blank check to buy whatever i wanted. >> reporter: did you not know it was a terrorist organization when you joined it? >> to be honest, i was a conspiracy theorist a little bit. >> reporter: but it's a terrorist organization. a terrorist organization that's carried out attacks. >> here's the thing, people like me don't really believe the news. >> reporter: you heard him right. he thought that isis terrorism was fake news. like many in this prison, he claims he was never an isis fighter. he said he was a victim. he lost his arm in a u.s. air strike. others have terrible injuries. some are children. there's no question this is a dangerous place. the guards showed us this attempted prison break from just four days ago. they want foreign governments to take their citizens home so they can't escape and rejoin isis insurge insurgents.

abd abdel claims he was interrogated here by fbi agents, and says he can face 15 years in prison in the u.s. >> 15 years is a very long time for mistakes you made coming to syria. >> reporter: you feel you deserve to be forgiven? >> i would say that. >> reporter: isis may have lost control of its so-called islamic state, but these men have been left behind. and it's often impossible to tell who amongst them is still dangerous. holly williams, cbs news, in northeastern syria. now, we turn to israel because tonight's election in israel could impact u.s./israeli relations. for the second time in five months, prime minister benjamin netanyahu is looking for a majority in parliament to keep his job. seth doane is in tel aviv. seth, is it too close to call? >> reporter: this was a do-over election, norah.

it's like deja vu as results are too close to call yet again. benjamin netanyahu, a close friend to president donald trump. but his chief competitor, benny gantz, says he would have good relations with the u.s. adding to the drama, the escalating tensions in the region. and questions growing over that much-anticipated and long-delayed trump administration proposal for middle east peace. and benjamin netanyahu is facing possible indictment charges on corruption. he would like to see a parliamentary majority that would grant him immunity. >> interesting to hear those results. seth, thank you so much. there were fireworks as the house judiciary committee opened its first hearing in its impeachment investigation. nancy cordes reports that corey lewandowski testified about the

mueller report being obstruction of justice by the president republic. >> reporter: corey lewandowski never worked in the white house. but he got an up usual assignment. >> he dictated to you what he wanted you to put in the mouth of attorney general jeff sessions, correct? >> i believe he asked me to deliver a message for jeff to consider delivering himself. >> reporter: according to lewandowski's own notes, mr. trump wanted situations to, quote, meet with the special counsel, robert mueller, to limit his jurisdiction, because the president was, quote, being treated very unfairly. if sessions refused to meet, quote, lewandowski was supposed to tell sessions he was fired. >> don't you think it was strange that the president asked you to sit down and do something you knew was against the law. >> i don't think the president asked me to do anything illegal. >> reporter: and lewandowski never followed through. >> you got cold feet.

>> you chickened out. >> i went on vacation. >> reporter: lewandowski is considering a bid for u.s. senate from new hampshire and made the most of his time here in the spotlight today, tweeting out a link to his new website during the hearing, which lasted over five hours and just wrapped up, norah. >> we posted it, as well. tens of thousands go without pay after a payroll company abruptly shuts down. what some businesses are going to do now.

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geico could save you 15% or more on car insurance. shhhh. i took mucinex dm for my phlegmy cough. what about rob's dry cough? works on that too. and lasts 12 hours. 12 hours?! who studies that long?! only mucinex dm relieves wet and dry coughs for 12 hours with 2 medicines in 1 pill. a recent survey finds that 60% of americans live paycheck-to-paycheck. so, you can imagine the shock that tens of thousands felt when mypayrollhr closed this month and they didn't get paid. meg oliver on the fallout. >> reporter: the hometown diner is closed on tuesdays. it's the day bonnie rosengrant pays her 23 employees. today, for the first time in ten days, she was able to do that. >> it was very hard because i

know a lot of my employees are paycheck-to-paycheck. >> reporter: on september 5th, rosengrant was shocked to learn none of her employees had been paid because the payroll company she used, mypayrollhr, had folded. her employees and thousands others across the country, were left without a deposit in their account. >> very emotional. we're a small business. every penny counts. >> reporter: mypayrollhr was an online service that handled payroll for small companies. when it shuttered, it was holding $35 million in wages. these images from "the daily mail" show an fbi raid mday on the home of the company's ceo. the mysterious collapse of mypayrollhr impacted some 4,000 businesses in the country. from exercise companies in chicago, to animal rescue companies in florida.

rosengrant is desperate to find out what happened to the $130,000 that is missing. >> we want our money back. >> reporter: rosengrant said the company hadn't paid the quarterly taxes for the last two quarters, either. nearly $60,000. coming up, a man does what no other swimmer has ever done. 60% of women wear the wrong size pad,

