captioning sponsored by macneil/lehrer productions >> woodruff: president obama put a spotlight on the american economy today, while accusing washington of taking its eye off the ball. good evening, i'm judy woodruff. >> brown: and i'm jeffrey brown. on the "newshour" tonight: we recap the president's speech, including his pledge to fight for the middle class with new investments in jobs, education and homeownership. >> woodruff: then in an exclusive interview, the majority leader of the senate expressed optimism that congress will start to be productive again. we talk with nevada democrat harry reid. >> there's still 60% of the republicans who want to do good things, and i'm confident that some of the people who are-- have tea party affiliation, i think even they're tired of the gridlock. >> brown: a new report says where you live and work can make climbing the economic ladder

tougher. we explore a detailed portrait of american social mobility. >> woodruff: in one of california's oldest prisons, once violent inmates are being transformed into peacemakers. we profile that program, wrapping up our series on stopping gun violence. >> this is 52 weeks of very difficult self-exploration. the success of the program is whether or not after they're done they really do stick to that commitment of non-violence. >> brown: jubilant crowds in brazil have greeted pope francis. margaret warner looks at his first trip abroad as pontiff, to a nation shaken by anti- government protests. >> woodruff: and a new book examines the recent history of presidents sending troops into battle, without declaring war. ray suarez sits down with veteran journalist marvin kalb. >> woodruff: that's all ahead on tonight's "newshour."xd >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: çó

>> supported by the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation. committed to building a more just, verdant and peaceful world. more information at macfound.org >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations.ñi 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. >> brown: it was billed as a major policy speech, as president obama called his commitment to combating economic inequality his highest priority and blasted partisan politics in washington for undermining continued recovery. >> with an endless parade of distractions, political posturing and phony scandals, washington has taken its eye off

the ball. and i am here to say this needs to stop. this needs to stop. >> brown: president obama kicked off his push to re-focus on jump-start the economy at knox college in galesburg, illinois-- the site of his first major speech as a freshman senator in 2005. >> this moment does not require short-term thinking. it does not require having the same old stale debates. our focus must be on the basic economic issues that the matter most to you-- the people we represent. >> brown: the president said five cornerstones support his plan to rebuild america's middle class. >> good job, a good education for your kids, a home of your own, secure retirement. fifth, i will keep focusing on health care, because middle- class families and small business owners deserve the security of knowing that neither illness nor accident should

threaten the dreams you've worked a lifetime to build. >> brown: his speech came amid some signs of an economic rebound, but continuing concerns. hiring, while on the upswing, remains sluggish. the latest jobs numbers put the nation's unemployment rate at 7.6% compared to a high of 10% during the depth of the downturn in 2009. and housing prices and consumer confidence continue to rise. but the president said more work still lies ahead. >> we need a new push to rebuild run-down neighborhoods. >> we need new partnerships with some of the hardest-hit towns in america to get them back on their feet. and because no one who works full-time in america should have to live in poverty, i will keep making the case that we need to raise a minimum wage because its is lower than it was when ronald reagan took office. it's time for the minimum wage to go up. >> brown: the president also demanded a new political

approach to tackling the nation's problems. >> the key is to break through the tendency in washington to just bounce from crisis to crisis. what we need isn't a three-month plan, or even a three-year plan, but a long-term american strategy, based on steady, persistent effort, to reverse the forces that have conspired against the middle class for decades. that has to be our project. >> brown: even before the remarks, but after its focus and theme had been reported, republican leaders were out in force, criticizing the president's campaign-like strategy. house speaker john boehner demanded specifics: >> there are no new proposals in this speech. the president himself said it isn't going to change any minds. all right, well so exactly what will change? what's the point? what's it going to accomplish? probably got the answer-- nothing.

it's a hollow shell. it's an easter egg with no candy in it. >> brown: and senate minority leader mitch mcconnell said to be effective, the president must engage republicans. >> every time he goes out and gives one of these speeches, it generates little more than a collective bipartisan eye roll. it's just such a colossal waste of time and energy, resources that would be better spent actually working with both parties in congress to grow the economy and create jobs. >> brown: the back-and-forth comes as america's growing frustration with washington, especially congress. an a.b.c./"washington post" poll released today found 73% of american's disapprove of congress's job. and another, by nbc and the "wall street journal" put the disapproval rating at 83%, an all time high for that survey. "new york times" reporter jonathan weisman said opposition to the day's speech is all part of a larger republican strategy to take on many of the president's economic priorities. >> they believe that they are

answerable to a different electorate than the one that sent president obama back to power. they don't believe that they are doing out of spite. they believe they are that they are representing their voters and to most of these republicans they probably are. >> brown: but president obama today said he is ready for the political fights and compromises that lie ahead. >> in this effort, i will look to work with republicans as well as democrats wherever i can. i believe there are members of both parties who understand what's at stake, and i will welcome ideas from anybody, from across the political spectrum. but i will not allow gridlock, inaction, or willful indifference to get in our way. >> brown: still, other major financial deadlines loom large over capitol hill. on the agenda after the august recess: avoiding a government shutdown by october 1 and once again raising the nation's debt ceiling.

