ctaptioning sponsored by newshour produions, llc >> woodruff: good evening. i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight: special counsel robert mueller delivers his long-awaited final report to the department of justice. after nearly 2 years. mark shields, david brooks and others are here break down what's at ste, now that mueller has completed his investigation into russia and the trump campaign. then, amera's heartland braces for disaster, and a potentially ruined farm season, as floodwaters rise along the missouri river. >> wdruff: all that and more on tonight's pbs newshour.

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special counsel robert mueller has delivered his finareport to the department of justice. e do not know the details yet. it hasn't been mblic. mueller and his team of prosecutors have been investigating russian interference in the 2016 lelection and any potentiks to the trump campaign. here with me now our own lis desjardins and yamiche alcindor. so hello to both of you. we have been waiting for this moment. lisa, as i turn to you to hear about how this report was delivered, i want to say that there are now multiple news organizations o are reporting that the special counsel is not recommending any furdier ments. so that is the only detail that we have been made aware of so far. but what do we know about the delivery of these dcuments to the department of justice? >> just in theast two hours, congress received this letter. these are the four leaders of the hou and senate judiciary mmittees, we're notified by the attorney general there. one quote at the top herote,

the special counsel has submitted to me today a confidential report explaining the prosecutio of deckly nation desions. then acting attorney general writes i may be in a position to adse you of the special counsel's principle conclusions as soon as this weekend. t also notre were no instances that the attorney general objected to conclions, methods or recommendations by mr. mueller. the attorney general has the right to review the report and declined to forward prosecutorial recommendation, those kinds of things. here the attorney general is saying i had no disagreements like that with mr. mueller. and that's very significant because already we're seeing is on firm ground in the justice department. >> woodruff: because there were questions about whether there could, might be interference on the part of the attorney general, who was appointed by president trump, and is overseeing this investigation. >> correct. >> woodruff: so, yamiche, hae white housword of this. what are nay saying? ey well, the white house is so far saying that re waiting for the next steps.

but the biggest thing here is that there are no furtherg indictments becommended. that's a big deal. outliers of thpreside are saying that's offevidence that this is a waste of time. in two years they didn't indicty anybrom obstructing justice or colonel colluding with russia. the president has not spoken but i turn to a byte he gave to fox news where he ked about the fact there's no collusion. he called it a witch hunt but let's hear what he has to say. >> i have a deputy, appoints a man to write a report on me to make a determination on my presidency? le will not stand for it now with all of that being said, for two years we've gone through this nonsense without-- ollusionthere's no with russia. you know that better than anybody, and there's no obstruction. ey'll say, "oh, well, wait, there was no collusion, that was a hoax, but he obstructed in fighting againay the hoax." >> now, sources close to pyesident trump in their reports that he is hapnd glad this is over. b

this hasen a two-year cloud over his presidency. after the midterms when he started talking about what was going to be next and what legislatively he couldth a democratically controlled congress, he started talking about investigations, started talking quiutly abohe mueller probe and the idea people were after him, because he wasomeone not expected to win, that he was not a p legitimaesident. sarah huckabee sanders, the white house press secretary has responded. we're waiting for the president to tweet. if that happens on the airstrikes hopefully ideas, but sarah sanders tweet are the next steps are up to attorney gene l we look forward to the process take course. the white house has not been received or briefed cn the speciaunsel's report. that means the white house doesn't kne much moran us at this point. secretary nielsen, e head of the department of homeland security, she was at trump hotel, had no idea thiwas coming. there are multiple people around

the president who didn't know the timing of this. just today i was ton white house la and we asked the president when do you think the mueller report igoing to be reased? he said i have no idea. i will also turn to another allt e president corey lewandowski, he's someoneinho wahe orbit of the president, someone who peot ple thought get indicted for colonecolluding are russi he said make the report public. that's what he said ton lawn at the white house yesterday saying the mueller report should e released to the public, we don't know that's going to happen. >> woodruff: important point not knowing this was coming, what's in it, they want to make it clear saying to the world we didn't have anything to do with this, we're independent. we've seen a letter fothe democratic leaders in the house, senate speaker pelosi, chuck schumerer are saying make the entire report public. >> they' saying this

investigation was focused on questions that go to the integrity of the democracy and that the american people have a right to the truth. the house v2ed0 to say that the full house of representatives believes this repo should be released public. the senate did not take that vote. senator lindsey graham, chairman of the judiciary committee blocked the vote because he has concerns about the clinton investigation. he was trying to leverage that vote into another new special counsel. but hae point is the senat not voted on this idea. every senate statement i see tonight says they'd like a public release. obviously we see attorne general barr thinking about this over the weekend, preparing at least to brief laders and deciding what he will release to the public. it is his decision. >> woodruff: do we know whether there will be a brefing tonight or when it will happen other than saying i hope to have more this kend? >> i do not have that report, but i would expect that there are staffers on capitol hill being briefed tonight, and we do know from leaders they are ying they expt briefings soon, if not this weekend.

