♪ judy: good evening. i'm judy woodruff. on the "newshour" tonight, a controversial trip. house speaker nancy pelosi makes a stop in taiwan, sparking immediate retaliation from china. then, the aftermath. questions arise about al qaeda's influence in taliban-controlled afghanistan after a u.s. drone strike kills the terrorist group's leader in kabul. we speak to national security advisor jake sullivan. and, a rapid spread. local health authorities race to contain e highly contagious monkeypox virus, declaring it public health emergency. >> it's very hard to ensure equity in an environment of deeply constrained supply, but i'm optimistic we'll see the results in the coming weeks

ahead. judy: all that and more on tonight's "pbs newshour." ♪ >> major funding has been provided by. and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. the friends of the newshour including kathy and paul and could nella and george smith. ♪ >> the john s and james l knight

foundation. >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. judy: the speaker of the u.s. house of representatives, nancy pelosi, is in taiwan tonight, and china is already responding. pelosi's late-night landing was quickly followed by news of chinese military drills all around the island. john yang has this report.

john: the stars and stripes aglow on the tail of her plane, house speaker nancy pelosi arrived in taipei just before 11:00 pm local time. taiwan welcomed her with a message displayed on its highest skyscraper. outside her hotel, dozens of people awaited her arrival, some to salute the visit - like 29-year-old finance worker, simon lin: thank you, u.s. speaker of the house pelosi, for ignoring china's threats. john: others to protest it. the trip has drawn the ire of beijing, which considers taiwan a breakaway province, and sees pelosi's stop as a threat to chinese sovereignty. today, a chinese foreign ministry spokesperson repeated threats of military action. >> if the us is bent on going its own way, china will take resolute and strong measures to safeguard china's sovereignty and security interests. john: across the 100-mile-wide taiwan strait, it's a battle of drills. as soon as pelosi arrived, china

announced the beginning of air and sea military exercises around the island. ahead of the visit, china put its military on high alert and flew fighter jets close to taiwan. this past weekend, the people's liberation army conducted live-fire exercises, and released a highly produced video showing off its ability to defend the mainland. taiwan responded with its own set of mility exercises. but today the official websites of taiwan's presidential office and foreign ministry were both hacked. amid threats of escalation, the united states has deployed four warships to waters east of taiwan. u.s. officials maintain the speaker's trip is a routine congressional visit. officially, the united states recognizes "one china" and has no diplomatic relations with taiwan. but u.s. law commits the united

states to help taiwan defend itself. in a statement after her arrival, pelosi, a longtime critic of beijing, called the visit, "one of several congressiol delegations to taiwan - and it in no way contradicts long standing united states policy." for the pbsnh, i'm john yang. judy: speaker pelosi has now arrived at taiwan's parliament, where it is wednesday morning local time. we'll speak with president biden's national security advisor, jake sullivan on taiwan , and other issues in a few minutes. in the day's other news: five more states were holding primary elections headlined by a , key vote on abortion. voters in kansas decided whether to allow new restrictions on abortion, the first such vot since the u.s. supreme court overturned roe v. wade. meanwhile, in missouri, eric greitens sought the republican nomination for u.s. senate. he resigned as governor in 2018 amid scandal. we'll take a closer look, later

in the program. at least 2 more people have died in northern california, in the state's biggest wildfire this year. the mckinney fire is now blamed for 4 deaths since it burst to life on friday. the flames have forced thousands to evacuate and destroyed more than 100 homes and other buildings. meanwhile, in eastern kentucky, search teams continued looking for flh flood survivors and victims. the death toll stands at 37. the sun has approved a sweeping bill that will expand health care to veterans exposed to toxic burn pits. the legislation, passed by a vote of 86-11. it was held up last week after a partisan stalemate. it now heads to president biden, who says he will sign it into law. the u.s. justice department filed suit today against a state abortion law in idaho. it's the first such action since the u.s. supreme court overturned roe v. wade.

attorney general merrick garland said the lawsuit is not meant to challenge the high court. he argued the idaho law criminalizes treatment protected by federal law as medically necessary. a.g. garland: the supremacy clause is a decision made in the constitution of the united states. federal law invalidas state laws that are in direct contradiction. this has nothing to do with anything that the supreme court said and certainly nothing to do with going around the supreme court. judy: the idaho law bans abortions after 6 weeks of pregnancy. the u.s. has hit russia with yet more sanctions, including a woman linked romantically to president vladimir putin. aleena kabbah-yay'va runs a media company that has promoted the war in ukraine. she now faces a freeze on her u.s. visa and other penalties. also today, the first ship carrying ukrainian grain arrived off istanbul, turkey. turkish and u.n. officials will inspect the cargo tomorrow.

