Weve traveled around wisconsin, and weve talked to people of all ages about their Student Loan Debt and its soul crushing for them, theyre saying all i want to do is go to college, and now ive got a 25 year obligation. Ifill those are just some of the stories were covering on tonights pbs newshour. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by united healthcare, online at at bae systems, our pride and dedication show in everything we do; from Electronics Systems to intelligence analysis and cyber operations; from combat vehicles and weapons to the maintenance and modernization of ships, aircraft, and critical infrastructure. Knowing our work makes a difference inspires us everyday. Thats bae systems. Thats inspired work. Ive been around long enough to recognize the people who are out there owning it. The ones getting involved, staying engaged. They are not afraid to question the path theyre on. Because the one question they never want to ask is, how did i end up here . I started schwab with those people. People who want to take ownership of their investments, like they do in every other aspect of their 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. The white house confirmed an american citizen, Douglas Mcarthur mccain, who was likely fighting for an Islamic Militant group, has been killed in syria. The leaders of russia and ukraine came face to face today. They agreed to have their Boarder Guards consult but otherwise little sign of progress. The meeting unfolded as kiev claimed new proof that Russian Troops are inside ukraine. Ifill it was the First Encounter between russian president Vladimir Putin and ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko since june. They joined other european leaders at a summit in belarus. translated today in minsk, without any doubt, the translated today in minsk, without any doubt, the fate of europe and the fate of the world is being decided. We should together find the only correct solution upon which nothing less than peace on the continent depends. Ifill poroshenko called for imposing stronger controls on the border with russia, and for cutting off arms supplies to prorussian rebels. On the russian side, president putin said the crisis cannot be resolved without peaceful dialogue. translated id like to stress that we are ready to discuss any variants of our cooperation based on consideration for each others interests. We are ready to Exchange Opinions on the current acute crisis in ukraine which im sure cannot be solved by further escalation of military actions, ifill the oneonone meeting of putin and poroshenko finally took place late at night, hosted by the president of belarus. translated talks were not easy, but the dialogue was substantive and extremely frank. It is already valuable and important that this dialogue took place. Ifill but military action only intensified in southeastern ukraine. It was the second day of fighting around novoazovsk, which lies close to the major port of mariupol, and on the same road that leads to the russianannexed crimea peninsula. Ukraine also charged that a russian helicopter attacked a border post yesterday, killing four guards. And kiev released sound and video of what it said were 10 captured russian soldiers. Several complained about their governments actions. translated stop sending the men here, stop it, it shouldnt be happening. Why is this being done, its not our war . Its not our war and if we werent here then none of this would be happening. They would have sorted out their state and their own problems by themselves. Ifill moscow said the soldiers accidentally strayed across the border. Ifill the Obama Administration would not confirm reports today that us planes are conducting surveillance flights over syria. They could set the stage for air strikes on Islamic State militants there. The pentagons main spokesman, rear admiral john kirby, declined to say directly if the flights are under way. He did acknowledge theres a lot to learn about the group. We recognize that their development, their growth, the increase in their capabilities, it hasnt happened overnight, and it has happened regionally, that they operate pretty much freely between iraq and syria. Do we have perfect information about them and their capabilities whether its on the syrian side or the iraqi side o the border, no, we dont. Ifill president obama made no mention of surveillance flights in his speech today, but he cautioned that rooting out the Islamic State group will not be easy. He also vowed the killers of journalist james foley will be brought to justice. He said, america does not forget. Theres also word the persian gulf state of qatar is working to secure the release of four more american hostages in syria. The Reuters News Service reported that development today, citing an unnamed source in the gulf. Qatar helped free american journalist Peter Theo Curtis on sunday. Hed been a hostage in syria for two years. In afghanistan, president ial candidate Abdullah Abdullah threatened to pull out of a u. N. Supervised audit of the disputed runoff election. His camp said none of the fraudulent votes are being thrown out. Abdullah led in the initial voting, but former finance minister ashraf ghani finished first in the runoff. The scandal at the department of Veterans Affairs brought a new president ial pledge today. The agency has faced disclosures of lengthy wait times for health care, and of falsified records. President obama defended his response to the scandal. But, at the American Legion convention, in charlotte, north carolina, he said theres much more to do. We are very clear about the problems that are still there, and those problems require us to regain the trust of our veterans and live up to our vision of a v. A. That is more effective and more efficient and that truly puts veterans first, and i will not be satisfied until