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in our boldest trial, 3 out of 4 women recommend dove cool essentials. ...i think that i might be a convert. would you switch to our dove antiperspirant? all day protection. soft and smooth underarms. world leaders are set to address the global climate crisis at the u.n. next week. cbs is the only network in a project highlighting the crisis. mark phillips joins us from the u.n. mark? >> reporter: it's been three years since the paris climate accords. yet, in that time, the amount of planet-warming greenhouse gases has actually gone up. that's why the u.n. decided to call this summit to reboot the accords. i sat down with the u.n. general secretary, antonio buteras. >> nature is angry. >> reporter: nature is angry? >> nature -- you cannot play

tricks with nature. nature strikes back. we're seeing nature striking back. this is a very serious problem. >> reporter: how much of a problem is it that it's washington's position, and you hear other countries say, if they won't, why should we? >> i don't think that's a problem anymore. the risk is a global risk. it's not for one country or another. >> reporter: in order to participate in the summit, the u.n. demands that the countries limit the producing of u.s. fossil fuels. president trump has decided not to attend. american sarah thomas became the first to swim across the english channel four times without stopping. thomas, from colorado, is 37. she was tweeted for breast cancer just a year ago. she drank a formula for nourishment. when she was finished, she enjoyed liquid refreshment, some champagne.

congratulations to her. up next, she was a pioneer and inspiration. we remember cokie roberts.

we want to take a moment tonight to remember legendary journalist cokie roberts. she died today at 75, from complications from breast cancer. >> what you're hearing a lot of out there in the electorate is that the women can't do a worse job than these guys are doing. >> reporter: cokie roberts was born into politics. her father and mother were members of congress from louisiana. roberts told "the washington post" earlier this year, she was the only person in her original nuclear family that didn't run for congress. so, she became a journalist. a best-selling author, correspondent, political analyst, and anchor, roberts reported for cbs radio in the 19 1970s. then, moved on to npr before

being hired by abc news. before her breast cancer diagnosis, she said, i have always cared more about family than my career. she leaves behind her husband, journalist steven roberts, two children and six grandchildren. james goldston called roberts a pioneer for true journalism, among them the first woman president of cbs news. cbs news' "60 minutes" important lesley stahl. >> people think we are competitive. we are close to each other and have been from the beginning. >> that's so true. i got one of my first jobs at abc news as an intern. and watching cokie roberts made me want to be just like her. smart and well-sourced and with a hearty laugh that made the rough-and-tumble of politics seem okay.

all of us at cbs news join in mourning her loss. i'm nora o'donnell in new york. good night. this is "the cbs overnight news." >> welcome to "the overnight news." i'm don dahler. the trump administration says it has evidence that iran was behind the weekend strikes on oil facilities in saudi arabia. the attacks disrupted about 50% of the saudi oil output. although the country says full production will resume sooner rather than later. u.s. officials claim they know the types of the drones and cruise missiles used in the strikes and even know where in iran they were launched from. so far, none of that evidence has been released. david martin reports from the

pentagon. >> reporter: u.s. officials say experts have examined pieces of the wreckage on the ground in saudi arabia, identified the specific type of cruise missiles and drones fired, and determined they were made in iran. other analysts have traced their tracks back to points in southwestern iran. one official call it a complex and coordinated attack, involving two dozen drones and nine cruise missiles. vice president pence stopped short of saying flatly it was iran. >> it certainly is looking like iran was behind these attacks. our intelligence community at this very hour is working diligently to review the evidence. >> reporter: iran appears to have found a gaping hole in saudi air defenses around their most valuable asset, oil. saudi arabia relies on u.s.-made defense batteries but were facing south towards yemen.

the missiles and drones that hit the facilities this weekend came in from the north. u.s. has patriots in the middle of the country, but they were too far away. having been unable to prevent the attack, the u.s. warned it might retaliate. >> we're locked and loaded and ready to defend our interests and our allies in the region. make no mistake about it. >> reporter: the u.s. has been locked and loaded since last spring when it sent a b-52 bombers and carriers to the persian gulf. for now, the most concrete consequence of what mr. pompeo was an attack on the world energy supply, that is mr. trump would like to meet with rohani next week when the leaders gather at the u.n. but the most urgent concern is to erect better defenses around

