captioning sponsored by wnet >> sreenivasan: on this edition for saturday, february 5: u.s. troops arrive in eastern europ in a show of support for ukraine; with the olympics under way, a look at china'svolution on the world stage; and a relationship forged during the afghan war, and an emotional reunion. >> we're forever. >> forever, brother. >> sreenivasan: next on “pbs newshour weekend.” >> pbs newshour weekend is made possible by: sue and edgar wachenheim iii. bernard and denise schwartz. the cheryl and philip milstein family. the anderson family fund. the estate of worthington mayo-smith. leonard and norma klorfine. the rosalind p. walter foundation.

koo and patricia yuen, committed to bridging cultural differences in our communities. barbara hope zuckerberg. we try to live in the moment, to not miss what's right in front of us. at mutual of america, we believe taking care of tomorrow can help you make the most of today. mutual of america financial group: retirement services and investments. >> for 25 years, consumer cellular's goal has been to provide wireless service that helps people communicate and connect. we offer a variety of no-contract plans, and our u.s.-based customer service team can help find one that fits you. to learn more, visit www.consumercellular.tv. additional support has been provided by: and by the corporation for public broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the american people. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> sreenivasan: good evening, and thank you for joining us.

as tensions between russia and ukraine continue, u.s. troops are arriving at a military base in poland to reinforce nato allies. u.s. planes caying equipment and logistics troops began landing overnight at a military base in southeastern poland, near the border with ukraine, according to polish military sources. u.s. army sources have said that about 1,700 additional service members will deploy from fort bragg, north carolina, to poland. on wednesday, president biden ordered nearly 3,000 extra troops to poland and romania to protect eastern europe from a potential splover from the ukraine crisis. the first additional u.s. troops arrived in germany yesterday, and about 1,000 u.s. service members will be sent from there to romania, according to the pentagon. russia has denied plans to invade ukraine but has deployed more than 100,000 troops near raine's borders and today sent a pair of long-range nuclear- capable bombers on patrol over its ally, belarus. in ukraine, thousands of people

marched today to protest a possible russian invasion. iran responded today to a u.s. decision to lift some sanctions related to the country's nuclear programs. iran's foreign minister said reinstating waivers allowing some countries to work on civilian nuclear projects is welcome but called for more relief. >> ( translated ): what happens on paper is good, but it's not enough. >> sreenivasan: the biden administration restored the waivers yesterday as part of its efforts to salvage the 2015 nuclear deal as indirect talks with iran continue. the french government announced a new plan today that is intended to shape islam in the country and rid it of islamist extremism. france's interior ministry announced a new body called the forum of islam in france, made up of clergy and laypeople who will help lead the largest muslim community in western europe. the body, which includes women, will attempt to ensure that muslim practices adhere to the french principles of secularism in public life. but some muslims in the country say they fear the new forts

will reinforce institutionalized discrimination against them. critics also see the move as a political ploy to lure right- wing voters to macron's centrist party ahead of april's presidential election. the united states is preparing to transfer a detainee long suspected as the so-called 20th hijacker in the 9/11 attacks from the guantánamo bay prison to saudi arabia. yesterday, the pentagon announced that a review board recommended the transfer of hammed al-qahtani, who is mentally ill, to a rehabilitation and mental health care program for extremists in saudi arabia. the prison facility opened 20 years ago and still holds 39 detainees despite repeated calls for its closure from several administrations. for more on al qahtani and the remaining detainees, i spoke with "new york times" reporter carol rosenberg, who has covered guantanamo bay and the prisoners there since 2002. carol, why is the repatriation of al-qaani such a big deal? >> because he's been described for so many years as the 20th hijacker, the man who would have

been the 20th hijacker in the september 11th attacks. and because there is still a residual sense that if he was intended for that mission, there should be some way to put him on trial, and there simply is not. he's held as what i like to call it, a forever prisoner. he's held as a detainee in the war on terror, a law of war prisoner-- essentially a u.s. category for arisoner of war that was created after the september 11th attacks that said, as long as we are engaged in that war, we can hold people that we believe came off that battlefield. and cause there's nobody to surrender on the other side, there's no formula for ending that war. this periodic review board takes a look at the cases and decides who can be sent away, sent home or sent to resettlement somewherelse with little to no risk of them becoming a future danger to the united states. and that's what happened with mr. qahtani over theummer.

