congressional correspondent lisr desjardins he. >> desjardins: at the white house and capitol, anotherayer ce on another explosive document. this morning, the houseen intell committee released the full text of the original whistleblower complaint, thatr o alleges president trump sured a foreign country, ukraine, to investigate one of the president's main destic political rivals, joe biden. all part of a phone call with the ukrainian president in july. the whistleblower author wrote call, but "multiple officials" recounted the facts to them. other serious charlaint lodges that senior white house officials intervened to "lock down" all records of theal ukraine phone call, including usual server, to one forom its classified or sensitive information.th >> the true whole truth, and nothing but the uth. >> desjardins: the release happened minutes before a much-awaited hearing about the complaint, one with a new sense of gravity. from democrats: >> yesterday, we were presented deth the most graphic evidence yet that the pre of the united states has betrayed his oath of office. >> desjards: re

desjardins has more.esjardins: at the white house and capitother day centered on another explosive document. this morning, the house intelligence committee released the full text of the original whistleblor complaint, that alleges president trump pressured a foreign country,in uk to investigate one of the president's main domesticri politicals, joe biden. idl part of a phone call with the ukrainian prt in july. the whistleblower authte that they d not witness the call, but "multiple offithals" recountefacts to them. the nine-page complaint lodges other serious charges: that senior white house "lock down" all records of the ukraine phone call, includingra moving thecript from its usual server, to one for classified or sensitive information. >> the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. >> desjardins: the release happened minutes before a much-awaited hearing about the complaint, one with a new sense of gravity. from democrats: >> yesterday, we were presented with the most graphic evidence yet t

>> desjardins: some hed castro's words as attacks on biden's age.s morning, castro responded. >> i wouldn't do it differently. that was not a personal attack. >> desjardins: with that exception, it was a civil debate, with candidates raisingt hands, and calling for common ground. >> a house divided cannot stand. >> desjardins: an emotional center hovered around former texas congressman beto o'rourke, whose hometown of el paso was devastated by a mass shooting in august. o trumpeted his call for a mandatory buy-baassault style weapons, pointing to the bloodshed in his state. >> hell yes, we are going to take your ar-15, your ak-47. >> desjardins: a night rich in policy, candidates weighed in on a constellation of topics, from education... >> sp one, i would appoint a secretary of educaon who actually believes in education. >> desjardins: ...to rac.. >> we have more africaner ans incarcerated today than all the slaves in 1850. we need a plan. >> desjardins: ...to the military. >> i've signed a pledge to end the forever wars. we've been a state of cont

as capitol hill correspondent lisa desjardins reports, there's a lot to choose from. >> desjardins: theirt full day back from summer break, house demoats wanted to talk guns and gun violence, holding a forum on the issue. >> we will fight on every front: in the courts, and in th congress, and in the court of public opinion, to make sure this issue is too hot to handle for the g.o.p. to block. we're not taking "no" for an answer. >> desjardins: speaker pelosi it particularting a bill the house already passed, to eand most private salesto include that idea has gained new attention after last month's mass shooting in odessa, texas. officials saseven people were killed by a man who failed a background check, but got a gun salater through a private le, where no background check is required. that violence, along with attacks in el so and dayton, ohio led to 40 deaths. and all of that is leadingto democratressure the senate to vote on more background checks. senate democrac leader chuck schumer: >> a debate on gun safety should be our first order of business, and the place to start a debate d a

begins our coverage. >> desjardins: a dizzying day of devepments.aker of the house nancy pelosi went further than ever, late this afternoon, on formally beginning impeachment. >> the actions of the trump ofesidency revealed the dishonorable fache president's betrayal of his oato of office, betrayal of our nalonal security, and betra of the integrity of our elections. the house of representativescing moving forward with an official impeachment inquiry. >> desrdins: at the united nations, a president arriving to talk about u.s. policyk immediaty faced questions about his own actis, and whether he pressured ukraine to investigate the biden family. >> i think it's ridiculous.ch it's a wunt. >> desjardins: he seemed to confirm, a defend, the fact that he withheld hundreds of millions of dollars in aid for ukraine recently. >> my complaint has always been-- and i'd withhold again, and i'll continue to withhold until such time ot europe and r nations contribute to ukraine, because they're not doing it. >> desrdins: the "washington poe" and others reported

