captioning sponsored by macneil/lehrer productions >> lehrer: a massive earthquake struck japan today, the largest in the nation's history. it triggered tsunami waves that killed at least 1,000 people. and the entire pacific, including the west coast of the u.s., was put on alert. good evening. i'm jim lehrer. >> woodruff: and i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight, we have video of the disaster, and talk to three people in tokyo for firsthand accounts of what they experienced and how the nation responded. >> lehrer: and we get an early assessment of how well japan was

prepared for the dual hit of the earthquake and the tsunami. >> woodruff: then, we excerpt president obama's remarks about the federal budget stalemate and the uprising in libya at a white house news conference. >> we are tightening the noose on qaddafi, seymour and more isolated internationally both through sanctions as well as an arms embargo. >> lehrer: and mark shields and david brooks analyze the week's news. that's all ahead on tonight's newshour. major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> okay, listen. somebody has got to get serious. >> i think... >> we need renewable energy. >> ...renewable energy is vital to our planet. >> you hear about alternatives, right? wind, solar, algae. >> i think it's got to work an a big scale. and i think it's got to be affordable. >> so, where are they? >> it has to work in the real world. at chevron, we're investing millions in solar and biofuel

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and... 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: the most powerful earthquake ever recorded in japan unleashed a devastating tsunami today. the quake-- magnitude 8.9-- struck less than 100 miles offshore. it sent a wall of water crashing into sendai and other towns. japanese news reports said the death toll could exceed 1,000. the quake hit at 2:46 in the afternoon, local time, and within minutes, tsunami waves blasted ashore. a surge that measured 23 feet tall crushed homes, factories, cars and ships in a rush of destruction that carried burning buildings and everything else.

huge walls of water crashed over sea walls, roads and port facilities. the raging tide tossed fishing boats like toys, slamming them into each other and washing them under highway overpasses. even larger vessels anchored in port were caught up, and some boats offshore were trapped in enormous whirlpools. from there, the blankets of muddy water choked with debris surged several miles inland. acres of farmland were swallowed near sendai, while the city's airport was inundated with thick mud covering its runways. even as the water receded, it left miles of debris in the streets of shattered towns. the quake also flattened buildings along 1,300 miles of japan's east coast, and the violent shaking sent crowds rushing out of high rise office buildings. >> ( translated ): i managed to crawl out of that building by myself. >> reporter: so did you get out by yourself? >> ( translated ): yes.

>> woodruff: the cooling system failed at a nuclear power plant in onahama, halfway between sendai and tokyo. several thousand people were evacuated, and officials moved to release slightly radioactive vapor from the plant to ease pressure in the reactor. >> ( translated ): due to the air release procedure, there's a possibility that radioactive materials may be released into the air. the amount is minimal. >> woodruff: farther down the coast, the earthquake touched off a huge fire at an oil refinery, sending 100 foot flames into the sky. transportation was severely disrupted throughout the country as highways leading to the worst-hit coastal areas buckled. and train services in northeastern japan and in tokyo were suspended, leaving untold numbers stranded in stations or roaming the streets. >> ( translated ): today, it was scary. now, i think i am going to walk and stay at a friend's place who lives nearby. >> ( translated ): if there are

no taxis left, i guess i don't have any choice other than finding a place to stay tonight. >> woodruff: more than 50 power aftershocks came in the hours following the initial quake, one of them a magnitude 7.1. the tremors were felt nearly 240 miles away in tokyo, so strong they interrupted a parliament meeting. tokyo's narita airport was closed indefinitely. more than four million buildings remained without power around the capital city and its suburbs. and thousands were still stranded where the streets were jammed with cars, buses and trucks. japanese officials said they were straining to respond to the scope of the devastation. >> ( translated ): the situation is worse than expected. the government will do its best to support the effected areas and contain the damage. we have received info that a great number are dead.

there's a chance waves larger than the first could hit over coming days. >> woodruff: in washington, president obama said he spoke to prime minister naoto kan in the hours after the quake, and said the united states was ready to send assistance. >> you know, i'm... i'm heartbroken by this tragedy. i think, when you see what's happening in japan, you are reminded that, for all our differences in culture or language or religion, that ultimately humanity is one. >> woodruff: as night fell, rescue crews were still searching for the missing. those left homeless began stocking up on food, preparing to sleep in evacuation centers without electricity. and fires triggered by broken gas lines in sendai raged in the darkness. overall, it was the deadliest

