captioning sponsored by macneil/lehrer productions >> ifill: we have two major stories this evening, first, a malaysia airlines flight with 295 people on board crashed in ukraine near the russian border. with some evidence suggesting it was shot down. >> woodruff: then, israel's military announced it has launched ground operations in the gaza strip. >> ifill: good evening, i'm gwen ifill. >> woodruff: and i'm judy woodruff. we have those stories and more on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> i've been around long enough to recognize the people who are

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and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> ifill: the fighting in eastern ukraine took a deadly new turn today. a malaysian airlines plane flying over the region appeared to have been shot down with all 295 passengers and crew board feared dead. a ukrainian official said they included 23 americans. the circumstances remained murky, but smoke rising into the eastern ukrainian sky left little doubt of the extent of the tragedy. the burning remains of malaysian airlines flight mh-17 lay scattered over a wide area. it appeared the boeing 777 had broken up before impact. the plane, seen here, in recent

years, had been flying at 33,000 thousand feet, en route from amsterdam to kuala lumpur, when it disappeared. the crash site lay just 25 miles from the russian border, in ukraine's donetsk region, now held by the rebels. it didn't take long for the accusations to begin. in a facebook post, a ukrainian interior ministry official declared the airliner was shot down by rebels using a russian- made sa-17 system. its missiles can reach altitudes of 72,000 feet. just as quickly, the self- proclaimed rebel prime minister of the people's republic of donetsk denied involvement. >> ( translated ): a passenger aircraft has been shot down indeed, shot down by ukrainian air forces. to tell the truth this is a provocation on purpose. in principle this is not the first time for ukraine to shoot down passenger aircrafts, as you know. >> ifill: but ukrainian president petro poroshenko said his military has not fired on

any airborne targets, and he called for an international investigation. >> ( translated ): i just finished a conversation with the prime minister of the netherlands. i offered our condolences on behalf of the ukrainian people and invited dutch experts to open an investigation of this act of terrorism. >> ifill: white house officials said president obama learned of the crash from russian president vladimir putin during a phone call on u.s. sanctions against moscow. later, in delaware, the president called the event a terrible tragedy. >> the united states will offer any assistance we can to help determine what happened and why, and as a country our thoughts and prayers are with all the families of the passengers wherever they call home. >> ifill: for malaysian airlines, it's the second major catastrophe in six months. last march, flight 370 disappeared while flying from kuala lumpur to beijing. a search of the indian ocean off australia has yet to yield any

sign of that plane. later today, russian president putin laid the blame on the ukrainian government for renewing military operations against the rebels. we look at some of the many questions surrounding this with charles duelfer, who spent more than 25 years working for government national security agencies. in 1983 he was the state department's top analyst investigating the shootdown of a south korean airliner by the soviets. and jim hall, the former chair of the national transportation safety board. the board investigated the crashes of t.w.a. flight 800 and egypt air 990 while he was chairman. flying within what would it take to shoot down a commercial airline at 33 though, future. >> there is a lot of capacity to do that. the russians have missile systems to to do just this an apparently these missile systems have come into the hands of ukraine and

ukrainian separatists. it's not a difficult task for a sophisticated army. >> is it possible to confuse a commercial airlinerer with a military transport plane. >> in fact in is probably what happened in 1938 when the russians shot down a 747. they were suspicious that it was an american surveillance aircraft. my guess -- >> this was the korean airline. >> the korean airliner in 1983. if you take one of these military systems and you take it out of an overall air defense system, where you have just got a small unit an they're looking the aircraft outside of any other data, they could look up and misidentify an aircraft. i think that's possibly what would happen in this case where they may have thought they were aiming at a transport aircraft -- air kaft which would be associated with the ukrainian military and in fact been aiming at this 777. >> jim hall, we look at the airspace. we foe about the conflict in ukraine. how safe was it for that airliner to be flying through that airspace at

that altitude? >> well, we don't know for sure. the integrity of this investigation which i agree should be an international investigation, is critical in my opinion to all of the nation's in that region. and so the airspace as i understand it was cleared for commercial flight. so either we're looking at a criminal ago and the dastardly ago that took 295 lives, or a horrible mistake. and the world needs to know that or it's going to have, as i said, a chilling affect on international aviation. >> jim hall, you've investigated unexpected and i guess they are all unexpected, crashes and accidents before. what is the first thing you look for to determine whether there fact, it was a terrible failure of the

