in Libya should exercise extreme caution and depart immediately."

Let me bring in CNN's global affairs correspondent, Elise Labott who is in Colorado today. I know you're covering a conference that's happening there with a lot of these officials, the security officials around the world.

And also Marie Harf, she is the deputy spokeswoman for the U.S. State Department. Marie, let me start with you. What specifically sparked this evacuation in terms of the timing and why now?

MARIE HARF, DEPUTY SPOKESWOMAN, U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT: Well, Ana, thanks for having me on today. Over the past days and weeks, we've seen an increasing amount of violence and fighting between these different warring militias in the direct vicinity of our embassy. This really was a decision made based on the fact that our embassies in proximity of some pretty serious fighting and we felt that our people were at risk. It's not a broader comment on our presence there going forward, as we said, this is a temporary relocation. We will go back in with our people as soon as it's safe to do so.

CABRERA: Elise, you have some questions so go ahead and jump in.

ELISE LABOTT, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Thanks, Ana. Marie, you call this a temporary suspension of operations, but when you look at what it entails to pull off of your staff out. You have to destroy equipment. You have to burn documents, and it certainly doesn't look as if the U.S. would be able to go back anytime soon, and what does that mean for what the U.S. really needs to do right now for this chaotic political situation and help stand up the government?

HARF: Elise, the reason this is only a temporary relocation and suspension of operations and that we didn't actually close the embassy is to be able to go back in as quickly as possible once we determine it's safety to do so. Ambassador Deborah Jones is still our ambassador to Libya. She will be operating out of an embassy elsewhere in the region with a team to keep talking to the Libyans.

We'll keep talking to our other partners who remain on the ground because we are very committed to this long term relationship and look, it's only been three years just about since the Libyan started their revolution, started to come out from under decades of dictatorship and we know this process takes many, many years.

This is really a generational fight in Libya and we'll be there right alongside with them, but of course, safety and security of our people has to be our top priority. CABRERA: Marie, I want to jump in and read a report from the "L.A. Times" article from a couple of reporters who bring up something about the State Department and the situation there in Libya. This was earlier. It says an earlier U.S. State Department travel warning portrays Libya as a society in near collapse. Beset by crime, terrorism, factional fighting, government failure, and the wide availability of portable anti-aircraft weapons that can shoot down commercial planes. You see that.

Obviously, we've been talking about a commercial plane that was shot down, just within the last week or so. We've been so focused on what's happening in Ukraine, what's happening there in the Middle East, in Gaza, and Israel, but this is a very serious situation. Can you describe a little bit more about what we're dealing with there, in Libya?

HARF: Well, Ana, it is a very serious situation and we've been very focused on it, though as you mentioned, there are many crises going on in other parts of the world. We have seen deterioration in security. You opened the segment, we drove our folks out in a convoy to Tunisia, which was backed up by F-16s and Ospreys and ISR, in fact, because the airport has been the scene of so much intense fighting lately.

So we know the security situation there is very challenging. We put out those travel warnings like you read from because we do have a responsibility to tell American citizens what the very real dangers are. That's actually the goal and part of why the United States thinks it's important to remain engaged.

There are challenges, but we want to help the Libyan government increasingly be able to confront these threats on their own, to bring security and stability back to their country. It's our job to operate in dangerous places. We just need to do it with caution and today took a step towards that end.

LABOTT: Marie, on that point, you talk about the liberation of Libya in 2011. I think one of the criticisms has been there hasn't been that kind of intense diplomatic engagement to help the Libyans transition through their government, through their chaos and help stand up those military and police institutions, and I'm wondering if you're concerned about the message that it's saying to Libya?

That you're temporarily suspending the embassy, pulling off of your diplomats, sending the message to Libyans that we are not going to be there. I mean, realistically, from afar, how are we really going to be able to do that hands-on political engagement?

HARF: I think, Elise, you've seen over the last three years we've remained deeply engaged with the Libyans as they've tried to navigate this very difficult transition. We've provided assistance. We've provided money. We've provided a whole range of diplomatic tools here to help them as they make these decisions for themselves.