>> woodruff: and yamiche, i was ing to say, the prsident has been saying it should be made public, but we don't know. i mean, we don't know what's gog to happen. >> the reason why we should take the president saying this should be made blic with a large grain of salt is because the president also said he was going to sit down with robert mueller. he said i want to sit down wit an interview and defend myself. he never did that. he senin writtenatements to a very small number of questions. he did not wantat to be --lk about russian collusion and all sorts of other things. i also want to read because i'm xting with rudy giuliani as we're on air, so excuse that, but i said is there anny react to mueller not recommending any more indictments, and he wro it sounds like it's over. so this is an ally of the presidene of course, tesident's personal lawyer saying this is all meaning that we are clear, we're in the clear, that the president, what he's been saying over the past two years, this vindicates him. that's really early to say because we don't know exactly

what's in the report but atmp least the tramp is saying that. >> woodruff: back to these reports, multiple news organizations are saying it's their information, that this mueller report does not recommend any more indictments. there have been indictments. if t mre aren't anyre, if that is borne out to be the case, we don't know whether tha t includes the president. we know there's some debate about whether or not a sitting president can be indicted. >> that's correc so it's no clear. are there things in this report that raise questions about the present that democrats will look into further in congress? it seems that we've known all along that special nsel mueller has known more than anyone else in washington about the activities of t trump campaign and the president himself, what does this report reveal, an indictment might not be the only issue here for the president. i will raise a summa what's happened. let's just back up of what mueller's done. this investigation, mueller was appointed 675 days ago, may of 2017. so it's been quite a while, not quite two yes, and by my count, he has so far indicted

and, if, in fact, this is the full list of indictments, 34 people as part of this probe. the vast majory of them are russian nationals, and they have not within brought into courts here in the united sta they have been indicted here, while many of them are overseas, and then t others, the americans who have been indicted as part of this, most of theml have takena deals as part of this as well. right now looks like paul manafort may be the person who has sentencing time. we'll see what happens with others in future cases as well. >> woodruff: these are individuals who have had a creoe tionship with the president. lisa, yamiche, we'll ask you to stand as we continue to follow these fast-moving developments. we are keeping our focus onat the conclusion of the special counsel's investigation could >> woodruff: for more on what the conclusion of the special counsel's investigation could mean, i'm joined by amy jeffress.sh s a former federal prosecutor who also served as counselor to the attorney general for national security. and john carlin.

he served for several yes as the assistant attorney general for national security in the obama administration. he joins us via skype. welcome to both of you. john carlin, i'm going to start with you. as this su folding, and, again, we don't know very much at this point, what do we expect to have -- to know next? know the attorney general has the mueller final report. what do we believe hap npew? >> well, this is really -- it's it's the beginning of a newas and i think it's extraordinarily important to focus, as you have alreadywhon we currently know. so we already, tishs an incredibly short period of time for an investigation that covers a complex criminal ativity, counterintelligence operations, laundering monetary funds, really operated at an unprecthented pace. report is different than a

report might be if it was purely on criminal charges. over the years, the f.b.i. has changed its reporting requirements when it comes to intellence threats to our country, to make sure that they are briefed out to the rest of the intelligence community, and alsoo the critical oversight committees -- the house/senate intelligence committees. much of this report seems it will fall within the scope of the oversight for those intelligence committees. so i would expect one way or the other that the report ends up in their hands. >> woodruff: in the intelligence committees' hands. amy jeffresso, you next. tsis early indication, again, through news repnot through any confirmation from the justice department that the special counsel robert mueller is not recommending any further indictments. if that's the case, what does that say to you? >> well,thhat says thae core of the special counsel's work has been completed, at team

has decided that they have brought all of the charges that they felt were within their core mandate. but we already know that there are other investigations they have referred out to the u.s. attorney's offices that are related if not withina tht central bit of the investigation. so i agree with john, i don't estigation this in and all of its tentacles have been fully completed. i think that there will be more to come, but it won't be related to the core of the russian interference in the eleion per se. >> woodruff: and meaning what? let's go back and talk about at has been referred, amy jeffress, to the southern district of new f york,or example. >> that's exactly right. we know that the cohen piece to have the investigation was referred. tigations other inv underway, and i expect that there are some that we don't know about that may be underway that have not yet been made public. >> woodruff: and i want toar turn, johnlin, to you again

on what have been referred coantd hasn't. d it be seen, though, at this early stage that it's go news for president trump that, based on the core, looking a the connections between the trump campaign and russian officials or vice vehe fact that there are no further indictments, if that turns out be acurate, is that good news for the president? >> so if there are no further oinion dim individuals for criminal crim conspiring with russians, it would be good news, i think, for the country. it's alreadyeen -- we have been through an unprecedented period where a campaign manager of a major campaign has been ernvicted twice of, among oth crimes, millions of dollars from russian affiliated interests. we've had a nional security advisish plead guilty to lying ability russian contacts.