the oil facilities because u.s. intelligence had not expected this to happen, had not expected iran would be so bold as to attack saudi arabia directly. ian lee has the view from saudi arabia. >> reporter: secretary pompeo is due in saudi arabia tomorrow. he is expected to meet the crown prince in a diplomatic show of support for the embattled country. this comes after the devastating attack on the saudi oil field and the world's largest crude oil processing plant saturday, that knocked out 50% of the country's production. a senior official tells cbs news that pompeo will get the saudis' view of what they need to be done. there's also some good news for those at the gas pump. the saudi oil minister today said the kingdom output was back to preattack levels, after the country dipped into strategic reserves. he said no deliveries had been disrupted and the damaged facility will be back to full

production by the end of the month. in afghanistan, the taliban is claiming responsibility for a pair of terror attacks in kabul. charlie d'agata is there. >> reporter: packed crow had gathered outside an election rally, when a motorcyclist plowed into them, and blew himself up, killing dozens. police told us, many victims were women and children. they continued campaigning. a second taliban suicide bomb struck at the heart of america's presence here in kabul, only around 200 yards from the u.s. embassy and military headquarters. the taliban were quick to claim responsibility for today's bombings, which ended the lives of at least 48 people. delivering on a promise to up their attacks after u.s. peace talks were brought to an abrupt end. remember, this is a terrorist organization president trump intended to invite to camp david

to sign off on peace talks, openly claiming responsibility for killing dozens of civilians in the worst attacks since those talks collapsed. one of the most pressing questions in the middle east is what to do with the thousands of isis fighters who have been taken prisoners of war. holly williams visited one high-security prison in northern syria and spoke to a u.s. citizen who traveled to syria to fight for the islamic state. >> reporter: this is the first time they've allowed a camera crew inside this high-security prison, home to 5,000 isis captives, including isis leaders and the men who built their deadly bombs, according to the guards. hi. are you american? >> of course. >> reporter: it was not where we expected to find a 22-year-old from minneapolis. abdel hamid agreed to tell us his story. we can't know for sure whether he was speaking freely. he told us he was recruited to isis through a contact on twitter.

>> he said, do you want to speak to someone in isis? i said, yeah, of course. >> reporter: he was bombarded with isis propaganda videos, he told us. not the ones showing gruesome beheadings, but explaining that isis was helping muslims. he says he entered isis territory in 2015, hoping to become a doctor. how did they treat you? >> pretty much, they gave me a blank check to buy whatever i wanted. >> reporter: did you not know it was a terrorist organization when you joined it? >> to be honest, i was kind of a conspiracy theorist a little bit. >> reporter: but it's a terrorist organization. a terrorist organization that's carried out attacks. >> here's the thing, people like me don't really believe the news. >> reporter: you heard him right. he thought that isis terrorism was fake news. like many in this prison, he claims he was never an isis fighter.

instead, he said he was a victim. he lost his arm in a u.s. air strike. others have terrible injuries. some are children. there's no question this is a dangerous place. the guards showed us this attempted prison break from just four days ago. they want foreign governments to take their citizens home so they can't escape and rejoin isis insurgents. abdel claims he was interrogated here by fbi agents, who said he can face 15 years in prison in the u.s. >> 15 years is a very long time for mistakes you made coming to syria. >> reporter: you feel you deserve to be forgiven? >> i would say that. >> reporter: isis may have lost control of its so-called islamic state, but these men have been left behind. and it's often impossible to tell who amongst them is still dangerous. holly williams, cbs news, in northeastern syria.

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this is "the cbs overnight news." >> welcome back to "the overnight news." i'm don dahler. the justice department filed a lawsuit against former nsa contractor edward snowden, seeking all of the proceeds from his new book, "permanent record." the government claims it violates snowden's nondispoe sure agreement. in 2013, snowden sclosed programs that showed collected phone numbers and e-mails in security. he spoke to "cbs this morning"

from exile in russia. >> you said you wish you had a strategy in terms of a what's next plan when you release the documents. you sit here six years later in exile in moscow, where you said you don't want to be. was it worth it? >> it was. when we look at all of the complexities and the consequences we have as a result of any of the decisions as we go through our lives, i think we realize that, look, we see chances, opportunities in life, when we can make a decision to try to change something. right now in 2019, it is hard to look around at the world and think nothing needs to change. but nothing changes just if we believe in something. we have to be willing to risk something. we have to actually be willing to stand for something. >> you took an oath to the constitution. you took an oath not to betray the country. the cia has an orientation and indoctrination program.

