Transcripts For KQED PBS NewsHour 20171206

The United States trillion dollar war has served its arch rival. I think the reason the americans are so surprised at the amount of influence iran has is basically because iran has done everything the americans have not done. Woodruff all that and more, on tonights pbs newshour. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by moving our economy for 160 years. Bnsf, the engine that connects us. Supporting social entrepreneurs and their solutions to the worlds most pressing problems skollfoundation. Org. The lemelson foundation. Committed to improving lives through invention, in the u. S. And developing countries. On the web at lemelson. Org. 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 leaders of arab and muslim countries around the globe are warning tonight of disaster, while israels leaders are hailing President Trumps dramatic policy shift on jerusalem. John yang begins our coverage. Yang it was a move long anticipated, and President Trump said, long overdue. I have determined that it is time to officially recognize jerusalem as the capital of israel. This is nothing more or less than a recognition of reality. It is also the right thing to do. Its something that has to be done. Yang he cited a 1995 law that called for recognizing jerusalem as the capital, and moving the u. S. Embassy from tel aviv. But, while mr. Trump today announced his intent to move the embassy, like previous president s, he signed a waiver delaying that. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu quickly praised the decision. President trump, thank you for todays historic decision to recognize jerusalem as israels capital. The jewish people and the jewish state will be forever grateful. Yang in jerusalem, many israelis celebrated the news. Trumps announcement, it is very important, and i think is a big celebration for israel and especially for us, the jerusalemites. Yang and palestinians condemned it. translated this topic assures how biased President Trump is with the state of israel and how much he doesnt care about the palestinians and the situation in the middle east. Yang on the west bank, protesters burned american flags and photos of mr. Trump. Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas rejected the u. S. Move. translated this is a historical moment and we must act. The u. S. Can no longer function as a diplomatic sponsor and peace mediator. Yang in gaza, militant leaders from the Palestinian Group hamas called it a flagrant aggression that opened the gates of hell. Across the middle east, key u. S. Allies, including turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan and jordans king abdullah, warned of dire consequences. translated taking any wrong step regarding jerusalems status will cause public unrest in the muslim world. Yang egypt also blasted the decision, as did european leaders, and the secretary general of the United Nations. Jerusalem is a final status issue that must be resolved through direct negotiations between the two parties on the yang any change in the status of jerusalem is fraught with risk. Its been at the heart of the israeliarab conflict ever since the United Nations drew the boundaries for the jewish state in 1947. The city is sacred to jews, muslims and christians. Palestinians want East Jerusalem as the capital of a future state. Much of israels government resides in west jerusalem, and many israelis claim an undivided jerusalem as their capital. The president did not refer to an undivided jerusalem today, and he was at pains to avoid thorny details that have long plagued peace efforts. We are not taking a position of any final status issues, including the specific boundaries of the israeli sovereignty in jerusalem, or the resolution of contested borders. Those questions are up to the parties involved. Yang mr. Trump said todays action kept an oftrepeated campaign promise. We will move the American Embassy to the eternal capital of the jewish people, jerusalem. Yang hes maintained that position since taking office, and also suggested earlier this year that hes not wedded to u. S. Support for a twostate solution. So im looking at two state and one state. And i like the one that both parties like. Im very happy with the one that both parties like. I can live with either one. Yang but todays decision makes the roadmap to a resolution for the middle easts longeststanding conflict much more complicated. For the pbs newshour, im john yang. Woodruff we will hear from both israeli and palestinian officials, right after the news summary. And on another middle east policy matter, the president called today for saudi arabia to end its blockade of warravaged yemen and to allow in humanitarian aid. In the days other news, minnesota u. S. Senator al franken came under growing pressure to step down, with a groundswell of demands from more than 20 democratic colleagues. It started after a seventh woman accused franken of sexual misconduct. At least a dozen Democratic Women in the senate led the calls to resign, including californias kamala harris. I believe first of all that hes done a very good job on so many issues, but the numerosity and the type of complaints and accusations have lead me to believe its in best interest of a lot of people that he resigns. Woodruff the senates top two democrats also urged franken to resign. He said he will have an announcement tomorrow, amid reports that he will step down. Separately today, a former intern added a new allegation of Sexual Harassment against congressman john conyers. The michigan democrat announced his resignation yesterday. Meanwhile, Time Magazine devoted its person of the year cover to what it called the silence breakers, women who have shared accounts of harassment and abuse. The u. S. House of representatives today voted down a resolution to impeach President Trump. Texas democrat al green offered the proposal. He accused the president of promoting bigotry and racism. Most democrats voted with republicans to set the resolution aside. Democratic leaders said it is premature to raise impeachment. Donald trump jr. , the president s son, spent part of his day at the