captioning sponsored by wnet >> senivasan: on this editi for sunday, september 9: the trump administration takes aim at authors and anonymous sources.ig in our snature segment, the first in a series of reports on the resurgence of isis. and a history-making victory, overshadowed by controversy. next on pbs newshour weekend. >> pbs newshour weekend is made bernard and irene schwartz. sue and edgawachenheim iii. the cheryl and philip milstein family. dr. p. roy vagelos and diana t. vagelos. the j.p.b. foundation. rosalind p. walter. barbara hope zuckerberg. corporinate fuis provided by mutual of america-- designing customized individual and group retirement products. that's 'rwhy your retirement company.

additional support has been provided by: and by the corporation f public broadcasting, and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. from the tisch wnet studios at lincoln center in new york, hari sreenivasan. >> sreenivasan: good evening and ngank you for jois. the vice president of the united states says he is willie to take a tector test to prove he is not the author of an anonymous opinion essay in the "new york time" the essay, published last wednesday, is still the hottest topic in washington, d.c. the op-ed's author described president donald trump's leadership as "impetuous, adversarial, petty ad ineffective" and claimed, "there is a quiet resistance within the administration of people ouchoosing to put thery first." the times called the writer a official.ministratio this morning the vice president appeared on two political talk shows to continue the attack on

the essay and its still unknown author. >> do you think you know who anonymous is? >> i don't.do n't know. but i do know that they should resign and lea this administration. >> should all top officials take a lie detector test, and would you agree to take one? >> i would agree to take it in a heartbeat. >> sreenivasan: the vice president also took aim at journalist bob woodward's new book "fear," which depicts the president as rash and sometimes uninformed. the narrative that i've picked up, in not only this boon but the n editorials, suggests that things are ppening in spite of the president's leadership, ande nothing couldrther from the truth. >> sreenivasan: in his first teldevision interview, woodw defended his work and his sources. >> one person i interviewed nine times, and the transcripts of those convertions are 700 or 0 pages. >> 700 to 800 pages for one person?

>> yes, sir. >> how many people did you interview? >> over 100. i would say that maybe half of those are key peopl > u> sreenivasan: joininow from santa barbara is newshour weekend special correspondent jeff greenfield. jeff, there are always dissenters within administrations, between the woodward book and the op-ed piece is something different? >> yes, and i think the difference is staggering, there's always people who will y to challenge a policy from the inside by leaking often to woodward but the nature of these statements are the fact that a high ranking aide takes a piece of paper off the president's desk to keep him from executing a disastrous policy, the endless accounts of people calling the president idiot unhinged that this crazy town, we've never seen anything like this before and what makes it interesting is many of trump' acritics areo

criticizing the anonymous op-ed, their argument is look, if you file this strongly the president is a dantier to the on, your job is to resign and say it publicly. but that's, you know, that's really not what's going only . he for all kinds of reasons, and as for i hear the vice presidt saying this might be criminal. reminds me of a joke from the soviet union calling an idiot and being thrown in jail fo vealing a state secret >> why do these people stick around >>there was a now famous resignation by a person that ran the student loan section of consumer finance protection bureau a little while ago. n letter carried rate >> some is the belief i can do tore from the inside in preventing diss some of it is just sheer careerism i got a job, i got a white house car, i like it. but i think the over reason to

be fair is a lot of the people are asking what good would it do? in normal times the resignation of hnkigh ng would have a huge impact. but again and ain, we'veeen as ben sassa said the bepublicans have made a bargain, willing to accepvior that is otherwise unacceptable in turn for tax cuts, regulatory form and for the wholesale revamping of the federal bench in that case, the argument may well be if i resign, it's not going to have an impact anyway. >> sreenivasan: any normal week, the big story we'd be talking about now is the third story, is the confirmation hearings you watched them for judge kavanaugh on the supreme court, what did you think >> when she was a young law professor, elana kagen called it

a shar raid and boy was she confirmed, this became a par di. you have the allies, they do start with kavanaugh, you have the allies throwing tough questions like well, do you believe no one is above the law? yes, no one s above the law. one day, i want to se a guy me in and say you know what if you have enough money and power, you're above the law, let's street ceo the wall who crashed the economy and the democrats to opposed to him are you going to to offer -- why don't you tell us you're going to overturn roe v wade and the response is well, roe v wade is a predent, which means the same thing as water is wet. all that means is it's a precedence until the court overrulesqwh it. then you got others on the committee who are using this to run their -- launch their presidential campaigns i think we got a subtraction ratdiher tn on to what we need to know about what make as gd judge and i'm not sure this process is any more validity, maybe they