they have a parade of horribles. and you're on the list of parade of horribles there. >> i was required to square an oath when i entered on the duty of cia. it's a cosolemn thing. but it's important to notice that we did not say an oath of secrecy. one of the common misconceptions in one of the early attacks that you heard in 2013, you don't hear so much anymore, that i violated the oath of secrecy. that does not exist. there's a secrecy agreement. but there's also an oath of service. the oath of service is to support and defend, not an agency, not even a president. it's to support and defend the constitution of the united states of america, against all enemies, a direct quote, foreign and domestic. >> domestic. >> this begs is question, what happens when our obligations come into conflict, right? what happens when you have a secrecy agreement, but you have also witnessed your own government, your own agency,

your workplace, violating the rights of americans and people around the world on a massive scale? >> this is a very personal book, mr. snowden. and as you pointed out, growing up in the intelligence community and your parents were in government, it wasn't easy for you to become personal here. i am curious, since you grew up in a community, where almost everyone was in somehow connected to government service, many of them the fbi, how d you -- did you approach your family at all about this? how did they react to it when you went through this process? and how do they feel about it now? >> this was one of the hardest parts of coming forward was that i couldn't talk to anybody about it. this is the bizarre circumstance of the way our laws are currently structured. in 2013, i was a contractor working for the nsa through a private company. i worked in an nsa facility. i had an nsa boss. i was working at nsa systems and

doing nsa tasks. formally, just on paper, i worked for a private company. these contractors weren't protected by whistleblower protection laws. if i had tried to talk to a priest, a judge, a congressman, it would have been a felony. if i talked to my family, it would have been a felony. and if i talked to a journalist, they consider telling the truth about the government breaking the law, is, itself, a crime. i couldn't tell anyone. i couldn't tell the love of my life, who is a central figure in the story, lindsay mills, my long-time partner, because if i had, the fbi could have charged her as a part of the conspiracy. they could have charged her as the accessory to the crime, so long as she didn't immediately after hearing from me, i'm considering talking to journalists pick up the phone and say, someone's going to talk to the press. it made it an isolating

experience. >> your former employer, the nsa, said they couldn't comment on your book because of the ongoing investigation. they gave us the following statement. edward snowden violated his lifetime obligation to protect classified information, and betroyed the trust of his co-workers and the american people. do you acknowledge that you broke the law and there's many people that see your actions as traitorist? >> i will not talk about whether i broke the law. that's for lawyers. it's not hard to make the argument that i broke the law. and i think that's the less interesting question. it's funny when the government comes after me and says, these disclosures show harm. they never justify the arm or show evidence for it. we're six years on. it wouldhe easiest thing to show. >> on the question of harm -- forgive me. how are you in a position to judge the harm of your

disclosures? isn't that something that the intelligence community would be uniquely situated to gauge? >> i would argue, i worked for the u.s. intelligence agency for quite a long time. i'm the only one that knows the documents that the journalists have and the ones they published. we all kn it's available to all of us to assess the harms. and if they had some classified information, if they had some classified evidence, you know, a hair on a single person's head was harmed, you know as well as i do, it would be on the front page of "the new york times" by tend of the day. leaking is not something that only happens to people who inform the press. it's what the government does to backstop their positions. there are authorized leaks that are not plic whistleblowing. back to the question, did i break the law? again, what's the question that's more important here? was the law broken? or was that the right thing to

do? if you look back at the history of the united states, it doesn't take very long for the average person to think about a moment when it was absolutely illegal to do something but at the same time, it was absolutely the right thing to do. a food and drug administration panel is recommending approval of the first drug to treat life-threatening peanut allergies. it's already offering hopes to the 1 million american children living with that allergy. dr. jon lapook reports. >> when i was younger, my mom had to make everything from scratch. >> reporter: danielle has had multiple food allergies, including to peanuts, since she was a toddler. from early on, she learned the fine art of avoiding exposure. >> if i smelled peanuts, i would be on hyperalert. >> she had to be given drugs four times to counter reaction. >> reporter: her mother -- >> it was hard.

in 2016, danielle enrolled in a trial for a new treatment. patients have a small amount of peanut protein and work up. >> you slowly get used to it over time. >> reporter: this is one of the trial's investigators. in patients ages 4 to 17, two-thirds taking the drug were able to tolerate the equivalent of two peanuts. but nearly 12% withdrew because of allergic reactions or side effects like stomach problems. >> it means cross contamination is not such a big issue. you can't have a peanut butter sandwich, but you should have less fear. >> reporter: the treatment has given danielle the taste of a new freedom, like gets a sundae at an ice cream shop for the first time. >> we watched her eat and were taking pictures. people thought we were ridiculo ridiculous. >> reporter: or life in a college dorm. >> i can't believe that's down the license plate now. >> she has her wings.

