captioning sponsored by macneil/lehrer productions >> lehrer: good evening. i'm jim lehrer. secretary of state clinton tried to jumpstart the stalled climate talks today in copenhagen. >> woodruff: and i'm judy woodruff. on the "newshour" tonight, we get the latest from ray suarez on the diplomatic maneuverings at the summit. >> suarez: as heads of state arrive in copenhagen, the pressure and the attention of the rest of the world is focussed on two giants: the u.s. and china. i'll have a report. >> lehrer: then white house aide david axelrod's take on copenhagen and the push in the senate for health care reform. >> woodruff: a report from india

about moves to combat one of the country's main sources of pollution. >> lehrer: our special correspondent for education john merrow reports from arizona on a special way to help troubled public schools. >> i was shocked. it really took me back. >> to... >> to just see what was possible. you know, i just kind of had to pause and say, you know, what a difference this makes. >> woodruff: and an inside view of the mexican army's war on drugs. >> lehrer: that's all ahead on tonight's "pbs 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 is that energy came from an energy company? everyday, chevron invests $62 million in people, in ideas-- seeking, teaching, building.

fueling growth around the world to move us all ahead. this is the power of human energy. chevron. >> this is the engine that every year. bnsf, the engine that connects us. >> what makes us an engine for the economy? plants across america. nearly 200,000 jobs created. we see beyond cars. intel. supporting math and science education for tomorrow's innovators. and monsanto. grant thornton. and the william and flora hewlett foundation, working to solve social and environmental

problems at home and around the world. and with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. and... this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> lehrer: the u.s. tried today to salvage an agreement at the u.n. summit on climate change. it took the form of a major financial commitment and new pressure on china to cooperate. ray suarez reports from the talks, in copenhagen, denmark. >> suarez: when secretary of state clinton arrived in copenhagen today saying the u.s. wanted to reach a climate deal before the week was out, but she insisted it must include verification of emissions cuts and other goals. >> there are many ways to

achieve transparency that would be credible and acceptable, but there has to be a willingness to move toward transparency in whatever reform we finally deem is appropriate. so if there isn't even a commitment to transparency, that's kind of a deal breaker for us. >> suarez: that's a demand the chinese have resisted and reportedly rejected again today. but this afternoon chinese deputy foreign minister he yafei fired back. he said china is not afraid of monitoring and verification, but is standing on principle for itself and other developing countries. >> to increase cooperation go for cooperation. >> suarez: clinton also upped the ante by announcing the u.s. was willing to participate in a

global fund to pay for the transition to a warmer planet, and promised an undefined american contribution, if a deal could be reached. >> the united states is prepared to work with other countries toward a goal of jointly mobilizing $100 billion a year by 2020 to address the climate change needs of developing countries. >> suarez: the secretary said, a hundred billion is a lot of money. and while the united states is joining with other industrial countries to commit to emissions that will cap warming at about three and a half degrees, two degrees celsius, a limit too high for latin american, asian, and african representatives. they want the rise limited to two and a half degrees. >> if you're talking about a two

degree rise globally-- the mean of that-- then certain points of the continent, of africa, you have area that will go beyond that mean. it's more likely to be three and five degrees, and that is disastrous for the economy of the continent. >> suarez: the chief negotiator for the african group said his countries are solidly against the developed country warming target. do the delays increase the chances that other countries will start to peel off and make their own deals, and accept targets that... >> i can assure you that no one will have any chance to divide african countries. we are going to stay unified and united as african countries, and we are going to move as one africa in this process. >> suarez: any deal coming out of copenhagen would have to win the approval of the u.s. congress to bring american participation in a worldwide plan. senator john kerry of massachusetts told the

conference yesterday that approval is winnable with strong compliance measures. >> without an agreement here in copenhagen that addresses this core issue of transparency, it will be exceedingly difficult to persuade already doubtful elected officials that they are safe in asking their citizens to go along. senators and congressman alike are determined that there must be consequences for a country that thinks they can duck altogether or fake participation in a solution. >> suarez: today, senator james inhofe-- who calls man-made global climate change a hoax-- said a copenhagen treaty would never pass on capitol hill. >> i don't know what the president will say, so i'm making my position known, and i think that is consistent with the american people. that is, that we will not be passing any climate change bill. >> suarez: as arguments raged over emission limits, costs, and economic growth, the world

