captioning sponsored by macneil/lehrer productions >> ifill: syrian troops fired into a refugee camp across the border in turkey today and launched an assault on a town in central syria, further dashingre hopes of a cease-fire. good evening.re i'm gwen ifill. >> brown: and i'm jeffrey browny on the newshour tonight, we get the latest on the clashes from borzou daragahi of the "financial times" in beirut. >> ifill: then, as the special prosecutor rules out a grand t jury investigation of thecu trayvon martin shooting, we examine changes to gun laws across the country. >> brown: margaret warner reports on the white house visit of brazil's president.

>> warner: dilma rousseff leads south america's biggest and richest country, one that has increasingly been going its own way. >> ifill: kwame holman remembers veteran interviewer and "60 minutes" icon mike wallace, and we talk with two of his cbs colleagues, morley safer and i executive producer jeff fager. >> brown: plus judy woodruff gets a rare inside look at a japanese national treasure, a collection of 18th-century silk paintings. >> the scroll of this colorfulut realm are on display together for the first time ever outside japan. the product of sensitive diplomatic and cultural negotiations. >> ifill: that's all ahead on tonight's newshour. major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: in here, the right minds comes together, all in realtime.&t it's the at&t network. providing new ways to work

together so business works better. >> bnsf railway. >> citi. supporting progress for 200 years. >> the william and flora hewlett foundation, working to solve social and environmental problems at home and around the world. and with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. and... this program was made possible by the corporation for public pa broadcasting.. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. ll >> ifill: the conflict in syria threatened to spread today, as plans for a cease-fire appeared close to collapsing.ce syria fired at refugees across the turkish border, and in lebanon, a television cameraman was reportedly shot and killed a by syrian soldiers.

we have a report from alex thomson of independent television news. a warning: this story containsst some disturbing images. >> reporter: today the syrian civil war spilled across an international frontier. >> they fired from two sidessi and wounded more than four people whom we took to the hospital. but three people who were wounded died in the camp because we could not evacuatee them. >> reporter: they shout god is great as shots ring out at the turkish-syrian border.c nobody knows why syrian forces appear to have fired into a turkish refugee camp today bute at least one person was killed. several more injured. and still they come across. a syrian activist website shows exhausted people guided to a safe country by turkish troops. all signs of the comingce cease-fire will be honored

seem to be fading fast. tomorrow morning syrian troops in heavy weapons have to leave towns and cities. thursday morning theng cease-fire begins. all set up by the former u.n. boss kofi annan when he metna the syrian leader recently. but syria now suddenly wants written guarantees that the rebels will stop fighting. senior european diplomats today called that completely unacceptable.ta but syria says there's a war to fight. >> if government forces withdrew from, the armed forces will permeate through these regions which will be a threat to public safety. >> reporter: annan is due in turkey and then on to iran. today the syrian foreign minister's due in russia. moscow, of course, ever supportive of damascus. this was homs today, the epi- center of the uprising. rebels and observers say thee bombardments here bring tanks and artillery the heaviest. since the war began.

rebel groups and human ryes observers estimate around 100 people are being killed every day across syria. a thousand, they say, in theth past week. and what seems to be evidence here again of something more discriminating than shelling ofin civilian areas, the bodies of people lined up against a wall and shot dead at close range. they said this was another mass execution of people by syrian government forces. that looks plausible but is, as yet, impossible to verify. it just could be that syria is serious about cease-fire, and this is some kind of final push. but few believe that. and the prospects for a f lasting cease-fire, in fact, any cease-fire, do not look good.g tonight turkey is saying she's actively considering all options up to and including sending her troops into syria to set up more effective corridors for civilians who need to get out.

>> brown: a short time ago, iim talked with borzou deragahi, a "financial times" correspondent in beirut, for the latest. welcome. s so what are people saying about this fighting across borders today, including apparently into lebanon asba well, right? what's behind it?s >> well, the turks are outraged. they've summoned the syrian charges de affairs. they've warned of unspecified consequences if anything like this happens again.th lebanon is in quite a bit of a tougher situation. it is led by a pro syrian government which has to play a very delicate balancing abt. however, it's been under tremendous pressure. the prime minister was flooded with twitter demands that he act and do something after this journalist was killed. what's interesting to consider is whether this was just a coincidence or whether it was somewhat planned perhaps by the syrian regime. the syrian regime has

threatened in the past to bring the whole regime... bring the whole region downt with it.if if it were to suffer. and this could very well be a couple of warning signs to both turkey and lebanon which is near and dear to many western governments that if this situation continues, if it continuess to feel the heat, it will lash out in ways that will destabilize other countries. >> brown: and is that being heard and taken seriously? is there a fear, more fear after today's events of this all spreading? >> absolutely. i mean, this fear has been palpable in the diplomatic community in the region forre the whole past year. people have been worried about what syria would do, what it was capable of. syria has assets all over the region. it has alliesgi, including iran, hezbollah, various palestinian factions. it is known for being able to

