captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> ifill: good evening. i'm gwen ifill. >> woodruff: and i'm judy woodruff. >> ifill: on the newshour tonight: an indictment of murder for a routine traffic stop turned violent. a white university of cincinnati police officer faces charges for fatally shooting an unarmed black man, samuel dubose. >> woodruff: plus, taliban leader mullah omar confirmed dead. a struggle for power, new leadership and the prospects for peace in afghanistan. >> ifill: then, from syria to ukraine, confronting the world's imminent crises. the supreme allied commander of nato, general philip breedlove on diplomacy and global threats. >> woodruff: and, digging down to the roots of american history. archaeologists discover the remains of four early colony

leaders in a jamestown gravesite more than 400 years old. all that and more on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: ♪ ♪ ♪ moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects us.

>> supported by the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation. committed to building a more just, verdant and peaceful world. more information at macfound.org >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> ifill: a white police officer was indicted today for killing a black motorist during a traffic stop in cincinnati. ray tensing is accused of murdering the driver, samuel dubose, when he was pulled over near the university of cincinnati campus on july 19th, for not having a front license plate. tensing said he was dragged by the car and forced to shoot dubose. but footage from the body camera he was wearing revealed a different sequence of events as

the car rolled away only after dubose was shot. we're not showing the moment the gun fired. after reviewing the video hamilton county prosecutor joe deters said there was no doubt in his mind it was murder. >> could you imagine the outrage you would have if this was your kid or brother? over a stop like this? and he didn't do anything violent towards the officer. he wasn't dragging him. and he pulled out his gun and intentionally shot him in the head. >> ifill: the victim's family pushed authorities to release the body camera footage today. dubose's sister, terina allen, said it was crucial to show what really happened. >> he didn't have a gun. he didn't do anything to that officer. no one deserves this. so i'm angry, but i'm as pleased as i can be that we're actually going to get some kind of justice for sam, but i don't

think we would be getting it, to get back to that, without the camera. >> ifill: tensing turned himself in this afternoon and was processed on charges of murder and voluntary manslaughter. he has a court appearance scheduled tomorrow morning. for more on this, i spoke a short time ago to sharon enquirer." test sharon coolidge, thanks for joining us. tell us what new details emerged today after the announcement by the prosecutor? >> well we haven't-- i think the biggest surprise came when the prosecutor actually had his press conference today. judging from what we heard from the police chief and the city manager this week we were expecting an indictment. but nobody was expecting the prosecutor to say the word "murder" so that really has kept i mean put people we were propelled out from there today. >> ifill: so it was the video that changed the course of what you saw happen today, the actual showing of that video? >> oh definitely. we had all really been clamouring to see the video.

and the enquirerer we still have a lawsuit last week, we believe it was public record all along. the prosecutor finally released it today. and seeing the video really made things a lot more clear in this case, i think for the american public. >> ifill: now how did what we saw on the video differ from we had known or what the officer had said had happened before? >> i'm working through that right now and i have had the opportunity to see a second video this afternoon. you know the officer and we've not spoken sdrekly to that officer only to his attorney stuart mathews is insisting that the officer was dragged. and knocked down during what-- during the incident. and we just have not seen that on video yet. definitely the video released by the prosecutor today does not show that. the second video which was attached to the body camera from another officer arriving at the scene does show officer tensing on the ground am but it doesn't show what lead up to the officer being on the ground.

>> ifill: so all we know right now is that that gun was discharged. the carrolled away and the question is what happened between those two moments. >> that is correct. the prosecutor is insisting that nothing happened between those two moments. and the video really, it just doesn't show something happening. it shows a peaceful you know conversation where you know where dubose asked a couple of questions about why he is being pulled over but is very civil is very respectful. and it's just a couple of questions. and we don't see a reason on any of the video for a shooting. and i think that's what lead to the murder charge. >> ifill: joe deters talked pretty toughed today the prosecutor. was that unusual for him so or is that what you have come to expect covering him? >> joe deters does talk-- he has tough talk for criminals in this town. and he's known for that. but in police officer cases

he's typically been more reserved. and we've never, of course seen something like this. this really i think is the first if the country. but in other cases where there is an officer-involved shooting he doesn't talk like this. those cases are reserved really for what he can see in videos and different kinds of cases not in officer cases. so to hear him talk today like he did in a case involving a police officer was really toning to-- stunning to me. >> ifill: was there a distinction with the fact that this was a university police officer and not a city of cincinnati police officer? >> well there definitely is a distinction. the city police have been reminding of that all week because they are completely different police forces. and i think that's been made clear. but they are still police officers. they are trained you know they're part. union. these are police officers protecting our citizens. our students. so in this-- there is no difference. this was a police officer. >> ifill: and so far what do we know about community reaction, especially in the wake of the family