health organization raised one of the less-talked-about aspects of climate change: that a warmer planet will be a sicker one, too. >> we already deal with massive impacts on global health of climate sensitive diseases. 2.2 million people die from diarrheal disease which are highly sensitive to climate sensitive. 1.1 million die from infectable disease that's highly sensitive to climate. 3.5 million die from under nutrition that's entirely dependent on under nutrition which is agricultural an climate dependent. by the end of the summer, we'd had a record-breaking heat wave across western europe. 70,000 more people died during that summer than we would have expected to die in an ordinary summer. that changed everything, i would say, within the discussion within the... within western europe because we realized that

we were no longer immune to the effects of weather and climate. >> suarez: as the conference enters its last day, it's hard to know whether the predictions of failure are meant to pressure president obama and other world leaders or whether it's an accurate reading of the current state of the talks. >> woodruff: i spoke with ray just a short time ago. ray, hello, there. let me ask you first of all, there's all this focus today on whether the money the u.s. is putting on the table for developing nations is going to break the lag jam. but i gather your reporting is that it's more complicated than that . >> suarez: well, yi, the clinton announcement that they were going to help the world raise $100, billion per year by the end of next decade, so that $100 billion would be going out to developing nations by 2020 was certainly a welcome announcement and met with some excitement. but it's considered insufficient by many of the countries that

are still not industrialized, many of the countries that are facing some of the most dire effects from global warming. they are afraid that it simply won't be enough if there aren't really big commitments from the industrialized world for steep reductions in the amount of greenhouse gas emissions. so while the clinton announcement was welcome and the commitment toward not only putting money into the pot but helping raise money around the world was also something that got a lot of attention, the fact that the amount on the check, as it were, is still left blank by the united states, there was no commitment from the secretary of state on how much she would give, that got some attention as well and the fact that the money... the money figures that are being talked about be the industrialized world are considered too small by many of the developing nations that think they'll need the money most. >> woodruff: ray, so much of the focus now on these disagreements between the united

states and china. what is the up in of the disagreement there? what are the main differences between the two countries ? >> suarez: well, these negotiations are filled with technical terms but one that's very important and you should pay attention to for the rest of this story is m.r.v . it means measurable, reportable and verifiable. m.r.v. means an architecture is put in place where an international body or another member state can actually check whether a country that makes certain obligations under the... whatever treaty is to come out of this process can actually be given some oversight, seeing whether they're meeting their targets. china bridles at this notion and if you know a little chinese history, you know that the country was sliced up by the western powers for a long time and really had no control over its own economy and its own trade. so there's historical memory involved here and there's also

the self-confidence, the burgeoning economy, the swagger that comes with being china in 2009. they feel that they've already made a bigger concessions and bigger guarantees to the rest of the world about how the next couple of decades are going to go as far as global emissions and they don't need that regime in place. and they're not budging. they've given no sign of budging. and neither has the united states. >> woodruff: ray, you wering me earlier that you can't look at this relationship between the u.s. and china without putting in the the larger context of the developed world and the developing world. explain what you meant. >> suarez: whenever someone brings up history in a speech around here, it's not just a throwaway line. what history means to global climate talks is very significant and shows, really, two very different ways of looking at the world. the less developed countries and the industrializing countries points to the richest places in

the world and say "yes, they've been emitting freely for over a century, since their big industrial growth in the late 19th century. it's what made them rich. and whatever global climate change is happening now is largely their responsibility." so history has to be taken into account. the western world is saying "look, that may be true, we accept that version of history, but we also know that the new big emitters on the scene are not the wealthy west, the members of the e.u., the north american nations, but they're places like brazil, india, and china. and any regime that takes the next couple of decades into account can't just look at history but has to understand the coming new industrial powers and their role in continuing to warm the climate of the planet. >> woodruff: so finally, ray, tomorrow's the big day, the day when the heads of state arrive, president obama arrives. how much real pressure is that

putting on these folks to reach an agreement? >> there's been a tremendous change in tone during the week. monday and tuesday people in responsibility, people who helped arrange this conference in the first place, were saying we can't let those heads of states down. they aren't coming here for nothing. this will put pressure in the pipe. it will help bring an agreement about as the week progresses. but in the middle of the week, something definitely changed in the way people spoke about the impending arrival of those world leaders, that there was going to be disappointment, a letdown, that their mere presence wouldn't be enough to help breach those still very-wide gaps between the developing world and the post developed industrial countries. >> woodruff: ray suarez, we'll be talking to you, hearing what you have to say tomorrow. thanks, ray. >> suarez: good to talk to you, judy. >> lehrer: now, for the other news of the day. here's hari sreenivasan in our newsroom.

