intelligence officials are interpreting the australia attack, we turn again to our margaret warner.he reporter stuart cohen saying his lawyer says he thinks this was the ago of a desperate man. but there are still questions out there. su have been talking to top intelligence officials, what do they say? >> warner: the u.s. is deferring to australian authorities to put together the back story of what took this man over the edge. i mean he clqb)ly had anti-western, pro-islamic views. so the u.s. is very close cooperation with them. but they do consider this attack significant, this incident significant. not as brand-new, but as part of a morphing trend. in other words, after 9/11 for more than a decade the thought was the threats to the u.s. would come from some kind of al qaeda mastermind large scale plot. then the lone wolf phenomenon starting in '09. but really starting now with the rise of the is group, specifically calling on their sympathizers to carry out attacks against werners in their home countries. they see, it's just racheting up and keeps morphing. the perpetrator may be

economic embargo which is still in place, i'm joined by our chief foreign affairs correspondent margaret warner political director domenico montanaro. what can the president do on his own without needing congress? >> well, first of all, as you said, he can normalize relations with cuba just as, for example, nixon normalized relations with china, with whom we were still at odds. so that's the first thing he can do. secondly, i learned just this afternoon that establish a u.s. embassy, which members of congress have vowed to not fund tturns out the u.s. intersection is in the old u.s. embassy. it has 360 people working there, including 67 americans. and rf one senior official said to me, "right now, we're not even sure we need additional personnel. the building is a little shabby but they can go right ahead. he can take cuba off the sa stae sponsored terrorism list. and he can useç licensing authority to ease all travel and investment restrictions so people will be able to use american credit cards there, more people will be able to travel, transfer more money there. what an official said to me

chief foreign affairs correspondent margaret warner spoke to him yesterday. >> reporter: thank you for joining us. you've described television as the nuclear weapon of politics in russia. >> yes, it is the core of the political system. you have to imagine a country that is absolutely huge. it's about a sixth of the world's land mass and sews logically varied. so you have contemporary towns like moscow and mere fuedal villages and the only thing to bring them together is the television. >> reporter: at the center of all of this is the president himself as performance artist. what do you mean? >> putin was no one. he was this guy wearing horrible suits everywhere he went. he was a no one and they took him and created him. and p.r. tv producer guys who were close to the k.g.b., this incredible mix of secret services and television produces, and they made him into a hero for all seasons, so that he could be the ideal lover, matcher guy and the first thing vladimir putin did in 2000 was to take over television and get rid of the oligarchs. >> reporter: at a very young age you got a chance t

also, margaret warner explores why knock-offs of some western reality tv hits like "the apprentice" floppedrussia, while others, like "survivor" were wildly successful. all that and more is on our web site, pbs.org/newshour. >> woodruff: and a reminder about some upcoming programs from our pbs colleagues. gwen ifill is preparing for "washington week" which airs later this evening. here's a preview: >> ifill: we'll examine the unusual cross currents on display in america this week, touching on the law, national security and the politics and peril involved in accomplishing change. that's tonight on "washington week." judy? >> woodruff: on pbs newshour weekend saturday, the complicated world of your digital assets. what happens to your banking, email, and other online accounts after you die? and we'll be back, right here, on monday. music legend al green on soul, as a singer, and a preacher. that's the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff, have a nice weekend. thank you and good night. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> lincoln financial-- committed to helping yo

chief foreign affairs correspondent margaret warner begins our coverage. >> warner: the wounded children were brought to a hospital in peshawar, one after another. some on stretchers, others in the arms of teachers or parents. their dark green school uniforms, bloody. most of the dead were students at a military-run school for first through tenth graders, along with nine staffers. classes were underway when the taliban killers stormed in. >> ( translated ): as soon as the firing started, our teacher made us sit in a corner and told us to lower our heads. after around an hour, when the firing subsided a little, army personnel came and rescued us. when we came out we saw in the corridors our friends who had been shot three or four times, some dead and some injured. their blood had spilled all over the place. qtr and physics lab assistant 6at army public school, mudassir awan, saying: >> ( translated ): i am the physics lab assistant. we were sitting in the canteen. we saw six people climbing the wall. we thought it must be the children playing some game. but then we saw a lot of firearms w

talibani is the kurdish deputy prime minister, newshour seniour foreign affair correspondent margaret warner with him earlier today. >> warner: talabani's visit comes as kurdish peshmerga fighters, iraqi government forces and shiite militias battle to roll back islamic state gains. the militants moved into northern and western iraq in june, sending iraqi troops fleeing. in august, u.s. warplanes joined the fray, targeting islamic state units. yesterday, on a visit by defense secretary chuck hagel, iraq's new prime minister haider al- abadi asked for more u.s. airpower and weapons. but hagel warned that u.s. firepower is not the solution. >> as iraqi leaders and the people of iraq know, only they can bring lasting peace to their country. >> warner: baghdad did take a step to reconcile with the alienated kurds last week with a deal to share the country's oil revenues between them. meanwhile, the u.s. is deploying 3,000 trainers and advisers to iraqi forces and may join them in the field. if and when they try to recapture the northern city of mosul. i spoke today with deputy prime minister tala

tonight, chief foreign affairs correspondent margaret warner takes a closer look at the challenges ahead, and talks with an american diplomat leading the charge. >> we will end an oudated approach that, for decades, has failed to advance our interests neither the american nor cuban people are well served by a rigid policy that is rooted in events that took place before most of us were born. >> woodruff: among the changes, the president said he would: reopen the u.s. embassy in havana. further ease u.s. travel, credit and export limits to direct u.s. investment to cuba's new small entrepeneurial class. he also urged congress to lift the 54-year-old u.s. economic embargo on the island. cuban president raul castro issued a similar announcement simultaneously. but what this opening will mean, in reality, depends on hard- headed negotiations between the two governments, due to start in havana in mid-january. leading the u.s. negotiating team will be roberta jacobson the assistant secretary of state for western hemisphere affairs. we spoke in her office yesterday. assistant secretary jacobson,

. >> ifill: finally tonight, margaret warner speaks with the author of a new book about the special bondrriors walking on four legs, and those born with just two. >> he's a good dog, been my best friend over here. >> warner: for u.s. forces in iraq and afghanistan, man's best friend has more than lived up to the billing. some 2,500 dogs have accompanied soldiers and marines there on patrol and in close combat, like the raid to kill osama bin laden. >> warner: it's the latest job for canines over centuries of battle, from ancient rome through world war i. the u.s. military first officially used dogs in world war ii, as scouts and enemy tracker, and again in vietnam. and when u.s. troops in iraq and afghanistan faced a barrage of improvised explosive devices, the dog and handler teams proved the best detection tool of all. rebecca frankel, a senior editor at "foreign policy" magazine whose "war dog of the week" is a signature online feature, writes about all this in a new book: "war dogs: tales of canine heroism, history and love." we met at the working dog kennels of the quantico marine b