we've had numerous russian agents indicted for their actions inrying to undermine our election, and from the muler special counsel, wve already had cases referred back to the national securit division, including a case that resulted in the indictment of russian actors who were nying torfere in the 2018 campaign, our most recent s ection. but is it good nr the president? i think for that, we need to step back and think about th separation of powers. -gathering.fa it looked like from the beginning there is an office of legal counsel opinion that would prevent the special counsel from issuing an indictment against the psident. these will be the factual record that is then given to congrese and it willheir role to consider that factual record and whether or not it warrants the taking action through their power of impeachment. >> woodruff: amy jeffress, howw do you reat we know about whetnr or not a recommendat can be made to indict the president?

and does it sound to you -- and again, what we have at this point, is piecemeal, does it sound to you athis point as if that will not take place, there will not be a recommendation idict the president? >> i don't think there will be, and i never expected that there would be, ven the policy pursuant to the o.mel.cmos. i think, though, that that means that, largely, what will be the content of this report will be the evidence that they gathered that did not lead to charges. t although i thi report will also describe the evidence that was collected that did lead to charges dyat are alrn the public domain. but i think there will be evidence described ithe report that we don't yet know. >> woodruff: and just very quickly, john carlin, what do you look for next?e weviously waiting for the entire report to be released. we don't know if it will be. what are you looking for initially? >> i think it will take a p of time as they go through the report, and i think we need to,

number one, not wait to take acti to protect our elections en to consider the information that's already bade public, and then, number , two where we do need t wait is -- and ensure that the information in that report reaches the pulic because voters have a right to know and also reaches thee critical orsight committees, so they can take what necessary steps th need to take n otect our country. >> woodruff: jarlin, former justice department official, amy ffress, former federal prosecutor, thank you both. >> woodruff: and that brings us to the analysis of shields and brooks. that is syndicated columnist mark shields, and "new york times" columnist david brooks. hello, gentlemen, loke we have a little bit of news, although we don't know what the news is in the news. we are waiting for more 're going just on the thdsnest of thr but, mark, based on what we're

hearing, and, t course, we jus heard from two individuals who n ve worked at the justice department, have b federal prosecutor, if it's the case there are no indictments being recommended, that's going to bring a sigh of relief from thit house, isn't it? >> i would say it is, judy. i mean, we know aboelut robert r, that this has been leak-proof, and that he hasa reputation for incredible thoroughness, and i think the relief or maybe the question will turn out to have been the indictment or whether they can indict a sitting president or not, and, you know, i don't know, quite frankly. but, i mean, let's be frank,4 people have been indicted, six associates of the president, five pleaded guilty. i mean, we are -- this is not for naught, it's not an empty exercise by, any means. >> woodruff: david, how do you ow.d what little bit we kn >> a piece of paper was handed from one office to another is

what happened today. this takes place in a political context. a lot of people have been talking about the mueller report and some peoplein were treit of the messiah that would rid them to ve donald trump and an expectation it would shift fundamentally the ball game. right now there are daily allegations about trump, bad tweets, rkublicans have stuc with him, democrats have opposed, and we have been in w this wor ii situation, and the question is does the report change the trench war fair, essentially. if there are no indictments, i have trouble on see uhing how it does that. no inn,ictments on collusnd this started as obstruction investigation after the comey firing.re if thereo indictments on obstruction, mr. will be bad things fundamentally but we will be in the me sittion. the smart money for the past month has been shifting as we have been saing in th southern district of new york into his financial crimes. the collusion i've always been a

skeptic because there was no trump capaign, no organized thing to do the collusion. >> woodruff: david isaying, yes, there have been referrals to the southern district of, no but they don't appear tgo to the heart of what this investigation was about, that's the reason they were referred to the southern district. >> yes, i mean, remember, bob mueller had a prettyarrow mandate which was russia's involvement in this election. so, in that sense -- but, no, i do agree, judy, that what we have beyond being astonishingly leakproof is the question of what does come out. i mean, you recall the starr report coming out in its graphic, specific detail -- >> woodruff: about president clinton. >> -- and the policy has been in the department of justice you do not identify anybody who is targeted against whom no lega action was taken. so we don't know what the status is of the report the

