Transcripts For KQED PBS NewsHour 20151016 : vimarsana.com

Theres been speculation that humans basically used to sleep when it got dark, which would mean theyd sleep 10, 11, even 12 hours. It turns out that thats not the case. Sreenivasan all that and more on tonights pbs newshour. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by bnsf. And by the alfred p. Sloan foundation. Supporting science, technology, and improved Economic Performance and Financial Literacy in the 21st century. Support also comes from Carnegie Corporation of new york. A foundation created to do what Andrew Carnegie called real and permanent good. Celebrating 100 years of philanthropy at carnegie. Org. And with the ongoing support of these institutions this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Sreenivasan president obama announced today hell keep american troops in afghanistan through the end of his presidency, extending americas longest war. The policy reversal comes after weeks of worsening violence and significant gains by taliban fighters. We will have more on the details of the decision right after this news summary. Meanwhile, the Associated Press revealed new details today about the u. S. Airstrike that killed 22 patients and staff at a Doctors Without Borders hospital in afghanistan. It said u. S. Special operations analysts knew the kunduz clinic was a medical site, but believed it was being used by a pakistani operative coordinating taliban activity. Doctors without borders has disputed that claim. At the white house, press secretary josh earnest said he was not aware of the a. P. s report, but pledged a complete investigation. The president s expectation is that hell receive a full accounting of these facts and in the context of a thorough objective and transparent report from the department of defense. Sreenivasan pentagon officials initially said the strike aimed to protect american troops during a firefight. But the top u. S. General in afghanistan has since acknowledged the strike was a mistake. Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert will plead guilty in his federal hushmoney case. His attorney said the plea agreement will be submitted to the judge monday, but stopped short of detailing the specifics. The 73yearold Illinois Republican is charged with violating banking laws and lying to the f. B. I. In an effort to pay someone 3. 5 million in a coverup. Multiple Media Outlets reported the payments concealed claims of Sexual Misconduct with an unnamed male decades ago. In economic news, stocks on wall street recorded their steepest gains in nearly two weeks today. That was due in part to Strong Bank Earnings and speculation the Federal Reserve will hold off on raising Interest Rates until next year. The Dow Jones Industrial average soared 217 points to close at 17,141. The nasdaq rose 87 points, and the s p 500 added 29. In syria, Government Troops launched a major new offensive against rebel forces today. They targeted strongholds in central Homs Province and captured the town of khaldiyeh, near hama. The push was backed by days of russian airstrikes in the region. Amateur video today showed plumes of smoke rising above towns while residents sifted through wreckage. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said today hes perfectly open to meeting with palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas in an effort to end weeks of bloodshed. That came a day after abbas claimed israelis executed a 13yearold palestinian boy involved in a stabbing attack earlier this week. The israeli Prime Minister sharply refuted that allegation today in jerusalem, insisting the boy is recuperating in an israeli hospital. I think president abbas has to stop this incitement. You just saw examples of him lying. Bare faced lies. An innocent child executed by israelis. No, hes not innocent and he wasnt executed. He tried to murder innocent people, almost succeeded. Thats a lie. Sreenivasan at the same time, the Israeli Military announced today it will deploy hundreds more troops throughout jerusalem in the coming days in an effort to boost security. Meanwhile in the west bank, Palestinian Protesters clashed with israeli troops in bethlehem. Demonstrators threw stones as Israeli Forces fired back with tear gas. Back in this country, theres word the f. B. I. Has begun an inquiry into the Business Practices of the multibillion dollar daily Fantasy Sports gambling industry. Last week, an employee of the website draft kings won 350,000 on rival site fan duel, spawning allegations of insider trading. The New York Times reported the f. B. I. Probe will also assess whether the sites encourage bets from players in states where the contests are illegal. The Preservation Group World Monuments Fund announced its biennial watch list for endangered World Heritage sites today. The 50 places, spanning 36 countries, include a Spanish Mission in new mexico badly in need of restoration. An ancient underwater city in southern greece, at risk of pollution from passing ships. And the entire country of nepal, struggling to protect its heritage in the aftermath of aprils devastating earthquake. Still to come on the newshour a new timeline for troop drawndowns in afghanistan. A fresh lead emerges in the 27 yearold lockerbie bomber case. Can a prison break the cycle of incarceration . And much more. Now, a change of course in afghanistan and a call for the United States to stay. Sreenivasan its already the longestrunning war in american history, and now u. S. Troops will be in afghanistan even longer. The word came today from president obama, during a speech in the white house