aircraft itself or someone's decision to take it down? >> well, of course most of that information going to be contained in the black boxes. hopefully they are in the process of being recovered. the flight-data recorder, the cockpit voice recorder. you are going to be looking obviously at the air-traffic control tapes and any other type of information that you might have that involves communications between the ground and this aircraft charles duelfer president putin apparently informed president obama about this in a phone call earlier in the day which would load one to believe that he was trying to say-- we had nothing to do with this or i guess he would not have brought it up. in the past especially in the korean airliner incident, is this something that anybody would readily admit to or did this have to be unearthed in the investigation? >> i think the russians learned from their experience in 1983, where they handled it very badly

by denying it for long period of time. and then they were called out because the united states intelligence had collected the communications which was very blatant and they were played in the security council am i would add to what jim has said, there's going to be a lot of intelligence information. this is one of the most heavily surveiled places on the planet where they have satellites which are looking for just missile launches because we're concerned about attacks from russia. so there will be a lot of supplementary data. i think the case, this will be an answerable thing. people will know why this airplane went down. the open question will be who has responsibility for it. and that's what i think we're going to see russia maneuvering to try to shift responsibility and ukrainians trying to place responsibility on russia if not the separatists. >> jim hall, let me ask you about this idea of being able to trace the cause for the plane going down. this is, even though it's malaysia airlines and we spent a lot of time talking about the malaysia airline jet that went missing within the last six months, what is

different here in terms of the number of ways to monitor this flight path and what happened when impact presumably occurred? well, of course the most significant difference is that we have the wreckage, regrettably. we know where it's located which does set up a certain international protocols in terms of an investigation which i'm pleased to hear and i hope both sides in the ukrainian dispute will agree to an international investigation of this matter. but having the evidence and hopefully having the information on the black boxes and having the recovery of those black boxes and the cooperation of the various countries that this aircraft flew through in providing this information, will have a more transparent and a more

detailed investigation into this malaysian accident than we have seen today in the previous one. >> and let me ask you one more question about that, the airspace was not closed, where this flight was maneuvering through. at least it was flying before the closed portion of the airspace, but it has been closed now. is it your understanding now or would it be your advice if you were in a similar position to keep that closed for the length of this investigation? >> i think that's just common sense, at this point. they're obviously individuals on the ground that have weapons capable of reaching the altitude of 9 most sophisticated aircraft flying now. so until that dispute can be managed we certainly need to embargo that airspace. >> charles duelfer, put your diplomat hat on for a moment. jim hall just talked about

the international reverberations here. what do you see especially given that this was a touchy war zone in the first place, reverberating from this kind of accident, intentional attack. >> there is going to be some serious arguments about whether the russians are behaving responsibleably with ripp to their clients. particularly with respect to having them having ses to these types of weapons which outside of the command and control of an organized state, you get an airliner passing through airspace and they have no way of checking, is this a civilian aircraft or is it a friend or a foe. that normal structure doesn't exist. so i think a lot of the diplomatic argument will take place on that point. and again, i think the intel against surrounding this both from the united states, the ukraine, is going to be very interesting. i think if they do have tapes of communications, those are going to be very damning in a lot of ways. >> charles duelfer, jim hall, thank you both very much. >> thank you

>> woodruff: president obama used his phone call with russian president putin today to warn of even more sanctions. yesterday, the u.s. imposed new measures as punishment for moscow's support of ukrainian rebels. the sanctions target major russian banks, energy and defense companies. putin lashed out at the u.s. earlier in the day, during a trip to brazil. >> ( translated ): sanctions have a boomerang effect and without any doubt they will push u.s.-russian relations to a dead end, and cause very serious damage. i am sure that this also damages national long-term strategic interests of the u.s. government and the u.s. people. >> woodruff: last night, for the first time, european leaders signaled they are now willing to target russian companies with their own sanctions. but the new tensions unsettled wall street. the dow jones industrial average

lost 161 points to close at 16,976; the nasdaq fell 62 points to close at 4,363; and the s&p 500 dropped 23, to 1,958. >> ifill: microsoft announced plans today for its biggest layoffs ever. the company will trim 18,000 jobs, 14% of its staff, over the next year. the move is part of microsoft's streamlining since it acquired nokia's cellphone business in april. the software giant is also shifting from traditional personal computer software to mobile and cloud-based products. >> woodruff: it turns out a search at the national institutes of health found more than 300 un-recorded vials of highly contagious viruses and bacteria. the food and drug administration says they were in a building it's used for decades at the n.i.h. campus in bethesda, maryland. it was already known that six vials of decades-old smallpox virus turned up at the same site. >> ifill: congress now appears increasingly unlikely to act