president or anybody else at this point. i mean, unlike in the comey investigation, where he felta obliged toe his statements about hillary clinton, the presidential candidate in 2016. >> woodruff: i'm going to ask both of you to stand by, sit there and wait with me because, on the phone right now, is the chairman of the house intelligence committee, adam schiff, congresan from california. congressman schiff, obviously we're in the early homes, hours of having the report trsmitted from special counsel robert mueller to the office of the attorney general. h the briefine not yet happened, i gather, at yoseur tiond but what do you know so far? >> well, i think what we know so far is this report is going to deal with the decisions to prosecute certain people and the secuteons not to pro others, why the special counsel felt the evidence was sufficient as to is but not as others.

the important point here though r this focusesedominantly on the criminal investigation, but this investigation began as a counterintelligence investigation, and that may be the far more sigidnificantof the house because that goes to the question of whether thet presid anyone around him has been acting either wittingly or unwittingly as an agent of a, foreign pond it's going to be very important, number one, that the report is made public, so the public understands what decisions the special counsel made andhe crminal evidence, but it's going to be even more important potenally that the congress understands if there are counterintelligence riks, that this president or those around him are acting not in the national interest but because they have some pecuniary interest or because they're beholden or compromised in y way. the congress and our committee in particular has a sta right to know, and we expect the justice department is going to share that iformation with us because they're going to have to.

>> woodruff: well, when you mind us that this investigation began as a counterintelligence investigation, what does that say about what we may or may not be seeing right now in this report? >> it means that what we are going to see when the report is made public -- and we may have to fight the attorney general to make sure that happens -- bu in a very bipartisan showing on a very polarizedssue, the house overwhelmingly said we expect this to be made pubmlic, tha only tell us about prosesitorial des that may shed very little light on the issue of compromise, and to give you within very graphic illustration, t president during the campaign sought to consummate something that would have been among the most lucrative deals of his life and that is the building of a tower that would have required kremlin supporat a time he was publicly espousing a new relationship with russia anddi praising vr putin, whose green light might be necessary for that project. that is obviously deply compromising, but that may not

be much to have the report, because, whether it was criminal or not, we'll go into the report, but what is essential in terms of theublic safety and the security of the country is another matter entirely. >> wdruff: and congressman, what do you make of these early reports th this will not include any further indictments than what we've alread seen? >> well, i think a couple of things. first, that means that this office, the special counsel's office, which is esentially the special counsel for the justice department, it won't be bringing any futicure indents. that doesn't preclude either the main justice department or thern soutistrict of new york or other elements of the justice department from bris,ing indictmend i think is very possible given the number of redactions in the mueller pleadings that suggest other investigations that are still ongoing. but the last point that i want to make because it addresses the conversationbeou were having re i came online is this issue of does the department

share information about people not indicted, and i's important for people to know that, during the last congress, th justice department shared over 880,000 pages of discovery with the congress, in an investigation in which no one was indicted -- about hillary clinton, about bruce orr, peter strack, page, mccabe and others -- and did so because of intense public interest and because congress insisted on transparency. as told them at the me, they are not getting away with a double standard. if the congress changes ha as it has, we will insist on the oame level of transparency as this even more important investigation. sohe department may speak in generalities about that, but the reality is, if public interest demandit, here clearly the public interest demands it. >> woodruff: congressman adam schiff, chairman of the house

intelligence committee. thank you for joining us. i'm joined in our washington studio by analysts mark shields and david brooks. david, you hear chairman schiff utking a point ab transparency and saying this is paramount right now. >> i think we're all uncomfortable with the idea prosecutorchdump a bunf information on someone they decide not to charge. that is generally the rule and i understand their suspicion.if but i think scs argument is the correct one, there are exceptions to the case and if you're investigating the president where he may haveti compromised al security issues, i think the weight son the side of making it public and once ty make it public congress, we'll all know. mueller has not leaked, but we're about to have little fight over how much we release, but i suspect, by the end of the day, everything will come out. >> woodruff: mark, i want to come back to this point that chairmanchiff made about the

distinction between what's the criminals investigation and the investigation into courage intelligence, the russia piece, which there have been a number of indictments around that so far but we don't know how many more shoes there are to drop on that. >> no, we don't his point whether the president wittiny or unwittingly is dealing with an fore power. i was rather struck by mitch mcconnell, who, if anything else, he's very careful. he made a statement when this came out that many relins long believed russia poses a significant threat to ameristn inte which, is you know, sort of -- i mean, he's not someone given to idle chatter. but i think that's where the focus is ing to turn. obviously, his mention, he said main justice, main justice department, or the southern district of new york as well. >> woodruff: i want to come ck, pick up on that, david, if