statements today? >> community relations in cincinnati, i would say are-- it's tense. people wanted to see the video. no within is quite sure what to expect tonight because it was handled so well with this wasn't a case where people think oh this officer was undercharged. so i'm expecting there to be a peaceful march where people will make their voices heard but do it in a respectful manner. and certainly the family is calling for that. >> ifill: sharon coolidge of the "cincinnati enquirer" thank you for taking time on this breaking story today to talk to us. >> thank you very much. >> ifill: we have more on the story online, including the community's response from a member of the enquirer's editorial board, byron mccauly. that's at pbs.org/newshour. >> woodruff: in other news, the turkish military unleashed a powerful new barrage of airstrikes on kurdish rebel targets in northern iraq overnight. they pounded kurdistan workers party-- or p.k.k.-- sites in six areas.

the pro-kurdish opposition demanded an end to the violence today, charging a political motive by president erdogan. but in ankara, turkey's prime minister warned peace will only be achieved if rebel fighters stop all their attacks. >> ( translated ): our might is enough to simultaneously fight not just three terror organizations, but 33. and we will show that might. within this framework, we will continue to take our precautions and this process will continue until terrorism elements lay down their arms and until they get out of turkey and until public order is absolutely restored. >> woodruff: also today turkey's cabinet officially approved an agreement to allow the u.s.-led coalition to use its incirlik air base to launch strikes on the islamic state. >> ifill: in washington, the military's top brass joined the secretary of state on capitol hill to defend the obama administration's nuclear deal with iran. senate armed services committee chairman-- republican john mccain-- insisted he can't make

an informed decision without all the facts, and that includes documents iran negotiated with international nuclear inspectors. >> we agree, all of us i believe, that we should see those instruments of verification, otherwise how can we make a judgment as to this agreement can be enforced and verified with a country that has a long record of cheating? >> ifill: the nuclear deal's lead negotiator-- secretary of state john kerry-- again played down any talk of secret agreements between iran and the international atomic energy agency. >> we have relied on the i.a.e.a. for years and years and historically the i.a.e.a. always creates what's called a comprehensive safeguards agreement-- a c.s.a.-- which they negotiate with the country. we don't get that exact, it's not shared with the world. their reasons that it's confidential have to do with what you can get out of that country but we do get briefed on it. >> ifill: after a 60-day review

period, the house and senate will vote on the iran nuclear agreement in september. >> woodruff: the house of representatives late today approved a three-month funding extension of the federal highway trust fund. the fund-- which funnels federal money towards bridge, road and transit projects-- is due to run out of money at midnight on friday. the senate plans on taking up the $8 billion bill later this week. >> ifill: democratic congressman chaka fattah was indicted today on federal racketeering and bribery charges. the longtime philadelphia congressman allegedly paid off a campaign loan with charitable donations and used campaign money to pay down his son's student loan debt. charges ranged from bribery, to bank and mail fraud, to money laundering. in a statement, fattah said he's never participated in any illegal activity or misused taxpayer dollars. >> woodruff: the federal reserve board opted today to keep interest rates unchanged, for

now. in its latest statement, the central bank said it's still waiting to see further economic recovery and higher inflation before it will raise them. today's fed statement caused stocks to close higher on wall street. the dow jones industrial average gained 121 points to close at 17,751. the nasdaq rose 22 points and the s&p 500 added 15. >> ifill: outrage grew around the world today over the death of a famous lion in africa. minnesota dentist walter j. lmer paid zimbabwe hunter theo bronkorst to go on the trophy hunting trip that ultimately led to the lion's killing. bronkhorst left a courtroom in zimbabwe with his lawyer today charged with failing to prevent an american from unlawfully killing cecil, the country's most well-known lion. >> how do you feel? >> terrible. >> ifill: earlier this month, the beloved cecil was allegedly lured out of his sanctuary at a national park into unprotected

territory where he was shot with a bow and arrow. the man behind the bow and arrow was american walter j. palmer-- who has killed wild animals before-- like this lion in 2008. he admits he killed cecil, but said he thought the hunt was legal. cecil, one of the park's oldest lions, didn't die right away, but had to be shot days later, when he was also beheaded. >> if we had not been having strong conservation efforts in terms of protecting the animals from poachers, it wouldn't have gone to that age of 13 years. >> ifill: amid a social media backlash, palmer is now being sought on poaching charges, and the public has turned his dental practice in minnesota into a makeshift memorial to the dead lion. for now, the office remains clos the u.s. fish and wildlife service pledged today to assist officials in zimbabwe "in whatever manner is requested".

