captioning sponsored by macneil/lehrer productions >> lehrer: good evening. i'm jim lehrer. vice-president biden visits the middle east in an effort to kick-start peace talks. >> ifill: and i'm gwen ifill. on the newshour tonight-- israel announces plans for expanded settlements, drawing u.s. condemnation. margaret warner reports. >> lehrer: then, the commander of u.s. forces in iraq, general ray odierno, talks about the elections, the conflict, and americans' perceptions of what it's like for the troops. >> i don't think they

understand what it takes for these young men and women to operate in this environment. they have done extremely well, balancing non-violence and violence, having to be able to determine who is bad and who is good. >> ifill: political and sectarian tensions collide in nigeria-- a look at the latest cycle of violence. >> lehrer: and one for the record books-- judy woodruff looks at the university of connecticut's women's basketball team. >> it's pretty remarkable. i am probably ... tonight at some point i'll sit back and think, wow, that's a lot of wins. >> lehrer: that's all ahead on tonight's newshour. major funding for the pbs newshour is provided by: >> what the world needs now is energy. the energy to get the economy humming again. the energy to tackle challenges like climate change. what if that energy came from an energy company? everyday, chevron invests in

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monsanto. >> and by the bill and melinda gates foundation. dedicated to the idea that all people deserve the chance to live a healthy productive life. and with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. 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. >> lehrer: vice-president biden today led the latest u.s. push for peace in the middle east. it came as israel announced it's building hundreds of new homes for jews in east jerusalem. margaret warner reports. >> warner: there was a vice presidential hug for israeli president shimon peres;

and laughter and a handshake for opposition party leader, tzipi livni. and with prime minister benjamin netanyahu, vice-president biden reaffirmed america's special relationship with israel. >> progress occurs in the middle east when everyone knows there is simply no space between the united states and israel. >> warner: the vice-president's trip to the middle east comes just a day after the u.s. special envoy to the region, george mitchell, announced israelis and palestinians have agreed to resume talking, but only indirectly, through an american mediator. >> we look forward to what we hope will be a credible, serious, constructive process that will accomplish the objective which we all share-- comprehensive peace in the middle east. >> ( translated ): i'm happy about the renewal of the peace process between us and the palestinians. it is almost a year that we called to start the talks again with no pre-conditions. i hope the proximity talks will

quickly lead to direct talks that would really allow the promotion of peace. >> warner: mr. biden said today the goal was ultimately to have the parties deal with one another face-to-face again. >> we hope that these talks will lead, and they must lead, eventually, to negotiations or direct discussions between the parties. the goal is obviously to resolve the final status issues and to achieve a two-state solution, with israel and palestine living side by side. >> warner: the two sides have engaged in direct talks off and on over many years in the past. but the palestinians broke them off 16 months ago after the israelis' incursion into gaza. "washington post" reporter glenn kessler, a veteran of middle east coverage, said the onset of indirect talks now doesn't offer much to celebrate. >> what it is is it's a step backwards. after 17 years of direct talks, you now have a situation where the two parties are not even going to be talking to each

other. it's because the two sides-- the israelis and palestinians-- have no trust that either side is willing or able to make an agreement, and you have a period of unusual calm in israel and the west bank, which has reduced any real pressure to make an agreement right now. >> warner: the palestinians say they won't negotiate directly until israel stops building settlements in disputed areas. the israelis did impose a partial moratorium, but not a complete freeze. just today, the government approved 1,600 new homes in east jerusalem, and yesterday, 112 more in the west bank. palestinian negotiator saeb erekat cried foul. >> the israeli government approval of 112 housing units in the settlement of beitar illit just shows how much of a hoax the so-called moratorium of settlements is. >> warner: and late today, vice- president biden also condemned the plan for new homes in east jerusalem.