capitol, answering questions from the House Intelligence Committee about his contacts with russia. Lawmakers have focused on a trump tower meeting in 2016. It involved a russian lawyer who had promised compromising information about hillary clinton. Russias president Vladimir Putin confirmed today that he will seek a fourth term, in 2018. Serving another six years would make Putin Russias longest serving ruler since joseph stalin. The communist dictator held absolute power over the Old Soviet Union for nearly 30 years. It is day three of an outbreak of wildfires across southern california, with no end in sight. Instead, the largest fire has now covered 100 square miles, and a new one erupted today in los angeles. William brangham has our report. Brangham as the hours go by, the flames rage unchecked, consuming everything before them. Overnight, the thomas fire in Ventura County jumped a major highway, marched over hillsides, and sent thick plumes of smoke into the sky. Santa anna police department, mandatory evacuation due to the fire. Brangham the biggest and most destructive fire, its spurred evacuation orders for nearly 30,000 people and destroyed almost 150 homes. Something blew over and caught the palm trees on fire. When the palm trees caught on fire, it just started. Brangham pastor Douglas Jones watched as the flames lit up the hills behind his church. We have family that go to the church, that live all around here. Fire department has done a wonderful job. Theyve saved all of our friends homes on this side of the street. Brangham in all, six destructive blazes are now burning across southern california. They stretch from northern Ventura County to san bernadino. This mornings newest eruption was the skirball fire. Here, firefighters doused one of the several houses burning in the wealthy belair neighborhood of los angeles. The windwhipped flames forced a temporary closure of the 405 freeway, and mandatory evacuations in an area dense with multimillion dollar homes. At the same time, there was at least a glimmer of hope. Firefighting aircraft were back in the air, dropping water and fire retardant. Most were grounded yesterday as winds gusted to 60 miles an hour. Were experiencing favorable wind conditions. Brangham los angeles fire chief Ralph Terrazas said crews are trying to take advantage of the gentler winds, while they last. We are anticipating a continuation of the red flag conditions throughout the week, at least until friday. That means our winds speeds with be about 25 miles per hour. And a relative humidity will be below 15 . Brangham meanwhile, scores of homeowners are left to sort through the ash and rubble of what the fires leave behind. It was roaring toward us faster than anything we could ever imagine. Weve had occasions when it didnt seem that close or it didnt seem too threatening but this here was no joke. Brangham its no joke, either for the hundreds of firefighters battling the blazes. Some of them, pushed to the very limits of their endurance. And there may be more to come. The Fire Department warns that anywhere there is brush, there could be danger. For the pbs newshour, im William Brangham. Woodruff wildfires ravaged Northern California two months ago. Today, the state insurance commissioner said that claims totaling more than 9 billion have been filed since then. A mexican man in San Francisco now faces federal charges after being acquitted of murder in state court. Jose Ines Garcia Zarate was found not guilty last week, of shooting a woman to death in 2015. The case helped fuel the immigration debate. The new, federal indictment accuses him of illegally entering the country, and illegally having a gun. A federal judge in detroit today sentenced a former volkswagen executive to seven years in prison for emissions cheating. Oliver schmidt was also fined 400,000. He has admitted to misleading u. S. Regulators, and to violating clean air laws. Schmidt is one of several v. W. Officials accused in the scandal. The u. S. Homeless population is up this year, for the First Time Since 2010. A federal report today counts nearly 554,000 Homeless People across the country. Of that total, some 193,000 have no access to nightly shelter, and instead sleep in cars, tents or on the street. The biggest increases are on the west coast, where rents have soared in several major cities. On wall street today, the Dow Jones Industrial average lost 39 points to close below 24,141. The nasdaq rose 14 points, and the s p 500 slipped a fraction. Still to come on the newshour the israeli and palestinian response to the u. S. Recognizing jerusalem as israels capital. Calls for democratic senator al franken to resign. How the iraq war has created opportunities for iran. And, much more. Woodruff we return now to our lead story, President Trumps announcement that the u. S. Government will now recognize jerusalem is israels capital and begin the process of moving the u. S. Embassy there from tel aviv. For how the Israeli Government is reacting to this news, i am joined by danny danon. He is israels ambassador to the United Nations. Ambassador danon, thank you very much for joining us. Your reaction, your governments reaction to what President Trump had to say. Thank you for having me today. The courageous move by a courageous president , and we are grateful. You know, we heard the path from 1995 from many president s that they would do that, dismai didnt do it. We know jerusalem is the capital capital. Since 1949, when modern say the of israel was established, jerusalem is our capital, and we are happy to see that the u. S. Took the leadership. Other countries are already following the u. S. And we think it will be fruitful for the peace negotiations, a reality check for the other players that we need to move on. We need to move forward. Woodruff was your government urging President Trump to do this . Did you expect him to do this . It is an american decision. Whenever i was asked about this issue, i said, sure. We want to see not only the American Embassy. We want to see all embassies in jerusalem. But it is an internal american issue. But we respect this decision. We are grateful for this decision. And you know, it