Corporate funding is provided by mutual of america designing customized individual and Group Retirement products. Thats why we are your retirement company. Additional support is provided by and by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. From the tisch wnet studios in Lincoln Center in new york, hari sreenivasan. York, hari sreenivasan. Good evening, thanks for joining us, israel today began a major withdrawal of its Ground Troops from gaza but its selling of hamas targets there continues, one attack there today killed ten people at a u. N. School prompting con depp nation from a un official who was asked whether huh mass is using children at human shields. Yes there are certainly behaviors that equipoise the population on the ground by militant groups that operate close to civilian premises, but certainly if you look at the extent of the damage, the extent of the physical destruction but also the extent of the loss of human life and i witnessed that myself visiting this week the pediatric ward in the main hospital in gaza, seeing the broken bodies of the children there, there is no doubt in my mind whatsoever that insufficient measures of precaution and control and protection are being taken including by the israelly Defense Force when engaging in gaza. The state Department Also was unusually blunt in its criticism of israel, saying the United States was appalled by the attack, which it called disgrace. , it added israel must do more to meet its own standards and avoid civilian casual casual dis. For more about the conflict we are joined once again tonight via skype from jerusalem by Josef Federman of the Associated Press. We hear the withdrawal of israelly troops is happening and happening more than it was yesterday. The israeli army confirmed they already pulled out the bulk, the majority of the Ground Troops that were in gaza, they still have a limited presence there, but the idea is to try to find a way to wind down this operation. They wont give any firm numbers, but we can see with our own eyes we have reporters along the border we have armed, Armored Vehicles leaving crossing back into the border and being taken away by trucks, we saw soldiers and tanks walking away from their tanks, rolling up their belongings and things so there definitely seem to be signs israel is entering a new phase, whether this actually brings an toned the fighting i think that will take a few more days. Is the israeli withdrawal because they are staffed with the destruction of the tunnels . Exactly. What the army told me is they think they have located i think over 30 of these tunnels, a network that reached the border and went underground into israel in many cases. They he they found the vast majority to the tunnels and hit the system hard, so they dont need to have that ground presence in there. What i think you may see in the next few days, again, depending on how hamas reacts if the rockets continue to fly, israel is going to respond most likely through air strikes or maybe artillery fire from the israelly side of the border, but you are not going to see the heavy ground fight you have seen over the past few weeks. In the meantime there was a pretty large funeral for the lieutenant that was declared missing in yesterday and declared dead. Yes, about 15,000 people arrived at the funeral, it is still going on, as far as i know. In the most recent update we had in terms of the u. N. School that was hit again, any details on that . The school, the front gate of the school was hit early this morning on the, it sounded like a pretty bad attack because a number of people were outside accepting food rations, people had been seeking shelter there and happened right at that time, at least ten people, also civil, all civilians were killed, 35 people were quowned this is probably the sixth or seventh time Something Like this has happened, and the u. N. Once again is blaming israel, says it was israelly fire. Has the sentiment on the sort of the israeli street changed at all in the past few weeks now . It has been four or five weeks wwe are into this conflict . No, it is really striking to me how widespread the support seems to be, i think one poll recently said Something Like 95 percent of the population, the Jewish Population supports this operation, there really seems to be walltowall support and belief that, you know, the goal of the operation to halt rocket attacks, to strike at tunnels that are being dug along the border into israel is a noble goal and justified and i dont see that softening my time soon. What about the other side . What is happening on the sort of streets of gaza right now . Well, the people of gaza and the leaders of gaza, hamas leaders also believe that what they are doing is justified, they feel that they are defending themselves not only against israeli attacks but against the israeli blockade, this blockade that was imposed back in 2006, 2007 when hamas first came to power, the blockade is really stifled the economy there, there are shortage, it is hard the unemployment is very high and hamas is saying for this fighting to end they want an end to this blockade as well. Josef federman of the Associated Press joining us live from skype in jerusalem, thank you very much. Thank you. Turning now sreenivasan turning now to another trouble spot iraq where islamic jihadists, who recently seized large parts of the north and west of the country, are reported to have made new important gains. For the latest from iraq, we are joined now from baghdad via skype by nour malas of the wall street journal. First of all, how significant was the capture of these towns . It is quite significant, because sips the Islamic State started its offensive in the