back in this country: president biden has tested positive for a fourth day after his covid-19 infection rebounded. the white house physician also said today that the president has a mild cough again, but does not have a fever. under cdc guidelines, mr. biden is required to remain in isolation at least through thursday. and, on wall street, stocks lost ground amid uncertainty over the market's direction and speaker pelosi's visit to taiwan. the dow jones industrial average was down 402 points, 1 %, to close at 32,396. the nasdaq fell 20 points. the s&p 500 slipped 27. still to come on the "newshour", voters head to the polls in several key primaries as former president trump's influence is tested once again. months of political infighting in iraq prompt widespread protests and instability. american singer rhiannon giddens

becomes the second artistic director of the international silk road ensemble plus much more. >> this is the pbs newshour. and in the west from the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. judy: we return to the u.s. killing of ayman al-zawahiri. president biden last night announcethe u.s. operation that killed the 71-year-old al qaeda leader in kabul. nick schifrin reports on zawahiri's background and where this leaves al-qaeda and the taliban that harbored him. nick: today in what used to be kabul's most exclusive elite neighborhood, with some of the country's most wanted houses- >> police. nick: this was as close as journalists could get to an area now known for housing the world's most wanted terrorist. in the heart of the capital on sunday morning, a cia drone

launched two hellfire missiles that u.s. officials say destroyed the patio where ayman al-zawahiri was standing. these photos taken by a neighbor , of the house that u.s. officials say zawahiri's family moved to this year. the intelligence community built a model of the house, kept in a box in front of president biden during a key meeting last month, before he authorized the strike on al-qaeda's leader. >> [speaking foreign language] nick: for three decades, ayman al-zawahiri provided al qaeda's organizational and inspirational backbone. he never had osama bin laden's wealth or charisma. but he gave bin laden the vision of targeting not only what they considered pro-western muslims, but what he called the "far enemy," the u.s. that led tthe 1998 east africa embassy bombings, the 2000 attack on the u.s.s. cole in yemen, and 9/11 in downtown new york -- >> what osama bin laden and zawahiri did was internationalizing the idea of jihad instead of focusing on local enemies. nick: hassan hassan is a

longtime terrorism analyst, and the editor-in-chief of new lines magazine. he says zawahiri came a long way from this upper-middle class cairo neighborhood where he grew up, and trained to be a medical doctor. but he was radicalized young, and in 1981 his organization, jihad group, participated in the assassination then president anwar sadat. he was arrested and held in a cage, then 31-years-old. >> we are muslim! nick: zawahiri vowed to make an islamic state, and claimed he was tortured. >> they kicked us, they beated us, they worked us through electric cables, they shocked us with electricity. >> [speaking foreign language] nick: decades later, as head of al qaeda, u.s. officials say he was no longer involved in day-to-day planning, but continued to call for more attacks on the u.s. calls that hassan says, went unheeded. >> for many years, i think zawahiri and zawahiri's messages never resonated on the ground. i think his greatest achievement over the past ten years since he took over al-qaeda in 2011 after the killing of osama bin laden was really to stay alive. he lost control over the two biggest branches of al-qaeda in

iraq and syria. nick: what's next for al qaeda? >> i think al-qaeda, as we know it, is over. al-qaeda, you know, this is a name, but really ihas almost zero effect on the ground. both osama bin laden and zawahiri helped internationalize that cause. before then and after them, i think the core story of jihad will always be focused on local, local fighting. reporter: for the taliban al-qaeda has always been local. , and the strike made that abundantly clear. that home where zawahiri was killed wasontrolled by the chief of staff to the taliban's acting interior minister. nick: these days that interior minister, sirajjudin haqqani, walks openly through kabul, despite a $10 million u.s. bounty on his head, and despite his haqqani network targeting the city and western troops for years. >> the symbolism of that fact of

where it occurred is pretty hard to escape, even if it doesn't necessarily mean very much analytically. nick: laurel miller directs the international crisis group's asia program. she rejects the administration's efforts today to distinguish between haqqani, and the rest of the taliban. >> the haqqanis are definitely inside the taliban government and are occupying key positions. there are reports of differences of view, including over the issue of girls' education. but again, differences of view don't necessarily mean that they're going to be some kind of splits within the organization that are going to fracture it and are going to weaken its grip on power. nick: and the taliban's providing zawahiri safe-haven could further slow already glacial western movement toward normalization. despite a humanitarian crisis. just today, the defense department watchdog said nearly 6 million afghans face