you want to, but i want to come back to your point earlier about how much energy and time, and this was yamiche and lisa were speaking about this earlier, how much time and energy and oxygen has been eended in washington over the last two years-plus, reflecting on this, anticipating this, wondering what's going to happen. are fingers pointed at the presiden >> a fair investigation is worth it even if it doesn't come with indictments. yonghave to investigate th to find out what happened. and when the president of the amited states' campaign as a meeting in the trump tower with russians, that meritin stigation. if you come up and there are no further indictments, we trust srobert mueller anday good job and thank you for your service. does tt mean he's goi change the politics, but i do think an investigation has been done and assigne and aa sign thn institutions can work. s woodruff: picking up on what chairmaniff said we now know, at least if we believe michael cohen, th president's

lawyer, there were continuing efforts to try to strike a dealt overmp tower in moscow well into the campaign. >> that's right, well into 2016 is what michael cohen has justified. >> therere decisions lawyers make and cisions voters make. whether michael cohen was complicit in bowing down to vls,imir putin for oth that's more for voters to say. >> woodruff: when we don't know more than we know, we want to be careful. >> we do. muellerwhatever robe is and has been, i mean, his career has been one of being careful, being thoughtful, being complete, and not rushing to judgment. so whatever he delivers will be taken withravidas and seriousness but any fairinded person. obviously partisans on both sides will go to their coners, but, i mean, i can't think of a

public fgure who have been more credible in this situation. >> woodruff: you haven't seen leaks. >> at a moment when sean hannity and others have been going after robert mueller day after day ptter day, there must be an incredible temion to strike back but he just took it and delivered the report. >> woodruff: i'm trying to compare this with otherst inations where the leaks have been at a minimum. this may hold theecord for the fewest bits of information shared with the press, with the public. >> he ought to be the personnel director for an president's administration. the people he chose were exactli him. they have been just as circumspect, just as discreet and just as tight-lipped. >> woodruff: all right. well, it is has just literally come out in the last hour or. so we learned 500 eastern that the report had been submitted and that congress was notified and now we wait and see what happens. mark shields, david brooks, thank you. >> thank you.

>> woodruff: now, a look at the mounting toll taken by the ongoing flooding across the midwestern united states. ousands of homes are damaged and vast swaths of farmlandrw uner, leaving local residents and public officials trying to cope. >> here goes the can bridge. watch out. >> woodruff: swelled with rainwater and snowmelt, the missouri river crested to its third highest flood level on record. the missouri river's floodcrest breached numerous levees, including one that destroyed a water treatment plant in the small town of peru, ne taska. re's no potable water in town, other than the two ys supply approximately in theow

city's water t, and that's being supplemented now by the national guard bringing of pallets of water and local church groups as well. >> woodruff: record-breaking late-winter floods have led to state-wide emergency declaratns in mississippi, missouri, nebraska and wisconsin. in nebraska, floodwater rendered roads and entire highway routes impassable. for farmers across nebraska and iowa, the record floods have been especially devag, with many losing much of their livestock and last year's harvest. the nebraska national guard has les ofrs ancatt traed in floode fields and at risk of starvingth to d in iowa, the flooding used ma estimated $1.6 billion in for nebraska, the to the state's livestock sector alone is projected to be $400 million.

on thursday, the u.s. national oceanic and atmospheric administrati, or noaa, released a report forecasting a "potentially unprecedented" flood season in the current year. noaa forecasts that 25 states-- -t tars wo t floodis spring. neand with us now on the ps kate ricketts, the republican governor of nebrwhose state has felt much of the brunt of the flooding. has been monitoring conditions all over the state. governor, thank you for talking with us. tell us whatou are seeing. >> well, the devastation is the most widespread that we've ever had in ourstate's history. i've flown thelat river, the missouri and all ese major river systems are flooding at record levels that we've never se before here in the state, and, so, in many cases, for example, you can't see where the channel of the river is suposed

be. i was flying two the vice president on tuesday when he came to our state, d i couldn't tell where the missouri river was supposed to be, ere nebraska ended and iowa starred. the elk horn river looked like the missouriiver normally does. uchwas stunning to see that water coming through our state all at the same time. >> woodruff: how have conditio changed in the last few days? >> well, water levels are beginning to drop, and that's the good news. so people are beingble to g back to their homes and start the cleanup and recovery proceser we had se cities that were isolated, freemont, nebraska, for ample, was really -- you couldn't get there by road for about 48 hours, and, so, now, people can drive to and from, freemoe city of columbus was a peninsula, that's gotten better, waterloo was aother community that was isolated, we can get there now by road. with these water levelsdr ping, we're seeing more people returning to their homes, the more people in the shelters is going down, but tre's going to be a long road to clean up