soon on the surge of migrant children crossing the u.s. border from central america. republicans say they won't approve the president's request for emergency funding without also changing a 2008 law, in order to speed up deportations. house speaker john boehner said today he's not optimistic. >> i don't know how you can address the problem down there without looking at the '08 law, i don't know how congress can send more money to the board tore begin to mitigate the problem if you don't do something about the '08 law that's being >> ifill: democrats oppose speeding up the deportation process. house minority leader nancy pelosi had suggested last week that changing the law might be possible. but today, she ruled it out, and warned republicans they will be blamed if congress does nothing. >> what they have said in the public statements is they don't want to do all that much money, and they want to have legislation in

there that is harmful to some of the children that we're dealing with at the border. that sounds like an all republican bill to me. >> ifill: time is getting short to get anything done this summer. congress leaves in two weeks for its month-long august recess. >> woodruff: australia has become the first country to repeal a carbon tax on greenhouse gas polluters. the australian senate today voted to axe the 2012 law that roused heavy public opposition. the ruling conservative coalition government took power last year, promising to end the tax and lower electricity bills as a result. >> ifill: famed broadway performer elaine stritch died today, at her home in birmingham, michigan. she had a long list of stage, movie and tv credits, and won a tony and three emmys over more than 60 years. but she may be best known for her show-stopping signature number "the ladies who lunch" from the 1970 musical "company." she performed it more recently

in her one woman show, "at liberty." ♪ here's to the ladies who lunch ♪ ♪ everybody laughs ♪ lounging in their cafcans ♪ ♪ and planning a brunch ♪ on their own behalf ♪. >> ifill: elaine stritch was 89- years-old. >> woodruff: still to come on the newshour. israel sends ground troops into gaza. tough questions for g.m.'s legal department from congress. what's driving an increase of h.i.v. infections in uganda. and a look back at how geraldine ferraro changed the political game for women. >> woodruff: the conflict between israel and hamas

escalated today after efforts to broker a cease-fire failed and israeli troops rolled into gaza. the ground assault began after nightfall, with gaza residents reporting heavy shelling along the border. prime minister benjamin netanyahu's office said the operation would target what it called "terrorist tunnels" from gaza into israel. it was a stark change from earlier in the day. for just a while, quiet returned to the streets of gaza and southern israel after ten days of air strikes and rocket fire. it was a u.n. requested truce, agreed to by hamas and the israeli government, on humanitarian grounds. they also lined up in drochs outside banks in order to withdraw money for the first time since the conflict

began. in israel as air raid sirens fell silent people in the southern town also shopped for clothes and food. but then at 3 p.m. local time the frus ended-- the truce ended with a new barrage of hamas rockets fired into israel. no one was hurt. the israelis struck back with new air strikes in gaza. including one that killed three children, according to the gazan health ministry. meanwhile a jerusalem court indicted three israelis in the death of 16-year-old mohammed abuicdare, the palestinian boy was burn add live after three israeli teens were killed last month, didn'ts that sparked the current fighting. >> the israeli ground assault on gaz az >> woodruff: the israeli ground assault on gaza late today surprised officials of foreign governments who have been furiously working in cairo to negotiate a permanent cease

fire. a case in point, the palestine liberation organization's ambassador to the u.s., maen rashid areikat. he spoke this afternoon with the newshour's chief foreign affairs correspondent, margaret warner, just an hour before the incursion was announced. >> reporter: ambassador areikat, thank you for having us. >> thank you. >> reporter: well after this five-month lull, in fact fierce fighting has resumed. more rockets, more killings in gaza. what is it going to take to end this thing? >> i think it will take the efforts of many parties. it's not only israel and palestinian factions who are engaged in intense efforts to reach a cease-fire. the palestinian president yesterday arrived in cairo, had talks with hamas officials, with egyptian officials. he's planning on going to turkey tomorrow, to qatar. there are very, very intense efforts right now to somehow breach the gaps between the two sides. i personally believe that it is a matter of time before they reach a cease-fire. >> reporter: so you mean, even though we see all this violence going on that this separate

