corporate funding is provided by mutual of america-- designing customized individual and group retirement products. that's why we are your retirement company. additional support is provided by: and by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. from the tisch wnet studios in lincoln center in new york, hari sreenivasan. >> sreenivasan: good evening. thanks for joining us. before leaving for vacation on martha's vineyard today, president obama warned that he could not put a timetable on the latest american military intervention in northern iraq. islamic extremists there have closed to within about 25 miles of the kurdish capital of erbil, where many americans are said to be. the militants' advance has also prompted tens of thousands of others to flee the city and take refuge on a mountain, where they are now trapped. >> and american aircraft are positioned to strike isil terrorists around the mountain, to help forces in iraq break the siege and rescue those who are trapped there. now, even as we deal with these immediate situations, we will continue to pursue a broader strategy in iraq. we will protect our american citizens in iraq, whether they're diplomats, civilians or military. if these terrorists threaten our facilities or our personnel, we will take action to protect our people. >> sreenivasan: for more about the situation on the ground in iraq, we are joined once again tonight by nour malas of the "wall street journal." she comes to us via skype from erbil. >> so in the past week, we saw this massive assault by the islamic state, they took over three towns and then just in the last 24 to 48 hours they took over another, what is the latest we know about how they are advancing? >> they have moved even closer over the past few days to irbil, the capital of the iraqi kurdistan and that is really what sent officials here, residents of the kurdish region into a panic, and prompted ultimately the u.s. intervention, there is a large american consulate presence here, there are thousands of u.s. citizens and on the iraqi side there are thousands of yazidis on the mountain side that the iraqi government hasn't been able to help them so this has been, caused u.s. involvement into iraq. >> you got there right before the u.s. air strikes happened, what was the aftermath? what were the consequences. >> when i got here, people were in a panic, the islamic state encroachment on the capital, it is not clear these are actually the goals of these militants, they are definitely making a push all the way across the iraqi kurdish border which is 620 miles, they are trying to consolidate the areas and the towns that they have taken, moving up to the border, but just getting close enough to irbil has sent so many people into a panic already, u.s. air strikes, that started on thursday appear to have calmed things down, people feel more comfortable that there is precision and targeted strikes that try to push back some of these insurgent positions, though it is not clear yet exactly what effect they have had. >> what is life like in the capital? what are you seeing today? >> the capital is relatively norm 3458 and calm, it is tense, because, the cur did forces have spread out, going in and out of irbil, there is a heavy security presence, there is a bit of suspicion with the noncurds, so cur did, kurdish officials are tense about the thousands of sunni nonkurdish iraqis flooding into their territory from elsewhere, some people fear that, you know, this could be i infiltrated by the islamic state. >> let's get to what is happening on the mountain, what is the latest on the humanitarian air drops? >> there was a small breakthrough with an evacuation actually, the united states conducted two airdrops, early this morning and they have been able to reach something like 10,000 or maybe a little bit more than that people, there are about 40,000 yazidi stranding on the mountain side sorry many are in need, the u.n. is talking about trying to help further humanitarian aid itself but all it speaks to how truly stranded they are and how terrible their conditions are. i was able to meet with a dozen families up north in the province, and all of them really recounted the same terrible fleeing in the middle of the night, grabbing whatever they could, in most case just their kids, a lot of them didn't have clothes or the roads were too jammed with cars and they had to just walk for hours, sometimes days to get to safety, and even here in iraqi kurdistan they are just consumed with news from hundreds of their relatives stranded on the mountain side. >> and what is travel like inside ir now? the last time we spoke with you in a different city did you to take extra precautions? >> actually, i took a flight over here right in time before a bunch of international airlines canceled flights to irbil, some of them since then have reinstated them, it is a gauge what airspace expurt is going to be like and also just to see how clear how long it takes the u.s. air strike operations are going to be. >> the -- the highways connecting major cities still are anything leading, you know, to mosul or offshoot, you bound to run into or run the risk of running into an insurgent presence, so there is a fear that the road travel option is not going to be safe for much longer. >> four naah las of the wall street journal, joining us live via skype, thank you so much. >> >> sreenivasan: there was yet another round of