Transcripts For KQED PBS NewsHour 20140905 : vimarsana.com

Accident when he was only twelveyearsold. I remember screaming and running the half mile to our house. I remember hiding in my room. I remember that it was hard to breathe. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by moving our economy for 160 years. Bnsf, the engine that connects us. Ive 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 theyre 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 with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. And. This program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Woodruff the u. N. s Nuclear Watchdog conceded its progress investigating Irans Nuclear program has hit a wall. The latest confidential report by the International Atomic Energy Agency was obtained by several media outlets. It said the i. A. E. A. Had satellite imagery showing ongoing Construction Activity at Parchin Military base, a suspected nuclear site. It also revealed tehran had only implemented three out of five measures to be more transparent, under a deal with the i. A. E. A. Iran denies it wants or is working on nuclear arms. A plane chartered by Coalition Forces in afghanistan, and carrying about 100 americans, had to land in iran after filing the wrong flight plan. The Washington Post first reported the incident. Iranian air Traffic Control reportedly asked the plane to return to afghanistan, but it didnt have enough fuel. A Senior State Department official said the issue has been resolved and the plane is scheduled to resume its flight. One of the deadliest friendly fire episodes of the war in afghanistan could have been avoided. An investigation by the u. S. Military into the june episode found communication errors led to the deaths of five american soldiers and one afghan. The incident happened in zabul province, when a b1 bomber the incident happened in zabul province, when a b1 bomber crew failed to check their information properly before launching two laserguided bombs. The pentagon confirmed the death of the leader of the alshabab terror group today. Ahmed abdi godane was killed in a u. S. Airstrike on monday in somlia. In a statement, the pentagon said it was a major symbolic and operational loss for the terror organization. Woodruff flash floods and landslides sparked by torrential monsoon rains have killed at least 116 people in eastern pakistan and kashmir. Swollen rivers today swept away buildings and bridges and left many trapped on their own rooftops. Soldiers and emergency workers used boats and helicopters to ferry the stranded to safety. The flooding was forecast to intensify this weekend. A third american aid worker infected with the ebola virus in liberia is now in stable condition in nebraska. Doctor rick sacra arrived at a hospital in omaha early this morning with a police escort. He was evacuated from west africa. The 51yearold delivered babies at a liberia hospital, but its still unclear how he contracted the virus. The head of the Nebraska Centers Infectious Diseases Division Said the patient is in a specially equipped bio containment unit. Were doing basic checks on him right now with getting some of our baseline laboratories, making sure his fluid status is equilibrated. That his electrolytes are in control. We know that he is seriously ill with a virus that has a fairly high mortality rate associated with it. Like i said, we will continue to care for him with very aggressive Supportive Care and were looking into alternatives for some of our experimental therapeutics right now. Woodruff two other American Health workers who contracted the virus in liberia were treated and cured at Emory University in atlanta. Also today, the World Health Organization reported the death toll in west africa from the Ebola Outbreak passed the 2,000 mark. Half of those deaths were in liberia. Job growth slowed in august as u. S. Employers hired fewer workers than analysts had expected. But stocks on wall street seemed undeterred by the news. The Dow Jones Industrial average gained more than 67 points to close at 17,137; the nasdaq rose 20 points to close above 4,582; and the s p 500 added ten points to finish at 2,007. For the week, the dow, the nasdaq, and the s p all rose a fraction of a percent. And a special piece of good news. The california blue whale has bounced back from near extinction. A study out of the university of washington found theyve recovered to number about 2,200 in the pacific ocean. Thats about 97 of historic, 19th century levels. But the largest animals on earth are still vulnerable to being stuck by large ships. Woodruff still to come on the newshour. Hopes for peace in ukraine and vows to defeat Islamic State militants. U. S. Job growth slips some in august. Mark shields and david brooks on the weeks news. Using poetry to help understand a tragic gun accident. And remembering pioneering comedian joan rivers. Woodruff this weeks nato summit, dominated by the crisis in ukraine and fears over the Islamic State group, came to a close today in wales as word came of a deal which could end the fighting in eastern ukraine. Jeffrey brown reports. I give an order to chief of my military to declare a cease fire in half an hours time. Reporter ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko made the announcement outside the nato summit in wales, shortly before 4 00 p. M. , 11 00 a. M. Eastern time. He said his government had agreed to a framework for peace with russianbacked separatists. I can assure you that from ukrainian side the we