reminds me, reading about our history, that in 1948, president truman was debating whether to recognize israel or not. And many people threatened him that it would be very dangerous. There will be a lot of violence. And it took this bold decision, and we saw what happened 70 years later. We have a beautiful, strong democracy, the state of israel. Woodruff well, as you know, the reaction from arab and Muslim Leaders is very different. Were already hearing about protests in the streets. The leaders of egypt, saudi arabia, jordan, and others, are saying they think this is a mistake, that its going to be harmful to the Peace Process. How do you answer that . We respect our neighbors. We look forward to negotiate with other partners. By the way, we already have peace treaties with jordan and egypt. And i think its about time that we negotiated with other partners in the region. And if you heard very carefully to the president today, he spoke about the future. He spoke about the possibilities. And i think those countries also heard the voices coming from the declaration, that the u. S. Is moving the embassy. It will attack a few years. Yes, he is recognizing jerusalem as the capital of israel, but still, he said, lets move on with the Peace Process. So i think we should be optimistic about it. Woodruff i guess my question is how does this advance the cause of peace . Because its being seen as, in effect, a stick in the eye of those who represent and believe in the that the palestinians deserve an equal voice. Well, i think its exactly the opposite. Because if you analyze the resolution, the president spoke about recognizing jerusalem. In jerusalem you have western powers and eastern powers. We consider jerusalem to be the undivided capital of israel, no east, no west. But even our partners in the middle east, when they speak about a future agreement, they recognize that jerusalem will be a part of the israel. So why they are against it . Because Everybody Knows that the embassy to be placed, will be in the western part of jerusalem. So i think if you really care about peace, this is the right decision because it tells the palestinians, you have to make your mind. If you want to move forward or stay behind. Woodruff so youre arguing that this makes it makes it easier to reach a Peace Agreement . I think it actually ignites the process. We have seen what happened in the last 20 years. So many resolutions. Last year in december, there was a shameful resolution of the security council, 2334, speak about the Peace Process. What happened a year later . Nothing. I think there is a possibility here that it will be a wakeup call for the palestinians, a reality check, and they will understand that they will have to come back to the negotiating table to negotiate with the israels and to move forward. Woodruff i mentioned the leaders of other countries. Turkeys president , Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said this could mean that turkey cuts diplomatic relations with israel. Well, we have diplomatic relations with tirk. Our issues will be resolved with turkey. And i think if the turkey government would like to be involved, they will understand that in order to be involved, you need to engage, not to cut, not to threat. In othewe do with other countrin the region, we engage. Even in some countries we do not have diplomatic relations yet, openly, but we engage with them. Woodruff as you know, ambassador danone, theres going to be or theres been called an emergency meeting of the leaders of the arab countries. What is your message to them as they gaghter and they look at this as a move on the part of the United States in israels favor and against their interests . I think my call to them is to urge all parties to come back to the negotiating table. This is the only way to move forward. You cannot do it through the u. N. You cannot do it through the arab league, the security council, the e. U. With all due respect to all those organizations and bodes, the only way to move forward is to have direct negotiations. Thats how we achieved peace in the past with the egyptians, with the jordanians, and that will be the only way to move forward with the palestinian s. Woodruff ambassador danny danon, the ambassador of israel to the United Nations. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Woodruff many palestinians are upset by todays announcement. For their perspective, im joined now by husam zomlot, currently the chief representative of the palestinian general delegation to the United States. Mr. Zomlot, thank you very much for joining us. Your reaction, first of all, to this announcement by President Trump. Thank you for having me. Actually, todays announcement is a bad day for peace in the middle east. We were anticipating and waiting for President Trumps promise to have a comprehensive, lasting, durable peace, what he coined as the ultimate deal. We have been engaged with him, and we have met his team for many, many times, tens of timeses, actually, only the end of last week, i myself and Senior Palestinian representatives came to washington and met the Trump Administration and discussed the ultimate deal. And all of this comes out of the blue, actually. And instead of injecting peace on the discussion, now this has injected anxiety, suspicion, anger, and perhaps this has also delivered a blow to the Peace Process and to the role of the u. S. In the Peace Process. And, also, to the constituency of peace, to the peace camp, those who the hundreds of millions of people who want to see peace in the middle east. Woodruff so you if i could just interrupt so youre saying you had no inkling this was coming . President trump was saying today this is a fulfilling a campaign prmise. It was a law thats been on the books. No, we had no clue whatsoever this was coming. Aise confirmed, we were engaging them for the ultimate deal, and we agreed with the President Trump, whom we met with three times with our president , in a matter of a few weeks in the white house, in belehem, and palestine, and again in new york. And in all these meetings President Trump confirmed his interests was strategic, he wanted to focus on