>> woodruff: you can watch all of president obama's speech online. coming up, we'll pick up on politics and the economy, as we sit down with senate majority leader harry reid and look at a new study linking inequality and geography in the u.s. plus, felons turned peacemakers; pope francis in brazil and journalist and author marvin kalb. but first, the other news of the day. here's kwame holman. >> holman: russian media today reported national security agency leaker edward snowden now has obtained a document allowing him to enter russia. that allows him to leave the transit zone of moscow's airport where he's spent the past month. but snowden's attorney said he'll remain at the airport for now, until his asylum status in russia is finalized. >> ( translated ): the issue is not yet resolved. edward snowden hasn't been denied asylum status, but unfortunately the current situation is a truly unique one for russia. we have to account for the bureaucracy involved in the process so his documents are still being looked over.

>> holman: in washington, a state department spokeswoman said snowden's movement from the airport would be deeply disappointing. she said secretary of state john kerry discussed the matter with russia's foreign minister today. the leader of egypt's military called today for mass demonstrations to show he has popular support to confront on- going violence. the army chief urged egyptians to demonstrate on friday in support of the army and police forces. the military has been cracking down on loyalists to president mohammed morsi since it removed him from power earlier this month. >> ( translated ): i would like to call all the egyptians to take to the streets to remind the whole world of the egyptian will and decision. therefore, i would like you to take the streets to show the world that you are giving the military and police a mandate to put an end to violence and terrorism. >> holman: morsi's muslim brotherhood responded by saying the general's call was an open invitation to civil war. they plan their own demonstrations on the same day.

in another development, the obama administration said it has delayed the sale of four f-16 fighter jets to egypt in the wake of morsi's ouster. the announcement did not mention more than a billion dollars in other military assistance. a train derailed in northwestern spain today, killing at least 35 people. some 50 people were injured. it occurred near a train station in santiago de compostola, as thousands of pilgrims were traveling there for a christian festival tomorrow. there was no immediate word what caused the derailment. police in india today arrested the principal of the school attended by 23 children who died last week after eating contaminated school lunches. tests showed cooking oil used to prepare the meals contained high levels of a pesticide. it was purchased from a shop owned by the principal's husband. 47 children in all fell ill after consuming the meal. president obama has nominated caroline kennedy to be the next u.s. ambassador to japan.

the daughter of late president john f. kennedy was an important early supporter of mr. obama's 2008 campaign for the white house. if confirmed by the senate, kennedy would be the first woman to serve as the american envoy in japan. in washington, house lawmakers moved today to act on a measure that would nullify the national security agency's authority to collect phone records of millions of americans. it was the first time congress has taken up the issue since the recent leaks about the n.s.a.'s secret surveillance programs. meanwhile, national intelligence director james clapper became the latest administration official to say the amendment would unwisely end a critical counterterrorism program. also in congress today, the father of slain teenager trayvon martin appeared before a special caucus on race. the group-- convened by black lawmakers-- hopes to focus more attention on issues disproportionately affecting black men and boys. they gathered just days after president obama insisted the

nation has to do some soul- searching in the wake of the florida shooting. today, tracy martin praised the president for opening a new national dialogue. >> it sparks the conversation in every household over the dinner table. that conversation is what can we do as parents? what can we do as men? what can we do as fathers? what can we do as mentors to stop this from happening to your child? i think that's where the conversation begins. >> holman: martin said he wants to channel his family's tragedy into something positive. he and his wife have established the trayvon martin foundation to address issues facing young african-american men. stocks were mixed on wall street today after several disappointing corporate earnings reports. the dow jones industrial average lost 25 points to close at 15,542. the nasdaq rose a fraction of a

point to close at 3,579. the duke and duchess of cambridge revealed the name of their son today: george alexander louis. he was born on monday, weighing eight pounds, six ounces. kensington palace officials said the prince, who is third in line to the british throne, will be known as "his royal highness prince george of cambridge." those are some of the day's major stories. now, back to judy. >> woodruff: and to our newsmaker interview with senate majority leader harry reid. i sat down with him earlier today in the lyndon baines johnson room at the u.s. capitol. senate majority leader harry reid, thank you very much for talking to us. >> it's really my pleasure. i try to watch almost every night when i'm home in time. >> woodruff: that's great to hear. president obama is out on the road today trying to refocus americans attention on the economy, talking about job creation. do you think he's going to be able to do that? and second of all, do you think that congress is going to be able to do what it should do this year to improve the economy? >> first of all, the presidents