>> woodruff: new england patriots quarterback tom brady vowed to fight his four-game suspension by the n.f.l. for his involvement in deflating footballs during last year's playoff run. in a statement, brady also denied allegations made by the n.f.l. that he destroyed his cell phone to hide information. the n.f.l. players association filed a motion in federal court in minnesota today challenging the league's decision to uphold brady's suspension. >> ifill: still to come on the newshour: what the death of a taliban leader means for peace in afghanistan, the supreme allied commander of nato on the growing russian threat and much more. >> woodruff: now to the future of afghanistan after a longtime enemy of the united states is reportedly dead. earlier today, a spokesman for afghanistan's intelligence

agency confirmed the death of taliban supreme leader mullah mohammad omar. according to the agency, the reclusive figure died two years ago at a hospital in pakistan. so far, the taliban has not publicly commented on the claim. but as recently as two weeks ago, the group was issuing statements in his name. he had not been seen publicly since 2001. jessica donati is covering the story for the reuters news agency in kabul. i spoke to her a short time ago. jessica donati welcome. so tell us more about what these reports say and how solid are they. >> well we're not getting alot out of the reports other than that the afghan intelligence agency has said that they confirmed that mullah omar is dead and we have the afghan government saying that they have reason to believe that the reports are credible. but from the taliban side we don't have anything.

>> woodruff: and in terms of he died two years ago in a hospital in pakistan any more information than that about why he died how he died? >> there isn't a lot of details. we've been speaking to some commanders who suggest that he might have died of tuberculosis. there are different rumors about different illnesses that he may have had. and it's not clear where he died or what he died of. i think the question really is why is it coming out now about two days before there was supposed to be another round of peace talks scheduled to take place somewhere on friday. so the question is why are the reports now because it's possible that they would-- make the taliban appear more weak. so there are a lot of questions being asked as to who is behind these reports. >> woodruff: is there a theory about who is behind them. and you're saying the taliban would be weakened because their leader would be gone. >> yes and that would suggest that there is more of a split that would put them in a more difficult position if they were going

to be bargaining with the afghan government. on the one side there seems to be a group of commander was are in favor of going ahead with the peace talks and on the other side the commanders are saying well look, the enforcers have less an we're making progress. it is not a good time for us to be negotiating. so it is not really a good position for them to be in without leadership. and that could be why they aren't commenting either way. >> woodruff: so how strong is the taliban seen to be right now in afghanistan? >> at the moment they have they're coming out stronger this year than last year. first of all the afghan security forces are on their own. most for enforces have left and there is only a limited amount of air sport along with the training missions. so the casualty rates are higher. they have taken over tons of villages in the north. they've captured a couple of

centers which are quite symbolic. they threatened a major city in the north although they haven't really come close to capturing it. so they are making progress. on the other hand they also have to face the fact that there is an islamic state threat that is rising and getting the attention competing for young fighters sork this might not be such a bad time for them to negotiate. >> woodruff: and how far along with are the talks between the taliban and the afghanistan government seem to be? >> at the moment we aren't even entirely clear how official these talks are. there were talks taking place in early july between the afghan government the pakistani government. there were american and chinese officials and several taliban. but it is not clear who these taliban leaders were representing and whether they had authority from the leadership. so we have statements from the afghan and the pakistani

side saying that these were the first round of official peace talks and that the next time they would be talking about an agenda and possible cease-fire. but the taliban never said anything about whether these talks were official or not. so you could say that they're not very far ahead at all. >> woodruff: well, one more twist in i guess an endless set of twists and turns jessica donati in kabul thank you. >> thank you. >> ifill: the role of the u.s. military in europe has shifted since the start of the ukraine conflict. along with other nato countries american forces now have a sizeable presence in the region. i spoke today with the man leading the effort a few hours before russia and the u.s. were again on opposite sides at the united nations. just over a year ago, malaysian airlines flight m.h.-17 crashed in a field in eastern ukraine.