the big picture, and he thinks peace is possible and he wanted to deliver finally what is desired, peace in the middle east. Hes the one who said, lets not discuss details and issues and sidetracks and distractions. And all of a sudden, we have this biggest distraction that aggravated everybody and that has been a precious gift to those who do not want to see a solution, to the nonsolutionists, to the extremists, to the armageddonnists actually, who do not want to see the conflict as a Political Legal one that could be resolved, but a religious one that would never be involved. Your previous guest, the israeli ambassador, did say that, you know, west jerusalem and East Jerusalem, but at the same time, he says jerusalem will always be united and the israel has annexed illegally this mincing of words and playing on words is no longer convincing. The issue is do we have a credible, gen wen Peace Process . Is the u. S. An honest, fair, arbitrator . Are we going into the direction of the International Consensus for a twostate solution . If we are, jerusalem is at the heart of all this, and President Trump, unfortunately, has delivered a very, very damaging blow to the three things to the role of america, to the twostate solution, and to the hopes for peace. Woodruff so you did hear the israeli ambassador to the u. N. Say that while Everybody Knows the embassy will be in west jerusalem, this should not be offensive. He also said that he thinks this should instigate the Peace Process for you, for your interests, for the palestinians. You know, Peace Processes means negotiations, means that we sit to talk and discuss. It doesnt mean unilateral acts. And what happened today was a unilateral act by the u. S. President to decide on a matter that should have been decided upon by negotiations, based on very clear, welldefined framework and basis. These bases have been determined by the u. S. Since 1991, through written letters to us. Secretary baker wrote to us in 1991, to the palestinian leadership and to the palestinians saying, we invite you to the madrid Peace Process, based on the u. S. Commitment to the u. N. Security Council Resolution 242333 ie, land for peace that israel must end its occupation that began in 1967, including in jerusalem inspect that letter, by the way, secretary baker confirmed the u. S. Will not recognize israels control of the city or israels annexation of East Jerusalem, that East Jerusalem will remain and therefore, this is reneging. Last sentence. President trump today reneged on the u. S. Commitment and it was a uturn that was absolutely unexpected. And, therefore, it leaves the Peace Process in limbo. Woodruff are you saying, mr. Zomlot, from the p. L. O. Perspective, that this is the end of the Peace Process . Or you can still sit down at the negotiating table under any circumstances with the israelis and the americans . There is decadeslong, longheld u. S. Policy, spirnl consensus, international resolutions, including the one passed in december and your previous guest referred to that the u. S. Actually abstained in acceptance of it about the controls of the solution. We have send the palestinians, long ago, the International Consensus as legitimacy. We have accepted the u. S. Conditions on us. Those were three. The is to recognize israel on 78 of our land. Recognize u. N. Resolutions, and denounce violence. And we have recognized, maam, we have recognized israel all along. But this recognition does not mean we must recognize israels expansion, colonialialism. Woodruff let me finally ask you, where do you see this going from here . Youre not saying this is the end. No, no, this is not the end, no. This is not the end. , we the palestinians, are commit to the three principles. We are committed to peace. Believe you me, our generations are aching for an toned this and a new beginning. We have tome somme people who want a place to call home a passport, an airport, a school, a cinema they can watch nice movies in. Im saying this because we are tired. We want to see an end to this. But not at any cost. Are a dig need nation. We are celebrating christmas now. Bethlehem is the birth place of jesus and christianity. Surrender is not what we know. But we know the message of jesus. We know the message of peace. We are a model as a society, the palestinians, of the diversity and tolerance. We will hang on the hope of peace. But we cannot find peace in such dictations. We cannot find peace in such unilateral acts. Ish President Trump had stayed on course on the ultimate deal, stayed on course on the strategic action, not such an act that has really inserted much anxiety in the hearts of hundreds of millions of people, christians and muslims, worldwide. Woodruff husam zomlot, who is the p. L. O. , the chief representative of the p. L. O. Delegation to the United States. We thank you very much. Thank you. Woodruff next week marks five years since the Elementary School shooting in newtown, connecticut, left 26 people dead, most of them children, along with the shooter himself. In the wake of this and other Mass Shootings, federal lawmakers have been criticized for not moving on Gun Legislation. But today, the gun debate took center stage in both the house and senate. Hari sreenivasan reports. Sreenivasan the tension was palpable on the house floor. Make no mistake, this bill would make it easier to take loaded guns across state lines with hidden, loaded weapons. I want to protect American People and i want to protect constitutional rights. Sreenivasan . As the house passed its first major piece of Gun Legislation since two of the deadliest Mass Shootings in u. S. History. The bill showcased a rare moment of bipartisanship on guns, with a measure to tighten the National Background check system. But it also included a Provision Requiring states to recognize concealed carry permits across state lines, just as they would a drivers license. Thats a top priority for the n. R. A. , and it left House Democrats reeling. Republican leadership is pushing a bill with blood money from the n. R. A. , that will create a race to the bottom where states with the weakest concealedcarry requirements will rewrite the laws