left ahead of us. >> woodruff: tell us who is feeling the toll of this the we've just seen and spoken about what the farmers are dealing with. give us the bigger picture there. >> certainly our farmers and ranchers are fling a lot of the damage here. we estimated about $400 million in cow-calf losses, $400 million in crop loss, over 2,000 homes and businesses damages. and our infrastructure has really take lot ofe heat. ability $439 million, we think there. at one point, 20% of our roads re impacted. our state highways, that is. we've still got about 200 miles of hghways that will not with usable tinl they can be fixed. to give thisteners an impact, over 85% of our counties have declared anmergency. this is the most widespread. >> woodruff: and govnor, how long is it going to take for things to get back to normal?

>> well, this is going to take m maths to recover. these major infrastructure projects like the roads i mentioned, we have 16 bridges out, this is all going to take time to fix. m we want ve as quickly as possible and that's why our team works quickly with fema to get t di declaration in place. we were able to submit a saster declaration on tuesday, and fema got to that, to the wite house very quickly, and we got the disaster declaration yesterday, so that will help us by tapping into the resources both for public and individual assistance. and i know te resilience of the nebraska people here. we've got a drive going on right now to raise money called nebraska strong. we're going to rebuild even bigger and better before and 'll get through this together. >> woodruff: governor, we are thinking of you and all the people affected by s flooding, this terrible nundation that you've be dealing with. governor pete ricketts ofan nebraska, you very much. >> great, thank you!

in the day's other news, president trump announced that he is withdrawing sanctions his administration placed on north korea just yesterday-- an issue llat caused his summit with chairman kim to se last month. white house press secretary sisarah sanders said the pnt "likes chairman kim" and "doesn't think these sanctions will be necessarhe" yesterday,reasury department sanctioned two chinese shipping companies believed to be helping the north evade sanctions. meanwhile, north korea abruptly pulled its staff out of a liaison office with south korear he demilitarized zone. south korea's vice unification minister expressed his disappointment. >> ( translated ): our government finds the north's decision regreable, and it is ped that the north returns its staff to the liaison office for normal operations as it was agreed between the two countries. we want to monitor the situation for a bit longer and respond to the developments, instead of making predictions or premature judgment >> woodruff: north korea gave no

reason for withdrawing its staff. the office opened st september in a bid to improve diplomatic ties between the two koreas. new zealand held a national day of remembrance to mark one-week since 50 people were killed in a massacre at two mosques. prime was one of thousands in christchurch who observed thesl call to prayer at a park next to where the shooting began.m an iom one of the mosques told the crowd, the country stands as one. >> we have shown that new zealand is unbreakable, and that the world can see in us an example of love and unity. we are broken-hearted, but we are not broken. >> woodruff: elsewhere in christchurch, thousands of

mourners gathered for a burial ceremony for6 of the attack victims. the death toll from a powerful cyclone on the african continent surpassed 600 people today, as the floodwaters slowly began to recede. e,e storm battered mozambi malawi and zimbabwe. aid agencies warned the toll could easily top 1,000 people. john irvine of independent television news filed this report from one of mozambique's rdest-hit areas. >> reporter: these children have lost everything and everyone. they've been rescued and ferried to safety, but they're on their own, orphans othe flood. e rescue operation out o beira has involved local fisherman conducting a dunkirk- style evacuation, going andin gethose stranded way out there and bringing them back here. most of the people rescued havef survived an epod.

they're from in and around the town at the heart of the giant lake created inland: the town of buzi, where for the most part, life has been lived on rooftops since the cyclone struck. with the cyclone, first came the wind that ripped apart manyho s. then came the floodwaters that a ma indoors left uninhabitable. and so, it was to the rooftops they retreated, with all they could manage. for eight days, they have survived on the bare minimum. >> we need food. we need food, weeed clothes, we need shelter. >>eweporter: the only good ns here in buzi is that water levels are receding, and the weatheforecast is better. the cyclone is probably thedi worst naturaster in mozambique's history. and to say the government here has been overwhelmed would be an understatement. here in buzi, the reliefffort has been minimal at best.

