captioning sponsored by macneil/lehrer productions >> woodruff: u.s. airstrikes hit iraq for the first time since combat troops departed as islamic militants advance in the north. forcing religious minorities to flee their homes by the thousands. >> woodruff: good evening, i'm judy woodruff. also ahead, owners of a new england grocery store chain find themselves in a family feud over whether company profits should go to employees or to shareholders. >> there in northern massachusetts, these workers and managers are standing up and saying this is really our company. >> woodruff: it's friday, mark

shields and david brooks are here, to analyze another full week of news. plus, re-creating freedom schools of the 1960s to teach the history of civil rights to young people today. >> woodruff: those are just some of the stories we're covering on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: ♪ ♪ moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects us. >> i've 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 they're 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. >> woodruff: u.s. warplanes struck targets in iraq today for the first time since american troops pulled out in 2011. our chief foreign affairs correspondent margaret warner has the story.

>> reporter: smoke rose over irbil as u.s. air strikes hit fighters of the militant islamic state group in the north. a pair of f.a.-18's-- like these-- carried out the strikes. along from the aircraft carrier "george h.w. bush" in the persian gulf. the pentagon said they dropped two 500-pound bombs on artillery that was shelling kurdish forces. later, warplanes and an unmanned drone struck again, hitting a mortar and a convoy of vehicles. >> america is coming to help. >> woodruff: president obama announced the military action last night. as new advances by the islamic state forces threaten minority christians and yazidis. thousands have fled in terror, and are stranded on sinjar mountain without food or water. >> when we face a situation like we do on that mountain, with innocent people facing the prospect of violence on a horrific scale, when we have a mandate to help, in this case, a when we have the unique capabilities to help avert a massacre, then i believe the united states of america cannot

turn a blind eye. we can act, carefully and responsibly, to prevent a potential act of genocide. >> reporter: he also announced air drops of humanitarian aid. overnight, cargo planes took in 5,300 gallons of water and 8,000 pre-packaged meals. islamic state forces are also threatening the city of erbil, capital of the kurdistan regional government. whose peshmerga fighters have been routed in battles this week with the islamic state group. its officials welcomed u.s. action. >> ( translated ): we thank barack obama again, due to his decision that he will give military support to peshmerga and he also makes sure that kurdistan is the place for religios minorities. >> reporter: the kurd's foreign minister, mustafa bakir, said their peshmerga forces need a lot more from the u.s. in equipment and training "our weapons are not sufficient against those used by this terrorist group and the tactics they are carrying out along our

long border with them." islamic state fighters were defiant. one told reuters that the air strikes would have, "no impact on us." back in washington, leaders of both parties supported the move but some republicans called for tougher measures. >> these actions are far from sufficient to meet the growing threat. we need a strategic approach, not just a humanitarian one. a policy of containment will not work. it was unclear how extensive the air campaign might be, but the president vowed again last night not to send combat troops back into iraq. the u.s. has had 800 military personnel there since june as advisers to iraqis and kurds, and security for u.s. facilities. meanwhile, the political deadlock in baghdad persists. today, iraq's top shiite cleric issued his strongest call yet for prime minister nouri al- maliki to go. grand ayatollah ali alsistani spoke through a representative in karbala.

>> ( translated ): insisting on staying in government posts, despite negative effects on the country is a terrible mistake and any politician should avoid that. >> woodruff: the white house said again today the extent of future u-s support depends on the formation of an inclusive iraqi government. >> woodruff: we'll have much more on all this including an interview with the deputy national security advisor at the white house right after the news summary. the three day cease-fire between israel and hamas ended today and the fighting resumed. militants in gaza launched more than 50 rockets into israel, starting before the truce expired. at least two israelis were wounded. israel answered with air strikes in gaza. palestinian officials said at least five people were killed, including three children. the new fighting cast doubt on whether negotiations in cairo will continue. >> the negotiations in cairo were based on a premise, and that premise was an unconditional cessation of

violence. when hamas broke the cease fire, when hamas launched rockets and mortar shells at israel, they broke the premise of the token. there will not be negotiations under fire. >> the way will not be closed for the continuation to have the palestinian negotiations and the ball is in the israeli court. it's on the occupation to decide and our people, god willing, are ready to deal with all the choices. >> woodruff: hamas has demanded that israel end its seven-year blockade of gaza. the israelis say that won't happen, unless hamas agrees to disarm which the militants have rejected. the rival presidential candidates in afghanistan agreed to a power sharing deal today. abdullah abdullah and ashraf ghani committed to resolving the disputed election and inaugurating one of them as president by month's end. secretary of state john kerry announced the agreement in kabul. >> the agreement is an