interfere in other countries' affairs.fa for example, lebanon all, throughout the '70s and '80s and '90s and even more recently. and also if people recall, syria was accused by the u.s. of sending arms and fighters into iraq during the u.s. occupation there. so there's a real worry about what syria could do. >> brown: now in the meantime tomorrow is the deadline for syrian troops to begin pulling back and in particular pullingng out of cities.ng what's whapg on the ground? >> i think this whole thing has collapsed. it doesn't seem like there isd any kind of motion with regard to the syrian forces. syria allsy but reneged on the peace deal just yesterday when the foreign ministry spokesmann said they will not abide by the demand that they pull out of cities until they get written guarantees from the opposition that they will stop

launching attacks on syrian regular forces. now this was considered patently absurd first of all because the syrian opposition forces are scattered and unorganized and not particularly in a sort of hierarchical formation. but also the syrian guerillas, the ones that did speak, were saying that any guaranteeses they would give would be to the international community and not to the illegitimate regime of assad. >> brown: so your sense is that the diplomatic process as a whole is, if not collapsed, well on its way there? you don't expect to see... a cease-fire certainly by thursday? >> well, i think that is one possibility. but, i mean, kofi annan is a smart guy.n kofi annan is, of course, the former u.n. secretary general who is the special u.n. and arab league envoy to syria right now. and i seriously doubt that he

could have expected this to work when so many other diplomatic initiatives in the past have failed. but if you look at the sort of delicate diplomatic choreography that he undertook over the last few weeks.st he got the west to sign on toac his peace plan. g he got russia, china, even iran to endorse the peace plan.ve even got syria's tacit approval for the peace plan. now that it collapses, now that this peace initiative collapses, the international community is in a far morete unified state to approach theo security council again and try to get stronger action against the syrian regime. >> brown: and finally, let me ask you about the opposition. you mentioned that they are scattered, i think was your word. i think you've been in touch with some elements of it. with a are they saying about the situation diplomatically and the continuing fighting on the ground? what are you hearing? >> well there's a real disconnect between the syrian

opposition, quote unquote, that is abroad and that interfaces with the western diplomats and the arab diplomats. and those opposition activists inside the country. i mean it's kind of sad when you talk to the opposition activists inside the country. they are not really followingy. the politics.ng they are not real he'llot concerned about the diplomatic track anymore. and they're not really that optimistic that their revolution of ideas will succeed. and the ones that i've spoken to recently are saying we don't want humanitarian aid. we don't want diplomatic or political action.on just send us the money so we can buy guns to fight against the regime. and if you look at the evolution of a revolution thaton started more than a year ago that was really a war of ideas against a brutal and what many consider a corrupt entrenchedn regime, it is now moving towards a full-scaleen insurgency. o it's kind of sad.

>> brown: all right. borzou beragahi in bu beirut, thanks so much.n >> ifill: still to come on the newshour, the push for "stand your ground" laws; a white house visit by brazil's president; a remembrance of cbs' mike wallace; and an exhibit of japanese silk scrolls.thi but first, with the other news of the day, here's hari sreenivasan. >> sreenivasan: tensions areyp rising in the presidential racee in egypt after former spy chiefe omar suleiman entered the contest over the weekend. he said today he will not try to "reinvent" the mubarak regime.nc but he's expected to gain support from the ruling generals, and the muslimoo brotherhood has blasted suleiman's decision to run. the brotherhood's own presidential candidate called it an "offense to the revolution." afghan authorities will now have the final say over nighttime raids by u.s. troops. the two sides reached thatda agreement on sunday.ai night raids on homes have beene one of the thorniest issues in u.s.-afghan relations. the agreement could clear the way for a long-term pact governing a continued u.s. presence after most combat 2 forces withdraw in 2014.

