nick schifrin returns now with this story, produced and reported by the newshour's dan sagalyn. >> schifrin: on the edge of a mes. base in kuwait the entire horizon has beco cloud of dust. >> that is just insane schifrin: it's 2011. u.s. service members he been stationed in the desert for eight years. and in a matter ofwaeconds, what once a blue sky, becomes thick yellow dust. and then red. and then darkness. >> and now we can't see anything.ds >> schifrin: srms like this were routine-- not only in kuwait, but theater-wide, in iraq and afghanistan. so were thick black clouds ofe. sm >> luckily the winds are not blowing our way. >> schifrin: the military used burn pits toispose of pretty ch everything. from tires... to batteries... to styrofoam. all burned near where soldiers lived. and where soldiers worked--ho the rror of car bombs produced combat dust and debris. soldiers inhaled all that dust, all that smoke, and it may haveh afflicted with higher-than- average rates of asthma, bronchitis, and other pulmonary disorders. ( explosion ) >> i find myself struggling, even when i pull into a p

tnick schifrin is back wit. >> schifrin: for years israel's rowdy politics have balanced constitutionalpromises to be jewish and democratic. today, lawmakers gave jews the exclusive right to self- determination and passed a law supporters callethe culmination of zionism. it was praised by israeli prime minister benjamin netaahu. >> ( translated ): this is a historic moment in the of zionism and the history of the state of israel. we have made into w the basic principle of our existence: israel is the national state of the jewish people. >> schifrin: but what netanyahus priaseistoric, critics called cruel. on the knesset floor, arab lawmakers ripped up the bill. at one point, parliament member jamal zahalka was forcibly removed from the debate. coalition leader ayman odeh pulled out a black flag, and, as the parliament speaker objected, odeh called the law evil. >> ( translat): this evil law, a black flag hovers over it. this is a law that hovers er it a black flag >> schifrin: israel has promised the law won't impede minorities' rights. but in mixed towns like haifa, with bahai world ce

the capabilities to skilmaully ge the diplomatic environment they're in. >> schifrin: and tist means iran xpected to respond to u.s. pressure. it's threatened to disrupt oil shipments, and use its proxies. and with both sides' rhetoric ramping up, that could increase the chances of conflict, and could reduce the chances iran changes its behavior. >> they are pushing as quickly as possible d robustly as possibleo try to get to a position of a change in iranian position, and i think that is unlily to pay off in the sho term. iran has been a 40-year problem for a reason. it's intractable, it's difficult, and fundamentally, an applicatioof maximum pressure isn't going to bring about a short-term change. >> schifrin: today president trump said he had no concernsin about easing tension with iran, and iran called hisre rks psychological warfare. so, in the short-term, the twitter diplomacy, and the sabre-rattling from both sides, are expected to continue. for the pbs newshournick schifrin. >> woodruff: the release of previously-classified surveillance applications-- or fisa warrants-- by th

nick schifrin has our story. >> schifrin: the street battles are explosive. through long nights... ...and hot summer days. protestors are often armed with no man cinder blocks and homemade bombs. ( gunfire ) security services fire, as they cower in fear. young people who livestream the violence, and are willing to die. >> ( translated ): i want to say goodbye and i love you to my family" >> schifrin: many are students rallying against a ruler who once overthrew a dictator, now accused of becoming a dictator. for 11 years daniel ortega has led nicaraa, and he has consolidated near total power, ended term limits, and employed deadly force on otestors who demand democratic reforms. >> ( translated ): today wovare seeing anment who does not want to negotiate with the people of nicaragua, and is estead only repressing th people of nicaragua. >> schifrin: in this btle, the catholic church has chosen the protestors' side. religious leaders have come out to support demonstrators who holed up in churches. the church of divine mercy on a university campus in managua, b

nick schifrin has the story. >> schifrin: for the supporters el turned populist litician, it's a momentof celebration. for only the second time in its history, pakistan iscting a democratic transition. and one of the country's most famous men is declaring victory on behalf of the people. >> ( translated ): today i pledge you and promise you, i will take care of your money. and we will reduce the government's expenses. >> schifrin: 66-year-old imran khan is pakistan's likely next prime minister. he says his victory is the end of the dynastic cronyism that's dominated pakistani politics and its two main political parties. >> the reason why we are in politics is to break the stranglehold of these twoo parties ve plundered this country, and time and time again taken turns in governing the country. >> schifrin: but what khanic considers viion, his opponents consider manipulation. pakistan's army and intelligence services exert outsize influence seon politics and are accuof e lluding with the judiciary to ensure former primnister nawaz sharif couldn't retain powe shabaz sharif is nawaz sharif

