san francisco. >> you know, the local sheriff's office says coroners believe williams' death was a suicide due to asphyxia. he was 63. cnn's nischelle turner takes us back through the actor's illustrious career. >> reporter: his high-octane brand of comedy was his trademark public persona. but robin williams proved himself an oscar winner with a strong philanthropic side. born in 1951, it was in his 20s when williams was unleashed. first as an american tv star. >> run for your life! the emotions are coming! >> reporter: as mork from the planet ork in "mork and mindy" williams became a household name. when the series ended after a four-year run in 1982, he showed he could do more than make people laugh. >> my name is t.s. garp. >> what's t.s. stand for? >> terribly sexy. >> the juilliard-schooled actor unveiled his dramatic side for the first time in 1982's "the world according to garp." >> i was trained as an actor. so it's not like they have to medicate me. >> reporter: that serious side earned him oscar nominations for "the fisher king." >> good morning vietnam! >> reporter: "good morning vietnam" and "dead poets society." >> it's the golden dude. >> he finally won his only oscar statue in 1998 for "good will hunting." >> this one, yes. the other ones were just foreplay. it's extraordinary. >> reporter: but williams never stopped being funny, even when the topic seemed serious. he helped launch and co-hosted eight telethons over 20 years to help the homeless. >> men who sleep with chickens and the women who love them. >> reporter: comic relief earned more than $50 million. and even when he talked about his battles with drugs and alcohol, he talked about it with humor. >> you were drunk. >> well, that's nice of you to say that. >> reporter: he took three trips to rehab. most recently this summer. he talked about the process on "larry king live" in 2007. >> what happens to people, basically start the process of just saying no and being among others. you know, and learning that you're not alone and working on giving up. >> do you lose your sense of humor in it? >> no. you find it. you're with people who have a great sense of humor. >> so you're funny there too. >> oh, yeah. you've got to be. >> reporter: in 2009 williams was rushed to the hospital with heart problems. forced to temporarily cancel his one-man show to undergo surgery. he talked about his recovery on the "ellen" show. >> you have a heart surgery, and literally they open you up, they crack the box, and you get really vulnerable. you'll be like -- a kitten. and you get very, very emotional about everything. but i think that's in a way a wonderful thing. it really opens you up to everything. >> reporter: and with a new lease on life williams quickly sprang back into action. in 2011 he made his broadway acting debut starring in rajiv joseph's "bengal tiger at the baghdad zoo." that same year he would marry his third wife, graphic designer susan schneider. in 2013 williams would return to the small screen, starring in the cbs sitcom "the crazy ones." where he would reunite with his old friend pam dawber, better known as mindy. >> i've never met anyone as screwy as you. you're like an alien. >> reporter: from stand-up and sitcoms and beyond, williams would delight audiences for decades with his wacky humor and joyful energy. he was the definition of full of life. and even now his comic legend is destined to endure. >> that was our nischelle turner reporting there. but people across the globe were expressing their condolences over the death of robin williams. as you might expect. >> yeah. and u.s. president barack obama called him one of a kind, saying this -- "he arrived in our lives as an alien, but he ended up touching every element of the human spirit. he made us laugh. he made us cry. he gave his immeasurable talent freely and generously to those who need it most, from our troops stationed abroad to the marginalized on our own streets." >> celebrities also weighing in this hour. actor nathan lane, you may remember he starred with williams in the movie "the birdcage," another classic, he says, "what i'll always remember about robin, perhaps even more than his comic genius, extraordinary talent and asto d astounding intellect, was his huge heart. his tremendous kindness, generosity, and compassion as an acting partner, colleague, and fellow traveler in a difficult world." the outpouring of love, shock, and grief for williams is coming from fans around the world. ted rowlands joins us live now from the hollywood walk of fame there in los angeles, where i understand you've been talking to some of those fans. this is a top tourist attraction. i'm wondering how crowded it's starting to get tonight where it's just past 10:00 in the evening. >> reporter: yeah, errol, it's been a steady crowd throughout the evening since the news came out that robin williams had passed so suddenly. and that's really what's shocking people, is how he died out of the blue. a person that most don't associate any problems with, just joy and after. and to have him pass so suddenly has brought a lot of people out. you can see the memorial