hope faded today as rescue crews in pakistan searched fored survivors of a massive avalanche. more than 120 soldiers are missing. a wall of snow crashed down on their complex saturday near the siachen glacier. it's located in the disputed kashmir region near india. so far there has been no sign that anyone is still alive, buried under 70 feet of snow.rt a team of u.s. military experts in neighboring afghanistan was arriving today to assist with the search. north korea has now positioned all three stages of a long-range missile for launch this month. foreign news agencies got rare access to the missile site onko sunday.rr north korean officials said it will carry a communications satellite into orbit.d u.s. officials warned again today that a launch would violate north korea's agreement to halt missile activity in return for u.s. food aid. white house spokesman jay carney: to go through with thisov provocative act directly results in more deprivation

for their people. a people who are literally starving. and suffer greatly because of the actions of the regime and in pyongyang. >> sreenivasan: meanwhile, south korea warned that the north may be making ready for a third nuclear test. intelligence officials said satellite images show a new tunnel is being dug at a test site.so in economic news, electronics giant sony plans to cut 10,000pa jobs over the next year.co japanese news reports said todar the company will shed 6% of its work force worldwide in a bid to return to profit. a and facebook announced it will buy the photo-sharing company instagram for $1 billion in cash and stock. she word of the deal came asor facebook gets ready for its o initial public offering of stock next month. wall street had a rough opening to the week. stocks fell, in response to lasf friday's disappointing jobs report. the dow jones industrial average lost 130 points to close at 12,929. the nasdaq fell 33 points to close at 3047.

new numbers confirm what a lot of americans felt last month.w it was the hottest march on record in the lower 48 states. the national oceanic and atmospheric administration said today that more than 7,700or weather stations recorded new highs. and while average temperaturesar for march are usually 42 degrees, this year the average topped 51. meteorologists have cited la nina and other weather patternsl climate scientists say global warming cannot be tied directlye to the patterns, but there isth evidence that it increases thecy odds of frequency and severitymp of extreme temperatures. those are some of the day's major stories.thie now, back to gwen. >> ifill: there will be no gran jury to investigate the february shooting death of 17-year-old trayvon martin.vo a jury had been expected to convene tomorrow to decide whether to bring charges againsa the shooter, george zimmerman. but for now, the investigation remains unresolved. the outcome could cast a spotlight on laws already on the books around the country. >> ifill: the dispute over the

killing of trayvon martin has sparked a national debate about race, justice, and when it is reasonable to act in self-defense. in declining to impanel a grand jury to look into the case, state attorney angela corey will now tackle those issues herself. "the decision should not be considered a factor in theçó final determination of the case, "the prosecutor said in a written statement.. "at this time, the investigation continues and there will be no further comment from this office." martin, who is black, was on his way to a convenience store in a mostly white gated community when george zimmerman, who is white, shot and killed him after a disputed altercation. martin, who was carrying only candy and a soft drink, was discovered by police lying face down in the grass. zimmerman was briefly taken into custody but has not been arrested. law enforcement officials have cited a state law that ties their hands when a citizen says he is acting in

self-defense. more than two dozen states have similar laws, dubbed stand your ground, which allow deadly force in certain circumstances. florida's law, passed by a bipartisan majorities in 2005,00 but some lawmakers have said it was never intended to prevent investigations. former governor jeb bush signed the law. >> stand your ground meansme stand your ground. it doesn't mean chase after somebody who has turned theirr back. >> reporter: and democratic senator chris smith convened a task force on the matter last t week. >> if you initiate contact or you start the fight you should o at least go in front of a jury and present your evidence and let peers decide, not some big veil that you're not even able to be arrested. >> ifill: instead of dyings down the protests over the martin case are continuing. for more on what is happening in the states we're joined by daniel webster.rc welcome. this expansion of gun laws we

just saw that map. is that organic or is it something that's been planned? >> it's definitely been planned. the national rifle association has been on a many-year effort, first, to expand rights for individuals who can pass a background check to be able to carry concealed guns pretty much wherever they want. as they started to accomplish that goal, they then went on to the "stand your ground" laws. and thoses. laws have passed very rapidly in a very shortry amount of time.nt >> ifill: it was interesting. so many democrats voted for this.d this was a bipartisan idea.pa was this an idea that was a meant to... was the case made that this was a problem that existed that needed to solved? >> certainly the proponents of these laws felt that there wasbl a problem. i've been studying it for about 20 years. i did not see that problem myself. >> ifill: so what has happened

in these cases, in all of these states? are they different cases or are they all blanket cases because we just heard jeb bush say this wasn't about pursuings someone. this was aboutt staying put. does it change from state to state to state? >> well, there are some differences across states but i think mostly it's the general idea, that it relieves an individual from any duty to retreat which used to be the law of the land for many many years. >> ifill: is it possible that t people never have this protection before in the law as they existed, the protection, the right to self-defense? >> well, they did within theirh home. if someone is coming into your home with some sort of criminal intent, generally the law was quite protective ofal individuals using guns or other kinds of force in thoseb cases.he what's different here aboutnd the stand your ground laws is that they expand that notion that even outside your home, whereas it used to be theh