earthquake event to strike japan since a 7.2 magnitude quake rocked kobe city in 1995, killing 6,400 people. >> by now it is sale morning and the extent of the devastation is clear. new images show vast tracks of coastal areas underwater from the tsunami. and smoke is still rising from fires, that began many hours ago. to get firsthand accounts of today's disaster i spoke with three people in tokyo earlier to hear their observations. >> kenneth cukier, a correspondent for the economy exist spoke to us via a ask kype connection and told us where he was when the quake hit. >> i was in a coffee shop in central tokyo, working on an article when suddenly the table, a huge oak table that would seat 14 people around it, an entire tree started shaking considerably, too heavy to normally shake. people looked up. we saw the chandeliers and

lights swaying in an eerily way sort of like in a submarine and in the movies. we realized that something was going on. now tokyoites are used to earthquakes and tremors, once or twice a month however they are usually of a short duration and not that big maybe a book will fall but that's it this was very different and people were very-- looking at each other, nervous. after about 10 seconds of considerable amounts of movement, the word ok started being said which means big, or a big one. suddenly it started again and people got very up set. they started running out the doors. the entire building was pitching and swaying. >> public transit shut down in tokyo. surrounding wide spread gridlock. >> japan is an incredibly orderly and harmonious country can. so what you saw were streams

of people walking but they're walking at an orderly pace. and when the light turned red at the crosswalk everyone stopped even though the cars were in gridlock they could have walked through, they kept their pace and realized in situations like this, what is most important is order. they are orderly in the best of times but particularly orderly now. that's very different than in most other countries where you might see looting, where people are going to exploit the cayous. >> financial times reporter jonathan soble also spoke to us through skype, he was in his fourth floor apartment leaving for an interview when the shaking gang. >> the reaction in tokyo really depended on altitude at the time. i heard from people scared for their lives on the 30th, 40th floor of high office towers and spent a panicked hour or more trying to get downstair wells, a situation

that probably americans brings another disaster to mind for americans. but then at the same outside of my house there is a small park and there were there were boys playing catch, they kept playing catch even as people came out of the buildings around them. you know, to get out of their houses. >> they said it was a condition confi nuclear power facilities damaged by the temblor. >> with-- the most affected nuclear plant to release air pressure that was building up inside one of the reactors which is potentially dangerous. and the relief itself also carries risks because they're saying aing that it could end up releasing what they call a tiny amount of

radioactive material into the air. despite the extensive damage, engineer kit miyamoto says that stringent building code and wide spread retrofitting of older buildings has made japan the world's best earthquake prepared country. >> we experience major earthquakes nirbly-- nearly every ten years so you have the contractors and engineers and general public, they become so aware of the risk of danger. there are technologies available to do right in very cost-effective way. for example, if you spend sometimes even just only 10 to 15% of a replacement cost, you can make this dangerous concrete structure safe as new buildings. so there are technologies like that. you can use shock absorbing devices, base isolations,

fiber reinforced plastic there are many different methodologies to make it stronger in a very cost-effective manner. >> when the quake struck miyamoto was on a train which automatically stopped in and on its tracks. he walked to a fearby station. once home, like many countrymen, he turned on the television. >> one town is literally burned down by the fire. and because of the earthquake. and also flood caused by the tsunami, measured between four meter to up to seven meters. i mean seven meterses, literally are you talk approximating about two story building, two story building height, you know, the water wall essentially come up to you at the speed of the jetliner. and warning time is very-- very short because the an-- it was about 80 miles offshore of sendai,

they probably had five, 10 minutes maximum. >> reporter: miyamoto says some seawallses have been built to help withstand tsunamies around japan but that the water hit where the wallses were not. >> lehrer: the >> lehrer: the earthquake also sent tsunami waves roaring across the pacific for thousands of miles in every direction. alerts were generated around much of the pacific rim, from south asia to alaska, hawaii, canada, the mainland u.s. and south america. newshour correspondent spencer michels reports from san francisco. >> reporter: civil defense sirens blared across hawaii, 3,800 miles from japan, as the warnings came hours before the first waves hit. >> we have water and stuff at home already. we just need gas. charging up our phones and everything. better be safe than sorry. we just pray for the best, though, hope everything works out for everyone. >> reporter: most heeded the appeals to move away from coastal areas, escaping seven-

foot waves that swamped beaches. as the day wore on, there was some flooding, but only minor damage and no injuries. it all came just a year after the chilean earthquake triggered similar alerts. >> i think that, because of the last tsunami situation that hawaii had, that we have some practice. so i really felt like people knew what to do. everyone had a very good response, i think, just because they've had practice and they realize how important it is. >> reporter: several hours later, the waves, moving 500 miles an hour, struck north america. in another stroke of good fortune, the surge arrived along the pacific northwest at low tide. but there was damage. in crescent city, near the oregon border, one man taking photos was reportedly swept into the water and is presumed dead. at least two others were rescued. boats were crushed in the harbor and surging water destroyed docks.