hari? >> sreenivasan: the chairman of the u.s. joint chiefs journeyed to the front lines in afghanistan today. in the kandahar region, he urged tribal leaders to help clean up corruption. he also told american troops it's urgent to control the area. meanwhile, "the new york times" reported a former top u.n. official in afghanistan pressed to remove president hamid karzai. the report said american peter galbraith floated the plan when the presidential election was embroiled in fraud. he was later dismissed from his job. president obama will face new pressure in his own party over sending more troops to afghanistan. the house could vote next month on a resolution to end the conflict. and speaker nancy pelosi said last night she won't round up votes to defeat it. she said, "the president is going to have to make his case." republicans said today they still support the surge. in pakistan, intelligence officials said missile attacks by u.s. drone aircraft killed at least 17 people today, near the afghan border. they said some of the victims appeared to be foreign fighters. the u.s. has carried out more than 40 drone attacks this year inside pakistan.

u.s. officials today played down reports that insurgents in iraq and afghanistan have intercepted live video from american drones. an account in "the wall street journal" said militants are using $26 software programs-- available online-- to hack into the feeds. a senior pentagon official insisted the problem has been addressed. the senate banking committee has endorsed the nomination of federal reserve chairman ben bernanke for a second term. the vote was 16 to 7. supporters said bernanke helped stave off financial ruin, while opponents argued he should have seen the crisis coming. >> had he and others not acted, some of whom sit on this committee at a time of critical importance to our country, we'd be looking at a very, very different, and far more dire situation in our nation than is otherwise the case. i believe ben bernanke deserves substantial credit as chairman of the federal reserve for helping us navigate those waters, certainly without not with perfection, but certainly i think stepping up at a critical time in our nation's history with some very wise leadership that benefited our nation.

>> many have said that changing horses in middle of stream will introduce an unacceptable level of uncertainty into the markets. on the other hand, i would argue that it could be equally damaging to our economy and our form of government if we, the u.s. senate, fail to use our constitutional authority to disapprove a nomination when a particular nominee has not executed his responsibilities in a manner consistent with his own claims and our expectation. >> sreenivasan: the nomination now goes to the full senate. wall street took a tumble on new worries about how strong the economic recovery will be. the dow jones industrial average lost more than 132 points to close at 10,308. the nasdaq fell more than 26 points to close at 2,180. oscar-winning actress jennifer jones died today at her home in malibu, california. her hollywood career soared in the 1940s and 1950s. in 1943, she won the oscar for best actress in "the song of bernadette"-- her first major

film. she was nominated four more times, including in 1946, for "duel in the sun" opposite gregory peck. jennifer jones was 90 years old. 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: and still to come on the "newshour": cooking stoves and the environment in india; improving public schools in tucson; and fighting drugs in mexico. that follows an update on getting health care reform done in the senate. "newshour" health correspondent betty ann bowser has our report. >> we are going to finish this health care bill before we leave for the holidays here. >> reporter: a self-imposed christmas deadline loomed over senate majority leader harry reid and his democratic ranks today. but despite his insistence, it was not clear they'll make it. that's partly because president obama is hearing more from those on the political left who accuse him of giving up on key reforms

like the government-funded public option. >> i think, at this point, the bill does more harm than good. >> reporter: former democratic party chairman howard dean is now urging democrats to scrap the current bill and start over. >> the fine print in this bill allows that insurance companies charge you three-times as much if you're older than they do if you're younger. this is an insurance company's dream, this bill. and i think it's gone too far. >> reporter: and today, the politically powerful service employees international union voiced its deep disappointment with concessions made on health care reform. in an open letter to his 2.1 million members president andy stern said... "our challenge to the president, to the senate, and to the house of representatives is to fight. remember what health insurance reform is all about, and fight like hell to deliver real and meaningful reform. meanwhile, new polls this week show that public support for

democrats' health care reform plan is at an all time low, falling to 32% in the latest nbc news/"wall street journal" poll. and at a time when harry reid is trying to muster 60 votes to pass the bill, those numbers are not helpful. >> its a fact that the issue of abortion stirs very strong emotion. >> reporter: nebraska democrat ben nelson-- one of the last holdouts-- is still insisting on tighter restrictions on abortion coverage, as he told a radio interviewer today. >> as it is right now, without further modifications, it isn't sufficient. there is a lot improvement on the legislation but the basic question about funding of abortion has not been fully answered yet. >> reporter: and republicans have stepped up their efforts to block the bill, using every procedural tool they can. >> i'd offer unanimous consent... >> reporter: the debate came to a standstill for a time yesterday, when oklahoma