. >> schifrin: for months, the administrationas targeted iran with a campaign of pressure, fromulling out of the iran deal... >> i am announcing today that the united states willithdraw from the iran nuclear deal. >> schifrin: to re-imposing sanctions to try and cripple iran's finances. >> iran will be forced to make a choice: either fight to keep its economy off life support at home, or keep squandering precious wealth on fights abroad. >> schifrin: but last night president trump took the campaign one step further andre ened war. he tweeted in all caps, "never, ever threaten the united states again, or you will suffer consequences the les of which few throughout history have ever suffered before." w th a response to iranian president hasan rouhani threatening the u.s., in an address to iranian diplomats. >> ( translated ): we do not want to go into a war with them. but they must understand well that war with iran is mother of all wars. they also have to understand it very well, that peace with iran is mother of all peace. >> schifrin: white house spokeswoman sarah sanders called the

and it's incumbent on all others to do the same. >> schifrin: the u.s. has 2,0 troops in syria, but they are far from the location of this crisis. and the u.s. explicitly told the rebels not to expect any help. which means the outcome of this fighis pre-ordained. the rebels are out-gunned. and there is nothing stopping the syrian and russian assault. in dar'a town, rescue workers managed to pull out a girl, alive, from the rubble... but many who stayed in daraa, pa with their lives. rescue workers had to dig out bodies and walk them through destroyed streets. anthe horror of this war f syria's civilians, continues. for the pbs newshour, i'm nick schifrin. >> woodruff: we have covered war, privation, and terrorism in afghanistan for years. but there is another crisis e that is causing nearly as ugny problems: climate change. it causes epic ds, and forces desperate afghans toward desperate measures. there does seem to be one key factor in helping stave off the knock-on effects of drought: education for girls. special correspondent beth mupy, of the ground

nick schifrin has the story.ai >> schifrin: oforce one this evening, a white house spokesperson said the president "has beg the mechanism" to revoke the clearances. the half dozen tgeted have all been critical of the president. press secretary sarah sanders, who first announced the threat to revoke yesterday, sd the former officials' comments on the administration's russiain policy werpropriate. today, speaker of the house paul ryan, said this about president trump's motives: >> i think he's trolling people anestly. >> schifrin: to taut this, i'm joined by jeffrey smith, former general counsel for the c.i.a.nd former general counsel for the senate armed services committee. is it appropriate for the white house or the president vo threaten to former national security officials' clearance? >> no, it's not. "inappropriate" is too week a word in my opinion. i can understand why the president is angry, but thepo wy to r is to respond with a factual response, not to seek to intimidate and bully those who have spoken out against him. former officials who have devoted their lives to this cou

newshour foreign affairs correspondent nick schifrin reports. >> reporter: in this middle- class neighborho, mexicans upset by widespread corruption and violence started voting early. for almost a century, mexico's only known two establishment parties. but 25-year-old ethel vasquez voted for a new, leftist party that's expected to sweep. >> ( translated ): amlo signifies a new approach. i've tried the pan party, i've tried the p.r.i. party, and i'm going to try the new candidate to see if things can improve. >> reporter: " old andres manuÉl lÓpez obrador, widely known by his initials, amlo. in 2006, he ran for president promising social programs for the poor. he lost by less than a percent, and his supporters occupied parts of mexico city for two months. he ran and lost again in 2012. but this election he started a new party, and has broadened his appeal among urban middle class voters, by expressing rage at the establishment. >> ( translated ): we're going up against the mafia of power. toey're sneaky. they don't want torobbing. and they don't want to lose. >> reporter: tatiana clouthier i