track, the diplomatic track, you think still holds promise? as you said your president is involved in this. >> yes, i think both sides have no interest in expanding this confrontation the palestinian leadership position is very clear we don't believe that this is in the interest of any party. definitely not the palestinians who have really suffered a heavy toll of civilian casualties, more than 240 being killed so far, 1,600 wounded, very, very extensive damage in the gaza strip, so it is in the interest of the palestinian people to see a cease-fire as soon as possible. >> reporter: if there is no permanent cease-fire reached, there are many voices in israel calling for some sort of ground invasion. what would be the consequences of that? >> i think that would be a major mistake, because israel tried a ground invasion in 2008-2009 and 2012. none of that is going to solve the problem in gaza.

our problem with israel is a political problem. it's a problem about a continued israeli military occupation of the west bank, of the gaza strip. even though they withdrew their soldiers and centers from the gaza, technically gaza is still under israeli military occupation. >> reporter: you mean because it's controlled and... >> absolutely, their airspace, their territorial waters, their land crossing points, they're all under israeli control. the situation in the west bank is a little bit, is better than gaza strip, but still, there is a political problem that needs to be resolved, ending this occupation, creating a palestinian state that can live side by side in peace and security with israel. >> reporter: now of course president abbas called on hamas to accept this first egyptian proposal back on tuesday, which they rejected. is hamas asking for too much here? >> hamas wants to see the situation in the gaza strip change, and i think this is something that all palestinians want to see.

the situation in the gaza strip, the blockade that israel has imposed on the gaza strip for the last five, six years, has exacted a heavy toll on the population there. economically, the conditions are very, very dire in the gaza strip. >> reporter: but does raining rockets down on israel accomplish that? >> our position is clear when it comes to confrontation. i mean, we have said repeatedly that political engagement is the only viable way for the palestinians to achieve their objectives and we continue to believe that violence and counter violence does not serve the interest of any party. but israel actually started this whole process that triggered hamas to launch rockets. hamas was not involved in the firing of rockets following actually the disappearance of the settlers and the campaign that israel carried out in the west bank which led to the deaths of 12 palestinians from june 4 until june 27th.

this is not an issue of who started first, who fired first, and who retaliated. i think now the most important task is to reach a formula that will be acceptable to both sides for a cease-fire. israel's false feeling that everything is quiet in the gaza strip, in the west bank, is a very deluding feeling, and they are not going to be able to obtain security and stability unless they end their conflict with the palestinian people. >> reporter: ambassador areikat, thank you. >> thank you very much. >> woodruff: for more on the escalation of the conflict in gaza we get two views. khalil jahshan is the executive director of the arab center of washington, a non-profit organization that seeks to foster deeper understanding of arab culture. and natan sachs is a fellow at the saban center for middle east policy at the brookings institution. he focuses on israeli foreign and domestic politics and the arab-israeli conflict.

welcome you both. natan saches, what can israel accomplish with i ground invasion that it couldn't accomplish by sending hundreds of missile. >> the pain objectives to go after the tunnels between gaza strip an israel. egypt has worked did-- there are tinls that gund neath the board tore israel an several attacks have come out of there, especially most famously an attack that abducted the israeli soldier and then there was five years of imprisonment. trying to go after these tunnels on the gaza side. >> woodruff: have they not been able, help us understand what it if about these tunnels, what is going on inside them or around them that israel can't accomplish with missiles. >> well, there is a lot you condition do from the air. they know a bit about where they are. in fact this operation a week and a half ago began really with targeting a specific tunnel. but just today they found another one. and they suspect, expect there are many more on the

gaza sound. going with ground troops they hope to uncover this and stop them from the gazan side. >> khalil jahshan, what does hamas use the tunnels for? >> basically the tunnels are part and par sell of the military strategy of hamas. they haven't been really using them like daily. i think there is a big exaggeration on the part of the israelis, as we just heard natan had mentioned the incident that took place about six years ago. but that was six years ago. we have had three wars in gaza since then. the israelis know where these tunnels are. they can do like egypt did. they can come in and block them from their side, if they need-- they have that intelligence. they have that spatial intelligence from outer space they can tell where these tunnels are and how deep they are. nd i think the israelis basically decided to expand their strategy if gaza by doing this incursion. i done think it's an