near famines of a 60% increase since last year. >> the biggest victim here is the afghan population. because not being able to work towards a slight normalization of the relationship with the taliban that's just going to be further , felt by the population that is in tremendous humanitarian distress. nick: but today it is one of the world's most notorious terrorist groups that has lost its leaders of the men who help guide it for decades. for the pbs newshour, i'm nick schifrin. judy: and now to jake sullivan, assistant to president biden and national security adviser. i spoke with him about al-qaeda and other international issues in a wide ranging interview late today, beginning with speaker plosi's controversial trip to taiwan. jake sullivan, thank you for joining us. so much to ask you about. let's start with taiwan. there are a number of china

experts were looking at speaker pelosi's visit to taiwan and saying it is not only provocative, but dangerous. do you think it is dangerous? jake: thank you for having me. speaker pelosi's decision to go to taiwan was a decision she had every right to make. in fact, the speaker of the house is previously traveled to taiwan without incident. numbers of congress traveled to taiwan all the time. it doesn't signal a change in u.s. policy. it doesn't threaten china in any way. try net to turn this into some kind of crisis, or use it as a pretext to take aggressive action around taiwan, that is on china. from the united states perspective, what we intend to do is indicate to china in the world, we are not looking to escalate. but we will continue to assert our right to defend, our interests, to support taiwan's self-defense and continue to

operate as we have in the western pacific for decades. that is how we are approaching it. we hope china will take an approach that demonstrates restraint rather than overreach. judy: this is a moment when tensions are higherhan normal. the chinese are already saying they see it as a provocation. they have announced stepped up military drills in the area. military training exercises. how is the u.s. going to respond? jake: first, we have indicated over the course of the past couple of days what we expected china to do. frankly, over the last 24 hours, what we have seen has been exactly in line with what we predicted. our position is clear. we are not looking desolate. we are wanting to continue to demonstrate that the united states will not be deterred from operating as we have, meaning we will continue to assert freedom.

we will continue to take steps to support taiwan's self-defense. one of the key things we will do in the face of stepped up know terry activity by china is show that this is not going to alter the united states approach, which is consistent with the way we have approached this for some time. we believe that shows results of clarity, the kind of commitment to a free and open indo pacific the president biden has spoken about. judy: do you believe the prospects, for miscalculation are now higher, given what the chinese are doing and given the fact a u.s. carrier group is now in the neighborhood? jake: from our perspective, one of the critical things we have to see in the hours and days ahead is open lines of communication. we have means of communicating directly to the people's republic of china and we have done so. our ambassador in beijing, a

seasoned diplomat, has had the opportunity to sit down with chinese officials in the last hours to hear their perspective and be straightforward and clear when sharing hours. in doing so, we seek to avoid miscalculation or a form of escalation. we also seek to establish clearly that we are going to continue to operate as we have operated we think that is the best most responsible way to deal with the situation. judy: the other fact that has been pointed out is that president xi, under increasing pressure to look strong, the party congress coming, and democrats in the united states under pressure to look strong, how much of a factor is all that? jake: i can't speak to president xi. i can speak to president biden's. from his perspective, we are in

nation -- a strategic competion with china. it requires us being able to manage the relationship between the u.s. and china effectively in times of calm and elevated tension. we are going to be studied, resolute, we are going to communicate closely with our allies and partners and we are going to communicate directly to beijing. that is how we are going to defend america's national security interests and values. that is the one thing president biden is thinking about. that is how he has directed us to operate. judy: let me turn to the u.s. strike on al-zawahri . the taliban is responding by saying what the u.s. did is a violation of the doha agreement, which the u.s. signed before it left afghanistan. is it? jake: there is a violation of

the doha agreement, it is a violation by the taliban. at least some senior members of the network were aware al-zawahri was in kabul. allowing him to be based there is a violation of the commitments they may. the united states took direct and decisive action at the direction of the president to remove him from the battlefield and send a clear message to other terrorists in the taliban that the united states will not rest, will not allow for safe haven, not allow anyone to use afghanistan as a launching pad for terrorist attacks against the united states or american interests anywhere. we demonstrated that with the strike. we will continue to stay vigilant. judy: he said just out, and several times today, that the administration believes senior haqqani leaders, we carry was in