>> reporter: this is not a cure. this is about the accidental exposure to a small amount of peanut protein. think about the child that is afraid to go to a school or a restaurant because they are afraid they will be exposed to peanuts and have a here's a simple true-or-false quiz for you. if you're between age 50 and 85, it's important for you to know the truth, so please listen closely. i'm alex trebek, and all of the answers are false. so what is true? you can get coverage, regardless of your health, with the #1 most popular whole life insurance plan available through the colonial penn program. whether you're in the best of health or you have high blood pressure or other health problems, you can get coverage, with no health questions and no medical exam.

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scientists say climate change is making rainstorms more

powerful and frequent. that has some coastal towns and cities turning to mother nature to guard against flooding. nikki battiste has that story. >> reporter: on the edge of new york's east river is an urban oasis, hunter's point south park. there's rows of seasonal plants. waves lapping at the show, winding paths and breathtaking views. but look closer. >> we use materials that are rugged and plant material that is salt-tolerant. >> reporter: tom designed this park. he says the landscape, while beautiful, shields the community from superstorms. if the water comes in here, this synthetic turf soaks it up? >> yes. it's absorbent. we have almost half a million dp gallons of water until the storm

leaves. >> reporter: flower beds disguide a ditch filtration system. an outer wall protects marshes that fill in with the tide. but can be submerged with a storm. you say to design these so they bend but not break. what's that philosophy? >> that's what resilience is. it can take the storms and the hit, but you know it will bounce back. >> reporter: just over 100 miles south, the community of south bridge in wilmington, delaware, isn't only battling superstorms. >> this was under water. >> reporter: they are battling every storm. >> when it rains and the river water rises above the floodgate, the floodgate cannot open. so, the water just backs up into the mmunity. >> reporter: neighborhood activists, marvin thomas and

marie reed have lived in this community most of their lives. what do you remember from your childhood? >> not sleeping. when it rained. everybody was going to the basement, ready to take buckets and get the flooding out of the bassme basement. >> reporter: after decades of pushing for change, they may finally see relief. this summer, the city broke ground on the south wilmington wetlands park, a project designed to stop the flooding in the community. >> we'll accomplish that by putting storm water pipes in the roads throughout the southridge community. those pipes will divert water into this wetland park and the channels, where it will circulate and move into the river. >> reporter: but this hard-fought victory only solves flooding for roughly two-thirds of the neighborhood. do you think if this were a wealthy, white community, you would have had change decades

ago? >> yes. marvin will smile at you. pl marie will tell you. it would have

cbd has been touted as a cure for almost everything, from soreness to insomnia, to anxiety. you can get it as candy, an oil, a powder, and now, a coffee. barry petersen tried a cup. >> i want to do a latte. >> reporter: it's usual for people to buy coffee at the blue spa sparrow. but this being denver, the blend is unusual. it's infused by cbd. john used to drink pots of coffee daily. but the cbd version, eased the coffee addiction. >> it eased the jitters. >> reporter: isn't that what you drink coffee for?

>> no. it is like taking off and levels out. >> i had a chance to start a coffee business. but i'm delivering a better life to a lot of consumers. >> reporter: andrew is co-founder of denver's strava coffee. he started as a high-end coffee roaster. but competition forced him to be different. so, he added in cbd. and often, that's where the misconceptions start. if i were to say to you, oh, you're selling pot coffee. >> no. >> reporter: what do you say back to them? >> we're not selling pot coffee. we're selling a coffee that's been infused with nutrients from a plant, that do not have a recreational purpose. they don't produce any kind of high or experience like that. >> reporter: it's confusing. pot comes from the marijuana plant that's loaded with thc, the ingredient that creates a high. but cbd oil comes from the hemp plant. soon, legal to grow across the u.s. it has trace amounts of thc, but

usually too small to make anyone high. and lately, it seems like cbd is everywhere, claiming to help everything >> the cannabis asset -- >> reporter: says martha. the bad thing about the cbd coffee, cbd doughnuts, the spritzers is good for you or not good for you? >> some people are going to feel better. so some people will feel nothing. we >> reporter: this may be the closest thing to heaven. the strava tasting room. it tastes like normal coffee. >> caffeine is still there. the cbd will balance it out a little bit. help with mental clarify and focus. and help make things looser. >> reporter: okay. it will pick me up and calm me down at the same time. >> a little bit of that.

>> and that's "the overnight news" for this wednesday. from the cbs broadcast cen r in new york city, i'm don dahler. captioning funded by cbs it's wednesday, september 18th, 2019. this is the "cbs morning news." mission in the middle east. secretary of state mike pompeo is headed to saudi arabia in the wake of the oil refinery attacks there as iran issues a new warning. election deadlock in israel. why the political future of prime minister benjamin netanyahu is now in doubt. plus, the disturbing allegations against pittsburgh pirates pitcher felipe vasquez. good morning fm