for everyone else. Sreenivasan the bill faces an uphill battle in the senate. But today, the gun debate raged there, too, at a Judiciary Committee hearing. Lawmakers discussed bump stocks, which allow semi automatic rifles to fire faster, like the ones used in the Las Vegas Concert massacre in october. Heather gooze was bartending when those shots rang out, leaving 58 people dead. I am not someone who is antigun, but i support senator feinsteins bill to ban bumpfire stocks. These devices are not for hunting. They are not for target practice. They are for hurting people. Sreenivasan it fed the debate about which federal agency should regulate those devices. Yesterday, the bureau of alcohol, tobacco, firearms and explosions said itll determine if bump stocks fall within their jurisdiction. Senators also touched on the National Background check system, and the holes that allowed air force veteran devin kelley to buy the guns he used to kill 26 people in a texas church last month. Yesterday, a department of defense report found that while attention has been on the air forces failure to report criminal history to the background check database, other branches of the military fared even worse. Air force secretary Heather Wilson acknowledged those lapses. I think we need to have some means of enforcing this. As you said, accountability and discipline. What would you suggest . Senator, one of the things that we have put in place is checks at Different Levels of command, so its more likely that if there is a failure to file a fingerprint card, that the next level of command will be able to see it. Sreenivasan for the pbs newshour, im hari sreenivasan. Woodruff and the other major story at the capitol tonight the mounting calls for senator al franken to step down amidst more allegations of sexual misconduct. For that, we are joined by lisa desjardins. Lisa, welcome back. So this story moved so fast today, we woke up this morning, heard there was another allegation, and through the day, one democratic senator after another saying he should step down. Thats right. It was rashable. And this was led not just by any group of Democratic Senators but female Democratic Senators. First Kristen Gillibrand of new york posted on her facebook page, a post that simply said, i believe, senator franken should step down. After that, we saw other female senators, Maggie Hassan of new hampshire, and then a slew of them, well over a dozen of the 16 members, say this. And, judy, this is a Record Number of women in the senate right now, and were showing that they actually seem to be influencing those around them today. Woodruff and ending or i should say, at some point in the afternoon, the leadership of the party in the senate. Thats right. Woodruff also called for him thats right. Senator chuck schumer, the leader of the Democratic Party in the site naet said it was time for franken to go and the head of the d. N. C. Woodruff remind us again what are the allegations against senator al franken. The one that seemed to tip the bounds today was one from a former congressional aide. She told a newspaper that she was at a radio show of al frankens. She was leaving and that al franken kind of came up behind her and forcibly kissed her. She said she ducked out of the way. But that story was corroborated, the report said, by two people who knew her. And this is in keeping with other stories weve seen from women. We have now more than half a dozen, seven women who said al franken either tried to or successfully forcibly kissed them or groped them, touching their behand or breasts, sometimes in noteo shoots, but in places as different on a u. S. O. Tour or Minnesota State fair. He said on some he acted inappropriately. Others, like today, he said are patently untrue. Woodruff as we know, there have been other allegations because weve gotten to what have you said seven it seems the dam has broken. You have been talking, lisa, today, with information around the capitol. Democrats have to be in a whole lot the anguish over this. This is a moment of reckoning, and its a very difficult moment, i think for both parties, but especially for the democrats. They saw representative john conyers in the house resign yesterday over similar allegations which he has said are not true but hes now leaving office. Today, talking to democrats, judy, i saw a real divide. There is one group, led by women, like Kristen Gillibrand other ands some men as well who said this is time to draw a hard line and say none of this behavior is remotely acceptable in public office. There are others who say there is a spectrum of behavior here, that there are different kinds of behaviors that are inappropriate, but they should not all get the same kind of punishment, which is being forced out of office. I think an example of that might be republican blake farrenned hold. We learned last week he is someone who did pay, used taxpayer money to pay a Sexual Harassment claim while he was in office, yet theres no pressure on him that we know of to resign. In fact, he spoke on the house floor today. Hes a republican, and there are questions about are there different standard heres . I think what to watch, judy, is the question of roy moore will be interesting. Here is a man who says that he has done nothing wrong and voters will decide whether hooshed join the senate. Theres a question of, then, whether senators who say they dont believe him, think he should keep that job or not, if hes elected. Woodruff two more quick things i want to ask you, quickly, on this question, the political calculation for dwaems franken. The trump wave last year made minnesota a purple state. Hillary clinton won minnesota, but barely. Talking to republican strategists, they think a an election could be a seat they could pick up. Whons. Woodruff entirely different stsh but very important. The government runs out of money on friday. Oh, just that. Woodruff you have beena doing a lot of reporting on that as well. Today, House Republicans said they are going to try to push a bill that would extend funding through december 22, and there are reports that the president says he would sign it. So well see. Hopefully that