republican tom coburn forced senate clerks to start reading a 767-page democratic amendment. >> section 2006. >> reporter: the proposal was eventually pulled. but coburn has threatened the same tactic when the final version of the bill-- roughly 2,000 pages-- comes to the floor. the republican goal: to make democrats give up and start over. >> there's a chance, there's a chance that we could stop this-- start beginning in january. we'd all be willing to come back, sit down together, negotiate, with the cspan cameras... with the cspan cameras as the president said, committed that he would do as a candidate. and we'd sit down together, here, at the white house, anywhere and fix this system which we know needs fixed. >> reporter: so far, though, majority leader reid shows no signs of giving in. and there are rumblings the senate may spend long nights

debating-- between now and christmas-- to force a final vote. >> lehrer: health care reform is one of two major challenges facing president obama over the next 48 hours, the other is climate change. david axelrod is the president's senior adviser. i spoke with him late this afternoon from the white house briefing room. david axelrod, welcome. is health care reform now in serious jeopardy in the senate? >> no, i think we are where we were, jim . we've got strong support for health insurance reform. we've got a minority of senators who want to keep that from coming up for a vote on the senate floor. and we're working to put together 60 vote wes need to put it together on the floor and i'm confident we'll get them. >> lehrer: senator ben nelson says he has renewed reservations in that bill because of the abortion issue. he's one of the 60 you're

counting on. what do you think about that? >> look, there are many issues that have been raised by him and many others. we'll work our way through those issues. again, i'm confident we'll get this done in in a way that will hold the coalition together. >> lehrer: what do you make of this rising opposition among liberal democrats, particularly led by former democrat chairman howard dean? >> look, i think that a lot of people have a great deal of passion about the issue. i have a great deal of passion about it myself. i have someone in my family with a chronic illness and i've had many of the horrific experiences with insurance that other americans are have had and i feel strongly about this. and so does the president. so, you know, people are impassioned and there are some disagreements about aspects of this plan. but there is absolutely no doubt that the reforms that we're working on will be infinitely better than the situation that we face today. people will be able to get

insurance that they can afford even if they don't get it through work, small businesses will get tax credits and they'll be able to provide health care to people. there will be protections for people who have preexisting conditions. you won't be able to get thrown off your insurance just because you become seriously ill. there will be caps on out-of-pocket expenses so you won't go bankrupt if you become seriously ill. these reforms are long overdue and we're so close to getting it done. i agree with president clinton who said today it would be a tremendous pwhrupbder to ms. this opportunity and it probably won't come around again. >> lehrer: what do you make then, of the public opinion polls, at least, showing a diminishment and growing drop in support for health care reform? if all these things you say are true, why is... what does the public not understand? >> well, it's an interesting... that's an interesting question, jim, because what you find is if you ask people how you feel about the bill going through

congress, you get a negative reaction. if you tell them what's in the bill, then you get a healthy majority for the bill. and i think, you know, the legislative process isn't always an attractive thing and it tends to focus on areas of contention. the things that i've mentioned, i think, are broadly supported by the american people. they want it, they know we need it, and when they hear that that's in the bill, they support the bill. i have no doubt that once this bill is passed and implemented, the american people will appreciate it and it's going to improve the lives of people across this country who are struggling in this health care system today. >> lehrer: you're not concerned about... andrew kohut, for instance, a distinguished pollster says his reading of the polls is that the real drop in support is among liberal democrats, among people you would expect to be supporting the most health care reform. >> well, look, there's been some contention over some issues. the president was... supported the idea of a public option within the health insurance

exchange and felt that would be a good idea. that did not prevail. we weren't able to cobble together the support we needed for that. but that was just a piece of a large package of reforms. and when you measure what we've lost against what we would gain, there's absolutely no doubt that people would... that this is a very progressive piece of legislation that would make this country fairer, that would help people in their relationships with their insurance companies, give them some leverage, put the consumer in charge. and would help bend the curve on costs, on premiums for people, on the cost for government. absolutely essential. all of these things will be achieved if we get this done. and i think the american people will appreciate it once we get it done. >> lehrer: you're obviously monitoring all of this. is the idea of having all this done in the senate by christmas-- which is just a week away-- is that no longer on the table? >> no, we're working hard to try and get that done. the other side is working hard