that's just starting to build even more, and it has been building throughout the night. his star here on the hollywood walk of fame. and people have been leaving candles and flowers and mementos. and a lot of people just coming to look at it and look at it and take photos and just be here. one of the folks that is here is a young man by the name of cameron. and the interesting thing that we were just talking to cameron about robin williams is he touched so many in so many different generations. you're only 16. >> yeah. >> and you say this is a guy that touched you. you found out about his death and came up with your father. from orange county. >> yeah. he was just really inspirational through like "dead poets society" and lots of his other works. he brought lots of joy and laughter like to many people. it's just a tragedy that he died, so unexpected. >> reporter: and the way he died, we were talking earlier, is so shocking because this was a guy that made us feel so good. and to know that he was feeling so horrible inside is heartbreaking. >> yeah, definitely. i'm just sorry, like overcame with emotions that this happened. like so out of the blue, you know. unexpected. definitely. >> reporter: yeah. and a lot of people have been emotional here tonight. a lot of people breaking down and crying as they come up here. when you talk to them, they're remembering robin williams as they remembered him in different movies or comedy. he won a grammy. this guy did it all. he touched hollywood in a certain way. but he touched the world as well. all of us i think had a connection with him because he was so funny and so talented. and you're seeing the respect being paid tonight here on hollywood boulevard. errol? >> and ted, we're really seeing that also, what we keep coming back, to the fact that ryan williams spanned generations. you just spoke to one teen. robin williams' work has been airing since the '70s. i'm wondering what stories people are sharing with you of meeting robin williams. i know one man from the military showed up there with a picture that he had with the comedian when he was overseas helping the u.s. troops, yyou know, keep their morale up. what kind of stories are standing out to you? >> reporter: yeah. well, that one stands out. about an hour after word had come down that he died, a soldier came by. he served in iraq, and he had a photo of himself and robin williams, and he said it was just an unbelievable experience to meet robin williams in iraq. he came there and was so gracious with all the troops, spending time with people and taking photos. and he said it just -- it moved him to the point where as soon as he heard about it he came down here, brought the photo with him, and he was here literally for hours just here talking about what it meant to him. we talked to a few actors. there's a premiere here in hollywood tonight. and everyone who worked with him had the same thing to say. the person you saw on tv, the robin williams that made you feel so good at home, same guy working with him, just a consummate professional and it's just an absolute shock that he apparently took his own life. >> yeah. it just keeps being proven again and again. he brought so much happiness to so many people for such a long time. ted rowlands live for us there at the hollywood walk of fame in los angeles. a busy location tonight indeed. thanks, ted. >> yeah. and as nischelle turner pointed out, williams wrestled with addiction and depression, turning to rehab for help on more than one occasion. and we will get insight from a psychologist, paula bloom, about the demons that robin williams appeared to be battling for much of his life. that's later this hour. but for now we do want to check some other news. yes. we can actually begin with a bit of good news for people in eastern ukraine. ukraine and russia have agreed to an aid mission led by the international committee of the red cross. the icrc met with representatives from both countries to discuss terms of the operation. russian media report that a russian humanitarian convoy of 280 trucks carrying food, medicine, and power generators is on its way at this moment to eastern ukraine. but some western leaders including u.s. president barack obama are warning russia not to use the mission as a way to send in more troops. the u.s. government has approved sample doses of the experimental ebola drug zmapp to be sent to liberia. mapp pharmaceutical, which makes the drug, says its supply is now exhausted. and that's as the worst ever outbreak of ebola continues to spread. the world health organization says the virus has killed more than 960 people. it's been a while since we've talked about rob ford. the embattled toronto mayor there in canada says now that he received anonymous e-mail warning him to resign within 24 hours or else city hall would be blown up. police sent in bomb-sniffing dogs but they found nothing suspicious, thankfully. ford has faced controversy ever since admitting he smoked crack cocaine. a flight to bring supplies to refugees turns into a desperate rescue. >> yeah. coming up in moments, we'll show you cnn's exclusive look at the harrowing flight into northern iraq. plus, police and protesters continue to clash in the u.s. state of missouri. the latest there coming up. ♪ [music] defiance is in our bones. defiance never grows old. citracal maximum. easily absorbed calcium plus d. beauty is bone deep. what does it mean to have an unlimited mileage warranty on a certified pre-owned mercedes-benz? 