by and large, these people have had to rely on themselves. the cyclone has been a cataclysmic event here. lives, livelihood, livestock, crops and homes. the costs are huge and will define this are for the foreseeable future.oo >>uff: awful. that report from john irvine of independent television news. two u.s. soldiers died in an operation in afghanistan today. that brings the totaer of american troops killed in the country this year to four. wohe of their deaths came as u.s. is negotiating with the taliban to bring an end to the 17-year-ng war. some 14,000 u.s. troops are statned in afghanistan. in u.s. economic news, stocks plunged on wall street today, amid growing fears about a slowdown in the global economy. the dow jones industrial average plummeted 460 points to close at 25,502.

the nasdaq fell 196 points, and the s&p 500 slipped 54. the government of syria today vowed to take back the golan heights, one day after president trump recognized israel's sovereignty over the disputed territory. israel captured the strip of land on the syrian-israeli border during the six-y war in 1967. iran also condemned president trump's move today, over fears it will destabilize the region. and in istanbul, turkish president recep tayyip erdogan echoed those concerns. >> ( translated ): president trump's unfortunate statement yesterday with regard to the golan heights has brought the region to the brink of a new crisis and new tensions.al we will nevew, cannot lalow, the legitimization of the occupation of the heights. >> woodruff: a spokesman for the british government also said the united kingdom refuses to, and ha"no plans" to change its

position. and po virginia today arrested a 17-year-old boy for posting onlinehreats of "ethnic cleansing." they targeted black and latino students at a local high school, prompting authorities to clo all of the city's schools for two days. charlottesville has struggled to combat racism, after a white nationalist rally turned violent in 2017. at the time, president trump was criticized for saying there were "fine people" on both sides of the issue. today, the city's police chief offered this warning. >> we want the community and the world to know that hate is not welcomed in charlottesvillle. violence is not welcomed in charlottesville, intol is not welcomed in charlottesville, and in charlottesville around the globe, we stand firmly in stating: there are not very fine people on both sides of this issue. >> woodruff: the city's schools are expected to re-open on

monday. ft >> woodruff: nearly five years of fighting in iraq and syria, the trump administration signaled today that isis no longer contrs any territory in iraq or syria. the brutal final battle has taken place in eastern syria, in baghouz, near iraq's border. buthis is not nearly the e of isis. special correspondent jane ferguson is on the ground in syria for the nehour. r orter: night-time barrages marked the final days of the islamic stat u.s.-backed syrian democratic forces, or s.d.f., rained heavy gunfire down on isis after dark, as american and coalitionge airstrikes h below. the attacks caused the encampment to catch fire. stopping briefly to reload, the troops prepared for the next

onslaught. every night, theseroops come on this hilltop, overlooking the sery final corner of the i caliphate, and they bombard the holdouts down the hill less than 100 yards from here. despite those bombardments, they are still not surrendering. in the day, isis can sin, and reaching the front line is more risky. down below, on the edge of baghouz village, the dying caliphate, a desperate patch of churned-up land and abandoned trucks. thousands of lives have beenea losting this small muddy patch of land by the river euphrates.ve it has takenfour years, and an international coalition, back isis into this tin corner just over this berm. but even now, they are having to show some restraint, because all around in tharea, they know ere will be civilians embedded in there with isis. nearby, snipers picked off whatever fighters who popped up

som the tunnels and trenc isis had dug. this s.d.f. soldier, called rainas, told us he believed there were still several thousand isis loyalists down there. "there are still women there," he told us. "there are female fighters, around 50." in recent weeks, tens ofs thousa isis members-- men, women and children, as well re their yazidi captives-- have surrendered and sted out of the stronghold, many sick and exhausted. dozens of children died on the miserable march befo making itru to the ts that take them to refugee camps. >> ( translated ): we left iraq because of the airstrikes and artillery bombing.to we camyria and the same thing happened to us. >> reporter: for the victors, the final defeat of isis marks the end of a long and bloodyai ca. today, the white house said the isis caliphate had lost all itse itory. there is i.s.i.s., and that's s what we have right now aof last night.

that's what we have right now. >> reporter: on friday, fighting continued in baghouz, as some isisighters remained. this is the end for the isis dream of its own state, stretching across the middle east, and north africa, but this is far from the end of isis. syrian democratic forces spokesman mustefa bali reminded us that isis are still present, but hidden. >> ( translated ): isis sleeper cells are active every d the isis ideology is still very strong. it's not over. >> this is a milestone, but it not the end of isis. >> reporter: analyst hassan hassan of george washington university has watched the syria war from its earliest days, and the rise and fall of the islamic state. >> you're no longer facing a physical isis. now you're facing a nebulous isis, ere you have to follow an entirely different approach in fighting them. so it's no longer sort of a military challenge, primarily. it's more like a security challenge.

