Giving teens hope for getting through high schools isolation in a social media world. The chance to sort of connect and realize that nobodys experience of loneliness is unique and that everybody at some time or another feels on the outside looking in is a really powerful thing right now. Woodruff 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. Supported by the john d. And catherine t. Macarthur foundation. Committed to building a more just, verdant and peaceful world. More information at macfound. 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. Woodruff russia is denying that it tried to hack u. S. Voting software and equipment before last years president ial election. The online magazine the intercept reported the allegation, based on a National Security agency document. A kremlin spokesman dismissed it today, saying this assertion has absolutely nothing to do with reality. In washington, the u. S. Secretary of Homeland Security john kelly was asked about it at a senate hearing. Are you deferring the investigation of this to the f. B. I. Or is the department actually engaged in investigating the penetration or attempts to penetrate the voter files in this country immediately before the election by the russian government . I share your concern i dont disagree with anything you said relative to the sanctity of our voting process. Clearly it should be an interagency investigation and that is taking place, d. H. S. Will be part of that. Woodruff the ranking democrat on the Senate Intelligence committee virginias mark warner told usa today that the russian cyberattacks were even more extensive. But he said he does not think actual votes were changed. And reality winner the georgia woman charged, apparently, with leaking the n. S. A. Report remained in jail. Her mother called her a patriot. President trump today waded into the political conflict over the persian gulf nation of qatar, where the u. S. Has 10,000 troops. Saudi arabia, egypt, bahrain and the u. A. E. Broke ties with the kingdom on monday and accused it of supporting terror groups and iran. Jordan scaled back ties today. Today, mr. Trump appeared to endorse the move in a tweet that said this in contrast to yesterday, when the white house said the president wanted to work with all the parties, to deescalate the situation. British police have identified the third suspect in saturdays deadly knife and van attack in london. He was 22yearold Youssef Zaghba an Italian National of moroccan descent. All three attackers were shot dead by police. Also today hundreds across the country gathered for a minute of silence to remember those who died or were wounded. Meanwhile, the mayor of london sadiq khan brushed off criticism from President Trump. The president has written a series of tweets ridiculing the mayor since saturdays attack. But today, khan said hes much more concerned about the invitation extended last year to mr. Trump to come to great britain. I really couldnt be bothered about what donald trump tweets, im not im dont how to tell you this, but i really dont care. Whats the important issue is that, you know, Prime Minister theresa may offered donald trump a state visit, moments after he was elected president. I said at the time, i dont think a state visit was appropriate and my views havent changed. Woodruff the white house did not respond directly to khan. Instead, a spokesman said the president appreciates the queens invitation to visit. In france a man swinging a hammer attacked Police OutsideNotre Dame Cathedral in paris today. He allegedly shouted this is for syria and struck one officer before being shot and wounded. Dozens of police took over the scene, and blocked at least 600 people from leaving the cathedral. They were slowly being released later in the evening. Theres word that ridingsharing giant uber has fired 20 people after an internal investigation into Sexual Harassment and other complaints. Various news outlets report the moves were announced today at a staff meeting in san francisco. A Law Firm Investigated more than 200 allegations of Sexual Harassment, going back to 2012. And on wall street the Dow Jones Industrial average lost 47 points to close at 21,136. The nasdaq fell 20 points, and the s p 500 dropped six. Still to come on the newshour Republican Leaders in Congress Struggle to their todo list before the august recess, the fight begins in the isis stronghold of raqqa, teaching students to tell the difference between fact and fiction, and much more. Woodruff members of congress returned to washington today for what could be a makeorbreak few weeks for republicans packed agenda. That as the russia investigations and the upcoming testimony of former f. B. I. Director james comey continue to add complications for the party. Lisa desjardins reports. The senate will come to order. Reporter from the senate floor. Good morning, this hearing will come to order. Reporter . To committee rooms, to capitol hill hallways. Congress is back from recess, and facing big issues with little time. Senate republicans are at a Pivotal Point trying to write their health care bill. We had another of our ongoing discussions about the way forward on health care. Were getting closer to having a proposal that well be bringing up in the nearfuture. Reporter they would like a vote this month, but democrats point out republican senators dont yet have a plan with enough votes on their own. I have a message for our republican colleagues, its very simple abandon repeal, stop sabotaging our health care system, and youll find democrats waiting to work with you to improve our health care system. Reporter the white house meanwhile stressed the will on healthcare, but