indication if you thought someone posed some threat to y you and you could simply get away from them, that's what the law said you needed to do.'s now it's a totaly different situation. if you can prove any kind of perceived threat presumably you can use lethal force evenat if the threat you perceived e wasn't even lethal.h so there's very bigig differences. >> ifill: you've been studyingf this for a while.ñ has the guns right activityac and guns control activityer moved from the federal government now to the state level? >> that's been the case for very long. l they try to do whatever they can at the federal level.ch each side of the issue, advocates on each side of the gun debate. but they've found it often quite easier to get things l done at the state level. t >> ifill: when you say thean national rifle association and there's anotherth group called the american legislative exchange council which has been very active at stateng capitals when you say they've been involved in trying to get

the laws passed? what do you mean? are they writing the legislation or checks and lobbying? >> both writing legislation, l writing checks, lobbying.mo mobilizing. what the n.r.a., of course, ishe people talk about the money component but really they're a grass roots organization. they get their constituents mobilized to let legislatorshe hear from them that they want these types of laws. >> ifill: you mentioned that t this has been underway for some time. this florida law has been on the books since 2005. what is it about or am i justrp overinterpreting this? what is it about the trayvon martin case that seems to have brought the spotlight on to these laws? has it? does it affect laws that arere already in the pipeline? >> i don't know if it's going to affect laws already in the pipeline. i think getting to your initial question about sort of what is unique about thisau because these laws have beenou around for a while. i think there were unique circumstances here.n an individual who had called

repeatedly 911 was pursuing someone who was unarmed. an unarmed teenager. i think that the fact that, you know, with media whenever you have recordings or other kinds of things that will help you make that a case. >> ifill: the extent of this b was suddenly brought to people's attention by this one spectacular case. are there other laws in the pipeline that maybe in five years we'll be looking at andat saying, hey, they were passing these at the time too? are there other activities underway? >> at t the federal level right now, the effort most relevant to the case we're talking about now with zimmerman and trayvon martin is a bill that would make it so that the relatively few number of states, about 10 states have laws that allow law enforcement to use their discretion issuing permits for

concealed carries of firearms. the bill under consideration would make it so that you would have to... a state would have to honor a conceal carry permit from any state in the united states. so florida, for example, has one of the least restrictive, most permissive types of laws. people are already getting permits from florida that they use in other states that allow that. but the congressional... what's under consideration in congress now would make it so that across the board states like maryland, for example, that have what's called a issue conceal carry would have to honor permits from states with very lax standards. >> ifill: we'll be watching all of those, of course.eb daniel webster, the johns hopkins center for gun policy. thank you so much for joining us. >> thank you.

>> brown: next tonight, the leader of latin america'sam biggest and richest country visits the white house. margaret warner has the story. >> warner: a country once best known by americans for postcard perfect beaches and a passion for the game of soccer, brazil has emerged as a powerhouse competitor on the global economy. achieving the number six world g.d.p. ranking this year. along with russia, india and china, it's part of the so- called club of rapidly developing economies. now this country of 200 million, latin america's largest, is demanding to takenge more seriously on the world political stage as well.i today president dilma rousseff was given a cordial welcome byrd president obama at the whitees house. >> i feel very fortunate to have such a capable and far- sighted partner as president

rousseff. >> the u.s.-brazil bilateral relations are, for brazil, ary very important relationship. not only from a bilateral but also from a multilateral perspective. >> warner:al though the hemisphere's two biggest democracies should be natural allies theyho often don't see eye to eye. >> it would certainly be hard c to say the u.s. and brazil are adversaries or in conflict. but the fact is they disagreeco more than they agree. >> warner: this man is seniorar fellow and president emeritus at the inter-american dialogue in washington. >> americans and brazilians the u.s.y rarely consults with brazil on the important global issues. >> warner: that shouldn't be surprisingñ, given brazil's history of being a thorn in the u.s. side. in 2010, then president louis lula today sill virginia tried to broker a deal with turkey on iran's nuclear program.ñi

and derail secretary of state clinton's push for u.n. sanctions against tehran. brazil has staked out positions contrary to washington's on cuba, climate change, and the 2009 coups in honduras as well. >> brazil is in many respects still learning what it means to be a global power. and the way it's been successful, ironically, is not by joining with the united states, which would have been one route, but rather in opposition to the united states. it has sort of gained its international prestige precisely by showing its independence of the united states. >> warner: when dilma rousseff won brazil's 2010 presidential election campaign, washington had high hopes she would be easier to work with than her one-time boss and mentor lula. the former marxist guerilla turned technocrat has been less assertive and flamboyant on the global stage. noted analyst:.