But now we need to see on the ground these different warring factions, these factions that are fighting each other openly come together and stop doing so, because that's what's in the best interests of the Libyan people. We are working every day with the Libyan government to help build their capacity, and we will keep doing so temporarily with our folks located in another location.

But we can continue doing it, and that's, again, why this is only temporary, and as soon as the threat around our physical embassy has been tamped down, we will have our people back in there.

CABRERA: Breaking away from just talking about what's happening in Libya, there is so much happening today, in fact, we know, just a couple of hours away from that cease-fire in Israel between Israelis and Hamas expiring. That was the 12-hour cease-fire and it seems to be holding, but it's going to be up soon and we don't know what's going to happen next.

Then we've got the situation in Iraq and the stuff falling apart there. We've got the situation in Ukraine and what appears to be more aggression by the side of Putin. How effective is the U.S. in this day and age when you look at the many efforts. You brought up the effort under way in Libya.

We know Secretary of State John Kerry was working on a seven-day cease-fire with the situation in Israel, but that was unsuccessful. What can the U.S. do at this point? Why hasn't it been more effective what we've been working on in terms of diplomacy?

HARF: Well, I think, Ana, in all of those crises that you mentioned, the United States has been incredibly actively involved. We can't make decisions for people, right? We can't force the Iraqis to choose a new government, but we can work with them and help give them the tools to do so.

So when it comes to Iraq, for example, they're on a path to choose a new prime minister within the coming days, and we'll have a government in place hopefully very soon. Secretary Kerry, you mentioned, is on the ground in Paris, working with all of our different partners to try to get a cease-fire in place, a seven-day humanitarian cease-fire.

These are complicated issues. They were complicated before we took office. They'll be complicated after. But I think what's been important about what Secretary Kerry and the president and this administration has done, it says doing nothing is not an option. We will engage. We will use all of the tools at our disposal that we think are appropriate to help make progress here.

But look, these are tough challenges when it comes to Ukraine, we've continued to up the pressure on Russia. We've put in place new sanctions. We are making progress, but so many of those issue, these are really years and decades long fights that we're going to have to keep engaged in, and I think that's why you've seen Secretary Kerry, my boss, so deeply engaged in so many of these issues including today in Paris.

CABRERA: Nobody wants to see that effort be all for naught.

LABOTT: Marie, here at the Aspen Security Forum, there is a lot of talk about what's going on in ISIS and all the instability in the region that you're discussing and some people are saying, listen, this is something that the Arabs, the Muslim, have to work out for themselves and the U.S. really can't insert itself too much.

It can be there as a partner, but we really going to have to leave it to their own. How do you square that with using all of the tools of your diplomatic engagement with the realization, as you said, this is going to take years and there are limits to what the U.S. is going to be able to do here? We might have to realize that this is going to be a region in chaos for some time to come.

HARF: Well, look, Elise, you're right. The United States can't and nor should we try, to solve every problem, everywhere around the world. What we can do is partner with countries, like we're doing in the Middle East, for example, to fight shared threats, to work towards common goals.

So in Iraq, as we've talked about, we can't make tough decisions for them. We can't force them to govern inclusively, but we can work with them. We can partner with them. We can help give the resources and the tools to fight ISIS. That's exactly what we're doing. So I think that's why throughout this administration you've seen us very focused on the ways we can have leverage.

The ways we can use our tools to get to outcomes that we want because we are very committed to what we're trying to do all across the Middle East, in a number of areas, including Iran, which we haven't mentioned today. But you're right, these are tough challenges.

And anybody out there who says there are easy answers or that the U.S. could just come in and fix it is either just not paying attention or telling themselves a lie because that's just not true. But that being said, we are very engaged.

You've seen Secretary Kerry on a whole host of issues make real progress, tangible progress in Afghanistan with the vote counting. Other places as well, on some pretty tough challenges, and that's what we're going to keep working on.

