>> reporter: while gates was in the countryside, the president of iran, mahmoud ahmadinejad, arrived in kabul. there was no explanation given, but gates acknowledged the timing was odd. >> it's certainly fodder for all conspiratorialists. but i told president karzai, we think afghanistan should have good relations with all of its neighbors, but we also want all of afghanistan's neighbors to play an upfront game in dealing with the government of afghanistan. >> reporter: earlier this week, gates accused iran of "playing a double game"-- apparently seeking good relations with the afghan government, while also backing taliban fighters. today, ahmadinejad met with president hamid karzai in kabul, and he turned gates' charge around. >> ( translated ): they are playing a double game.

they themselves created terrorists and now they're saying that they are fighting terrorists. this is not possible. they cannot do it. >> reporter: amid the war of words, there was more violence on the ground. a suicide truck bomber killed five afghan troops at a base in paktika province. and the taliban claimed responsibility for a bombing in khost province that killed two nato troops yesterday. later, president karzai flew to neighboring pakistan seeking help with reconciliation efforts aimed at the taliban. at the same time, pakistan has stepped up the pressure on afghan taliban leaders-- capturing several senior figures in recent weeks. >> ifill: now, with the other news of the day. here's hari sreenivasan in our newsroom. >> sreenivasan: vice president biden sought to reassure palestinians today about the u.s. commitment to their future. he met with palestinian leaders in the west bank, after holding similar meetings with israelis yesterday in jerusalem.

and, he said palestinian statehood is a priority for the u.s. >> our administration is fully committed to the palestinian people and to achieving a palestinian state that is independent, viable, and contiguous. everyone should know, everyone should know by now, that there is no viable alternative to a two-state solution. >> sreenivasan: the vice president also warned again about actions that he said "inflame tensions." yesterday, he condemned an israeli announcement enlarging an east jerusalem settlement on disputed land. today, palestinian president mahmoud abbas said the israeli move is an obstacle to peace. >> ( translated ): the decisions announced by the israeli government during the previous two days about the establishment of thousands of new housing units in the palestinian territories is destroying trust and is a decisive blow to the effort that has been made during the past months to launch indirect talks.

>> sreenivasan: on monday, the israelis and palestinians had agreed to hold indirect talks. much of the u.n.'s food aid-- intended for millions of hungry people in somalia-- is being diverted. "the new york times" and others reported that today, based on a draft study from the u.n. security council. the reports said corrupt contractors, radical islamic militants and local u.n. workers are taking up to half the food. schools across the united states are now one step closer to a uniform set of math and english standards. the nation's governors and state school superintendents published new national guidelines today. they're expected to lead to standardized textbooks and testing. texas and alaska are the only states not taking part. house democratic leaders will stop setting aside projects for private companies, in annual spending bills. democrat david obey-- chairman of the appropriations committee -- announced it today. he said he hopes to eliminate 1,000 earmarks.

the move follows an ethics probe of allegations that seven house members earmarked funds in exchange for campaign cash. the investigation found no wrongdoing. in economic news, the senate approved a new stimulus bill worth nearly $150 billion. it extends jobless benefits and some tax breaks for another year. and on wall street, the dow jones industrial average gained nearly three points to close at 10,567. the nasdaq rose 18 points to close near 2,359. 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 gwen. >> ifill: an american woman who called herself "jihad jane" was charged yesterday with using the internet to launch a home grown terror plot. colleen larose, who lived in suburban pennsylvania, was accused of trying to murder a swedish artist, lars vilks. vilks angered muslims by depicting the prophet muhammad with the body of a dog. authorities say the case demonstrates the changing face of terrorism.

for more on all of this we turn to "washington post" staff writer carrie johnson, who has been following the story. >> thank you, gwen. >> ifill: it seems institutional to have a woman involved in a case like this. how unusual it is? >> reporter: it is quite unusual for an american woman to be charged with terrorist-related offenses in the united states. it's happened only a handful of times. analysts and intelligence agents say it underscores the bureau needs to refocus its efforts to follow every lead, no matter how farfetched it might be. >> ifill: how seerls a threat do we think she was? she could have easily just been someone need ling around on the internet but it sounds like it was more than that? >> reporter: it certainly was. her past of radicalization was a lengthy one, more than a year. she reached out to other people of like mind in the internet for what she called violent jihad.