opportunity for both candidates to do what they just said, which is move beyond the campaign and into the process of governing. for afghanistan, the stakes are high. it will depend on them and the united nations to help move this forward appropriately. for more on the agreement, we turn to n.p.r. correspondent sean carberry in kabul. i spoke with him a short time ago. sean, thank you for joining us again. first of all, tell us, what is this arrangement that secretary kerry has worked out? >> well, today is really a recommitment of the agreement that was struck last month when secretary came. there were two pieces to it. one was the 100% audit of the ballots cast in the june 14 election, and both candidates will abide by the results of that audit. the second part is a political agreement where the winner will form a government of national unity, and there will be a role

for the loser in that government. so these are the same basic terms that were agreed to last month. what they did today was issue a joint communique reaffirming their commitment to these two principles, and they flush out a couple of details. one is they said they will make sure the audit is completed by the end of august with the goal towards having a new president in place before the n.a.t.o. summit on september 4. and they put a little more detail to the political agreement, but there is still a lot of elements of that that they say they need to flush out. >> woodruff: does it appear abdullah and ghani will stick to this this time, which we thought would happen last time? >> right, and that is the question. people thought last time secretary came, in secretary kerry solved the issues, that this would be a smooth-sailing passage to getting a new president in

place. but shortly after secretary kerry left, the deal started to unravel, they started to squabble about some of the terms, so secretary came in again and calmed things down. the hope is that this will be enough, that one long-time political analyst i spoke with here today said she expects there will be more bumps in the road and a continued need to re-broker the deal as things go forward. >> woodruff: very quickly, sean, when will we know if this is working? >> well, presumably over the next few days as the audit progresses, it will be clear whether or not it's picked up speed. if you start to see candidates balking at terms or prolonged arguments, then that raises the question about whether or not someone's going to have to come in and put more pressure on the two of them again. >> woodruff: sean carberry joining us from kabul, we thank you. the world health organization

declared the ebola outbreak in west africa an international public health emergency today. and nigeria became the latest country to declare its own state of emergency. paul davies of independent television news reports on the worsening situation, and the challenge for doctors. >> reporter: a temperature check looking for the first signs of a killer disease. this is sierra leone's major airport. everyone traveling in or out now is being screened. part of the international effort to prevent the spread of ebola ordered by the world health organization today. the death toll is rising, 961 victims now, and if stopping ebola is a battle then this young doctor from london is in the front line. oliver johnson, from kings college, took a temp placement in connaught hospital in freetown, capitol of sierra leone before the epidemic. he now finds himself dressed in protective clothing trying to care for ebola patients. >> so you want to be human.

you want to sit with these patients and hold their hand and support them but challenging when you're in the heat and sweat of a suit to try to restore the humanity of the situation and remember these are people just like you. they're afraid, they need reassurance, they're away from their family and so as much as possible we try and sit with them. he knows other doctors have contracted the disease but is determined to stay where he's needed. >> that's the real challenge now. how do we all hold our nerve and stick to our posts and see this through? if we all step away this is going to get away from us. >> reporter: the world bank today pledged another $200 million to support medical teams in sierra leone, guinea and liberia and those communities stricken by what's already the worst ever outbreak of this disease. >> woodruff: in hawaii today, tropical storm iselle lashed the state's big island with heavy rain and winds of 70-miles-an- hour. the storm, seen here from the international space station, was downgraded from hurricane status before making landfall.

still, it knocked out power to several thousand. hurricane julio is close behind, but it's expected to bypass the islands this weekend. on wall street, stocks shot up after russia announced it's ended military drills near the ukrainian border. the dow jones industrial average gained 185 points to close just short of 16,554; the nasdaq rose almost 36 points to close near 4,371; and the s&p 500 added 22, to finish at 1,931. for the week, all three indexes gained just under half a percent. still to come on the newshour. u.s. navy planes bomb islamic militants in iraq. a corporate struggle over profit sharing. shields and brooks on the week's news. and, the new freedom schools with a new curriculum for a new generation.