can figure out a different way to vet these folks >> jeff greenfield joining us from california. thanks so much. citizens went to the >>reenivasan: last night w told you about what's at stake in the swedish election. today they went to the polls. in the first general election since the country accepted hundreds of thousands s, asylum- seekany from syria. exit polls show the far-right sweden democrats party got close to 20% of the vote. that's a b 13% support they had in the last election. but the party now governing sweden, the center-left social democrats, are project to remain the largest party in parliament. north korea marked the 70th anniversary of its founding with a massive military parade. newsworthy was what was not on display. bethe usual fighter jet flyover, and thousands of marching soldiers, absent were ill willing to denuclearize.he president trump tweeted his iproval writing: "tha big and very positive statement from north korea. thank you to chairman kim." russian and syrian air strikes ntinued in northern syri

today. the bombing campaign in hama and idlib provinces is striking the ollast stronof groups opposing the government of bashar al-assad. there are also an estimated ten thousand islamist fighters in the area. there were reports of civilian deaths and scenes of hundreds of families fleeing towards border regions. >> sreenivan: it was just last october that u.s-backed iraqi owrces retook the northern of hawija from isis. it was the terror group's last stronghold, and before the year was out, iraqi prime minister cled that the war was over, and isis had lost. that was then. ntjust last the group's leader, abu bakr al-baghdadi, eedmeith a message: isis was back; this time with new tactics that would be just as deadly as the old. it wasn'just talk, as newshour weekend special correspondent simona foltyn ports from iraq. this story was produced in

cooperation with the investigative fund at ute nation inst >> reporter: another chapter in the war against isis has begun. at dawn, these soldiers from the emergency response division head out on a special operation. an elite unit of iraq's ministry of interior, they look for isis militants. today, the mission is to search and clear an area of around six square miles near the northern city of tuz khurmatu. >> ( translated ): according to intelligence and information collectethrough surveillance drones and at some of the check points you saw on the way, the number of terrorists in this area is estimated at 60 to 80. sometimes the number can even reach 120. >> reporter: for four years, the emergency response division, or e.r.d., together with other iraqground troops and support from the u.s., fought and appeared to win a grueling war agaiisns, but the terror group has risen again, at the

nexus of four provinces:diirkuk, salah diyala and sulaimania. it's an area home to strategic roadsal, oil fields and sev mountain ranges, which provide a sanctuary for the militants. these coalition-trained troops are battle-hardened from having fought a mostly coaientional war t iris. dung the four-year conflict, the u.s. supported the e.r.d. with tactical advice, even though the unit had been banned from receiving military aid due to human rights abuses. e.r.d. commanders say their troops have benefited from that advice, but eir enemy operates differently now. returning to its insurgent roots, isis avoids large deployments that are easily seen om miles away. the troops struggle to spot their targetwe alked three miles through an area where the commanders expected to find 60 to 100 isis members. but these hills and riverbeds offer plenty of opportunities for the militants to hide and so far we haven't encountered any

and now the bulldozers and humvees are clearing this area so it will be easier to patrol in the future. the jihadists thrive in the dark, attacking check points, kidnapng civilians and security officials, ransoming somend killing others. they also plant improvised explosive devices or i.e.d.'s like this one. during the day, the insurgents disappear into tunnels and caves where they keep their supplies, out of sight of drones and atrolling soldiers. but despite knowing all this, andes not ang or killing a single isis suspect after two daysch of seg, the e.r.d. commander declares the area cleared. >> ( translated ): after this operation, i can say that there's no isis in this area. i believe that clearing it completely prevents the enemy from taking advantage of i to move around, to cut off roads or kidnap people and carry out otr terrorist activities. hopefully this operation continues until we get to our final goal.