in a written statement, he said, "the substance and timing of the announcement is precisely the kind of step that undermines the trust we need right now." violence also has erupted between israelis and palestinians in recent days over another land issue. in february, the israeli government added two west bank locations to its list of historic heritage sites, a move viewed by the palestinians as a provocation. there was another dimension to the talks between mr. biden and the israeli prime minister-- iran. israel backs washington's push for stricter international sanctions to target iran's nuclear program. but israel also has reserved the right to take unilateral military action, a move the obama administration wants to forestall. >> i very much appreciate the efforts of president obama and the american government to lead the international community to place tough sanctions on iran. >> there is no space between the

united states and israel when it comes to israel's security, and for that reason and many others, addressing iran's nuclear program has been one of our administration's priorities. >> warner: mr. biden continues his middle east trip tomorrow in meetings with palestinian leaders in ramallah. >> ifill: now, with the other news of the day, here's hari sreenivasan in our newsroom. >> sreenivasan: two nato troops were killed in eastern afghanistan today. they died in a suicide bombing at a remote base near the city of khost. there was no immediate word on the victims' nationalities. to the south, u.s. defense secretary robert gates visited front-line troops near kandahar on the second day of his visit to the country. he said a coming offensive there will be a "decisive phase" in the war. greek prime minister george papandreou appealed for u.s. support today, as he tries to resolve a debt crisis. he met with president obama at the white house, and he said he urged the president to crack down on speculators betting that

greece will default. papandreou spoke later, outside the white house after the closed-door meeting. >> we're not asking for a bailout. we're not asking for financial help from anyone. what we are doing is, first of all, revamping our own economy. we are taking measures to put our economy on the right track. and that has been recognized and has been hailed by many leaders. as i said earlier also from a very important institution such as the imf and the european central bank. >> sreenivasan: the greek government has already adopted major spending cuts and tax increases. but the austerity measures have sparked violent protests. wall street managed small gains today, one year after bottoming out. the dow jones industrial average added nearly 12 points to close at 10,564. the dow has risen more than 60% in the last 12 months. the nasdaq rose eight points today to close at 2,340. a rutgers university graduate student pleaded guilty today to a security breach that fouled flight schedules worldwide.

haisong jiang slipped under a security rope last january at newark liberty international airport. that triggered an alert which delayed or canceled 200 flights worldwide. today, jiang apologized in court and said, "i made a big mistake, and i also learned a big lesson". he faces a $500 fine and community service. the first gay marriages in washington, d.c., were performed today. about 150 same-sex couples were eligible after applying for licenses last week. local courts said they will now pronounce newlyweds as "legally married", rather than "man and wife". the nation's capital joins connecticut, iowa, massachusetts, new hampshire and vermont as the sixth place in the nation to allow gay marriage. those are some of the day's main stories. i'll be back at the end of the program with a preview of what you'll find tonight on the newshour's web site. but for now, back to jim. >> lehrer: now, two days after iraq's parliamentary elections, our newsmaker interview with the commander of u.s. forces in iraq, general ray odierno. i talked with him earlier today

from baghdad. general, welcome. >> how are you, jim? >> lehrer: just fine, sir, thank you. how confident are you that the political leaders of iraq can now peacefully form a new government? >> well, what i'm confident about is that they know that they're going to have to form a government using several different coalitions because not one coalition will have a majority. and so they know that they're going to have to work together to build this coalition. they know that. i think they'll work towards that over time. >> lehrer: how long do you think it will take, sir? >> well, it's unclear. i think it depends on the final results. if they are close, it will probably take a little bit longer. if someone has a bigger lead, it might happen a little bit quicker. but i believe we're talking about a couple of months. >> lehrer: a couple of months. >> that's correct, sir. >> lehrer: there's been a suggestion that the people of iraq are really getting the hang of democracy. in other words, the ordinary folks have gotten the hang of democracy but maybe some of

the leaders are not quite there yet. particularly when it comes to compromise. what's your reading of that situation? >> well, i think you're absolutely right that the people of iraq have embraced democracy. they proved it again on saturday as they came out to vote. 12 million iraqis came out to vote. they clearly want to have a say in their country's future. i believe the politicians are learning about democracy. they're learning about how a minority works with a majority government. they have to learn how you do work through tough issues. we saw them make improvements over the last year. i expect they will continue to improve. but they're learning about this new process. >> lehrer: what is your level of concern about the possibility of a power vacuum setting in if it takes too long to form a government and violence could erupt again? >> well, clearly we understand that this is a transition time. transitions are always a time of risk. but we have worked very hard with the government of iraq during this care-taker

government to try to ensure that security will remain. we've worked very close relationships with all the security elements, the minister of defense, the minister of interior, in order to ensure that safeguards are in place in order to sustain security. i believe we'll be able to do that through this critical period. >> lehrer: how would you describe your own relationship between you and your immediate aides and fellow officers in the u.s. military and the civilian leadership as well as the military leadership of iraq? >> over the last several years, we have built extremely strong partnerships with many iraqis. we've done that through very difficult times during the surge of forces in 2006 and '07. now as we've implemented the security agreement in 2009. we have built strong partnerships. we've built trusts with all the senior leaders, military