>> sreenivasan: so, how did they determine that he was no longer a risk to somebody in the united states? that part of the reasoning was his mental health. what is his mental health, and what does that have to do with it? >> long before he ever tried to enter the united states, when he was a young man in saudi arabia, he had a psychotic breaknd was diagnosed with schizophrenia. he also had traumatic brain injuries. so, he had an existing mental illness by the time he came to our custody and after whwe tortured him. we tortured him, the united states military, for about two months in some really despicable ways at camp x-ray. and after that, he became unchargable because the evidence against him was tainted. and furthermore, somebody who is that ill who's that incompetent could not be charged. so, the basis for which the decision that he could be let

go, that his dangerousness could be mitigated, was the opinions of two doctors. most importantly, a chief medical officer, a navy captain whose position was recently created by congress to take a hard, independent look at the cases of the forever prisoners down tre and see what their health status is and whether guantanamo can care for them. part of the decision-making here is that he's so sick he's not getting beer, and that detention center doesn't have the mental health capacity or the cultural capacity to care for him. >> sreenivasan: i mean, we held on to him and, as you say, we tortured him, but didn't we know about his mental state then? >> actually, we did not. the emergence of the adolescent diagnosis and the brain injuries that occurred when he was a young man emerged through court proceedings taken on by his lawyers who got a hold of his health records in saudi arabia.

you know, there had been an understanding that the man was mentally ill because of what we had done to him. and it's no doubt that the torture made it worse. the torture damaged him more. but he arrived in u.s. custody as a damaged person, so it would have been an open question based on that diagnosis, whether he was tryable in the first place. >> sreenivasan: does this have any bearing on the remaining men at guantanamo? >> i think the lesson here is that they're taking a much more forensic look at the health conditns of these men and that they've been able to do that because congress created this navy position of a medical officer who's independent of the prison camp. and they're deciding that whether aging sickly, in some instances, men can be held there, should be held there, and can be treated there. the doctor who looked at it for the navy said there were three outcomes for mr. qahtani. he would succeed in killing himsf.

he'd die of old age there; and maybe not even of old age, of some of his illnesses that he has existing. or he'd go home to care where the same two outcomes might occur. i mean, he is a very sick man, and his outcomes as a human being aren't good anywhere. >> sreenivasan: carol rosenberg of the "new york times," thanks so much. >> thank you, hari. >> sreenivasan: for more national and international news, visit www.pbs.org/newshour. >> sreenivasan: at the winter olympics in beijing china, three-time gold medal snowboarder shaun white, who helped popularize the sport, announced this will be his last olympics and that he is retiring. thgames this year are taking place against the backdrop of an ongoing pandemic, china's troubling human rights record, and the country's strengthening relationship with ssia. the last time ina hosted the olympics was in the summer of 2008. since then, its growth on the

world stage has evolved. for more, i spoke with eva dou, china business and economy correspondent for the "washington post." so, eva, as the opening ceremonies get under way, what does china want to project to the world right now? >> well, i think the striking difference between this opening ceremony and the ones in 2008 is just how much more of a world power china has become since then. back in 2008, china was still very much a developing nation opening up to the world. it was trying to project that it was friendly and inviting to everyone. and this time, as you know, there's very sict restrictions for who can come in. even for those coming in for the olympics, they won't be able to access the rest of china at all. so, this is china saying, you know, we're a world power now and you have to play by our rules. >> sreenivasan: it's not a coincidence that you had a state visit from vladimir putin at the opening ceremonies while the

united states and russia are in a-- at the very least, a diplomatic feud and hopefully not a military one. >> yes, indeed. this has been a meeting that both sides have been anticipating for quite a while. it's beemore than two years since president xi jinping of china has met other foreign leaders in person. and the first one is putin, which does show the importance of this relationship to both countries. >> sreenivasan: right now, there are so many other issues that are being brought up in the context of china-- wt's happening to the weaker population, where the origins of covid are. how does china deal with those topics in the context of this olympics? >> it's largely not been dealing with those other topics. what china has been saying is that the olympics should not be politicized, and it's been largely saying that any sort of political issues that are

brought up at this time-- including, you know, concerns about china's human rights record-- are "politicization" that western countries trying to bring china down are doing at this point. >> sreenivasan: and where are the relations between the united states and china right now? >> you know, they have stabilized somewhat since joe biden became president, but they still are quite tense in that, regardless of which party is in power in the u.s., there's this realization that china is a real rival now in the way it wasn't in 2008 with the last olympics. and when you have a country that is a growing and real rival, then there are all sorts of considerations about their military power, how closely linked their economy is to your economy. and these issues won't go away