north in june this is the first time they have been able to seize any significant territory, the situation is still fluid up there, but they seized these towns and two small oil fields and in another town are just hundreds of people, particularly from the evidi religiousth know community so there is a budding humanitarian crisis there and also calls into question the strength of the forces that have really been one of the first lines of defense in iraq against the ininsurgents. Also heard there might have been a dam that was taken over, is there a consequence to that . Absolutely, that situation is also very fluid, it is not clear at all, but the islamics have actually taken over the dam which is the countrys largest. We have spoken to some people say peshawar fighters are until i dont have this but the consequences would be huge for this, they could flood, it may even affect power supplies, we have seen the struggle for resources and infrastructure like electricity and power play out between rebels and the regime in syria as well and over there the Islamic State has been pretty successful in doing that so definitely that is a key area of concern here. Earlier this week we saw stories coming out of mosul, a city that isis now controls, the christians were pushing back because of the destruction or a series of destruction of shrines. Unfortunately they are pushing back as much as they are just fleeing the province, in many cases fleeing iraq all together if they can, the destruction of a religious shrine, not just for christians but muslims of all secretary secretary, secretary seconds. Sects is starting now a test ground for whether local residents are going to start a backlash against these insurgents, because they are touching the parts of their territory and history that are so sacred and shared by all second secretaries here. What shrines have been destroyed no. There was a major mosque. And shrine says to contain the tomb of jonah, a prophet, important to all religions and they blew that up last week. They also have attacked shiite religious shrines and in this latest incident in the northwest we are seeing them attack other shrines, so there is really offense on the culture that is electrifying the residents of the north, no matter how they actually feel about, you know, the military side of things, they feel there is just an unacceptable encroachment on their history and their shared heritage. Well, what is the Iraqi Government response to all of this . Has they just been letting this happen . Absolutely not they have launched a wide scale military offensive, around tikrit to push back the Islamic State there, they are using aerial bombardment, in some cases they are sort of counting on this local backlash, hoping that the Islamic State really cant plant roots and local resident will start to turn against them, including tribesmen, quoting local sources than the meantime iraqi forces are trying to regroup and strengthen their focus on holding the key cities and making sure that the insurgents dont push southwards toward the capital. All right, nour malas of the wall street journal, joining us via skype, thank you. In britain, church of sreenivasan in britain, church of england officials are calling on Prime MinisterDavid Cameron to offer sanctuary to thousands of Iraqi Christians who have fled Northern Iraq following the jihadists military gains. The right reverend david walker told the observer newspaper that the cost to the uk would be miniscule compared to what britain spent on the war in iraq. He says the uk now has a moral duty to help. In australia today, 1,500 people attended a Memorial Service for three of the youngest victims who were traveling on malaysia airliner 17. The Obama Administration says the plane carrying 298 people was brought down by a missile fired by prorussian separatists. The childrens grieving mother spoke at the service. When their innocent bodies were shot out of the sky, i stretched my arms as high as i could and screamed for them. Sreenivasan the chairman of the house intelligence committee, Michigan Republican mike rogers, said today the recent surge in illegal immigration once again exposes americas vulnerability to terrorists hoping to enter the United States from mexico. We noticed a very dangerous trend a few years ago when the iranian kuds force an external terrorist group if you will supported by the country of iran was planning an operation to use the southern border to infiltrate people into the United States to kill the saudi ambassador. So clearly our enemies and adversaries understand that it is a weakness. Sreenivasan for a second straight day, up to half a Million People in and around toledo, ohio, still cannot safely drink their tap water. The citys mayor said the water quali is improving but that it is still considered toxic. Parents were also advised not to bathe their children in it. The problem apparently stems from algae blooms in nearby lake erie. Bottled water is running very low in supermarkets, but is being transported to the area by state authorities and the national guard. In california this weekend, governor jerry brown declared a state of emergency as a wildfire raged along the california oregon border. Its one of more than a dozen burning around the state, all of them made worse by the lingering drought there. Several homes throughout the state have been destroyed and several communities evacuated. Starting tuesday new food and Drug Administration rules will limit how much gluten can be in products labeled as gluten free. The use of the label itself is voluntary. And there is no requirement that a package containing gluten expressly say so. And the National Debate about marijuana use played