and it will cause people to hesitate to tell the truth. >> schifrin: we hearde the whouse spokespersonout beginning the process. can the psident just do this? can he just say that the clearances should be revoked and would they revokeed? >> not without breaking all the rules that have been created by executive order. there is an executive order tt lays out the "adjudication guidelines" for how a pson is evaluated for a clearance as well as what happens if a person no longer meets those guidelines. the president justimply can't say this person has revoked the clearances. if that's what he thinksul s happen, then he should issue a new regulation that says anyone who speaks and is critical of the policy of the government no longer is entitled to a clearance. >> on the otherand, doesn't the administration have a point? former officials orany former officials, don't they monetize their clearances? don't they use the clearances that they got in government in order to get private-sector jobs? doesn't the administration have a point there >> i'm not sure what the connection is between monetizi

onick schifrin, i'm going start with you. the trump administration is saying the obama administration they are now rescinding what are -called seven policy guidances what were enacted prviously. what does that mean? >> well, what it means is that the federal government's pronouncements on the supreme court's pronouncements haveow changed. so you have to go back to the supreme court here, over a series of rulings over manye s, the supreme court has grappled with race in admissions and race in schools, and then, after they issue a ruling from time to time, the federalgo rnment will sift through that and try to advise school systems and colleges on what it means for them. so the obama administration did that over a period of years fro1 to 2016, issued somean statements today, the trump administration said, basically, we're getting rid of those statements, ty're not operable anymore. >> woodruff: and nick schifrin, what does that mean for these schools?ha >> well,s interesting. if you're a college and you see an incoming change o

nick schifrin has been in mexico for the last 10 days, and reports tonight from a country that's spoken up for change. >> on the streets of mexico city they celebratedded a victory more than a decade in the making. supporterrerof mexico president collect obrador hugged stranges are andye staup late to mark the victory and mandate to change the country, 39 year old diana and 36 yeadr ol daniel voted for obrador and against thlestablishment piticians they consider corrupt. >> we have had many presidents who have misused 9 national budget and now we eswant resourc to be used properly, in favor of the peem, not in favor of the e w. >> reporter: in ty's central square lopez obrador wildly known by hi initials amlo spoke to tense of thousands. >> there will be no divorce between the government and the people. itbe a government of the people, for the people and with the people. >> this is the historic district of mexico city and tonight there is a party. i talked to oyoung people wh tave come out here who say tha they now hope for their future, i talked to older people without say that they ha

. >> woodruff: because he worked so closely with presidtr >> absol >> woodruff: nick schifrin, thank you very much. >> thank you. >> woodruff: stay with us. coming up onlehe newshour: tions of sexual misconduct at cbs. okmark shields and david b take on another busy week of news. and, hip-hop culture wre you don't often see it: in a museum. but first, wildfires are burng across a big section of the country and have been for weeks. fires are a problem, as we know, most summers, but the severity and scope of what is happening in the west and southwest this year is posing big problems for officials, for residents and for firefighters on the line. and as miles o'brien reports, climate change may be magnifying the problem in california and elsewhere. >> o'brien: firefighters are battling rapidly expanding wildfires across california, facing high winds and triplees digit temperats authorities race against the clock, while mass evacuations are underway in some areas.an ors at a local television in northern california were esacuated on the air while reporting on the f >> we've been here live

nick schifrin has the story. o> two months, two summits, mysteries-- what did the president promise in his meetings with russian presidentn vladimir put. >> it's great to beith you. >> ...and north korean leader kim jong-un. today, secretary of state mike pompeo defended the administration. but before he could even begin, republican chairmawh bob corker, is not running for re-election, unloaded on the t nationp diplomat. >> you come before a group of senators today who are filled with serious doubts about this white house and its conduct of american foren plicy. in the summit's aftermath, we saw an american president who appeared dismissive and deferential. from were we sit, it peers in a "ready, fire, aim," fashion, the ite house is waking up every morning to making it up as they go. >> pompeo tried to reassure senators on thl russian icy, announce what he called the new crimea declaration. in 2014. after the u.s. mposed sanctions and refused to recognize crimea as part of russia. pompeo reiterated seo policies.