News Wrap: Democrats shout ‘shame!’ as LGBT worker protections lose by one vote

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• JUDY WOODRUFF:

  Good evening. I'm Judy Woodruff.

• HARI SREENIVASAN:

  And I'm Hari Sreenivasan.

• JUDY WOODRUFF:

  On the "NewsHour" tonight: a search for answers after an EgyptAir flight crashes in the Mediterranean with 66 people on board.

• HARI SREENIVASAN:

  Also ahead this Thursday: Bernie Sanders intensifies the fight with the Democratic Party, but will his decision to stay hurt the party's chance for unification?

• JUDY WOODRUFF:

  And former executives get a chance to reboot their careers by solving some of the world's biggest problems, thanks to a Harvard fellowship.

• ROSABETH MOSS KANTER, Co-Founder, Advanced Leadership Program:

  We said, hey, here is a leadership force, and if we could only deploy them to work on these pressing problems of water, and climate, and health, maybe that's a perfect match.

• HARI SREENIVASAN:

  All that and more on tonight's "PBS NewsHour."

  (BREAK)

• HARI SREENIVASAN:

  In the day's other news: The Senate approved a bipartisan plan to fight the Zika virus totaling $1.1 billion. It came after Republicans in the House passed a separate bill last night that costs $622 million. The White House says President Obama can accept the Senate compromise, but would veto the House measure because it doesn't provide enough money.

• JUDY WOODRUFF:

  The House of Representatives did battle today over gay rights. Democrats offered an amendment to protect lesbians, gays, bisexual, and transgender employees from discrimination by federal contractors. It failed by one vote.

  The floor erupted with boos and shouts of shame, as Democrats accused Republicans of prolonging the process until enough members switched their yes votes to no.

  REP. STENY HOYER (D-MD), House Minority Whip: The changing of those seven votes resulted in this House saying to the president of the United States, you cannot tell contractors that they cannot discriminate.

  REP. PETE SESSIONS (R), Texas: It is not unusual to have people who vote and do change their vote. I have done that also. But the rules were followed.

• JUDY WOODRUFF:

  Democrats say a provision in a defense policy bill that passed last night would overturn a presidential order that barred LGBT bias. Republicans say the provision simply restates existing religious liberties.

• HARI SREENIVASAN:

  The Oklahoma State Senate voted today to make it a felony for any doctor to perform an abortion at any stage of pregnancy. It would be the first such law anywhere in the country. The bill goes now to Governor Mary Fallin, an anti-abortion Republican. She's so far withheld comment. If she signs it, abortion rights groups are expected to challenge the law in court.

• JUDY WOODRUFF:

  NATO has formally invited the small Balkan country of Montenegro to become its 29th member. The move today came over Russia's strong objections. Moscow opposes the alliance expanding into Eastern Europe. A signing ceremony marked the occasion at NATO headquarters in Brussels. The U.S. and other member states still have to approve individually.

• HARI SREENIVASAN:

  At least 220 families are still missing in Sri Lanka after deadly landslides that buried three villages there. Rescuers spent another day digging into the mud. The head of the operation said conditions and continued rain are making it a slow and painstaking search.

  MAJ. GEN. SUDANTHA RANASINGHE, Head of Rescue Team: It is completely covered in thick mud. And just the area is completely boggy. The soldiers are working there with mud up above their knees. In some places, it's going even up to their waist level.

• HARI SREENIVASAN:

  Only 18 bodies have been recovered so far. More than 1,500 residents in the hardest-hit areas are now in shelters.

• JUDY WOODRUFF:

  Back in this country, California is relaxing its grip on water use, as a five-year drought eases just a bit. The state water control board voted Wednesday to lift a mandatory conservation order. Instead, local water districts will set their own standards. Parts of California received near-average rain and snow over the winter.

• HARI SREENIVASAN:

  California lawmakers are making another run at tougher gun control. The state Senate pushed through nearly a dozen new restrictions today. One bans the sale of assault-style weapons with easily detachable magazines. Another says owners must turn in magazines that hold more than 10 rounds. The legislation now goes to the state assembly.

• JUDY WOODRUFF:

  A Colorado movie theater will not be held liable for a mass shooting in 2012 that killed 12 people. Families of the dead and survivors sued Cinemark, saying that its security was lax. But a state court jury sided with the company today. The shooter, James Holmes, opened fire during a midnight premiere of a Batman movie in Aurora. He's now serving a life sentence in prison.

• HARI SREENIVASAN:

  On Wall Street, rising expectations of an interest rate hike pushed stocks lower. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 91 points to close at 17435. The Nasdaq fell 26 points, and the S&P 500 slipped seven.

• JUDY WOODRUFF:

  And a fixture of American journalism, "60 Minutes" veteran Morley Safer, died today at his home in New York. He'd retired just last week. Safer spent more than half-a-century at CBS News, including 46 years on "60 Minutes," longer than anyone else. His career took off in the tumult of the 1960s.

• MORLEY SAFER, CBS News:

  The Marines are burning this old couple's cottage.

• JUDY WOODRUFF:

  It was this groundbreaking reporting in Vietnam in 1965 by a young Morley Safer that launched a storied career at CBS News. His coverage of the military's conduct stunned viewers.

  President Lyndon Johnson suggested that Safer had communist ties. In 2000, the "NewsHour" asked Safer if he expected that kind of impact.

• MORLEY SAFER:

  When I started getting reaction from the Marines in Vietnam itself, in Da Nang and other places, I realized that this was more than just another quite brutal search-and-destroy operation.

• MIKE WALLACE, CBS News:

  I'm Mike Wallace.

• MORLEY SAFER:

  I'm Morley Safer.

• JUDY WOODRUFF:

  Safer joined 60 Minutes in 1970 and became known as an intrepid storyteller. He filed more than 900 stories, his last this past March. His droll touch and breadth of interests distinguished his work, from playing pool with Jackie Gleason and interviewing Dolly Parton, to traveling the Orient Express, while still staying true to his investigative roots.

  His 1983 story about an African-American man named Lenell Geter serving life for armed robbery in Texas would become one of the program's most honored. Geter's conviction was overturned 10 days after Safer's report exposed a faulty prosecution.

  Jeff Fager, chairman of CBS News and executive producer of "60 Minutes," was a longtime friend.

• JEFF FAGER, CBS News:

  His life at "60 Minutes," his life at CBS News had such an impact on all of us and how we cover stories and the kinds of stories he covered and the most incredible body of work.

• JUDY WOODRUFF:

  Morley Safer is survived by his wife and daughter.

  And Morley Safer was 84 years old. He was such a giant, Hari.

• HARI SREENIVASAN:

  Yes. What a career.

  Still to come on the "NewsHour": more on the security concerns surrounding the EgyptAir flight; what Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton could do to bridge the growing Democratic divide; a Harvard program that teaches baby boomers to solve social problems; and much more.

  We return to EgyptAir Flight 804 and what could have happened to it.