invasion of gaza yet. i think the israelis are using this gradual, if you will, escalation strategy. and they are using the tunnels as an excuse. and they're not going to achieve their political objective. >> let me ask you to back up when you say you don't think it's an invasion yet what do you think is going on here. >> what going on is a limited incursion i think into the border area between gaza and israel to destroy these tunnels. these tunnels are only a few meters inside gaza and a few meters inside israel. i don't think are you going to see israeli troops yet unless the defense of gaza collapses or unless there is additional escalation. but right now it seems to me that this incursion has a limited, if you will, geographic or spatial aspect to it. you are to the going to see israeli troops going all the way to rafah or all the way to gaza city. >> is that what you see going on. >> i am worried it can be more expensive than that. there is a chance the

israelies will try to go after some of the launch sights of the rockets in the northern part of the gaza strip and may try to sever the gaza strip to prevent gaza or hamas from movements. >> and this is in heavily occupied urban area, is this right. >> it is a tragedy of this war and we should have a lot of sympathy for the people of gaza and israelment but the tragedy of this war is it is in a very populated area and complete leigh voy-- avoidable. the egyptian -- should have taken o hold. hamas could have held its fire and we would not be fighting today at all. >> how do you answer that? >> well, basically, are you correct in indicating the limited space involved in this conflict. gaza for all practical purposes, the whole strip is what, twiz the area of washington d.c. and when you think of the strongest air force in the region, you are talking about fifth or sixth strongest country in the world, militarily, when you think of the israeli navy bombing from the other side.

so you are talk approximating about a very, very small piece of real estate. the bulk of which is-- by the way, they inhabited part even smaller than d.c. so it doesn't make sense to seek a military solution to what essentially is a political problem. and that's what israel needs to focus on. >> in the longer-term, absolutely. there's only a political solution to this and the sides should get back to the table. the problem is that hamas is not involved in this. not involved in the political solution swrechlt have sympathy with the people of gaza, and of israel and the west bank but hamas is not the people of gaza. hamas is the one bringing this war upon them. >> but-- hamas is being excluded from the process. hamas is being excluded from any type of negotiations. it's being described as a terrorist organization and it is laid under siege in gaza. and this is the reason why the cease-fire unfortunately collapsed. because hamas was excluded from the process. this is the biggest sin

committed by our secretary of state and by mr. netanyahu, by simply channeling this whole process to egypt which is not ready to proceed because its lack of relationship with the palestinians. and hamas is out of the picture. when the process started in qatar, there was an earlier version of this. >> you are describing a division on the arab side here which is made finding a solution much more difficult. >> much harder. in the past you had he gyp-- egypt to negotiate between the sides and today the he gyp muslim brotherhood, egyptians and have very bad relations and even egypt today their declaration blaming hamas for this round of fights. >> where do you see this headed khalil jahshan because people are going to continue to ask why isn't hamas prepared to accept a truce. >> in the long future, long-term, i can see this basically staying this way every couple of years we're going to have another, you know, conflict between palestinians, whether hamas or somebody else, in the

future, and the state of israel unless there is is peace. so in the future long-term i would say peace is the answer. without solving the palestinian problem, israel will continue to have these wars. some in israel feel this is affordable. i don't think so. >> but in the meantime, right now we have a hot war that has resumed. >> the immediate need is simply for cease-fire. and that's why the egyptian attempt was so important it that is why i do see so much in hamas. in the longer-term, the only option is the peace process, genuine peace process that tries to reach a two state solution despite all the difficulties that we've seen. in the immediate sense what we're seeing right now, the tragedy we're seeing right now is preventable and needs to stop. >> natan saches khalil jahshan, thank you very much. >> thank you. >> ifill: general motors faced its latest congressional hearing today on ignition switch defects that went un-corrected for years.

they've been linked to at least 13 deaths, and today turned to failings of the auto maker's legal staff. hari sreenivasan has our report. >> i do not understand how the general counsel for a litigation department that had this massive failure of responsibility, how he would be allowed to continue in that important leadership role in this company. >> reporter: the top lawyer at general motors became the top target for senators at the hearing. missouri democrat claire mccaskill led the charge against g.m.'s general counsel michael millikin. she cited g.m.'s own internal reports that the legal staff failed to share details of settlements in crashes linked to the ignition problem. but c.e.o. mary barra defended millikin and insisted she's keeping him. >> he's the person i need on this team. he had a system in place.