and civilian. across all parties. we engage with them on a regular basis. we work very hard to continue to develop those relationships as we turn more and more responsibility over to them over time. >> lehrer: are they 50-50 partnerships or is it now growing where the iraqis have more control than the u.s. did? how would you describe that? >> well, what i would say is obviously in 2006, '07, '08 the united states clearly had a much larger role when we were under the u.n. security council resolution. in december 2008 when we signed the security bilateral agreement with the government of iraq, we recognized iraq's sovereignty. clearly they became responsible for their own decisions and we are a partner with them in helping them to move forward. clearly, they make the decisions. we support them. we try to help them in order to provide security throughout iraq, in order for them to

continue to build their political base, their economic base and to develop the democratic system. so they clearly have more of a say than we do now. that's the way it should be. that's the way we want it to be. they'll how they'll develop their capacity. >> lehrer: you don't have a veto power? >> no, we do not have a veto. they clearly make their own decisions. we again we have discussions about issues. we talk about these issues. we give them our opinions, but ultimately they make the decision about their government. >> lehrer: now, the time line for the troop withdrawals, for the u.s. troop withdrawals, are they on track as a result of the elections? >> i believe so. i was very pleased with the elections. i thought the iraqi security forces did a tremendous job. they planned and executed the security plan all by themselves. although there was some violence, most of it was low- level violence. we had no suicide bombs, no suicide vests. i thought for the most part it

went very well. unfortunately there were some buildings that were destroyed that killed some iraqis. but for the most part security was very good. all of the polling stations remained open during the entire election. and the people felt comfortable enough to go out and 62% of the people voted. so i think that's a good sign. so based on that i believe we're on track. i believe we'll get to 50,000 by the first of september. only a catastrophic event would keep us from doing that now. >> lehrer: define a catastrophic event. >> unknown. it would be something that would maybe turn the government or create some significant amount of violence. but i don't know. it's very difficult to determine because we would have to just work our way through it, do an assessment. then we would in washington we would make an assessment... give our recommendation to washington and have them make a decision. but i really don't see anything like that on the horizon right now. >> lehrer: meanwhile, what do the 100,000 or so troops there

that are remaining right now until september, what are they doing? >> well, we have 96,000 on the ground today. they remain very busy. they are out every single day partnering, training, and working with their iraqi counterparts. we do it across the country from basra to mosul from anbar to die al a province. they continue to work and do partnered operations across iraq. we are outside of the cities now. iraqis control all security inside of the cities. we're attempting to continue to build their capacity so it's still very busy. we will start to draw down here over the next several months and when we get down to 50,000, we'll have a change of mission. we'll end combat operations. we'll move to a more training and advise mission. we'll still conduct some partnered counterterrorism operations as we move forward. >> lehrer: what kind of combat operations are u.s. troops involved in now?

>> in reality, jim, very few. i would argue we're more into stability operations now. we support iraqi operations, but almost every operation is ... iraqis are involved in. every operation is led by iraqis. we provide support. we advise them during operations. i would argue in reality we really have moved very close to where we think we'll be on the first of september already. >> lehrer: general, you've been at this a while. you've been in iraq a while. does the progress and particularly the time it's taken to get where you are now, to get where iraq is right now, is this about what you expected? are you surprised that it's gone so slowly or gone so quickly? what's your own expectations, have they been met? >> i would say depending on when you ask me that question, i would probably give you a different answer. having been here since 2006 almost continuously, back in 2006, if you asked me that question i would not have thought we would have gotten

here as quickly as we have. that was at the height of sectarian violence, moving towards civil war. things were fairly dark here in iraq. if you told me just three years later , three short years later we'd be where we are today, i would have thought that would have been a very optimistic viewpoint. i think we've made really good progress here in the last three years. security is better. there's still violence here. there's still groups attempting to try to influence the political decisions through violence, but they're much less than they ever were. so i think we're better off. we still have room to grow and develop in military... excuse me, in economic and diplomatic areas, but we have seen movement here in iraq over the last year. we hope with the new council of representatives that will continue to move forward. >> lehrer: i take it you're comfortable with the role the u.s. has played and the way it's played it since 2006? >> well, i think we have done a fairly good job. you can always do better