>> the foreign policy is a little bit less rhetorical or ideal logical than his predecessor's. i think that in the sense that more risk-averse diplomacy, the more conservative in some sense diplomacy is good for not relations with brazil and the united states but actually for brazil's goals abroad. >> warner: president obama made a point of visiting brazil just two months after rousseff took office. but it wasn't long before rousseff was renewing brazil's call for greater fwlobl recognition. she used her first appearance at the u.n. general assembly last fall to declare that brazil and other emerging powers like india should have permanent seats on the security council. >> it is is not possible, mr. president, to delay this any more. the world needs a security council that reflects the contemporary reality we're living in. a council that includes new permanent and non-permanent members.

>> warner: president obama endorsed another country, india's bid for a seat in 2010. but has not done the same for brazil. that's galling to brazilians. >> it's a treatment similar that the u.s. has with chinaas and india and with other large rising countries. brazil thinks that it holds many credentials to be in that seat. to have that permanent seat. it's quite puzzling in brazil to try to understand why hasn't his endorsement come. >> warner: he said it reflects washington's general lack ofny attention to all of latin america. >> brazil is in a region that's not a central priority of the administration, of the united states. it's not a region that has any urgency. now latin america has been relatively successful. it's becoming a middle class. there's no open conflicts in the region. and, my god, we have so many

conflicts in so many other places. latin america, we don't have to really worry about a whole lot. >> warner: the director of the woodrow wilson >> warner: the director of the woodrow wilson center's brazil institute believes the slight i a source of real tension in the relationship. >> brazil has always had this aspiration to sit at the table. >> warner: what does this say to brazil and to latin america that president obama isn't ready toys them? >> it says that, well, that the united states is not ready tods recognize brazil's role. it pays lip service to it from time to time. president obama needs to recognize that brazil's rise is real. r i think that he doesn't. >> warner: none of that political tension was apparent today.ne both leaders stressed basic economic issues. >> brazil's been an extraordinary leader in biofuels and obviously is also becoming a world player when it comes to oil and gas development.lo

and the united states is not only a potential large customer to brazil but we think that we can cooperate closely on a whole range of energy projects together. >> warner: rousseff spoke bluntly about the blow-back on developing countries from the monetary policies of the u.s. and europe. >> they lead to a depreciation in the value of the currency in developed countries, thus impairing growth outlooks in emerging countries. >> warner: brazilian journalist said the tone is in keeping with each leader's cool business-like personality. >> i don't think we'll be seeing something like president bush and president lula, you know, the two guys who could go for a beer. i would never imagine president rousseff going for a beer with president obama. but he's a very focused and hands on-person.us i think people in brazil like that. >> warner: rousseff will concentrate on addressing what's

been a sudden economic slowdown at home, she predicts, with less time for diplomatic adventures abroad like lula's bid to get in the iran game. >> i believe that you will not see brazil doing the same typeme of initiative under president dilma rousseff. i think he understands that brazil's presence and influence in the world depends much more on what happens in brazil. >> warner: rousseff left the white house today with deals on expanding economic, education and energy cooperation. but without support for a security council seat. one administration official described the evolving relationship as a slow courtship saying you can't expect a greatly... great leap forward from any single visit. that's a law.l >> these two countries could a do a lot. much more than they do today. the agenda is not as ambitiousor as it should be. >> warner: so a missed opportunity. >> it's a missed opportunity. t or some people would say it's benign indifference. >> warner: for these two leaders pre-occupied with more p pressing problems, this step-by-

step diplomacy might be the most that can be expected for now. news hours kwame holman begins with a look back at the storied career. >> i don't understand. they must be ashamed of something. >> what is this? >> this is "60 minutes.". >> reporter: the mike wallace interview was legendary as the answersity lis ited and his career was indelibley linkedll to "60 minutes," the pioneering cbs news program he joined at its inception in 1968. >> i'm mike wallace. >> i'm harry reasoner. >> reporter: over five decades wallace became known asac television's toughest interrogator.ad >> why?kn why? why?n' >> when you... you demanded special treatment. >> you needed money.

>> it's almost an embarrassment, sir, to hear this from you. >> what? >> what do they want you to do? >> reporter: wallace himself was never reluctant to confront the famous or the feared like in 1979's ayatollah khomeini. >> president sadat of egypt, a devoutly religious man, a muslim, says that what you are doing now is, quote, a, disgrace to islam. and he calls you imam, forgive me, his words not mine, a lunatic. >> reporter: with then presidential candidate ronald reagan. >> how many blacks are there, on your top campaign staff, governor?si >> i couldn't honestly answerre you. >> that speaks for itself. >> reporter: born myron wallace in 1918 in brookline, massachusetts, he graduates from the university of michigan and began a life onll radio and television. doing news and hosting gamese shows. he developed his prosecutorial interview style at abc on the