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[ machine guns firing ] >> reporter: machine gunners unleash bursts of hot metal. this is the crew aboard an iraqi air force helicopter. they burned through cartridges and belts of ammunition while rushing an aircraft full of food, diapers, water, and baby's milk over isis front lines to civilians trapped on sinjar mountain. >> gunners opening fire at targets down below. they say they regularly take fire. they're clearly trying to defend the aircraft. you can see the people below, trapped on sinjar mountain. they're clustered. they're clustered under olive trees right now, waving to us. they seem to have gathered in these shelters down here. a lot of women and children waving. the crew hurls packages out the door. people swarm the chopper. this has been one chaotic aid distribution. i mean, i really hope we didn't hurt anybody with the bottles of water we were throwing down from a height of 20, 30 feet. it's chaotic. people were waving. they were giving thumbs up. and there are a couple -- there are a couple people very relieved to be off the mountain and clearly very, very frightened. >> reporter: then the helicopter lands one last time to pick up more passengers. here they come. more desperate people throw themselves at the aircraft. heaving their children on board. it's first come, first served. there were some who couldn't make it. aboard the aircraft, shock. exhaustion. fear. that eventually gives way to relief. i can't describe to you how relieved people are right now. they're just shocked. in the chaos of that moment. but we've got little aziza here. she's not happy. because she says her father got left behind. the gunners are opening fire on targets below. they're protecting the helicopter. but it's terrifying these little kids, who are traumatized after their week trapped on that mountain. the problem is we're flying over isis front lines. this is the only protection we have right now to protect the aircraft and its precious cargo. tensions ease when we cross into kurdish-controlled territory. and for a moment there are even smiles as these children realize their ordeal on the mountain is finally over. ivan watson, cnn, over sinjar mountain in northern iraq. >> an amazing report there. it makes you feel like you're on that helicopter with them. and as you saw, some of them just emotionally distraught after such a difficult week. >> it is. it's very upsetting. particularly the children in that situation. >> all right. we'll of course continue to track that story for you. still to come, though, here on cnn, more unrest in the u.s. state of missouri. >> yeah, racial tensions simmer after the police shooting of a black teenager over the weekend. we'll have more on that when we return. so ally bank really has no hidden fees on savings accounts? 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right now the answer isn't clear. authorities say brown assaulted the officer before he opened fire. but witnesses here tell a different story. they say it appeared as if brown was surrendering when the officer fired multiple times. >> the police chased after the guy who of course was unarmed p he ran for his life. they shot him. and he fell. he put his arms up to let them know he was compliant and that he was unarmed, and they shot him twice more, and he fell to the ground and died. >> reporter: a crowd starts gathering as brown's body lies in the street. anger builds while officers scramble to control the scene. >> there's a lot of controversy about what happened, and tempers started flaring. it did get a little tense when twice several shots were fired. we don't know who was being shot at or where the rounds went. >> reporter: on sunday what starts as a peaceful march and candlelight vigil for the brown family quickly turns to this. tempers erupt into widespread rioting and looting. windows broken, merchandise stolen. listen as an officer is caught on camera calling the protesters animals. >> all you [ bleep ]. bring it. >> reporter: throughout the chaos brown's family members can be seen standing by holding his photograph, pleading for calm. >> we already lost one young life. i want everybody to take a positive yut look at this and let's not get negative and fight anybody. >> this is your warning. leave the area. >> this is not doing any good for our community. this is only bringing the community down. and unfortunately, it is not going to do anything for the process involved right now in investigating the untimely death of this young man. >> what do we want? >> justice. >> when do we want it? >> now. >> reporter: monday more protests and more pleas for calm. >> no justice, no peace. no justice, no peace. >> reporter: jason