unfortunately in this instance it wasn't brought to his attention, frankly by people who brought many other issues forward. he is a man of high integrity and he is the right person. >> reporter: barra said the blame lies with other g.m. lawyers who've since been fired. mccaskill rejected that defense, and instead evoked the scandal at the veterans administration. >> i think the failure of this legal department is stunning and the notion-- i mean, you look around government, when something like this happens-- you know what? secretary shinseki didn't know about those problems with scheduling. nobody told him. he's gone. >> reporter: adding to the fire, a "new york times" report that g.m. kept quiet for years as federal regulators asked about the potential causes of fatal crashes. g.m. has admitted knowing about the ignition switch problem for more than a decade before starting mass recalls this year. millikin said he only learned about the ignition switch problems in february. >> i wish i had known about it earlier because i know i would have taken action earlier if i

did. we had lawyers at general motors who did not do their jobs, didn't do what was expected of them. >> reporter: but connecticut democrat richard blumenthal warned there may yet be criminal prosecution. >> in this instance, the lawyers enabled purposeful concealment and cover-up, possible criminal action that is the subject right now of an investigation. >> reporter: still, millikin said g.m. will not make public the details of previous crash settlements. and he said the company will not waive the bankruptcy shield that bars lawsuits over crashes from before july 2009. >> woodruff: new h.i.v. infections and aids-related deaths have fallen so dramatically in recent years that it may be possible to control the epidemic by 2030 and eventually end it altogether. that's the projection in a new u.n. report released in advance of a major international aids conference next week. officials say those goals can't

be met though without more prevention, treatment and less discrimination for high-risk groups. of particular concern, they say, are countries like uganda where stigma and h.i.v. rates have both been rising recently. jeffrey brown has our report. >> it's an increasingly rare sight in uganda these days, an openly gay teenage boy sitting in a waiting room. nervous because he may have contracted a sexually transmitted infection, even more so because he is gay and seeking help in public. the clinic short for the most-- initiative is one of the few public places in the country where gay ugandas can still come for routine checkups and treatment. most clinics discontinued these services after the government passed a law in february targeting gays and lesbians with some of the harshest penalties in the

world, including up to life in prison. stoked by religious leaders and passed by parliament, the law tightens existing restrictions against same sex activities and banned anything viewed as the promotion of homosexuality. the president signed after a team of uganda scientists told him that there is no gene for homosexuality. >> these people are not born like that. they just learn and -- >> the move instantly isn't some of the nation's most vocal gay activists deep underground. two of them who asked that their faces be obscured recently traveled to this safe house in campala the capitol. >> they came to talk strategy with brandt luswata a health activist with the group icebreakers uganda. he runs a clinic that

remains open twice a week but he says most patients became wary about coming when the law took hold. >> my clients who are living with hiv-- they ask is it safe for me to go there. >> when a local tabloid published akram name and photo recently marking him of one of what it calls you ganda's top homosexuals, he lost his job before the day was over. and his family also made clear their position. >> they throw all my things outside and they say this is the proof why we are chasing you out. you should go run for your life, start a new life. you no longer belong to us. we are regretting-- you are a shame. are you a disgrace to our family. >> but he says many of his friends are in even worse shape because unlike him they're hiv positive and

afraid they will be outed by their doctors if they seek help or treatment. >> some of them they day within their houses. they just-- because they fear going to the hospital. some of them they-- some may get lucky and they heal, some they die. >> even before the law passed hiv rates among gay men in uganda's capitol city were already three times higher than other men. now that divide is expected to grow. >> but those who voted for the law like members of parliament dr. michael-- say that gays and lesbians can still receive treatment like anyone else. patients aren't required to disclose their sexuality. >> you may not be recognized,s recognized,son-- on the basis of their sexuality. so that is why they can also access -- -- activities, they really do.

however, i think when we are now to not talking about stig marks we are talking about stigma in-- external stigma, we are talking about internal stigma whereby somebody ostracizes themselves. >> gay rights activists are incensed by such talk and point to a large increase in recorded attacks on gays and lesbianings in uganda, to less than 20 in 2013 to more than 50 in the months after passing the law. health officials warn the longer term damages will be more subtle but very real resulting from the palpable fear that is driving people away from services they need. it's already happened with uganda's female sex workers whose illegal activities make them more vulnerable to attack, bribery and harassment. the infection rate among sex workers is 33%, more than four times the general