roosevelt room. I have repeatedly argued against marching into openended military conflicts that do not serve our core security interests. Yet, given whats at stake in afghanistan, and the opportunity for a stable and committed ally that can partner with us in preventing the emergence of future threats, i am firmly convinced that we should make this extra effort. Sreenivasan the new war plan calls for keeping nearly 10,000 troops in aghanistan through most of 2016, drawing down to 5,500 in 2017. Now were finishing the job we started. Sreenivasan todays announcement is an aboutface from the plan laid out last may, to leave afghanistan completely by the end of next year. It would have left just a small, embassybased military presence in kabul. But in the last few months, commanders have signaled that the afghans need more help to beat back the taliban, and hold onto gains made over the last 14 years. Kunduz, in northern afghanistan, is a case in point. Tabiban fighters briefly took control there last month. The New York Times compiled u. N. Data with ontheground reporting that shows the insurgency has spread through more of afghanistan than at any time since 2001, and more than half the countrys districts face a substantial, high, or extreme risk of attack. There are also now concerns about the presence of Islamic State militants. Defense secretary ash carter were adjusting our presence based on conditions on the ground. To give the United States and our allies the capability to sustain a robust Counter Terrorism platform, denying a safe haven for terrorists and violent extremist organizations. Sreenivasan u. S. Forces will be stationed in four locations kabul, bagram, jalalabad and kandahar. President obama said its the right thing to do. This decision is not disappointing. As i have continually said, my approach is to assess the situation on the ground, to figure out what is working, and figure out what is not working, and make adjustments where necessary. This isnt the first time those adjustments have been made and this probably wont be the last. Sreenivasan the move puts the decision on how to go forward in afghanistan firmly in the hands of mr. Obamas successor after 2017. We get more on todays announcement from Washington Post reporter greg jaffe. Gregg, how did it get to this decision . You know, in the spring they started a review to decide what they were going to do. The plan had been to go to essentially a kabulbased force, a small force. And i think most in the administration, especially the president s inner circle, seemed to think thats where they were going to land. The discussions carried on through the summer. In august, general dempsey came forward, then the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff he just recently stepped down with a plan for a sustaining force of about 5,000 focused on counterterrorism. And was then, it seemed to me, that the debate changed, and the president seemed open to that. Sreenivasan so what were the tensions here . Is this partly the political pressure of making a Campaign Promise to get the country out of this war, and then the military reality on the ground where all his top visiers are saying Something Different . You know, i dont think politics played a big role in it. I think the president has a real skepticism about military forces ability to Effect Solutions in places like afghanistan, so hes a really hard sell on these sorts of issues. Just because he doesnt think military force fixes the problems, that theyre really political problems. No military solution has sort of become a mantra. It took a lot of convincing to bring him around, i think. Sreenivasan so if you have insight to this, what was the menu card of options that the generals presented him heres a, heres b, heres c. What were his choices . I think the main choices, as i understand them, were there was an option to essentially stay at 9800 where they were indefinitely. The real choice and the real focus of the debate in terms of a sustaining presence beyond 2016 into 2017 was really this 5500 option. That was the one that sucked most of the oxygen in the room. That was the one that they really focused on. Sreenivasan so what were the costs and benefits of doing either one plan or increasing it to 10 . You know, well, 10 is where we are now, so i think 10 felt to a lot of people lets you do things you cant do with five. Sreenivasan for example . Yeah, i think in terms of counterterrorism, i think you can pretty much do the similar things with both. What the extra 5,000 gets you is it gets you out in the field with afghans a little bit more. You know, weve been using them up in ciewndus, special forces helped retake that city by calling in airstrike and offering advice. I think we were all shocked by how fast the iraqi forces crumbled and collapsed. On paper they looked pretty good. On paper the Afghan Forces sometimes look pretty good. But things like will and resolve are really hard to measure. If youre present, you can get a much better sense of those things than you can if youre, you know, hundreds of miles or thousand of miles away. Sreenivasan is part of this that nobody has figured out the equation on how to train up Afghan Forces well enough . Yeah, i think not just Afghan Forces but all of these kind of indigenous forces in these broken society wheres governments are corrupt or deeply flawed. General dempsey said in an exit interview i thought it was fascinate ago he essentially asked him in this exit interview with joint forces quarterly, can we do this mission . And he answered his own question, i dont know but im not sure we have a