speech is not a photo op. this is something he's been planning for a long time. i was at the white house recently and i-- just the two of us, and i was stunned about his optimism for doing good things. he's never backed off of what he wants to do is create jobs. he knows that's where the issue is. so this isn't one speech. he's going to give a series of them and, in effect, keep his eye on the prize. and the prize is to do something to help the middle class. so i support what he's doing. and the second question you asked me is what can we do about it here in congress? i hope that what's taken place in the last week or so has set a better tone here in washington. the american people are upset with congress. if one of those pollsters had called me, i would agree with the 83% that thinks we can do a better job. they don't call me, but if they would i would tell them how i feel about congress myself. but what we were able to do to diffuse some of this, we were able to get some republicans to

break away from the pack and start working as we used to do, to compromise to get things done. so i hope that with the financial crisis that's facing us because of what's happened with the tea party-driven republican leadership in congress, that reasonable republicans will break away from this, because we can't-- they're ening to not pay the debts the country has already incurred. >> reporter: but let's talk about that poll. you just cited 83% of americans disapprove of the job that congress is doing-- the lowest rate it's ever had. are americans right in their perception? >> yes, of course they're right. gridlock. we have gridlock. we have a house of representatives-- they're doing nothing. my friend the speaker was on television on one of the sunday shows and he said, my job isn't to pass laws; it's to repeal them. well, by that metric he's failed

every place because he hasn't passed any laws and he damn sure hasn't repealed any. we have to start talking about things we work on together, and that is what's missing here. >> woodruff: you said most of the blame lies with the republicans, but don't, in fairness, the democrats bear some of the responsibility? >> judy, you should tell me. i'll take whatever blame is there, but we have people who work all the time trying to come up with issues. but we have a situation here. let's acknowledge it. the vast majority of the republicans in the house are tea party members. 40% of the republicans here in the senate, tea party. they represent about 5% of the american people but they veto everything we do here. and that's why the last week there was a breakthrough. john mccain and others-- i called john and i said, "john, we need to try to work something out on this," and he stepped forward with others and did that. when it came time to go to floor, i talked about john mccain more than i talk about democrats. >> woodruff: so that did happen just last week, but today there

is talk about potentially another filibuster on funding the presidents health care reform, on obamacare. could the fix that happened last week turn out to be just temporary? >> judy, if you look at what mike lee, the young man from utah, is talking about, read what he says. what he wants to do is shut down the government to get rid of obamacare, but in the process, he wants to keep all the good things we have in obamacare: no pre-existing disability problems, no limits on how much insurance companies have to pay. they want to make sure that all the wellness for millions of seniors still exists. you can stay on your parents insurance policy until you're age 26. he's living in a dream land. so republicans-- even republicans won't agree with what he's trying to do. and he is representative of the tea party, and that shows how senseless and illogical it is. >> reporter: but do you think it's possible that what happened last week could turn out just to be temporary, that you could just end up right back at war

with the... >> i think it's possible, but i don't believe it's going to happen. i believe that democrats and republicans will recognize that we have to work together. >> woodruff: but so you're saying you believe republicans are ready to work now with democrats, but you also are very critical of the tea party, so which is it? >> it's not an either/or. the tea party makes up 40%, i repeat, of the republican caucus in the senate. they control the house of representatives. but there are people in the senate who are breaking from that. now, that was proven last week and you know, there's still 60% of the republicans who want to do good things, and i'm confident that some of the people who are-- have tea party affiliation, i think even they're tired of the gridlock. the american people are sick of gridlock. we're not doing important things. so we should all work together, even the tea party. >> reporter: well, despite what you say, there was a low moment very recently when your counterpart, the minority leader in the senate, mitch mcconnell,

said you were on the verge of becoming the worst majority leader the senate had ever seen. what was your reaction? >> well, mitch was upset because i was doing, he thought that that was the wrong thing to do, and he was frustrated, but he's, of course, changed his tune on that. sticks and stones will hurt my bones, but names will never hurt me. i'm very happy. i've been the majority leader longer than anyone in the history of this country except for mike mansfield, and i'm proud of the work i've done, and so is my democratic caucus. >> woodruff: so what's your relationship right now with senator mcconnell? >> i think because of what happened last week, it's going to be better. we've never been enemies, hated each other. it's just been a little difficult to work together, and i think things will get better. that's one of the things his republican congress-- i was