carroll, cnn, ferguson, missouri. >> volatile situation there. but good to see relatives and other officials saying everybody relax while this gets investigated, let's not make it worse. we want to bring this story to you now. investigators are examining a second video from a race car crash that killed driver kevin ward jr. he was struck by fellow dirt track driver tony stewart during a race saturday. stewart dropped out of a nascar race the day after. it's unclear if he will participate in another one planned for this weekend. >> now, ward was 20 years old. medical examiners say he died of massive blunt trauma. no criminal charges have been filed against stewart. all right. we will take a short break now. but still ahead, more on the loss of robin williams. >> yeah, it is suspected the acclaimed performer died by his own hand. it just doesn't make sense to so many people. coming up, i'll speak with a mental health professional about what could have driven this tragic funny man to a sad end. stay with us here on cnn. this is kathleen. setting up the perfect wedding day begins with arthritis pain and two pills. afternoon arrives and feeling good, but her knee pain returns... that's two more pills. the evening's event brings laughter, joy, and more pain... when jamie says... what's that like six pills today? 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'cause she's your baby girl. and now you're proud. a bundle of nerves proud. but proud. get a discount when you add a newly-licensed teen to your liberty mutual insurance policy. call to learn about our whole range of life event discounts. newlywed discount. new college graduate and retiree discounts. you could even get a discount when you add a car. call liberty mutual for a free quote today at see car insurance in a whole new light. liberty mutual insurance. welcome back to cnn center. i'm glad you're still with us. i'm errol barnett. >> and i'm rosemary church. we do want to check the headlines this hour. actor robin williams is dead at the age of 63. he was found in his california home monday. the local sheriff's office says coroners believe his death was a suicide due to asphyxia. a spokesman for the actor says he had been recently battling severe depression. >> u.s. president barack obama says iraq has taken a positive step in nominating a new prime minister. iraq's president announced that haider al ibadi will assume the position. but current prime minister nouri al maliki says he will contest that nomination. ukraine and russia have agreed to an aid mission led by the international committee of the red cross. the icrc met with representatives from both countries to discuss terms of the operation. russian media report that a russian humanitarian convoy of 280 trucks carrying food, medicine, and power generators is on its way to ukraine. let's return now to our top story this hour, the death of robin williams. and here's a clip from a stand-up routine where he made fun of drinking too much. a problem he was very familiar with. >> you get drunk, you go out for indian food. you wake up in bombay with a camel licking your balls. ta-da! you are an alcoholic. and some people say robin, i'm a functioning alcoholic. which is you can be one. it's like being a paraplegic lap dancer. you can do it. just not as well as the others really. >> no barriers there. kim serafin joins us now via skype from los angeles. she is a senior editor for "in touch weekly." thanks, kim, for joining us. unfortunate circumstances, of course. but what a tragic loss this has been to the acting community and beyond. and such a shock. how have people been responding to his passing? >> yeah, tragic but you have to still smile when you look at all these clips. i've been watching them all day practically. you just -- you can't help but smile. so that is one thing that at least he will have that lasting memory of just making people laugh. but yeah, i mean, people are really affected because this is a man who affected so many different generations. people who watched him in "mork and mindy." people who watched him in "dead poets society." being nominated for four oscars for dramatic roles, which i think is kind of interesting because he was known as such a comic. and thin even have him playing theodore roosevelt in "night at the museum." so younger people getting to know him. and "mrs. doubtfire." that's one of my favorite movies. and i think people of any age like that movie. you remember growing up with it, watching it when you were little, going with your kids. he touched the lives of so many people in every single generation. >> yeah. and of course as the u.s. president said, robin williams arrived in our lives as an alien. of course as mork in the tv series "mork and mindy." but from there of course he went on to establish this incredible collection of work as you pointed out there. what overall do you think is his legacy? how will he be remembered? or there's just too many movies to sort of stick with one. >> reporter: ye >> yeah, i think people will remember him as a comedic genius. that's the lasting impression. you just remember him as this quick