obviously. but i think i've been very pleased with the soldiers, sailors and manes, airmen here. what they have done in order to reduce violence, how we've been able to partner with the iraqi security forces. the real surprise has been the exponential growth and improvement in the iraqi security forces over this time. i think i've been very pleased with that. it's now set us up to turn more responsibility over to them in the coming years. year or so. >> lehrer: when you look back on it now, was there a secret or any particular approach to the training that has made this possible for the united states military to transfer their knowledge in a way that maybe you're now comfortable with the many elements or most elements of the iraqi security force. >> the bottom line is when we surge forces in here, it not only gave us the opportunity to eliminate safe havens and sanctuaries and protect the population, but it gave us more troops to partner with the iraqi security forces. what i mean by partner is they did everything together every

day. anthem being with us, them working with us i think exponentially improved their capabilities much qiger. ... quicker. in iraq they have a natural bent towards their army and towards serving in their army. they learned, they wanted to learned, and they learned very quickly through these partnerships that we developed at the lowest levels up to the highest levels. i think that's what has served us well here. >> lehrer: general, finally, let me ask you this. have you seen the movie the hurt locker the one that won the academy award as the best movie of the year. >> reporter: they actually sent me a copy of it about six or eight months ago. and i have had a chance to look at it. i think what i like about it is it shows, first, a camaraderie that is required here, the tension, the risk that's involved in some of the jobs that we do here. i'm sure many people would say it could be a bit more accurate in some areas. but i believe it's a good

representation of the sacrifice, dedication that it takes here in order to combat such a very difficult mission of terrorism and fighting a war on terrorism. >> lehrer: general, in general, general, are you pleased with the way the fighting at the boots level has been portrayed to the american public through movies and other media? >> not really. i think people don't understand how complex the environment has been here over the last several years. i don't think they understand what it takes for these young men and women to operate in this environment. they have done extremely well balancing non-violence and violence, having to be able to determine who is bad and who is good, who is trying to kill you, who is not. it's a very complex environment. they've been able to maneuver through this

with expert... with expertise. i think sometimes people don't understand how difficult that is and how dangerous it is and how brave these young men and women are operating in both the iraq and afghanistan. >> lehrer: general odierno, thank you, sir. >> thank you, jim. it's been a pleasure being with you tonight. >> ifill: still to come on the newshour: religious and political strife in nigeria; and connecticut women on a winning streak. but first, this is pledge week on public television. we're taking a short break now so your public television station can ask for your >> good evening i'm paul anthony here i'm here with joe bruns. chief operating officer with weta. we're taking just a moment to invite you to become a supporting member of weta. it's our singular purpose to deliver television programs that enlighten and educate our shared community. and we're able to do that thanks to our members who are the very

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become the next supporting viewer of "the newshour" by dialing the number on your screen right now. joe, you have a prop there with you. >> yes, i do. >> what is that? >> well, i think a large number of our audience will know what this is. this is a slide roll. the other day i was talking to a young lady in her 20s, and i happened to mention a slide roll. and she's a very bright woman. but she had no clue what a slide roll was. well, of course, as you know, the slide roll which is kind of an elegant instrument was completely replaced by changing technology when, i think, texas instruments it was came out with their first scientific calculator but there was a time when a lot of us carried one of these thing around, around in a belt loop on our jeans. the point is that the technology changes. and people don't use the slide roll anymore. and technology has changed in public broadcasting and "the newshour" also. you can now get "the newshour"

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one day after as many as 500 people were killed, shot and hacked to death with machetes. this injured man said he was sleeping when the ambush came. witnesses told of people caught in fishing nets as they ran from burning huts. most of the victims were women and children. >> we heard gunshots. then, we had some phone calls from the people in this area. by the time we were nearby, we heard the sound of the guns. >> ifill: the attackers struck three christian villages near jos, at the crossroads between nigeria's muslim north and its christian south. it appeared to be retaliation for violence last january that killed more than 300 people in nearby muslim settlements. nigerian police said they've arrested 95 people for the sunday attacks, and they appealed for patience. >> we have no option but to ask the people to remain calm and be patient as government steps up security. >> ifill: thousands have died in nigeria's religious and ethnic violence during the past decade.