out this weekend in the New York Times in two competing ads. For whats believed to be the first time, americas newspaper of record published a fullpage ad extolling marijuanas medical benefits. It was placed by leafly, an organization one writer called yelp for weed because it helps users find pot dispensaries. A separate ad placed by a number of groups, including an organization known as grass is not greener, warned that the relaxation of marijuana laws around the country is creating businesses selling what they called a highly habitforming product. This week, colorado became the most recent state to begin issuing drivers licenses to people regardless of their immigration status, joining several other states and washington dc by permitting people who have temporary status and those who entered the country illegally to drive. Yesterday, i spoke with ivan moreno of the Associated Press from denver. First of all, 10,000 people have already signed up for this, and i have got to ask, what is this drivers license get you, just the ability to drive . Yes. It gets you the ability to drive, essentially and for some of the immigrants who i have talked to and their advocates they also say that it gives them a certain peace of mind so that with their interacts with Law Enforcement they will feel a bit more comfortable and a bit more at ease, and also again i think it just goes into immigrants feeling like it gives them a degree of legitimacy that really a lot of them probably wont ever have while they are in this country. And that same level of legitimacy has be to be a source of concern for critics, they are illegal in the first place we are enabling them to stay there and now have appointments whenever they show up to dmv, shouldnt we meet them with a custom official there . Well, to the first part of your statement, that has been part of the argument from people is that it will, opponent of this it will encourage or reward illegal behavior. I havent talked to anyone who has actually said lets put federal authorities outside of this dmvs and arrest and deport these people but i think the biggest concern is that again you are kind of sanctioning illegal behavior is what critics of this law say. So who is pushing for the law in the first place and how long have they been working on it . Well, it was the democratic controlled legislature here in colorado and the governor signed it, so it was supported by democrats and actually last year was the first year that it was introduced here. Colorado is part of this wave of states that passed this law. You mentioned that it was it is 11 states that have it, but most of those were last year, eight to be exact. So this is really something that i thinkable, to be perfectly blunt kind of came out of nowhere last year and i think it grew out of some frustration that, you know, congresss inability to pass any sort of comprehensive immigration reform. So who is paying for this program . Well, the program is intended to be sustained by user fees, so the people who are applying for these licenses and Identification Cards are paying for those for these services themselves and for that reason the drivers licenses and the ids are much higher than what the rest of the general population pays by about double the amount that people usually pay, so there is no state funding going to support this program. It is all user fees. Are there safeguards in place so that there are no other services that can be accessed with a drivers license now . There are. In colorado these licenses and Identification Cards are clearly marked to say that they cant be used for voting, they cant be used to access federal benefits and the idea too is that you cant take your drivers license or id card to the airport and board a plane. All right. Ivan moreno of the Associated Press joining us from denver. Thanks so much. Thank you. Sreenivasan returning now to the conflict in the middle east. Temporary ceasefires have come and gone between israel and hamas, but the online battle between the two sides has been fought nonstop. Newshours p. J. Tobia has our story. explosion reporter as fighting in gaza moves into a fifth week, a parallel battle is taking place on a different front waged online through social media. Both hamas and israel are seeking to control the message behind the fighting, and are taking to twitter, facebook and other Online Platforms to influence the publics perception. It is a competition for likes, recommends, tweets, retweets. Reporter Adel Iskandar is a professor of Global Communications at Simon Fraser University in vancouver. He says both sides of the conflict are pursuing similar objectives with online content. They realize that their footprint can be much wider, and they can reach sort of the deep crevices and farout places in online if theyre able to build platforms that are solely their own, that they can control exclusively and send their messages out. Reporter iskandar points to facebook pages created by hamas and israel. So pages dedicated to this particular conflict, or in the case of the israeli Defense Forces, the operation itself, or specific aspects of the operation, specific spokespersons offices that derive from the israeli Defense Forces. The same goes with hamas. Hamas has a very, very integrated system, communications system, not just in terms of a Satellite Network which broadcasts 24 hours a day, but they also have facebook pages, dedicated facebook pages, for each of their brigades as well. Reporter earlier this week, the headquarters of hamasrun alaqsa Satellite Tv Network was hit by israeli airstrikes. Israel Defense Forces posted video of the strike soon after. Throughout the conflict, idfs twitter feed has featured a