program "night beat" in 1956. and later with the mike wallace interview. >> a good many people hated your husband. they even hated you. >> yes. a great many do still. >> you should now take.... >> reporter: in 1963 he joined. cbs news as a full-time newsman. here interviewing malcolm x in 1964. the year before his assassination. >> are you the least bit afraid of what might happen to you as a result of makinge these revelations? >> oh, yes. i probably am a dead man already. >> reporter: then came theas years with "60 minutes" and producer don hewitt. the news magazine became "not to be missed" television and wallace scored 21 emmys with interview subjects as varied as nancy reagan and shirley e maclaine. >> what was your husband'sts role in the iran-contra? >> nothing. >> he was president of the united states. >> it was... i don't know enough about iran-contra. >> you really believe that you lived lives before?

>> oh, yes.en there is no doubt in my mind about it. >> can you really believe int extraterrestrial, do they come visit you on the porch? now you're being unpleasant, wallace, this is what you're saying. >> this is what i was afraid of. you don't have to be that y unpleasant.np it doesn't become you. >> you have to establish the context.... >> reporter: but his long tenure at cbs was not without its low points. t in 1982 general william west>> more land sued wallace and thecb network for libel over theiral documentary the uncountedu enemy, a vietnam deception. it accused the general of deliberately falsifying enemy strength. d west moreland dropped his libel suit in 1985 after long trial. in 1996 wallace opened up about the trial and the toll it took on his mental health.t >> if there's anything that's important to a reporter, it is integrity. it is credibility. and all of a sudden to sit in a federal courtroom for five

months in new york city with all those people from the press out there... (laughing).... >> now, now, we love the press. >> and... asking you nasty questions and so forth, i didn't realize myself how bad it was. i was lower than a snake's belly. >> reporter: wallace suffered a nervous breakdown that left him in the hospital for a s week. he spoke candidly about his depression appearing before a senate committee to urge more funding for research in 1996.p wallace officially retired from "60 minutes" in 2006. >> i cannot improve a slogan spoken by a true legend who preceded me at cbs news. he would say simply, good night and good luck. >> reporter: even so he was back several months later interviewing iran's president ahmadinejad. mike wallace's last appearance on "60 minutes" was anin interview with pitcher roger

klemm ens in 2008.te the program plans an extendedw tribute next sunday. >> brown: this afternoon, i had a chance to talk with two of mike wallace's colleagues: morley safer, the longtime correspondent for "60 minutes," and the program's executive a producer, jeff fager, who alsoo serves as chairman of cbs news.t orley safer and jeff fager, thanks for joining us. moral what were the qualities that made him what he was a journalist. >> there are so many. it's hard to tally them all. aggressiveness, irras iblt, the determination of a junkyard dog. a love, visible love for what he was doing. i think all of those things combined were mike on the air. by the way mike off the air asco well. >> brown: off the air as well. jeff fager, i heard your colleague steve kroft today refer to mike wallace as,

quote, the first great television news performer.ac what does that mean? >> i think mike knew he was on camera. he was a great performer on camera. but he was really himself as well. one of the amazing things about mike, i think that really resonated, it's almosth as if his interviews were so good, it's almost as if it didn't matter what the story was. you couldn't wait to hear what he was going to ask next. he the that extremely well. i think on television that is a performance. t you need to have those skills. >> we all have a kind of sense p of decore up when you're doing an interview. mike created his own decorum which was that kind of relentless probing. what is remarkable in the first place was how he charmed people to go and sit in that r chair. people who knew that they were going to be eviscerated soonerit or later.

>> by the way don't try to hide something from mike wallace.r. because he was going to get it out of you. >> brown: he once describes it as walking, quote, a fine line between sadism and intellectual curiosity. morley safer, which side of that do you come down on? >> certainly the sadism. >> it's a scary thought going up against mike wallace. >> brown: jeff fager, we think of the early "got you" style or sting operations of course. not everyone loved that. it caused a lot of discussion in the journalism world but mike wallace evolved from that as well, right? >> yes he did. i think it was a difficult period because they actually did enjoy doing it. it grew the audience significantly. it became such a feature and a signature of the broadcast. but i think in later years and actually during it, he realized you know what?na we're doing this more for the drama than for the news value.