but the recent trouble underscores increasing instability in africa's most populous country. nigeria is also a major oil exporter, sending half its output to the u.s. the vice-president, goodluck jonathan, was named acting president last month, filling a power vacuum left when president umaru yar-adua went to saudi arabia for medical treatment in november. jonathan is a christian from the south, yar-adua a muslim from the north. adding to the uncertainty, yar-adua has not been seen in public since he returned to the capital last month. >> what you have is no credible governance structure in the country now, and the manifestations of that dysfunctional system is what we are beginning to see in places like jos. >> ifill: in the president's absence, jonathan has attempted to assert control, most recently by firing his security chief. but it remains unclear that he has sufficient authority to

restore calm. the u.s., the u.n. and human rights groups called on nigeria today to punish those behind sunday's deadly violence. for more on developments there, we turn to patrick ukata, a professor at american university's school of international service; and pauline baker, president of the fund for peace, a non-profit organization devoted to preventing war. we're talking about politics. we're talking about religion. we're talking about resources. what are the driving forces, professor ukata, behind what we're seeing now in nigeria? >> i mean, i will say a lot of it is economic actually. there's a very acute struggle for existence that has been exacerbated by the fact that all of the oil revenue that nigeria is known to have accumulated over years hasn't really triggered any kind of measurable development for the society.

everyone sees the existence of just made up of whatever effort they can make on their own. but that pits them against each other. >> ifill: the religious part of it. the christians versus the muslims is just a by-product. >> i think it's a by-product of economic and political issues. >> ifill: what do you think about, pauline baker? >> i agree. i also think there is a distinction between indigenous forces and the so-called foreigners, the people who move in. the people who did the attacks were muslims who were hearders. there's a competition for land. the people who were attacked, the christians, were farmers who settled in the villages. when you have resource skart and competition over land, as patrick said, poverty all over, then it spills over into ethnic and sectarian identities. >> ifill: can you explain to me the region we're talking about. it's called the plateau region, the middle belt.

is it a fertile region? what is it? >> it is not that fert i'll. it used to be an old tin mining town. but the area surrounding are fertile, as pauline has said, the land around is actually farmed by those that will be considered indigents. inland is used for grazing. that is where the conflict actually arises. >> ifill: tin mining is no longer something that is.... >> not very much. >> ifill: tell me a little bit about the history of this because we saw in january just for a better way... lacking a better way of describing it, the christians attacked the muslims at that time. this is not the first time that this has happened. >> no, this happened before january also. this is a zone in nigeria which has had a history of conflict. the thing is it's not the only zone where there's conflict in nigeria so it's happening at

the same time that you have the insurgency in the delta which is reaching a peak. you had an amnesty program which may or may not be successful. you have it at the same time there's a power struggle at the center. recently also there was another uprising among islamic sects in the north. so you've got several different kinds of conflicts that are beginning to come together and evidence themselves in nigeria. >> ifill: the u.n. commissioner for human rights, human high commissioner said today or yesterday, this is something the government should be stepping in and fixing. they should see this coming precisely because of it. is that even possible? >> i think that is partly why the acting president decided to fire the national security advisor and install someone else. it seems this was something that showed up... that should have been predicted. at least the security forces

should have been prepared to protect life. it's a failure of leadership. >> ifill: was the firing of that national security advisor, was that politics or was it about what happened? i think i've seen conflicting reports. >> on the one hand, yes, it could be seen as part of a failure because the january attacks were also a failure of sorts. it was on this national security advisor's watch. whether he was doing it for political reasons or this particular crisis. of course the crisis provided some opportunity for a change of leadership as far as security is concerned because i don't think nigeria can afford any more crises of this nature. >> ifill: because these kinds of crease he's, there's never just one thing as we've discussed here already, there is the political overlay. what's happening with the acting president, the current president who no one has seen in some time. how much is that driving this too some. >> i think very much so.

it's not igniting the conference on the ground but reaction to it or even the lack of reaction to it, i think, is very much part of what's not happening at the center. there really is a crisis of legitimacy and capacity at the same time. very recently the police minister attacked the police and said they are actually carrying out non-judicial killings and executions . the police are held in very low regard in nigeria. the military is much more experienced. they've had a lot of peace keeping experience so the military is used for police functions a lot in nigeria now. >> ifill: explain to me, the vice president who mr. yaradua at the time when he took ill, were they rivals all along? is that what we see playing out here. >> they were not rivals per se. as is always the case in a situation like this, he had trusted advisors who, of