witted guy. nobody could match his wit. you put a microphone in his guy and he could just go off on any tangent and talk about anything, and it was hard to even keep up with him because he was so funny and so quick and so a step ahead of everyone. he could do impressions. but also he was a trained serious actor. he went to juilliard as a serious actor. and again, as i mentioned, his oscar nominations were for serious roles. so you have those serious roles. you have the serious roles that have kind of that comedic twist. and then you have those just straight out comic just brilliance that he's done, whether it's been movies or stand-up or any talk show appearance that he ever did. he just took the feet away from whoever was interviewing him. >> yeah, he could certainly cover anything, couldn't he? and williams, as we've been talking about, was battling severe depression and addiction. what all do we know about the time eading up just before his passion and of course the rehabilitation that he needed to work through? >> of course we talk about this so often in hollywood. it's very sad. but robin williams was very open about his struggles with addiction. he did have an addiction problem. he went to rehab in 2006 after he had 20 years of sobriety. and then there was this -- about a month ago he checked himself back into rehab. but again, had always been very open about what he was struggling with. we didn't really know much about the one that happened last month. it was kind of framed i believe according to his publicist as he was just rechecking himself in just to kind of tune up or just kind of assess things, it wasn't a full-on rehab stint apparently. but yearly according to the statement his publicist put out about him dealing and battling with severe depression, clearly this was a lot bigger than a lot of people knew. >> yeah. absolutely. and kim, i have to ask, what's going to happen to the various upcoming movies robin williams had been working on? we now four were being released this year, right? >> of course you have "night at the museum," the third installment coming out in december. and then the ones people are most affected by is the mrs. doubtfire sequel. that had been in the works since 2001. they finally just assigned a writer to it. so this looked like it was really on track. so obviously you can't really go forward without him in that role. >> oh, absolutely. kim serafin, thank you so much for joining us and talking to us about this story that of course has gripped people right across the globe. many thanks to you, kim. >> thanks. >> and we still have reaction pouring in to us here at cnn. here's some of what we have received from hollywood. >> it has been one of those icons of hollywood all around the world. i just arrived a few hours ago from europe. it's the first thing that i saw on television. it was shocking, sad. yesterday we had a superstar. today unfortunately we have a legend. >> as an individual i think he had a lot of heart and a lot of compassion. he did a lot of things for a lot of people. publicly and privately. he transcended his fear of expertise, which is like a benchmark as a comedian and he crossed over into other areas and excelled at everything. so you know, he's gone way too soon. he was very talented. and we're all going to miss him. >> williams made no secret of his struggle with alcohol and drug addiction. a spokesman says the comic also suffered from severe depression. i spoke last hour with clinical psychologist paula bloom to gain some insight into what might have pushed williams over the edge. >> the thing with depression, that is the leading cause of suicide, is depression. and what happens is -- depression is a biochemical brain disease. this is not some choice that he made. this is a disease. and one of the symptoms of that disease is that it narrows your field of vision. it makes it much more difficult to solve problems. so what happens is you narrow your field of vision and what ends up happening is that the only solution to stop your pain looks like the only solution looks like suicide. >> but what makes this so shocking for all of us as we go through all of his famous roles, everyone here telling a story of something funny he did that really, really touched them, is we see often famous successful actors and comedians dying in such tragic ways because of drug overdoses, possibly to cover up things. what about the life of a comedian? a lot of them say they actually pull their material from some deep dark experiences. >> right. >> but they're in these comedy nightclubs. robin williams really shot to fame in the '70s when he was a struggling comedian before he got that "mork and mindy" role. is it wise to be getting free alcohol, jumping up on stage, venting so openly, being so vulnerable, and seeing what a bunch of strangers think of you? >> a lot of times people who are actors and comedians and you talk to them, they say they can't imagine doing anything else, they're called to do this work. so you're right. it isn't the ideal situation to be in if you're vulnerable to mental illness or addiction. but a lot of times what it