>> woodruff: to find out more on the obama administration's decision to launch airstrikes inside iraq and air drops of humanitarian aid, i spoke to white house deputy national security advisor ben rhodes a short time ago. ben rhodes, thank you for joining us. the islamic state fighters are saying that the u.s. airstrikes are not hurting them at all, that they're going to keep going. how much damage are the strikes doing? >> well, we wouldn't expect the i.s.i.l. fighters to say anything different. the objective is to stop advance of i.s.i.l. that threatens, and we have been having an impact. we have hit targets they have been shelling and advance aing toward the city and we want to create a periphery where they cannot threaten the people or

the city. >> the yazidi m minority group e stranded. there was a report today several hundred yazidi women have been taken hostage by i.s.i.l. how far does the administration's commitment go? >> well, we have been very disturbed by these reports for a period of days, included executions of yazidis at the base to have the mountain and taking women and forcing them to convert and marriage and horrible conditions on the mountain. there was a water drop and we are going to continue the humanitarian air drops to reach the population on the mountain. at the same time, we need to work to get the yazidis into a safe space where they can receive more sustainable international support to solve this humanitarian crisis. we're committed to saving as

many lives as we can and preventing what would be an act of genocide in an effort to wipe out the yazidi population. >> woodruff: both the yazidis and the population in erbil, how far will the u.s.'s commitment go? will the u.s. be there no matter what? >> the limits the president placed on the mission, for instance we're not putting american boots on the ground to be engaged in combat in iraq again but we believe we can achieve object nighs the air, hit target that move toward the city and creating a protection zone for erbil and our people, and on the mountain humanitarian aid drops, and hit any i.s.i.l. targets if we see people threat nick the mountain. that should create space to come up with a solution to provide safe panels and space for the yazidi people. >> woodruff: did the administration underestimate the islamic state fighters?

>> i think what happened is they posed a significant threat for years. they used to be al quaida and iraq, so they have been around. i think what happened is they rapidly ramped up capacity for two reasons -- one, they had room to operate in syria because they had conflict there and they could operate across a border that was eva evaporating between iraq and syria, and two, as they made advances, they were able to get stocks of heavier weapons, making them more capable, and that's what spread some of the lightning strikes we've seen from them in the last several days where they pushed back the peshmerga forces. we believe with our air power, the peshmerga and security forces have time to regroup, that they cannot take the fight to mosul and they can't withstand an effective security force taking the fight to them. >> woodruff: i know some of your critics coming from the republican party says yes, it's

probate what the administration is doing, but they don't see a strategy, that just talking about humanitarian aid when you have a determined enemy like islamic state is not going to be enough, that the administration needs to do and plan to do more. >> the strategy is simple -- we havwehave survivors on the groud are protecting the people and helping a humanitarian crisis. they put together an inclusive government in iraq so that the sunnis see the government in baghdad as a partner and not adversary. that opens up space for countries in the region to provide more support for the iraqi government and then with the iraqi forces in the lead and security forces from the north and support in the region, that's the strategy that will

work. a lot of our critics think there are u.s. military solutions we can impose on to iraq. i think the lesson the last decade is the u.s. military can't impose a political outcome on iraq, only iraqis can do that and that's what we impress them to do. >> woodruff: what gives you the confidence the strategy will work? >> i think, frankly, while i wouldn't want to predict with 100% certainty what an outcome be will be in iraq, there has been a shocko the system in iraq. iraq had gotten complacent and fallen into sectarian divides but israel's advances provided a wakeup call and we've seen in the government progress. a new kurdish president nominated, a sunni speaker, discussions around a prime minister. so we see that coming together. as people regroup, this can unit iraqis. doesn't mean a perfect outcome with so many divisions and

history, but we can push back on the gains i.s.i.l. made in the last several weeks. >> woodruff: and make gains with people on the other side that say this is a slippery slope? >> we have set clear objectives for the militaryo the united states commitment, protecting the people in iraq which we would do anywhere in the world and solving a humanitarian crisis is tens of thousands of people stranded on the mountain. that's our military mission and what the president authorized. at the same time, we're affecting political outcome through security assistance and equipment training, that's the long-term play. and people who are concerned about slippery slope, we're not putting u.s. troops back in combat in iraq. we had 150,000 troops when he took office, we removed them and only have a small advisory presence. we're not going to get back into the heavy u.s. footprint we've had in the last decade.

