Different ways. Woodruff and, my conversation with Army Staff Sergeant ryan pitts, who today received the medal of honor for his actions during one of the most ferocious battles of the afghan war. Those are just some of the stories were covering on tonights pbs newshour. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by moving our economy for 160 years. Bnsf, the engine that connects us. And the william and flora hewlett foundation, helping people build immeasurably better lives. And with the ongoing support of these institutions and. 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 there were small signs of progress today in the wake of the Malaysian Airlines disaster over Eastern Ukraine. After an international outcry, rebels finally allowed remains of many of the 298 victims to leave the crash site. Their plane was shot out of the sky last week. Neil connery, of independent television news, reports on the days drama over the fate of the bodies. Reporter nothing prayers you for the scene inside this train. The gutwrenching smell hits you first, and then the sight of the body bags. More than 200 victims from flight mh17. Dutch Forensic Experts joined the small team of International Observers granted ac, but its the prorussian militia who are in control of what happens here. The observers plead for the militia commander to allow the train to move so the victims final journey home can begin. Th we need to move the train. Reporter the refrigerated carriages containing the bodies struggled to cope with temperatures approaching 30 degrees celsius outside. The bodies of flight mh17 which are inside these refrigerated carriages have become some source of bargaining chip, a grotesque response to what has happened here over the past few days compounding the anguish of their families. The outside world seems powerless to influence what happened to it and the militia like to keep it that way. Can we come with you now . Yes. Reporter thank you. The observers then head to the crash site where bodies and human remains are still being found. While some have their first chance to take in the scene, fresh fighting in the nearby city of donetsk threatened to delay any movement of the train carrying the bodies. Some of you have seen the donetsk raleway station, explosions there today, so i think thats complicated matters somewhat in terms of logistics. The train finally set off heading away from this he rebel area toward a city under control of the Ukrainian Government. Their final journey home seems to be underway. Ifill on the diplomatic front, claims and counterclaims continued to fly over who was responsible for the shootdown. And, russia and its ukrainian rebel allies faced new demands to allow a full investigation. Ifill four days in, and International Teams are still pressing for unfettered access to the crash site, as malaysias Prime Minister announced a deal to retrieve the flight recorders from the rebels who control the area. The two black boxes will be handed over to a Malaysian Team in donetsk, who will take custody of them. Ifill but there were new accusations that the site has been hopelessly compromised. Ukrainian president petro poroshenko. translated three notorious crimes were committed. The first crime is a terrorist attack committed from russian weapons by russian terrorists and russian mercenaries. The second crime, i cant look calmly at how the terrorists treated the bodies of those who died. Thirdly, destroying the evidence is absolutely unacceptable. Ifill in moscow, russian president Vladimir Putin continued to insist the real blame lies with kiev, for its offensive in Eastern Ukraine. translated i believe that if military operations had not resumed in Eastern Ukraine on june 28, this tragedy probably could have been avoided. At the same time, no one should and no one has the right to use this tragedy to pursue their own political goals. Ifill putin insisted his government is doing Everything Possible to promote a full investigation. But in washington, president obama said he is not doing enough. The separatists are removing evidence from the crash site, all of which begs the question, what exactly are they trying to hide . Given its direct influence over the separatists, russia, and president putin in particular, has direct responsibility to compel them to cooperate with the investigation. Ifill other leaders issued similar statements. British Prime Minister david cameron. The world today is watching russia, the world is watching putin, and they want to know, everybody wants to know, that he will do everything in his power to make these separatists open up that site so there can be a proper investigation. Ifill and in new york this afternoon, the u. N. Security Council Approved a resolution demanding International Access to the site. Woodruff the governor of texas is sending up to 1,000 National Guard troops to the Mexican Border. Theyd join some 3,000 Border Patrol agents already working the area. Republican rick perry announced the move today, to help stem a surge of children entering the u. S. Illegally. Hes a possible 2016 president ial candidate, and a vocal critic of president obamas immigration policy. I will not stand idly by while our citizens are under assault and little children from Central America are detained in squalor. We are too good a country for that to occur. Woodruff white house spokesman josh earnest did not directly criticize the governors move. But he urged republicans to support the president s call for 3. 