-- -- do you have evidence that there is a distinction. haqqani is the interior minister of the taliban. jake: i have not distinguished between the haqqani network and the taliban. you are correct that they all operate within the same goveing authority. a government we do not recognize. they are all part of a single entity at this time. we think it is certainly possible that some senior leaders in the entity were not aware. and others were. that is one of the things that are unfolding in kabul right now is of the haqqani's after explain themselves to others in the taliban for why they brought al-zawahiri into kabul. for more perspective, we are not dwelling on those specifics. we are focused on the fact that

the taliban as an organization is responsible for upholding its commitments and we will hold them accountable for doing so. it is not merely their word, but their actions we are going to judge. we will take action, decisive action, if we have to do defend our interests. judy: while this was going on, the attack and killing of al-zawahiri, you have a humanitarian crisis going on in afghanistan. half the population being food insecure. we are told they are living below the poverty line. we see pictures of children who are severely malnourished. is the biden administration prepared to look actively at ways to support the people of afghanistan, even as the taliban continues as it is? jake: we are not just prepared to do that. we are doing that and have been. we are the largest humanitarian donor to afghanistan. in fact, we have supplied a

significant amount of resources to avert the worst consequences that some experts had predicted last year would come from the humanitarian disaster. there are people suffering all over afghanistan. but whate have been able to do is stabilize the floor of being able to provide life-saving food, medicine and other humanitarian necessities to people all across afghanistan, including people in areas we could not previously reach, because they were on the other side of the battle lines with the taliban during the war. we have obviously got -- all that they deserve in terms of securities at their basic level of prosperity. we will keep working at that with the rest of the international community. judy: to other things i want to ask you, one has to do with ukraine. it has been reported that president biden and you and others have implored the chinese

not to provide weapons to the russians. do you know for a fact that the chinese have not given russia weapons? jake: one can never know something like that for an fact. we've seen no indications to date that the -- chinese government has supplied the russian government with weapons to be used on the battlefield in ukraine. since the conversation that president biden had with president xi some months ago, those transactions have not moved forward. that is something we need to be consult only vigilant about. i want to ask about saudi arabia. the president was there a matter of weeks ago. it was reported at the time, when he met with the crown prince, that the saudi's agreed to increase oil production this suer that would alleviate oil prices. we know there are opec meetings coming up. how confident are you we are going to see an increase in production? jake: first, i will say because

it is directly relevant, with other things president biden discussed with the crown prince was extending the troops in yemen. which of been the worst conflict, reducing the worst manager in disaster in the world. today there was an agreement to extend that truce two months. extending the longest period outside of conflict in that country in seven years. that is a major accomplishment coming out of the president's meetings in saudi arabia. directly to your point about energies that lets you happens tomorrow. opec plus has to make its own decisions about whether or not they will increase production. we have confidence they will make a decision that is in line with the world energy needs. i will leave it to them what they intend when they meet tomorrow. judy: you believe they will do that, is that what you are saying? jake: i'm saying what i believe is they will follow through on their commitments to address

adequate energy supply. the shape of that, what that looks like, i will leave that to talk through. judy: jake sullivan, president biden's national security advisor. thank you very much. judy: tonight, and invest ration official tells the pbs newshour at that u.s. investor to beijing, who mr. sullivan just mentioned was in fact summoned by beijing's foreign ministry to object to speaker pelosi's visit. ♪ voters in five states headed to the polls today to pick their nominees in major races. they keep -- include key congressional primaries in arizona, missouri, michigan washington. while voters in kansas are deciding on the future of abortion policy in their state. our political correspondent breaks down what we know so far

about the results. lisette, you've been looking at this. let's look at the big picture first, what do you think we a going to learn from the stes is going to tell us about the november midterms. lisa: two things we are watching tonight. the power of donald trump, not just in his endorsements, but in terms of what means for the senate races that will determine who controls the senate. there's one race in particular we are looking at. in missouri. let's look at the four candidates on the republican side. ec the former governor eric brightens, and attorney general, eric schmitt. governor brightens is seen as more conservative. democrats would like to take them on. president trump did make an endorsement in this race. did he endorse? eric. which eric, we are not sure.

if either eric wins, he will win. the early results in from missouri is too soon to know. initially, eric schmitt is ahead in that race. it will be a sigh of relief or republicans should he prevail in that race. it would make it tougher for democrats to take that seat in missouri. other thing we are looking at tonight involves how turnout is affected by the base in each party. for that we are looking at kansaswhere they have an abortion pole. turnout in kansas tonight is historic. not just for primaries, the turnout we are singing kansas is rivaling the 2008 presidential turnout. it is too early to tell. but i am seeing a nuer of suburban counties in kansas that went heavily for donald trump. sometimes two thirds for donald trump.