that happens. Ifill the president also announced steps to improve access to Mental Health care for activeduty troops and veterans. Separately, v. A. Officials said an investigation found no proof that delays in care at its phoenix hospital caused any deaths. The World Health Organization is now officially targeting electronic cigarettes. The u. N. Agency today proposed an array of regulations, including banning the indoor use of ecigarettes, and restricting advertising and sales to minors. Use of the devices has soared in recent years, and created an Industry Worth 3 billion. Ifill on wall street today, the Dow Jones Industrial average gained nearly 30 points to close at 17,106. The nasdaq rose 13 points to close at 4,570. And the sandp 500 added two points, to finish above 2000 for the first time. Still to come on the newshour hamas and israel reach a ceasefire deal; why burger king and other companies are relocating outside the u. S; the high cost of college means more students with substantial debt; Margaret Warner reports on the prospects for political reconciliation among iraqs sunnis, shiites and kurds; and, an arizona ranchers take on the border crisis. Ifill in the middle east the bloody battle between israel and hamas which took thousands of lives this summer appears to be ending. A new ceasefire was announced this afternoon. Ifill celebratory gunfire rang out in gaza city, where people poured into the streets on news that seven weeks of war might finally be over. The formal announcement came from egypt, which mediated talks, on and off, for weeks. In its essentials, the statement said israel and hamas accepted what they called an openended truce. And israel agreed to open more border crossings, allowing humanitarian aid and Construction Materials into gaza. Palestinian Authority President mahmoud abbas, who lost control of gaza to hamas in 2007, is expected to take over administering gazas borders. translated we hope that this will fulfill the demands and needs of our people in gaza and provide all their food and medical requirements and to begin the rebuilding of all that had been destroyed. Ifill if the ceasefire holds, new talks on other issues would begin in a month. Those issues could range from hamas demands to rebuild gazas bombedout airport and construct a seaport, to israels demand that hamas disarm. The terms of the cease fire deal contained no major concession by the israelis. But hamas said theres no doubt who won this latest war. We are here today, after achieving an agreement between the two sides, to announce the victory of resistance. We are here today to announce the victory of gaza. Ifill on the israeli side, a spokesman for Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu painted the outcome differently. Israel has accepted the egyptian ceasefire proposal, we hope that this time the cease fire will stick, and i think now that as the dust will begin to clear, many people will be asking, why is it that today hamas accepted the very same egyptian framework that it rejected a month ago, ultimately so much bloodshed could have been avoided. Ifill the ceasefire followed another night of israeli air strikes on highrise buildings in gaza. They leveled a 15story apartment and Office Complex and severely damaged another. By day, palestinians viewed the destruction that left 25 people wounded. The buildings had largely been evacuated before the bombings, after israeli warnings. The final hours of fighting also saw more rockets hit southern israel. One struck a home in ashkelon, injuring a dozen people. And, a mortar strike killed one israeli. In washington, the state department cautiously welcomed the prospect of an end to the killing. Spokeswoman jen psaki. We view this as an opportunity, not a certainty. Todays agreement comes after many hours and days of negotiations and discussions, but, certainly, theres a long road ahead and were aware of that, and were going into this eyes wide open. Ifill gazan Officials Say more than 2,100 palestinians died during the conflict, with half a million displaced. On the israeli side, 69 were killed, all but five of them soldiers. Ifill for more on where things go from here, im joined by dennis ross, a longtime u. S. Diplomat and middle east envoy, who served in the george h. W. Bush, clinton and Obama Administrations. Hes now a counselor at the Washington Institute for near east policy. And shibley telhami, the anwar sadat professor of peace and development at the university of maryland, senior fellow at the brookings institution, and author of the book the world through arab eyes. Gentlemen, welcome back to the newshour. Pleasure. Ifill so we have talked about this before. Dennis ross, youve certainly been on the other side of the negotiating table before. Does this cease fire seem real to you . It does seem real to me because i think both sides really want this to be over. Neither side knew, at this point, that there was much more that could be gained and they each saw the price they were paying was one that was going to continue to go up. We can look at it as a price not being equal to the two sides but how does each side evaluate those costs . I think for the israelis, they had destroyed the tunnels. If they band to go in and stop the mortars, they would have to go in on the ground again and take over gaza, which was too high a price to pay. They achieved what they were going to achieve militarily. For hamas, if you look at the rockets they had left, if they kept firing, they would deplete the arsenal and the price in gaza was going up. So each was looking for a way out and this gives them a chance to sustain something. Ifill shibley telhami, you married iyou you heard in the he didnt understand why hamas didnt take the deal. The israelis got more out of it in some ways but obviously the immediate opening of the passages, the crossings providing