Annually to its rides, rinks, ifill all that and more on tonights pbs newshour. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by and by the alfred p. Sloan foundation. Supporting science, technology, and improved Economic Performance and Financial Literacy in the 21st century. Carnegie corporation of new york. Supporting innovations in education, democratic engagement, and the advancement of International Peace and security. At carnegie. Org. 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 geneva, switzerland, went on high alert today over new warnings of possible terrorist attacks. Officials said a search was on for 2 to 4 suspects with possible links to the Islamic State group. It was unclear if the alert was tied to last months attacks in paris. Police stepped up screenings at border crossings, and there was heavier security deployed outside the u. N. s European Headquarters and other sites ifill the u. S. Military is attempting to explore expanding its ability to fight Islamic State forces beyond iraq and syria. The New York Times reports the pentagon wants to build up bases across east africa, Southeast Asia and the middle east, for special operations and intelligence. At the pentagon today, defense secretary ash carter said, that kind of network would help cut down the militants reach. This tumor is metastasizing or has metastasized. Thats the reality the recognition of that behind the concept of linking together american counterterrorism and military nodes in the region and around the world. Ifill the plan is subject to president ial approval. Woodruff republican president ial candidate donald trump has postponed a december visit to israel. Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu had been singled out by many israeli politicians for inviting trump, after the g. O. P. Frontrunner called for banning muslims from entering the u. S. Today, trump tweeted that hes putting off the trip because i didnt want to put netanyahu under pressure. He said hell reschedule after he becomes president. Ifill meanwhile, leaders of arab states in the Persian Gulf Region condemned verbal attacks on muslims and syrian refugees. Meeting in riyadh, the heads of state warned against what they called hostile, racist and inhumane rhetoric. None directly named name donald trump. Woodruff back in washington, the senate has approved a short term funding bill to keep the government operating through next wednesday. The house is expected to follow suit tomorrow. Negotiators still have to nail down agreement on longterm tax and spending measures, totaling more than a trillion dollars. House Speaker Paul Ryan said this morning he remains optimistic about getting it done. I think our members understand the situation quite well. Look, were not going to get everything we want in negotiations. The democrats arent going to get everything they want in negotiations. Not everybody gets what you want when you negotiate in divided government. But i think we will complete this. Woodruff congressional leaders aim to complete the omnibus bills next week and adjourn for the year. Ifill commercial truck and bus drivers are going to have to Start Recording their driving hours electronically. A new federal rule released today aims to keep tired drivers off the road. It requires devices that automatically log engine hours and other data. Since 1938, operators have kept paper logs, but accident investigators say those are easily doctored. Woodruff wall street recouped some of its recent losses today. The Dow Jones Industrial average gained 82 points to close near 17,575. The nasdaq rose 22 points, and the s p 500 added four. Still to come on the newshour a firsthand account from Bowe Bergdahl. A sophies choice for yazidi refugees weighing the risk of a journey to europe. The end of no child left behind, and much more. Ifill the controversy over the Prisoner Exchange that freed Army SergeantBowe Bergdahl from the taliban last year, reignited today, as afghanistan struggles to fight back against the resurgent militant group. We start with this report from chief Foreign Affairs correspondent margaret warner. I had this fantastic idea that i was gonna prove to the world that, you know, i was the real thing. Warner its the first time Bowe Bergdahls version of his experience has been heard publicly. The Army Sergeant tells his story in a new episode of the wildly popular podcast serial. He says he left his post in afghanistan without permission in june 2009, hoping to raise concerns about leadership his unit. All i was seeing was basically leadership failure, to the point that the lives of the guys standing next to me were literally, from what i could see, in danger. Warner but he was captured by taliban fighters and remained a prisoner until his release last may. This morning, i called bob and Jani Bergdahl and told them that after nearly five years in captivity, their son, bowe, is coming home. Warner in the rose garden, president obama announced hed been freed, in exchange for releasing five taliban inmates at Guantanamo Bay, who were sent to qatar. The swap sparked criticism by republican lawmakers, who blasted its legality some calling bergdahl a deserter. And by some of the soldiers who served with bergdahl, who also charged him with deserting. Combat is difficult. The only thing you can count on in combat is the commitment of your fellow american. Knowing somebody you needed to trust is already in war and did so on his own free will is the ultimate betrayal. The president defended his decision a few days after bergdahls release. We do not leave anybody wearing the american uniform behind. We had a