will really do our best to keep peace and stability in eastern part of ukraine, because this is a very important change not only for ukraine, not only the region, but for the whole world about the security. Reporter the agreement came following talks in belarus today among representatives of russia, a separatist leader, Prime Minister of the selfproclaimed donetsk peoples republic, spoke after the deal was reached. translated the cease fire will allow us to save not only civilian lives, but also the lives of the people who took up arms in order to defend their land and ideals, their targets and their goals. Reporter negotiators agreed upon the withdrawal of heavy weaponry, the release of all prisoners and the delivery of humanitarian aid to wartorn cities. Back in wales, president obama expressed cautious optimism over the truce. With respect to the cease fire agreement, obviously we are hopeful, but based on past experience, also skeptical that in fact the separatists will follow through and the russians will stop violating ukraines sovereignty and territorial integrity. So it has to be tested. Reporter he credited economic sanctions levied on moscow by the u. S. And European Union but said allies are prepared to bring even more. In ukraine, fighting continued right up until the Late Afternoon ceasefire took effect and there were some initial reports of explosions and shellings after the truce began, but it appeared to hold into the evening as soldiers pulled back from the frontlines. Following numerous failed cease fire attempts over months of fighting. Some residents appeared wary. translated ive said i have hopes, but it is very hard to trust anybody these days, moreover, weve seen such efforts before and they brought nothing good, but we must hope. Reporter another flashpoint came far from southeast ukraine after word that an estonian Security Guard was taken at gunpoint from the baltic state into russia. Estonias president urged calm and said the abduction didnt appear to be politically motivated. The ongoing russian involvement in ukraine and its other regional muscleflexing prompted nato leaders in wales to approve plans today for a Rapid Response force. It will be headquartered in Eastern Europe with thousands of troops able to mobilize quickly if an Alliance Country comes under attack. Nato secretary general anders fogh rasmussen. Nato protects all allies at all times and it sends a clear message to any potential aggressor, should you even think of attacking one ally you will be facing the whole alliance. Reporter leaders also agreed to steadily increase member countries Defense Budgets over the next decade. Meanwhile, president obama said there was unanimity among members that the Islamic State groups surge across iraq and syria poses a significant threat to nato countries. He said a coalition of americas allies which includes the united kingdom, france, germany, turkey, canada and others, is prepared for an International Effort to combat that threat. You cant contain an organization that is running roughshod through that much territory the goal has to be to dismantle them. Reporter secretary of state john kerry will travel to the region next week hoping to build the coali further. And joining me now to help interpret these developments are former u. S. Ambassador to nato nicholas burns. Hes a professor at Harvards Kennedy school of government. And John Mearsheimer, a professor at the university of chicago. He wrote an article for the latest issue of Foreign Affairs magazine titled why the ukraine crisis is the wests fault. Michael mcfaul was u. S. Ambassador to russia until spring of this year. He now teaches at stanford university. Michael mcfaul, let me start with you. What do you make, first, of this new cease fire. Are there clear winners and losers . Well, the first thing id say is peace is always better than war. The fact that theyre not fighting in towns like mariupol and donetsk tonight is a good thing. I respect that pep petro porosho understands better than i do. I would ask what it does by having it today instead of not two weeks ago is russian and allies in Eastern Europe have been on the offensive and winning the war on the ground. This now freezes that into place. And secondly, the obvious point, theres no political solution in the cease fire. Thats going to take a lot of negotiating for months if not years to come. Brown John Mearsheimer, where do you think things stand as of this moment and what did you make of this announcement today by n. A. T. O. Of a Rapid Response force . Is that a useful thing or provocative step . I agree with the two points mike made as caveats. Theres no question this deal solidifies russian gains in recent weeks and, furthermore, i think the more important point he made is that a cease fire by itself a meaningless. What we have to do is get some sort of meaningful Peace Agreement between the three sides here, and im very pessimistic about that because i think the Obama Administration and the other western countries are pursuing exactly the wrong policy with regard to ukraine. I think getting tough with putin, which is what we have been doing all along, and promising to get tougher in the future is just going to make a bad situation worse. So im not very optimistic about the future. With regard to the 4,000troop reinforcement capability, i think thats fine. I think the two key things we definitely dont want to do is, number one, permanently station troops where military force is in Eastern Europe and, two, give military