now going by double digits in the way that those who want abortion rights want this boat to go. this is something we are going to watch closely, if that democratic base energized tonight. judy: that is going to send a signal across the country. we note former president trump has been talking about the candidates he taught -- he likes. tonight, the rults are a test of those candidates who opposed former president trump. lisa: this is the one night we will get the closest look at the biggest test for those who voted no -- voted to impeach president trump. with three of congress, republicans, who voted to impeach, facing primaries tonight. too early to tell in michigan. we need more results in that race. newhouse and herrera butlers of those races still open. we note the four members who

voted to impeach the former president retired rather than face primary challenges. if any of these members survive, it will be a big statement. if all three of them survived, if any of them don't survive. it is an important test about the definition and future of the republican party. judy: we are looking at the results everywhere. if you had to pick one state where you are looking to see how important questions are answered, what would it be? lisa: arizona, it has a lot of everythi, including political flavor. the top two races there for u.s. senate on the republican side and gubernatorial race on the republican side, have a battle between pres. trump, who has endorsed one candidate and former vice president pence endorse another. we looked into data on the 538 law, which has a lot of data

analysis. they looked at republican nominee so far this primary season and found that so far, 120 republican nominees either for congress, senate or top three statewide offices, denied the 2020 results about 50% of those. judy: arizona polls still open. can't let you get away without asking about congress, senate still in session. they did pass something we been watching closely. lisa: huge night for veterans groups who have been pushing for this act which will greatly expand veterans care, for those who remained exposed to toxic substances while serving in the military. i also want our viewers to note, they expect to vote tomorrow the expansion of nato. it should be tomorrow. took thursday through sunday, but all for the democratic agenda. that is when chuck schumer and

joe manchin are hoping their deal they forged on climate and energy and taxes, that can get through. we don't know if it will or not. judy: into the weekend possibly. watching all of it. thank you. your watching can keep falling tonight selections with up-to-the-minute results. that is on our website, pbs.org/newshour. ♪ judy: the monkeypox outbreak continues to grow faster than many initially expected. nearly 6000 cases reported in the u.s. since may. in the past weeks of three states have issued emergency declarations or they operate. criticism has grown about the biden administration's response. yesterday, the president named coordinator for the federal

efforts and shipped another 737,000 vaccines to states and cities. stephanie has more on the moves to contain it and one of the epicenters of the country. stephanie: judy, new york was the first to declare a state of emergency last friday as monkeypox cases there have reached over a thousand, with the majority of cases being in new york city. the new york city health commissioner, dr. ashwin vasan, is the point person there and joins us now. dr. vossen thank you so much for , joining the newshour. i understand that since june, new york city has had a hard time meeting the demand for monkey pox vaccine. so a few months into this, where are you in having a handle on monkeypox in new york city? dr. vasan: thanks for the question. you know, new york, as ever, was really leading the way. we were the first in the country to start vaccinating people against monkeypox, people at risk of getting or risk of transmitting monkeypox because

, we knew we needed to do our best to get ahead of it. and certainly vaccine supply has been constrained throughout this rollout, and that's limited the number of vaccines that we're able to deliver to slow this down. but i'm encouragedecause we're starng to see that supply increase. we just got the announcement of our allocation from against the 800,000 doses or so that are now in the country. and, you know, we're grateful to our federal partners, who i hope are now looking ahead to the next batch that this country is going to need. we are certainly the epicenter of this outbreak. we have 25% of the cases in the country, and we estimate that there are up to 150,000 people who might be at risk of getting or transmitting monkeypox according to the current criteria. so we have a lot of work to do. stephanie: dr., we spoke earlier with joe osmondson, and he is a microbiologist. he's a queer activist who's been in touch with a lot of folks impacted by the outbreak.

and he told us that new york city's response to monkey pox is, "not only not equitable, it is stressed to the point of not functioning for most people, both on the treatment and postexposure vaccinations." what is your response to that? dr. vasan: look, we've tried from the beginning to prioritize urgency, getting shots in arms, and equity. we talk a lot about these large vaccination sites similar to , what we did for covid mass , vaccination sites. but what's talked about less are the thousands of doses that we're reserving for community based organizations that serve men who have s with men that serve , communities of color, that serve the lgbtq community, that we're reserving appointmentfor them in order to ensure that equity is built into this approach. it's one of the lessons we learned from covid. we and many places across the country got vaccines into arms as quickly as possible, but then we were left kind of working on equity for the weeks and months