>> woodruff: thank you. thank you very much. >> woodruff: hari sreenivasan has more on the iraq story. >> reporter: for reaction to the latest developments in iraq and the u.s. response we get two views. feisal istrabadi was iraq's deputy ambassador to the united nations from 2004 to 2007. he's now a professor of international law and diplomacy at indiana university. and retired colonel derek harvey was an intelligence officer and special adviser to the commander of u.s. forces in iraq, general david petraeus. he's now a professor of practice at the university of south florida. so mr. istrabadi, do you agree with the administration's position about military intervention? >> i do. i think that in the first instance the critical humanitarian crisis in which we see the possibility of the yazidis, an ancient religion who have been in iraq since before the christian era, being wiped out, indeed a genocide being

committed against them along with the atrocities committed against the christians of iraq as well as other groups including the shia an of northen iraq, i think it is appropriate for the united states to come in in this intervention. >> reporter: and what about the military intervention? >> i take it that part of the humanitarian intervention has been a military one which is to strike at targets of i.s.i.s. and i absolutely agree that this was an appropriate time for them to relieve the potential humanitarian catastrophe including through armed force. it's critical that ebill not ert fall to i.s.i.s. i think it was clear from president obama's speech yesterday and the interview you just had that if the iraqis were able to form an inclusive government, there will be more support from the united states in coordinating a holistic

approach to the defeat of i.s.i.s. which is in the united states national interest as it is in the iraqi and regional interest. >> sreenivasan: col. harvey, is this military intervention apart of humanitarian one going to be enough? >> it is quite frankly not enough and i hope the military and our president will give them authorization to do more. the humanitarian efforts in iraq providing relief at this point in time did not address providing an escape corridor to move those people to security and getting the proper relief and treatment. that will take troops on the ground and in all likelihood peshmerga but the peshmerga need to be resupplied, ammunition and ability, that's what they need to facilitate the effort. the other strikes are pin bricks and limited to the erbil area. we need a broader campaign hitting deeper and broader

i.s.i.s. targets, to eliminate their mobility and the freedom of action to strike where they want. right now they have the initiative along the line between kurdistan and the rest of iraq to hold the line and to the south along the euphrates river and the area around baghdad. that initiative needs to be taken away from them. >> sreenivasan: mr. istrabadi, what about that, that there will have to be boots on the ground and may have to be peshmerga ones? >> well, i don't think american boots on the ground are likely. i think that the president's been clear on that and i'm not certain that the american public would tolerate it. so, yes, i think there does need to be coordination between the peshmerga and other iraqi forces. i want to say very quickly that we should remember that the peshmerga are, in fact, also iraqi forces provided for in the iraqi constitution so there needs to be greater cooperation between the forces under the command of erbil and baghdad. that is also high on the

american agenda. there has been talk of regional cooperation as well -- turkey cannot be sang win at these other developments, other countries in the region cannot be sang win at developments. but i think we're off to a start. i think the policy is correct that humanitarian relief, certainly that's critical, stopping advance of i.s.i.s. iraqi forces in the south at least have fought i.s.i.s. to a standstill at baiji, and i think there's reason to be optimistic or sanguin there will be a regrouping of all iraqi forces that if we can get a government that's inclusive and reaches out to all iraqis, then we have a renewed initiative of the united states that we can put an end to this. >> sreenivasan: has the administration underestimated

the strength of the islamic state? how tactically strong are they? >> i think they are capable from the bottom up. they have sophisticated leadership as spokesmen from the state department have commented, already. they have weapons, resources, money and they're getting the recruits. but we have to keep in mind, this is not just an iraqi problem. it is in syria it is in northern lebanon where atrocities have been taking place in northern lebanon and i.s.i.s. has expanded to fight there. and they have intentions toward kuwait as well as jordan. we have to keep in mind that they also have intentions to strike the american homeland in western europe, and we should not underestimate their capability or their desire to take the leadership role away from al quaida and take the lead in this broader movement of international jihaddism. >> sreenivasan: so

