captioning sponsored by wnet >> sreenivasan: on this edition for saturday, october 6: the >> on this vote, the ayes are 50, the neighs are 48. the nomination of brett m. kavanaugh of maryland to be an associate justice of the supreme court of the united states is confirmed. on sreenivasan: next pbs newshour weekend. >> pbs newshour weekend is made possible by: bernard and irene schwartz. sue and edgar wachenheim iii. e cheryl and philip milstein family. dr. p. roy vagelos and diana t. valos. the j.p.b. foundation. rosalind p. walter. barbara hope zuckerberg. corporate funding is provided by mutual of america--

designing customized indidual 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 bynt butions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you.om he tisch wnet studios at lincoln center in new york, hari sreenivasan. >> sreenivasan: good evening. and thanks for joini this afternoon, amid protests from spectators in the senate gallery that repeatedly disrupted the vote, jud brett kavanaugh was confirmed as an associate justice of the united states supreme court by a vote of 508. >> the sergeant at arms will restore order in thel lery. ( shouting ) >> sreenivasan: the vote teame afhours of speeches throughout last night and today, and as protesters gathered all day at the capitol and at the

supreme court. joining us now from the capitol rotunda with the latest is niels lesniewski, senior writer at "roll call" and c"q" news. niels you were at the rotunda. tell us what was going on as we were struggling to fige out what was going on, on the c-span cameras, because they don't cover the gallery. >> sure, it's going to be with you, hari. i was on the second floor of of the capitol just outside of the chamber when all of a sudden we heard, what you probably saw o those cameras which are operated by the senate recording st and it became clear that there were a number of protests who were yelling in the chamber. we had seen similar yesterday on capitol hill as well. 14 arrests, we believe, were made today from protesters who were actually shon uting ithe galleries as the votes got under way. there were more protesters

outside wh had at one point earlier in the day bas stormed on to the front of the capitol and some of them actually made their way up the stairs. they were outside the stairs, but soy of them made their up a staircase that you normal don't see numbers of the publich on. was sort of to be expected, but it was, nonetheless, the level of tension, particularl i think, from the secret service agents who were standing near me who were here because of vice president mike pence being in the building, there were clearly tense moments today. >> sreenivasan: niels, th t is just t of the protests that we saw on tv or we heard.ve there een protests outside, as you point out, really in the past 24 hours. has this momtum been building? i mean are there-- were there other arrests that thepo capitol ce had to make? >> there certainly were. i actually was seeing a lot of

arrests being made myself over the last couple of days, including in the atrium of the o hurt senaice buildings, which is one of the three main office buildings used by the senate. there have been other arrestsru for various diion of proceedings or block of hllways red senate offices throughout, frankly, because t a holiday weekend that is upon us, we're probably going to be seeing more protests out ih some ofe states. and police officers and-- excuse me, senator senators have had ea police officers and security with them both inside and outside the capitol complex in recent wks. it's really unlike anything that we have seen whethere hn't been a real threat that's sort of specific. >> sreenivasan: niels, finally there, has also been talk from, say, gerald nadler of new york, saying if the democrats take over the house this coming

election, that this inhastigation is not over,t this nomination could still-- actually, i should say this confirmation or this confirmed justice could still beig inveed? >> certainly there might be some talk of that in the house. i'm not getting really that much of an appetite for it on the senate side. dick durbin, the number two democrat who is from illinois, portersling a group of re yesterday that, really, there's too much work to be done in the coming weeks and probably after k e election. he wants to get bto work on appropriation bills and things that can be done inbi partisan manner. and the other thing yo viewers should know quickly is that impeachment and removal is really not something that's going to be on the table. it takes 67 votes, really, in sena to convict in an impeachment trial. >> sreenivasan: all right, as le, senior writer at roll d

all c"q,"anks for joining us. i'm joined here in the studio with jami floyd, local host of wnyc's "all things considered. and emily bazleon, staff writer for the magazine ana lecturer at yale law school. thank you both for being here. let's start with something that happened last night. princeton university, supreme court justices sonia sotomayor and elena kagan, remarked on their experiences in theupreme court in what they acknowledge time.politically divid let's take a listen. >> it's an incredibly important thing for the court yard is-- is this reputation of being ofir, of being impartial being neutral. and of not being simply an extension of the terribly polarized political process and environment that we live in. and, you know, this is a

enallenge. >> sasan: jami floyd, i want to start with you. as the other two branches of government become increasingly polarized, will it be possible to keep that out of the supreme court? i meanwhat kind damage has been done to that institution during this confirmation hearing? >> well, clearly, elena kagan and sonia sotomayor, who was there with her at princeton, are concerned about that, and i'm s, glad, hahat you started here with the oo-- twothe women justices speaking on this point. they're cleay very concerned. and this is an extraordinary thing that they spoke about this. justice kagan wentn to say that the legitimacy ofth e court relies upon public confidence in the court and in its independence, that if the public loses faith in the court, loses respt for the court, and loses a sense of-- of credible, of the