in santa cruz, people gawked at boats in the marina that were smashed into each other by waves of three to four feet that came rushing into the narrow passage leading to the harbor. here in the san francisco area, it was hard to tell there was anything wrong. some beaches and low lying areas were evacuated in anticipation of the surging water. and the great highway along the coast was shut down, and officials warned residents to stay away. thousands of people heeded such warnings from washington to oregon to northern california, leaving escape routes jammed with traffic. others took it all in stride, as in southern california, where surfers in redondo beach took the opportunity to hit the water. >> woodruff: coming up: we'll have more on the devastating earthquake in japan; plus, president obama's news conference; and shields and brooks. but first, the other news of the day. here's kwame holman. >> holman: libyan leader moammar

qaddafi kept up his assault today on rebels in the east. government and militia forces shelled areas around the key oil port of ras lanouf for a second day, killing at least five people. libyan state television showed qaddafi loyalists celebrating in the city's residential areas. but rebels still were holding the oil facilities. qaddafi supporters also celebrated in zawiyah, just outside tripoli, as the government let journalists tour the newly recaptured town. we have a report on zawiyah from jonathan rugman of independent television news. >> reporter: this event, apparently timed for our benefit and for the camera of libyan state television, which cheered them on. a propaganda victory, but around them, the destruction of several days of battle. bunting, hastily erected in the last 24 hours, failed to hide the worst of the damage for the rebellion here has been savagely quashed.

this mosque, which served as the rebel's medical clinic, has been reduced to ruins. and fear is back on the streets- - with state officials everywhere, nobody other than qaddafi supporters dare speak openly about what happened here. >> all the people free now. you can see this. all the people happy for moammar qaddafi. >> reporter: but there were people who didn't like moammar qaddafi? >> oh, some people are without libya, for osama bin laden. >> reporter: these were the graves of rebels who died fighting in what had been renamed "martyr's square." but look at those graves today. one man told us the bodies had been removed with bulldozers. if that's true, that could be a war crime by qaddafi's supporters. when i was here on sunday, i counted the graves of 20 people buried right here who had been killed in the fighting. now, those graves have been completely eradicated. it has taken two weeks for colonel qaddafi to subdue the

rebellion in zawiyah, but subdue it he has. there were 20 people buried there? >> i can't see. >> reporter: i saw them. i saw the graves. where'd they go? >> no people there, no people there. >> reporter: zawiyah is a government town now. the spirit of resistance has been forced deep underground. the town that gives every sign that the spark of rebellion has been extinguished. >> holman: security also was tight today inside tripoli, preventing any protests after friday prayers. and to the east, there were reports of new government air strikes near two more towns. in washington, president obama warned libyan leaders again today that "the world is watching". he defended his response so far, saying the pressure is increasing on the qaddafi regime, with new sanctions and a freeze on billions of dollars in assets. the president said a no-fly zone

over libya remains a possibility. >> we are slowly tightening the noose on qaddafi, i have not taken any optionses off the table at this point. i think it important to understand that we have moved about as swiftly as an international coalition has ever moved to impose sanctions on qaddafi. >> holman: the president played down remarks by his director of national intelligence at a congressional hearing yesterday. james clapper said that, given qaddafi's military power, "in the longer term, the regime will prevail." mr. obama said clapper was giving a "hard-headed assessment about military capability", not a statement of u.s. policy. police in saudi arabia apparently kept the lid on attempts at mass protest today. hundreds of security officers were on the streets in riyadh. several hundred people did demonstrate in the heavily shiite eastern part of the country. in yemen, record crowds-- up to

40,000 people-- turned out in sanaa. they demanded again that president saleh step down. witnesses in southern yemen reported police fired on protesters near aden. at least nine were wounded. and in bahrain, security forces used tear gas and rubber bullets to drive off crowds. defense secretary robert gates warned nato defense ministers today against a quick exit from afghanistan. the first withdrawals are set to begin as early as july. gates said the strategy should reflect conditions on the ground and not political considerations. at the same time, the ministers, meeting in brussels, endorsed a list of cities and provinces where afghan forces will start taking control. president obama has opened the possibility of tapping the u.s. strategic oil reserve. he offered that option today, with oil prices above $100 a barrel and gas prices heading toward $4 dollars a gallon. on wall street today, the dow jones industrial average gained more than 59 points to close at

12,044. the nasdaq rose 14 points to close at 2,715. for the week, the dow lost 1%; the nasdaq fell 2.5%. that bill stripping public employees in wisconsin of most bargaining rights is now law. republican governor scott walker signed the measure today. governor walker spoke today from wisconsin. >> when people hear those facts, see that and realize that this is not only about protecting noingt only middle class jobs, avoiding layoffses that other states are doing but protecting miingd el class taxpayers, about making the government run better and ultimately truly about rewarding good employeeses who right now can'ting singled out as extraordinary employees, the more people get the facts and the facts are clear, the better off we're going to be.

