mattie d.j.ing, i can't wait. it's going to be fun. >> reporter: just yesterday, they were featured on cbs "sunday morning." >> woodruff: don't do it for fame. i do it because i love it. and i do it for the money. >> for the money. i do it because i love it. you get rich so far. not yet. >> reporter: they are also making a documentary about their journey. tim forester is leading that project. >> there are so many stories we >> we that as big culmination of this thing, movie stand out on own, but to see the time the effort, patients involved making this movie, that's the real story. >> reporter: on this halloween, updating a feel good zombie story, i'm mike melia for the pbs newshour. >> woodruff: sam and mattie have a big future, we want to be there to cover the whole thing. finally, we stay in the halloween spirit for our newshour shares, something that caught our eye that we thought woulbe of interest to you, too. the vampire bat is hardly the agent-of-evil its association with dracula would suggest. we asked sm

. >> yang: last week, defense secretary james mattis last weet signal possibility of reducing the u.s. military presence on the korean peninsula. >> well, that's part of the issues that will be discussed in the negotiations with our allies first,nd of course with north korea. so i think for right now we just have to go along with the process, have the netiations and not try to make preconditions, or presumions >> yang: north korea has long said the u.s. must pull its almost 29,000 troops from souty korea under reement. for the pbs newshour, i'm john yang. >> woodruff: in the days other news, a syria war monitoring group said an ovnight missile strike targeted government military bases in northern syria. the group said israel likely carried out the assault that killed 26 pro-government fighters, including many iranians.id social media showed the purported attack, which hit an arms depot near hama. iranian fighters are said to be stationed there, but the iranian government denied they were hit. deadly attacks also rang out across afghanistan today, from kabul to kandahar. in all, nearly

he was a deputy to the current defense secretary, james mattis, when then-general mattis ran central command for president obama. i'm told that an announcement could come as soon as the end of this week. >> woodruff: john yang reporting for us from the white house. thank you. in the day's other news, the russians rejected any notion of returning crimea to ukraine. just yesterday, white house spokesman sean spicer said president trump expects exactly that. the russians annexed crimea in march of 2014, and today, the foreign ministry in moscow said, "we never give back our territory." u.s. defense secretary jim mattis issued a pointed warning today to nato allies on defense spending. he said they will have to do more, or run the risk that the u.s. will, "moderate its commitment" to the alliance. mattis attended his first nato defense ministers meeting in brussels and argued president trump's case that the allies share more of the burden. >> it's a fair demand that all who benefit from the best defense in the world carry their proportionate share of the necessary costs to defend freedom

meanwhile, retired generals james mattis and john kelly were sworn in as the secretaries of defense and homeland security. the next order of business: a series of three inaugural balls under way tonight in washington. the new president and wife melania will attend all three. all of this, just hours after mr. trump assumed his first public office. here is how this inauguration day unfolded. for donald and melania trump, the first public appearance of this inaugural day came at a morning church service at st. john's episcopal in washington. the president-elect had already begun his day around 4:30 a.m. with a trademark tweet. it proclaimed: "the movement continues, the work begins!" meanwhile, at the white house, the outgoing president left the traditional note for his successor on his oval office desk. >> good morning, everybody! >> woodruff: and, he took a final nostalgic stroll next to the rose garden. >> mr. president-elect, how are you? >> woodruff: the obamas then welcomed the trumps for a reception of coffee and tea, before motorcading to the u.s. capitol. thousands had already gat

senate, signing a waiver that clears the way for his defense secretary pick, retired general james mattis. from there, the trumps entered statuary hall for the traditional post-inaugural luncheon, and a presidential gesture to his defeated opponent. >> i was very honored, very, very honored, when i heard that president bill clinton and secretary hillary clinton was coming today. and i think it's appropriate to say it-- and i'd like you to stand up, i'd like you to stand up. ( applause ) >> brangham: then it was back outside, for a ceremonial review of the troops; and the trip down pennsylvania avenue, from the capitol to the white house. protests continued, but the parade proceeded without interruption. the first family watched the parade from the white house viewing box. for the pbs "newshour", william brangham. >> woodruff: so >> woodruff: our john yang was on the platform on the west side of the capitol for the ceremony today. john, you had a view most of us didn't. >> that's right, judy. we were right there next to it. it was a fascinating day. it was full of tradition. it seemed like

they certainly tried to the f-35 right now is blocked until secretary mattis submits a o repo turkey. basically congress is worried that turkey is getting the f-3 and also getting a russian surface to air missile that could could actually destroy the f-35. >> finally in yemen the u.s. supported the saudi led coalitions in conducting missions over yemen, is there continued funding for that in here. >> there is. but it restricts some of wtha the u.s. can do with that coalition. and the fear is that the coalition is frankly carrying civilians. that we have seen a lot of supports were with sowdee gtargeting or hitting ths leaki3 hospitals and what congress is trying to go is tell the military hey, we're not that comfortable with it, you need toin crease ouor repng and you need to restrict what you do and that operational detail a real sign that congress sun happy with some of the things cthat thalition is doing. >> very quickly, just step back for me, is is a big major military buildup the president promised. >> st the largest pay he in nine years, the soldiers, marines, would be very hap