to stop that by putting up procedural barriers. understand that there's a majority in the senate that is ready to pass this bill. there's a minority that wants the thwart the opportunity for the bill to come up for a vote. i think whether you're for or against this bill, after all these months of debate, thorough, thoughtful debate, it's time to allow a vote to come to the floor. and that's really what the argument is right now. it's not even about the bill itself, it's about whether we're going to have a vote on the bill. >> lehrer: if there's no vote by christmas, is this a serious setback for the legislation generally? >> let me say this: i spoke with the president this afternoon. we expect that we'll have a vote before the holiday, but there is no length to which... of time, there's no statute that's going to run in terms of getting this done for the american people. we are going to get this done for the american people because it is the best chance we've had. seven presidents have tried to

reform this health insurance system, seven presidents have failed. we've been struggling with it for 100 years. we are closer now, we are right on the doorstep of getting it done, we are going to get it done. >> lehrer: the president's going to be at copenhagen in the morning at the climate conference. what does he come to say and do? >> well, we are very committed to investments in clean energy. obviously climate change is a real and perilous challenge not just for the u.s. but the world. we want to address that but we are also committed to yes kwreut ago clean energy industry in this country that will create jobs, will create more energy independence. so we're pursuing that road. but we want the world to join together. that's the most effective way to deal with climate change. and we're hoping to come out of copenhagen with an agreement that is verifiable. in other words, an agreement on

which we can all have assurance that countries are meeting the domestic goals that they set for themselves. and the president's going to talk to his fellow heads of state to see if we can achieve that. >> lehrer: what if you can't? >> well, look, we're going to pursue our goals regardless. we are committed to making that transition to a clean energy economy. but it would be... and we will pursue in the future global agreements. but this is an opportunity to try and get this done and we're hopeful that other countries, including china, will be just as committed to getting it done. >> lehrer: has the president had direct contact with the chinese leadership going into copenhagen about this? >> well, you know, jim, he's talked about this with the chinese leadership several times over the course of this year.

secretary clinton is in copenhagen now. she met with the chinese premier today. and the president will be meeting with him tomorrow and we hope that we can get... we made some progress in our previous talks. we have to get over the hump in terms of being able to demonstrate to the world that we're all meeting our obligations under whatever agreement we make. and that's been a bit of a hurdle, but we hope to deal with it. >> lehrer: if there is no agreement, is the summit a failure? >> well, i don't think so. i think that we've made progress there. it's not as... it hasn't come as easily as anyone would like. these are difficult issues. but whatever happens there, they will undoubtedly be more work to do. i think fact that the world is really focused as intensely as it is on this issue, that there's a recognition that we have to act and that the impact

of not acting will be dramatic and devastating over a long period of time for the world. i think it's a positive thing. but we want tangible specific domestic goals that each country can agree to. they're not all going to be the same because countries are different. some are developed, some are not. but we all have to pitch in and meet our common obligations and that's what the president is going to say and that's what i hope we'll do. >> lehrer: finally, mr. axelrod, does the president still maintain his support for ben bernanke to have a second term as chairman of the federal reserve? >> absolutely, jim. when you consider where we were a year ago, on the doorstep of financial collapse that could have ushered in a second great depression and you consider the indefatigable efforts of chairman bernanke, he deserves a second term. that's why the president nominated him and he continues to support him. >> lehrer: all right. david axelrod, thank you very much.

>> okay, good to be with you. >> woodruff: now, another take on climate change, a look at reducing global warming-- one stove at a time. special correspondent fred de sam lazaro reports from a village in north india. >> reporter: it is sunny most mornings in khairatpur, but you can hardly tell, at least not until some time after everyone's had breakfast. that's because here and in millions of villages in the developing world, food is cooked with wood or cow dung. the soot or black carbon from incomplete combustion causes not only lung disease but global warming, says climatologist v. ramanathan, who is with the scripps institution at the university of california, san diego. >> and this is being done by over three billion people in the world; not because they want to destroy their environment. they have no access to other types of fuel.