>> holman: the fight is not over yet. democrats moved today to challenge the new law in court. the u.s. house voted today to kill a program of mortgage assistance for homeowners. republicans pushed through the measure in a drive to cut spending. the $1 billion program is aimed at helping people who've lost their jobs or fallen ill and can't pay the mortgage. the bill faces shaky prospects in the democratic-controlled senate and a presidential veto threat. arizona congresswoman gabrielle giffords is making a rapid recovery after being shot in the head, and she may be taking in a space launch. her doctors in houston confirmed that today. they said giffords now can walk with assistance and speak in complete sentences. they also said she could be at cape canaveral next month, when her astronaut husband mark kelly begins a space shuttle mission. >> we're going to be assessing this over the next few weeks, but we think there's a good possibility that she will be there. >> we have to make sure that it will be safe for her to perform

any activity, if the goal is for her to witness the launch in april. then, our number one concern is that it will be safe and appropriate for her to do that. >> holman: the doctors said giffords has been told about being shot at a political event in tucson in january. they said she has no memory of the attack. the national football league labor talks failed to reach agreement today, and the players' union formally de-certified. that clears the way for individual players to file anti- trust lawsuits against the league. in the meantime, owners could lock out the players in the nfl's first work stoppage since 1987. the union's contract with the nfl expires at midnight. those are some of the day's major stories. now, back to judy. >> woodruff: and back to the earthquake and tsunami story. for more on the magnitude of this and japan's efforts, i am joined by: sheila smith, a senior fellow for japan studies at the council on foreign relations; chris meinig, a lead engineer

for the national oceanic and atmospheric administration. his team tracks tsunamis around the globe, and that information is used to give warnings and forecasts. and jim harris, a structural engineer whose firm designs earthquake-resistant buildings, among other things. thank you all three for being with us. sheila smith to you first, you know the country of japan. help us, this devastation happened in the northeastern part of the country around the city of sendai. give us a sense of what that area was like before disaster struck. >> sure, it was a lovely part of japan. it was not as densely populated as other sections down further south, tokyo region and further south. but nonetheless it was a place where many japanese traveled as tourists for business trips. sendai was to the a small town. it was a 15th largest city in japan so a medium size city by japanese standards. >> woodruff: two million. >> 2 million population, when are you looking at the

mid have clipses a lot of what you are seeing are a number of coastal villages, fishing port, for example, that fires are at. but sendai itself is a very modern city and a large city. >> woodruff: and highly populated. >> highly populated area. >> woodruff: chris meinig, help us understand. the earthquake hit and then there was triggered this tsunami. help us understand what happened there. >> sure. the earthquake was a very large earthquake, an 8.9 magnitude earthquake that happened about one kilomete kilometer-- happened in about one kilometer of water. the tsunami was generated from this that was felt as cross the pas civic but most definite vatinging in japan itself. and we're still seeing the effects of the tsunami right now as the coast of south america will be hit by a small tsunami waves here shortly. >> woodruff: why was there so little warning. we were told just a few minutes that the tsunami followed the quake. >> yeah, that's right. because the speed and devastation of the tsunami is amazing. in the open ocean it will

travel the speed of a jetliner. but being so close to shore, there's really only a few moments to react. and the best reaction is to react to the earthquake, to head to higher ground. and of course the japanese have this very much in their culture. they understand this, the word tsunami itself is japanese and they are bred and taught at an early age to react immediately from the earthquake and head to higher ground and to basically save yourself because there really isn't time for a warning in the near field event. >> woodruff: and we heard in the report, we just saw that there are some seawalls that are built around the country. and in this part of the country, but not where this tsunami hit. so there's-- it's not possible to prevent this from doing the kind of devastation that it did. >> yeah, that's correct, judy. it's really the prevention is in the teaching beforehand, you know, in the generationses of bringing up and understanding the warning and effect.

because the seawallses are typically built large enough to cover from the last tsunami. or if there hadn't been one in the region, perhaps there's no seawall at all. so these event are just absolutely devastating and the best thing we can do is be prepared for the near term through education and outreach and constant drillinging very much like the japanese do. and then for the rest of the pacific region, have the ocean instrumentation in place so we can monitor it as it travels across the ocean. >> woodruff: jim harris, a structural engineer, we heard that japan, we heard another engineer say japan may be the best structurally prepared country in the world for earthquakes. if you agree with that, or even if you don't, help us understand what is done to make these buildings withstand the force of something like what happened today. >> yes, actually, i do agree that the japanese are very well prepared. for an event that is almost impossible to prepare for.

