This is the cbs evening news with scott pelley. Pelley good evening. This is our western edition. Much of the news today about the Malaysia Flight 17 crash was broken by president obama. He told us at least one u. S. Citizen was among the 298 who died. He said the plane was shot down by a surfacetoair missile fired from a part of ukraine controlled by prorussian rebels. These rebels are fighting to break away from ukraine. And while the president stopped short of saying the kremlin was blind the downing of flight 17, listen to what he said about the rebels who have boasted about shooting down at least three Ukrainian Military planes. A group of separatists cant shoot down military transport planes or, they claim, shoot down fighter jets without trphisticated equipment and sophisticated training, and that is coming from russia. Pelley we have a team of correspondents on this story. Irst, we go to Mark Phillips at the crash site in eastern ukraine, where the reality of what has happened can be difficult to watch. Reporter the arguments may be raging over who did this, but there is almost nothing being done to investigate this site or to care for the remains of the victims of the air disaster. In a field in eastern ukraine, the wreckage and the bodies lie entangled, exposed, neglected. Volunteers have been looking for victims, overseen by the pro russian rebel militias which control the area. Without proper resources to affect a disaster of this scale, the local people have been spotting the bodies. You can see the little sticks with ribbons at the top one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine nine bodies lying in a field just here. And the crash scene is spread over nine miles of countryside. There are unbearable images wherever you look. And the crash area is still not secure. People have been moving through this crime scene. A full day after a major air disaster like this, and a crash oute would normally be crawling esti investigators and people retrieving the bodies of the victims. The fields here are full of bodies, but this is a crash site in a war zone. Getting at the truth wont be easy. The first attempt at an investigation did not go well. Monitors from the o. S. C. E. , the European Security body, had been assured of protection and unfettered access, but the rebels only allowed them a brief visit, and the planes black box data recorders have not been produced, despite earlier rebel claims that they had found them. O. S. C. E. Spokesman michael bociurkiw. The location of the black box is a huge concern because its a major piece of evidence. Theyre also concerned about the perimeter, whether its been secured to avoid tampering or looting. Reporter time is critical in crash investigations, and the time here is ticking away. And it is the promoscow rebels here under most suspicion for bringing down the plane, and it is they who control the k,idence. Pelley mark, thank you so much. The u. S. Says it already has some evidence in hand, and david martin has learned what it is. Reporter a fireball picked up by american satellites was the first indication a surface toair missile armed with a high explosive warhead had struck the airliner. U. S. Surveillance also detected a part of the missiles flight path as it streaked toward the plane, allowing analysts to backtrack from the point of impact to an area on the ground at the border between ukraine and russia, most likely on the ukrainian side of the border, territory held by prorussian rebels. Based on signals the Missile System gave off, analysts identified it as likely a russianmade sa11, a sophisticated system of radars, command posts and launchers. Pentagon spokesman admiral john kirby said the rebels probably couldnt have operated it on their own. It strains creulity to think it could be used by separatists without some measure of Russian Support and technical assistance. Reporter the assistance could range from training rebel Missile Crews in russia up to a russian personnel actually conducting a launch that brought down the plane. Earlier in the fighting, the rebels proved they could shoot down lower flying transport planes and helicopters, but never anything flying as high as an airliner. U. S. Intelligence had known the rebels were undergoing anti Aircraft Training in russia, but they did not know they had somehow gotten their hands on a system as capable as the sa11. Pelley david martin at the pentagon. David, thank you. Flight 17 was en route from amsterdam to kuala lumpur. In both cities, relatives are grieving for the loved ones they lost. Nearly twothirds of the victims were dutch, dozens more malaysian. The victims came from at least 11 countries, and at least one was born in the United States. Heres jim axelrod. Reporter born to two dutch nationals, 19yearold Quinn Schansman held dual american dutch citizenship. It was left to his girlfriend of ten months to post heartbreaking facebook pictures of a beautiful young