>> woodruff: one is it's been reported the president does not have a very good relationship with the congress. how do you see that? >> i've been here for 31 years. and every president, that's what they throw at every president. i mean, the only thing the president has done is had the republicans move into the white house. he takes them to dinner all the time. he has them down to the white house. now, some of these meetings are not public in nature, but the president reaches out to republicans a lot. in fact, he's reached out to them so much that some of my democrats are jealous. >> reporter: congressional elections next year. a number of democratic senate seats are up. political experts are out there saying the senate is ripe for the republicans to take back control. >> i think realistically that's not in the cards. we'd have to lose six seats, and that's not going to happen. the american people do not like the brand of the republicans, let's face it. they've offended hispanics, african-americans, women, gays. they're going to have to do something to do a little better

branding here. >> woodruff: well, picking up on one thing you just said, the president made remarks last week in connection with the trayvon martin case about how african- americans are perceived in this country. what did you think about what he said and what does it say that there's not a single african- american democratic member of the u.s. senate? >> oh, just hold your breath; cory bookers on his way from new jersey. and that'll happen in october. the president made his remarks extemporaneously. only he could do-- say what he did. i agree with david brooks, the republican columnist for the "new york times." and i'm paraphrasing, but not very much. he said it was one of the most remarkable presentations he's ever seen and thought it was one of the highlights of the president's presidency. so i agree with him. i think this was really remarkable that he had the courage to come out and talk about what is going on in america. and he had some ability to relate to that as an individual.

>> woodruff: senator harry reid, the majority leader in the senate. we thank you for talking with us. >> you're welcome. >> woodruff: online, watch the democratic leader weigh in on a possible hillary clinton presidential bid in 2016 and the chances of immigration reform passing this year. you can watch the full interview on our web site. next week, we'll air an interview with republican senator john mccain. >> brown: now we pick up on a key economic theme raised by the president today and many others in recent times: increasing inequality. many factors are involved in determining the potential for upward mobility, but a new study has highlighted what turns out to be a hugely important one: geographical location. for instance, a child born in poverty in atlanta or charlotte, has roughly a 4% chance of rising to the top fifth of income earners, while odds of a similar climb for a

child born in salt lake city or san francisco are over 11%. it also found that geography mattered less for well-off children than for middle-class or poor ones. one of the study's co-authors joins us now: raj chetty, professor of economics at harvard university. welcome to you. let's begin with how you define economic mobility. what does that mean and how is it measured? >> we define economic mobility as the odds that a child from a low-income family moves up in the income distribution. so, for instance, a child growing up in a family in the bottom fifth of the income distribution, what's the chance that that child reaches the top fifth, for instance? >> and this -- so it's -- the american dream, so to speak, of upward mobility is what you're looking at? >> that's exactly right. the idea is to try to measure is the american dream alive and how does it vary across areas of the u.s. and what we're finding, basically, is that the classic

question "is america the land of opportunity" might not actually be the right we do ask. because there are some places in america that are well-described as lands of opportunity where children from low-income families have a high probability of succeeding but there are other places that are better described as, unfortunately, lands of persistent inequality, where generation after generation we see persistent poverty. >> brown: were you surprised by the results of what you found? explain how geography does come to work as a factor. >> i think we were quite surprised because we weren't expecting to find so much variation within the u.s. there's been talk in the media and academic research about how the u.s. has lower rates of mobility than other countries such as european countries, denmark and sweden and so forth. we were quite surprised that there are places within the u.s. with rates of mobility that are comparable to denmark and sweden, and then there are other places that have rates of upward

mobility that are lower than any other rich country for which we have data today. so you were giving some examples. salt lake city, san jose, these are places that are at the very top in terms of upward mobility. other cities like charlotte, raleigh, north carolina, atlanta, all generally quite vibrant economies, actually, in the u.s. nevertheless have relatively low rates of upward mobility. >> brown: so if they're all vibrant economic locations, as you say, what are the factors that make them different? >> that's a great question. that's something we're trying to investigate. we have a bunch of hypotheses for which we have some correlational evidence at this point. we don't know what the key causal factors are, but some of the channels that appear to potentially be important are the levels of inequality within the area. so how much difference is there between the higher incomes and lower incomes within a given city picking up on a theme the president talked about earlier