thereafter. we are trying to prioritize this from the beginning. it's very hard to ensure equity in an environment of deeply constrained supply. but i'm optimistic we'll well, we'll see the results in the coming weeks ahead. stephanie: it's been suggested thataybe having mobile vaccine at clinics that would go directly to queer spaces, directly to lgbtq circuit parties, that that might be a better way to get to the most vulnerable populations. is that something that your office is considering? dr. vasan: absolutely. we're actually working on this right now. you know, we've learned through covid that you can deliver vaccines in a targeted way to places where they're needed the most. and that has to compliment an approach that also delivers vaccines at scale. it also complements an approach that, as i mentioned, works with community based organizations that have long term relationships and that works with trusted providers like hiv providers and lgbtq affirming clinical providers. so we're trying to take a really

multidisciplinary approach to this. again, it's really tough to do all of that in an environment of constrained supply, but i think we're seeing those gears turn. stephanie: why has it been so difficult to get enough vaccine within new york city, which, as you say, makes up 25% of the nationwide cases? dr. vasan: well, we make up 25% of the nationwide cases. and if you look at the last vaccine allocation, we got 10% of that allocation. while we are extraordinarily grateful to our partners in washington and atlanta and elsewhere for their efforts we , need more vaccine and we need vaccine commensurate with the scale of the problem here. wek also need the allocation between new york state and new york city to be in line with the burden on new york city. we represent over 90%, almost 95% of the cases in the state are here in new york city. and yet we only got in the last round about 70% of the allocation from the overall

state allocation. so we have work to do on the basic math of this. stephanie: dr., let's talk about the biden administration's response as the top official. i -- the most cases in the u.s., if you were in a room today with the disappointed monkeypox coordinator, what would you want to relate to him? dr. vasan: number one, i'm encouraged by these appointments. mr. fenton and dr. daskal, as a former colleague here from new york city, are really an embodiment of balancing operations and science for the best of both worlds. and that's really what we need. we need a science driven response with speed and logistical efficiency. i would kind of emphasize to them once again that, you know, we've been running a covid response for two and a half years on emergency funds. we need emergency funds now and a declaration of an emergency now from the federal government to access those fema funds and

other funds in order to mount the kind of response. and i would hope that this would trigger a longer term conversation about what a permanent public health infrastructure looks like, because we can't keep running these responses off of emergency funds. we need that permanent, flexible, nimble public health infrastructure that can meet people where they are and respond to what people expect of us. stephanie: the new york city health commissioner dr. ashwin , vasan. thank you so much, doctor, for joining the news hour. dr. vasan: thanks a lot. judy: iraq has been reeling from unrest after the powerful she had cleared muqtada al sadr , called for a revolution, , taunting his shia rivals and demanding sweeping changes to the current political system. special correspondent simona foltyn reports from baghdad.

simona: after nine months of political deadlock to form a new government, shia cleric muqtada al sadr has taken his fight to the streets. on saturday, his followers stormed the heavily fortified green zone, home to the american and other embassies, and many iraqi government institutions. >> we are ready for any emergency that affects iraq and the iraqi people. we are following instructions. maybe there will be a sit in, maybe we will withdraw, no one knows. our leader muqtada al sadr is the decision maker." >> and he decided to flex his populist muscle. the rioters laid siege to parliament to show their rejection of the post-2003 political order. >> iraqi parliament is just a succession of corrupt parties, gangs and militias who are looking out for their followers, while the poor are struggling to survive.

reporter: ironically, sadr has been part of the very system he now wants to upend. the descendant of an influential plant -- family of clerics he , first gained notoriety for fighting the american army following the 2003 invasion of iraq, but then transformed his movement into a dominant political force. his party won last october's parliamentary election. in a bid to tighten his grip over the state, he broke with the previous custom of sharing power with other shia parties, but ultimately failed to form a government. after months of fruitless negotiations, the mercurial cleric instructed his 73 members of parliament to resign thus , forfeiting his electoral victory in what some observers called a strategic mistake. now his followers are occupying parliament, and blocking the election of a new president and prime minister.

