>> tonight, healing in tucson. one week after the deadly shootings, the store where it happened reopens, while new details emerge about the accused gunman's actions. i'm michelle miller. also tonight, turmoil in tunisia. riots and looting break out on the streets after the country's longtime leader is forced to flee the country. and the movement and the meetia. on martin luther king's birthday, new insights into how the civil rights movement harnessed the power of mass media. >> if you're going to beat us, beat us in the light of day. beat us when the camera's on. captioning sponsored by cbs

this is the "cbs evening news" >> good evening. exactly one week after the shooting that left six people dead and 13 wounded, tucson is showing signs of returning to normal today. heeshz the latest-- doctors say congresswoman gabrielle giffords no longer needs a ventilator. a shooting victim was arrested today and charged with making threats of his own. and at least five house members around the country held "congress on your corner" constituent meetings. john blackstone is in tucson tonight with more. good evening, john. >> reporter: good evening, michelle. today, doctors removed a breathing tube from congresswoman gabrielle giffords' throat. she was given a tracheotomy, a tube in her wind pipe and feeding tube. doctors say this is standard procedure for patients with severe brain injuries and that her treatment is proceeding as planned. at the scene of the shootings outside a tucson supermarket, employee asks. shoppers paused for a painful

moment of silence exactly a week after the gunfire and bloodshed. >> i'm sorry they lost their lives, but i'm thinking of all the heroes that were here that day and in our store. >> reporter: the supermarket reopened this morning for the first time since the shootings, and for employees returning to work meant confronting disturbing memories. when she heard the gunfire, sheila mott ran out of the store and found nine-year-old christina green near death and the woman beside her severely wounded. >> she was bleeding. i could just see the blood coming out of her stomach-- i can still see that. and i told her, "you need to lay down. your little girl will be fine. you shouldn't be moving." >> i walked up. all i saw was chaos, lots of people moving around, people on the ground. >> reporter: paramedic tony compagno was one of the first on the scene and had to separate the living from the dead. >> it was tough. it was very tough. i'll admit it right now, when i

got up there, my mind went a little blank for a while. >> reporter: what liz guerra chose to remember today was not the horror but the heroism. >> there were people that were elderly that jumped in to do so much. i said that just spoke volumes about people and what they're willing to do to help others. >> reporter: friends and family today remembered another of the six who were killed at the funeral for 79-year-old phyllis schneck, mother of three and dprm of seven. a week later, more pieces are being added to the disturbing profile of the accused shooter jared loughner. in a video obtained by the "los angeles times" and posted at "latimes .com, loughner walks through his community college, talking behind the camera. >> this is my genocide school. ( laughs ) where i'm going to be homeless because of the school. >> we're still trying to find out as much as we can about him. >> reporter: a long-planned gun show went on as scheduled in tucson today but in this western city, there has been no apparent backlash against firearms.

in yet another twist in this story, one of the shooting victims, eric fuller, who was hit in the leg, was arrested today at a town hall meeting organized by abc news. after a discussion of gun rights, fuller held up his cell phone, said to another member at the meeting, "you're dead." he was charged with threats and intimidation and was involuntary committed. michelle. >> john blackstone in tucson. thank you. overseas, the north african nation of tunisia has a third leader in two days tonight following a popular uprising that sent its former president into exile in saudiy arabia. the turmoil is far from over, however, and the country's future course is still very much in doubt. elaine quijano has the latest. >> reporter: after more than two decades of rule by one man, zine el abidene ben ali, tunisia is now a country in chaos. massive protests over government

corruption, political repression, rising food prices, and unemployment forced president ben ali to flee >> essentially the military took matters into their own hands and drove him from the country. >> reporter: anger in this north african country of 10.5 million people has been boiling for weeks. a 2008 state department cable made public last month by wiki leaks said the ben ali family was the nexus of tunisian corruption and a quasi-mafia. tunisia's crisis sent hordz of european tourists rushing to the airport. and on the streets of france, belgium, and germany, thousands of tunisian immigrants marched in support of regime chase. some citizens were emboldened to voice similar views. "every country in this situation should speak up" this man says. "we need change." but experts say predictions of

revolutionary change across the arab world are premature. >> you can't say for certain that what happened in tunisia is likely to happen in other places. >> reporter: just this week, secretary of state hillary clinton called on arab regimes to offer a more positive vision for their people while president obama applauded the courage and dignity of the tunisian people and called for free elections there. in tunisia, the prime minister briefly took over as president, but under pressure, quickly abandoned the post. today, tunisia's parliament speaker was sworn in as interim president. >> nobody would have predicted after 23 years of rule in a country that has a reputation for being one of the worst police states in the region, that people power would be able to drive the dictator from office. >> reporter: people power making history. elaine quijano, cbs news, new york. >> for a firsthand account of the fast-moving development devn tunisia, we're joined on the phone by "new york times" cairo