course, did not really share whatever information until now. now his advisors will return the favor. >> there's also the factor of a rotation at the presidential level. the north had control under yardua and his running mate was from the south. particularly the delta. it was the first time anyone from the delta actually rose to that level. with yardua's absence now he's coming into being acting president. the north feels essentially the presidency has been taken away from them. they've already announced, the majority party has already announced that for the next election they're going to nominate a northerner basically removing any possibility that good luck jonathan can run. >> ifill: what do we know about the conditions of president yardua? we have heard tell of a heart condition. of other medical issues. do we have any clue about whether he is even able to

retake the reins of office? >> from all i have heard so far , i mean, for years he's had kidney problems. now heart problems. a combination of that. i think that makes it very difficult to begin to speculate whether or not he's going to be able to regain power as president. >> ifill: setting aside, pauline baker, a moment the whole idea of whether the politics can sort itself out. is there anything? is there anything that a president or any central government could or should be doing right now to get to the root of these problems which don't seem to be winding down? >> they can prosecute. they can identify and prosecute and stop the cycle of impugnity. >> ifill: they being? >> the nigerian government. whenever this happens the killers always get away. they have arrested, i think, something like 94 people.

they could even ask for international assistance to come in with their investigation to show that they're serious about stopping this cycle of impugnity. good luck jonathan also did something i thought which was very good at the beginning and said that he had three top priorities even though he has a very short period of time in office. that was cleaning up the election, getting power back in nigeria and focusing on the delta. if he just focus focused on those three, there would be a big turn-around in nigeria? >> is that popular? >> i think it is. at this point it doesn't seem as though at least the political climate is right for it. >> ifill: we'll be watching very closely. patrick ukata and pauline baker, thank you both very much. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> lehrer: and finally tonight, the university of connecticut's women's team makes basketball

history. judy woodruff has our story. >> reporter: the team's win over notre dame last night was its 71st consecutive win, an n.c.a.a. record. the streak dates back to november 2008. behind it all is famed coach geno auriemma. >> it's pretty remarkable, and probably at some point tonight, i'll sit back and think, "wow, that's a lot of wins. and i guess it's better that we break our own record; i wouldn't want to break somebody else's record. >> woodruff: monday's victory surpasses the school's last great winning streak that spanned from november 2001 to march 2003. the university of connecticut-- uconn-- has dominated the women's game in recent years, winning six national titles. but this year, even top teams haven't stood a chance. the huskies have won every game in their 32-0 season by double digits. >> i'm happy that we did it.

it's done. we won't hear, "oh, my god, beat the streak, beat the streak." we're looking to win the next game, and that's what we look to do all season, and that's what we keep continuing to do. >> woodruff: forward maya moore scored 11 points last night. >> we know how special our team is, and we know what kind of a special thing we've got going over the past couple of years. >> woodruff: if the uconn women continue to win into early next season, they would have a shot at breaking the 88-game record set by the ucla men's team back in the 1970s. for now, instead of celebrating, the huskies are concentrating on winning another title next month. and for more about connecticut's dominance and what it means for the sport, we're joined again by christine brennan of abc sports and usa today. it's good to have you with us. >> thank you, judy. >> woodruff: so this is a big deal for u-conn. >> it's a huge story. i mean when you think about dominance and when you mentioned the ucla men's streak going back to the 1970s,

almost any sports fan knows that, here is u-conn at 71 and counting. dominating teams. there's no threat of losing. it is extraordinary. at the time of the most balance in women's sports, you know, with title 9 and so many things that advancements in women's sports, judy, to think you have this kind of dominating team at this time in women's sports history it's extraordinary. >> woodruff: let's talk about why. a lot of attention to the coach, geno auriemma. >> for sure. the personality is what we're about in sports. whether it's kobe or tiger or lindsey from lindsey vonn. in this case it's geno. he owns the state of connecticut. you've got this aura about this great program that he's developed over the years so that almost any girl that plays basketball in the united states knows about u-conn. and wants to go there. i think it does start with this man who has got this great ability as a personality to shine and to recruit. and also a fantastic basketball mind.