mr. istrabadi, this doesn't happen in a political vacuum, how connected are the u.s. administration's actions in the north and what's happening in baghdad in the political process? >> i think again what the president was hinting at yesterday was if we can get an inclusive and government national unit, i think of it as a government of national salvation, if we can get a prime minister who understands the need for reconciliation, who understands the need to reach out to all iraqis of all ethnicities and all confessions and if we can agree on an agenda for going forward, i think that there will be greater participation in the united states, greater coordination with the iraqi forces. but in the first instance, i agree with the first administration's assessment and i think this is the experience that general petraeus had in 2007 and 2008. there has to be an underlying political agreement that all parties agreed to, then we isolate the bad actors, the ma

leaf lent actors from those actors from whom we can have a political negotiation. >> sreenivasan: colonel, what is the humanitarian effect? >> unless you do things to limit i.s.i.s. capability in the area and develop a land bridge, it does not look good for the yazidis trapped on the mountain. >> sreenivasan: thank you for your time. >> thank you. >> woodruff: you almost never see employees hit the streets to save the job of their company's president. but that scene is playing out in a most unusual battle in new england this summer. one involving a supermarket chain, a deep family feud, and set against the backdrop of big debates over wages, benefits, corporate profits and inequality. our economics correspondent paul

solman has the story. part of his ongoing reporting, making sense of financial news. (crowd chanting) >> in tukesbury, massachusetts, it was hot but didn't deter a holy ruckus. >> heavenly father thank you for giving us today a new day, even though we find ourselves in the same situation as yesterday, without our true leader arthur demoulas. >> the owner of market basket supermarkets. 25,000 employees with above-average compensation and profit-sharing and 2 million customers who enjoy below-industry prices. but arthur t. was fired in june by a bored of directors

controlled by arthur s. demoulas who seems to think his cousin arthur t. was spending stockholder money too initially. neither cousin is giving interviews but the basic fact is clear enough, the family-owned business has ground to a halt. in mid july, truck drivers and warehouse workers walked off their jobs. a non-union strike in support of their employee-friendly leader. >> two years later, i'm fired with seven of my colleagues. >> for the likes of tom trainer, a bag boy who was till july 20th a district manager, a throwback site, main street versus wall street, decent wages, caring management and instead of debt $500 million in cash to finance investment versus maximizing shareholder value by distributing the money as dividends. last summer the boy did vote to

distribute $300 million of the cash to shareholders. >> they stripped $300 million out of the $500 million cash reserve just to give themselves a dividend bonus. so they greatly reduced the capital improvement fund women's they want to put us in debt, then they raise prices and cap benefits because we're paid higher thank average supermarket employees. employees. nothing good can come of this. >> i think what we see here is the rise of the stakeholder model of the corporation which here in northern massachusetts these workers and managers are standing up and saying this is really our company. >> contrast says chris macken to the maximum shareholder value mantra that has dominated american finance since the 1980s. >> what's interesting and different is that they're

pointing their anger not at washington, d.c., they're pointing it at a corporate model, a corporate financial model they think doesn't work, that robbed them of their livelihood. >> surprisingly, employees favor the stakeholder model. >> -- said a million times to me, we're in the grocery business second, the people business first! (cheering) >> reporter: but it's a family business family feuding for decades. market basket was founded a century ago by agreeing immigrant demoulas. his sons grew the business but their kids began the u.s.eling over ownership in the seven disand the s.s wound up with 50.5% of the stock and finally

disided to dividend out the cash. when arthur t. bought, they booted him. and thus the reinstatement rallies, demanding arthur s. and the board accept arthur t.'s new offer to buy them out. meanwhile many store workers remained on the job and are still getting paid but how much longer can that last? no deliveries, there's no meat, no produce and no bread, except for the gluten-free step. why the glee loyalty? >> we get a christmas bonus, a march bonus, other customer service bonuses throughout the year. >> reporter: and arthur t. knows their names and families. >> showed up at my grandfather's wake for both me and my mom. >> it's family. >> reporter: and customers seem to feel like they're part of the family, too. they've stayed away in droves, showing up mainly to take their receipts from other stores to

the windows, signing petitions to bring back artie t., friend of the working class. this person shops at market basket. >> you're not just a dollar sign. you're an actual person. this is the 20th day i have been helping these folks out. >> reporter: this retired cop man shopping agent market basket for 46 years. >> a lot of people retired. market basket has the lower prices and you get the 4%. >> reporter: that's the 4% instant rebate arthur t. installed last year saying that with growing income inequality his shoppers needed the money more than shareholders like him and further cementing the loyalty of his customers like