7 billion in emergency funding. It seems to me that a much more powerful symbol would be the bipartisan passage of legislation that would actually make a historic investment in Border Security and send an additional 20,000 personnel to the border woodruff the spokesman also said the numbers crossing the border have dropped by half this month. President obama plans to meet friday with the leaders of guatemala, el salvador and honduras, where many of the children are coming from. Ifill the city of chicago suffered another violent weekend, with at least 40 people shot, and four killed. An 11yearold girl was among the dead. She was shot during a Slumber Party when someone fired a gun into the house from outside. Over the july fourth weekend, more than 50 people were shot, with 17 killed. Woodruff a friend of the Boston Marathon bombing suspect was convicted today of obstruction. Hes one of two men charged with taking Dzhokhar Tsarnaevs backpack from his dorm room after the attack that killed three and wounded more than 260. The backpack contained fireworks that had been emptied of their explosive powder. Tsarnaev goes on trial in november. Ifill in libya, chaos in the capital city worsened, as rival militias renewed their battle for control of tripolis airport. 47 people have died in a week of intense clashes that left charred remains of airplanes on the tarmac, and terminals severely damaged. At least 120 people have been wounded. Woodruff firefighters in Washington State got some welcome relief today, calmer winds and cooler temperatures. In just a few days, the biggest fire, in the northcentral part of the state, has burned across nearly 400 square miles. Its destroyed 150 homes and is blamed for one death, and its only 2 contained. More than 1,600 firefighters are working on the fire, and improved conditions could help them make headway. Ifill the heat thats helped fuel those wildfires comes as the earth is experiencing some of its hottest months ever. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reports the average global temperature in june was just over 61 degrees. Thats more than a full degree warmer that the 20th century average. The month of may set a heat record as well, going back to 1880, when global data was first recorded. Also today, the National Weather service said california had its warmest winter and spring on record. The state is struggling with its worst drought in decades. Woodruff president obama has ordered new protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender workers in the federal government. Employees of federal contractors are also covered under todays action. The issue has been held up in congress in a dispute over granting a broad exemption for religious organizations. Ifill detroits plan to emerge from bankruptcy got a mixed review today in a key report commissioned by a federal bankruptcy judge. The report found the citys plan is basically feasible. But it also expressed concern that settlements with creditors may hurt the citys future finances. Still to be released results of voting on pension cuts by 30,000 retirees. Woodruff wall street started the week on a down note. The Dow Jones Industrial average lost 48 points to close at 17,051. The nasdaq fell seven points to close at 4,424. And the sandp 500 slipped four, to 1,973. Woodruff still to come on the newshour russias role in investigating the Malaysia Airlines plane crash; challenges to brokering a cease fire between israel and hamas; miami residents push to save a cultural landmark; improving education outcomes for young africanamerican and latino boys; and, medal of honor recipient, ryan pitts. Ifill when the Malaysia Airlines flight 17 was shot down, the stakes in the fight for the future of ukraine went up. At the center of what has rapidly become a global flash point is the deteriorating relationship between the u. S. And russia. But what, if anything, can the u. S. Or russia do in the face of international grief, recrimination and derailed diplomacy . Stephen sestanovich was u. S. Ambassadoratlarge for the former soviet union during the clinton administration. Hes now senior fellow at the council on foreign relations. And eugene rumer was the National Intelligence officer for russia and eurasia during the Obama Administration from 2010 to 2014. Hes now director of russia and eurasia programs at the Carnegie Endowment for international peace. Stephen sestanovich, how much how much good can International Pressure do . Well, theres no doubt that russia faces the most appalling Public Relations predicament that its been in in decades, and it is going to be responding to International Pressure. No government wants to have the kind of criminal reputation that the russians are acquiring for their handling of this, and the result is you already see, is a kind of backing off of some of the positions theyve taken. They supported a u. N. Security Council Position today, the separatists have been urged to release the bodies. There is a minimal level of cooperation that is meant to rescue their International Position right now. Ifill eugene rumer, is there room for more cooperation . There is, but we need to keep in mind mr. Putin has to speak to several different audiences. One is the audience steve talked about of International Pressure to do the right thing. But he has a domestic audience. Russia