all 298 people on board-- most of them dutch-- were killed. the government in kiev and in many other western countries said russian-backed separatists shot down the plane with a surface-to-air missile. it's a claim moscow still denies. now, malaysia-- along with the netherlands, ukraine and others- - want to set up an international criminal tribunal to prosecute those responsible. >> an international tribunal will also be best place to deliver justice to the families of all victims. >> ifill: the u.n. security council took up the proposal this afternoon, but russia vetoed it. >> the groundses to be assured of the impartialality of the negotiation, can it resist the propaganda backdrop in the media. >> ifill: that came hours after russian president vladimir putin told the dutch prime minister in a phone call that such a move was "inexpedient." all this comes after 15 months

of heavy fighting in eastern ukraine-- known as the donbas-- between separatists backed by russia and the ukrainian military, more than 6,500 people have been killed. the fighting there followed russia's march 2014 annexation of the ukrainian peninsula of crimea. but even beyond that conflict there's been a spike this year in russian air incursions near nato countries, including the u.s. last month, american fighter jets intercepted russian t.u.-95 bombers off the coasts of alaska and california. in response to russia's actions, nato countries have stepped up military exercises in ukraine and across the baltic states. in a visit to estonia last fall president obama made the u.s. commitment clear. >> an attack on one is an attack on all. so if, in such a moment, you ever ask again, "who will come to help" you'll know the answer-- the nato alliance, including the armed forces of the united states of america. right here, present, now. >> ifill: the u.s. has been training ukrainian forces. so far, it's limited to instructing national guard

units, but the state department said last week that the mission will be expanded to include regular military forces later this year. the man overseeing u.s. operations in europe and serving as nato supreme allied commander is general philip breedlove. he visited ukraine last week. and i spoke with him today at the pentagon. general breedlove, thank you so much for joining us. >> thanks for having me. >> ifill: i will start by talking about turkey. how significant is it that turkey has alloweds to start using-- for a basing to attack isis. >> there are things that we are working at now to use bases. those will be very important to our ability to prosecute a joint campaign with turkey as a part of our coalition. >> ifill: how far does that buffer zone go and how far do we go into it? >> we're not creating any specific zone. what we're talking about is bringing turkey into an

arrangement whereas a part of the coalition they cooperate in our counterisil campaign in the north. and that's the real key to this. >> ifill: so it's not a no-fly zone per se is what are you saying. >> that's correct. >> ifill: i want to take you to ukraine. especially russia's role. the new incoming nominee for joint chiefs of staff said at a congressional hearing last week that he saw russia as a chief global threat is that something you agree with? >> i testified to the same thing in the past. >> ifill: why? >> well clearly there are lots of threats out there for instance isil. but i think what you hear from numerous leaders is that russia is a different case. this is a nation that for 20 years we have tried to make a partner. and in the last few years we've seen that they're on a different path so now we have a nation that has used

force to change internationally recognized boundaries. russia continues to occupy crimea. russian forces now are in the eastern ukraine. so this nation has used force to change international boundries. and this is a nation that possesses a pretty vast nuclear inventory and talks about the use of that inventory very openly in the past. and so what i think you see being reflected is that we see-- a-- russia that has taken a new path over what the security arrangements in your are lake and how they are employed. and they talk about using as a matter of course nuclear weapons. for that reason these senior leaders i believe, see that as a major threat. >> secretary kerry has not said that i wonder if the

distinction there is the diplomatic approach on dealing with russia on things like iran and the military concerns. >> so russia can and we hope in the future will be a great partner. there are many places where our needs and requirements match. but again in europe they have established a pattern now georgia, crimea dombas where force is a matter of course. and that's not what we look for in partners in europe. >> ifill: so nato has talked about providing training and artillery. and some sort of support against this force you described, there on the border. is that enough? >> well nato nations are offering some assistance to ukraine as the united states. many nations now are coming along to be a part of helping ukraine to defend themselves.

they have the right to defend themselves. >> but is it enough? >> i think that question is yet to be determined. we believe that there is a diplomatic and a political solution. so when you ask is it enough? the question is it enough to set the conditions so that we can get to a political and diplomatic solution. >> what about the bam particulars there is a lot of nervousness that russia is going to expand its view of aggression in that direction as well and they are entirely unable to defend themselves. >> both nato as an alliance and the united states have come to great measures of assurance for our balance particular nations. we have u.s. soldiers alongside british and other soldiers inside of these countries now exercising doing training to assure those allies that nato is there and will be there. i was privileged to sit in the room at wales when the leaders of 28 nations including our president

were rock solid on article five, collective defense. and that includes the baltics. and i think that mr. putin understands that nato is different. >> ifill: there is a lot of nervousness however that this option does not take hold, is war. >> well, the best way not to have a war is to be prepared for war. so we're in there now training their soldiers. as you know we are looking at and have decided to preposition stops forward. we have heavy equipment that we train with in these nations now. and so we need to be prepared so that we can avoid. >> ifill: is there a line between preparation and provocation? >> absolutely. i believe there there is. we do defensive measures in i think very easily defined defensive standses in our forward bases. we're not putting big forces into the baltics.