today. also what appeared to be fairly important is the amount of segregation in the area. so a city like atlanta, for example, lower income individuals are not living in neighborhoods with that are well integrated with higher income families and that we found was a common characteristic of the cities that had lower rates of upward mobility. we also found correlations with perhaps not surprisingly the quality of local schools and also various factors that are related to family structure. so the fraction of two-parent families in an area and measures of civic engagement and religiosity, the cohesiveness of the community, if you'd like. >> brown: and within a given city you do see differences in terms of upward mobility? >> so we're focusing on differences in upward mobility across cities. our statistics don't allow us to study differences within a city and so what we're doing is comparing 740 different regions

of the u.s. we break up the u.s. into 740 subregions and we're comparing across those areas. >> brown: i'm curious, now, how did you come to focus on geography in the first place? what were the questions that you and your colleagues were asking? >> so the way we came at this, i think, is we wanted to get a better picture of what the determinants of equality of opportunity are in america. and our view was that potentially we could learn quite a bit if there was variation at cross places within america. so the idea is if we can find out what it is that places like salt lake city and san jose and boston have that are generating these high rates of upward mobility maybe we can figure out the key factors that are going to increase rates of upward mobility in atlanta and charlotte and in other places in the u.s. that aren't at the moment having high rates of upward mobility. >> suarez: that leads to the next question. how do -- do we know how locked in a city is once it's in a

certain place whether for good or ill. whether it can move up. >> that's a a fascinating question to think about going forward. my own view is that it's unlikely that any city is totally locked in. i'm optimistic there are things one can do to change the level of mobility. we have some hypotheses about what these are. so for instance if we think it's something related to school quality we've done some prior work in our research team which i discussed earlier on the newshour showing that the quality of teachers and the quality of schools can can have very important long-term impacts and that's an area in which we can make concrete strides to try to improve school quality in areas that don't have as good schools at the moment. and i think that's the type of thing one could do to increase rates of upward mobility throughout the u.s. >> brown: does the data tell you now or is this something you look at whether the problem is getting worse? does it point to this country as even more of a class society than we've thought of in the

past? >> so our data at the moment basically provide a snapshot of children who were born in the 1980s and whom we're seeing at age 30 today. we don't have enough data at the moment to look at changes over time. but going forward the great thing about having statistics like this to do research is that you have the prospect of understanding how things are changing and figuring out which cities are getting better and learning more about how we can make the other cities even better going forward. >> pelley: raj chetty of harvard university, that you can very much. >> thank you, it's my pleasure. >> woodruff: next, the third story in our series on air and online about efforts to reduce gun violence. tonight, a california program that gives violent offenders the tools to resolve conflicts, inside and outside prison walls. special correspondent kate olson reports. a version of this story aired on

the pbs program "religion and ethics newsweekly." >> reporter: for most of its 160-year history, san quentin has been known as a tough place to do hard time. but over the past two decades, this has begun to change. although only a tiny portion of state funds goes toward rehabilitation, contributions from citizens support innovative programs aimed at reducing violence and recidivism. one program making a difference was started by jacques verduin. >> there's a growing alienation and a lack of sense of belonging for most people today, it seemed that nowhere else stronger than in our prison system had we turned our backs on each other. >> reporter: a psychologist who has practiced meditation for many years, verduin created a program called grip-- guiding

rage into power. the year long initiative seeks to help prisoners address the root causes of their violent behavior and make the journey of transformation from violent offender to peacemaker from the inside out. >> is home just four walls and a roof on the outside? or is home a state of mind as well? can you go home before you leave? can you leave prison before you get out? >> the reality is that the parole board does not grant parole very easily. so for many of them they don't actually know when they will get out of prison. and what i think the grip program has done is offered them a way to not be trapped by that, to realize that they're living their lives right now, that they're still part of a community. it's not the community outside the prison but it's the community inside the prison. >> reporter: elizabeth siggins, who visited san quentin the day we were there, is a senior policy advisor in the department of corrections and rehabilitation for the state of

california. >> when you work in a prison system, you don't think that you're going to sit in a group of offenders and close your eyes. when i was sitting there today i thought, i feel safe. >> reporter: creating this safe environment is the responsibility of the prisoners who understand that the program belongs to them. >> my name is robin, and i'm a peacemaker... >> reporter: fellow inmates, like robin guillen, who are graduates of the program, guide the weekly sessions. >> there's a part we explore here and discuss about ourselves on why we acted violently. >> reporter: guillen has served 40 years in prison-- 20 of them here at san quentin-- for a murder he committed at age 17. after witnessing a stabbing outside his cell, he made a decision to turn his life around beginning with facing his painful past. >> can you go back to the first time you witnessed trauma or

pain in your life... >> my father and cousin were in a fight in the living room and my father stabbed my cousin many times. and i was sitting there crying, blood curdling cries out of sheer fear and terror. that was my first experience of original pain. >> reporter: to help the new class of prisoners understand how pain and suffering from their past can trigger violent behavior, robin prompted others to share their experience. >> how many of you suffered from trauma in early life as an adolescent or a little one? >> early on in my life everything you do you get hit. it was something that happened to me that was just normal. if you go to school late, you get a whipping.