has been very different about this disaster as well as the relationship between russia and the United States and the crisis in ukraine and what we have been hearing here in the United States. In moscow last week in every meeting i went to, it is very clear the russians have a very different view of this situations, that its not as black and white as portrayed. Its more black and white to their favor. Putin has to speak to that, has to take into account whats been broadcast on Russian Television and media and i think, to the te extent he wants to comply with International Pressure, we have to be aware of the fact that he doesnt control the situation on the ground 100 . So he doesnt want to be embarrassed if he gives orders to the separatists and they say youre not in charge, we arere in charge here. Ifill Stephen Sestanovich, you may have noticed in the last few days whether the president has been tough enough his scolding of Vladimir Putin and his position on. This what do you think . I think there is criticism in his tone. It is clipped and affectless and he is clearly urged to take a slightly edgier, more emotional approach to this. You saw that in his statement today. Ifill would that make a difference . I think it is probably going to silence the critics who say hes not handson enough, hes not feeling the pain of the victims and their families, but i think theres a bigger problem for the president here, apart from just laying the blame at the russian doorstep for access to the crime site, for example, thats a passing issue. The fundamental issue here is Russian Support for separatism in Eastern Ukraine. Ifill let me ask you about that, eugene. I wanted to touch on that point which is does Vladimir Putin have the leverage some people think he does to get the prorussian separatists as we have been calling them to back off . I believe he does have some leverage, but im not all that convinced he can get them to back off because this is not a regular army. There are all kinds of actors with different aagendas reporting to different commanders with different interests. The time when he was encouraging the cease fire was bad mouthed in the Russian Press and in the right wing press he was portrayed as a traitor and he was not doing what he was supposed to do as president for national interests. I wouldnt bet on him being able to control them. Putin is in a fix largely of his own making. The National Hysteria eugene talks about that dominates the Russian Media now has been encouraged by putin. It is the consequence of the campaign hes been on to stoke russian nationalism as a source for his domestic popularity. That is something that does limit his maneuvering room, but he cant let himself be in a position where he makes russia so isolated that it has severe consequences for the economy and for russias political stance. Ifill thats what the u. S. Is counting on and europeans are counting on more now than before and its certainly what we have heard which is sanctions and tougher sectoral sanctions are going to change the calculus here and thats what the president should be walking out and talking about. Will that change the calculus . I dont think it will change the calculus. Maybe in the long term. But i dont see putin stepping away the course hes on now under the pressure and the sanctions. And the sanctions, with be they sectoral or a demand for europe to stop buying russian gas are simply not realistic in a practical policy tone frame. Its not in the cards. Ifill okay, so what anybody should be doing here to force an action in the wake of this tragedy, is there something the u. S. Could be doing . Is there some sort of diplomacy . Is there some sort of arming the rebels or the Ukrainian Government . What is the solution . A lot of support for ukraine is coming at us. That will be the issue faced by the administration. Theyve indicated theyre prepared to do a lot of support, give a lot of supporto to the ukrainian economy. Theyve offered a lot of diplomatic and Political Support in recent days. Security assistance is probably the next issue on the agenda. It used to be said, you know, the Ukrainian Military is so pathetic they cant even use the help or use it irresponsible. The record of recent weeks has been that the Ukrainian Military has been able to make advances against the separatists and they probably need further help. I dont think theres really a solution to this crisis. If the they win and the separatists push them into smaller and smaller areas, putin will have no choice but to open the spigot again even more so and that could actually push them to the option that i believe he doesnt want to pursue and that is more of a military intervention that hes going to pursue so far and frankly i dont see a solution to the crisis other than for all parties to say enough is enough, lets negotiate, lets all come to the table without any conditions and start i know its a bad term but free of this conflict and looking for a way out of the situation. Ifill all right, Stephen Sestanovich and eugene rumer, thank you very much. Thank you. Woodruff the death toll from the fighting between hamas and israel continued to mount today. In total, more than 500 palestinians and 27 israelis have been killed since the conflict began nearly two weeks ago. Meanwhile, the u. S. Push for a ceasefire accelerated. Chief Foreign Affairs corespondent Margaret Warner has our report. Warner rescue c