is is this kind of mask that people can wear that can have this double life. you know, people have been saying to me, i was on facebook and talking about oh, my gosh, he was so funny, i don't understand. how well do we really know people? you know, actors, they aren't their characters. and a lot of times comedians are almost acting all the time. >> so it's almost perfectly suited for that type of character who has a professional mask. >> he can wear a mask, yeah. >> so we do know he was suffering with severe depression based on the statement. for anyone watching now who feels that they may be suffering, what would you advise? i notice in the u.s. you get these commercials, you're bombarded with them, that say are you upset at this very moment? do you have a lack of sleep? and i think to myself, oh, my goodness, that's me. >> right. >> but is that the right thing to do, to simply prescribe a pill? what's the right approach for someone watching who feels they may be suffering with depression? >> sure. when it comes to depression, depression has a lot of different characteristics to it. lots of disorders have to do with sleep. being a new mother, that's a sleep deprivation. there is a lot of things that have to do with sleep. the big thing to look at with depression is how are you functioning? when you're having thoughts of wanting to die, that is a serious, serious warning sign. the good news with all of this is that depression is highly treatable. the problem is that the depression, when it gets bad, it tells you you're not depressed. it tells you life is terrible. life is hopeless. but we want people to know that they can get help. that they can get help. >> good words there from dr. paula bloom. you can get help. robin williams, dead at the age of 63. you can learn more about williams' life and career on our website. just head on over to cnn.com. all right. still to come for you here, the ebola outbreak. new information on that. >> we will take a look at why it scares the western world so much. we come into the world hungry. and never quite get over it. seven billion hungry people. well, we grow a lot of food. we also waste about a third of what we grow. so, we put our scientists to work. and they found ways to keep the food we grow fresher, longer. using innovative packaging. there are still a lot of hungry people in the world. but we have a lot of scientists. this is the human element at work. dow. ♪ [music] defiance is in our bones. defiance never grows old. citracal maximum. easily absorbed calcium plus d. beauty is bone deep. making sure you pay the right price for a new car just got a whole lot easier. introducing the kelley blue book price advisor. the powerful tool that shows you what should pay. it gives you a fair purchase price that's based on what others recently for the same car and kelley blue book's trusted pricing expertise. it all adds up to the confidence that you'll get a great deal. that's just another way kbb.com helps you make a smart new car decision. scheck it out.? i just saved 15% on car insurance in 15 minutes, so i took a selfie to show everyone how happy i am. really? because esurance saved me money in half that time. can i...? oh you can be in it! no need to photo-bomb me. hashbrown. selfie. yeah... that's not how it works. 15 minutes for a quote isn't how it works anymore. start with a quote from esurance and you could save money on car insurance in half the time. welcome to the modern world. esurance. backed by allstate. click or call. concerns all around the world. >> we've got some new numbers now in from the world health organization. the group now says the total number of confirmed probable and suspe suspected deaths from the virus is now 1,013. so it's crossed the 1,000 mark. and the total number of cases is approaching 2,000. >> yeah, that is a great concern to everyone. and the u.s. government has approved sample doses of that experimental ebola drug zmapp to be sent to liberia. mapp pharmaceutical, which makes the drug, says its supply is now exhausted. meanwhile, guinea, where the outbreak began, has closed its border to liberia and sierra leone to help stem the spread of ebola. not long ago the idea of an unstoppable virus was all but alien to the western world. >> yeah, not anymore. our chief medical correspondent dr. sanjay gupta looks at why the ebola virus terrifies the western world so much. >> it's airborne. >> reporter: could this -- or this -- >> it's contagious. >>. >> reporter: -- be the roots of our fair of the ebola virus? >> what's wrong with these people? >> i don't know, emma. i don't know. >> ebola is the most feared, in part because it had a movie made about it. >> you could do a whole film festival on virus movies. >> what is it? >> the way it's been portrayed in some of these movies is strangers in hazmat suits. >> that must be it. >> walking through villages of poor mystified african people. children looking out at the camera, african children, with scared confused faces. >> reporter: and of course an infected animal. >> all of these things have this element of the strange, the alien, very, very fearful