a look at the work of john james. welcome to the news on public television in america and also around the world. or than 100 the cardinals are locked inside the vatican, selecting a new pope. when the process is over, one of them will emerge as the successor to vote -- to pope benedict. new pontiff has not been chosen yet. >> they gathered as night fell and anticipation rose. in the age of the internet, the church still makes this its most important announcement by smoke signal.

black, unmistakably, so, no pope yet. the conclaves have been held in the sistine chapel since 1492. this is how it begins. devotion, the holy spirit is implored to guide the choice they make. they heard a sermon. they are deeply divided and seek unity. looks down on them and reminds them that the pope is surmountable to god, not man. one by one, they took the oath to uphold the secrecy and rules of the conclave. -- of brazil,al now the world's largest catholic country. many believe he could be the first non-european pope since gregory ii in syria in the eighth century.

they took their seats in strict order of seniority. each man knows is -- knows his place. there will be no open campaigning. no lobbying in the sistine chapel. that happens, but elsewhere, when they retire for the evening. >> there will be little groups the number of votes that people got and where we go from here. lobbying is not quite the word i would use, but certainly, great interest. >> earlier, they return to the hearts of their faith. the first pope, st. peter, anointed by jesus christ, to be the rock in which the church of the world is built. the man they choose will be the latest in an unbroken line of succession that reaches back to the apostles. haspoint of consensus emerged. many of the cardinals here talk

about the need to restore good governance to the church. pope benedict himself calls it the culture of bitter fighting. cardinals from around the world want to narrow the gap between what happens within those walls and what goes on out to their in the church of the world. >> with the cardinals of the vatican bureaucracy and insiders facing a sustained challenge to their power, the cardinal electors retreated from view, locked in until they have made their choice. .bc news after the vatican >> for the latest from rome, -- as a st. peter's square. an exciting day. >> very much a so. certainly, for the people in this square. at the crowds grew and grew, despite the rain. the mass that was held, before the beginning of the election of

the pope. cardinals in their crimson robes standing side by side. it was just and the square right here. everyone waited with bated breath when the big screen turned into chimney tv. featured there on the screen to see whether the smoke would be black or white. yetnow the pope has not been chosen. most people said they would be back again tomorrow and this next day, until the new pope would be chosen. of course, a lot of discussion in the crowd as to who the next pope should be. joining me now is somebody who has some very strong opinions on the vatican. you are known as an investigative journalist who has looked at the dirty laundry at the vatican and hung it out in public. yet you are a catholic yourself. how do you reconcile those two

things? >> i grew up in an environment in new orleans where my grandmother in mexico took me to church often. my parents were quite at ease with the faith. i was educated by jesuits priests. when i stumbled onto these of these cases in louisiana in the mid--1980's, i had to go back to my own spiritual life. it has been a struggle, but i would rather stay then leave. >> you have had criticisms from within the church aimed at you as well saying that we should not talk about these things in public. there's the financial scandal within the vatican bank. that is true. you have to remember, this is the largest organization in the world. within any organization at large, there are bound to be problems. some of them have crumbling columns. for a journalist, it is almost

an endless topic. >> pope benedict, one of the last things he said to his cardinals, is that he wants them to act together like an orchestra, as opposed to the kind of fighting we have heard about and that he talks about as well, actually. can be onek there cardinal now elected who can solve these problems? many of them said that is what they really need to see in here. >> i think what the next pope had to do, if he is going to be considered a success in the global media, is basically two things. he will need a strong secretary of state, which is basically a cheap of staff bring these scandals to heal. he needs to be a figure of peace on the global stage. he needs to recapture that primary role of the pope which is that of a moral statesman. someone who espouses peace. he can do that.

i think it is possible. it really depends whether the cardinals are able to go on and get down to hard bargain over who will be the most flexible. a look this is a church that is octave mentally conservative and pastore early liberal. >> thank you. when you look to the letter of the law, it is possible for the cardinals to call for a new of them.amongst it be just anybody who is catholic. it is thought that they will certainly choose one of their number and, of course, everybody is waiting to see who that will be. >> a fascinating. later, we will have more on the conclave. one of the cardinals taking part in this historic process.

north korea stands as a serious threat to the united states and nations in east asia. that is the assessment of the national intelligence director today. announced that it was scrapping the agreement which ended the korean war. today, the country's a leader was pictured visiting front- line troops as tensions arise. for more on the situation, i spoke a brief time ago with the heritage foundation's asian is that he sent her. how high are tensions at this point? >> they are always high but they have gotten higher because of the annual military exercises. also, as a result of the recent un resolution. the rhetoric is high, but it has gotten higher more recently.

