for the pbs newshour, i am gayle tzemach lemmon in raqqa. >> sreenivasan: read more online from gaylech lemmon about why she says she can't stop thinking about the children she met while reporting in syria. that's at www.pbs.org/newshour. >> sreenivasan: in our "leading edge" segment tonight, the eclipse. monday, the united states will experience the first coast-to- coast solar eclipse in nearly a century. this dazzling spectacle happens when the moon passes between the sun and the earth, blocking out the sun and plunging the earth into momentary darkness. for more about what to expect and how to view this rare event, i'm joined by science correspondent miles o'brien. miles, can you explain to us what exactly will be happening on monday? the moon will pass in front of the sun. the moon is 400 times smaller than the sun but the sun is 400 times farther away and, so, the optical illusion is they are the same size, the moon passes in front, it completely covers the sun's disk, allowing pem to experience an amazing, beautiful thing, and it gives scientists an opportunity to study the sun'

for the pbs newshour, i'm gayle tzemach lemmon, in manbij, syria. >> woodruff: the week began with thesident's scripted speech on afghanistan, followed by a raucus rally in phoenix that helped widen a rift between mr. trump and top republicans in congress. and, now to the analysis of shields and brooks. that's syndicated columnist mark shields, and "new york times" columnist david brooks. welcome. to so charlottesville, it's been almost two weeks since the tragedy there. it has risen in the headlines again this week, david. the president's in phoenix, he makes this passionate speech unscripted, defending the way he handled charlottesville, bringing on even more criticism. are we in the clear now on what this president believes about placism, about white supremacy and all of it. >> i think we're clearer where the republican party is. the trump campaign began seriously with the muslim ban. it continued with a series of racial things about the wall, continued charlottesville and the reaction. what happened is the racial winking and content, the identity politic has become a rising motif i

gayle tzemach lemmon and >> reporter: klara from raqqa, the only name she'll use, has spent years in battle, leading soldiers and devising strategy. but now the world is watching. >> ( translated ): the fight is very hard but we have hope that we will win. >> reporter: but now the world is watching. as the fight against isis closes in on its makeshift capital, klara's own hometown of raqqa. she is part of the kurds' own all-women fighting force, known in kurdish as the y.p.j. they have fought and died right alongside their brothers-in- arms. and some of the most celebrated fighters, including snipers, come from their ranks. she took us to raqqa's front line, to the site of a still- smoking isis car bomb attack. she described a brutal fight: landmines and booby traps, snipers and suicide attacks. >> ( translated ): they know they are surrounded and can't survive. >> reporter: her forces, she says, draw strength from the unique and turbulent history of the kurdish people. >> ( translated ): it's revenge, for the atrocities and injustices that the kurds suffered in the past. out of our

. >> reporter: for the pbs newshour, i'm gayle tzemach lemmon, los angeles. >> woodruff: continuing ourk of books, we take an intimate look at the fight for women's rights in saudi arabia. jeffrey brown has the latest addition to the newshour bookshelf. >> brown: in may 2011, manal al sharif drove a car. that is remarkable only because it happened in saudi arabia where women are banned from driving, and many other activities that most of us would consider normal, daily life. she was arrested and spent nine days in prison before international outcry helped gain her release. she's continued her activism for women's rights, now living outside her native country ,and she's written her story in the new book "daring to drive: a saudi woman's awakening." welcome to you. >> brown: i want to ask you first about this idea of an awakening because you write about yourself in your early life very much apart of the system. when a group of women drove in 1990, and kind of a public protest, you scorned them. >> yes. >> brown: but something happened to you. >> because we got the wrong story, they didn't