this particular earthquake, i think, is far larger than they would have been considering as what i will call a design event that which they try to anticipate in designing buildings and bridges and other structures. i happen to know kit miyamoto who was on your show earlier. i didn't realize he was the person being interviewed until i was listening, standing here in the studio. scratch an, the u.s.-- japan, the u.s., at least western u.s. and new zealand which ironically was struck by a big earthquake not long ago and chile are some of the most well prepared nations on the earth with respect to earthquakes. we have areas that if an earthquake hit it might look more like haiti than chile, for example, but-- . >> woodruff: we being. >> we being the u.s. but on the west coast there is a long tradition of building buildings to generally withstand earthquakes. now they don't necessarily come through undamaged. and we really don't design building to resist

tsunamies. >> woodruff: when you heard-- we heard the eye witnesses talking about violent shaking of these buildings, were what you thinking as you were hearinging that. >> that it was a big earthquake, yes. but i knew that already because of e-mail alerts from the u.s. geological survey which does a great job of putting the information out. but what happens is the ground moves back and forth very rapidly. and the building sitting on it sort of shakes as it struggleses to keep up with the ground. and there's a bit of a whiplash effect. >> woodruff: and it's one thing to build a building to protect against an earthquake but when you have the tsunami on the coastal area, in the coastal area coming, washing over buildings, what can be done to protect building ins path of something like that? >> the typical strategy is to avoid building in those placesment and earthquakes occur so rarely that in many cases it's forgotten or not known that it is a tsunami prone coastline, for example. it's not the same every place by any means. with bridges you can build

very strong pierses and put the deckses so high that they are above where the waves will be. of course that's not necessarily where people want their bridges, sometimes. but with buildings in general, you don't make them strong enough to withstand the force of moving water. >> woodruff: sheila smith, you studied this country. how good a job, how well did the government of japan do today in responding to everything? >> well, i think they also had had not this particular government but the japanese government has had practice from the 1995 kobe earthquake which your report mentioned. and at that time the government response was very week. -- weak. and the japanese public criticized them badly for a delayed response. not getting there in time, not getting their priorities in order. but last night we saw a government that was very focused, very quick, and their prioritieses were very clear. they got the self-defense forces in quickly. they got mobilized. they mobilized the coast guard, the fire, the police, so there was no intraservice competition here. it's a very calm, orderly and all out comprehensive

response, i think. >> woodruff: and we know, sheila smith, that this is a country that has been struggling economically for some time. how big a setback could this be? >> i think all of us, our hearts goes out to the japanese people for the humanitarian costs but this is a society and a country, as you said, it's been struggling in its economic performance for decades. >> woodruff: by the way these are some pictures from today, saturday morning in japan. >> its political transition, a new party came to power in 2009 and that has been a little bumpy for governance in japan. but this devastation, i think, has helped them focus a little bit more on the national needs of the moment. >> woodruff: chris meinig i will come back to you as we look at these pictures from this morning. i think this may be the airport in sendai. we were looking earlier at pictures, just horrible pictures from there. in terms of the tsunami, and further earthquakes, what more do you and other experts look for at this point? >> well, with a quake of

this size, even aftershocks can be devastating sochlingt we need at this point to continue the monitor possess both with our seismic instrumentation around the globe and also what's happeninging in the water. so we continue to be vigilant at this point to look for additional tsunamies that could hit. it's not necessarily the first wave that is the largest wave like we're seeing off our shores now in california where we're seeing devastating affect approximates from just the currents in terms of the marinas going on. so we need to be vigilant, listen the local authorities what is happeninging in the local regions and continue to observe the situation as it happens. >> woodruff: is there a likelihood that there will be further, i mean s it every expectation that there will be aftershocks? >> well, with the quake this size, that's traditionally what has happened is that there have been aftershocks and continuing tremors and they could continue for days at this point. so we need to just monitor and pay attention to the situation, and observe as the time goes on.

>> woodruff: and finally just quickly to you jim harris, as you look at how tokyo, at least, has withstood, it seems to have withstood a lot of this, does it tell you anything about the preparations there? >> yes. i mean i do think it proves that the japanese have made lots of improvements over the years in their building standards for resisting eringt quakes. they learned a lot because they have had so many big earthquakeses to learn from in part. but there were studieses done following the kobe earthquake that showed how much better modern buildings did than the older buildings and i think the same thing will be true in this earthquake and probably more so because they have had another 15 years of good construction. >> woodruff: jim harris, sheila smith and chris meinig, we thank you all three. >> lehrer: this afternoon's white house news conference was

called originally for the president to discuss rising gas prices. but events from japan to libya and the federal budget dominated the questioning. here are some excerpts, beginning with the first question from chuck todd of nbc news. >> reporter: you had said that you want to see qaddafi leave... leave power, leave office. are you prepared to use any means necessary in the united states government to make that happen? >> well, first of all, let's take a look at what we've already done. he is more and more isolated internationally, both through sanctions, as well as an arms embargo. nato will be meeting on tuesday to consider a no-fly zone. and we've been in discussions with both arab countries, as well as african countries, to gauge their support for such an action. in addition, secretary hillary clinton will be meeting with the opposition in the next several days.

