earlier today, our chief foreign affairs correspondent margaret warner asked about that, the u.s. strategy in fighting the islamic state militant group, and why tehran has ruled out working with washington to defeat the organization. >> warner: minister zarif, thank you for joining us. >> very good to be with you. >> warner: today, france joined the u.s. in launching airstrikes in iraq against the isis militants. do you think that's going to be an effective strategy to counter these militant forces? >> well, i believe the international community should come to realize that this is a common threat, a common challenge and it requires a

margaret warner has the story. >> warner: you think you know them, three icons from one extended patricianily, all ambitious, teddy, the boisterous rough rider and western adventurer who used the bully pulpit as a republican president to press social reform, franklin del know, elected president as a democrat during america's worst economic depression, who took america to war and died before it ended. the nation's longest-serving president ever, despite being afflicted by polio all his adult life. and eleanor, teddy's favorite niece and fdr's wife, who broke the mold to create the modern first lady, a liberal champion of civil and human rights and a u.s. delegate to the united nations. they shaped america's transformation during the first half of the 20th century, but do you really know them? now you can through a sweeping new documentary series "the roosevelts," produced by ken burns, airing this week on most pbs stations. i spoke with ken burns yesterday at the warner theater in washington, d.c. ken burns, thank you for joining us. >> it's my pleasure. >> now, all three of these historica

chief foreign affairs correspondent margaret warner is there and joins me now. aret, thank you for joining us again. it was unusual to see the president chairing the national security council meeting this afternoon. why did that happen? >? only the sixth time in u.n. security council history. the president saw an opportunity to galvanize the entire world, finally, in this fight because it suddenly had become clear that citizens from 80 countries in the world have gone to join i.s.i.s., islamic state, one of the groups in the middle east, recruited because they are westerners or have foreign passports, some recruited to go back and reinsert into their home country to stage attacks later. he saw this opportunity to appeal to self-interest and get other countries in this coalition who are not willing to join a military effort. >> ifill: what precisely is the resolution and how would they enforce it? >> well, the wording is tough. it says every country must, as required to prosecute and penalize any national citizen to tries to leave to go join one of these groups, a

our chief foreign affairs correspondent margaret warner is at the united nations this week and has more on the international reaction to the new campaign. hello, margaret. you've been talking to a lot of people today. what is the reaction there to these air strikes? >> well, judy, since the president has signaled that he was going to take the fight against the islamic state or isil or isil into syria as well as iraq, it did not come as a shock here, but the reaction was, well, where you stand is where you sit. i went to a small meeting with president rouhani of iran. he declared them illegal because they violated the sovereignty of the syrian government, that syria had not given its permission. he further said the only way to defeat isis in this whole region is you're going to have to partner essentially with the syrian government. he said the syrian option, you can't fight the only government that could step in if the iraqi government could step in and reclaim territory, you can't do both fights on one. the president of turkey had small gathering yesterday. he didn't know about the str

our own margaret warner is there.s, we'll examine the central topic of the first day: climate change. i'm gwen ifill. >> woodruff: and i'm judy woodruff. we'll see you on-line and again here tomorrow evening. for all of us here at the pbs newshour, thank you and good night. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> i've been around long enough to recognize the people who are out there owning it. the ones getting involved, staying engaged. they are not afraid to question the path they're on. because the one question they never want to ask is, "how did i end up here?" i started schwab with those people. people who want to take ownership of their investments, like they do in every other aspect of their lives. >> and by the alfred p. sloan foundation. supporting science, technology, and improved economic performance and financial literacy in the 21st century. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions and... >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and b

chief foreign affairs correspondent margaret warner reports. >> mr. speaker! president of ukraine. >> reporter: petro poroshenko won a standing ovation as he addressed the house and senate this morning. it was his first visit to washington since being elected president of the former soviet republic, and he made clear he's counting on more u.s. support to regain control of eastern ukraine. >> united states made a commitment that it would stand behind ukraine's territorial integrity and we hope that it will live up to that promise. ( applause ) democracies must support each other. they must show solidarity in the face of aggression and adversity. >> reporter: country's soldiers need more and heavier weapons to defeat russian-backed separatists and drive russian troops from ukrainian soil. >> i urge the world to recognize and endorse their fight. they need more political support. and they need more military equipment, both non-lethal and lethal. blankets and night-vision goggles important. but one cannot win a war with blankets! >> reporter: as poroshenko finishe