passes tomorrow and we get two more weeks of fund. Woodruff two more weeks, and then we have no idea what happens after that. Then it gets even more complicated, yes. Woodruff lisa desjardins, vut most fun job anyway i think so. Woodruff thank you. Woodruff stay with us. Coming up on the newshour we explore a recent boom in rooftop solar panels. But first, we begin tonight a threepart series were calling iran rising in iraq. Special correspondent reza sayah and videographer gelareh kiazand, in partnership with the Pulitzer Center on crisis reporting, traveled throughout iraq to examine the growing influence of its neighbor, the Islamic Republic of iran. Just how far has iran extended its reach in iraq . What are its intentions . And are american concerns that iran is destabilizing iraq justified . Over these three nights, the series takes us to the capital, baghdad, to the outskirts of mosul, to sulamaniyah in iraqi kurdistan, and the contested city of kirkuk. We begin in the holy city of karbala, and a look at irans religious and political influence. One thats growing, but also which faces some serious limits. Reporter on a countryside highway heading south from baghdad, weary shia pilgrims, some of whom have walked for days, pause to soothe their aching muscles. Allah ghazi and his helpers say their modified electric car polishers always deliver relief. translated i am working hard for the islamic nation. I do this every year for my fellow muslims. Reporter the roadside massage pitstop, free of charge, embodies the charitable spirit of arbaeen, the annual pilgrimage that marks the martyrdom of imam hussein, the muslim prophet muhammads grandson. Pilgrims come by any means, from all directions. Marching columns stretch as far as the eye can see. Their destination is the holy city of karbala, where the revered shia figure was beheaded in the 7th century. Among the masses, millions are from neighboring iran, the country with the largest shia population in the world. translated im from mashhad, from iran. translated im adel. Im from iran. translated im bijan felij. Im coming from the nation of iran. Raise your hands if youre iranian iran iran supporters of imam hussein reporter when the swarms of worshippers finally reach the shrine of imam hussein, many pray for healing and forgiveness. Others give thanks. The crowds are huge here, and some of the estimates are staggering. Officials say as many as 20 million gather here every year for arbaeen. To put that in perspective, thats equal to the population of new york cramming into a city of less than one million. And literally, every few steps i take, i hear an iranian speaking farsi. See . translated everyone here is iranian. Look around, all you see are iranians. Reporter for the 24 years Saddam Hussein ruled iraq, few iranians dared to make this journey. The two countries were mortal enemies, at war for eight years, and the secular dictator had banned the pilgrimage. In 2003, the u. S. Led coalition toppled saddam. In came a shiamajority government, and back came iranian worshipers. Today, few events reveal the return of irans powerful religious influence in iraq more so than arbaeen. Iranian religious music is everywhere. Iranian clerics offering spiritual guidance. Donation boxes for iranian religious Charity Organizations filled with iranian money. Ali khaledi came from iran with a homemade flag to show the bond between the two countries. translated i wanted to show the whole world the friendship between iran and iraq. Reporter are you iranian . Reza shirzadi and Ali Hassanpour are among 2,000 sanitation workers sent here by the iranian government. Why was it important for you to come here and do this . translated we volunteered from the heart for imam hussein. We believe in him and love him. We came to clean the streets for his followers. Reporter irans religious presence here sometimes extends to where the lines that separate faith, politics, and power begin to blur. Images of irans Supreme Leader and the late imam khomeini, the leader of irans islamic revolution, are common sights. So are posters of the iranian backed militia that played a key role in fighting isis in iraq. The sheer number of iranians here creates the impression that iran, its government and its leadership has huge influence in iraq, and perhaps even intervening in Iraqi Affairs something that has very much alarmed washington. But during our visit here, we learned that irans influence is not as clearcut, not as simple, and not as extensive as many in washington describe. There are powerful barriers to irans influence in iraq. Among them is iranianborn cleric, grand ayatollah ali sistani. Sistani is iraqs highest religious authority. His roughly 20 million shia followers say he strives to keep religion separate from politics and supports an inclusive iraqi democracy. Hes increasingly viewed as a rival to irans top religious authority the antiu. S. Supreme leader ayatollah ali khamenei. Ahmad lashkari is a senior cleric within the sistani movement. Lashkari says the Movement Stands firm against political influence from iran or any other country. translated we try to maintain independence in this movement to prevent any unacceptable outside interference. Reporter when iranianbacked Nouri Almaliki refused to step down as Prime Minister in 2014, it was sistani who pressured him to bow out, clearing the way for washingtons favorite candidate, current Prime Minister haider alabadi. When one of irans top clerical envoys visited iraq in september, sistani reportedly refused to meet him. And nowhere among sistanis followers here do you see pictures of irans religious leaders. translated our most important aim from this event is to distance ourselves from the culture of posting pictures and advertising for one person. This is not the place for advertising the presence of one individual. Reporter soon after that comment, a picture of irans Supreme Leader does appear, a sign that the struggle for control over iraqs shia population continues. Throughout iraq there are similar dichotomies in irans cultural and economic influence. In the streets of baghdad, most taxis are iranianmade saipas. In super