you have to go and try to find out the sleeper cells, the sympathizers, the support network that they have in iraq and syria and beyond that. >> reporter: senior american military officials tell the newshour that the sheer numbers that came from baghouz surprised u.s. forces, a that the level of strong, "unrepentant" ideological commitment to isis represents a longer-term threat. >> ( translated ): i do not i regret joiningamic state. if my husband hadn't insted for the kids, i wouldn't have come out. he insisted so he can get treatment. it's the same death if i die in here or in baghouz. >> the ideology itself will continue to exist, because it didn start with isis. it predated isis, and will continue to exist after isis. the conditions that existed because of the fht against isis have now worsened compared to what they used to be before isis. >> reporter: isis fighters are still believed to be in the area surrounding baghouz, hiding.

even the syrian fighters who on the battlefield don't like to drive through here these areas. hsadside bombings began mo ago. the group's evolution from army to insurgency continues. for the pbs newshour, i'm jane feuson in baghouz, eastern syria. >> woodruff: we return now to our lead story. the mueller report. the long-awaited report has been delivered to the department of justice, but there are many questions that remain unanswered. to help us understand what's next, i'm joined by npr's justice correspondent carrie johnson. carrie, so we know we've just learned within the lars couple of hhat this report, this investigation has finished, and the report's been turned over to the justice department. what happens right now? aen do we find out wht's in the report?

>> well, we could find out something about the key conclusions y te special counsel as early as this weekend. that's according to the attorne general bill barr in a let her ksent toey members of the house and senate judiciary committees. the justice department says the public may find out around the same time as early as this weekend some of the key conclue ons. as for tat and potatoes of this report, which i'm told is comprehensive, we may find out more about that after a longer deliberation by the attorney general special counsel mueller and depy attorney general rod rosenstein. >> woodruff: carrie, do we ha a sense of how many pages, how big a document this report is? p >>essed the justice department this afternoon about how much detail this reporgets into. all they'd say at this point is that it is a comprehensive report. a justice department source says the special counsel isot recommending any additional

indictments, judy, although we donow some of his work, some of the offshoots have been farmed out to psecutors in new york, virginia, washington, d.c. and dodge headquarters as well. c >> woodruffrrie, when we spoke a short time ago with the chairman of the house, a representative of the intelligence committee adam schiff pointed out whateverhe recommendations maybe be in the report is separate from any counterintelligence work that was being done. what do your sources tell us that may mean about these final conclusions? >> well, it depends on how robert mueller has deided to write this report and how to attorney general wants to interpret it, j edy. i don'pect we're ever going to see some of the sensitive material that's secret, that goes to sources and methods of american intelligence capacities that adam schiff my be able to see in congress, the public may never get to see that.

but the open question now is whether the justice departmente willde to tell congress and the american people a little bit more about why robert mueller decided not to charge certain people. that's been an ongoing source f controversy ever since the former f.b.i. director jim come decided not to charge hillary clinton with any wrongdoing but said a lotf bad things about her. the open question now is whether this justice department will make a different choice in this investigation. >> woodruff: and as the attorney general's letter to congress said, this rep explains the prosecution or declination decisions, mean degree kleining. what's the protocol about sharing this with congress and the white house? >> i'm told from the justice department that they did place a call eto th white house counsel's office around 4:45 this afternoon to notify them the report was in. the white house does not have the contents ofhis report, only the notification at this time.

and right now the white house is deferring all questions and substance to the justice department which, sically, the way it should be and the way investigations like this are run. k>> woodruff: so we donow when and if the white house. assume at some poi they will be brief but we don't know when. we are certainly waiting and -- >> we expect that, judy, yes. >> woodruff: you are waiting g d i'm guessmping out at the justice department this weekend. carrie johnson, npr, we ank you. >> thank you. >> woodruff: >> woodruff: on the newshourig online now, we have much more on the mueller report, including an in-depth timeline of the russia investigation. you can explore that on our website, www.pbs.org/newour. and that is the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. have a great weekend. thank you, and good night. f >> major fundi the pbs newshour has been provided by:

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hello, everyone, and welcome to "amanpour & company."re what's coming up. eight day from brexit with o eal, we put the mounting bedlam in context with historian margaret mcmillian. plus, theresa may isn't the queen's only subject who's in trouble. we break down canadime minister justin trudeau's mounting woes wini a former mister. also -- go >> you canack to your normal life after tonight. >> "triple frontier," a new thriller driven by the impact of war on ameca's veterans. i talk to the director, j.c. chandor. and the price of admission. our michel martin speaks with daniel golden about the elite's stranglehold on higher education.