she actually vetted possible recruits, people with western parse ports, people when could travel and blend into western society in the u.s. she in fact traveled to western europe herself last year in august to skrns this plot against the swedish artist. >> ifill: so she have been involved in this for a while. how did they finally uncover it? >> reporter: it's not entirely clear how the f.b.i. got on to her but it's quite clear from reading the charging documents that they had been monitoring her electronic communications, her page on myspace, video she had posted on youtube, e-mail she had exchanged with people across western and eastern europe and south asia for many, many months. >> ifill: now, we know that she was arrested or charged or held. she's been in custody since last october. why are we just hearing about this now? >> reporter: she was arrested in october in pennsylvania on a single charge of stealing her boyfriend's passport and takeing it with her overseas when she

traveled to europe. she was arraigned in the courthouse in pennsylvania at that time but it attracted no notice. and since then, she's been held very quietly while f.b.i. agents and investigators around the world5.ave tried to track down communications she exchanged with other people. >> ifill: you're talking about tracking down leads around the world. do we know whether she was acting alo.ó0@6cj& >> reporter: she was charged along with five unnamed coconspirators. as you know, gwen, yesterday, early morning in ireland, four men and three women were arrested and taken into custody by the irish police on suspicion of working with miss larose on this plot. >> ifill: we think there is a connection between her and those folks in ireland? >> reporter: we do think there's a connection. law enforcement in the united states have not disclosed that yet nor have the authorities in ireland but would expect to see more peopleraphy in the weeks ahead. >> ifill: she mentioned in her e-mails she drew attention to the fact that she was blond, had blue eyes and, therefore, could blend in, in places like sweden

where she would have had to go to carry this out. is this challenging law enforcement's notion of what profiling can gain them? >> reporter: the u.s. attorney in philadelphia, michael levy, has said of the larose case, "jihad jane," shatters any assumptions law enforcement may have had in the past about profiling. she's fact a very small person, according to some arrest records from elderlyer in her checkered past. she's only about 4' 11" tall and ohm about 100 pound. so it would have been possible for authorities to dismiss this possible threat. >> ifill: and would it have been possible for people who she knew in pennsylvania, people when were neighbors, people who were-- even relatives to have been on to what shofs up to? >> reporter: well, she appears to have led a rather isolated existence after moving to suburban pennsylvania about five years ago. interestingly enough, her live-in boyfriend at the time, curt gourman who toild reporters since the indictment yesterday, he had no idea what she was up to. he was very puzzled when she

disappeared in august of last year long with her passport and he was qoit surprised she will be going on the internet and changing this kind of rhetoric with like-minded extremists. >> ifill: it was his passport she was offering to other people? >> reporter: yes, there are e-mail communicates cited in the indictment in which she offers to give the u.s. passport to brothers fighting jihad overseas. >> ifill: is this an investigation which centers in on one individual who clearly was an aberration or are they drawing a big, wide net looking for any number of people who might be involved in this same type of activity? >> reporter: i think it's fair to say they are following and survalg, and they already have in custody in the internet sphere and possibly in the united states more individuals with whom she qhoukted online. there are many people cite in the indictment without names, only initials and nnz and it's fair to say this authorities are tracking all those people now and pumping them for information.

and new leads about other possible terrorists who have come to the fore as a result of this case. >> ifill: you can tell us anything about those leads? >> they're very closed mouth about this for good reason, which is to say, if they don't have these people in custody, they don't want them to scatter to the wind from hearing about it on television. that said, i think in the weeks ahead we're likely to see more public arrests and charges. >> ifill: and finally are,-- do we know that we're cooperating with other governments on an investigation like this or is this basically a u.s.-led investigation? >> reporter: gwen, that's a great question. we do know authorities in sweden ireland, the united states and interpol, which is essentially a clearing house for arrest warrants for international fugitives, are all on this case now. >> ifill: carrie johnson of the "washington post," thanks for your reporting. >> reporter: thank you. >> lehrer: president obama had more criticism today of the health insurance industry. it came in a pro-health reform speech he delivered in st. louis.