yamiche alcindor at the ewh house, lisa desjardins at the capitol.k you both. >> woodruff: they are lethal legacies of war.mi las present a constant, hidden threat. special correspondent fred de same lazaro reports fromia cambwhere the danger is part of daily life. bu an unlikely battalion of animals is ming a difference. this is part of fred's series,ra but, these african giant pouch their cages, are called heroom rats by their handlers. they have names like harry potter, godiva, and, er... frederick-- no relation. geteg ttr crsuind eensne headed out before dawn to a former battlefield iiarural camb their task: sniff out landmines. >> everyone was surprised, even me before i came to apopo, i heard that the rats were detecting landmines. it was like somethin unbelievable to me. >> reporter: mark shukuru is head rat trainer in mbodia for the belgian non-profit apopo. he is from tanzania, where this species is also native, and he halearned early that they some of the most sensitive noses in the animal kingdo each comes out of a rigorous program in tanz

it's a witch hun >> desjardins: hseemed to confirm, and defend, the fact that he withheld hundreds oflions of dollars in aid for ukraine recently. >> my complaint has always been-- and i'd withhold again, and i'll continue to withholdnu until such time as eurnae and other ons contribute to ukraine, because they're not doing it. >> desjardins: the "washington postand others reported the president froze nearly $400 million in aid foukraine this summer, one week before a phone ca witnewly-elected ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskiy. it is still not clear if the withheld money came up on that call, but this afternoon, mr. trump announced he has ordered the release, torrow, of the complete and unredactedda transcript of his conversation. in turn, house intelligence chair adam schiff said thetl tifywer wants to t before the committee as early as this week. meanwhile, calls for impeachment e grew. >> i hen patient while we tried every other path and used evher tool. i believe, i truly believe, the time to begin impeachment proceedings against this president has come. >> djardins: it was

>> desjardins: i think that's right.ore praatic goal for democrats was to show that corey lewandowski and more importantly to them president trump and his warehouse are obstructing justice in this probe itself, by preventing him from answering questions, by saying that o top aides, rick dearborn androb porter, who were also subpoenaed to testify today, were not able to bause the whiteouse blocked themfrom doing so. all of that,the democrats are arguing, shows a pattern of obstruction of juste, obstruction of congress that leey think may be impeach itself later on or at least give them an argument to the courts. here the house judiciary committee chairman jerry nadler is talking about this as he was in a back and forth with mr. lewandowski. >> when you refuse to answer these ques ations, y obstructing the work of our committee. you are also moving our point to the american people to see. the president is intent s on obstructg our legitimate oversight. you are aiding him in that obstrullion. i emind you that article 3 of t

our lisa desjardins begins with the latest. >> desjardins: another rapid- fire day of news centeringident trump, who was atinhe u.n. mewith world leaders today. but the headlines came from his decision to declsify and release a five page memo describing a july krone call withnian president volodymyr zelensky. the text is critical to the fastising impeachment debate. it shows preside zelebrky ging up the military, javelin missiles he wants to buy from the united states,at immey following that, president trump asks for wha ate says immediately following that, president trump asks for a favor: to look into crowdstrike the company that conclud russia was to blame for hacking into democratic party email in 2016, a conclusion the president has questioned. after zelensky resnds,re ing the ethics of ukrainian investigations, inesident trump next says he heard about a ukn prosecutor who was unfairly shutdown.at ay have been a referenceen to this man, viktor shokin, whom the us saw as birrupt and joe n tried to have fired. a few sentences later mr trump says there's a lot of talk abo biden's s

our lisa desjardins was there, and e begins with this report. >> desjardins: democrati have been w fors opportunity. anpen hearing with corey lewandowski, a former trump campaign manager who has remained a cfidante of the president's. and, who also saw the hearing as an opportunity to defend the president. >> the investigation was populated by many trump haters, who d their own agenda-- to take down a duly-elected president of the u.s. as for actual collusion or conspiracy, there was none. >> desjardins: lewandowski ran mr. trump's presidentialmp caaign through the early 2016 primaries, getting radiantai prse from his boss after their crushing victory in new hampshire. >> he was the first one that talked about us possiblyinning the whole big ball game, and he's tough and he's smart. >> desjardins: problems with delegate math and other issues pushed lewandowski out that summer. he did not work in the trump white house. but lewandowski defended him on television and stayed in the president's orbit, which is how he landed in the mueller report. democrats have been keenly interested in a s