number of photos and videos taken during Israeli Military operations. The page has more than 350,000 followers. Recent uploads include a clip showing the destruction of hamas network of underground tunnels. Another video claims to show soldiers uncovering hidden rocket launchers in gaza. Hamas twitter page in arabic has more than 80,000 followers. Many tweets link to articles and releases from its information office. Hamas military wing has also released videos online of its efforts in gaza. The recordings have shown armed fighters winding their way through elaborate underground passageways. Another showed militants emerging from one tunnel to attack an Israeli Border outpost. Hamas english language twitter account has been suspended. Theyve also posted taunting videos in hebrew on youtube but theyve been removed by the company under its hate speech policy. Iskandar says the goal with social media campaigns shouldnt be quantity, but traction. If you have a single posting from an idf page, or a hamas page, if it doesnt get any more than 200, 300 likes, it probably is. Its had little to no impact whatsoever, and hasnt circulated if it gets retweeted by someone who has 20,000 or 100,000 followers, then all of a sudden your message has been amplified. If you cant amplify your message, then you have little to no impact in the 21st century, reporter those retweets and shares may be more important than the original messages created by the Israeli Government and hamas. Theres a contest for World Opinion on, on numerous levels. Certainly, the governments are waging that contest. Reporter philip seib is vice dean and professor at the u. S. C. Annenberg school of communication and journalism. I spoke with him via skype. Social media provide a very comfortable home for unofficial voices. And also voices that tend to be more trusted by the audience. Im not really concerned with what hamas and the government of israel say, but i am concerned about what my friends say my friends in the arab world, my friends who live in israel. Reporter he says the real test of these antagonists social Media Strategies might be how much offline action they create. What we still dont know is the extent to which getting information on social media translates into political participation. In other words, are people who are hearing things on social media writing to their members of congress saying give israel more aid or cut off aid to israel. Reporter in the meantime, the online war of words burns hotter by the day what do you think of the conflict. Visit our twitter chat on newshour. Organize. Sreenivasan last month in atlanta, 39 competitors took part in the First Ever National paraclimbing championships sponsored by usa climbing, the governing body of competitive climbing in the United States. We visited with some of the athletes in brooklyn as they trained for the event. He lost the use of his legs after a biking accident in 2008. He spent most of his day in a wheelchair, but as a member of the Adaptive Climbing Group he has found a way to leave his chair behind. And it is physical and it is kind of breaks down the fact that you are disabled if you able to be a rock climber and do it. Adaptive climbing group brings climbers with mental and physical disabilities together to challenge themselves and each other. We push each other a lot. Maybe too much, you know, we aoe really hard on each other, it is like you can do it. Kareem founded the Group Two Years ago, she lost part of her left leg to cancer. You become unsatisfied with the aspects of your life, from anything from walking to how you used to makehe bed or how you use to sweep the floor. I chose climbing because i had reached a plateau in my recovery, rock climbing was one of the only sports i had never done before so i said that is a good one. I am going to pick that one, because if i can do that i have no more excuses. All of the devices are on the ground and it is just you and that wall. I dont think i am the best climber out there. I am going to meet awesome climbers who, like me, want to have fun and want to channel themselves. And great social, break social barriers around being disabled. And just kicking some ass in rock climbing. A roy i cant did that, just that winning a still very medal in atlanta, they won five medals over all. Some late news before we leave you tonight, in a live ranging interview by economist magazine president obama slammed returning as a country that doesnt make anything and said simple appeals to International Norms are insufficient in dealing with china. In china, an earthquake has killed at least three67 people and destroyed some 12,000 homes. Visit us online at newshour. Pbs. Org for my conversation with two scientists about the algae bloom in lake erie that left hundreds of thousands in toledo ohio without drinkable tap water and dont forget to join us on air and online on the news hours, i am hari sreenivasan, thanks for watching. Captioning sponsored by wnet captioned by Media Access Group at wgbh access. Wgbh. Org pbs newshour weekend is made possible by Corporate Funding is provided by mutual of america designing customized individual and Group Retirement products. Thats why we are your retirement company. Additional support is provided by and by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. They graduation recital is a great chance to really show people what i have learned in this five years. Person to grow a up like in this year. I dont need to think about other things. I just need to think about myself and find a way to finish my journey here. The great of tomorrow, today on stage at curtis. , at first,know why especially the last four years, i just hated beethoven, that sonata