noel gordon. >> what was started as an employee action is going to be finished as a customer action. (cheers and applause) >> reporter: customers and employees united, a stakeholder revolt says recently fired 40-year veteran manager steve. >> our customers are not coming back till we come back, and we are not coming back till the boss says come back. (chanting) >> woodruff: a post script. market basket started eliminating hours for many part testimony workers as its business grinds to a halt. but the company emphasizes it is not laying people off. meanwhile, the boston globe reports a rival grocery chain is emerging as a serious bidder for market basket, complicating arthur t's efforts. paul will update this story

online in the days to come. >> woodruff: congress left washington this week and international hot spots boiled over. and we get the analysis of shields and brooks. that's syndicated columnist mark shields and "new york times" columnist david brooks. >> woodruff: gentlemen, so, today is all about iraq. mark, did the president have a choice but to go back in militarily? >> i don't think he did, judy. obviously, he had the choice whether it's a humanitarian act. it's nots a question of national security and defense. the irony is seven years ago this very week a long-shot presidential candidate emerged to take on the royal family of the democratic party and the issue because his opponents had all voted to support the u.s. war in iraq and in a fiercely anti-war democratic party,

barack obama stood alone. his race and eloquence were exceptional but that wasn't the determining factor. getting out of the iraq war has been his defining mission and today it remains an irony and a reminder of colin powell who reluctantly said in going into that war, it's a pottery barn rule, you break it you own it, and there is a certain sense of that now. >> woodruff: you can hear the reluctance in his voice last night. >> he wants to stay out of iraq and defeat i.s.i.s. and wants to do both. if you do both, you will do both mediocrely and that's happened. i don't think you can do both. i.s.i.s. is a pretty impressive organization and have taken over. for us to say the iraqis will take care of i.s.i.s. is probably not an option on the table. getting the iraqi government is iffy, expecting them to beat

i.s.i.s. on their own is unprecedented historically, and if the they are resolved to beat i.s.i.s., it will be weeks and months. so i think this split the different policy the president adopted of trying to be in and out at the same time is probably not tenable. >> judy, i remind our listeners, ronald reagan could not persuade the people on armed insurgence in nicaragua. bill clinton's popularity was dropping with the balkans. the american people's enthusiasm's support for an expanded united states war of men and women, not boots on the ground which is a yo euphemism. but sending men and women into combat there which would be

required is not existent. it isn't there. >> what's nonexistent is people calling us to send american men and women to iraq. that's nonexistent. no one's calling for that. i.s.i.s. has become a threat not only to the region but the united states. there are a lot who want to launch terror attacks. i.s.i.s. is a threat obviously to syria, to jordan, the saudis are beginning to break up, even the turks who manipulated them somewhat are waking up. if you can't build an international coalition to oppose i.s.i.s. who can you build an international coalition for? >> the idea of getting the coalition of other countries to send their troops in -- it's quite obvious the iraqi military which we spent years and great

treasure building and great i effort building is not a functioning military unit. it does not have a chain of command, it does not have discipline, it is not an effective fighting force. the kurds are, and that, quite frankly, is one of the major factors in the united states' action today. >> woodruff: i would point out, presidents don't look at polls on foreign policy but there are polls this week giving the president his torecally low ratings on his handling of foreign policy, striking to me that most of the people feel that the u.s. is not involved enough. so, you know, what do you make of it? some people are arguing the u.s. should do more but more are saying we're not doing enough, the president is not involved enough. >> i say the general trends in the polls, seems to me people think we're not controlling events, we're being controlled by them, and i think that's the

result -- it's easier to do small stuff in the beginning than big stuff later on. when syria was blown apart, many wanted to do one of two things, the creation of syrian anarchist state would be a breeding ground for terror. there was a debate on whether to help the moderate rebels in syria. we decided not to, now belatedly we've done a little. we have this a anarc state. >> we did really big things for iraq. we removed the head of the government. we changed the entire structure and that was not a small thing. the jury is not out on iraq. the american people believe we made a serious mistakes there

and the idea -- we did go in partly in libya and that has not turned out to be such an enortherlies success. i don't in any way underestimate the serious charge of i.s.i.s. i think, quite frankly, by what the president has done today is raising the stakes that the united states will become part of their target and increases our vulnerability. but i really don't see as far as foreign policy, your original question, judy, our former great colleague here andy, you have 3% of the american people saying foreign policy doesn't matter. it's hurt the president's ratings, no question about it, but it was not a matter of great urgency. >> that's why you can never run foreign policy on the polls. the polls would have been against hitler in 1913.