not the way. Theyre going to work their will. And i think theyre all going to come together. These by and large every elected republican in the house and the senate campaigned on this for the last seven years. Reporter but with healthcare still unfinished undone that means a backed up gop agenda with infrastructure, tax reform, spending bills not to mention raising the debt ceiling all needing attention soon in order to pass. What a great team this is, what an unbelievable team. Reporter all of that brought the g. O. P. s key leaders house and senate to the white house to meet with President Trump today. So were working very hard on massive tax cuts, and were working very, very hard on the health care. And i think were going to have some very pleasant surprises for a lot of people. Reporter but even this meeting had a nod to fired f. B. I. Director james comeys big hearing this week. I wish him luck. Thank you everybody. Reporter and the cloud that continues to hang over the president s own agenda. For the pbs newshour, im lisa desjardins. Woodruff and lisa joins me now, along with our own john yang. So john, im going the start with you. You just heard what lisas reporting about what theyre doing on the hill. What is the white house doing . The white house is pushing infrastructure. Yesterday airway, tomorrowwater way, thursday streets, friday permitting processes. You might think that means they have an infrastructure bill ready to go. No. This is concept, proposal, broad policy bills. They dont have a timeline for when theyll have an infrastructure bill ready to introduce in congress. They dont even know whether it will be one bill or a series of legislative packages. Theyre still on the drawing board. Woodruff sounds like its still early. Lisa, talk specifically about the time crunch. What is congress dealing with here . I think congress is looking at essentially a 60yard field goal to try to get everything done that it has to. It has to be perfect. Look at the calendar, what congress and republicans hoped to do this year. This is what they wanted to happen, have healthcare passed in february and march and then tax reform, wed with talking about a bill right now. Thats they wanted. Lets look at whats actually happened. The calendar now has healthcare, that was not passed until may. And then senate is dealing with it now. So whats happened to tax reform . Well, thats been kicked back because we see the debt ceiling and the spending bill coming up this summer, further jamming the calendar, meaning tax reform might be pushed back to the fall, judy, and as john said, this is one reason theres not a time line for infrastructure. It simply doesnt fit, and its not clear that all these things fit either. Were never seen congress be able to get this much done in that amount of time. Woodruff john, as lisa suggest, in addition to i infrastructure, there is more the white house wants to get to. They have two things on their wish list, one thing on their mustdo list. On their wish list, a healthcare vote before the august recess. They hoped to have that done by now. Then as lisa pointed out, they want the tax bill introduced after labor day. They were hoping to have that passed by august. The mustdo list, theyve got to raise the debt ceiling, big debate inside the administration, do you do that clean with nothing attached to it, or do you have spending cuts and other spending reforms in order to get conservatives, fiscal conservatives to vote for it. Woodruff so lee Centennial Park again, back to the hill, when Republican Leaders hear all this, how do they think they can get it done, or do they really . Reality is a tricky concept right now on capitol hill. This is what ive gotten from sources i trust. They believe there will be a senate vote on healthcare before august. Now, theres Big Questions over whether the house and senate will come together on a healthcare package after that. Thats very much in question. Tax reform people are openly talking now that theyre not sure they can actually get that done. Im hearing voices in the Republican Party saying. Woodruff this year . This year and maybe not in the next cycle because theres so much heavy lifting. Theyre now even starting to say maybe that becomes a tax cut instead of sweeping tax reform. Woodruff and meantime, john, at the white house, the president is saying something, his aides and spokespeople are sometimes often Say Something different. He keeps talking as if healthcare is ready for a vote in the senate. He talks about it as if tax reform, a tax cut bill is ready for a vote in the senate, and everything is just two weeks new york two weeks were going to have a great plan, but this is put off well into the future. Woodruff in fact, lee Centennial Park we were talking about this earlier, what the president is saying, john is reporting in some of these expectations that hes putting out there and tweeting about, including about other subjects, but then members of congress, leadership have to react, all of that is having an effect on the agenda. I think until now many republicans have been able to shrug it off as much as they themselves were frustrated by it. But today, judy, senator been corker, generally a trump ally, was literally speechless when he was told about the president s tweet about qatar. I also have to say, though, even though i think these distractions are affecting the agenda now, something bigger than that still is that republicans cant agree. Thats still the basic problem. Republicans in the house and senate and in the white house have not come up with plans on these items. Thats still the essential problem. Woodruff well, a lot of moving parts, and