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And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Woodruff the battle for the iraqi city of mosul is on. Iraqi forces and their allies opened an offensive today to wrest the city from Islamic State forces. The operation is backed by american air strikes and u. S. Ground troops in support roles. By this evening, both iraqi and u. S. Military officials said the assault is ahead of schedule. Well have a full report, after the news summary. Government forces in afghanistan are reporting progress against taliban fighters around a key city in the south. They say theyve pushed back insurgents outside lashkar gah, the capital of helmand province, with the help of u. S. Air strikes. One afghan commander estimated hundreds of taliban fighters were killed in the last 24 hours alone. In the u. S. President ial Campaign Republican Donald Trump hammered away again today at his claim that the election is being rigged against him. And, the ongoing furor over Hillary Clintons emails took a new turn. Lisa desjardins has our report. Reporter Hillary Clinton was off the campaign trail today, but her words from the past were back in the news. I did not email any classified material to anyone on my email. Reporter that was march of last year clinton also said she never received classified email. But notes from the f. B. I. s investigation out today indicate that a Senior State Department official asked to declassify one email that went to clintons private server. Separately, the official also offered to let the f. B. I. Put more agents overseas. The f. B. I. Refused to reclassify the email, but quoted someone in its Records Division as saying they believed the state department had an agenda, which involves minimizing the classified nature of the Clinton Emails in order to protect state department interests and those clinton. The state Department Said today it was simply trying to understand the classification. So the allegation of any kind of quid pro quo is inaccurate, and does not align with the facts. Reporter late today, the f. B. I. Also said there was no quid pro quo involved. Meanwhile. This is a rigged system, folks. Reporter Donald Trumps repeated words this weekend questioning the integrity of the election reached a new level on twitter this morning. He wrote on sunday, trumps v. P. Nominee mike pence seemed to be on a different page. Will you accept the results of the election . We will absolutely accept the results of the election. Reporter but today in cincinnati, pence was pushing the idea of election problems. Voter fraud cannot be tolerated by anyone in this nation because it disenfranchises republicans, independents, democrats, conservatives and liberals in america. Reporter in washington, the democratic v. P. Nominee tim kaine seized on the trump criticism, while making a stop at his current workplace the capitol. When you criticize the system, who are you criticizing . Youre criticizing american voters, and youre criticizing local elected officials in cities and counties and states who have been running elections, you know, for decades and decades and decades. The criticism is completely unjustified, and its a guy whos whining because hes a big bully whos getting beaten, and now hes starting to whine. Reporter and amid the increasing tension, investigators are looking into preelection violence. Over the weekend, someone threw a fire bomb through the window of a local Republican Office in north carolina. No one was hurt. Officials from both parties have disavowed the attack. For the pbs newshour, im lisa desjardins. Woodruff well look more closely at Donald Trumps warning about a rigged contest and its implications after the news summary. In syria the ravaged city of aleppo may get a brief respite this week from russian air strikes and Syrian Ground assaults. Russias military announced today a humanitarian pause for eight hours, on thursday. But the u. S. State department dismissed the idea as too little, too late. Meanwhile, russian and syrian air strikes continued today, killing dozens. The attacks came as European Union leaders met in luxembourg and condemned russias air campaign. Priority number one is to save aleppo. To save the people of aleppo, and this is why our strong call is on russia and on the Syrian Regime to stop the bombing on aleppo, and to continue talks with the u. S. And other key players on the ground to avoid the catastrophe. First of all, the humanitarian catastrophe in the city. Woodruff the e. U. Foreign ministers stopped short of agreeing to impose sanctions against moscow. Hardliners in iran released video today of an iranian american businessman whos been held for a year. Siamak namazi was arrested in 2015 just days after the Iran Nuclear Deal was adopted. Theres no word on the charges against him. Namazis father was arrested later, after going to iran to try to win his sons release. Back in this country Vice President joe biden hoped that the Cancer Moonshot Initiative he leads is going to double the pace of research. Meeting with president obama, the Vice President talked up efforts to speed the development of diagnostics and new drugs. There is a need for a greater sense of urgency, because there are available answers now to some cancers, and there is enormous opportunity in sharing data. I am confident, absolutely confident, we will be able to accomplish in the next five years what would have taken ten years. Woodruff the 1 billion cancer moonshot began eight months ago. It aims for collaboration across government, industry, and medicine. The Nations High SchoolGraduation Rate has reached a new, record high. According to federal data released today, 83. 