that was clearly wrong thing to do in the 1930s. you need foreign policy leaders to get out front. two things, first, you know, i agree with you about iraq now, but we can't have all our decisions today be based on what should have been done in 2003, and we do actually have this completely monstrous organization, which is going from strength to strength to strength. it seems to me it's simply not an option to let them continue. so we have to somehow absorb the lessons of 2003 and 2006 and the iraq war and still somehow have an effective presence to present this sort of barbarism. so accepting the case you make against the iraq war, this to me does not foreclose doing anything about i.s.i.s. and then learning and moving on it seems to me what we have to learn to do now. >> if we agree on what we planned, i think that's

important. >> woodruff: the primaries are almost over. interesting poll -- again, polls, we usually don't talk about polls -- but showing women, mark -- a majority of women want democrats to be in majority in the congress. majority of men want republicans. what does that say? does it affect the way the candidates are going to continue to fight for the senate and the house seats for the rest of this year? >> that same poll you referred is the "wall street journal" nbc poll, i believe, judy, refield that the pain -- revealed that the pain, the open wound that is the great recession is still very much with us and i think it's fair to say that women experienced that more and not all women are mothers, but all mothers are women. they're at the center of the family. 40% of americans live in households where somebody has lost his job in the last five years. one out of five americans lives

in a household where somebody either younger or a parent has moved in because of economic or health reasons. who bears that burden? women bear that burden disproportionately to men. and women are that sense of security, of nurturing, empathy, call what you will, is very much in play right now and called upon. when we talk about 40% of americans lost their job in a household, that's 126 million people who live in a household where somebody lost a job and people are taking jobs at lower wages. so i think that contributes to the democrats advantage because increasing minimum wage, equal pay and those issues. >> you see it as a paradox. if you look at who was decimated in this recession, women took enormous hits. white working class men got decimated and the jobs are not coming back.

i think they suffered more of the economic pain but have more of a mentality "i can do it myself" and "i don't want help," whereas women want more economic security provided by government. and if i were on the left, i would say the men are suffering from false consciousness that they can't do it themselves and probably should be looking to community, but i'm not on the left so i will say something else, which is the feelings that economic insecurity are just more socially acceptable to say maybe -- >> woodruff: for women than men. >> i don't want to make an overgeneralization, but the polls suggest something like that is going on. >> woodruff: last question, less than a minute. today is the 40th anniversary of richarof richard nixon resige president. could something like that happen again? could we have a president that violated the constitution?

>> sure. richard nixon, judy, was a remarkable, dominant figure, five times national office, franklin roosevelt was the other one. a dominant figure. when he left, there were no tanks in the streets of washington. he did it peaceably because to have the political leadership of barry goldwater. >> i certainly think it can happen again and, you know, every president has tiptoed around the constitution, expanded executive power. i think conservatives make a good case these days, the president gives this temporary status to immigrants on his own without a law, that is trampling the constitution in a significant way. i'm not saying president obama is doing anything remotely like watergate but all presidents have a temptation to extend

beyond congress, but if we have a worse man in office than we have now, it could happen. >> woodruff: thank you. >> woodruff: it's been 50 years since freedom summer galvanized the civil rights movement, registering voters in mississippi and urging them to the polls. but the young volunteers focused on the children as well, creating "freedom schools" that still exist in another form today. gwen reports for our american graduate series. a public media initiative funded by the corporation for public broadcasting. marian wright was a young lawyer when she headed south to change the world. were you breeding young activists? >> absolutely. teaching people about the importance of reading, the importance of literacy. once you know how to read, it's

very hard to make you a slave. secondly, once you learn about your history, you can reach out. >> ifill: charles cobb, a member of the student nonviolent coordinating committee or sncc had the same thing in mind. >> we'll have upwards of a thousand young people from the north, mostly white, come to the state of mississippi, so we were also faced with the question of what are you going to do with them? >> ifill: what they did in the face of threats and violence is create a network of alternative schools, sending the college-age volunteers to teach young people about the value of their own history. >> yes, i want to register to vote. yes, i want a decent school. yes, i want to be able to get a coke, if it's a hot day and there's somebody selling coke in the restaurant. i think it's hard for people to get their heads around that and the freedom schools in part were