earlier in the day in washington, his health and human services secretary, kathleen sebelius, delivered her own message to a meeting of insurance executives. >> the trend line for the health insurance system is as unsustainable as the trend line is for american consumers. and yet over the last year, we've seen tens of millions of dollars by the insurance industry spent on ads and lobbyists to help kill health reform. i am hopeful that you will take the assets that you have an the influence and the bully pulpit that you have and use it to start calling for comprehensive reform to pass. >> lehrer: the industry's trade group, america's health insurance plans, released a new ad today. >> what's inside the health care cost pie? some in washington say it's all health insurance. but health insurance is one of

the smallest slices. health insurance companies costs are only 4% of all health care spending. doctors, hospitals, medicine, and tests are the biggest slices and the government report says ther rising prices are a primary driver of higher health care costs. if washington wants to make health care more affordable, they need to look at the whole health care pie, not just a slice. >> lehrer: and here now is mike tuffin, executive vice president of the association behind the ad. and richard kirsch, a leading advocate of the obama push for health care reform. he's with the "health care for america now," which helped organize a rally against the insurance industry in washington this week. mr. tuffin, so, a small slice of the total cost, and, thus, not worth the trouble and the attack that the presidents and others are making? >> it's 4% of what we spend in health care in this country goes

to our administrative costs and profit. and it's entirely appropriate to direct scrutiny at us and ask us to be more efficient and do a better job, but we need to look at the other 96 cents too. what we're seeing from washington say laser-like focus entirely on one slice of the pie, and if we want to make health care affordable in this country, we have to look at the whole piece of pie. >> lehrer: mr. kirsch, does the insurance industry slice deserve the attention it's geting? >> it certainly does, jim. that 4% as up to about $100 billion a year--. >> ifill: $100 billion in what way. >> $100 billion a year is what it costs. 4% of health care is about $100 billion a year, what we're spending in the country. and we've seen-- excuse me, health care premiums are doubling, where medical inflation has gone up 40% in the last eight years, so premiums are going up two and a half times medical inflation. a keep point is how much of our premiums are actually going to

medical costs? in 19 network 95% of our premiums went to medical costs. now it's down to 63%-- 83%. where is the extra money going to, profits, record profits last year, c.e.o. salarys, more than $700 million in the last decade, and administrative costs, a lot of administrative costs. so, yes, it needs a lot of scrutiny. >> lehrer: mr. tuffin. >> according to the secretaryo only department, the share of premiums going to administrative costs and profits of health insurers has declined for six years in a row. what is causing health care to be unaffordable is spiraling medical costs-- doctors, hospitals, new technologies that come online, new drugs. the bulk of people's premiums go to pay for those services and the share, again, going to administrative costs and profits of our companies is actually declining. >> lehrer: is it not a fact that the premiums are going up and i

thought the records-- the recent reports showed that profits are up in your major health insurance companies. >> in the past year they were up. in 2008 according to "fortune" magazine our city profits were 2.1%, and very near the bottom of the list of the industry's track. last year they were about 5.5%. that's about a 50% increase. meanwhile, other sectors in health care have margins of 15%, 20%, 25%. so if profits in health care are the problem, you're not looking in the right place. >> absolutely we are looking in the right place. i went to business school, and he's talking about return on sales, and if i tried to use that in my finance class i would have gotten an f.. what shareholders look at is return on equity under investment, and for the health insurance industry, 16%, that's higher than cable tv, it's higher than cell phones. it's higher than beer." and the five biggest health insurance companys, record profits last year, 21% return in equity.

that's bigger than any part of the health insurance industry except for the drug companys. record profits. but the thing about is tis how do they make the profits? they dropped 2.7 million people from insurance rolls, and angela brawley, the c.e.o. of wellpoint the biggest insurance company, said we will not sacrifice profitability for membership. they make more money by raising their rates and dropping people from coverage. that's what a goldman sachs analyst said last week, too. >> i went to business school, too -- >> did you both do good, do well? >> i got through. and "fortune" magazine is the leading authority in the company on the ranging of industry profits and we're down at the bottom and those are the facts. what's happening is not companies dropping coverage. it's people being unably to afford coverage in a tough economy. that's absolutely true. working families, younger and healthier workers who may think it makes sense to take the risk and go without coverage. in a tough economy, they are choosing not to be covered.