if you come home late ever you get a whipping. those things taught me to be aggressive and hurtful toward other human beings. >> see if you can connect the emotional feeling with some sensation in your body. >> reporter: through a practice called sitting in the fire the inmates learn to face painful emotions from their past. >> so breathing in, welcome this feeling, i feel this fear, this grief, this anxiety. >> in my experience in working in san quentin, i saw that it was often difficult strong emotions that propelled people in a life of crime and addiction and trying to medicate what could otherwise process, sitting in the fire, in essence, is basically a movement of responsibility, where you say, the causes and the origins of this feeling lie within me, so

you can stop blaming. >> and see that's the whole piece to be able to feel what's going on to be able to really address internally what is this feeling? where is it coming from? and how i'm going to respond versus react. >> reporter: making amends to families of their victims is also part of the journey in grip and to the experience of inner freedom for guillen. >> i have character defects, flaws, and i'm imperfect. but i have a walk and i have a commitment to honor. and to honor those people that i've hurt. and i have something to give. and i could either give it in here, or i could give it out there. >> this is 52 weeks of very difficult self-exploration. not only do the facilitators

hold the men accountable, they do hold each other accountable, and ultimately, the success of the program is whether or not after they're done they really do stick to that commitment of non-violence. >> it's an enormous gift to a community to bring back groups of men that have been imprisoned and the gift is to say, these are safe men. not only will they not create conflict or violence in our community, they can help resolve it and de-escalate it. >> reporter: this gift was evident in the testimonies at the graduation ceremony of last years grip class. >> my name is vaughan and i've been incarcerated for 18 years for taking the life of kneeck. through all that hurt and you accept the responsibility for that, they have a part in there called sitting in the fire where

you sit with all those emotions. i got to see all the ugly that i did and it also helped me to look back and find my authentic self, to look back and see the kid that cried when his hamster died and to allow that person to come forth and shine and guide me, if i can stop another kneeck from being killed and another vaughan from murdering someone, then i did my job! >> ♪ oh happy day... >> reporter: in a closing ritual, supporters welcomed the graduates into the community as peacemakers ready to give back. >> woodruff: and you can join us online for a twitter chat tomorrow. we'll discuss some of the issues raised in this series. follow "newshour" on twitter, for details.

>> brown: next, to brazil, the scene of the first international trip by pope francis as leader of the catholic church. margaret warner has the story. >> warner: he held a solemn ceremony for thousands inside the ornate basilica in aparecida. while outside, tens of thousands braved the cold winter rain awaiting a glimpse of pope francis and a few words in his native spanish. >> ( translated ): pray for me. pray for me. >> warner: many expressed joy at >> warner: the first latin american pope and first jesuit one came to brazil to celebrate this weekend's world youth day, a triennial event to energize young catholics. brazil has the world's largest catholic population, some 120 million.

the church has lost ground to evangelical protestants in recent years. yet at each stop, francis has been greeted exuberantly. arriving monday in rio, francis dispensed with the customary bullet-proof popemobile, and was mobbed by the crowds, sparking security concerns. there have also been some scattered protests. >> ( translated ): the attention the government gave the pope's visit was $52.7 million. that's too much. you could invest in health or education. >> warner: that theme sparked massive protests last month against social inequality, and the lavish spending to prepare for hosting next year's world cup and the 2016 summer olympics. welcoming the pope monday evening, president dilma rousseff reflected those concerns. >> ( translated ): we have before us a religious leader3l@& sensitive to the aspirations of young people, of our people, of social justice, opportunities

for all, and a citizens' dignity. we struggle against a common enemy, inequality in all its forms. >> warner: the pope, for his part, described his mission in brazil this way. >> ( translated ): i have neither silver nor gold, but i bring with me the most precious thing given to me: jesus christ! i have come in his name, to feed the flame of fraternal love that burns in every heart. >> warner: tomorrow francis will visit one of rio's largest and most violent favelas, or slums. he returns to rome sunday. to explore the pope's visit to brazil, i'm joined by marie arana, a peruvian american author and journalist, and member of the scholar's council at the library of congress. she's the author of "bolivar: american liberator." thank you for coming. >> thank you so much. thank you for having me, margaret. >> warner: popes usually get enthusiastic welcomes overseas.