right now there is a company of u.s. soldiers in each of the three baltic states. that is well below a proportional issue. >> ifill: if it is possible for there to be a diplomatic or a political solution to head off any future conflict what would that look like? >> we always talk about a european landmass-- to get to that we need to have a partner in russia not someone that we are competing with. the russian d-- . >> ifill: do you see a partnership that i don't see? >> no, no i'm saying we have to have one in the future. if we really believe we're going to get peace and prosperous, then we need a partner in russia. >> ifill: well, give me an example of one way to get there especially if the person who has to be the partner is vladimir putin. who doesn't show any indication other than being helpful at the iran nuclear tops of being the partner you envision. >> so first it's communication. we need to reestablish those lines of communication.

you have seen our secretary of state undersecretary of state reaching out in several forums meal to meal communications need to be routine again. they are not routine now where they were once before. communication first. >> ifill: i guess i hear what you are saying you about i don't see how you get there. >> its's not going to be an easy road. and it's not going to happen quickly. this business with russia is a long-term thing. i have said in testimony in other places that this is global, not regional. and it is long-term not short term. but we have to start down the path. >> ifill: assuming there is a diplomatic or diplomatic impasse or president to president impasse, is there a military to military way of forging that kind of agreement? >> there is. it is important also that even if our countries are not getting along when you are flying airplanes in close vicinity chen you are sailing ships in close advise inity when you have

soldiers on the ground exercising sometimes just on the other side of borders, military men and women have to be able to communicate at a very matter of fact way to preclude anything ugly from happening. >> ifill: we hope nothing further ugly happens. nato supreme allied commander dr. philip breedlove, thank you very much. >> thank you very much. >> woodruff: stay with us. coming up on the newshour: medicare and medicaid at 50 improving health outcomes and access to care and a reunion 70 years after world war two divided a family. >> ifill: but first, a new discovery at the historic jamestown settlement-- the remains of four important residents and a mysterious religious relic-- has added new insight and questions about life at the nation's first permanent english colony. jeffrey brown has the story.

>> brown: the men were leaders in the colony, and as seen in this 3-d animation of the settlement site, they were buried in a long-vanished church, some 400 years ago. inside one of the coffins, that of captain gabriel archer, was a silver box containing what appear to be catholic relics-- a striking finding in the anglican settlement. digging has gone on at jamestown since 1994. these remains were uncovered by archaeologists in 2013, and just made public after two years of research by the smithsonian institution and the jamestown re-discovery foundation. the president of the latter group and himself an historian james horn, joins me now. welcome to you. >> thank you. pleasure to be here. >> brown: set the scene for us briefly. this is the first colony dire straits almost coming to an end very quickly right? >> yes that's right. it's the first english colony first parliament english colony in america. the first beachhead or what was to be a great english

empire in the new world. and the first two three years are some of the most challenging the colony ever endures. a combination of starvation food shortages indiana tack and disease really decimates the number of settlers. >> brown: so the discovery of these four men how did it come about? did you know you were looking for them in particular? >> we didn't. what we were looking for what we hope to find was the original church. the 1608 church which is the first english church in america. so we weren't looking for that. >> brown: and so captain gabriel archer robert reverend hunt sir fernando wantman and captain west. what do we know and why is it important to find their remains? >> we know a good deal about

two of them. and if we start with the reverend robert humps first anglican minister at jonestown he's responsible for ministering services church of england services to the settlers. but also to begin the long process of preaching to local indian peoples. we know little about bit about his background where he was from. but he plays a very important role in founding the church of england in jamestown. >> brown: you're confident about the identity because of a lot of forensic research, right? this is high-tech stuff that you are applying. >> high-tech stuff and low-tech stuff. a combination of different methods including the archaeology of the forensics documentary genealogy and

even high-tech involving some high-tech processes. >> brown: now the small box found in the coffin of captain archer with items identified as catholic relics, this was a surprise? how much do we know what do we not know at this point? >> well it certainly was a surprise. for two reasons. objects found in graves are rare in the english context at least. so we were surprised to find any act farlt-- artifact. but this art fact is a real enic ma because it wasn't-- enigma because it wasn't clear to us who placed it there, what it is doing there, is it a catholic reliquiy one repursed for anglican uses retranslated for the new church in the new world. we've got a lot of questions to answer and what we will be working on this for some time to come. >> brown: but it complicates this early history of religion in the new world right? although it goes back to