i know the two of you are going to continue to report it. As we speak, theres news coming out of the white house and the hill tonight on all this. Thank you very much. Lisa desjardins, john yang. Woodruff for three years, the Islamic State group has held the syrian city of raqqa, which it made the capital of its so called caliphate. Now, u. S. Backed syrian groups with the help of american and coalition troops, and air power have begun the battle to re take the city. Jeffrey brown reports. Reporter they are called the Syrian Democratic forces, and theyve fought their way to the outskirts of raqqa. Now, the fighters of the s. D. F. Say theyre ready for the main assault translated morale is high and military readiness to implement the military plan is complete and in coordination with the u. S. Led coalition to fight terrorism. Reporter backed by u. S. Coalition airstrikes, the kurdish militias of the s. D. F. And their arab allies reached the citys northern and eastern gates last week. But the u. S. Military says the battle for the city itself will be long and difficult. In neighboring iraq by comparison the fight to re take mosul from isis has raged since october. And the fight for raqqa may be complicated further, by the crisis between the persian gulf state of qatar and other arab nations. President trump sided with saudi arabia and others today in the confrontation on twitter. The u. S. Has about 10,000 troops in qatar, and a major air base used to launch strikes against isis. The pentagon says its posture in there wont change. State Department SpokesmanHeather Nauert we cant to cooperate with qatar and other countries in the region in the fight against terrorism. Reporter meanwhile, turkey is keeping a nervous eye on the fighting at raqqa, less than 60 miles from its border. The United States is now supplying heavy weapons to the syrian kurds of the s. D. F. They are allied with turkish kurdish militants, whom ankara and the u. S. Consider terrorists. translated despite our many warnings, our ally, our friend, the United States has unfortunately entered into a cooperation with a terrorist organization. We will immediately retaliate if theres a threat to our nation, our country and to the safety and lives of our citizens. Reporter the u. S. Led coalition also announced today that it had bombed what it said were prosyrian Regime Forces in southern syria. The progovernment elements had reportedly entered a restricted zone near what is known to be a u. S. And British Special forces base. And we look at the fight that lies ahead in raqqa with joby warrick, National Security reporter for the washington post, and the author of a pulitzerprize winning history of the Islamic State entitled black flags the rise of isis. And, andrew exum, a former army ranger who served as Deputy Assistant secretary of defense for middle east policy from 20152016. Hes now a contributing editor at the atlantic. Welcome to both of you. Andrew exum, let me start with you. How significant is the raqqa offense hitch . What are the stakes here . I think its significant, although we shouldnt overstate the degree to which this will really herald the end of the Islamic State. If you rewind to two years ago when the Islamic State was spreading across syria and iraq and threatening our allies in turkey and jordan, we claim up with a plan to try to squeeze the Islamic State from multiple different directions. Parted of what weve been trying to do is apply simultaneous pressure. The idea was to eventually get to a duel capitals of the Islamic State in raqqa and mosul. Obviously the fight for mosul began last year. We werent able to git to raqqa by the time that president obama left office, in part because we were still waiting on some pretty big policy decisions, including arming the syrian kurds, who have born the brunt of the fight in syria. But we now appear to be knocking on the doors of raqqa. The fight should last several months. Its going to be extremely difficult. But once this is over, it harolds perhaps the end of the Islamic State as an actual quasi state, but we should expect it to exist for quite some time as a terrorist organization, as insurgents. Brown joby, fill in more about the practical difficulties, especially visavis whats happening in mosul where its dragging on. Remember, this is the true capital of the Islamic State. Theyre going to fight for the last man. This is the end game for them in terms of keeping this caliphate alive. We see what theyve done to mosul. They held on forking a months and the place still hasnt fallen. We can expect all kinds of complications in the battlefield itself, everything from tunnels and sniping and sophisticated defensive techniques. Theyre not going to let this go easily. Brown and the u. S. Role is airborne . Mostly airborne. We have allies were relying on to do the fighting on the ground. We have advisers on the ground and people doing ar tilley work, but its really a fight for our allies and not for us on the ground. Brown andrew, if you allow yourself to think ahead, assuming a defeat of isis, what would be next . Where are they being pushed to . Well, first off, i think the defeat of isis looks different in iraq than it does in syria. In iraq weve worked through an iraqi state. That state is flawed. Its weak. Its grown in some ways more federalized as the war has gone on and as the kurds have really been able to flex their muscles in the north. But nonetheless, it is a state. In syria, by contrast, the conflict, which may not involve the Islamic State past next year, the conflict should be expected to last for quite some time. The turks are obviously going to be very concerned about who contro