chief foreign affairs correspondent margaret warner has the details. >> warner: the signing ended months of uncertainty over what happens when the u.s.-led international mission officially ends, december 31st. u.s. ambassador james cunningham: >> the united states values its relationship with afghanistan and the afghan people, we are committed to a better future for afghanistan. our close defense and security >> warner: more than 2,200 american troops have died in the afghan war since 2001. at their peak, u.s. forces stood at 100,000 in 2011. the new deal will leave 9,800 americans and about 2,000 other n.a.t.o. forces there, to train and assist afghan units. newly inaugurated president ashraf ghani said today afghan sovereignty won't be compromised. >> ( translated ): the international forces are not allowed to enter in our holy sites and our mosques. integrity of our life and houses will be safe based on our constitutional values. >> warner: for months, former president hamid karzai refused to sign the accord. both ghani and his presidential rival, abdullah abdullah, supported it, but

we're joined by our own chief foreign affairs correspondent margaret warner and political editor domenicoso, margaret, to you first. you have been talking to foreign policy experts and others. what do they expect the president to say. >> including officials to the government. i think it's going to be a broad offensive he's going to announce against the islamic state group -- diplomatic, military, economic, on every front, with the con that they're trying to put together now. and he said this before, to degrade and ultimately destroy or certainly destroy i.s.i.l.'s offensive capabilities, so that's the plan, and the elements are going to include, as we know, expanded use of american air power, first of all expanding the area inside iraq, not just to these confined groups, to confined areas, and secondly into syria, which is a government that is not giving permission. so it's a great big step for them. and secondly, it will be to try to get members of this coalition to step up to helping to expand the arming and equipping of not only the iraqi military but the syrian moderate opposition. es

earlier today, our chief foreign affairs correspondent margaret warner asked about that, the u.s.ategy in fighting the islamic state militant group, and why tehran has ruled out working with washington to defeat the organization. >> warner: minister zarif, thank you for joining us. >> very good to be with you. >> warner: today, france joined the u.s. in launching airstrikes in iraq against the isis militants. do you think that's going to be an effective strategy to counter these militant forces? >> well, i believe the international community should come to realize that this is a common threat, a common challenge and it requires a common response. in our view, the response should come from the region and supported by the international community, not the other way around. we have been cooperating with the government of iraq and the government of-- or the regional government of kurdistan in order to defeat these terrorists, because we consider these terrorists a threat to all nations in the region and beyond because of all these foreign fighters that you have. >> warner: so you and p

our chief foreign affairs correspondent margaret warner reports. >> if you threaten america, you will find no safe haven. >> woodruff: with that stark warning, the president last night issued a call to arms against islamic state militants both for americans and potential allies. >> america will be joined by a broad coalition of partners. already, allies are flying planes with us over iraq; sending arms and assistance to iraqi security forces and the syrian opposition; sharing intelligence and providing billions of dollars in humanitarian aid. >> reporter: and today, in saudi arabia, secretary of state john kerry appealed to arab and gulf leaders for their support and participation in the effort. >> this is a moment, which is one of those rare opportunities in history, where leaders making the right choices, can actually bend the arc of history in the right direction. in the goals-- direction of the goals that we share. peace and prosperity and security for all. >> reporter: the saudis and other arab states pledged to stop the flow of foreign fighters and funding to the islamic state g

but as margaret warner reports, ukraine's prime minister has reservations. >> reporter: welltive calmss much of eastern ukraine after months of heavy fighting that claimed more than 3,000 lives. ukrainian president petro poroshenko highlighted the turnabout yesterday. >> it is the first day in many, many weeks and months when ukrainians have not had a single person killed. >> warner: on september fifth, kiev signed a 12-step cease-fire blueprint with pro-russian separatists including steps to stop the shooting and grant granting more autonomy to ukraine's eastern regions. it also calls for a buffer zone. ukraine's military says it met with russian and separatist officers near donetsk today to outline it discuss the boundaries. but the russians denied being involved. they also denied backing the separatists' long offensive, nor sending russian troops forces in to assist. though earlier this month, nato estimated several thousand russian combat forces troops were inside ukraine. meanwhile, a war of words continues. u.n. arrivals and switched on wednesday, president obama told the u.n. t

chief foreign affairs correspondent margaret warner reports. >> reporter: as fighting between governmentops and rebels raged in eastern ukraine, president obama arrived in the baltic state of estonia and minced no words. >> it was not the government in kyiv that destabilized eastern ukraine, it's been the pro- russian separatists who are encouraged by russia, financed by russia, trained by russia, supplied by russia and armed by russia. the president told a packed concert hall in tallinn that the u.s. will never accept russia's seizure of crimea or any other part of ukraine. he also pledged full support for america's nato allies in the face of criticism at home that he's too cautious in confronting moscow. >> we'll be here for estonia. we will be here for latvia. we will be here for lithuania. you lost your independence once before. with nato, you will never lose it again. >> reporter: mr. obama's one-day visit to estonia came amid reports of a possible cease-fire agreement in ukraine. ukraine's president petro poroshenko initially put out a statement saying he'd agreed on a truce with r