>> reporter: the following day, these two e.r.d. brigades are asked to redeploy to iraq's south to quell anti-government protts, leaving these vast areas without permanent security presence, and effectively surrendering the terrain theyar supposedly ced back to isis. inhe weeks following the e.r.d.'s withdrawal, i documented at least two dozenis is attacks in the region, based on interviews with civiliananlocal media reports. dozens of civilians and security officials were killed or injured in these incidents, which included suicide attacks, kidnappings and i.e.d. explosons. nce the 2003 american-led invasion and the subsequenton dissoluf the iraqi army, the country has suffered from weak governance and a fragmented security apparatus. the e.r.d. is just one of many forces operating in thea. a some are regular government troops. others are militia organized by

religious sect or tribe. driving between the northern towns of kirkuk, hawija and tuz khurmatu there's a dizzyi fember of checkpoints set up variously by theral police, iraq's elite counterterrorism forces, and a group of mostly ia militia known as the popular mobilization forces. despitell this security esence, traveling these roads is not safe. in june, isis executed six member of iraq's security forces after kidnapping them at a fake checkpoint. we have counted over a dozen checkpoints along this 30-mile stretch of road, some abandoned, some manned by one of three different security forces who don'necessarily communicate with one another. this lack of coordination has allowed isis to set up fake checkpoints, posing as government security officials to then stop vehicles and kidnap civilians or members osecurity forces. but it's not just the fragmentation of iraq's security

apparatus that has played into the hands of isis. it is also the country's ethno- religious strife. iraq's kurdish minority has long desired independence. in 2005, a new constitution grantegithe kurds al autonomy in what is known as iraqi kurdistan. the kurds have their own government and their own defense forces, known as the peshmerga. but the kurdsfuave pushed for independence. last year, they held a controversl referendum, the results of which overwhelmingly favored kurdistan's secession. the iraqi government didn't recognize those results. in response to the vote, it launched an offensive in october last year to retake disputed areas that the kurds controlled. the two sides briefly clashed, and the kurds subsequently withdrew north, leaving behind a security vacuum. >> ( translated ): isis will always exist in iraq and in syria, and that's because of the political instability in the

region. >> reporter: dler ghazi worksco for the kurdisterterrorism service. he was in charge of security in tuz khurmatu for 10 years, until the iraqi government forced his unit to withdraw mest october. t him in the kurdish city of suleiman. >> ( translated ): the presence of isis in our area is because of the security vacuum between us, f the governmentaqi kurdistan, and the government of iraq. and in addion there's a tical crisis between us that has allowed such groups to spring up between our borders. g>> reporter:hazi agrees to ta us to the kurdish areas that have been most affected by isis' resurgence. i want tomore about how isis operates today, and why it'sef so difficult tot the insurgents. it's unsafe to venture beyond these hills, but with ghazi's help, i find someone who did

they tortured us all the time. they forced us to get up at four in the morning to pray. after that our hands were bound behind our backs all day. they dressed us in blue jumpsuits so that they wouldn't confuse us with their fighters. >> reporter: the hostages were freed by ghazi'ssm counterterronit in may, after aerial bombardements pushed the militants cser to kurdish territory. nuazi filmed this video mis afterward. ali is to the right, almostun cognizable with his long beard. >> reporter: while ali was held captive, he says he was frequently moved. he believes this was becauseis isis captors wished to evade

detection and aerial bombardment. >> ( translated ): from what we cod make out even though w were blindfolded, they were divided into small groups. we could hear them. they were in groups of around 10 people. sometimes they would move us around and we'd be in a car for three and a half hours, driving through the mountains. >> reporter: ghazi, the counterterrosm officer, takes us to the kurds' last defense line against isis. >> ( translated ): this is the last outpost, a little bit further it's isis. these guys are volunteers, they from tuz khurmatu and th area. they are volunteering to defend this region from isis. it's very important torotect this area. because of that river, the trees and the reeds, isis has managedf totrate this area several times. >> reporter: ghazi's intelligence officers obtained these images of isis fighters tarby. but even if they sm, kurdish forces cannot pursue the militants beyond this point. >> ( translated ): that mountain range over there, no force can control it.se that's becf the agreement between us and the iraqi government.

it's the buffer zone along the 36th parallel. neither us nor the others can go there without violating the agreement. >> reporter: in a recent tweet, the spokesperson for the u.s.- led coalition claimed that iraqs and kurdish foork side by side to fight isis, but ghazi claims that in suleimania province at least, they haven't carried out a single joint operation. >> ( aqtranslated ): if the government does an operation today, they only inform us.e they don't inv to work together. the iraqi government has compted two operations in th area, but it's not efficient at all. they just do some maneuvers and leav t reporter: joint operations would not only all kurds to fight isis more effectively.u they also help them regain access to the areas they lost duringhe 2017 stand-off with the iraqi government. there's no doubt that isis has exploited the conflict between the kurds and the shia-meled gove in baghdad, but to

fully understand why the terrorr p has managed to survive, as well as the extent of their c power over theilian areas in their grip, we must travel west to arab sunni areas, which we m will do iny next report. >> sreenivasan: naomi osaka became the first japanese grandf slam champion,ting serena williams in the women's singles final of the u.s. open yesterday. the 20-year-old dominafor most of the match but a heated exchange between williams and the chair umpire createdve conty and questions over whether williams was being held to a different standard than kyher professional players. joining me now via from washington, d.c. is lindsay gibbs, a reporter at think progress and co-host oe "burn it all down" podcast and sportswriter sandra t.