i am absolutely clear that it is in the interests of the united states and, more importantly, in the interests of the libyan people, for mr. qaddafi to leave. >> reporter: just to follow up on libya-- and i also have a budget question-- you say you're concerned, but is qaddafi staying. is that an acceptable option for you, ever? and my question on the budget is, there's been some criticism from members of your own party about your leadership on negotiations on spending. and i'm wondering, given that, if you can talk about where you stand on a three-week c.r., on longer-term priorities, and what you would and would not accept on cuts? thank you. >> going back to the qaddafi question, you know, when you say, "is it ever acceptable?" i mean, what i think what you're asking is, you know, are we going to do... engage in any potential military action to make that happen?

when it comes to u.s. military actions, whether it's a no-fly zone or other... other options, you've got to balance costs versus benefits. and, you know, i don't take those decisions lightly. now, with respect to the budget, the republicans in the house passed a budget that has been now rejected in the senate. they are not going to get 100% of what they want. the democrats have put forward spending cuts, many of them pretty painful, that give republicans already half of what they were seeking, because they're the right thing to do. many of those cuts are ones that were already embodied in the budget that i proposed for 2012. now, that's been rejected as well. so here's what we know-- that both sides are going to have to sit down and compromise on prudent cuts somewhere between

what the republicans were seeking that's now been rejected, and what the democrats had agreed to that has also been rejected. it shouldn't be that complicated. we can't keep on running the government based on two-week extensions. that's irresponsible. i mean, we've got a war in afghanistan going on, we've got a wide range of issues facing the country on a day-to-day basis, and the notion that we can't get resolved last year's budget in a sensible way with serious but prudent spending cuts i think defies common sense. so we should be able to get it done. >> reporter: i'd like to go at the libya thing in a slightly different way. in an interview with cbs news, qaddafi's son, saif... said, the plan... said the plan is "to squash the rebels with no mercy." if he follows through, if the qaddafi regime follows through on that, can the united states

simply stand by and do nothing? and i say that in light of the fact that, in the past, you have said there are times when a brutal government is massacring its own citizens that the united states has a moral obligation to intervene militarily. >> i continue to believe that, not only the united states but the international community has an obligation to do what it can to prevent a repeat of something like what occurred in the balkans in the '90s, what occurred in rwanda. and so part of, for example, maintaining 24-hour surveillance of the situation there is for us to have some sort of alert system if you start seeing defenseless civilians who're being massacred by qaddafi's forces. i believe that qaddafi is on the wrong side of history. i believe that the libyan people

are anxious for freedom and the removal of somebody who has suppressed them for decades now. and we are going to be in contact with the opposition, as well as in consultation with the international community, to try to achieve the goal of mr. qaddafi being removed from power. >> lehrer: and to the analysis of shields and brooks-- syndicated columnist mark shields, "new york times" columnist david brooks. david, on libya, how would you describe the president's approach, based on what he just said. >> he's never going to an caused of being rash. the president doesn't do things rashly. he does things deliberately but i thought the press conference was significant because it showed the dynamic of his approach, which is a steady racheting up. i think he's been a little cautious, a little behind. but you saw in the tennor of his remarks a continuing process, yes, we will continue to tighten thes into and i think that metaphor is kind of important because it really does suggest final solution

solution,-- that say bad phrase, it suggests he wants to do something serious at the end of the day. and when you say tighten the noose what you really are saying is we really are uncomfortable with letting qaddafi a massacre people or b stay in power. how quickly they will move it is unsure. i'm sure he hasn't decided but you saw the dynamic of his racheting up of pressure. >> lehrer: do you agree, you saw the dynamic, mark? >> i guess i did what is was perceptive. the question i always have at a press conference is what is the action statement of any president. the president sayses this is a problem. what are we doinging about it i agree with david. de list, the president did list, go through a litany of sanctions and frozen assets and multilateral attempts and efforts. but i thought we all, we knew those had already happened and we're going on. the first time, he called the press conference, jim, to address rising energy prices. and the lead was he may tap

the strategic petroleum reserve. i means that's not exactly let's stand up and march. so for that reason r i just didn't-- i felt the press conference was defensive. >> lehrer: on libya. >> on answering doubts that had been raised. noninvolvement in the budget fight, the question from "u.s.a. today" did reflect that democrats on the hill there is a grumbling and rum reasonabling that the president has been detached. vice president biden in charge of the negotiations. the next thing the vice president was in lithuania, moscow, scandinavian countries. so i think there was a whole tennor was one of addressing problems that had been raised and criticisms that had been raised rather than laying out a course of action. he did involve himself in the budget fight by saying 55,000 teachers, he want would stand by their-- that