he has developed and really pulled in i think, judy, some of the greatest talent in the country at each position. he's got an all-star team. it's all there at one university. >> woodruff: is it that simple? is it great coach, great recruiting? is that all there is to the story. >> i don't think so. i think it's a tradition of excellence. at u-conn they expect to win. they expect to be great. in fact i love the strategy that they're talking about now which is not so much playing the opponent but playing the game and playing against themselves. they weren't entirely satisfied when they won that 71st game because they know they have more to do. bobby knight used to talk about this on the men's side. playing your game. don't worry so much about the opponent. but do what's best and what your best at. it's a great philosophy for dominating, you know, opponents. >> woodruff: it wasn't so long ago that there were several women's college teams that were doing well. what changed? i mean what happened? >> it's a great question. it concerns me. i must admit i'm a little worried about women's basketball. when you've got this kind of

dominance, it would be one thing, judy, to say this in 1990. title 9 was signed by richard nixon in june of 1972 that opened the playing field of america to girls as well as boys. i'd say 1909, even 2000 you would expect this kind of dominance. i'm surprised in 2010 we're seeing one team being so strong where there's no one getting within 10 points, 12 points, stanford was in december. that's as close as anyone has gotten. this team has only been behind in three games in this second half of the 71-game streak. i'm surprised and i think it's a little worrisome in the depth with all these girls you know hundreds of thousands of girls playing basketball in our country, where is another team rise to go the challenge? right now we don't see it. >> woodruff: worrying for down the line, recruiting, getting girls interested to stay interested in college sports? >> well, in basketball, of course, that's the national game. you know for boys and girls. you have all these turn a.m.s and high school tournaments. you know, tad dads starting their daughters at age 4 and 5 and 6. my question is, why now?

i mean i guess it's great that u-conn is to fantastic. the flip side is where are the five, six, seven, eight, other teams who are rise to go the challenge? the hope would be that this is the future. what we're seeing with this incredibly professional style team, this dominating team that ten years from now maybe there will be, what, 20 teams like this playing women's basketball? >> woodruff: what about the audience whether they're watching in person or whether they're watching on television, christine brennan. what does that look like? that's been an ongoing struggle. >> it has for women's sports. the victory is in participation as much as pro leagues or spectators. there certainly is an audience for women's sports. at times like the olympics or national or international events you see quite an audience. it pales in comparison to the men's audience say for the men's final four versus the women's final four. it's one of those things that might take another generation or two. maybe i'm a pollyanna. maybe it will take the

10-year-old girl to be 40 years old and have daughters and say now we're all going to watch women as sports in a way that a 40-year-old woman might not say that not. >> woodruff: what keeps these women athletes going? obviously individual stories, individual sports and teams. but what do you think keeps them going when they know, here they've pulled off this amazing achievement, 71 games. but the crowd isn't going to be.... >> right. it's still the men's tournament. we don't even sometimes use that pesky adjective men to describe the basketball tournament. president obama does his bracket. he doesn't say men's bracket. it's as if there's this stepchild and it's the women. i think there's scholarship and interest locally and families caring about it. it's the opportunity for girls just like boys for generations to learn about winning and losing at a young age, teamwork and sportsmanship. it makes better people frankly. title 9 is still working its magic. it just hasn't equated to great television ratings day in and day out for women's sports. maybe it never will. maybe it's simply

participating and not having the pro sports interest or the great interest in the college game but just the love of participating on that level. >> woodruff: meantime a record broken. >> absolutely. >> woodruff: christine brennan, thank you very much. >> my pleasure. >> lehrer: again, the major developments of the day: vice-president biden met with israeli leaders in jerusalem in a new push for peace. at the same time, the israelis announced plans for hundreds of new homes in a jewish section of east jerusalem. iraqis continued counting votes from sunday's national elections. on "the newshour", the top american commander there, general ray odierno, said it could take a couple of months to form a new government. he said he's confident the various factions will work together. and two nato troops were killed in eastern afghanistan. the newshour is always online. hari sreenivasan, in our newsroom, previews what's there. hari. >> sreenivasan: an update on health care reform from politico's tim greeve. he reports on the task ahead for

house speaker nancy pelosi to round up enough votes to pass the president's bill. that's on the "rundown" blog. we take a look at the fashions of first ladies. michelle obama donated her inaugural ball gown to the smithsonian's collection today. plus on "art beat," take a tour of letters, poems and art from afghanistan on display at the library of congress. all that and more is on our web site, newshour.pbs.org. >> lehrer: and again, to our honor roll of american service personnel killed in the iraq and afghanistan conflicts. we add them as their deaths are made official and photographs become available. here, in silence, are ten more.

>> ifill: and that's the newshour for tonight. i'm gwen ifill. >> lehrer: and i'm jim lehrer. we'll see you online, and again here tomorrow evening.

thank you and good night. major funding for the pbs newshour is provided by: bank of america

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