couple just getting started. Facebook also provided haunting image of a man, his wife and children. The last picture, posted by the mom, the kids and suitcases curbside. Nick norris, taking his grandchildren home. Mo, 12, edie 10, otis, 8. Toey had all been on vacation, but the granddad took the kids home early so the parents could have a few days on their own. Karljin keijzer was dutch, but went to school at the university of indiana, where she was a top notch rower studying for her doctorate in chemistry. Sanjid singh sandhu was a 41 yearold Flight Attendant everyone called bobby. He wasnt scheduled to work the flight, but switched shifts with a colleague. Sandhu switched to the flight and died. His wife is also a malaysia frlines Flight Attendant, scheduled to work on the malaysia jet that disappeared four months ago, but switched off that flight at the last minute and lived. Pelley jim, thanks very much. Wso among the victims were nearly 100 experts on aids who were heading to a medical conference in melbourne, australia. Former president bill clinton will be addressing that same conference next week. Mr. Clinton said he was sickened by what happened and called them martyrs to the cause in the battle against aids. More now from elizabeth palmer. Of reporter among the men and women of science who died in this crash was a giant joep lange, doctor and campaigner who spearheaded the push to get cheap antiviral drugs to the poor. He was treating the first, education. Reporter his fellow researcher and friend, tobias rinke de wit. I think the greatest achievement of joep is really to gave a face to the nameless people, mostly in africa and asia, who were suffering from one of the biggest epidemics of all times. Reporter his partner in life and work was Jacqueline Van tongerent, traveling with him to the conference in australia. Sun ding, a colleague, is still struggling to accept that Jacqueline Van tongerent is gone. What will you miss most . Her laughter. Reporter it must seem very unreal, even now. Totally. Totally. Totally. Reporter all of the nearly 100 aids and hiv scientists and activists who lost their lives will be terribly missed, but the fierce dedication of champions like joep lange lives on. Its going to leave a big hole. Absolutely, but we will not stop. Well fill in his legacy. This is not the end, certainly not. Reporter of course, the work on hiv will go on, but this tragedy represents quite a setback. As one australian researcher put it, scott, what if the cure for aids was on that plane . Pelley liz palmer for us in amsterdam tonight. Thank you, liz. There was a memorialth los angeles today to honor those aids expergts. About 40 people attended locking arms in unity, others wrote notes. The aids Healthcare Foundation which organized a memorial said it was a personal tragedy because the group sends delegates to the conference every year. President obama today said russian president Vladimir Putin has the power to end the violence in ukraine. Major garrett is at the white house for us tonight. Major . Reporter scott, the white house wants to make russian president Vladimir Putin, in the words of one top advisor, squirm for the strategic mistake of arming the separatists, and using global outrage over this tragedy to de escalate the conflict, as the United States presented its evidence at the u. N. And claimed the russian baghdad rebels brought it down. The violence taking place is facilitated in large part because of Russian Support, and they have the ability to move those separatists in a different direction. Reporter the white house will not provide more military aid to the Ukrainian Government, arguing the region needs fewer weapons, not more and, for the moment, no new u. S. Economic sanctions against russia are contemplated, either. But president obama just wrapped up a conversation with german chancellor Angela Merkel an british Prime MinisterDavid Cameron to assess europes willingness to increase economic pressure on russia on its own. Pelley we now go to the kremlin where the russians are saying dont blame us. Collars class is in moscow. Reporter as u. S. Officials pointed the finger at pro russian separatists and sponsors in moscow, president Vladimir Putin laid the blame elsewhere. This tragedy would not have happened, he said, if the fighting had not been restarted in the southeast of ukraine. Russias Defense Ministry went further, blaming the Ukrainian Military. It claimed that a ukrainian buk t tiaircraft missile battery like this one had been operational in the border region, though the russians stopped short of saying there was any evidence that it fired the fatal missile. Russian citizens today laid flowers outside the dutch and malaysian embassies, but the tragedy has put the russian government in an awkward situation. One of the military commanders of the separatist rebels in ukraine is igor girkin, a russian citizen. Earlier this week, girkin took credit for