sadr may have officially withdrawn from the political process, but this protest is a reminder to his shia rivals that he remains a pivotal figure in iraqi politics who commands a devout following of hundreds of thousands of iraqis and one of most powerful armed groups. on the opposing side is a grouping of shia parties called the coordination framework. on monday, its supporters staged a counter protest just a few hundred yards away from parliament, with security forces forming a buffer zone between the two sides. the framework includes a ran aligned -- iran aligned parties and font)foer prime minister nouri al maliki, who has been sadr's arch-enemy ever since he launched a battle against sadr's militia in 2008. the trigger for the sadrists' insurrection was the frawork's impending nomination of mohammed shia al sudani as prime minister. sudani served in maliki's government, an unacceptable affiliation for the sadrists. >> he is rejected. it's the corrupt ones who chose

him, not the people. he has been part of this political system. reporter: i ask him what he thinks about the framework. >> they don't represent the shia and they don't represent the iraqi people. they represent only themselves. reporter: prime minister mustafa al kadhimi, who rose to power with sadr's backing, asked security forces to protect the crowds and appealed for calm. >> we must all cooperate to stop those who accelerate this sedition, and everyone must know very well that the fire of sedition will burn everyone. reporter: the frameworks -- remark's leaderip has called for dialogue, which could pave the way for a compromise that would leave kadhimi in office for another term. but with both sides armed to the teeth, there's fear that the tiniest spark could ignite violence. for the pbs newshour, i'm simona foltyn in baghdad.

♪ judy: this summer, rhiannon giddens has been on her first tour as artistic director of "silkroad." the ensemble was founded in 1998 by famed cellist yo-yo ma, who joined her on stage at the tanglewood music center in massachusetts this past week. jeffrey brown spent a day with giddens and the cross-cultural group recently to see how they aito make a positive impact across borders and here at home, through music. it's part of our arts and culture series, canvas. jeffrey: a japanese flute, indian drums, a celtic park. a classical cello.

and a north carolina born singer best known for american roots music. 45-year-old rhiannon eddins is now leading the sounds to temporary an agent as a new artistic director of silk road. rhiannon: i love getting thrown something i have never done before. that i think i have the goods to do, but i have to figure out how to do it. and so i always say 'yes' first and figure it out later. jeffrey: giddens is herself a boundless bridger of musical worlds and styles. trained at oberlin conservatory of music as an upper singer she , then learned the fiddle and banjo, and turned to the often-overlooked role of african-americans in appalachian folk music. as co-founder of the grammy-winning 'carolina cholate drops. she lives in ireland with her italian musical and life partner, multi-instrumentalist francescturrisi, with whom she

wrote the music for ballet. and she co-composed an opera titled "omar" about a 19th century senegalese scholar who was sold into slavery in the u.s.. its next stop will be in los angeles this coming fall. rhiannon: i'm just always curious, i guess. i get this, you know, i haven't done that. how can i do it? and who can i work with to do it? that's always my next question, who do i get to work with? i love collaborating and finding out new things. ♪ jeffrey: starting with a tour called "phoenix rising", here at wolftrap, outside washington, dc, she's now working with the famed grammy-winning international collective. originally founded to highlight the music and culture of the historic 'silk road,' the trade routes connecting the far east

and china with the middle east and europe the group has put out , ten albums and performed around the world. giddens wants to continue to widen the lines to this country. rhiannon: when you look at the globalness of, you know, where the silk road starts, you can actually look at the united states as just the next stop on the silk road, when you consider all the folks from china that ended up, you know, on the west coast, building the railroad, the gold rush and, of course, all the other immigration patterns there were. and one of the things that i felt really attracted to was the idea of telling silk road's story through america. jeffrey: silk road sort of expands the map in a sense. rhiannon: definitely. it expands the map in a way that i feel like is where i've been needing to go. and i just realized that actually my story is just part of a larger story. ♪ jeffrey: her favorite example,

one of her own instruments the , banjo. rhiannon: the banjo is you note, an african-american instrument. a lot of people say it's invented in africa, it was was invented in the caribbean, but it is connected to west african instruments, which are themselve lute instruments, which were brought over by arabic traders, which are connected to the larger instrument family of ouds and renaissance lutes and guitars and all of this kind of stuff. and you realize when you keep going back and it goes to the middle east, then it goes further back to china, and you go. jeffrey: central asia to china. rhiannon: exactly. at the very solid through-line. jeffrey: "phoenix rising" features new works composed by silkroad musicians: indian tabla player sandeep das, who's been with the ensemble from the beginning. and, newer to the group, scottish harpist maeve gilchrist, both melding their original traditions into the larger framework. >> when i joined this ensemble, i was just an indian musician, very proud of my cultural and

historical heritage. but i very happily say that i losty identity in a beautiful way, only to realize that nothing i thought as only mine is actually only mine. it's something that i shared with everybody else. >> in ireland and scotland, there's a thing called a thin place. neither heaven nor earth. it's the in between areas. and it feels like the musical journey of silk road is this parael where we're trying to create in this thin place, we're trying to find the intersections of all of our different cultures. ♪ jeffrey: in recent concerts, giddens highlights the american blues tradition directly. her most ambitious plan for tying the 'silk road' to this country is calle"the american