from tutor history i know that the fight is still going on over the time in england over catholicism hidden, right versus the new church. >> yeah and in europe, of course. so europe is very split in two. the great contest between protestantism and catholicism. and that struggle shifts to a new world theater. and virginia gets caught up in that early. jamestown is part of that. and so what we have now is the possibility of perhaps an organized catholic cell in place. in jamestown at jamestown in the first years. and that was i don't think we anticipated finding that. >> so briefly what happens next, where do you go from here? >> more forensics because we cannot be 100 percent

certain of the identification at this stage. we have not done dna. and so we are confident in our analysis so far. but we want to followup with dna. and we're doing that right now. and then much more research on the english backgrounds of these four men and particularly archer. he is the real mystery in this. >> all right james horn jamestown new discovery foundation thanks some of. >> pleasure >> woodruff: health spending in the u.s. grew by 5.5% last year to more than three trillion dollars. and new projections show spending will keep rising by nearly 6% a year over the next decade. this comes after several years of a slowdown in spending

growth. and it potentially has major implications for medicare and medicaid, which together cover about one of every three americans. by 2024, nearly four out of every ten health care dollars will be spent on enrollees in the two programs. the latest warnings comes as both programs are celebrating their 50th anniversary. >> woodruff: before president lyndon johnson signed medicare and medicaid into law in 1965-- with president harry truman by his side-- the country's social safety net left many seniors living in poverty in their retirement years. >> there are those fearing the >> there are those alone in suffering who will now hear the sounds of some approaching footsteps coming to help. >> woodruff: 50 years later, the programs cover tens of millions more people and are deeply woven into the fabric of the american health care system. nearly one in six americans-- or about 53 million people--

receive coverage through medicare. medicaid, which provides care for low-income and disabled people, has grown even larger: it covers nearly one in four americans, 71 million in all. the success of both programs was hailed by president obama at a recent white house event. >> when medicare was created only a little more than half of all seniors had some form of insurance. before medicaid came along, families often had no help paying for nursing home costs. today, the number of seniors in poverty has fallen dramatically. >> woodruff: but new projections underscore worries over long- range solvency. among them, 10,000 people become eligible for medicare each day. medicare's growth rate is below that of the private sector, but the hospital insurance trust fund will run out of money by 2030, and only be able to cover

86% of costs, unless there are more changes such as higher costs for beneficiaries, raising taxes or cutting benefits. choice of doctors and providers has shrunk in recent years as payment rates decline. beneficiaries' out of pocket costs are rising. people enrolled in medicaid have a harder time finding specialists and dentists willing to treat them. nearly a third of beneficiaries reduced their use of dental vision and hearing care. medicaid, which has expanded through the federal health care law, remains the focus of major political battles around the country. i sat down recently with two former secretaries of health and human services, who oversaw the programs: kathleen sebelius who served under president obama until last year. and dr. louis sullivan who served under president george h. w. bush.

welcome, secretary sullivan secretary sebelius and secretary sebelius let me start with you. what difference have medicare and medicaid made in this country? >> well, i think those made an incredible difference in the lives of about 120 million americans and couldn'ting. so seniors were the poorest group of americans when medicare was passed 50 years ago. they were going bankrupt because of medical bills they couldn't afford the care they needed. and to have that guarantee once you turn 65 or so disabled that you qualify early that you have a set of benefits. and you don't have to be qualified by health you qualified by age has made a huge difference in this country. >> woodruff: and secretary sullivan, what about medicaid? >> medicaid has also contributed greatly to improving the health and access to health care for our citizens. for example 50% of the

births in the country are paid for by medicaid. most of the care for hiv/aids patients poor patients and families. so this is really the safety net for the health system. so i think medicaid along with medicare are two successes that we can all congratulate. >> woodruff: at the same time we know that so many more people in this country depend on these programs than was ever envisioned. the costs have skyrocketed to the government at the federal level and in the case of medicaid also at the state level. secretary sebelius how sustainable are these two programs? >> well, i think that the cost issue is something that this administration particularly has taken head on. and part of the framework around the affordable care act was really to look at government spend on health and whether we're getting the best bang for the buck. the good news is in the five year since the president

signed the aca into law health costs have risen at the lowest level in 50 years. and in fact medicare was supposed to be insolvent by 2017 when i came in with the president, that is what the trustee report said. it's now 2030. an each year, years are added on to that solvency because costs are going down in spite of the fact that we have 11,000 people a day turning 65 in this country. we have a baby boom increase in medicare but the costs are lower than they invest been. >> woodruff: at the same time secretary sullivan there is still concern about the long-term financial viability of these programs isn't there? >> oh yes. and that's a fair question. i think all of us want to be sure that we do a better job in holding back the increases and health-care costs. but one of the features in the affordable care act that i'm very pleased with is a greater emphasis on