markets, iranian products often line the shelves, as iraniraq trade ties strengthen, although iranian imports are still outnumbered by finer and more popular products from other regional trade partners like turkey. In the city of sulaymaniyah, iranian music plays in open air markets that sell iranian goods. At this iranianthemed cafe, patrons smoke hookahs and play the ancient iranian game of backgammon. And at the local university, students rave about iranian culture. Actually, i see a lot of people listen to iranian music, songs. Our culture and there culture is almost the exact same thing. Okay, like, our language, out poetry. Reporter but the praise rarely translates into Political Support for iran. We can simply see Kurdish People love iranian culture, but they hate iranian political policy because iranian political policy towards kurds is not friendly. Reporter irans influence in iraq is not always welcome, but throughout our journey, we saw that its clearly growing. Much of it, the natural result of two neighbors with ties that go back 2,500 years. We also learned that u. S. Allegations that iran is destabilizing iraq by meddling in its affairs are not totally supported by what we saw on the ground. What few dispute is that nearly 15 years after the u. S. Ousted iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein and spent nearly a trillion dollars on the war, its irans influence that seemingly outweighs washingtons. I think theres no competition. The iranians have far more influence. Reporter iranbased political analyst Mohammad Marandi says the u. S. Is partly to blame. I think the reason the americans are so surprised at the amount of influence iran has is basically because iran has done everything the americans have not done. The americans came in, occupied the country, dictated terms to the iraqi people. The iranians, on the other hand, what they did was, they did not open bases in iraq. They went to the actors that existed, to the parties that existed, and tried to establish links with them. And the reason they have the influence is that they treat the iraqis as their equals. Reporter despite irans gains, analysts say america is unlikely to back down, and the fight for influence in iraq between washington and tehran is only beginning. For the pbs newshour, im reza sayah in baghdad. Woodruff tomorrow, reza sayah continues our series with a report on the controversial iranianbacked militias in iraq that were instrumental in the fight against isis. Woodruff now, as the Trump Administration is considering whether to put tariffs on solar panels made outside the u. S. , the rapidly plummeting price of solar panels has led to a boom in rooftop installations. And jobs. And it is raising questions about how Utility Companies should respond. William brangham is back with this report from vermont. It is part of our occasional series of reports, peril and promise the challenge of climate change, and is also our weekly look at the leading edge of science and technology. Come on brangham Andrea Mcmahan and her son caulder run a dog kennel and grooming business just outside waterbury, vermont. Wheres that ball . Brangham during the recent windstorm that knocked power out for hundreds of thousands of people in the northeast, the lights and blowdryers stayed on at their business. Thats because mcmahan had just installed these two brandnew tesla batteries connected to the solar panels on her roof. All your neighbors were out of power, but you werent . No. It worked brangham mcmahon installed the panels five years ago. In the summer, with its ample sun, they generate more electricity than she can use, so the extra energy is sent to the local utility, Green Mountain power. And they credit our bill for the winter, because theres not much solar in the winter. We basically have no electric bill. And its usually pretty big. Brangham no electric bill . No electric bill. Brangham you went from paying about 250 a month to now paying nothing . Right. Nice, huh . Brangham the new batteries, which she leases from Green Mountain power for 30 a month, will allow mcmahon to, in effect, become her own personal power plant. She can operate independently from the grid when Power Outages occur, and she can sell electricity back to the utility during peak usage, even if the sun isnt shining. Its kind of a winwinwin situation. Brangham Green Mountain powers c. E. O. , mary powell, also thinks its a winwin. In fact, shes the driving force behind her companys expanded push into solar and batteries and new energy technology. On the day we met her, she was checking in with linemen who were still at work restoring power to customers. Powell likes to describe her company as an unutility. One of the things we really feel like were in the business of doing here in vermont is accelerating what we believe is a consumerled revolution, to distribute resources in a completely different model. Brangham powell calls existing utility models grandpas electric grid, powered in large part by coal, as well as natural gas, hydro and nuclear power. Indeed, the bulk of Green Mountains power comes from such sources. But she says its an inefficient system. On a good day, the system is built for about 40 economic efficiency. You have massive power generating stations, and you move energy over miles and miles and miles. You have substations that convert it down to distribution level. You then have miles and miles of distribution lines and eventually you get to homes, businesses and communities. Brangham powells vision is to begin to move away from that, to using a series of commercial and residential microgrids all over the state that can store and share power with each other. A microgrid is any small selfcontained network, like this housing community, where, if they get cut off from the main electrical supply, they can generate enough electricity to meet all of their needs right here. This 14unit development in waltham, vermont, was built by industry and nonprofit groups in a firstofitskind experiment for lowincome housing. Each home has a sixkilowatt Solar Panel System connected to a battery, so in the case of an outage, residents can power their homes