populations. the director of international policy at the nonprofit health gap says that ostracizing these groups eventually backfires. >> you tand -- uganda's rates of new infections are rising. and what evidence has shown is that among the key populations you look at sex workers or-- you actually see drastically increased prevalence and increased vulnerability to infections. that's to the because of some abnormallality that is akin to those populations. it's because of the impact of homoto be. >>, bigotry, discrimination and marginalization that comes from doing that to a population. >> but-- saying that some of the responsibility for the stigma they face falls on the united states. >> this is an historic year for america. >> in 2003 the bush administration began requiring nonprofits seeking

a share of its global aids budget to sign a pledge opposing prostitution saying it is quote inherently harmful and dehumanizing and can lead to trachblinging. the obama administration continues to defended law though its global aids accord nader deborah burks told the househour that comprehensive hiv prevention, treatment and care services for sex wokers remain top priorities for the u.s., critical to creating an aids free generation. but many public health groups saying being forced to publicly oppose the practice would make their job much more difficult in places where distrust already runs high. here a brothel in one of kampala slums. diana comes here regularly, usually to work. but on this day she's here passing out condoms as a peer educator, with an advocacy group for sex

workers. the group's founder and executive director, herself a sex worker, has refused to sign the u.s. pledge saying it further marginalizes these women, makes them skeptical of the motives of those offering crucial health information. >> it is one to >> with the resources it does have, she focuses on projects that help sex workers gain confidence and stay healthy. if dr. reid-- if you read, write and speak english using situations relevant to their own eyes. >> you can warn your friend the police will man handle you. the police is man handling me and the policeman handle

you, or them. >> when night falls on the inn, the sex workers say those skills lead to more dialogue with customers, more use of condoms and less violence. >> daisy believes that not signing the pledge has caused them millions of dollars over the years. >> i remain with my value, i will remain fighting the police. i will remain fighting the bad laws, i will remain fighting to make sure that sex workers have access no matter what it takes. >> meanwhile on the other side of town, the once vocal gay activist said he's just about given up his fight. >> living here is like living in a hill. it is the -- >> now he and many of his friends are simply looking for a way out. he says that for those who are gay this country offers few other options.

>> ifill: if you have questions about life in uganda for the country's gay activists or female sex workers, submit them on our website. our sources from this segment will answer those questions in the days ahead. you can also see our photo essay on efforts to bring down h.i.v. rates among one of the world's other highest-risk populations drug users along the kenyan coast. that's all on our health page. >> woodruff: this saturday marks the 30-year anniversary of the nomination of the first woman ever to run for vice president on a major party ticket. she was new york democratic congresswoman geraldine ferraro. a documentary by her daughter, titled "geraldine ferraro: paving the way," tells the story of her mother's trailblazing career, and the effect she had on american politics and culture. we begin with an excerpt from that film inside the democratic national convention hall in san

francisco where ferraro was formally nominated by her running mate, senator walter mondale, on july 19, 1984. >> i have had many people tell me it's the best national convention we've ever had. people were thrilled, the crowds were building up outside the hall to be close to what was going on. >> i nominate geraldine a ferraro of new york to be the next vice president of the united states of america. >> it was as emotional as i had ever seen at the convention. the response, the emotion. to talk about it, it was so spectacular. the floor of the convention was virtually all women, women who had fought so hard

for women's rights. oh my god t was such a wonderful moment. >> 's standing up there all in white, looking like this tiny little figure but looking beautiful and looking female. i was -- >> i looked down and so many of them were crying. i had never seen-- i just don't want to make a mistake. i have to talk slowly. i never used prompters before. i usually took my speech because i want to make sure if the prompters went out i could look down and read it, and tell my daughter whatever you do don't cry because we can't. women can't cry over things. we're too emotional, tough job, you have to be tough to be vice president. i said-- and so i looked down and i said my name is geraldine ferraro. >> my name is geraldine

ferraro-- (cheers and applause) >> and the place went crazy. >> ladies and gentlemen of the convention-- (cheers and applause) >> i got two words out of my mouth and they would allo allow-- applaud. it was almost like a dance between me and these people. >> i stand before you to proclaim tonight america is a land where dreams can come true for all of us. >> woodruff: and ferraro's daughter, filmmaker donna zaccaro, joins us now. >> thank you. you were 21 years old when your mother accepted the democratic nomination for