small businesses are choosing ki keep my doors open or can i afford to cover my workforce? and because of spiraling medical costs and a slowing economy they're caught in a vice. >> lehrer: i don't think we're going to resolve that one right now. let's resolve something else. secretary sebelius says you spend millions and millions of dollars, your industry has and lobbyists and ads leek the one we just showed, trying to kill health care reform. that's true, is it not? >> it is not true. we are triking to make health care reform work and to have it work it has to be affordable. we are an advocate of reform. we have embraced all the issues people are concerned about related to our sector-- preexisting concerns rating people based on their health status. before this president was inaugurated, we embraced doing away with all of that as part of a comprehensive plan that covers all americans. the problem with the leading proposals is they're going to actually, unfortunately, make health care more expensive, not more affordable. our customers, the people when

pay the bill for health care, principally employers, believe this is going to make their cost structure unsustainable. they're having a hard enough time already covering their worksdporss they think this bill is going to make it worse. we need to fix that before this is passed. >> lehrer: but you do, literally want to kill the obama proposal, i'm right about that. >> we want to improve it. >> lehrer: you want to improve it. >> we do not think the current proposal will make health care more affordable, absolutely right. >> lehrer: what's wrong with that if they have a view on that mr. kirsch? why can't they express themselves. >> well, they can certainly express themselves, by laundering up to $20 million to the chamber of commerce to kill reform and we don't know how much more hasn't been reported. they have a view health care reform should be to increase profits and that's their very simple view of it. they worked to kill a public option because that would compete with them. the new proposals from the president to say there will be a new rate authority to control

how much insurance companies are raise the rates. of course they want to kill that. there are proposals to limit how much they can spend on profit and administration. they want to kill that. these concessions they've made on preexisting conditions they want to keep that in individual markets, not to the employer market where 170 million people continue to get insurance. so their view of improving reform is improving their bottom line, improving their profits. our view is getting reform done that actually makes good health care affordable to people. >> lehrer: your point is they are driven solely by their own situation, not the general condition of health care in the united states? >> well, of course. they're a for-profit industry, and their mandate, their mission legally, their responsibility to shareholders is to increase their profits. again, that's why angela brawley said we will not sacrifice profitability for membership. >> lehrer: is that true? >> we are a for-profit industry and also a nonprofit industry. people have a choice of

for-profit plans and not-for-profit plans. we want reform that covers everyone. that's what they need to make these regulations work. but more than anything it has to bend the health care cost curve. the people when pay most of the health care bill in america, our customers, employers, believe this bill will make it harder not easier for them to cover their workers. and we have a responsibility to stand with our employers. we cover almost 200 million people, and every poll shows the american people, by and large, believe this bill-- even people who support the bill, believe it's going to make the cost situation worse. >> lehrer: let me ask you this-- i don't know if mr. kirsch will agree with this-- but a lot of people who take you all on, who take on the insurance industry, say, hey, wait a minute. this is going to expand health insurance. there are 37 million people when will have health insurance and who don't have it now. where are they going to get it? they're going to buy it mostly from your company. so what's the problem? >> we want to serve those people a lot of 37 million will be covered by medicaid as well.

the underlying cost structure is unsustainable, and we're on a trajectory in this country that's going to see costs go to such an extent that no one's going to be able to afford it-- not the government, not the private sector. and we don't think this bill bend the health care cost curve. >> lehrer: you don't buy that? >> in terms of controlling health care costs they're saying they can't do it. they're right. they can't do it. they failed to do it. medicare's cost increases have been 4.5%, private insurers 7.5%. they do a much worse job than the government of controlling health care costs. i want to go back to something before because it's really important. mike said that the reason that they're losing members, losing people they insure is because people don't want insurance. we heard an interesting story from a shawl business person, dan sherry from illinois. his business is growing fast, small business, he makes trophies. he missed one payment, didn't get the bill out and the insurance company came back and said we'll only renew your

insurance if we do your whole medical history. it turns out because he has blood pressure they won't insure him. their job is to deny coverage when they most need it. >> we spend more per capita on health care than any country in the world by far. the idea that we're in business to deny care is laughable. people in the individual market, there's an assessment of risk on the front end because people purchase coverage in the individual market when they anticipate needing health care services. over 90% of our business is conducted in what's known as a guarantee issue environment-- you apply. you get insurance. we need to fix the remaining 10%. >> lehrer: we're going to leave it there but not the subject, obviously. thank you both very much. know >> ifill: still to come on the "newshour": the challenges facing haiti's president; charges and rebuttals on climate change; and the flying women of world war two. 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