let me start with a point agreement that both of you mht find which is it was a fantastic performance by naomi osaka. it was a great games, >> she out served serena t williams, b on break points, saved all but one she faced and to see 20-year-old on that stage playing against her idol in their first grand rm slam final pero well, was -- i don't know, personally made me hopeful for the future of this wonderful court >> absolutely. e whe tournament.ey player of no do it >>in she's pl her idol, serena didn't think naomi away come anne to the court and be nervous and naomi is a steady even permits played a game and out played serena, i feltad

because everything that happen she really didn't get her moment to celebrate although she not be the tonight of person who would be like doing 12 or raising heelements, just really a quiet nice girl >> let's unpack a little bit of what happened as a cause of that fr ttration. one contention that is serena williams makes on the court is you're treating me differently men do this and the get away with it but you're paralyzing me for this because i'm a woman >> you can find situations where men did say a lot worse to and caused drama and didn't receive the sense of penalties that she received. but i think what speaks to me is w hurt she was by the implications that she was cheating. that's wherethis started to snowball. she continued to fight back. and i think it gets into a lot of trouble by having rules there arennl evey enforced, and you sh knowwasn't able to kind of

let go of her frustration over that call. did he have to? i don't think so. >> do you know him do you disagree >> i absolutely disagree, i c believelos ramos to be one of the best in the business, i don't think it s sexist at all. i don't believe him to be a sexist. i know that he called out for coaching and for viotions at wimbledon, coaching rule is actually the player takes the fine but rule is against the coach >> he admitted he did that. doesn't matter whether she sawi r not and doesn't really matter if it happens all the time. as somebody who has 23 grand slam titles and 36 years of experiencealmost 37, she should have let it go. there the guts to go out >> i'm talking with lindsay and co host of the podcast and

sports writer sandra horwitz. ♪ . ♪ >> this is pbs newshour weekend, sunday. sandra horwitz,hen a woman has this self-defense and us. >> expresses herself, she's hysterical, emional. is there a double standard we hold them to at least and how we perceive when a woman pushes back? versus when a man does >> that i think is absolutely true. i believe that's, the way unfortunately the world still works. u know, men are perceived as strong and women as you say are historic ter cal and that's -- why can't a woman be competent and smart, and you know, just as talented as a man? i can't disagree with anything

you just said. i think it's right. >> this is also t happening context of not just this specific game, but, and also this particular tournament, but serena williams has felt for me quite so time that she has been unfairly targeted. >> everything serena does comes with being a visible black woman in america in a country that often doesn't know how to handle. there have been many instances whether beads falling out. racism from opponents, there have been so many examples the williams sisterseing treated like outsiders in the sport they came tohe define and are still people trying to keep tennis a white sport >> and sports write sandra horwitz, thanks for joining us. >> sreenivasan: for more on

serena williams' loss to naomi osaka, watch our full interviewe at facebook.cohour. >> sreenivasan: finally tonight, loved ones ghered today in shanksville, pennsylvania, at the flight 93 national memorial, honoring theictims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. at the service, the national park service unveiled a new 93- foot tower. "e "tower of voices"ontains 40 wind chimes meant to represent and carry on the voices of the flight's 40 victims. otrick white's cousin louis" joey" nacke wthe plane that day. >> together they fought back, preventing a fourth ous attack.th >> sreenivasan tuesday marks 17 years since the september 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. that's all for this edition of pbs newshour weekend. i'm hari sreenivasan.in thanks for wat have a good night. captioning sponsored by wnet captioned by media access group at wgbh

access.wgbh.org >> pbs wshour weekend is made possible by: bernard and irene schwartz. sue and edgar wachenheim iii. the cheryl and philip milstein family. v dr. p. relos and diana t. vagelos. the j.p.b. foundation. rosalind p. walter.pe barbara uckerberg. corporate funding is provided by mutual of america-- iv designing customized iual and group retirement products. that's why we're your retirement company. additional support has been provided by: and by the corporation for public broadcasting, and by s contributions to your station from viewers like you. thank you.

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