that's not appropriate. so the idea that someone woulddr be sweating this front of a mike wallace interview or he was going to be chasing some t bad guy down a hall, i think they realized was much more about performance and drama and wasn't really of any t value. m >> brown: morley safer you said earlier he was a toughe. guy outside of work. i gather he was a tough guy at the office as well, right? very competitive. >> precisely. i mean, the wallace you saw during one of his toughestgh interviews is precisely theou same guy off camera. he would ask the same rude or if you like, embarrassing questions of me and all of his colleagues. there's a tale that goes round.co i won't go into detail. one of his colleagues in the men's room where essentially they almost came to blows over

mike's questioning and mike's comments. that's what he was. there was nothing that was going to change him. >> he didn't know how to sugar coat anything. he just didn't. >> brown: this was a hugely competitive environment. i've heard talk of correspondents stealing each other's stories. >> that was highway robbery. almost every week. and i was usually the victim by the way. >> someone asked me about his own son going into the news business. and what that meant to mike. i know for a fact it meant that don't worry. if we're up against him for a story i'm going to get it. >> brown: morley safer, i heard you speak of mike u wallace having a sense of uncertainty or even insecurity about his work. that surprised me. >> well, it's an insecurityta that actually stayed with him i think a good part of his life. mike, because he came from a background of entertainment and commercials and fun and games and then decided that he

wanted to put all of that behind him and become a reporter, he felt that because he had never had the kind of basic training that most of us who have been at this all our working lives had, that he had to go out and prove himself every day, that he was for real, that he was a journalist. so there was a certain insecurity accompanying all ofal that bravado that he showed.rt >> brown: jeff fager, we can't talk about all the successesha without bringing up the huge controversies, most of all the libel suit brought by general west moreland. tell us about the impact that had on mike wallace both professionally and personnely.el >> i think it's pretty well known at this point that it did set off a major depression. you know, mike became quite's famous. i think he gets a lot of credit for taking depression in his own depression very public.

that case, which was very difficult suit based on a cbs reports documentary produced by the great producer george kryle really took it out ofcu him. he said so to moraly. it's part of our tribute to mike that is going to air on "60 minutes." i think he could expand on that. >> brown: go ahead, morley"6 safer. >> it's no secret that mikei attempted suicide. he talks about it, as jeff said. but i think that coming out with his own depression was in itself tremendously therapeutic for him. you can see... we who were friends could see the difference in him once he opened up about it. i think that it was very brave thing for him to do and very effective. >> jeff, i think one of the things that shouldn't be lostry in that discussion is that

mike, however feisty he would get and ferocious around the office, he always had a twinkle in his eye. he was a hard guy not to love. you couldn't stay mad at him.e i think that's just such an important part of why it's a big hole for us. we miss him because we loved t him. >> brown: and a final word from you, morley safer, how would you describe his legacy and his importance to tv journalism. >> the main contribution to tv journalism was to "60d minutes." i think without mike we would have not the long he have longevity we've had.e we've been on the air approaching our 44th year which is remarkable in itselfn but it was those early, say, first 20 years where people were tuning in to see what mike wallace was up to. >> brown: morley safer and i jeff fager on life and legacy of mike wallace. thanks so much. >> thanks.ow morley safer and jeff fager on life and legacy of mike wallace. thanks so much. >> thanks.

>> ifill: finally tonight, a treasure trove of japanese painting makes its way to the united states, just in time for a spring celebration in the nation's capital. judy woodruff had the opportunity to get a first look. >> woodruff: it's not every day that an artist receives ant ex-exalted blessing but the 30 painted silk scrolls that makest up the colorful realm of living being were heralded with prayer, incense and pageantry by monks of the monastery in keet yo. the magesterial but very fragile collection of master pieces is a japanese nationalte treasure, painted in the midte 18th century by the nature painter. but it is almost never seen in public. think of the mona lisa. 30 of her. or van gogh's starry night.in

being kept from view on a near permanent basis. and then you'd have an idea how rare an occasion it is to see work of such importance.an >> this is a remarkable.... >> woodruff: yukio lippit the> harvard professor of japanese art is the guest curator. >> it is an encyclopedia ofs technique and use of materials. it's also very experimental.is and it really has no known precedents in japanese andas east asian painting traditions. >> woodruff: the scrolls of colorful realm are on display together for the first time ever outside japanate at washington's national gallery. the product of sensitive, diplomatic and cultural norx. the collection is widely, considered the finest exampleur of japanese nature painting. the 30 scroll series is on loan from the imperial household.