>> ifill: now, haiti's leader comes to the united states two months after the earthquake. on his agenda: more aid for his hard hit nation. ray suarez has our story. >> reporter: the white house was the critical stop on president rene preval's washington tour, and he won a renewed commitment from president obama. >> as you declared during last month's national day of mourning, it is time to wipe away the tears. it is time for haiti to rebuild. and to you and to the haitian people, i say today, as you embark on the heavy work ahead, you will continue to have a steady and reliable partner in the united states of america. >> reporter: like much of the haitian capital, preval's own white house lies in ruins. crushed by the january 12th quake that killed an estimated 230,000 and left more than 1.2 million homeless.

mr. obama lent some perspective: >> it's as if the united states, in a terrible incident, lost nearly eight million people, or it's as if one-third of our country-- 100 million americans -- suddenly had no home, no food or water. >> reporter: preval thanked americans for their public and private efforts and asked for continued assistance. >> ( translated ): we must deal with the need of rebuilding haiti, thanks to an effective decentralization policy-- namely, offering health care, education, jobs to all haitians, men and women, regardless of where they live in the country, in order to prevent migratory flows towards the big cities, >> reporter: the u.s. government has already delivered $700 million in assistance; nearly half of u.s. households have given money to other aid efforts. and there's a united nations' meeting later this month, where aid pledges from an earlier, post-quake conference in

montreal will be solidified. on the ground in haiti-- eight weeks on from the quake-- the rainy season has come early, adding to the misery. already-cramped camps-- turned into a squalid mess-- are ripe for festering disease and a possible second catastrophe. >> ( translated ): look we don't have any other place to go. >> reporter: hundreds of thousands displaced by the january quake live in the sprawling tent-and-tarp cities around the capital-- port-au- prince. though officials say nearly half have received some type of shelter, they face a future as uncertain as haiti itself. in the champ-de-mars camp outside the shattered presidential palace, aid workers recently registered the displaced, and tried to persuade the weary homeless to move elsewhere >> this means that preparing maybe their home sites, cleaning the rubble, maybe preparing some other safer places, because

rainy season is coming and it's really not safe for the people to stay there. >> reporter: president preval himself will soon be moving on after a fashion. his term ends next february, and he is not seeking reelection. in the year left to him, ensuring parliamentary elections later this year-- cancelled because of the quake-- is a priority. and rebuilding a government that had 13 of its 15 ministries flattened is a monumental task. meantime, the u.s. military is steadily withdrawing forces it deployed to haiti. at the peak, 20,000 u.s. personnel were there. 8,000 remain and that number will shrink further. their departure has raised concerns. >> it is big trouble, the 82nd airborne have been amazing. they've been giving food, shelter medical, everything, but they are pulling out. we have 400 of our guys pulling out five days ago, we have got 60 left but 30 going in the next few days. soon we are going to have no security here, and that's the most important thing, is the u.s. presence in haiti.

it's going to be shocking when they leave, just security for a start, on top of everything else. >> reporter: despite those fears, the united nations says its peacekeeping force, which were in haiti before the quake will ensure security going forward. >> lehrer: next, climate science and climate scientists under scrutiny. the united nations today announced the launch of an independent review of the science behind landmark reports on global warming issued by an international panel. that comes after a growing backlash following news of some mistakes. jeffrey brown has our report. >> i call upon the peace prize laureate for 2007, the i.p.c.c. >> reporter: december, 2007: after years of study and debate, an understanding of climate change-- that the earth is warming and that humans are contributing-- received the imprimatur of the nobel peace prize.