what's we have seen different from the past is that north korea is now claiming it has a nuclear warhead that can hit the united states. >> south korea, its neighbor, is much more vulnerable. >> exactly. they already have 800 or so missiles that could hit south korea. perhaps 300 that could hit all of japan. possibly 100 that could hit u.s. bases. >> the u.s. has a military alliance with south korea. you think that could be tested soon? >> it is always tested in a way. deter north korea or, if necessary, to seek any kind of incursion. the u.s. has pledged it will extend all necessary means, including the nuclear umbrella to deter or, if necessary, defend south korea. >> what exactly does the youthful leader want at this point? >> he is just continuing the policies of his predecessors. then he had hoped because he

studied for a few years that he might be different. he might be more willing to implement economic reform or moderate his fathers and grandfathers foreign-policy. that has not been the case. if anything, we have seen the belligerence and aggression has increased. he oversaw three acts of violence of the un security council resolutions last year. only gottenhave worse. he wants to maintain the regime in power. he wants recognition of north korea as a nuclear weapon states. it's not a return in negotiations to its own terms, receiving benefits. >> do you think the latest sanctions passed last week will make any difference to the situation? >> incrementally. unfortunately, it is an incremental improvement over the many resolutions before. one could argue that the time for incremental his nation has passed. of north korea's history conducting acts of war and

terror against its neighbors. >> thank you. >> thank you for having me. >> now to a new scientific discovery. mars could have supported life billions of years ago. that is according to u.s. scientists who unveiled evidence brought back from the rover u.s. curiosity. they say at one point water and minerals provide a potential place for microbes to live. earlier i spoke to the geologist at the center for planetary studies at the smithsonian here in washington. dr., are you excited by this discovery? >> absolutely. this is the most important thing that the curiosity rover was sent to mars to do -- to find out whether it supported a habitable environment in the past. >> what kind of life maybe could it have supported? >> most microbial life. very small things. the bacteria that could have lived in the surface or near surface materials. >> could do something bigger

have eaten those? >> very unlikely. may have beent wet, but not for a length of time. marshall's not have an ozone layer, so there is no protection of the surface -- mark's -- mars does not have an ozone layer, so there is no protection of the surface from radiation. the curiosity is in the rover -- in the basin. , right now, is very near the base of that stack of sediments. older rocks are located near the bottom. younger rocks are deposited on top. as it drives off to the south, it will be climbing up a big mountain called mount sharp. it has layered sentiments into their. it will be reading those layers like the pages of a history book. >> that is where it could find out if there was actual life there.

>> yeah. it could be. looking for evidence of past habitability. this is not a life-detection ocean. this is not to show that there was conclusively evidence of life on mars. if they find organic material, that will be a result. >> what are the chances we will discover there was life on mars? >> i think we will at some point. it will take a lot of exploration. it is a big place. it has much -- it has as much land to base as the service the 3/4 , given that earth is water. >> do you think the secrets have been released? >> i think the important ones are. mars had a warmer climate in the past. there was flowing water and rivers. it does not seem like that climate was sustained nearly as

long as it has been on the earth. >> just briefly, if we did know there was life on mars, how important would that be? >> that would be the important -- that could be the discovery of the century. that is what nasa is doing at this time. trying to figure out whether we are alone in the universe and of life has originated in other laces, it would be an incredible finding. >> indeed. thank you for joining us. you are watching bbc, world news america. it still to come, from humble beginnings to the whole of the vatican. the first cardinal. now in his native country, they are rooting for him to become pope. a staggering one in 10 medicines around the world are fake or contaminated. in some countries, nearly half of the drugs available to not do what they promised to. that is according to the international police organization. it's created a new unit to deal

with the new problem. it will be funded by pharmaceutical companies themselves. we have more. >> they are demons. every year, millions of how to , andablets, vaccines medicines are sold around the world. medstingly, they pick up that they believe to be the real thing. interpol wants to do something to stop it. counterfeit medicine sales are believed to represent 10% of drugs worldwide. interpol has announced a coordinated effort with 29 pharmaceutical firms which are contributing a grand total of $6 million. it is so the general public can be made more aware of how to represent -- how to recognize a counterfeit drug from the real thing. they want to train customs officers so they can cut the trade in substandard products.

such schemes are already up and running. an entrepreneur recently told the bbc his idea through which genuine brands of medicine are given a unique code so that the consumers know the source of what they are buying. the code to aext toll-free number and it tells you whether the drugs are genuine or not. the pharmaceutical industry is big business. every time fake meds are sold, they lose money. no wonder they are injecting their own cash to try to undermine a huge and sometimes deadly black market. bbc news. >> let's bring you more on our main story. the process of choosing a new spiritual leader for 1.2 billion roman catholics.