aid to the ukrainian military. I think that would cause all sorts of problems with the russian and, again, make a bad situation worse. Brown nicholas burns, from your n. A. T. O. Experience, what kind of message is it, how unusual is it, how forceful is it, in fact . Jeffrey, i think there were two major takeaways from the summit today, the first is that n. A. T. O. Really strengthened itself. The decision on the n. A. T. O. Response force is con consequenl and means in essence the n. A. T. O. Alliance can in a credible way reinforce article of the n. A. T. O. Treaty which says if one of us is attacked we are all attacked and well all respond to help. Thats a major deterrent to president putin and the russian government. Its important to the members that know the alliance will defend them. I think that was a strong achievement by president obama and colleagues. On the other hand, i very much agree with mike that, unfortunately, this cease fire, of course, is a positive event, but unfortunately it locks in the russian gains. Here, i think there was a missed opportunity at the summit by the United States and the other countries. The west did not raise additional sanctions on russia and it should have because russia moved across the border two weeks ago with its own military forces and, of course, has largely defeated the ukrainians on ukrainian soil tactically, and there is not a decision to aid ukraine militarily, and i think there should have been. Not that we want to give ukraine lethalo fencive cape lethal offensive capability, but the need to defend themselves, to enforce their own sovereignty and patrol their own streets, thats logical we do that to a partner and ukraine is a partner. So i think there is positive developments today but a missed opportunity. Brown let me go back to John Mearsheimer on that point about whether it would be useful to have gone further and well bring Michael Mcfaul back in. John mearsheimer. I think at this point that ukraine is a partner and that we should support our partner in a war against russia and the insurgents is a prescription for disaster. The russians have made it very clear that theyre not going to tolerate a situation where ukraine forms an alliance with n. A. T. O. The principal reason russia is now in ukraine and trying to wreck ukraine and lets be clear here, what russia is trying to do is wreck ukraine because russia does not want ukraine to become part of the west, it doesnt want it to be integrated into n. A. T. O. Or the e. U. And if we follow the prescriptions bill and i know mike favors as well, what well end up doing is further antagonizing putin, hell play more hard ball and ukraine will be wrecked as a country and well have terrible relations between russia and the west, which is not in russias interest. Brown Michael Mcfaul. Well, first of all, the issues of ukraine joining n. A. T. O. Has not been an issue for several years, literally was not an issue when i was in the government for five years. That was not what sparked this. It was what happened inside ukraine. Second, i agree that the summit should have announced in a more specific way assistance to the ukrainians to defend themselves. Now, president obama intimated that in his speech in holland. It was very clear and that was a new policy objective. What the details are have not been described. Second, with respect to sanctions, i agree that the administration has put in place a tit for tat, a we will ratchet up if the russians ratchet up. The russians have ratcheted up and i think it demands a response in terms of sanctions and i expect that will be coming, i hoped it would be at the sanctions, and i hope it will be next week. Brown nick, theres so much on the table with n. A. T. O. I want to bring the Islamic State issue into this as well because there was also an announcement today of a new kind of coalition to fight on that front. Frame that for us, as well. How important is that as kind of a useful message or even force Going Forward . Well, this has become, as you know, the central preoccupation of the United States over the last month or so, as i. S. I. S. Has made these extraordinary gains in Northern Syria and western iraq. It was very positive today that president obama was able to say he intends to form a coalition, that hell continue the use of american air power, in essence to beat back the i. S. I. S. Gains specifically in northern iraq. Positive the europeans said theyre with us, but i think there are two things that have to happen now. Number one, we dont need just political platitudes from the europeans, we need concrete assistance particularly from britain and france in the air so the United States doesnt have to go it alone in the air. This cant just be a european, north american, u. S. , canadian coalition. We need the saudis, the turks, there has to be buyin from the sunniarab nations so the population from syria and iraq will know theres an alternative and hopefully in the government in baghdad can strengthen and be more inclusive and if the shia leadership in baghdad can offer a place in government to the soon requests, then president obama will be able to achieve what essentially president george w. Bush did so well in 2007 and 2008 and thats win back the allegiance of the sunni fighters and population, thats the next big step that has to take place. Brown John Mearsheimer, what are the chances of doing Something Like that . How difficult will it be for john kerry when he next returns there . Well, i think that the local actors,