secretary mattis made that clear after meeting with president ashraf ghani and other leaders. >> 2017 is going to be another tough year for the valiant afghan security forces and the international troops who have stood and will continue to stand shoulder to shoulder with afghanistan against terrorism. >> brangham: just three days before, taliban fighters, disguised as government troops, killed at least 140 afghan soldiers. officials believe the final death toll will be higher, making this the single deadliest attack on an afghan base in years. it happened at a compound in northern balkh province. >> brangham: also today: at least four security guards were killed, when a suicide bomber hit a u.s. operated base in the east of the country. all this, amid reports that russia is funneling weapons to the taliban, something the top u.s. commander in afghanistan essentially confirmed. >> we had the overt legitimacy lent to the taliban by the russian that really occurred during late last year beginning through this process they've been undertaking. >> so you are not refuting that they are send

m afraid, with the kind of people around him when you don't have a genal mattis anymore and he just lost his acting secretary ofefense, that he doesn't even have people around him that are going to be giving him sound advice n it comes with how to deal with this. so my answer, is number one, if he is serious about doing anything there, he has to go to congress for authorization of military force, henot rely on the 9/11 al quaida authorization ofilitary force, and that's something we hope to be voting on next week. then secondly, ifs president, we would negotiateve oursback into the nuclear agreement to make sure that iran doesn't get a nucar weapon. >> woodruff: that the u.s. pulled out of. a question about former vice president biden leading in all the pol he has created a stir among democrats this week with comments he made about, back in the 1970s, he said he had god working relationships with a number of senators who had very different views, senators on the far right of the political spectrum but saihe worked wi them in order to get things done.oo senator coryr has taken issue with

and last week, he had this to say: >> i think secretary tillerson, secretary mattis, and chief of staff kelly are those people that help separate our country from chaos. >> woodruff: a sunday "twitter" feud followed, between corker and mr. trump. on one side: the president, saying corker begged for his endorsement before opting not to run for re-election, an account that a corker aide then denied. the president also alleged corker was "largely responsible" for the iran nuclear agreement. corker replied: "it's a shame the white house has become an adult day care center." the soured relationship is a far cry from the campaign, when corker said he was voting for trump and was considered as a vice presidential running mate. at an event in kentucky today, senate majority leader mitch mcconnell called corker "a valuable member" of the senate g.o.p. caucus, and "a particularly important part of the budget debate" looming on capitol hill. of course, the tennessee republican also still wields the gavel in the powerful senate foreign relations committee. and for more now on the president's fight

and defense secretary james mattis, who led troops on the ground during the afghan invasion. they've teamed up with current commander general john nicholson, who just yesterday painted an apocalyptic picture if the u.s. abandoned afghanistan. >> if we were to fail, it would unleash waves of migration in the millions around the world. if we were to fail, it would embolden jihadists globally to >> putting some more firepower back in can make a huge difference at the right time and at the right place to be successful. >> reporter: from 2011 to 2013 general john allen was the u.s.' top commander in afghansitan. last year he campaigned against donald trump, for hillary clinton: >> hillary clinton will be exactly, exactly the kind of commander-in-chief america needs. >> reporter: but today he's backing president trump if he increases troop numbers. >> here's an opportunity for president trump to make decisions that can put us on the road to the success he's looking for. >> reporter: allen and the president's military advisors say deploying more troops that are better integrated and

. >> woodruff: in a statement this afternoon, defense secretary james mattis said friday's u.s. missile strike damaged or destroyed 20% of syria's operational aircraft, and jets could no longer refuel or rearm at the base. for more on u.s. options in syria, relations with russia and the ongoing crisis with north korea, i'm joined by retired admiral mike mullen. he served as chairman of the joint chiefs of staff from 2007 to 2011. syria, first of all. was the u.s. strike on that ai airfield justified? >> i think it was justified. i think it sent a pretty strong message nat the use of chemical weapons -- that the use of chemical weapons which are banned globally is not to be tolerated and i think that was the main message. what has been a little surprising to me, anyway, is to find out through media that there actually have been several chemical attacks recently, with some belief on my part and i think a lot of people that we thought we got rid of the chemical weapons with the regime that president obama and president putin put in place. that's a bit of a surprise, but i think we

who are very respected-- this was something they were looking at for a long time, and according to mattis it was a very successful mission. >> woodruff: the raid had been in the planning stage for months. it took place five days after mr. trump took office. >> sreenivasan: the president's cabinet gained a commerce secretary today. billionaire investor wilbur ross easily won confirmation in the senate last night. after being sworn-in by vice president pence this morning, ross said he hopes the democratic support he received is a sign of bipartisan progress to come. >> woodruff: the nominee for director of national intelligence is promising his full support for a congressional investigation into russia's meddling in last year's election. former indiana senator dan coats had his confirmation hearing today, and told lawmakers they will get all the intelligence they need. >> russia has a long history of propaganda, and trying to influence various nations' cultures and elections and so forth. it's a very key issue, that we understand fully what has happened and how it happened, and have full re

. >> i just spoke to our great general mattis, just now, who reconfirmed that, and i quote, ryan was a part of a highly successful raid that generated large amounts of vital intelligence that will lead to many more victories in the future against our enemies. ryan's legacy is etched into eternity. thank you. [ applause ] >> and ryan is looking down right now, you know that, and he is very happy because i think he just broke a record. [ applause ] >> for it is a bible teaches us, there is no greater act of love than to lay down one's life for one's friends. ryan laid down his life for his friends, for his country and for our freedom, and we will never forget ryan. [ applause ] >> to those allies who wonder what kind of a friend america will be, look no further than the heroes who wear our uniform. our foreign policy calls for a direct, robust and meaningful engagement with the world. it is american leadership based on vital security interests that we share with our allies all across the globe. we strongly support nato, an alliance forged through the bonds of two world wars, that dethr