relief is something to get out of it, but they didnt get everything they were asking for, especially not the ports. But i want to go back to the question you asked will the cease fire hold. I agree with dennis that the incentives for both of them to keep it and respect it is very high. They dont have much incentive to break it. They have very little to achieve in the short term. But heres the thing, i believe from the outset neither side wanted the escalation and they ended up with an escalation. It was very volatile. There was a lot of negotiations at stake coming up. Politically, there are some gains and losses. The Prime Minister started off the 82 approval rating, the latest poll is 38 approval rating. Theres a political problem for each one and much to gain. So i dont think its over, even though i think its a different strategic decision right now, both sides dont want to reengage in conflict. Brown is the Palestinian Authority going with this . Has Benjamin Netanyahu been weakened . I dont believe so. Netanyahu is much more careful in terms of how he frames the objectives. His objectives were to destroy the tunnels and restore quiet. The threat of hamas is still there, the military weakened but the threat is still there, and for those on the right hell be challenged. The numbers of support 82 were unrealistic and werent sustainable anyway, so he will have to contend with explaining where you go from here, and i think simply having the status quo ante is sno not something that will necessarily be acceptable. I think hamas is also, in the near term, you know, with the sense they stood up is one thing, but as the dust settles, i think there there be wil thera lot of questions in terms of where to go from here, and in terms of authority, they want to show theyre back in gaza. Hamas will want to demonstrate whos in control and thats an issue for us to watch. Ifill how different is the role egypt played this time around and how different was the role the u. S. Played . Oh, very different, because i think, obviously, in some ways, egypt is essential, partly because, of course, egypt has a stake in gaza, its right there and cares about what happens in gaza for multiple reasons a for the palestinian cause but b because they see hamas as the threat in all eyes of the muslim brotherhood. But what made them more valuable this time for the israelis was they were closer to israel on hamas in many ways. Thats one reason israel is in some ways preferred egyptian to american mediation, whereas oddly enough the palestinians actually preferred american to egyptian mediation. This is the oddity of all this. Ifill were going to talk about the u. S. s role in this. Did it help to step back from the table a little bit . Yes, i think it did because, at the end of the day, the egyptians had the leverage. Shibley was right, you had a conversion between egypt and israel. Egypt in some ways was harder on hamas than the israelis were. Theyre the ones and probably the deal is the reopening of raffa. Only they could do that. Ifill right, the checkpoint in egypt. Yes. From an american standpoint, we looked at egypt and wondered are they active enough to make something happen . And that probably had us look at turkey and qatar but in a way that was unlikely to produce the egyptians. Help, number one. But number two, different if last time, this time the egyptians didnt want it to appear as if they needed the u. S. To come in and do this and because of that i think we were still active but at a much more low visibility fashion. inaudible if so, what is it those things are likely to happen . The reality is we can say both lost and political stalemate or whatever, but gaza was in horrible shape before the war started. Before the war, guess what, not only do we have. 8 population in debt and a quarter homeless, but the damage to property is many times its g. D. P. And no one can do that from the inside so even to get back to where they were which is horrible is going to take an enormous amount, billions of dollars, and, two, i think when you look at it nobody really can do this over and over again. There was a war in 2008, 2009 that was devastating, there was a war in 2012 just two or three years later. Theres a war now, and some israelis are saying this is not for the unfinished business, we need to do this again. Ifill has this evolved into a war of attrition that this was is only way out . Yes, i think that helps to explain why were seeing this end right now. The price did become too high and the gains grew increasingly suspect. So that produced a reality of where we are right now. But i think it will create an incentive on each side not to see it on each end. One element of the reconstruction is the p. A. Is at the border crossing, the Palestinian Authority, so they can be in a position where they can take some credit for this, but also the more you begin to have reconstruction assuming there are safeguards so hamas cant misuse the material to rebuild the tunnels and rockets, the more it will be hard to go back to conflict because to begin to restore life again in gaza will create a strong incentive not to put that at risk. If i may say, the gaza war was the symptom not the source of the problem. Before we were talking about the possibility of the two states of israel coming to an end, collapse of hope. So even if you fix gaza, meaning what has happened, all the tragedy that has happened, thats not going to fix it and i think one thing that they will do historically is create opportunities, reshuffle the deck. It can cut both ways. People can say im going to fight again or they can say this is not tenable. The diplomatic effort should focus on turning this into doing something more comprehensive. Ifill well be watching. Shibley telhami, dennis ross, thank you both very much. Pleasure. Ifill now, when is an American Company not an