violence today between israel and hamas following the collapse yesterday of the latest humanitarian cease fire. the israeli military said it launched more than 30 aerial attacks today, destroying at least three mosques and a hamas security complex. at least five palestinians were killed. according to israeli officials, palestinian militants have fired more than 65 rockets into israel since the end of the cease fire. no injuries re reported today. in ukraine today, a pro-russian rebel leader said he would accept a cease fire to help prevent a humanitarian disaster there. this after ukrainian government troops reportedly surrounded the city of donetsk, where the rebels have retreated. shelling has damaged many buildings in that city of nearly a million people. most stores are closed and thousands of residents are making do without electricity. from west africa tonight, word that several major corporations including caterpillar, canadian overseas petroleum and tawana resources of australia are starting to scale back their operations in countries affected by the outbreak of ebola. caterpillar said it has evacuated fewer than ten people so far but is still closely monitoring the situation. nearly 1,000 people have died, primarily in sierra leone, guinea and liberia. in the eastern african nation of uganda today, a gay pride parade. the event occurred just days after a court ruled that the nation's stringent anti-gay law was unconstitutional. the law had sparked international condemnation and prompted cuts in international aid to that nation. back in this country, a district court judge in california has thrown out a settlement reached last spring between technology companies google, apple, intel, adobe and more than 60,000 of their employees. judge lucy koh said the $324 million deal was insufficient. the companies allegedly colluded not to hire each others' employees, a deal that the employees claim artificially suppressed their salaries. in her ruling, the judge wrote that there is substantial and compelling evidence that steve jobs was a, if not the, central figure in the alleged conspiracy. there's been a fatal outbreak of tuberculosis at homeless shelters in atlanta. nearly 50 people have been infected, including two volunteers, and three people have died. health officials say transients are especially vulnerable to the disease. there were just under 10,000 cases of tuberculosis reported in the united states last year. the disease spreads through the air from close proximity to an infected person. and volkswagen announced today that it is recalling nearly 200,000 of its tiguan small sport utility vehicles. the company says they might unexpectedly stall, leading to accidents. the vehicles affected are the model years 2009 through 2014. >> sreenivasan: returning now to the day's top story, american efforts to slow advances by islamic state jihadists in northern iraq and to rescue thousands of civilians who have fled from them. for more, we are joined now from washington by douglas ollivant. he is a senior national security fellow at the new america foundation and a partner at mantid international. >> so this morning, we heard the president say that this is about two things, protection of americans, and about humanitarian aid, this wasn't so much about dislodging islamic state group from the power that they are already wielding in large portions of iraq. >> i think that is exactly right. the president wants to use air force, air power and not u.s. boot on the ground in any engagement with the islamic state, what he has done is set a condition where he can fulfill this promise, air power is very, very good at dealing with attacking troops, you know, you are moving, you shooting, you are creating a signature that can be seen from the air, and it is pretty easy for air power to engage tarts like that, that is their element, that's what they do best. when you start talking about pushing them out of cities where they are dug in or hidden in buildings, their power has some real, air power has ream real limitations and that will take boots on the ground at i don't think the president will go there. >> so much of this is dependent on iraq forming a government. >> the best care scenario iraq forms a government, are they strong enough to combat this on their own? >> >> it really depend on the type of government that comes together and whether they can really get all three sides. all three sides have something to give here. the curds have some very, very dedicated fighters in the north, they have a secure base there in the mountain that they can really push out of, and we have assets working out of the american consulate there, the south has the bulk of the american equipment that remains, the artillery pieces, the tanks, the armored personnel carriers and a large manpower pull from the south they could use to push north and then of course the sunni groups are in the midst of this and they could really become a fifth column for ice sister, isis internally so you can get all three of these groups working together that would be the key but the iraqis need to move quickly to take the next steps to form their government. >> today the president said this could be something that certainly is not solved in book weeks, it could be a long-term situation. >> what kind of timeline is likely and in the meantime is the islamic strength group strengthen their hold on the places they already have? >> that