bureau chief, david kirkpatrick. good evening, david. >> reporter: good evening to you. >> set the scene for us. what are you seeing out on the streets of the capital tonight? >> now, it's dark here. and it's been, frankly, a frightening day. this morning, there was a new presence on the street-- large numbers of young men, newly deputized with police vests, but otherwise in plain clothes, and carrying guns and clubs. and though nominally police they were, frankly, a little intimidating. i think most people wisely stayed off the streets for fear of the police. there were tanks in evidence around downtown, frequent gunfire. from my hotel room where i was working this afternoon around 3 45, i heard a particularly loud burst of gunfire, ran to the window, saw tear gas rising up once again from the main boulevard here, and i was able to see some rooftop snipers

aiming down at the pedestrians below. snipers have been a particularly terrifying aspect of the tunisian government's response to the recent wave of protests. a lot of the protesters themselves can't believe it because it's, you know, it's like killing your own citizens in cold blood. >> let's talk about the current interim president who announced this creation of a new unity government. do you think this will help in the protests? >> reporter, you know, that's a good question. i haven't heard any credible talk yet about a unity government. the new interim president, who is the speaker of the parliament, has said he's going to hold elections in want next 60 days. if he does hold free and fair elections, that will be a first for tunisia, and probably for the region. and how all that's going to unfold, i think remains to be seen. >> david kirkpatrick thanks for putting it into context and stay safe.

>> reporter: thanks very much. >> a military advisory panel is recommending that women be allowed to serve in front-line combat units. women make up 14% of military personnel but are generally restricted to support roles. the report says keeping women out of combat is a barrier to advancement. it's been a deadly day for u.s. forces in iraq with the deaths of three american soldiers. officials say two were killed at a u.s. base in mosul by an iraqi soldier who, apparently, smuggled live bullets into a training exercise. still to come on tonight's cbs evening news, how to cut $100 billion from the federal budget.

>> for the first time, the national debt soared over the $14 trillion mark this week, and as this display in midtown manhattan shows, it's still going up. according to our latest cbs news poll, 77% of americans want to

reduce the deficit by cuts in spending. just 9% want higher taxes. but when asked for specific budget cuts, 62% had no suggestions. for the new republican house majority, coming up with specifics is an immediate challenge as jan crawford reports. >> reporter: as house republicans meet at this weekend's g.o.p. retreat and fine tune their agenda, one campaign promise is front and center-- making sharp cuts in runaway government spending. >> with 10% unemployment and massive debt, the american people want us to focus on cutting spending and growing our economy. >> reporter: with the national debt topping $14 trillion, republicans have promised to slash anywhere from $60 billion to $100 billion from the domestic budget. >> this is as basic as second grade mathematics. you can't keep spending more than you take in. >> reporter: a simple concept but a tricky problem-- what

programs do you cut? republicans haven't decided. they want to return government spending back to levels from 2008 without cutting spending for the military, domestic security, or veterans. that means cuts for every other department, including education, scientific research, transportation, and the arts. >> it's about 20% of the funding in program areas where they have targeted for funding so this will have real consequences for individuals, for family, and the economy as a whole. >> reporter: one republican proposal would cut up to 200,000 federal jobs over the next decade, a 10% reduction in the government's work force. democrats say slashing jobs and making deep cuts in the budget inevitably will hurt the economy. >> now is not the time to take deep cuts in the budget. that's a recipe for taking us back toward a recession. >> we've got to come back to the basics. every single american is hurt if

we continue to spend like we have been spending. >> reporter: but even if republicans make the cuts, the senate, controlled by democrats, is unlikely to go along. regardless, republicans say they made a pledge and they're going to stick to it. jan crawford, cbs news, capitol hill. >> and just ahead on tonight's cbs affect new evening news, hew republican party chairman but not exactly a household name.

>> the republican party, newly energized from last novae election triums, has decided to change leaders anyway. late yesterday, the party ousted the controversial michael steele and replaced him with a former top aide. whit johnson has more.

>> reporter: his face is likely unfamiliar to the political lay man which may be exactly what the g.o.p. doctor ordered. >> my name is reince priebus. if you need some help with comedy central, i'm sure you can google it. >> reporter: after seven rounds of voting friday, reince priebus captured the chairman manship of the republican national committee. >> and now, i exit stage right. >> reporter: out is the controversial and outspoken michael steele, who, despite sweeping g.o.p. victories in the 2010 midterms, was at times at odds with his own party. >> if you don't want me in the job, fire me. but until then, shut up. >> reporter: he was criticized for his verbal gaffes. >> not in the history of mankind has the government ever created a job. >> reporter: most damaging were the accusations stool mismanaged the rnc, running up a $22 million debt. >> in the end he was a punch line in the media.