court's credibility, that they won't listen to what we tell .hem to do that's basically what she came out and said. "we don't have an army," she said. "we don't have an army. we can't order with masses of force the public to dohings. we order through our legitimacy." and without that, all is lost for the court. and that's her concern. and she said that las and it was a bold thing to say. nd i'm so glad you started there, because ows tremendous concern on the part of at least these two justices about what's hapsepened theast few weeks. >> sreenivasan: emily bazleon, what about the credibility of the court? how has that put been into question, especially with the number of women and men who believe the accuser not the accused in thisua son? >> right. i think the court does face questions about its legitimacy, and the fact that brettis kavanaugh insecond round of testimony launch a, you know,

heated partisan aacagainst democrats will give a lot of people questions about his impaiality becht way for th court to try to deal with that as a body is to be unifiedz when possible. but we're facing a situation reat is very dif than the last 60 years. over the last 60 years, weve had swing justice justices and s who dfted ideologically. so we had a lot of republican appointees not being having as partisan actors, and really giving theurt an image and a reality of impartiality and nonpartisanship. now we have five committed coervative republican appointees, and four more liberal democrac appoint ease. and that partisan division is going to be a real challenge for the court going forward with exactly these kinds of legitimacy questions you're asking. >> sreenivasan: jami floyd, the conversation that was spurred by susan collins yesterday. >> yes. >> sreenivasan: she made an impassioned argument on her diasoning for why she voted the way she

in her case she talked about the icesumption of innocence, resonates enormously with the people who summit kavanaugh right now. she said it comes ck down to that, and i needed more evidence to corroborate this. that seems like areasonable argument. >> but this was not a court of law. and the etvanaughctors, if you will, pointed that out. "we're not in a cort of law." and perhaps we need a different standard to apply when we're to advise and give consent to a president who is making an appointment. so now judge kavanaugh-- i hope and i'm sure he was listeng to senator collins when she made an appeal to him to set aside want bias that was revled in his opening statement, to set aside concerns about why, perhaps, this was happening to him at this time. because now he's going to have to convince people that some of

those words that weren- spo and he wrote in the "the wall street journal" on thursday,, haat he was speak as a son, as a father, and as a husband-- perhaps not as a. juri but now he has to be a jurist on the highest court in the land. so senator collins is hopin h thcan return to the temperament we saw in the first round of hearings, rather than the mawe saw in that second round. >> sreeniv you know, in terms of supporters, you see this-- and i just picked this f of twitter-- this is not a vote against women or for rape. it's a vote for due process, fairne, and the prnciple of innocence until proven guilty, whether in the court of law or the court of public opinion. no corroboration, refuted claims. that seems to be something that resonates, especially in the base of the support for trump right now. they're just as excited about the fact that he is becoming a supreme court justice, as the people who believe christiner blasey fd and are very disappointed and frustrated. >> those are worthy principles,

anoprinciples we shuld hold dear. i think there's a certain irony in hearing them strongly from conservatives who in other settings have been quite quick to reduce the presumption of innocence, when there are a lot of people's lives are on the, lien people go to prison, a lot of poor people, a lot of people of color. and i think, also, there's important context here about sexual assault, and the problems women have had in past with being believed wbeing found credible. there was a lot of lip service that christine blasey ford was credible and yet, in the end, that didn't seem to matter so much. it was as if the goalpost had moved for her. sreenivasan: emily, i want to ask you both, emily, first what, are the polital ripples of this? does this galvanize enough people on either side-- it seems like it's galvanizing both sies to show up to the polls in six weeks? >> younow, traditionally, conservatives have been much more successful in mobilizing their base around the importance of the supreme court.

that has a lot to do with the idea of overturning "roe v. wade." now they'vegotten an appointment they dearly wanted tid the question will be whether they stay moted or whether it's democrats and liberals who feel outraged by thisnf mation, who will come to the polls in november. that's the big questio and going forward, zeal to see how this court performs in terms of how the american people respond to it. does it stay in sinkwith the american public, oroes it start to stray far afield from the kinds of decplision pe will support? >> we do find that it is the losing side that is motivated in the midterm process. and here, that would be women, people who have felt victimized by sexual assault and sexual harassment. >> sreenivasan: right. >> and clearly those whoy ideologicad not agree with the kavanaugh nomination. so it remai to be seen in just a few short weeks in november.