lisa desjardins ings us this campaign update. >> desjardins: therehey were, at work today among the crowds parades, charming poteial voters. but listen closely: on this labor day, democtic candidates for presidenfocused less on jobs and wages, and more on the gun debate, after odessa texas became the latest site of a mass ooting on saturday. take former vice president joe biden, in iowa.d he se constitution does not protect semi-automatic rifles, like the one used in odessa >> having assault weapons on the street, or magazines carryingmu iple bullets, is irrational. there is no need for it, and your second amendment rights are in no way violated. >> desjardins: minnesota senator amy klobuchar, singled out senate republican leader mitchel mccoon guns. >> mitch mcconnell is going to have to decide what side he's on. so he's going to have to explain to the people of this country why he wouldn't let that bill that just passed t house come up for a vote. >> desjardins: and all this follows the comments from former texas congressman beto o'rourke, who used an explete on cnn, nosunday while react

as a result. >> desjardins: in the meantime, another thread of the two men's july phone call involvedtment of justice, which announced today that the original whistleblower accountis a possible criminal act by the president on campaign finance charges. but according to a justice department spokespern, after reviewing the controversial call, prosecutors could not make criminal campaign financ violation. the justice department also issued a statement that the president has not spoken with the attorney general about having ukraine investigate hything related to former vice president biden son. on capitol hill, many republicans circled around the president.>> rom my point of view, to impeach any president over a phone call like this would be insane. >> desjardins: many, like south carolina senator lindsey graham, echoed the president's calls for >> vice president biden is a good man. i've enjoyed a good relationsh. but i can assure you that if any republican family member wasin engageonduct like this, it would raise questions. a lot of people felt the guy was corrupt. but the one thins th

and lisa desjardins joins me along with yamiche alcindor to help keep up with this fast moving story.nk you, an it is fast moving, these developments just in the last few mnutes. lisa, i'm going to start with you, th. you have been talking to democrats. what should we expect them to do inoming days as theove this inquiry forward? >> i don't know that we've had a pbusier day or i've eve on a more complicated story at thestr top of the newscast as now. this is what's crystallizing what's happening this week. we're going to have three major depositions or days for the house intelligence committee. we're going to have wednesday, former ambassador mario vanovich, the ambassador of ukraine asked to leave and still works at the state departmt. after that thursday, house intelligence committee will be hearing from ambassador volcker who used to be u.s. envoy to ukraine for president trumphe stepped down last friday, that is the dedlin secretary of state pompeo to hand over documents thhouse inlligence committee is seeking. also friday is when the house intelligence coittee will hear from the

lisa desjardins has our report. >> desjardins: in parts of southeastern texas, only the roofs of buildings cars are above water. roadhave become rivers, with drivers leaving wide wakes as they brave the depths. rescue crews worked overnight through heavy rain, to save people in stranded vehicles.nd all of this just two years since hurricane harvey inundatedhe50 region witnches of rain. harris county sheriff ed gonzalez said last night that t houston region waspa better pd. >> we had more rescue vehicles deployed all across the county. as we saw, some of the areas that were harder-hit, we re-depyed them a little bit closer. >> desjardins: the downpours finally stopped by daybreak. still, the deluge put major highways under water in houston proper, and forced schools to close. on new caney, about 30 miles northeast of houan r.v. floated sideways today in muddy water, and cars anlyhomes were neubmerged. along the san jacinto river, arbridge was closed after rushing water tores off their moorings nearby. they crashed into the span, shtating down part of ters 10. and overnight, in beaunt, guese

to help us understand where things stand, i'm joined by our own lisa desjardins. >> a conservative webe why would it be leaked to them? well, this idea was to expand universal background. someone in the white house were bushing this by putting this out on a gconservative web pae before it really had any legs, it undermined it. it essentially killed that planw sohat you have here is forces behind the scenes really trying to influence the president against working on universal gun background checks or an ckan expansion of background checks which is something many in the nate are talking about. >> reporter: every time there's a high profile mass shooting, we have thison conversagain. where is the public on this? g to doytressure go ng? >> i think you can see that public pressure is building and that goes back to senator mcconnell, he made one of his strongest statements yet thisy week abilere he is on this issue and what he wants to seean happen. listen. >> we need some guidance from the president about what kind ol proposal that make a difference, he would actually sign into law. i think