may be the case. the iraqi president who has been elected there is a new president, should be appointing a, or designating someone to form a government here in the near future. they are still yang ling over that but taking every day of the 15 day of the constitution allots, depending on how you count holidays or sunday he is just over or just under that deadline, hopefully we will see some announcement in the next day or two. >> in the humanitarian front, how complicated is it to create that corridor of safety if we are protecting it in from the skies? how do we get the people off the mountain and into a safe area? >> i think it is going to be a stretch to call it a safe exor door, it may be a safer corridor, when protected from the air. that air power can only do so much, and to say that they will have total safety moving from the mountain into, evidently the kurdish area of syria is not something i think we can guarantee, safer but not safe. >> and on the humanitarian front we have had some partners from europe say they are willing to help, on the military front, is that unlikely or the same? >> i think very unlikely, certainly on the humanitarian front we will get assistance, but i don't see anyone willing to step up and help with the justification that we have right now. our justification for the air strikes is protecting american forces in baghdad and irbil, other governments may not have that excuse. >> doug ollivant, thanks so much. >> thank you. >> >> sreenivasan: now to our signature segment. earlier this week, the new jersey state supreme court weighed in on a controversial new technique in the fight against crime: the growing use of rap lyrics as evidence in criminal cases. prosecutors say those lyrics can help prove a suspect's motive or even contain a confession; critics argue rap lyrics are largely fiction, and playing graphic lyrics in court prejudices juries. the newshour's william brangham has the latest on a topic he first reported about in june. >> reporter: back in 2005, outside this new jersey house, a small-time drug dealer was shot multie times and left near death by the curb. while his story changed a few times, he'd later tell police that the man who shot him was this man: aspiring rapper and fellow drug dealer vonte skinner. though skinner says he's innocent-- he admits he was there that night but says he didn't pull the trigger and doesn't know who did-- he was arrested and charged with attempted murder. at his trial, prosecutors had 13 pages of skinner's extremely graphic, violent rap lyrics read aloud to the jury. they were from notebooks found in the back of a car skinner was driving. here's just a taste of what the jury heard: it went on like that for more than 15 minutes. the lyrics don't mention anything about the specific shooting or the actual victim-- they were, in fact, written months and years before the crime occurred-- but prosecutors introduced them and a judge allowed them in order to demonstrate skinner's alleged motive and intent to commit violent acts. amar dean is a philadelphia- based rap producer and vonte skinner's brother. he says he was in the courtroom when the lyrics were read to the jury, and, just by watching their reaction to those lyrics, he knew his brother was going to be convicted. >> when they started doing the lyrics, people started frowning their faces. you know, body language speaks volumes. a lot of their faces were in shock-- "whoa, did he say that? did he do that?"-- but it had nothing to do with the case at all. >> reporter: skinner was found guilty of attempted murder and sentenced to 30 years in prison. this trend of introducing rap lyrics as evidence in crimin proceedings is spreading nationwide. there areome cases, like dennis greene's case, where the connection between a rap and a crime is clear. in 2003, greene brutally killed his wife and then rapped specifically about committing the murder. the lyrics were introduced at trial, and he was sentenced to life in prison but other cases aren't as clear cut. >> three specific words are what prosecutors hope will link torrence hatch... >> reporter: two years ago in louisiana, a rapper named terrance hatch-- known as lil boosie-- was tried for first degree murder. prosecutors argued that a few cryptic words of one rap song were in fact a confession. hatch was found not guilty. to critics like erik nielson of the university of richmond, prosecutors should rarely, if ever, use rap as evidence in court. nielson says rap is an art form that intentionally uses elaborate wordplay and exaggeration and boasting. and yes, while rap may sometimes contain graphic violence, nielson argues that's a reflection of the communities where many young black men live. he says rappers are creating characters, not writing diaries. >> that is the most important distinction that constantly gets missed is that there is an author and a narrator. we seem to be able to grasp that concept with every other art form that uses the first person narrative, but rappers who go the extra mile to signal that they are inventing a narrator with their use of a stage name, we still revert back to this idea that they're the same. we conflate the two. >> reporter: david labahn, a former gang prosecutor and c.e.o. of the association of prosecuting attorneys, believes rap lyrics can be a very appropriate tool for law enforcement because he says they're not always "made-up" stories. >> i would