>> sreenivasan: all right jami floyd, emily bazleon, thank you. bo >> thank you. >> sreenivasan: watch the full r nate vote on brett kavanaugh's confirmation at b site, www.pbs.org/newshour. >> sreenasan: the death toll from the 7.5 magnitude earthquake and tsunami that struck indonesia over a week ago is now more than 1,600. the number of victims is expected to rise as rescuers continue to search through the rubble. in the hard-hit city of palu, the government is considering halting searches a turning some areas into mass graves. several neighborhoods comptely sank into the earth when the quake liquified soft soil. red cross volunteers have reached some of the remote regions of the country to provide medical aid to the sick and injured. and today, an australian military transport landed in the disastertruck sulawesi province to deliver much needed supplies.s. ecretary of state mike pompeo arrived in tokyo today for high level talks before he

travs to north korea tomorro pompeo met with japanese prime minister shinzo abe to coordinate a unified policy toward north korea. the u.s. is under increased pressure to push north korea into giving up its nuclear weapons. pompeo is also seeking to arrange a second summit meeting between president trump and north korean leader kim jong un. the secretary of state will alsn travel to chinsouth korea during his three-day asia tour. the candidates in bril's presidential race are wrapping up their campaigns today before tomorrow's election. far right front-runner jair bolsonaro promises to privatizep state ies, relax environmental rules for farming and mining, and block the legalization of abortion and gay marriage. workers party candidate fernando haddad is bolsonaro's closest rival. ered the race just a mon ago after former brazilian president iz inacio lula da silva was barred from running when he was sentenced to prison on corruption charges. if no candidate winsority, there will be a second run-off

between the two top candidates on october 28. first lady melaniarump wrapped up a four-country trip to africa with a stop in egypt today. the first dy toured the sphinx and stopped to talk to reporters about her support for thece nomination pro for judge brett kavanaugh, who she calle"" highly qualified."er and she shared behind-the- scenes discussions with her husband about his tweets. >> i don't always agree what he tweets, and i tell him that and i give him my honest opinion and honest advice. and sometimes he listens and sometimes he doesn't. but i have my own voice, my opinions, and it's very important that i express what i feel. st sreenivasan: we continue the coverage we began eek on the resurgence of the terror group, isis, in libya.

newshour weekend's special correspondent, chris livesay, f was recently tst american broadcast journalist legally allowed into the country in almost a year. in part two of his report, he oand videographer alessan pavone travel to a city where ancient ruins collide with mode warfare. it's also a place where human trafficking stretches and even breaks the bonds of family and tribe. this story was m with special funding from the pulitzer center on crisis epporting. >>ter: once a jewel of the roman empire, libya's port city of sabratha is home ton ancient amphitheater that more recently was the backdrop of a city overrun by terror. riis took control in 2015 and asserted its aut by beheading 12 members of the security forces and setting up its own checkpoints. today, the tables are turned. libyan police loyal to the government in tripoli now check for isis militants. one of them tells me the city is safe, but checkpoints are common

targets for terrorist attacks, and any one of these vehicles could be packed with explosives. police a also looking for stolen fuel; isis is known to tmuggle it from libya's vas reserves and use the profits to fu their attacks. libya's spot on the map makes it particularly attractive to terrorists. parts of the sprawling country three times the size of franceve are uned. and the country has largely uncontrolled borders, offering several gateways for action, c sanegie endowment senior associate frederic wehrey. >> libya is still a fertile ground, you know, for isis to regroup, to conduct attacks, include external attacks outside of libya, whether in tunisia or even europe. and i think this is a huge concern for american policymakers. the u.s. has alws recognized that the libyan branch of the islamic state was the most potent affiliate outside of iraq a d syria, and so it could very

well re-emerge ary significant threat to north africa and-- and to europe. a now, they're ne to control territory like they did in 2016, but they're still able to conduct attacks. as we've seen, they're adopting a clandestine network strategy. >> reporter: i visit this former isis base in sabratha where, in 2016, ameran intelligence indicated several dozen militants had been tining for nearbyration, possibly i europe the u.s. bombed the site. among those killed was the alleged attacks on western tourists in neighboring tunisia. a local approaches me and my interpreter. he says he witnessed the american air strike. he asks us not to show his face or use his name. everyone around here is part of the same tribe, and heould get in trouble with relatives, he says. so, you came out here when you heard the explosion.ed >> ( transl ): i was the first person here. >> reporter: and what did you see? >): i saw smoke, rubble and bodies everywhere. ct there were survivors. some drove away in.