images. >> reporter: it's been called the outbreak narrative. and it tends to play out the same way. a mysterious deadly virus in a developing country stirs fear among people in developed countries. >> the first thing they seem to ask themselves is is it going to come to get me? is it going to come to america? is it going to spread across america? >> reporter: another problem, the outbreak narrative to unfolds in movies looks a lot like the one that unfolds on the news. >> an ebola emergency. >> first patient with ebola to be treated -- >> the first ever known ebola patient on u.s. soil. >> reporter: the drama can become so intertwined it confuses for some the facts about ebola. >> we can stop ebola. we know how to do it. >> reporter: and why do we seem to be more afraid of ebola than, say, sars or the flu? because, says david quammen, ebola is inherently more dramatic. >> this virus kills 90% of the people it infects. the idea that it's extraordinarily bloody. the idea that it causes people to bleed out. the idea that it dissolves bodies. those images are so lurid and so riveting that people fixated on ebola. ah, it's the world's most dangerous and most scary virus. >> reporter: scary. but not yet a threat here. not yet a cause for concern. >> worry about the african people who are dying of this disease. be concerned about them. their misery and their jeopardy. >> reporter: dr. sanjay gupta, cnn, reporting. >> all right. so folks in the west can breathe easy. but for people in west africa that fear is justified. this virus is outside their door and killing many people, and they're still trying to get it under control. >> big concern. >> just an important note to make there. we are nearly halfway through a three-day cease-fire in the middle east. >> yeah, straight ahead the rush is on to make repairs so gaza can have some of the desperately needed basics. we'll have the details on that. save you fifteen percent or huh, more on car insurance. everybody knows that. well, did you know the great wall of china wasn't always so great? hmmm...what should we do? geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. what does it mean to have an unlimited mileage warranty on a certified pre-owned mercedes-benz? what does it mean to drive as far as you want... for up to three years... and be covered? it means your odometer... is there to record... the memories. during the mercedes-benz certified pre-owned sales event now through september 2nd, you'll get complimentary pre-paid maintenance and may qualify for a two-month payment credit. only at your authorized mercedes-benz dealer. a three-day cease-fire in the middle east, and so far we haven't heard of violations on either side. that is good news. >> yeah, reason to be cautiously optimistic. and also indirect talks, they are continuing between palestinians and israelis in cairo. chief palestinian negotiator saeb erakat attended an urgent arab league meeting on monday he. he was basically asking for international help to get gaza back on its feet. israel wants hamas to disarm and demilitarize gaza, while hamas is demanding an end to the blockade of gaza and for its sea and airports to reopen. >> palestinians are using that cease-fire to repair power lines and get water running again. >> yeah, cnn's john vause reports on efforts to rebuild gaza both in the short and long term. >> reporter: just 72 hours to try to fix the worst of gaza's devastation. like the sewage pipes which have been spewing raw effluent for more than two weeks. >> i work by monday now, work this lines. >> we need water to drink. >> reporter: to try and get water running again to thousands of homes. to repair transmission lines from israel, up to seven hours of power a day now after more than a week with almost no electricity at all. aid groups are distributing mattresses, water, and basic supplies to last just a few days. but tens of thousands like amin kafana and his family have been left homeless. "i don't even know where my house is," he says. ", with the road? where is my neighbor's home?" he says repeated israeli air strikes flattened the entire neighborhood. rebuilding isn't so much a question of when but how. >> and this was a combination of what, air strikes? artillery? do you know? >> everything. tanks, air strikes. >> reporter: hatim's factory made ready mix for buggs. just one of 60 construction companies according to palestinian officials which were targeted by israel. >> you cannot rebuild gaza again until these kind of factories rebuild. look, this is what you produce. >> reporter: hatim doesn't know why his factory was a target. he sold only to the u.n. and aid groups. all of it, he says, closely monitored by israel. >> we are not following hamas policies. we are following israel policies. and even though they destroyed our business. they destroyed our factories. and they want peace. how? >> reporter: israel's prime minister wants reconstruction here linked to long-term demilitarization. although some in israel describe it for every truckload of cement that comes in a truckload of rockets goes out. hamas, though, is insisting as long as israel