>> i want to thank the nobel committee, and it is even more significant because i have the honor of sharing it with the i.p.c.c. >> reporter: the prize was shared by former vice president al gore, who'd given the issue a major public voice. and little-known u.n. group charged with pulling together the science: the intergovernmental panel on climate change, or i.p.c.c. it was a heady moment. and two years later, on the eve of the copenhagen talks, expectations were high. >> the science has never been clearer. the solutions have never been more abundant. political will has never been stronger. and let me warn you, political >> reporter: but that's not how it turned out. instead, copenhagen concluded without a binding framework, leaving climate policy in limbo. >> an impressive accord, but not an accord that is legally binding, not an accord that, at

this moment, pins down industrialized countries to individual targets. >> reporter: and there was more: as the u.n. panel and scientists have found themselves on the defensive. in november came the revelations known as climate-gate, when illegally hacked emails sent by several prominent british researchers opened them to charges they were concealing contrary data and evading some public scrutiny. more recently, the blogosphere has been alive with damning blasts at what critics see as shoddy work, poor sourcing and other problems in the ipcc's 2007 report. among the examples: a statement that glaciers in the himalayas will melt entirely by 2035, far faster than scientists have claimed and which turned out to come from a "popular science" magazine rather than a peer- reviewed paper. and a sentence saying that "up to 40% of the amazonian forests could react drastically to even

a slight reduction in precipitation". that turned out to be linked to a report by the world wildlife fund, an advocacy group. >> i'm embarrassed by it. that the himalayan glaciers would melt by 2035, i mean, it shouldn't have been in there. >> reporter: steven schneider, a climate scientist at stanford, worked on the last i.p.c.c. report. >> the unfortunate part of this real error about the date of melting, it has detracted from the correct conclusion, which is that himalayan glaciers are melting rapidly, and that has tremendous social importance in terms of the risk of floods now and drought later. so the basic relevance in the science is right. the date is absolutely ridiculous. and it was just a glitch that everyone missed. >> reporter: schneider points out that the i.p.c.c. reports pull together the work of hundreds of volunteer scientists who sift through thousands of studies, weighing the evidence

for climate change. >> it's a series of refinements and approximations that get better and better. when the temple of high science is found to have made an error or two, people say, "oh my god, we can't trust them!" but take a look at the error rate. correct, there were errors, absolutely right. i'm involved in the i.p.c.c. and we're not proud of a few errors. but how many? three? how many conclusions? a thousand? if you gave me a crack swat team tell me any other human institution that is dealing with complexity that has a one percent error rate. >> reporter: in other words, schneider and most of his colleagues say: the consensus holds. errors? yes. but a change in the conclusion on warming and its causes? no way. but the errors did create a giant opening to skeptics of the science of warming and of the i.p.c.c. process. >> individually, they are not particularly serious.

but it is the mechanism that they imply that is very serious. >> reporter: one is patrick michaels, a climotologist with the cato institute and senior fellow at george mason university. he says the revelations confirm what he's long claimed: that i.p.c.c. reports reach pre- cooked conclusions. >> the problem with the himalayan glaciers was such an obvious error that the climatologist listed as the first author for that chapter would have clearly picked it up if his eyes saw the number. so we can only assume his eyes did not see the number. and that is very telling. it shows the i.p.c.c. process was allowed to get very, very fast and very loose. >> reporter: for michaels, what's needed is more transparency. and the place for that is on the internet, where information flows, studies are put forward and facts are checked by all kinds of people, obviating the need for a group like the

i.p.c.c. >> i don't see why we need it. i do not see why we needed a fourth assessment report. the purpose of the i.p.c.c. was to provide the background for a framework convention on climate change. it morphed into a totally different purpose as far as can tell, which is to cheerlead for policy on climate change. do not tell me they were not doing that. >> reporter: even scientists who back the i.p.c.c. and the overall findings of its reports are calling for more openness and say many researcher hadn't dealt with these problems adequately. judith curry is a climate scientist at georgia tech who contributed to an early i.p.c.c. report. >> i don't think the scientific community is learning the right lessons. i mean, reactions from the scientific community have been mostly, "nothing to see here, let's move on, it doesn't really effect the science." they were basically appealing to

their own authority, but they didn't realize that wasn't going to work and it was really the trust. people were not really questioning the expertise of the scientists, but they were questioning whether they could trust this whole process and what had gone on in light of some of these revelations. >> reporter: and so... go ahead. >> reporter: and there are signs that public trust has eroded. several recent polls show a drop in the public's belief that climate change is real and should be a top political priority. to help shore up that trust, the u.n. has just announced it will appoint an independent board of scientists to review the work of the i.p.c.c. several other reviews here and abroad are underway.?n in the meantime, prospects for passing climate change legislation in the u.s. have dimmed. the house passed an energy bill last summer that included national reductions in carbon emissions. but that bill stalled in the senate, and less ambitious