designed to teach young people that they didn't have to accept it. >> edleman now president of the defense fund didn't forget about the freedom schools created that summer, they served 3,500 students including some adults. flash forward to this year. 50 years later, where for six weeks nearly 13,000 students in 29 states and more than 100 cities have begun each day this way. (chanting) a swahili word meaning "let's pull together." washingtowashington, d.c.'s mal. elementary is more than 300 freedom schools operating in homeless shelters, juvenile detention centers and college campuses. through field trips, classroom reading and singing and dancing,

the children are learning more about themselves and about american history. freedom school teacher jennifer says the lessons fill in gaps often left unaddressed in traditional classrooms. >> it's very much setting the foundation for as they get older they will have prior knowledge that they can draw from to help build those facts and their own opinions and thoughts about the civil rights movement. >> ifill: 10-year-old sidney dunbar has recently been introduced to the stories of martin luther king, jr. and nelson mandela. >> i learned the sacrifices that people have made just to be free. >> ifill: 8-year-old anai holly has been learning about slavely and segregation. >> it doesn't actually matter about your skin color. it matters about how you are on the inside, not on the outside. >> ifill: for charles cobb, this echoes the effort he

launched in mississippi 50 years ago to address educational inequality. >> we used to call it sharecropper education, designed to do nothing more than to keep blacks available as sharecroppers. >> but it's not all about the past, it's also about the limitations of the present. the project director of the malcolm x. freedom school... >> sometimes in visits, i see no furniture in the living room. sometimes, you know, i see no door handles and locks. you know, it's just -- it's really hard to see because you realize that some of these children don't have breakfast or lunch. >> ifill: researchers from the university of north carolina who studied 19 freedom schools in charlotte last year found 90% of the students had no summer

learning loss in reading, for two-thirds of the students their reading skills improved. but edleman wants to build on that preliminary success. 50 years later, why is there still a need for freedom school? >> because we still have an inferior education system for millions of children of color and particularly if they're poor, and mississippi today, 90% of the children cannot read a computer at grade level in fourth or eighth grade and do math at a fourth to eighth grade level. the youth and adult prisons are teaming with black young men. when the average literacy level rose in prisons, with a fifth grade literacy level. >> ifill: the children's defense fund the planning to honor the legacy of the freedom schools next summer by expanding

to historically black college campuses and to one of the original sites in mississippi. the archival material in gwen's story came from stanley nelson's new documentary freedom summer now airing on pbs stations. check your local listing. again, the major developments of the day, u.s. warplanes struck islamic state fighters in northern iraq, while military cargo planes dropped aid to religious minorities fleeing the militants. the three-day cease-fire between israel and hamas ended and the fighting resumed. ncaa must allow players to sell the rights to their names. on the newshour online right now, ballerina misty copeland said she wasn't the most popular or the "prettiest" swan in the lake, but she had grit and long, elegant limbs. her improbable rise from poverty to the ballet world's spotlight is the subject of her new book.

watch our conversation with the dancer, on art beat. all that and more is on our web site, newshour.pbs.org. >> woodruff: tomorrow's edition of pbs newshour weekend has a report from william brangham, about a new jersey court decision that could discourage prosecutors from using rap lyrics as evidence in criminal trials. the justices ruled that the graphic lyrics at the heart of the case risked poisoning the jury. and a reminder about some upcoming programs from our pbs colleagues. gwen is preparing for washington week which airs later this evening. and we'll be back, right here, on monday. that's the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff, have a nice weekend. thank you and good night. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by:

carnegie corporation of new york. a foundation created to do what andrew carnegie called "real and permanent good." celebrating 100 years of philanthropy at carnegie.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions. >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by macneil/lehrer productions captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org

world newsbbc america. >> funding of this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation, newman's own foundation, giving all profits to charity and pursuing the common good for over 30 years, kovler foundation, charles schwab, union bank, and sony pictures classic. veryam told she is pleasant to look at. >> my mental impressions are cloudy. >> you're making fun of me. rex the more i watch her the more i am stunned. >> there's a dull reality of life. more mystery, more magic. >> magic in