>> reporter: he says reducing black carbon will immediately slow global warming. cleaning up diesel engines is one way to do this, but ramanathan is focused on cleaner cooking. he's doing an experiment. with u.n. and private grants, his surya project is handing out cleaner burning stoves to 15,000 households in and around khairatpur. they use biofuels, but have a solar charged internal fan to burn more efficiently. >> so that instrument measures black carbon. >> reporter: over the next two years, the team will measure what the cleaner stoves do for air quality, hoping to make a strong case for scaling up the idea. >> preliminary data shows if we replace current way of cooking, we should see a dramatic impact, first, on the health and second, on the air quality and hopefully on regional climate. >> reporter: ramanathan's call to reduce black carbon is supported in a recent u.s.

government report. some advocates wanted this issue on the agenda of the copenhagen climate summit. but there are skeptics. rajendra pachauri, chair of the nobel prize winning inter- governmental panel on climate change says we don't yet know enough about black carbon. and he says there's no quick climate dividend. getting billions of people to abruptly change the way they cook just isn't practical. >> if one uses that argument, i would say that running faster trains in north america and providing public transit in houston is so much more logical than people driving gas guzzling cars and s.u.v.s. so you know, these things are not decided by back of the envelope calculations. if you ask people to give up cars, you've got to change the mindsets. you got to change values. >> reporter: despite his skepticism on the climate question, pachauris delhi-based energy and research institute has partnered with ramanathan since he has no argument on the

health issue. some 1.5 million people worldwide die each year from some 1.5 million people in india alone die each year from inhaling indoor pollutants rarely seen in the developed world, says epidemiologist kalpana balakrishnan, with sri ramachandra university, in chennai. >> just to give you a comparison value-- many indoor settings in developed countries that do not have this particular source of particulates are in the range of 25 to 50 micrograms. no more than that in a typical unimproved rural household. you could be as high as an order of magnitude more, 400 to 500 micrograms. >> ( translated ): so to adjust the flame, you turn this button here. >> reporter: it's one thing to give away a few thousand stoves, but how to get them into another 120 million households in a vast, diverse nation?

a freebie, especially one with unfamiliar or finicky technology, will quickly begin to gather dust. what's needed are commercial enterprises-- a so-called market value chain. hafiz ur rehman is one of the scientists on the surya project. >> the commercial players will have to invest substantially in building that rural value chain, market value chain which would be so essential, not only for delivery of the technology, but also for its maintenance, upkeep, spares, all the other things that go with it. >> reporter: a non profit group called envirofit-- backed by the shell oil company's foundation-- thinks it has a market-based plan that could be a model. in a handful of rural markets, it has persuaded retailers to carry envirofit stoves, which they can sell and service for a profit. the next challenge: getting customers to buy-- marketing. >> if you look at rural india,

what message reaches consumer there in the rural? newspapers do not reach. there would be penetration of tv but it would be remarkably low. so when you want to do awareness of benefits, you have to do video or van on wheels in the villages and demonstrating the stove. >> reporter: envirofit holds demonstrations of the stoves, a patented design made at its colorado headquarters that sells from around 25 u.s. dollars. there's also entertainment, with games, with song and drama. ( laughter ) the not so subtle messages is about clean indoor air says envirofit's harish anchin. >> the man of family buys a t.v., bike and he buys a mobile phone. you have the lady saying you're

going into modern world, but look at kitchen-- the heart of the household and we're still having the same traditional stove, that gives out fumes and less efficient. all this generates consumer interest. >> ( translated ): does it leave charcoal? >> ( translated ): no, all the wood is burned to ashes, all the energy is absorbed. the nearest dealer is written here on the side of the >> reporter: the women seemed sold as they took their brochures. one thing they would like is financing. >> installments. >> ( translated ): if that's available, we'd buy them right away. >> reporter: envirofit is working to get micro-loans to make the purchases easier. the goal is a million stoves by 2011. epidemiologist balakrishnan who is studying indoor air and stove design says none of the current models achieve emission standards that the world health

organization calls healthy. still, even though they're not clean enough, they're cleaner, she says. and most importantly, they've sensitized people to pollution that many rural indians used to accept as a fact of life. >> many people, if you go to the rural areas, appreciate the fact that they have a less smoky stove. i think the best should not be the enemy of the good. >> reporter: definitive study results on the effects of black carbon are expected in two years and climatologist ramanathan says they'll determine whether cleaner cook-stoves can not only help lower people's exposure to toxic soot but also help slow global warming. >> lehrer: next, how the weak economy is affecting public schools. the "newshour's" special correspondent for education, john merrow, tells the tale of two schools in tuscon. >> reporter: this year, arizona

faced a budget crater to rival its own grand canyon-- a deficit of nearly $2 billion. arizona communities anticipated cuts in schools. the state already ranks 50th in the nation in per-pupil spending. from there, tucson schools took another hit this fall: 10%. what happens when a major recession hits public education? what do schools do when times are tough? who gets hurt more, the rich or the poor? we went to tucson to find out. we started here, in tucson's comfortable suburban community. affluent east side, a comfortable suburban community. gale elementary school has an excellent reputation, veteran teachers, a high performing student body and a commitment to the arts. in the cafeteria everything looks normal, except that paula godfrey is the school principal, forced into kitchen duty, she says, because of budget cuts.