railroad": a multi-year, multi platform project music, a , documentary, books and more - that will explore the impact of african americans, chinese, irish, mexican and indigenous communities on and from the creation of the transcontinental railroad. rhiannon: ultimately, the idea is that, he notes up of you never meet a stranger. the metaphor of the silk road is, you know, you have a path and on this path you change and you are changed. jeffrey: of course, giddens knows she steps into this role at a time of extreme divisions in the country. but she's determined to push forward with silkroad and other new roles she's taking on, including writing a musical drama about a 1898 insurrection -- music drama is a posting a pbs series cald "my music" and a children's book based on a song she wrote during the pandemic, due out this fall. rhiannon: it's an awful time.

but like, what other time is art needed in but the awful time? i'm a bit of a pessimist. but, like, theight kind of pessimism can kind of keep you going. it's kind of like, yeah, it's all going to hell in a hand basket. therefore, we need to make every day the best day that we can make. and we need to tell these stories now. jeffrey: in what can feel the worst of times, then: the best sounds of all worlds. for the pbs newshour, i'm jeffrey brown in new york. ♪ judy: there's a portly new pinniped in the waters off oslo this summer. frio the walrus has slowly made her way around several ports of call in the baltic sea, her favorite pastimes:

sunbathing, seafood, and crushing seafaring vessels. her face has launched a thousand tweets, and even some fan art. and we must now beg forgiveness from john's, george, ringo and especially the walruses of paul as we bring you this tribute from our scandinavian wildlife correspondent, malcolm brabant. reporter: climbing on a nordic vessel waiting for the sun, man you've been a naughty girl, you made the boat go down. you aren't a deckhand, call out the frogmen freya the walrus. goo goo g'joob. apologies to the beatles for crucifying their psychedelic it. but here in the baltic, there's a new walrus in town who's causing mayhem in her quest for the perfect pleasure cruiser. >> you can see she's a big lady. and that she is curious and she's not afraid of people.

she loves to rest. reporter: nadia jdaini from the norwegian directorate of fisheries is part of a team trying to take care of freya's welfare and security. >> the main thing is to observe and make people get the information how to be safe around her and also make her safe around people. reporter: named after the norse goddess of love and beauty, freya weighs in at 1300 pounds. freya was also the goddess of war. no wonder boats send out distress signals when she clambers on board. i sympathize, i know what it feels like to be a shipping hazard. freya's adventures have garnered fans among the twitterati. freya is quite the traveler. she has been spotted as far away as britain. she's been seen here in denmark and in sweden. her natural habitat is the arctic, but the exit from the lake like baltic sea is difficult to find for a walrus

who's lost her bearings. perhaps that's why she's trying to hijack the perfect boat. rune aae is a researcher for norway's south-eastern university. he encountered freya in march and since then has been tracking and mapping her movements. >> she is really fat. and she has a lot of food in the area. she's eating scallops, mussels, so there's no problem with feeding. she comes from small bird. -- spall bard. i guess she want to go back to her flock. reporter: here's hoping she makes at home. my advice, keep swimming. i'm really getting too long in the tooth for stories like this. for the pbs newshour, i'm malcolm brabant in the baltic sea. judy: her story has never been told in the weight malcolm just told it. on everything to be the same way. that is the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. join us online and again here

tomorrow evening. for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you, please stay safe and we'll see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by >> architect. >> beekeeper, mentor, raymondjames financial advisor taylor's advice to help you live your life. life well-planned. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy.] >> carnegie corporation of new york supporting innovations in education, democratic engagement and the advancement of international peace and security at carnegie.org. the target foundations of committed to advancing racial equity in creating the change required to shift systems and accelerate equitable economic opportunity. and with the ongoing support of these institutions.

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alejandra ramos: tonight on "the great american recipe"... this week we're gonna mix it up a little bit. dan: i love empanadas, just not mine. promise you won't hate me if it doesn't taste like yours. never. i know you didn't create this dish, but you recreated it very well. robin: i just got on the plane and went to brazil. if i don't make it back in time for dinner, it's 'cause i'm having too much fun. alejandra: there were so many delicious recipes, but we all agreed the most successful dish was... alejandra: what makes a great recipe? are they the dishes that are passed down to us through generations of home cooking? bambi: i love to make my mom's honey turkey wings. alejandra: are they the ones that tell the story of who we are and where we're from? silvia: i make mantecadas. it's like a mexican muffin. tiffany: if this is what it feels like at your home,