>> reporter: as party chair in wisconsin, priebus helped republicans win the governorship and a new senate seat. he even served under steele as general counsel to the r.n.c., but priebus faces tremendous challenges during his two-year term. beyond the fiscal deficiencies, he'll need to mend the g.o.p. identity. >> what priebus brought into the race as wisconsin republican party chairman he did have a record of reaching out to the tea party. >> reporter: something he'll have to continue if he wants to achieve his top priority-- >> defeat barack obama in 2012, save our country, and in the process, save our party. >> reporter: and nothing saves a party like money, something priebus' low profile and absence in the public eye could actually help the g.o.p. win back some of those big donors. whit johnson, cbs news, washington. >> still ahead on tonight's cbs evening news, wikipedia, the online encyclopedia, turns 10.

>> 10 years ago today, a web site with a big idea was launched. wikipedia, the online encyclopedia, has been called the largest collective project in history, and despite some concerns about accuracy, it's now ranked fifth on the list of top web sites in the world. elizabeth palmer has more. >> reporter: it's the online, free encyclopedia, offering 400 million visitors a month facts on, well, just about everything. from triple-a baseball to z.z.z., which is, tbl or not, a dutch drum and organ rock band ♪ happy birthday wikipedia ♪.

>> reporter: at the site's tenth birthday party in london, cofounder jimmy wales says people essentially want to share believe. >> when i started wikipedia i was just basically a guy at home in my pajamas, like everyone else typing on the internet and saying, "hey, everybody, doesn't it seem like it would be fun and a cool idea?" >> reporter: proof that it was, wikipedia is still ad free, funded by donations and entirely written by volunteers. in some fields, like broadcasting, for instance, having a personal wikipedia entry is good for the professional profile but it's also a big unnerving because anyone can edit it at any time. i just checked mine and it looks all right. but wikipedia can occasionally be very wrong. in 2008, on the entry for the village of denshaw in england, pranksters wrote that the local sport was sheep hurling. in 2005, a scottish call center worker built an entire false

wiki profile of himself as a highly deck rail decorated sold. >> people sometimes do vandalize wikipedia. >> reporter: it's not quite as accurate as the gold standard of the encyclopedia britannica but it is a fine first resort whether writing a term paper or settling a barroom bet. >> it's made my life easier. >> i'm sure i'd learn to survive without it but i hope it doesn't go away. >> reporter: with plans to open an office in india and flush with $16 million in recent donations, wikipedia has come of age. elizabeth palmer, cbs news. >> up next on tonight's cbs evening news, how the civil rights movement used images toerally a nation.

>> and finally tonight, although we don't mark the holiday until monday, today is the actual birthday of dr. martin luther king jr. had he lived he would be 82 years old. along with other civil rights leaders, king used the growing power of the media to awaken americans to long-overlooked injustice. mark strassman shows us how they did it. >> reporter: as a story, the civil rights movement had it all-- good versus evil, drama, social upheaval. but at first, america's major media ignored it, especially in the south. >> it was our responsibility to find a way to dramatize the issue. >> reporter: congressman john lewis says that the movement's leaders realized to bring change, they needed to reach white americans. how did you do that? >> as a movement, we literally put our bodies on the line.

>> influence on the civil rights coverage. . >> reporter: dominika cibulkova cowrote the "race beat" a book about the media and movement. >> it's just that no one knew about it. >> reporter: bee nine 57, major northern newspapers discovered the drawm and the story. >> reporter: how do you feel about integrated passengers? >> reporter: the television networks followed. even major southern media paid attention to the open hatred. >> you've got to keep the whites and the blacks spraet sprait! >> reporter: and the violence response to peaceful protests. >> if you're going to beat us, beat us in the light of day. beat us while the camera's on. >> reporter: this was selma, alabama, 1965. among the bloodied, john lewis. >> american people could not stand it, to see young children and old women being knocked down by firehoses and chased by police dogs. >> we will dramatize this whole situation by marching by the

thousands. >> reporter: television also found martin luther king. >> the reverend martin luther king jr. will face the nation. >> reporter: americans heard a leader who shattered racial stereotypes. >> we feel that the time has come for a full-scale assault on the system of segregation. >> reporter: this man is someone you could actually talk to. and who seemed quite reasonable. and for white southerners, this was new information,. >> reporter: and part of a national awakening. >> it was the media that carried our message to the rest of the nation. >> reporter: protests became progress. once the media woke up and americans rose up. >>ed this god, almighty, we are free at last! >> reporter: mark strassmann, cbs news, atlanta. >> and that's the cbs evening news. later on cbs, "48 hours mystery." i'm michelle miller, cbs news, in new york. russ mitchell will be here tomorrow. good night.

captioning sponsored by cbs captioned by me of tucson's tragedy. gun rights under fire. how it is business as usual as a bay area gun show in the wake of tucson's tragedy. cleaning up violence by, well, cleaning up. how one local leader is using an old approach to deal with crime. and rethinking his hero's status. how ,,