say you can't have it both ways. you cannot say that "i'm rapping about stuff because this is what i live in, this is what i see every day" and then come into court and say "everything that i said in that rap is completely untrue." >> reporter: what about the argument that the content of some kinds of rap music is so violent that if you put that in front of a jury, and if the prosecution says "this guy raps like this, and we think he's guilty of x," then the jury will believe anything? >> i don't think that matches the reality of what happens in a courtroom. we must get a unanimous jury beyond a reasonable doubt, and playing a rap is not going to convict somebody. if it was, then you'd have rap being played every day and we wouldn't even need to worry about producing other evidence. >> reporter: but in the case of vonte skinner, at least, an appellate court in 2012 ruled that the extensive reading of his lyrics did unfairly prejudice the jury and made it so skinner couldn't get a fair trial. that ruling threw skinner's case to the new jersey state supreme court. >> state vs. vonte skinner, may we please have appearances of counsel. >> reporter: skinner's original prosecutors, who declined to speak with the newshour, testified before the court why they introduced skinner's written lyrics at trial. >> the defendant's writings reference how he saw himself, either hypothetically or otherwise, reference a number of things that all go to the issue of what ultimately happened in this case. >> reporter: prosecutor jennifer paskiewicz argued that because skinner wrote lyrics about things like shooting people in the head, that this was evidence of a "continuing mindset" that helped explained why skinner could've committed the actual shooting. among those testifying in favor of skinner was ezra rosenberg, representing the new jersey a.c.l.u. >> when i first read mr. skinner's writings, they were... they make one hold one's breath. they are extraordinarily violent, they are sexist, they are misogynistic. they're also very creative. >> reporter: rosenberg argued that, yes, skinner's lyrics are offensive, but they're artistic works. and he says rap, like filmmaking or literature or art, should be given greater first amendment protections before being allowed into trials. if not, he worries about a chilling effect on free expression. >> every writing is subject to first amendment protections because there are social and political concerns that rap lyrics-- gangster rap in particular-- address. they are entitled to the highest protections. that's really key. >> reporter: more so than other art forms or forms of expression? >> absolutely. >> i think it becomes even easier to sort of negate rap as art when the rap itself is >> reporter: on monday, in a ruling that could have national implications, the new jersey state supreme court unanimously agreed that vonte skinner's rap lyrics should not have been admitted at trial, ruling that those graphic lyrics "bore little or no probative value" as evidence, and they risked" poisoning the jury." in their ruling, the justices also criticized prosecutors for linking skinner's lyrics with skinner's actions. with his conviction overturned, skinner will now get a new trial. in the meantime, he remains in jail, where he's been for several years. >> sreenivasan: to learn more about the recent ruling in vonte skinner's case, visit newshour.pbs.org. >> some late news tonight, at least 16 islamic extremist have been killed in northern iraq after a second day of american air strike, president obama said arms and equipment will also destroy the attacks are meant to slow the islamic state's advance there. britain and france are sending humanitarian assistance to an estimated 40,000 people trapped on a mountain in northern iraq after fleeing those islamic fighters and in west africa, guinea announced it is closing its borders with liberia and sierra leone in an effort to stem the spread of the ebola virus, nearly 1,000 people have died of the disease in those three countries. join us on air and online tomorrow, i am hari sreenivasan, good night. >> captioning sponsored by wnet captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org >> pbs newshour weekend is made possible by: corporate funding is provided by mutual of america-- designing customized individual and group retirement products. that's why we are your retirement company. additional support is provided by: and by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> hi, i'm rick steves. thanks for joining us. to showcase the beauties of public television, we've put together a little festival of clips showing europe at play. in the next half hour, we'll experience festive europe. from prancing horses to well-trained sheepdogs to street parties in paris, it's hands-on travel today as europe embraces life with gusto, inspiring us to get the most out of our lives as well. our first festival is in spain. the festival of san fermin in pamplona is an example of how special events are well worth planning for, and how anyone can enjoy a front-row seat. and when you understand the historical and religious context, you realize it's more than just running with the bulls. enjoy this high-energy first segment, and i'll see you at the break. hold on to your castanets. this is festive europe. pamplona, the historic capitol of the province of navarre, wits

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