allegedly shooting down a military aircraft. A recording released by the Ukrainian Government caught another commander telling his russian handler his men had shot down a plane making it more difficult for moscow to avoid responsibility for the rebels actions. Pelley clarissa, you recognize the voice of the commander on the tape . I do, absolutely, scott, because that commander byes actually detained our crew in ukraine a couple of months ago. Re were stopped at a checkpoint, blindfolded, held for hours, one crew member beaten, no reason given for the detention and we were only released, apparently, scott, after a russian commander antervened and gave the order. Pelley clarissa, thanks very much. Mike morrell has been giving us insight into the downing of the plane. Until last year, mr. Morrell was the number two official at the c. I. A. , now a cbs news hntributor. Mr. Morrell, how much involvement did the russians have, in your opinion . There are different degrees here, scott. The first level were at is putin encouraged the separatists, funded them, has equipped and trained them. If you feed the beast, youre responsible for what the beast has done. Were already there. Theres additional possible complicity, which is did the putin and the russians give the separatists this particular iaapons system and train them . Std then, did any russian ing ofl forces actually assist in the firing of the missile . Pelley how would the United States ever prove these things . Youre not going to know from investigating the crash site. Were not going to find it that way. Fie only way were going to find , itis through intelligence. We could learn quickly, it may take time, or we may never know. Pelley where does this lead Vladimir Putin . Regardless of the level of complicity, hes in a very bad place. If you think back to the soviet unions downing of the south korean aircraft in 1983, that was a turning point in the cold war. It showed the world what the soviet union was all about. That same thing could happen to putin now. Pelley mike morrell, former Deputy Director of the c. I. A. , thanks. Thank you, scott. Pelley well take you into day two of israels Ground Invasion in gaza. And to the front lines in the battle against wildfires when the cbs evening news continues. Dentures are very different to real teeth. Theyre about 10 times softer and may have surface pores where bacteria can multiply. Polident kills 99. 99 of odor causing bacteria and helps dissolve stains so dentures are cleaner, fresher, and brighter. [ male announcer ] polident. Its about getting to the finish line. In life, its how you get there that matters most. Its important to know the difference. Like when i found out i had a blood clot in my leg. My doctor said that it could travel to my lungs and become an even bigger problem. And that i had to take action. So he talked to me about xarelto®. [ male announcer ] xarelto® is the first oral prescription blood thinner proven to treat and help prevent dvt and pe that doesnt require regular blood monitoring or changes to your diet. 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Elrael said this is a limited offensive aimed at destroying palestinian rocket launchers, as well as tunnels dug by the militants to infiltrate israeli territory. In most of the gaza strip, they havent yet seen a single israeli soldier. In beit lahia, just a mile over the border of israel, we found the street eerily quiet. The Israeli Military told residents to evacuate the town before the invasion, and many people heeded the warning. In gaza city, we arrived on the cene just after a direct hit decimated this building. Ict as they picked their way through the rubble, suddenly, people began to run for cover. What just happened back there is that people heard a drone overhead and, so, they panicked and ran, thinking another air strike was coming in. This whole place is really on edge today. But friday is the muslim holy day, and in a mood of defiance, many people came out to pray. This conflict has raged for decades, and 92yearold Mohammed Omar susi told us, if he were a young man, he would fight the israelis himself. The israeli Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu said today hes ordered the countrys military to prepare for a possible expansion of the ground offensive. And tonight, scott, the gaza strip is being pummeled with air strikes and heavy caliber weapons. Pelley holly williams, remarkable coverage all week. Thanks, holly. Here at home, dozens of families have lost homes to wildfires in the west. That storys next. Storys next. [ female announcer ] its simple physics. A body at rest tends to stay at rest. While a body in motion tends to stay in motion. Staying active can actually ease arthritis symptoms. But if you have arthritis, staying active can be difficult. Prescription celebrex can help relieve arthritis pain so your body can stay in motion. 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