independently. And residents like Alexis Laberge pay nothing for electricity. I wasnt quite sure what to expect when they said, were building some solar powered housing and its going to be energy efficient. But its really reasonable and, as a single parent, thats really important. Brangham c. E. O. Powell concedes that its easier to reimagine a power system in a rural state like hers, with just 600,000 residents. But shes convinced that even more populous cities and states need to change the way they think about energy delivery. I drive around different parts of brooklyn or queens, and there are, you know, neighborhood after neighborhood where you could be delivering absolute Energy Transformation services, lowering the energy costs for the people you serve, because youre looking at it from a total energy perspective. Brangham 1,500 miles south lies another vision for changing energy delivery. Florida power and light, the largest utility in florida, is in the midst of a largescale solar construction boom. This site was one of the first, built nine years ago. The company now has six other sites, enough to power about 60,000 homes. It looks like we have a hot spot. Brangham kelly fagan oversees the solar construction. We have three plants we just commissioned at the end of last year. And weve got four more behind that, and four more the next year, behind that. Brangham those utilityscale arrays will use more than 2. 5 million solar panels to generate electricity for the grid, making florida 10th in the nation for solar generation. Even so, it will be a small fraction compared to their nuclear and gas resources. Fagan says its all about doing whats best for its customers. If we go too far in solar, we lose the reliability of our system. Thats why we still need our gas plants and our nuclear plants. They are the backbone of the system. They keep us going when the clouds are out, when the rain is falling and when its nighttime. Historically, despite our nickname of the sunshine state, florida has really lagged behind in adopting solar. Brangham susan glickman, a lobbyist with Southern Alliance for clean energy, and has been a loud critic of floridas private utilities. She applauds their recent Solar Building spree, but thinks they game the system by continuing to build expensive conventional power plants. Big monopoly utilities get a guaranteed rate of return on their capital expenditures. Brangham meaning if they build a power plant, theyre by law allowed to charge customers here in florida to pay back the cost of that . Thats right. Florida regulators will put that in the rate base and we all pay for it. So like a waiter in a restaurant where theres a guaranteed tip, the more that is spent you buy a dessert or a bottle of wine the more money youre going to make. Brangham glickman also says Utility Companies have tried to put up roadblocks so homeowners wont install their own solar panels. She points out, the utility here spent tens of millions of dollars backing a failed, and widely criticized, 2016 ballot measure that wouldve curtailed individual solar projects. They want to build power plants, and too often they see rooftop solar as a threat to that business model. Brangham Florida Power and light says it doesnt discourage residential solar, but says it isnt very practical. F. P. L. Is providing solar power through our transmission grid at such a low cost that its very difficult to put rooftop solar even at my own house. Ive looked at it on my own house. The payback is not very good in florida because our bills are so low. Brangham so, youre arguing that because you guys have provided a lower utility bill overall, that on balance it doesnt make sense for people to do solar individually. Yes, thats correct. Financially, it just doesnt make sense. Brangham but that may be changing. Solar panels have dropped dramatically in price some 70 over the last seven years. When we visited glickman, she was having panels installed on her house, and she says she knows more and more people who are doing the same. I do think there are some people that want to go solar for environmental reasons. But more and more people want to go solar for economic reasons because they see the payoff. Solar panels are improving. They more efficient. They can operate even with less solar radiance, so the demand is really there. Brangham if that demand continues to grow, florida utilities may move more into rooftop solar, joining vermont and other states where residential solar microgrids are becoming almost commonplace. For the pbs newshour, im William Brangham in arcadia, florida. Woodruff fascinating. And on the newshour online right now a dinosaur with a collage of birdlike features, never seen in any other prehistoric creature, has made its scientific debut, after this unique mongolian fossil circulated on the black market for years. You can learn more on our website, www. Pbs. Org newshour. Find it all here. And thats the newshour for tonight. Im judy woodruff. Join us online, and again right here tomorrow evening. For all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you, and well see you soon. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by bnsf railway. Supported by the rockefeller foundation. Promoting the wellbeing of humanity around the world, by building resilience and inclusive economies. More at www. Rockefellerfoundation. Org. And with the ongoing support of these institutions and individuals. This program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc captioned by Media Access Group at wgbh access. Wgbh. Org youre watching pbs. Elyse were the history detectives, and were going to investigate some Untold Stories from americas past. Gwen in this episode, we use scientific analysis to find out if this beautiful new england home once belonged to an accused salem witch. In that time, weve been given to believe, that if a person was, in fact, convicted of being a witch, the accuser would take their land. Tukufu we discover if this whaling ship provided a safe haven for fugitive slaves in the 1850s. So now we have some information. Hes from the south, from a slave state in 1856. Wes and we uncover the remarkable story