prevention. i believe that the 21st century really will be the century in which we improve health literacy of our citizens and have them play a more active part in remaining healthy staying out of the hospital coordinating care better than we have been able to do it in the past. so there a number of things that can be done to help ameliorate the increase in costs while seeing that our patients and citizens get access to care. >> woodruff: how does that happen, secretary sebelius in the long run. we already know many doctors are saying they won't accept patients would come to them saying they depend on medicaid. and in some cases medicare physicians are saying they won't see them. >> it is still about 70% of the dock tores. less than a hundred but 70% take medicaid patients. and almost 95% of doctors accept medicare patients. so we still have the vast majority of the providers. but i think again it's reasonable to look at what their payment is. are they being compensatedded enough. and as dr. sullivan said

what we don't do very well is pay doctoring for keeping their patients healthy in the first place. that payment system is changing rapidly within the government paying for outcomes, paying for health paying for people to actually have less contact with the hospital system is a new way of actually using the trillion dollars that the government spends every year to try and drive healthnd wellness and not wait until somebody comes into the acute care system goes not hospital. does more tests does more prescriptions. it's really about health and wellness at the outset. >> woodruff: secretary sullivan what else needs to be. we know there are-- to cut benefits to raise premiums to make it harder-- harder for people at various income levels to access medicare. what do you think needs to be done to make these programs sustainable? >> well i believe that

another thing that we can do for example the 20th century was a tremendous growth in the skun tific community with many advances that really were miracles. we have developed vaccines of all kinds. when i was a medical student i took care of patients with paralytic polio in the mid 50s. when the polio vaccine was introduced overnight polio almost disappeared from our country. but we have a misunderstanding that some of our citizens about the value of vaccines where people have misunderstandings. so they're not using these advances that have been made properly. so that's why i say we need to improve the health literacy of our citizens have them understand the value of these scientific advances and they have to be partners with the health professionals to see that they get the care that they need. the 21st century is going to be a century in which our citizens play a more active role in maintaining their health, working with their

health professionals but we also need to have new kinds of health professionals. we don't need stock tores or dentists in every town or hamlet. we have developed physician assistances nurse they are developing-- we-- midlevel dental providers we can get care to citizens at legs costs so there are a number of things question do to change the way we provide care and keep our costs under control. >> woodruff: just quickly what would you add? >> well, i think he's right. and i think the notion that people need more information they want to stay healthy. they don't know exactly what to do. but that in the long run focus on prevention and away from acute care having a real health-care system not a sick care system is really what i think the goal is in the long run. >> woodruff: secretary kathleen sebelius secretary louis sullivan, we appreciate you being with us on this 50th anniversary of medicare and medicaid thank you. >> thank you, an happy

anniversary. >> ifill: earlier this week, we showed you a national history program that teaches high school students about world war two and d-day, by having them follow the life of a u.s. service member from their own community to the american cemetery in normandy france. tonight the newshour's april brown has the story of how one of those student's research projects united families from two continents. it's part of our "american graduate" series, a public media initiative funded by the corporation for public broadcasting. just a few months ago judy shoemaker of immediateville pennsylvania, had no idea she had french family members longing to connect. >> i'm so happy. >> reporter: decades after losing touch relations on both sides of the atlantic met at the american cemetery in normandy to honor a world war ii soldier killed in action just after the d-day

invasion of june 6th 1944. >> 6:00 d-day landing time for the first beechhead boats. >> though he was born a frenchman pierre robinson died a sergeant in the u.s. army. he was the adopted son of shoemaker's grandfather john rob robinson. >> he was very quiet and very mannerly. >> i heard that grandpa loved him very much. he said that i heard that he was killed and grandpa was very sad and never really got over that. i often wondered over the years if any members of the family on his side were still alive. >> reporter: there were. and they were interested in their american family. >> i'm pierre's second cousin. so pierre's mother is my grandmother's sister. >> gilles had been trying to reach out to pierre's american family for years. >> i heard about pierre from

my grandparents. i had heard about my great uncle and my great aunt who lived in immediateville. >> but the families never connected until a immediateville area high-school student josh slayton began looking into the soldier's life-and-death. >> through all these months of research you really do feel like you know this person. >> reporter: in march before heading to france the immediateville tribune profiled josh and his efforts to find out more about pierre. >> and that lead to meeting judey shoemaker. >> i went gentlemen finally. finally somebody recognizes an ode man with an extraordinary story. >> reporter: pierre was born in france in 1914. his birth motter-- mother would die just two years later killed in action during world war one. his mother blanche remarried in 1920 and her news husband was judy shoe makeary grandfather john robinson an