one was the leader of the isis cell. 's still on the loose. his wife just had a baby. >> reporter: and how..ow how does he his? >> ( translated ): he's my uncle. like i said,e're all part of the same tribe in this area. >> reporter: we head for the beach, miles of open sea separate libya from europe. until recently, this entire coastline was controlled by isis. it's safer now, but locals say we still need to be extremely careful because of possibl sleeper cells. we're met by a coast guard commander named jalal dabashi. he says his top priority is cracking down on illegal migrants and the weld gangs who traffic them. >> ( translated ): sabratha used to be known as the migrant capital of libya. traffickers smuggle the migrants from sub-saharan africa across the desert to the shore of the mediterranean sea. >> reporter: traffickers would then pack migrants in this warehouse like merchandise, he says, before shipping them off to europe in overcrowded, rickety boats.

sometimes, he adds, trafficker here worked hand-in-hand with isis-- and, in nearby locations, still do. >> ( translated ): they share a common interest: money. when isis was around, trafficking was at its peak. traffickers paid isis a tax so they could send migrants across the sea to europe. we're talkg three or four atloads every day, millions of dollars per month. sometimes they would et terrorists on the migrant ships to europe. i heard this directly from the biggest trafficker in sabratha. he happens to be my cousin. >> reporter: sorry, your cousin is a migrant trafficker.i diderstand that correctly? >> ( translated ): yes. he is my cousin. me, i'm an officer of the law. >> reporter: tribal bonds run i deepn sabratha, but that doesn't mean everyone gets along with those in their tribe. >> ( translated ): he innds me threatmessages. he wants to kill me. >> reporter: dabashi plays the

most recent death thre s cousin calls him "the biggest cockroach he's ever seen." "even if you're r, an armored he continues, "i will burn you alive inside. you will see my revenge." the two cousins eventually met in battle. late last year, libyan security forces attacked traffickers positioned at the cient ruins of sabratha, severely damaging e unesco heritage site. so, that's from an r.p.g., a rocket propelled grenade. a local security official shows me the aftermath. so, on this side, you had e libyan army; on the other side,o had the traffickers; and this monument was trapped in the middle. >> ( translated ): yes, yes! trapped in the middle, yeah. >> reporter: he tells me libyan security forces eventually won,k but the trafers continue s.eir lucrative migrant trade in neighboring town fighting traffickers is just one more front in this battle for control of a brittle country. libyhas been in turmoil ever since the 2011 nato-backed overthrow of strongman muammar gaddafi.

this summer, some of the mosthe violent clin years erupted between rival factions, killing over 100 people in the capital tripoli. the chaos works in isis' favor, says the carnegie endowment's w frrey. >> i've always argued that the best, you know, recruiter forby isis is s political turmoil, its...fr its politicamentation because, you know, this createsd econompair. it creates political losers who gravitate towards radicalization. and just now, in the midst of all this fighting, you've seen an uptick in attacks by the islamic ste. >> reporter: ghassan salame is the u.n. special envoy to libya. >> the only way fight terrorist groups on the longer term and in a systematic way is that you have a national authority doing that, controlling its borders, controlling its territory and nymoving around to repress terrorist activity.

do we have that now in libya?an ther is clearly no. >> reporter: it's a problem that vexes colonel ibrahim bin rabaa, the commander of counterterrorism forces in the city of sirte. in part one of our report, he held us how he witnessed isis' trademark cruelty y ruledki his city and lled his son in battle. his men eventually defeated isis here. but now,ess than two years later, he says militants are regrouping and waiting to strike again. >> ( translated ): just yesterday, my men spotted several is militants trying to reenter the city. we almost didn't let you journalistcome today because it was too dangerous. isis has not disappeared.te >> rep but libya has other problems. rival factions in tripoli are .nolently challenging the authority of thebacked government. in response, the u.n.-backed government has transferrte some 300 coerrorism troops from around western libya to quell the violence in the capital. that means fewer soldiers

looking out for isis. rabaa says underestimating islamic state can have serious repercussions far beyond libya. if the terror group is not stopped here, he says, it's just a matter of time before isis grows and strikes again elsewhere. >> ( translated ): the islamic state is not only our problem. l ite a cancer spreading all around the world. today, isis is here; tomorrow, it can spread again somewhere else. it's as simple as that. >> sreenivasan: that's all for this edition of "pbs newshour weekend." i'm hari sreenivasan. thanks for gatching. haved night. captioning sponsored by wnet captioned by media access gro at wgbh access.wgbh.org >> pbs newshour weekend is made possible by:

bernard and irene schwar. the cheryl and philip milstein sue and edgar wachenheim 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. corporate funding is provided by mutual of america-- designing customized individual and group retirement products. that's why we're your retirement company. additional support has been provided by: and by the corporation for yublic broadcasting, and by contributions r pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. be more. pbs. be more.

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