no matter who is president. >> sreenivasan: is there any dissent inside of china about hosting these olympics now? because usually there are factions in most countries that say, "you know what? this is not how we need to be spending money right now." or, "h, we're still in a pandemic." or has china managed to suppress those voices? >> yeah, china has really tightened its domestic censorship year on year since quite a while, for more than a decade. and so, you've seen very little of that kind of grassroots dissent bubbling to the surface about this. >> sreenivasan: china correspondent for the "washington post," eva dou, thanks so much for joining us. >> thanks so much for having me. >> sreenivasan: since st summer, more than 76,000 afghans have arrived in the united states. many of those fled the country

on flights in the chaotic weeks before the u.s. fully withdrew from afghanistan in late august. they include former interpreters, n.g.o. workers, and soldiers who worked with american and nato forces during the 20-year war. now, many are starting their lives again, and, in some cases, reconnecting with americans they knew during the war. tonight, we bring you a story from erie, pennsylvania, to witness the strength of bonds formed on the battlefield. retired army master sergeant terry best flew across the country in late january to see through what he calls one of his last missions. >> oh, my god. >> salaam alaikum! >> sreenivasan: best first served with abdul qader zaman in afghanistan from may 2006 to june 2007. best was embedded with the afghan national army as a

tactical trainer. zaman was best's interpreter and a first sergeant himself. >> let me introduce you to your nephews. >> sreenivasan: today, best is meeting abdul's wife, razia, and their five children in their new home in erie, pennsylvania. the mily arrived in mid-january after a perilous escape from kabul last august as the taliban took over and the city fell. >> your dad's helped me be able to come back and see my daughters and see my grandchildren. >> actually, you are our hero that we are alive here in the united states. >> well, i would still be helping you, and you would still be helping your family, brother. we never, ever, give up. never, ever, do we? i always promised him that he would be here, and he always told me he would be here. and yesterday, it happened. ( laughs ) >> sreenivasan: in afghanistan, best says zaman was his lifeline-- helping navigate

sit-down meetings with community leaders, going on humanitarian missions to remote villages near the eastern border with pakistan. ( gunfire ) and they also saw a lot of combatsome captured on best's own digital camera. he estimateshey were involved in more than 100 firefights over th year. >> when we were shot at the first time, afghan soldiers, you have one opportunity to make a first impression. and if they buy in, you will never be alone again. and it's at that point that our brotherhood began. >> sreenivasan: did he save your life? >> he did on more than one occasion. >> sreenivasan: best went on to do multiple tours in afghanistan. he was blinded in one eye during combat and retired after 31 years of service in 2015. zaman retired from the afghan national army in 2009, going on

to work as a secity contractor for international organizations, including u.s.a.i.d. in early 2021, with the taliban gaining territory and u.s. forces committed to withdraw from afghanistan, zaman started to make plans to leave. would your life be in danger because you worked with the americans? >> yeah. i was feeling that night when taliban come to afghanistan and slowly they will kill the people who help americans. >> sreenivasan: by late january, zaman had applied for a special immigrant visa, or s.i.v., for afghans who helped americans. but in mid-august when the taliban entered kabul, his application was one of 18,000 still pending approval from the state department. like thousands of others, zaman and his family made their way to the chaotic scene outside the kabul airport, desperate to get out of the country. just getting to the airport... >> getting to the airport. >> sreenivasan: yeah, how hard was that? >> that was very hard. in hours, we just get close to

that gate, then taliban trto push us back and beating us. and they beated my son, as well. i tried to stop him, and then he said, "if you try to stop us to beat people, we are going to kill you." and we just left there, and we just... >> it's all right. it's all right. >> i got that calland i heard that he said, "don't give away." >> sreenivasan: "don't give up." >> keep going to the front, not back. >> sreenivasan: zaman and his family eventually got to a gate where they at least had a chance to be admitted inside the airport. and that was due to a huge effort behind the scenes and thousands of miles away. >> we had a lot of people with documentation that couldn't get anywhere. >> sreenivasan: joan lynch is a former network television producer. along with two others-- startup

consultant lindsey baldwin and journalist david ariosto-- they voluntarily helped direct families where to go, backed up crucial documentation, and coordinated with a u.s. military contact inside the airport. this was all happening via cell phone messaging services like whatsapp, imessenger, and signal from their homes in the u.s. >> well, at first, we were talking about just the one family. so, it was a mother, father, and two little girls. and i started posting on social media, just asking for people's help. and then, the unthinkable happened, really, and the people in the military started reaching out to us. and when people in the military are reaching out to journalists and a marketing person, saying, "can you help us get our person out," you start to recognize that the system is flawed. and really, the way that i describe it is, we just started to run towards it, just "how can we solve this problem?" so, one family became three families in the first rescue, became 20 families on our list, you know, all the way down to became 500 people on ourist.