but what explains the fervent outpouring for this pope in brazil? >> well, the fact that it's a latin american pope, let's start with that. the catholic church has undergone a lot of changes in the past 100 years. in 1910, 16% of all catholics in the world were in europe. now 40%-- which is actually majority-- are in latin america. and the growth of catholics around the world has been in the southern hemisphere. so especially for latin america this is a very big step for them to be included and to have a world leader at the level of a pope to be one of them. >> warner: is there something deeper in the philosophy and approach he's brought not just to the papacy but his ministry throughout? >> absolutely. the latin american church which began, let's say, with

bartholomew delas casas, he said "we are going to have a grass-roots perspective and we are going to start with the poor and the people. and particularly with the indigenous." and that's something that this pope brings back, the concern for the poor, the concern for the socially marginalized. and he has really emphasized that in his pastoral work. so it's very important to him. >> warner: and he brings a kind of humble style. i mean, we've all read that he doesn't wear the red papal shoes, he doesn't live in the lavish apartments that popes usually do. does that have special resonance in latin america even today? >> yes, it does. especially fact that he's taken the name francis which, of course, was st. francis of assisi. there has been no other francis. and st. francis of assisi to latin americans is a very big figure, very worsúiuhed figure. so that means a great deal to them as well.

the fact that the pope has also expressed concern for women because he is a very deep believer in the virgin mary. when he went today to visit the aparecida, he was making a statement then. so that means a great deal to latin americans as well. >> warner: what explains, though, that there has been this dropoff in the number of brazilians who identify as catholics? >> well, i would say for the past 50 years in latin america the church has associated itself with the powerful and with the moneyed classes. and this has turned the tables on the church a bit. so there has been great bleeding away of people from the catholic church. in brazil 90% -- almost 890% used to count themselves catholics in 1980 and today it's

almost -- you know, barely close to 60%. so there has been a dropoff. not that christianity has lost because they have remained christians, they have just gone to the other side, a lot of them. >> warner: protestant evangelicals, in fact. >> exactly, exactly. >> warner: so what you're saying in latin america it isn't that there's been this this huge growth in secularization as, say, in europe where people just don't go to church but they've switched to evangelicals. >> absolutely. so they haven't really left the faith in a sense, they haven't left christianity, but they have moved over to protestantism to pentecostallism, evangelism, charismatics as well. >> warner: so is this pope in a mission to revitalize the church in latin america? other than being a symbolic figure? >> a lot of scholars think so. i've spoken to quite a few who have said that this -- the feeling -- the general feeling in latin america even for those who are not catholics, the feeling that there is somebody

in that position of power means that latin americans will be included more -- at a higher level. latin americans for so long have been misrespected and unrepresented and underrepresented that now they see a head of state-- because that's what a pontiff truly is-- representing them. >> warner: now, he arrives, of course, at a time of tremendous social unrest in brazil, as we saw from those demonstrations last month. how does his visit play into that and can it help alleviate those tensions over social inequality or might his message of social justice add fuel to the fire? >> well, it was really interesting today in the clips that you just showed of the president sort of allying herself with the social justice that the pope so clearly represents and the concern for the poor. i think that the pope will have a calming influence, sort of

tranquilizing influence. it doesn't help that the state has managed to shell out $52 million for the state visit but what they explain is that, in fact, it is an investment because it's brought a lot of tourism and a lot of jobs and what not. but it's still for the people to judge. >> warner: briefly, is there a lot at stake for the brazilian government? >> i think there is. because at this point it's such a tenuous, volatile situation that they need all the help they can get in calming the population and sort of stabilizing things. and i think if the pope says the right things-- which he is likely to say -- address and, in fact, i think the cardinals have said he will address the protest issues and i look forward to see what he says tomorrow because

that will tell the tail. >> pelley: marie arana, thank you so much. >> thank you. >> woodruff: finally tonight, presidents who send troops into conflicts around the world sidestepping congress's role. that's the subject of a new book. ray suarez talked with its author. >> suarez: the power to make war is subject to the checks and balances found throughout the constitution. the president asks congress to declare war and it's congressional approval that clears the way for a state of war. but declarations of war are rare and american forces have seen plenty of combat without them on the orders of the president. veteran journalist and teacher marvin kalb is taking a look at the evolving power of the president to commit the country to action around the world. his new book is called "the road