2 of students earned their diplomas on time in the past school year. Rates improved among all racial and ethnic groups, despite the fact that test scores in math and reading have been dropping. And stocks fell on wall street today, as declining oil prices dragged down energy shares. The Dow Jones Industrial average lost nearly 52 points to close at 18,086. The nasdaq fell 14 points, and the s p 500 slipped six. Still to come on the newshour the fight for the last isis stronghold in iraq, rhetoric inciting worries of a rigged election, the rise of europes far right, and much more. Woodruff now, mosul, and the start of operations to retake iraqs second largest city from the Islamic State group. Jeffrey brown will speak with a former u. S. Ambassador to iraq in a moment, but first, chief Foreign Affairs correspondent Margaret Warner reports on todays events. [gunshots] reporter gunfire sounded all day, across the outskirts of mosul. Columns of smoke billowed from artillery fire and u. S. Coalition air strikes, and from oil ignited by isis fighters to blind attacking planes. Long antiisis convoys advanced, and by late in the day, the overall iraqi commander issued a confident assessment. translated the operations are going very well and according to plan. Sometimes we are ahead of the plan because of the high morale, and fighters strong will to fight the Islamic State group and liberate mosul, which has been under isis rule for the past two years. Reporter for the iraqi army, the campaign for mosul is by far its largest operation yet against the Islamic State. U. S. Intelligence estimates that up to 4,500 isis fighters are in the city. Other estimates run to 8,000. This may prove to be a long and tough battle, but the iraqis have prepared for it and we will stand by them. Reporter complicating matters balancing the various factions taking part in the fight. Kurdish forces began today by seizing several towns on the eastern fringes of mosul. Theyll be part of a five pronged assault, including iraqi army brigades, plus sunni tribal fighters and police. The ultimate drive into mosul will likely be made by Iraqi Special forces. Providing air cover and assisting on the ground is the american military, including special operations troops. Shiite militias backed by iran are also taking part, but theyve been accused of atrocities against sunnis in other cities, and may be kept out of mosul proper. Meanwhile, turkeys president Recep Tayyip Erdogan complained of being left out of the mosul offensive. translated look, now, the operation in mosul has started. The operation continues. What do they say . Turkey shouldnt enter mosul. How can i do that . I share 350 kilometers of border with iraq, and i am under threat on that border. Reporter erdogan said again he will keep some 3,000 turkish trained fighters in northern most iraq despite objections from baghdad. As the fighting starts in earnest, concerns are also rising over the more than one million civilians still in the city. The u. N. And other organizations say theyre preparing for up to 200,000 refugees. For the pbs newshour, im Margaret Warner. Reporter and now, for the perspectives of james jeffrey. U. S. Ambassdor to iraq from 2010 to 2012, and now is a distinguished fellow at the washington institute, a think tank and policy analysis group. Welcome to you. Thank you, jeffrey. Brown remind us first why this city and its capture is so important. As we just heard, its the last citadel of isil in iraq. And if it false, i. S. I. S. Is pushed back to headquarters deep in ray cay and could spell the end of i. S. I. S. Thats a very important development. Brown when i. S. I. S. Took mosul and other cities, the iraqi army at that point was collapsing. There is a sense its Strong Enough to do this. How difficult and how long lit take . Its a very eclectic force but numbers some 50,000, 60,000 people on the ground with a tremendous amount of american and other western artillery and air power supporting these people including for the first time advisory units right up in the front lines. This will take weeks like the fallujah battle in 2004 against al quaida in iraq. In the end, i think there will only be one outcome, the defeat of i. S. I. S. Brown reports inside the city of underground we assistance. When i. S. I. S. Went into mosul at first, they were welcome by the city. What happened in the interim . Al quaida had a presence before it became i. S. I. S. In mosul it was a problem in 20102012 when i was there. A part of the population welcomed i. S. I. S. When it came in because it felt oppressed by the shia majority and government. But that changed over time. As in every other city that have been liberated, the people regardless of religious or ethnic background welcome people coming in. They cant stand living under i. S. I. S. Brown that problem of initial welcoming brings us what happens in the aftermath of attacking mosul. It raises other questions. The first is humanitarian, refugee, food and relief supplies. That is under the control of the u. N. , the Iraqi Government and the Kurdish Regional government in coordination with the Iraqi Government all