american soldier still stationed in france after the war. robinson adopted pierre and moved to pennsylvania where pierre would spend the rest of his childhood. in 1941 pierre enlisted in the u.s. army and by 1944 sarbling ent robinson became one of thousands of soldiers taking part in operation overlord, the code name for the allied invasion of france. >> this morning we went to omaha beach and that was really amazing because that is the beach that he actually came in on on june 6th 1944 d-day. >> it was just really amazing to feel like we were there with pierre. >> reporter: through the cloud gaps the airborne spearheads saw something of the invasion armada. >> you see in all the pictures, all of the ships and landings crafts all out in the channel. and just to see how much things have changed but still you can just imagine how massive this invasion was. >> reporter: pierre had made it back to france but with

never again meet his french family. at his grave site with the french american families together after so many years josh delivered a eulogy to pierre. >> pierre survived the initial landing but on the afternoon of june 7th 1944 a third battalion was facing strong opposition just below-- . while out on patrol pierre was killed by a rifleman. in the reflective words of pierre's adopted father john robinson, i couldn't have had a better son if i had one of my own. >> reporter: pierre's mother blanche requested her son be buried in a permanent american cemetery in france the one nearest to where he gave his life. >> war can take away things that can never be given back. it can break families. >> reporter: the american and freferning families began to lose touch after blanche death three years

later. now they are finally reunited. >> there is a sense that there's more here than american students. it's kind of too beautiful to be true. >> reporter: these cousins are now in regular contact with each other as well as josh and john. and they all plan to keep in touch making sure pierre's story lives on. for the pbs newshour i'm april brown in normandy france. a news update an investigation is under way to determine whether debris found off the east coast of madagascar could be from missing malaysia airlines flight mh 370. a large object washed ashore on reunion, a french island in the western indian ocean. an unnamed u.s. official told the associated press investigators have quote a

high degree of confidence that it is a wing flap that belongs to the same type of aircrafts that the missing plane. the boeing 777 disappeared without a trace in march of 2014 with 2 president people on board. >> ifill: now to our "newshour shares" of the day. something that caught our eye which might be of interest to you, too. in a different type of ocean search, divers announced this week that they'd discovered, in a 300-year-old shipwreck, buried treasure valued at more than one million dollars. we spoke with brent brisben, the owner of the company that salvaged the collection of gold coins and chains in shallow waters off florida's coast, near for pierce. >> now. >> my company owned the exclusive salvage rights to the remains of the historic 1715 treasure-- and every once in a while we come up on an amazing treasure trove of artifacts like you see today.

we recovered 61 gold coins and nearly 40 feet of gold chain that were all spanish in origin all at least 300 years old. they sank on july 31st of 1715. and the artifacts in total are worth over a million dollars. >> . there are a lot of people out there searching for these ard facts. and the vast majority of them do not find large cache of gold such as this. and so treasure hunting is a very methodical kind -of-painstaking process whereby you continue to go out day after day finding beer cans and lead fishing sinkers and you have to persevere through those hot long days in the florida sun to hopefully experience a day like the family experienced. >> ifill: that's a way to spend a vacation.

on the newshour online right now: sometimes nothing cuts the summer heat like a crisp carbonated beverage. in fact sales of carbonated water have spiked in the last five years. so what is it about fizz that we crave? the short answer is we don't know, but scientists have been studying how these bubbles interact with our body's taste sensors. you can read what they've found, on our home page: pbs.org/newshour. >> woodruff: tune in later this evening. on nova tonight, a minute-by- minute look at the fukushima nuclear crisis-- miles o'brien on why one nuclear power plant suffered a meltdown and how the extraordinary efforts of japanese utility workers saved a second plant from suffering the same fate. that's tonight on most pbs stations. >> ifill: and that's the newshour for tonight. on thursday: humans need not apply. making sense of how robots are changing the economy. i'm gwen ifill. >> woodruff: and i'm judy woodruff. join us online and again here tomorrow evening. for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you and good night. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by:

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>> this is "bbc world news america." >> funding of this presentation is made possible by -- the freeman foundation, newman's own foundation -- giving all profits from newman's own to charity and pursuing the common good, kovler foundation -- pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs, and mufg. sony pictures classics now presenting "a rational man" >> i hear a book is will be joining the faculty. >> that should put viagra into the department. >> it was at this moment my life came together. >> for some reason it bothered me.