to war: presidential commitments honored and betrayed." great to have you here. >> thank you, ray. >> suarez: as i was reading the book the united states has been actively militarily engaged in a lot of places in the last 60 years without a declaration of war. >> pelley: without a declaration which has become an antique, a rare remembrance of former times. the last one was december 8, 1941 when roosevelt went to the congress after the japanese attack on pearl harbor the day before and he said "i need a declaration of war." and they gave it to him within a couple of days. there were four other times in american history when that happened. but at no time since 1941 has the president ever gone to congress and asked for a declaration. >> suarez: and vietnam is the centerpiece of your book and you illustrate how successive presidents were able to escalate that conflict really on their own writ without having to ask

congress much of anything. >> exactly. >from harry truman torichard nig under the shadow of a cold war and the cold war essentially set the terms under which a president functioned. so the president could ask for something. say we're in the middle of the cold war, the soviet union is just around the corner so watch your step and the congress -- no one in congress was going to stand up against a president. when the issue was war against communism and now the issue war against terrorism and nobody in congress is really standing up foto the president. what i found in this book is that one president after another ever since world war ii can lead the country into war relatively easily no one is standing up, there are no checks and balances. the president does it on his

own. >> suarez: but for all the request about whether a declaration of war would constrain a president, wouldn't it also give him cover? the kind of support that it is necessary to have when you're leading the country into this kind of venture? >> absolutely. but at this particular point the president doesn't feel that he needs cover. jim webb, the senator, the retired senator from virginia did a recent article in which he said that the congress has become irrelevant in the making and executing of american foreign policy. i have certainly found that to be the case. the congressmen and the senators are very good on issues like benghazi, but when it comes to an issue like declaring war they say "let the president do it. why do i have to bear responsibility for that? it takes too much time away from fund-raising. i have to answer to my constituents." and right now with the congress out of the picture and the president having essentially his

own army like the european monomonarchs of old, they have their own army, the president can go into a war without anybody saying anything. anybody an editorial writer will say something but that's about it. >> suarez: you mentioned the cold war and then the war on terror strengthened the president's hand when he wants to make war. permanently or is this a presidential power that with events may wax or wayne in coming decades? >> it's a very good question. the only sense i have right now is that the evidence over the last 30, 40 years suggests that we're moving in that direction and are likely to continue to move in that direction. one of the reasons that this book, by the way, has been on my mind to write for 40 years now because of one overriding concern and that is when too much power rests in the hands of the president-- even the president-- i think we're all in

trouble. the whole idea as you said at the very beginning was checks and balances and increasingly with the congress abdicating its responsibility, the w the president having his own army in effect and with the media more or less benignly going along with what's happening you end up with the president having all of the power to do whatever he wants? if he tomorrow morning decides we're going to put -- we're going to go into an attack in iran, who would stop him? no one. you would just learn about it and report it. >> suarez: and that's the thing. after december 8, 1941 f.d.r. had a united nation and a united government behind him as a result of that war declaration. >> yes. >> suarez: and look at the wars, the invasions, the various things that have happened in the recent decades often leading presidents down very bad roads because they were going into war. >> absolutely. and this is one of the things

that's so terribly important. we are fighting totally different kinds of war. so if you put this proposition to the president-- who's a very intelligent man-- and say "mr. president, are you really comfortable with this arrangement?" he'd say "no." i'm positive he'd say no. but everything yields power to him. when you live in a world that is so unpredictable, so uncertain, with anything happening the next morning you have to turn to somebody. and the american people at this point must turn to the president. there is no one else. the congress has said good-bye and the army is there to do what the president wants as commander in chief. he is the boss. zbigniew brzezinski told me in the course of researching this he told me the president makes the key decision and after that it is the policy of the united states. >> suarez: the book is "the road to war." marvin kalb, great to see you. >> thank you sir.

>> brown: again, the major developments of the day: president obama pledged to fight for the middle class with new investments in jobs and homeownership. the leader of egypt's military called for mass demonstrations to show he has popular support to confront ongoing violence. and a train derailment in northwestern spain killed at least 35 people near santiago de compostola. some 50 others were injured. >> woodruff: it's science wednesday online. kwame holman has the details. >> holman: a north carolina middle school teacher turns a wetland into a science classroom. watch the latest profile in our "super stem" teacher series. should america ease immigration rules for high-tech guest workers? or will that undercut u.s. wages? we present the case against the foreign workers today and the opposite view tomorrow on making sense. all that and more is on our website newshour.pbs.org. judy? >> woodruff: and that's the "newshour" for tonight. on thursday, we'll have the story of a hunger strike among some of the most dangerous inmates in california's prisons.

i'm judy woodruff. >> brown: and i'm jeffrey brown. we'll see you online and again here tomorrow evening. thanks for joining us. goodnight. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: ♪ ♪ moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects us. >> supported by the john d. and >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations.

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