measures are being considered. >> ifill: finally tonight, honoring the military's first flying women. congressional correspondent kwame holman reports. >> reporter: they were the "fly girls" of world war two-- covering 60 million miles of operation flights in 78 different types of military aircraft, from the fastest fighters to the heaviest bombers. and today, more than six decades later, the women airforce service pilots-- wasp for short -- were awarded the congressional gold medal. it's the nation's highest award given by the congress. deanie parrish of waco, texas was chosen to receive the medal on behalf of all wasps. >> every single one of these ladies deserves to be standing where i am standing. thank you for this award. over 65 years ago, we each served our country without any

expectation and we did it without comprising values that we were taught as we grew up-- honor, integrity, patriotism, service and faith. >> reporter: the legislation to honor the wasp was co-sponored by susan davis and ileana ros- lehtinen in the house, and barbara mikulski and kay bailey hutchison in the senate. >> the greatest generation that saved democracy and western civilization was not limited to one gender. you gave all you could to save the u.s.a. and world at war. today, congress will give you today, we right a wrong and

>> reporter: of 1,102 trailblazing women who served as wasps during world war two, fewer than 300 are still alive today. and for those present this morning at the ceremony in the u.s. capitol's emancipation hall, the honor was well worth the wait. 87-year-old shirley kruse of pompano beach, florida was stationed at bainbridge, georgia during the war. >> i think it was the tribute to what we have done. and i think when we were serving as wasps, we were never in there for the glory. we were never, ever thinking that it would turn out to be as wonderful as this. to receive such an honor is just unimaginable. so for me, it's been one of the highlights of my life. >> reporter: 92-year-old dawn seymour of rochester, new york was one of a small number of wasps select few who completed training on the four-engine b-17 bomber. she also participated in

yesterday's wreath-laying ceremony at the air force memorial to honor the 38 wasps who died during service. >> oh, i'm feeling happiness, i'm feeling loss from friends who passed on early who aren't here today. and to the 38 who we recognized yesterday. so we close the circle of history. and i think we're in good hands. >> reporter: 87-year-old maggie gee of berkeley, california was one of only two chinese-american women to enter the flight training program. >> this award is something, at the end of our lives, how can we ask for anything nicer? you know, all of us have-- when we were young, we were flyers, and we went on and had our different phases of life. i, fortunately, became a scientist, and had a very exciting life there. so, just to get together again,

and to see so many of us, it's the whipping cream on top of ice cream. >> reporter: and, while it wasn't until 1977 that the wasp were granted military status and another 33 years to get to this day, there were no hard feelings over the delayed recognition. >> no, this is right, the time is right. and the day was perfect, as you know. and my heart is happy. i am pleased that this has happened in my lifetime, and i'm alive to enjoy it. >> reporter: and for some, the fact that more americans finally will learn about the wasp matters as much as the award itself. >> that's all i ever wanted. the medal is fine, but this is so much more important than getting a medal. educating america. >> reporter: a history lesson and a congressional gold medal that both were a long time coming. >> lehrer: again, the major developments of the day:

defense secretary gates suggested u.s. troops might start leaving afghanistan ahead of the july 2011 schedule. vice president biden reaffirmed u.s. support for a palestinian state. and president obama promised continued earthquake aid to haiti, after meeting with haiti's president at the white house. >> lehrer: the "newshour" is always online. hari sreenivasan, in our newsroom, previews what's there. hari? >> sreenivasan: which areas of the country are benefiting most from government stimulus money? dante chinni of the "patchwork nation" project crunches the numbers on the rundown. we get three views on how the haitian government can speed its recovery. there's a look at the debate over including the payday loan industry in the financial reform legislation. and a profile of jean harmon, another of the world war two pilots honored today. that's from our colleagues at pbs station k.t.e.h. in california. find a link in the "public media box" on our homepage. all that and more is on our web site, newshour.pbs.org. gwen?

>> ifill: and that's the "newshour" for tonight. i'm gwen ifill. >> lehrer: and i'm jim lehrer. we'll see you on-line. and again here tomorrow evening. thank you and good night. major funding for the pbs newshour has been 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 people, in ideas-- seeking, teaching, building. fueling growth around the world to move us all ahead. this is the power of human energy. chevron. >> bank of america-- committed to helping the nation's economic recovery.

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