CABRERA: It is complex. We certainly understand that. Marie Harf, deputy spokesman for the State Department and Elise Labott, thanks to both of you for the conversation today.

HARF: Thank you.

CABRERA: Crash investigators are still 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.

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MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Martin Savidge live in Jerusalem here to give a quick update on where things stand on the possibility of a cease-fire continuing. Right now we are about a little over an hour away from when it was set to expire. There has been talk late 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 members, and what they're going to do is, it looks like possibly extend the cease-fire for a few hours. It's not definite yet, but that is the way it is looking from here. However, it does not appear from what we are learning that Hamas is wanting to extend the cease-fire.

Again, it may be that Israel is willing to extend it for a few hours. Not another 12, as was earlier thought. But instead, for only a few hours, and it remains to be seen if Hamas will go along with that. Let's get back to Ana Cabrera now in Atlanta.

CABRERA: We'll continue our coverage of the situation in Israel. Thanks, Martin.

It has been more than a week since Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 was shot out of the sky over Eastern Ukraine. Now, investigators with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the OSCE, we've been talking about, international monitors, they say pro-Russian rebels are controlling this area and these are the same rebels accused of downing the plane.

They're now hinting that they're patience with the investigators is almost wearing out and it gets a little confusing here, because Malaysia's prime minister says a team of three Malaysian investigators that they want to send in and really do a deep dive haven't even had access to the entire site yet.

The remains of almost 298 people on board have been recovered, but some remains still lie amid the debris. And now the Netherlands is negotiating with Ukraine to try to send 40 Dutch military police to search for more bodies.

In this still violent and very tense setting, investigators at the crash site of MH17 are finding it tough to piece together clues. Much of the debris has been scattered. There are reports that some of it may have been confiscated by those pro-Russian rebels at the site.

Joining me now, aviation analyst, Peter Goelz, who is also a former managing director of the National Transportation Safety Board. Peter, as we mentioned, the rebels are reportedly losing patience with investigators, but we're also hearing the experts can't get in to certain areas to do their investigation. What do you make of this?

PETER GOELZ, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: Well, Ana, it continues to be outrageous. The separatists and their sponsors the Russians, the last thing they want is this tragedy to be investigated, because all of the evidence is pointing directly at them. They don't want investigators to be in there. They don't want to have wreckage examined by metallurgists.

They want this thing to be drawn out. They want it to be confused and unfortunately, the despicable behavior on their part, there are bodies still out there that have not been recovered. So it really is just, really, appalling behavior. CABRERA: Do we know specifically what those international monitors from OSCE are doing? What exactly is their role if they aren't investigating?

GOELZ: Well, the OSCE investigators are not aviation or accident investigators. They're U.N. representatives, and they're really there as almost stakeholders. I mean, they got there and God bless them for being there in a reasonable amount of time. They are witnesses to what's going on. But the real investigators, the metallurgists and aviation experts, have really not been allowed on scene for any serious amount of time.

Now, luckily, we have photographs. We've seen the wreckage and it's been somewhat documented. We have the black boxes, but a true accident investigation or crash investigation has not been initiated yet, and frankly, the separatists and the Russians don't want that to take place.

CABRERA: Well, certainly it seems like we're in a bit of a holding pattern. What about the black boxes that were confiscated from the scene? Are those going to provide clues, do you think even if people didn't see the missiles coming?

GOELZ: Yes, they may, but it's unlikely that they'll be more than just a few nanoseconds of data left on it because when the -- when a plane comes apart at that altitude, the power that runs the boxes terminates immediately. It will be some indication. Further confirmation that a sudden catastrophic event happened at altitude.

But we've seen many of the pictures that really indicate that this plane was hit with shrapnel. If we can get our hands on some of that wreckage, the investigators will be able to determine by the holes, by the type of residue that they'll find inside the holes exactly what caused it.

CABRERA: Right. They just need to get in there. Peter Goelz in Washington, thank you.

GOELZ: Thank you.

CABRERA: We'll have the latest on the U.S. evacuation of Libya right after this.

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