cutting head start was unacceptable and pell grantses. but i just didn't get a sense of this is the course that i, as the leader, am going to chart for you. >> lehrer: do you see that, would you make the same criticism. >> yeah, i think in general i would say in the last, since the republicanses assumed majority status in the house, i think that has been the posture, the rope a dope posture from the white house. too positive-- passive posture on a range of fronts. he would say cautious posture and maybe politically he would say we're going to let the republicans hang themselves on aggressive spending but it is not a period where the president has lead from the front. he has lead from the back if at all and sort of drag add long by events. and now the upside of that as secretary gates would say is we haven't gotten involved in anything stupid. and that's true. but there a whole range of things, all the attention on libya has focused on the no-fly zone but there are other things that could be done that are being talked about by the experts to arm the rebels and recognize the rebels, all sorts of intermedia-- intermediate steps and none of those have

been taken and everything that has been taken n many views since tunisia, really, has been slow. >> lehrer: do you think that's a mistake, mark? >> no, i think arming the rebels would be, you know, what rebelses are you going to recall a. we've got a group that mr. sarkozy has recognized that is not a national group, that is a provincial group. there are tribal wars, family groupses. i mean it's not an organizing principles here. so i come back, i mean i think the 39's caution is wise-- the president's caution is wise. it's the opposite, obviously of what, i think, voters have become skeptical about in president bush or maybe hostile and thats was an impulsiveness. barack obama is not impulsive. he's not given to emotional rushing into a situation. but i think what is holding himing back or at least i think is holding him back from those that are urging

greater military involvement or engagement, the experiences we had in both lebanon and somalia. 1983, in lebanon, 240 americans, 220 marineses were blown up at a time when we had two few to fight there and too many to die. and they did die. and we left the peacekeeping mission. in 1994 we left somalia, after we had gone in in the best of circumstances, to save people from starvation, hundreds of thousands of people, naively accepting them to-- expecting them to be grateful. they turned on usment and so we left there, again. so you know, before we go in, anywhere, or make any kind of commitment, what, you know, what are we willing to do. >> lehrer: doesn't it come down, david, in the final a signal sis, if the president or anybody says particularly if the president says this guy's got to go. home mar qaddafi's got to go. well, if it just keeps going slowly and eventually there is only one way to get rid of him and that's with a

rifle, symbolically. in other words, through military action, is that where it goes. >> well, i don't know anybody on either side who really wants to have troops on the ground. >> lehrer: right. >> but i do think it is a problem that we have used this metaphor he has to go. use the metaphor, tighten the noose. and then if you are tightening the noose then the guy should be struggling. and qaddafi is not struggling. he has the momentum on his side. so if you use that kind of metaphor, if you talk about that he is on the wrong side of history, he has to go, presumably that leads to consequences. but the likelihood this week on the ground is this is a libyan tiananmen where he cracks down, crushes the opposition and survives. >> lehrer: that is essentially what james clapper said at the national intelligence director,-- he said, hey, qaddafi has got the goods here. and he's probably goinging to survive, essentially. >> based upon my own conversations, i don't don't think that he has got a long-term-- .

>> lehrer: mr. clapper, you mean. >> no, i'm not talking about mr. clapper, no. i will leave that to the administration and personnel office. no, i don't mean that. qaddafi. i don't think qaddafi is there for long. yes, he's got force on his side right now. he's got a lot of money. but i mean libya, 95% of their revenues come from oil and natural gas. so i mean, we go in there, get involved, that's going to be when it's resolved when qaddafi does go. how do you distribute those. i mean that is a major major question. and are we going to be in the middle of it i don't think time is on his side, qaddafi. >> can i make one point about clapper. he made an analytic point. and it was interpreted as he wanted amount of this happens again and again that people make an analytic prediction and it somehow becomes an endorsement this is something we should be careful about. >> lehrer: i agree. and i misstated. i didn't say it as clearly as i should have myself. i apologise to mr. clapper. no, no, you make a very good

point. i mean he was asked a very direct question. and i went back and looked at it and he was giving as an analyst he gave an analytical answer, are you right. he wasn't saying hey, we want this guy to stay. he just said he's going to. >> michael kinsley the journalist, is speaking the truth. i think he gave a truthful analysis. >> lehrer: all right. back to the spinning thing. the president said it's irresponsible the way the government of the united states is operating riingt now with these continuing resolution for every two weeks. he said that's no way to run a government much less-- i mean a railroad much less a government. i'm paraphrasing again. i will probably mess this one up too. >> we're not grading. >> i thought that was his single best moment in the press conference because it was finally resolved. and i think the energy stuff was quite disappointing. there was no answered goa as mark said t was sort of leading nothing where, but here he really showed some