>> sreenivasan: this ad-hoc network was one of about a dozen groups that quickly formed during the chaotic fall of kabul, all frantically trying to get afghans in danger out of the countr >> we only cld identify pictures and have your military supporters tell us, "this is the person, i guarantee you, i promise you this is the person," because we didn't want to be in a posion to let anybody in unless we knew 100% who you were. >> sreenivasan: after being introduced to tey best and verifying zaman's service history with u.s. troops, lynch and her group started coorditing to have him grabbed by their u.s. military contact. zaman would be identified using a code word, "pedro," drawn in marker on a t-shirt. so, you had waited all night? >> all night, yeah. >> sreenivasan: with your family anur kids? >> yes, ye. many people went to that gate, as well, and there was a canal between the gate, and the u.s. soldiers was to the airport side of the canal. >> sreenivasan: over whatsapp,

the group directed zaman's family and another to get as close as possible to the american gate. when the americans in the u.s. got word that their contact inside the airport was approaching the gate, zaman was instructed to pull out the "pedro" sign. and miraculously, in the sea of those seeking refuge, he was spotted. >> i jumped to the canal. >> sreenivasan: you jumped into the canal? >> yes. my wife give me the kid. i take her to the other side to give to the other soldiers were with them. >> sreenivan: so, you went back and forth in the canal? >> back and forth in canal, take the kids from my wife and give to soldiers. and the last time, my wife jumped in the canal. she crossed. yeah, then myself. >> sreenivasan: what was that feeling like? >> as soon as i've crossed the canal and i went inside of the airport, i just felt that i'm just born. >> sreenivasan: that you were born? >> yes. i told my kids that we got it,

we all right. that's it. >> sreenivasan: terry, you poured so much effort and still are into his wellbeing. what if he didn't make it that night? >> it would have desoyed my life, i can tell you. i was like, this mission is my last mission. i may be out of the army, but i still have a mission. and for 16 years, abdul has been that person. he's been that strength. if i lose abdul and i lose his family, it's like somebody took a degausser and erased part of my brain. >> sreenivasan: it turns out there was not a moment to spare. less than a day after zaman and his family got into the airport through the abbey gate, a suicide bombing there-- claimed by an affiliate of the islamic state-- killed 13 american service members and an estimated 170 afghans. from then on, the gate was closed.

today, joan lynch has a list with hundreds of people who assisted the u.s. government during the war, all still in afghanistan. what about the ones still ft behind? the majority of your list have not come across. >> that's right. and it's something i can't get away from because i look at their faces every day and all their documentation, and i'm still in contact with a lot of them. but it's really difficult because we don't know what the endgame is. >> sreenivasan: for zaman and his family, their first stop from kabul was qatar, followed by germany, then a military base in virginia. and now, this pennsylvania reunion with best nearly a decade after they last saw each other in afghanistan. zaman and his wife prepared a lunch of traditional afghani food, and best gave them gifts-- some from afghanistan for a sense of home, plus an american flag made by a u.s. veteran. while zaman would have preferred

to be closer to best in oregon, he says he's thrilled to be in erie even as the snow piles up outside. >> no bad places in all united states. i'm happy here. i met my brother, and we can meet. >> sreenivasan: with his s.i.v. approved, zaman has already started the process to get a grn card, and he hopes to start working soon as an interpreter for the local refugee resettlement agency. he is just one of more than 500 afghans who have recently been settled in erie. what do you want to do in the united states? >> the first thing is to make educated my kids like... >> sreenivasan: to educate your kids? >> yeah. i will support my kids here to be educated, my wife to be educated, and i will support them financially, work hard for them.

>> sreenivasan: that's all for this edition of pbs newshour weekend. for the latest news updates, visit www.pbs.org/newshour. i'm hari sreenivasan. thanks for watching. stay healthy, and have a good night. captioning sponsored by wnet captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org >> pbs newshour weekend is made possible by: sue and edgar wachenheim iii. bernard and denise schwartz. the cheryl and philip milstein family. the anderson family fund. the estate of worthington mayo-smith. leonard and norma klorfine. the rosalind p. walter foundation. koo and patricia yuen, committed to bridging cultural differences in our communities. barbara hope zuckerberg.

we try to live in the moment, to not miss what's rig in front of us. believe taking care of tomorrow can help you make the most of today. mutual of america financial group: retirement services and investments. additional support has been provided by: consumer cellular. and by: and by t corporation for public broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the american people. and by contributions to your pbs station fromiewers like you. thank you. you're watching pbs.

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