has a military they want one too. john vause, cnn, gaza. >> we here at cnn did contact the israel defense forces to ask why that construction factory was hit. they are still looking into it. but in the past the israeli military has insisted it doesn't target civilian infrastructure. now, if you do feel compelled, you can help gaza get back on its feet. just check out the impact your world section of our website. you can find all this at cnn.com/impac cnn.com/impact. we've got lightning strikes in northern california which have sparked new wildfires there. and severe weather in iowa caused quite a mess during a sailing competition. >> meteorologist pedram javaherri joins us from the international weather center. pedram, that begs the question why sailing boats were out in that sort of weather in the first place. >> yeah. it's probably the most obvious question being asked today in that region, rosie-s we had a severe weather pattern in this area set up. and in fact the spin you see right here on satellite imagery is actually remnants of what was once hurricane bertha. skirted by the eastern united states and impacted directly the bahamas and also the turks and caicos island. came all the way back to the east portion of the uk and remnants battered this region with tremendous rainfall, hurricane-force winds, winds at times in the past 24 hours alone reaching 65 to 75 miles per hour or over 100 kilometers per hour. and right here just off the coast of belfast is where we had officials sent out the coast guard and the crew rescuing some 200 people in a sailing event that was taking place, an annual event that takes place this time of year in typical conditions but of course we know the storm was coming this direction. ten people treated for hypothermia because of the capsize of the boats here that occurs over the past few hours. 2:00 in the afternoon local time on monday afternoon. but look at the numerous reports. two of them to share with you here of tornadoes across the region. so you know the atmosphere was very unstable. six tornadoes in total across this region in the past 24 hours, and the storms certainly still going to be active. and again right here off the coast of northern ireland where we had some 80 boats capsized during a sailing event taking place monday afternoon. at this point it looks like conditions finally should begin to improve over the next day or so over that region. overt eastern united states different story. we have a pretty strong storm system cruising out toward the northeastern u.s. if you're traveling out to new york city, pittsburgh out toward boston, this is going to be an area severely impacted by storms over the next few hours into tuesday afternoon. out to the west we have extensive heat taking place. temperatures into the 80s fahrenheit. of course fire threat also in place. and you know, rosie and errol, typically when you have any sort of fire set up, we've had multiple fires here, lightning strikes, satellite imagery. air tankers used. pack mules are being used right now across portions of northern california. each animal carrying some 160 pounds of gear, 70 kilos in weight. and a string of mules actually saves 12 helicopter rides, and they take equipment and also bring equipment back down from the mountain here in aiding some of these fires. >> beasts of burden the term, right? very reliable. >> yes, they are. >> thanks, pedram. well, you know, hundreds of people in moscow are lining up for what's quickly becoming, if you can believe it, the latest fashion craze there. >> yeah. is it a handbag? designer shoes? no. take a look. seems russia has a bit of putinmania she's days. >> all these people are waiting to get their hands on putin t-shirts. some have the russian president on horseback in that classic image. others have him sipping a cocktail in crimea. >> wow. it's his dream. the patriotic t-shirts cost about $33. >> i think about $30 too much. >> you won't be getting one of those putin t-shirts? >> no. >> all right. we're going to be back in just a short while after this break. >> please do stay with us. a lot more of the world's biggest stories to come, including a presidential snub in iraq that could have major impacts on the country's political future. >> we'll also have the latest on the passing of comedian and oscar-winning actor robin williams. stay with us. in new york state, we're changing the way we do business, with startup ny. we've created tax free zones throughout the state. and startup ny companies will be investing hundreds of millions of dollars in jobs and infrastructure. thanks to startup ny, businesses can operate tax free for 10 years. no property tax. no business tax. and no sales tax. which means more growth for your business, and more jobs. it's not just business as usual. see how new york can help your business grow, at startup.ny.gov the ca♪illac summer collection is here. ♪ during the cadillac summer's best event, lease this 2014 ats for around $299 a month and make this the summer of style. so ally bank really has no hidden fethat's right. accounts? 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