watched closely by the United States. That is will be messy. But these people have had experience with 8 million refugees in the last two years and they will, in tend, be able to do it. Brown there are fears about the humanitarian crisis, right . Absolutely. Well bet plenty of stories about people in inadequate tents and sewage and such but, in the end, i think enough Food Supplies will come through. The bigger question is who will secure this place, govern it an whats going to happen to iraq after the i. S. I. S. Threat is gone. Brown even including who marches into the city in the first place, whether iraqi or militia forces. Exactly. I think the idea is that the iraqi forces spearheaded by the Counterterrorism Force which is very, very good, will have a lot of american advisors with them and supporting them l go in and do the heavy fighting inside the city. Then sunni police trained from the region itself will come in to secure the city. The trick will be to keep the peshmerga forces, the Kurdish Forces away from the center of the city, but they basically agreed to stop, as i understand it. We dont know if the Popular Mobilization forces, largely shia militias, some under the thumb of iran will adhere to this deal, whether they will try to push in as before. Brown how confident are we . Because this is not the first time mosul has been recaptured, right . So how confident can we be that this time the forces taking it will get it right . Well, some of these shia militias tried to kill me and my people for years in iraq, so im not too confident on anything they promise, to be honest. But i will say theyre not the majority. The Iraqi Government and most iraqis understand that they have to bring back the sunni arab 20 , 25 of the population. It wont work with these shia militias running amok in these areas. Brown briefly, i. S. I. S. , if it gets kicked out of mosul, what then . It will fall back on its capital raqqa in Eastern Syria but a dusty little town compared to mosul and pressed by kurdish and Syrian Opposition forces from the north as well as american and americansupported forces, so i think the end will be near for i. S. I. S. , and then well face all the other problems in the middle east that i. S. I. S. Covered up in the last two years. Brown ambassador james jeffrey, thank you very much. Thank you. Woodruff back to this country now. As we heard earlier, donald trump continues to claim that the president ial election process is rigged against him. That claim seems to be resonating with some voters. Just onethird of republicans say they have a great deal of confidence that their votes will be counted fairly this election, thats according to a recent Associated Press poll. For more on all this, we are joined by richard hasen, hes professor of law at the university of california irvine, and author of the election law blog. And al cardenas is a republican strategist. He served as chairman of the Republican Party of florida during the president ial recount in 2000. We welcome both of you to the newshour. Al cardenas, to you first, donald trump is stepping up these warnings. He tweeted just a short time ago, and im quoting, he said, of course, theres largescale voter fraud happening on and before election day. He asked, why do Republican Leaders deny whats going on, its so naive. Is there largescale voter fraud happening in this country . Oh, my, there isnt. Has been. Our country has been spenting much to get it right. In checks and balances are amazing. We have state elected state officials elected or appointed who are in charge of the overall state process, and every local government, counties or municipalities have supervisory elections who are elected or appointed and then local canvassing boards made up oftentimes of judges and theyre part of the processes. Everyone who works in the voting precincts get changed and warned about the criminal implications of violating the law. We have a whole process in america and in 200 years we have never ever had a National Election thats been impact bid fraud, not even close in florida where i served as chairman on the famous recount was that an issue. Woodruff richard rodriguez, what is the likelihood this process could be rigged as donald trump charges . If youre talking about rigging the way donald trump is talking about, the chances are basically none, important. Hes talking about people going into the polling place and voting five or ten or 15 times. He said this would happen in certain areas of pennsylvania. Seems to be from what his surrogate Rudy Giuliani said in minority areas democrats will steal the vote by impersonating other people. In the rare times voter fraud occurs, thats not how elections are stole nnt country and not on the scale acted affect a president ial election which would require tens of thousands of people to commit voter fraud among officials who are watching the whole process. Woodruff richard rodriguez, i hear you saying its possible to do this on a small scale, is that right . The kind of fraud we occasionally see in this country is absentee ballot fraud because voting takes place outside the election of officials, usually it is buying or stealing votes out of memes mailboxes, but we find seen that in a ferlz election and not the type donald trump is talking afnlt he was talking about strict voter i. D. Law in pennsylvania and that would allow somebody to vote five to 15 times. That doesnt