the center piece of these exhibit was sent by the monks to whom the artist gave it nearly 250 years ago. >> it was meant to be used for a buddhist ceremony one day per year. so to have it displayed for four weeks in washington is a very special occasion.e >> woodruff: the works are part of a centennial celebration in washington of the 1912 japanese imperial gift of cherry trees which line the tied al basin. a yearly blooming is a rite ofh spring here.i the artist came from a prosperous line of grocers in the 1700s. his daily exposure to fish and fowl informed his painting. but he was also a devoted buddhist. in middle age he passed on his family business to focus on his art and his faith. and what he was trying to accomplish, it had everything to do with the buddhist ritual,

the subject that he chose and the presentation. >> individually these works are referred to as bird and flower paintings which is a genre of east asian paintingan that connotes auspicious messages but as a totality in conjunction with the cryptic c of the buddha they were meant as a ceremonial back drop that was representative of a grand sermon by the buddha in front of all of the living creatures of the world. >> woodruff: why these particular? why the flowers? why the birds? and in one instance insects, peacocks. why these? i >> the series took over ten years to create. there seems to have been anac evolution in the nature of the painting, over the course of those ten years. initially they were fairly, we might say, conventional birdth and flower paintings, fairly scripted pairings of different kinds of flora and fawn a

according to the rules of the genre, but as the serieski evolved and the painter became committed to the idea of creating a large set that serves as a backdrop for a t sermon, he begins to introduce idiosyncracies. he multiplies his motifs. you start having paintings with 13 roosters, 146 varietys of shellfish. >> woodruff: this painting is shells. you were saying it's a really wonderful example of what the painter was trying to do. >> yes.le he's a painter who is characterized by a very careful, meticulous attention to surface detail, texture, cloris tick detail in his motifs. but that's combined with a certain whimsical, fantastical approach to form. we don't quite know what's ing on here. there's water on either side. then you have these monsterous

shells that look like dinosaurs skulls in the case of the one in the lower corner. there are various faces or eyes embedded in the various shells. so it's this kind of combination that lends this kind of fantastical, even dream-like quality. very characteristic of this artist. f >> woodruff: right next to it is a painting titled "chicken." it's a lot of roosters. can the detail... and the detail is extraordinary. >> yes, the detail is"c mesmerizing. >> woodruff: but there they are. very close together. and the look in the eye of alliz of them. t >> it's as if they're craninge their necks to hear some kind of ambient sound except i always enter the painting through this rooster in theo lower center who is looking directly at the viewer. he seems to be providing ast little comic relief in fact. >> woodruff: i see look on his b face. >> that's right. he might not want to be there.di >> woodruff: when this artist painted these, he said it may be a thousand years before

people really understand what i was trying to do. s what did he mean by that is. >> he seemed to think that he was painting in a very. solitary mode and that thereem were no contemporaries who could fully appreciate his works. but that they would be appreciated a millennium in c the future. >> woodruff: he had a highci opinion of himself. of his ability? >> well he had high standards for his own art making.o what's remarkable is that we keep learning new things about his life and work that do awe i loy us to view his paintings in a different way. >> woodruff: americans today, people all over the world, are v so busy.s life is moving at a much faster pace than it was in the mid 1700s when this artist painted this. does that make it harder, do you think, for today to appreciate this kind of work? >> i think it does. i think these are works that are so detailed, so well crafted, that they really arehe predicated upon very long

periods of looking contemplation in a quiet milieu. one of things i hope this q exhibition does is it really allows people to slow down their metabolism for even a short period of time duringdo the day and real he'll just take in the... really justti take in the art works and thean kind of cultural significance of the art works before having to return to their fast-paced lives. >> woodruff: we could all usevi a little slowing down. so that's one more reason to appreciate all of this. yukio lippit thank you very much for talking with us. >> thank you very much for having me. >> ifill: the silk >> ifill: the silk scrolls remain on exhibit at the national gallery through april s 29. >> brown: again, the major developments of the day: syrian troops fired into a refugee camp across the border in turkey, ann launched an assault on a town in central syria, further dashing

hopes of a cease-fire. a and u.s. officials again warned north korea not to fire a long- range missile this month. the communist state insists it's going forward with efforts to orbit a satellite.it online, we have a new tool to help you understand the scope of the unemployment problem in america. hari sreenivasan explains. >> sreenivasan: it's an interactive calculator that allows you to figure out how long it will take the economy to recover all the jobs lost during the recession. that's on paul solman's making sense page. p >> ifill: and again, to ourag honor roll of american service personnel killed in the afghanistan conflict. we add them as their deaths are made official and photographs become available. i here, in silence, are nine more. here, in silence, are nine more.

>> ifill: and that's the newshour for tonight. on tuesday, we'll examine the

buffett rule, the president's a plan to raise taxes on the wealthy.ws i'm gwen ifill.th >> brown: and i'm jeffrey brown. we'll see you online, and again here tomorrow evening. thank you, and good night. he tomorrow evening. major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> citi turns 200 this year. in that time, there have been some good days and some difficult ones. but through it all, we persevered. supporting some of the biggest ideas in modern history.ev so why should our anniversary matter to you?s because for 200 years, we've been helping ideas from ambition to achievement. and the next great idea could be yours. >> bnsf railway. >> at&t.

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