the roman catholics are in the sistine chapel. he is credited for helping to avert a violence following his countries contested election. some has picked him as a potential pope. our correspondent has more. >> an extraordinary journey began here in the western region of ghana. peter was born in 1948, the fourth of 10 children in what was a british colony, the gold coast. the students were getting ready to mark the anniversary of independence day when peter was here in the 1950's. they marched full of pride and excitement on the very day that ghana was born. it is a small mining town. teacher's mother sold food in the local market. his strict father worked as a carpenter. the family lived in this simple building which belonged to the mine. one of peter's younger sisters said when they were

growing up, there was a distinct color divide in the community. [indiscernible] the whites have this and the blacks have -- the whites have this and the blacks have -- >> the parents tell them to go to church and study hard. there were games of in kong on the bench. the fourth bourne created his fair share of mischief but excelled in the classroom. his lifee of just 12, took a dramatic turn. by chance, he saw a poster on a notice board in fighting young students to apply to become trees. he scribbled down the address on his hand and not long afterwards he ended up here. family was stunned by the decision and wondered if he

would coax with all the discipline -- cope with all the discipline and dedication. he has plenty of talent, strong in science and math. within arm to archimedes, he gave himself the nickname archie. >> he used to play the guitar. [indiscernible] >> the music of the day. >> the music of the day, yeah. they formed a group called the incredible echoes. >> were they incredible? corexit yes and no. [laughter] yes and no. [laughter] >> after going to new york, he returned here to be ordained as a priest in the 1970's.

at the age of 44, he was ordained archbishop here. one decade later, pope john paul ii named him a cardinal. his sisters remember people singing on the streets. >> [singing] >> they were praising his father for producing ghana's first ever cardinal. he does not veer away from the conservative doctrine but adds some flair to the catholic church. many are quietly hoping and praying that the vatican's white smoke comes with him as pope. .bc news, ghana >> finally, he is one of the most famous naturalist the world has ever known. john james portraits were a sensation in the 19th century. they are priceless now.

it celebrate the acquisition of newwork 150 years ago, the york historical society has a new exhibition and a book on the famous artists. roberta gives us a to her. -- a tour. is thebirth of america finest color series ever produced, certainly and national history. this is the apex of the golden age of etching. i am the curator of drawings at the american historical society. john james was the legendary naturalist. he would've market himself as the american woodsman which was very successful in london. very successful in paris. very successful in liverpool and manchester. the old world wanted to see the new world. he was the embodiment of that.

he was really america's first watercolorist. he invented so many series of levels of media. he just kept mixing up things so that everything was different. he wanted to freeze life. you would see the bird smile, move, and interact. if you look at it frequently, you blink and expect the birds to be gone. whether hee about always drew from life. he did not. to feel that he did, embedded in the swamps and perched in the trees. today, there are devices to euthanize birds. there are various kinds of guns or tracks or whatever. he also frequently referred to things that have been killed by other creatures or animals.

the significance of autobahn today is very far reaching. he wrote quite profoundly about how he saw civilization being eroded and the wilderness disappearing. industrialization was taking over and poisoning what he had considered to be a pristine environment. this book reproduces all 474 of our watercolors. he places his contribution securely in the artistic and scientific fields. you can really see this young man develop from his teenage years all the way to his mature years. >> that was the curator on the exquisite works of john's james

-- john james audubon. you can continue to watch bbc news for constant updates from around the world on our 24-hour news network. check your local listings for the channel number. to reach me and the rest of the team, simply go to twitter. thank you for watching. please, tune in tomorrow. >> funding of this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu, newman's own foundation, union bank, and fidelity investments. >> your personal economy is made up of things that matter most, including your career. as those things change, fidelity can help you readjust your retirement plan, rethink how you are invested, and refocus as your career moves forward.

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captioning sponsored by macneil/lehrer productions >> woodruff: house budget chairman paul ryan offered his blueprint for federal spending today, but a white house spokesman dismissed it, saying the math doesn't add up. good evening. i'm judy woodruff. >> brown: and i'm jeffrey brown. on the newshour tonight, we get the latest on the republican proposal, as president obama begins a series of meetings with members of congress to restart a bipartisan dialogue. >> woodruff: then we turn to the conversation sparked by facebook executive sheryl sandberg in her new book about women juggling careers, family, and leadership roles. >> brown: spencer michels reports on a gold mine of information stored in a gene data bank that could help revolutionize medicine.

>> a large group of people about whom we know everything about their medical history. we can look across diseases and see, are there common elements in these diseases? >> woodruff: and on the daily download, we look at the gap between what twitter followers think, and what polls reveal. >> like talk radio we shouldn't fall into the trap of thinking it's like a public announcement. it's certainly what people are chattering about. >> woodruff: that's all ahead on tonight's newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects us.