vice president. you were there. what was that night like? >> well, obviously its with a night that none of us had experienced before but i think people who were there and you heard leader pelosi talking about how, and kochi robertses said people who it there were there knew it was not like anything that it ever been experienced before. >> i actually was there too. it was a special moment for women no matter who you were, what party, you were in. so it was 30 years ago donna, your mother passed away three years ago. why did you want to make this film? >> you know, i wanted to both clarify and per serve her legacy but i also wanted to introduce her and this part of women's history to younger generations today. because we know what happened then. we might not understand what her impact was or the impact of the candidacy that frankly didn't win had, but i think younger people today

don't have any idea what it was like before. and so i really do want it to be used as an educational tool so generations to come can know. >> do you think people don't know. >> i think anyone over 35 certainly has no aware of it. anyone-- sorry, the reverse of that. anyone who is under 35 doesn't knowment people over 35 do remember but again they might not remember much other than the fact that she was nominated. they might not remember what it was like before there was a woman who had run an shown that you could be a credible candidate. >> in telling this story of that campaign you tell the highlights but also the tough moments, the time when your family's finances were under enormous scrutiny. your father for a time did not want to reveal his tax returns. that had to be a really difficult time for your mother and your whole

family. >> yes, i thought was really important, i have been a journalist my career as well, and i also thought it was very important to show the scrutiny and attacks because first of all the certainly lining in how she handled those difficult situations and attacks and the controversies, it showed she had the grit and leadership to be a leader. but also i thought that people had to see what the first, what the pioneer went through. and what that was like and yet it took another 24 years before another woman was nominated on a major party ticket. that was 2008 when sarah palin was nominated, vice presidential running mate with john mccain. what does that say about the legacy of what your mother candidacy meant do you think? >> i don't know that it says anything about the legacy of her candidacy because i think was a very different

choice, i think in mccain's case it was a hail mary pass and political expediency. he wasn't considering any women or any minorities or anything else when he was looking for a vice president selection. and it was very different, with mondale he had opened the whole process very publicly and deliberately because he wanted to include groups that had been excluded before into consideration for the vice presidential spot. >> but in terms of women and politics there are certainly more women serving in the congress, 20% of the congress. it's not parity but women have come a long way and yet there's still so much focus when women do run. >> yes. you know, it's unfortunate that we haven't had a woman vice president or president and hopefully we will in the next election cycle but you know, i think traditionally as you know the vice

presidential nominee and the presidential nominee come from are either the governor's mansion or the senate. and fortunately we have more people now, more women in those roles. we've got 20 in the senate now, 20 women in the senate and what six governors who are women, maybe it's five. but so those are the traditional places. until there are more than that, that is where people are chosen from. so we are getting people in the pipeline and we have more supreme court justices that are women. we've got three secretaries of state that were women. >> what do you think should be one of the main takeaways for younger women thinking about going into politics. your mother went through an incredible scrutiny as a candidate. it may have gotten a little better since then but it's still different isn't it, for women. >> i think it's still tough. and for women particularly women who are managing households and have families. you know, i think one of the lessons in the film as well

is just how important my father, support of my moth other was during that campaign and actually throughout her career. you know, my mother always said you can be whatever you want to be. do whatever you want to do with education w hard work. but you also need to have help. in order to achieve your goals. and so you do need either a supportive partner or some means of getting help in order to do what you want to do. >> donna zaccara the daughter of geraldine ferraro, remembering her mother. an historic campaign. thank you very much. >> thank you so much. >> geraldine ferraro paving the way is available on show time through the end of august >> ifill: again, the major developments of the day. a malaysia airlines plane was shot down over eastern ukraine with 295 passengers and crew on board.

the ukrainian government and pro-russian rebels blamed each other. israel launched a ground offensive into gaza after a brief, humanitarian cease-fire ended. israeli officials said the operation would be "open-ended." and microsoft announced it's cutting 18,000 jobs, 14% of its work force. >> woodruff: on the newshour online right now, a missouri ballot measure would protect farmers from campaigns by animal welfare activists, but opponents say the real winner may be big corporations. we have a breakdown from our partners at saint louis public radio, on the rundown. all that and more is on our web site, newshour.pbs.org. >> ifill: and that's the newshour for tonight. on friday, we travel to wisconsin to explore america's deep political polarization. i'm gwen ifill. >> woodruff: and i'm judy woodruff. we'll see you on-line and again here tomorrow evening with mark shields and david brooks. for all of us here at the pbs newshour, thank you and good night.

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