the newshour's lisa desjardins has the detail ( explosion ) >> reporter: a w of words and ages afterttacks left two saudi oil sites in flameand smoke. a u.s. official shared these images showing damaged facilities and blackened, scorched areas. today, apokesman for a saudi- led military coalition said the firepower responsible was iranian-made, and was not launched in yemen, contrary to claims by rebels there. >> ( translated ): initial evidence shows that these weapons are iranian weapons anda investigating this and we will announce the findings. initial findings show that theta terrorist did not originate from yemeni territories as claimed by the houthi militia. >> reporter:inhe u.s. also d to iran. secretary of state pompeotu tweeted ay that "iran has now launched an unprecedented attack on the world's energy idpply." and, "there is no ce the attacks came from yemen." buthat is precisely who ha claimed responsibility-- houthi rabels in yemen. they are backed by but a spokesman said saturday they themselves launched ten drones at the oil facities-- and threatened more to come.ed >>

for the pbs newshour, i'm lisa desjardins.ident trump deid he would be willing to meet with iranian pre hassan rouhani at the u.n. general assembly, but rouhani rejected that offer days before this attack. joining me to discuss the regional implications of thisca attack is frederic wehrey. he is a senior fellow at the carnegie endowment for international peace and has 20 years of mideast experiencs from me in the air force. frederic frederic we w wehrey, . >> thanks for having me. >> reporter: what do you make by the trks saying they're confident iran was behind the attack. >> i think it's pected given the dministration's feelinof iran being the root of all evili givethe prnt's comments, they're walking back initial certainty about iran. i think they want to leave room, perhaps, for some negotiation. this is a president who has t statat he doesn't want war in the region, he doesn't want to get backed into some sort of corner -- >> woodruff: he said again today he didn't want war. >> right. >> woodruff: will we know ever who wa

i think there arn people not o the stage tonight worth watching. >> nawaz: that's lisa desjardins onhe ound for us in houston, the site of tonight's democratic presidential primary debate. thanks, lisa. >> you're welcome. >> nawaz: as congress heads back to work following a string of deadly mass shootings this summer, pressure is building on lawmake to pass meaningful legislation that could reduce cn violence in this country.ce today, a number porate leaders and c.e.o.s added their voices to the debate with a new campaign that's directed at the senate. previous gun legislation has ten died there in the past. william brangham has a closer look now at this new campaign. >> brangham: that's right, amna. the c.e.o.s of 145 u.s. ercompanies just sent a leo senators, urging them to pass legiation to expand backgrou checks on anyone seeking to buy a gun, ando implement a national "red flag" law, which would allow law forcement to temporarily take guns from anyone judged to be a danger to themselves or to others. the letter said, in part, "doing nothing about america's gun violence crisis is

on the ground in houston, the siur of tonight's debate, is own lisa desjardins, with more ta how theate is shaping up. lisa to me. when it comes to the lineup, to t the format, what should we expect to see tonight? >> well, this campus of texas southern university is going to see a unique debate. first of all, let's look at those ten candidates leading the poll. our first time with a single te. as you see in that lineup, there mee five senators, three , and two texans in the debate, but i think the focus will be on the center of the stage. this will be first time that former vice president joe biden will be on stage with elabeth warren, the senator from massachusetts, and amna, she clearly has been gaining the most in polls in the last months i can tell you from talking to voters here in houston, there is a sense of excitement about r that you don't hear about joe biden. the biden campaign told us todae theyoing to try and make the case that while elizabeth has many policy s, the key is to try to implement them. they will say he's the man to carry out those ideas. now, one other pres

our own lisa desjardins has been digging into all of this, and she's here with me now. hello, lisa. so tell us, where is this money coming from, what are these projects? >> start with that first. as you said, it's 127 projects, it's about $3.6 billion that the president will move to helpor build barriers of various sorts. half of this money is comingom overseas installations. the other half is from litary installations here in the u.s. let's look at where those are. those are affecting3 states, and i want to leave this up for a minute so people can look for their states. it's the perimeter of the country. this affects everything from service academies like west point to small and large institutions, tra facilities, all o the branches of the service are being affected by this. these funds, judy, impted specifically are those who have been approved by congress, but there is nota contract yet to start building them. on hold and the president is refundg congress will them later, it's not clear congress will do that. >> woodruff:27 different projects. tell us more about what the projtts