how does that feel to be number 50? >> terrible. when you're 50th in the nation in per-pupil spending, there's a lot of things that you cut out of education. >> reporter: principal godfrey says she lost $140,000 this year. what did you lose? >> we lost... we lost our office manager. we were able to keep our attendance registrar, but the difference between keeping the office manager or the attendance registrar, that's exactly the amount we needed for orchestra. >> reporter: meet gales new office manager. >> now, all of the duties that i do the payroll. i do all the requisitions. i do all of the arranging for substitutes. >> reporter: enrollment is up, over 400 students attend kindergarten through fifth grade, but funding is not. because the students are mostly middle class, gale qualifies for little federal money. >> so we're a school that relies on just that 50th level spending.

>> reporter: gale has few amenities. there's no gym. this is the auditorium. the computers are out of date. extras like marching band have disappeared. gale also made cuts in the classroom. tutors and aides were let go. and classes are bigger. >> i have 31 students, and as of yesterday, for half of the day we'll actually have 32 students in our classroom. >> reporter: second grade teacher kim svob says in previous years her classes had an average of 24 students. >> and, you know, the extra five, six, seven children, makes a really big difference. at a second grade level, they need a lot of individual attention. and there definitely are children who are falling through the cracks. no question about that. >> reporter: what's happening at gale is happening to schools in other hard hit states. and although arizona public

schools received $473 million in federal stimulus funding, that has not been enough to fill all the gaps. but in its struggle to survive, gale has an ace in the hole: parents >> they're everywhere. we average between 5,000 and 6,000 hours a year of volunteer time. >> reporter: that's the equivalent of three full-time workers for a year. and that's not all. >> we asked for copy paper. we asked for pencils. we asked for erasers. we asked for soap. we asked for everything. >> reporter: and? >> they came through, miraculously. i don't know what we would have done without them. >> reporter: gale and its teachers are working overtime to make sure they can keep on doing what they have been doing. they've been lucky compared to other tucson schools. take 90-year-old ochoa elementary. it serves a poor, largely hispanic population, but not

very well. scores were low, and enrolment was dropping, and that made it a target. looking to save money, the district put it on a list of schools to be closed. >> you know, you think what worse thing could happen to a school than a school closure? >> reporter: heidi aranda is ochoa's principal. >> whenever you're in a crisis like that, it forces you to re-examine. i said, we need to think about our enrollment, and what would it take to increase our enrolment. >> reporter: she found what she hopes is the answer here, in a new approach to education. a teacher, pauline baker, had just introduced a method from italy called reggio emilia. >> in a nutshell, the metaphor

for reggio is that children have a hundred languages for learning. >> reporter: reggio is guided by the idea that children learn best by doing. everything about a reggio classroom is planned-- from the lighting, to the music, to the materials for children. >> people think this is about art, and that this is an art studio. but really, the studio is a place for inventing ways to do things. >> reporter: soon parents told principal aranda it was their favorite class. then tucson's new superintendent came to see what the fuss was about. >> i was shocked. it really took me back. >> reporter: to? >> to see what was possible. i just kind of had to pause and say, you know, what a difference this makes in learning. >> reporter: it turned out to make all the difference to ochoa.

with community support, principal aranda proposed to model the whole school on the reggio approach. the plans to shut it down were put aside. is it your hope that converting the school this way will attract parents from other parts of tucson? >> yes. yes. it is a definite goal and strategy to increase the enrollment in our school. >> reporter: this year, ochoa opened a reggio kindergarten. next year, first grade. they will add a grade each year until the entire school is converted. meanwhile, classes-- like this fine arts class, and this class in gardening-- are adopting the approach. now suppose ochoa, you know, liberates learning and the kids love it and the parents love it. but on those very narrow tests, they don't do well. what then? >> well, we've looked into