prisoner of war, whose health had deteriorated and we were deeply concerned about and we saw an opportunity and we seized it and i make no apologies for that. Warner that wasnt the end of it. Today, republicans on the House Armed Services committee released a 98page report, finding the taliban swap violated several laws, requiring 30 days notice to congress, and the committee was misled about the extent and scope of efforts to arrange the transfer. Democrats called the report an unbalanced, partisan, and needless attempt to justify a predetermined position. Bergdahl was originally charged with desertion and misbehavior before the enemy, but the armys investigating officer recommended his case be treated as a misdemeanor. Bergdahl is awaiting a decision on whether hell be courtmartialed. As the case plays out, the taliban are again on the offensive. An attack on kandahar airport this week killed 50 people. And, in september, the militants seized the Northern City of kunduz for three days. Meanwhile, theres turmoil in kabul, where the head of afghanistans Main Intelligence Agency resigned today. He had opposed president Ashraf Ghanis efforts to renew peace talks with the taliban. Ifill for more on the continuing debate surrounding Bowe Bergdahl we get two views from members of the House Armed Services committee. Representative Vicky Hartzler, is a republican from missouri. Shes also the chairwomen of the subcommittee on oversight and investigations, which co authored the report we just reported on. And representative Loretta Sanchez is a democrat from california who also serves on the Homeland Security committee. Representative hartzler, was Bowe Bergdahl worth rescuing, in your opinion . Well, thats not to be determined by our report. What we were looking at is actually the circumstances relating to his transfer and if it endangered americans and if the law was violated and, clearly, we determined this administration violated the law which says they need to notify congress at least 30 days before any transfer from Guantanamo Bay and, in addition to that. We found much evidence how this administration misled Congress Every step o t way. The taliban 5 notified they were going to be transferred two days before congress was even notified and this is very, very concerning. Concerning. Ifill it sounds like your conclusion is the taliban 5 were not a worthwhile exchange for this soldier. Whats more important is whether this administration followed the law or not. Certainly, as representatives of the people, we should know if the five most dangerous taliban leaders that we were holding should be released and the circumstances of those released. Talking about the deputy minister of defense, the deputy minister of intelligence, military commanders, friends of osama bin laden, these are five of the most dangerous individuals that we had in Guantanamo Bay, and yet they were released, going around Congress Without us even being notified of the nature of their release, if it posed a Security Threat to our nation and whether the country who would be accepting them would be able to detain them and keep them from reengaging in the fight, and that is a clear violation of the law and its very concerning because we know from media reports that at least three of these individuals have tried to reengage again, and we have soldiers still in afghanistan, and we fought hard to capture these individuals, to take them off the battlefield and now, potentially, they are being released without congress being involved in that decision. Ifill let me ask the same question of representative sanchez. Given what we know the nature to have the exchange was, was Bowe Bergdahl worth rescuing . I believe there is one thing all americans can agree on and that is we never leave a man or woman behind that is in uniform for our armed forces, and i think we can agree on that. So the president , in his role as commanderinchief, did what many have done before, negotiated to get our p. O. W. Back. Now, we as the Congress Passed a resolution a few months ago that already said, hey, you didnt give us a 30day notice. So i do not understand why we had to spend precious resources that we have on our Armed Services committee to basically do what came out a political report, a politicallyminded report, something with a predetermined end to it. Ifill but is it possible there is a deduction to be made between the circumstances of that exchange and the unsettled state we now find afghanistan in . Look, these actually these five that were released were not the worst of the worst and we did not choose these in. The report, the republicans indicated that somehow we had chosen these because we wanted to get them out of gitmo, and the reality is that we were negotiating for the life of a fellow american. Thats what the president was doing. Now, could he have talked to congress in some way . Well, the administration said, look, this was so important to keep under wraps because his health was deteriorating and we were trying to get him out and we didnt know whether the deal was going to go and we were afraid it was going to break. I believe there could have been a way for the president and his administration to talk to some of the ranking members of the different committees of jurisdiction, those that, you know, deal with this, but he chose not to, and i think weve already passed a resolution that said that. Ifill let me ask representative hartzler about the Guantanamo Bay connection that representative sanchez just raised, this idea that there is a goal behind all of this to be able to resettle Guantanamo Bay detainees elsewhere, close the