meeting with the comanche tribe and holding a rally in oklahoma for the pbs newshour, i'm lisa desjardinsere to break down what those new numbers from iowa mean for the 2020 democratic presidential candidates, i'm joined by longtime iowa pollsten selzer whose group "selzery" and componducted the poll. ann selzer, welcome back to the "newshour". so let's look again at those numbers, the main story li elizabeth warrent 22%, joe biden at 20%, bernie sanders at erybody else in single digits. how much of a change is this om your last poll, and who is supporting elizabeth warren? >> well, it's a nice jump for elizabeth warren, if you're up with of her supporters you would see ith tat way. what she has tone is really begun to build a coalition, and that includes women and college-educated, likely caucusgoers, and for the first time she is now leading with the under 35 age group. that's an encroachment into rritory that was held by bernie sanders almost exclusively. suso she's eating into thport that he used to have there. >> woodruff: and you looked at enthusiasm as ll. you had category, are you

michael crowley, white house correspondent for the new york times.sa desjardins, congressional correspondent the p newshour and vivian salama, white house reporter for the wall street journal. michael, you're a national security reporter, white house reporter athe new york times. what else have we learned about this complaint? >> well,e knowhat it involves a conversation the president had with a foreign leader. and we know it also involves ukrain and tonight the new york times is also reporting that present trump did pressure ukraine's president zelensky to son might have, you know, done something inappropriate in ukraine and whether joe biden ght have intervened. really the underlying facts thereon't bear out the president's theoryhat there was something sinister going on. but we still don't have theull contours of what this whistle-blower complaint consisted of. someone in the intelligence community filed a complaint and it has multiple comnents to it. ukraine is one part o it. there's a c to a foreign leader. we don't know if that's the same thing as the ukrai complaint. congress by law o

. >> desjardins: the report looks at all children in h.h.s. care. on their own, others were separated from their parents. for the latter especially, it points to a number of disturbing effects: accounts of inconsolablerying among children, heightened anxiety and feelings of abandonment. some showesymptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, even refusing to eat. and that comes after enduring extreme duress in the home countries they left behind.t the inspector general's office5 visited facilities between august and september 2018 and spoke wi clinicians and other professional staff. ann maxwell is the assistant inspector general for evaluation and inspec tions who worked on this report and she joins me now. thank you. this report is not easy to read. i want to start by talking about the children who the u.s. separad from their parents, specifically among the many quotes here, an example, just one of a seven or eight-year-old boy, the report shes as under the delusion his father had been killed and believed that he also would be killed. can you talk s

lisa desjardins fills in the picture. >> reporter: north carolina is the first hot spot, hosting presidentmp for a campaign rally tonight ahead of a special congressional election. and congress is also back, with democrats in the house shedding the spotlight on gun violence and impeachment. that's plenty for our weekly "politics monday" round-up with poy walter of the "cook political " and host of public radio's "politics with ofy walter" and tamara keith of "npr" and co-hoshe "npr politics podcast." it's election day tomorrow, just one inspection, the north carolina -- special election, the north carolina 9th congressional district. fiscal conservative running against dan mccready, a marineme invest and former manager, running as more of a moderate. why are people paying such attention to this race and what does it tell you? >> the people, the partiesnd outside groups are spending a lot of money, over $10 thmillion outside groups have spent in this race for one congress seat. it's because it's symbolic. this is a district that thety democrat p lost gnar low roy, vote fraud allegations,ut

lisa desjardins reports on the latest sprint among the democratic hopefuls. >> reporter: in iowa, thee stakes couldn't be higher. saturday, democratic candidates angled for attention at the annu ia steak fry-- grilli meat and veggie burgers. >> in this unprecedented moment in american history, we need to an unprecedented campaig >> reporter: and it comes as the presidential pack faces some shifting realities. the new iowa poll from the des moines register and cnn shows a change. massachusetts senator elizabeth warren has stepped into first place in t hawkeye state, two points ahead of former vice president joe biden. vermont senator bernie sanders, wh 1e still in third, is now1 points behind the lead.wa en played down the results sunday while picketing with striking auto workers in detroit >> i don't do polls. we are still months away from the iowa caucuses and the first primary elections. we are on this picket line today to say we're gonna make this american work for everyone. >> rorter: but iowa numbers are clearly on others' minds. senator kamala harris, running in fifth in the pol