choice. Sreenivasan what are the next steps. Are there going to be deployments of special forces in certain cities . I think if there are problems like you saw in kunduz, where you have talibans taking the cities and the afghans have to retake it, i think you could see special forces units embedded with afghan units to retake those kinds of places. You know, i think, its interesting way the president talked about the 9800 or essentially 10,000, he said that will be the force through late 2016. You know, by late 2016, his successor will be in place. I think he could be signaling some flexibility there, too, that rather than go down to 5500, if his successor were to say i would be much more comfortable at 10,000, i think it would be hard for him not to stay there. Sreenivasan all right, greg jaffe of the Washington Post thanks so much. Yeah, thank you. Sreenivasan scottish prosecutors announced today that they have identified two libyan suspects in the 1988 bombing of a passenger jet over the town of lockerbie. Scotland and u. S. Authorities are asking the Libyan Government to allow scottish detectives and fbi officers to interview the suspects in tripoli, libya. The Washington Post is reporting, according to a u. S. Official, that the two individuals are abdullah al senussi, a former intelligence chief for ousted libyan leader mooammar gaddafi and abu agila masud, an alleged bombmaker. Jeffrey brown has the story. Brown the Development Comes just two days after frontline aired the final installment of my brothers bomber, a three part documentary by Ken Dornstein that went back and re examined the files from the lockerbie case. In libya, a trial has begun for the sons of moammar gaddafi, and more than two dozen of his exofficials. At the same time in tripoli, the new government was continuing its trial of former gaddafi officials. Abdullah alsenussi was among the defendants fenced off behind bars. From corruption to war crimes related to the 2011 uprising. Reporter the libbians were interested in crimes during the revolution, but i was listening at home for details about the men on my list. Then, in the middle of the trial, a photo arrived by email. It was poor quality and came with no explanation, but in the center of the frame was a darkscib skinned man. The Blue Jumpsuit and prison bars made it pretty clear he was one of the men on trial in tripoli, so i went looking for every photo i could find of these men on trial. And there in one of them, behind abdullah alsenussi, the former intelligence chief, was the darkskinned man. The more i looked, the more photos i found of him. I captured these images and sent them to berlin. He said this was indeed will bob expert 100 . It was hard to believe i was now looking at the man id been trying to find for so many years. But i still wanted more confirmation. So i connected with a human rights worker whod been monitoring the trials in libya. Hi ken. Dornstein hey, how are you . We can attempt cameras, but im not sure its gonna last. Dornstein i told her who i was looking for. At first, she couldnt find abu agelas name on the list, but then. Wait, wait, wait. I have a name. Its just written slightly differently. Dornstein what does it look like to you . I think its defendant number 28 in this case. So his first name is abu aujilah. That would be his first name. And, to my understanding, the biggest case against him seems to be bomb making in relation to the 2011 conflict. Charges of setting up bombs in vehicles. Dornstein wow. Well, that sounds like him. Yeah. I would say thats for sure the same person. Dornstein the main trial of these guys, theres 36, 37 of them, and theyre there for what is more or less a show trial. Right. Dornstein thats abdullah senussi. But if you look behind abdullah senussi. Theres a darkskinned man. Dornstein theres a darkskinned man. You pull all the images, and you keep finding a darkskinned man. Right. Dornstein but i still would like to know more. So, i said, theres 36 men on trial. Is there a charge sheet here . Yeah, what are they charged with . Dornstein number 28 on the charge sheet. And i translate it, and you can even grab it, and put it into google translate, and its aujilah masoud. And the charge is bomb making. My goodness. Reporter up until now, only one person has ever been convicted in connection with the lawr bopping. To talk about todays bombing is writer and filmmaker Ken Dornstein. His older brother was killed in the attack. So, ken, two new suspects but not officially named. Do you have any information that links them to the two people that you identified that we just saw in that clip . I dont have any information from the Scottish Government or from the u. S. Government, but everything i know about the investigation and everything i know about the 36 men being held by the libbians would suggest to me that the two men who have been alluded to in todays news are abdullah senussi, and the man who i identified as the bomb expert for the lockerbie case, abu agila masud. Sreenivasan tell us a little bit about them. First the latter, the bomb expert. What do you know about them. This is a figure who was a mystery, was a ghost. The original lockerbie investigators had gathered information about mim. There was information about him from a c. I. A. Informant who was speaking to the c. I. A. In the months before the bombing, and in the cables that were produced from the from the time with that informant, this person was named. And this person was named in named in cekd with abdelbaset Ali Mohamed Al megrahi, the one person convicted of the bombing. Hhe was tied with him including records indicated t