schools across the country that have actually transformed themselves and taken a more progressive, you know, stance. and actually the students do better. >> reporter: ochoa's new approach-born in crisis is attracting visitors, including u.s. secretary of education arne duncan in october. but the attention, and an improved performance rating from the state, may not be enough to assure its survival. like other tucson schools, ochoa lost 10% of its budget, over $100,000, and had to let two teachers go. and it could get worse. in january, when arizona's state legislature reconvenes, more cuts are expected. >> woodruff: finally tonight, the mexican government is

claiming a major victory in its war on drug cartels: the killing of a key drug lord-- arturo beltran leyva in a shootout with a mexican navy unit. but the mexican war on drugs has been an uphill struggle, with tens of thousands of casualties, and illegal drugs still flowing, especially in the state of sinaloa. that is where global post correspondent yone greeyo just returned from a mission with the mexican army. "global post" is an international news web site. here's his report. >> reporter: deep in the sierra madre mountains. this beautiful landscape in north west mexico hides one of the world's biggest drug producing areas-- the so-called golden triangle. in a rare opportunity, we joined the 94th battalion to see its work fighting drug cartels here. battalion commander general solorzano says it is the only force equipped for this job. as we fly low, soldiers watch for cartel snipers, who have targeted army helicopters with

machine guns and even rocket propelled grenades. the soldiers have located a marijuana field, which sticks out because of the bright green leaves of the plants. we touch down and head to the crop. the troops are constantly on guard for enemy fire. in the last 18 months, cartel hitmen have slain more than 1,000 soldiers and police officers. the general explains that there are about 25,000 square feet of plants here-- or enough for 500 pounds of grass for american smokers. >> to make their marijuana joints, they use the so-called sheep tales. if you touch it, you can feel that it is sticky. touch it. >> reporter: this is a small crop by mexican standards. the plants tear from the ground easily and within two hours, the soldiers have ripped up the entire field and burned it on a

bonfire. the mexican government has also sent troops into city centers to fight the drug war. we follow the soldiers on one of these urban operations. the unit sets up impromptu checkpoints which are moved every hour. in this mustang, they find a stash of firearms on the front seat. but it turns out the driver is a police detective and they let him go. >> ( translated ): we see people who are very ostentatious. they show off their gold chains, big bracelets, but then they wear leather sandals. and these are things that give them away. >> reporter: the army also sifts through residential neighborhoods searching for gangsters. troops say this molecular device can detect firearms or drugs at 300 yards. but many residents don't like the military invading their

lives. >> ( translated ): why do you do this to us? >> reporter: this business woman gets annoyed about being stopped on her own street and launches into a scathing attack on the soldiers. >> ( translated ): how much longer will we citizens have to put up with you stopping us. look, one night i was with two friends, who live two blocks away. they were all my age, grandparents. they stopped us here, they stopped us there. then on the corner, then again outside the house. please. four checks in five minutes. how can this be? >> reporter: many mexicans complain that the army operations have not stopped the violence and trafficking. this month, the military has also come under fire for human rights abuses, accusations it promises to investigate. but the government insists that if the troops were sent back to their barracks, the situation would only get worse. and as the conflict intensifies, there is no sign of them leaving the frontline anytime soon. >> lehrer: again, the major developments of the day: the u.s. made new overtures to

china, to salvage an agreement at the u.n. summit on climate change. and senate democrats faced growing questions about whether they'll pass health care reform before a christmas deadline. the "newshour" is always online. hari sreenivasan, in our newsroom, previews what's there. hari? >> sreenivasan: on our web site tonight: find out how teachers view the president's education stimulus program "race to the top." the head of the national education association, dennis van roekel, stopped by "the rundown" to offer his response to tuesday's interview with education secretary arne duncan. you'll also find a link to john merrow's "learning matters" web site, with more about the toll the recession has taken on schools. and you can keep track of the climate summit in copenhagen by watching and reading dispatches from our reporting team. there is also more of global post reporter yone greeyo's stories from mexico.

and on jeffrey brown's "art beat" blog, a celebration of second city's 50th birthday. we've posted remembrances from the last surviving member of the comedy club's first year and a conversation with actor/director/writer harold ramis. all that and more is on our web site, newshour.pbs.org. judy? >> woodruff: and that's the "newshour" for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. >> lehrer: and i'm jim lehrer. we'll see you on-line, and again here tomorrow evening with mark shields and david brooks, among others. thank you and good night. major funding for the pbs newshour is provided by:

when someone you count on is not responsive, bad things could happen. grant thornton. monsanto. producing more. er