impatience. now whether that is actually accompanied by action, i'm not so sure. i do get the vibe talking to people in congress that the two sides are still pretty far apart. but there is a realization they're probably not going to settle this. and so there is some willingness to sort of punt it to say, okay we're goinging to have a messy settlement we all hate and then we'll have an election. and this big debate, we will have an election about in 2012 and that suggestses that they'll find some messy solution in the interim and then just tell their people we couldn't settle this. let's have an election, take it to the country. >> lehrer: what do you think of that? >> i think that we're goinging to have several crisis points between here and there. i mean first of all, we've got the two to three week extension, three week extension coming up. but april 15th, which secretary quitener said when we are going to run out of money. so we have to take a vote, you know, sooner rather than later on raising the debt ceiling.

>> lehrer: temporary thingses are all aimed toward april 15th. >> exactly. and that's going to be -- >> and don't forget, i think what john boehner is trying to do and the republicans is to get through these. and i think they're on the offensive. i think the administration has been on the defensive. and i think we saw the quote in the senate this week, you say the republicans were if anything more united than what the democrats were on the deficit plans. and i think that he is confronting that it's 2012 budget is going to be produced which beginses in september, and paul ryan, the chairman of the house budget committee has promised at that point they will really attack and engage entitlement. so you know, i think we're setting for a showdown earlier rather than later. i don't think it will be long before the election of 2012. >> lehrer: speaking of showdowns quickly because we talked about this a lot in the last two or three weeks. the wisconsin solution, big

victory for the gf never and the republicans. >> we'll see t depends how they utilize it. if they take advantage of really the new found power they have to be flexible and be intelligent in the cutting, then i think it will be a victory in policy grounds. one of the things concerning me in wisconsin and other states is we are going to have to lay off teachers in a lot of states. are we going to layoff the best, youngest teachers because they came to the schools late or are we going to be able to reward some of the most effective teach errs. that's the kind of flexibility that on the upside is unwith of the goals of this sort of confrontation. >> lehrer: quick word on that and then your thoughts about david broder. >> on wisconsin i think that old teachers are also good teachers. >> i didn't mean -- >> i know it, but i think if you think about the teachers who touched your lives, oftentimes they were teacherses that were teaching for 20 years or more. but that aside i think is is a major victory for the democrats. >> lehrer: for the democrats. >> for the democrats, i really do. a legislative victory for

governor walker. it has energy eyed a constituency that had grown estranged from barack obama, organized labor. it has given them a new energy. also white working class voters, noncollege voters who are the biggest defectorses to the republicans in 2010 are really up set about this assault. i mean the argument seems to be, jim, you've got 11 million people without don't have health insurance today that, 11 million more don't have it. and the argument seems to be why should these workerses have it, you don't have it. that seems to be argument governor walker. david broder was the best reporter, not of his generation but an entire era. more than that, david broder and self-importance were total strangers. he was in this era of celebrity journalists he was anything but and the most generous to the new rookie reporter on the beat of anybody, sharing sources, sharing information, sharing lore and tradition and his

special insights. he will be missed. he was just a real gentlemen and a special person. >> i completely agree. he cared about government more than politics and he cared about voters more than opinion makers and pundits. he really put the focus on government and voters in race after race and set the standard for the rest of us. >> lehrer: and he was a gentleman. >> he certainly was. >> lehrer: of the utmost. thank you both. >> woodruff: again, the major story of the day: the strongest earthquake ever recorded in japan unleashed a tsunami that devastated the northeastern coast. news reports said the death toll could exceed 1,000. the quake also sent tsunami waves roaring across the pacific. most of the damage was minimal, but at least one person was missing and feared dead in crescent city, california. and president obama said the u.s. was ready to send assistance to japan. and to kwame holman for what's on the newshour online. kwame. >> holman: there's more on the earthquake and tsunami in japan, including the science behind the disaster, a map of aftershock

activity, and resources on relief efforts. plus you can watch all of president obama's news conference. and on "art beat," jeffrey brown talks to the director of the metropolitan museum of art in new york about concerns over protecting egypt's antiquities amid the unrest. all that and more is on our web site, newshour.pbs.org. judy. >> woodruff: and that's the newshour for tonight. on monday, we'll look at japan as it copes with today's massive earthquake and tsunami. i'm judy woodruff. >> lehrer: and i'm jim lehrer. "washington week" can be seen later this evening on most pbs stations. we'll see you online, and again here monday evening. have a nice weekend. thank you and good night. major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by:

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