base down, close the detention facility down. Do you see a connection . Well, im not sure about that, but do i know the president promised in his campaign that he was going to release people from Guantanamo Bay, that it was his goal to close it, and he has continued in that path. His goal is to continue to close the facility. So here he released five individuals, and we were not able to determine if we in the negotiations ever authored one for one or two for one. All that information was and still is hidden from us. They refuse to give us that information. It took over a year and a half to carry out this investigation primarily because the administration continued to stonewall and provide us with emails and documentation and when we got the documentation, they were redacted out. It was very difficult to determine what we have determined and it is clear and i think the American People once they read this report will be as concerned as i am that the president violated the law plus he misled congress over and over again, even to the extent that secretary hagel came over to the Armed Services committee and denied that they were negotiating with the taliban when, in fact, we know he was. Ifill let me let representative sanchez respond to that. What do we know and at this stage, in your opinion, about this episode. What i know is what a shame we spent a year and a half of resources and time on a report that was in essence prewritten, being, yes, the democrats on the task force for this did sit in the interviews, they did sit in the hearings, but theyve received the first draft of the report and they had no input into it right before thanksgiving. Then they received it yesterday, the final draft of the report yesterday at 11 00 a. M. In the morning, and then it was released today. So we have what we call a minority report, the democrat side of what we think is wrong with the report and, again, we believe it was politically motivated, that its a prewritten report, if you will, that it doesnt talk about the real issues that we might raise, that it makes a lot of assumptions that are just not true and that it goes after the president unnecessarily. Ifill representative sanchez, what we have here, i want to ask you about one other report that we see today, reported you said on larry king in the context of the questions we have been having this week about muslims and america and whether they should be here and their role in terrorism, your quote is it could be from 5 to 20 of the people i speak to that islam is a religion that have a desire for caliphate and you link that to terrorism where do you get that, 5 to 20 of muslims interested in caliphate . A book i read published by the harvard press. But think about this, what im talking about is muslims around the world, and i think that that is a high number. And if you see the rest of the interview that i have, i say that. I think thats a very big number, between 5 and 20 of muslims who have this idea to build a caliphate and, yes, a few muslims are willing to use violence. We see it, whether its in afghanistan, whether its i. S. I. S. , whether its in iraq, wherwhether its in the philipps and other areas around the world with this whole idea of pushing forward their ideas. We need to take that into context and say, you know, how is this that we will fight these terrorists, these extremists . Reporter ifill representative Loretta Sanchez of california, representative Vicky Hartzler of missouri, thank you both very much. Thank you. Woodruff the plight of the yazidi religious sect in iraq was a major factor in pushing the United States to war against the Islamic State group last year. Last month, their homeland in and around sinjar, iraq was liberated, but thousands have no intention of staying. Special correspondent jane arraf brings us the story of some trying to leave for europe. Is family is planning to leave any day to be smuggled across the border to turkey. By boat from greece is the cheapest way to get to europe. The mother and two sons could drown, as so many have, trying to reach europes shores. How many thousands have risked that Dangerous Passage this year. Its a perilous journey. Maybe more so by winter coming. Many yazidis are going to back to sinjar where i. S. I. S. Captured and killed many of them. I. S. I. S. Vowed to either convert or kill them. She faints when she even thinks about this. Its dangerous but what can i say . I have to take my family and my kids. Thats the way to get out. Were not going to return to sinjar. Its dangerous either to stay or to leave. We might not survive, but we have to try. A backlash in europe with refugees, and now after attacks in paris, europes open doors are closing. Border controls made it much more difficult to get to western europe. Thousands are still trying. For 2,000 each, amirs family will be smuggled to europe for what they hope will be a new start. Perhaps he will be one of his first five brothers to go but not the last. My brothers collected all the money they have and gave it to me so i can make the journey. All the brothers have given me their money and once i get there, i can help them. They say almost everything has been destroyed by the fighting, it is i. S. I. S. Controlled. The yazidis lived peacefully with the muslim neighbors in iraq for years but thats over. A lot of people died and drowned at sea. Its still better than living among the arabs. Its leave or face death. Many arabs are joining i. S. I. S. And killing their people and stealing their homes. Some say in revenge to what was done to them. As long as we can breathe and have a drop of blood, no matter how far t