gwen. >> ifill: and that's the newshour for tonight. on thursday, margaret warner reports on the political stalemate in iraq. i'm gwen ifill. >> lehrer: and i'm jim lehrer. we'll see you only and again here tomorrow evening. thank you and good night. major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: 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. captioning sponsored by macneil/lehrer productions captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org

. >> ifill: and i'm gwen ifill. on the newshour tonight, jack hough of "smart money" magazine and karl case of wellesley college weigh the pluses and minuses of home ownership. >> brown: then we look at the record income gap between the richest and poorest americans. >> ifill: judy woodruff talks to alan cooperman of the pew forum on religion in public life about what americans know and don't know about religion. >> brown: special correspondent john tulenko reports on a college program that's raised graduation rates for minority students. >> some of these kids have lives that are so complicated that they need a lot more. that's what we do. >> ifill: and margaret warner speaks to two analysts about north korea's latest succession drama. >> brown: that's all ahead on tonight's newshour. major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> brown: on the surface, to

i'm gwen ifill. outsiders and tea-party backed candidates posted victories in key primaries around the country yesterday. >> brown: and i'm jeffrey brown. on the newshour tonight. our political editor david chalian reviews the winners and losers. >> ifill: then, a roundtable of political strategists explains what the results mean for republicans, for democrats and how they will affect who controls congress. >> brown: ray suarez talks to mexican ambassador arturo sarukhan as his country celebrates its bicentennial and fights an all-out war against drug-trafficking. >> as mexico seeks to shut down the flow of drugs moving north, the united states needs to step up to the plate and shut down the flow of weapons and cache moving >> ifill: plus, jose luis sierra of new america media reports on how the drug war has affected the tourism and manufacturing industries in the mexican state of baja california. >> we want to get back to getting people to think about mexico as fun in the sun and margaritaville and t

once again, live from washington, moderator gwen ifill. gwen: good evening. so tonight, we tackle the challenge of turning the page. president obama's oval office address provided a useful prame this week that was supposed to be about iraq but it was about so much else, including the economy, uncertain foreign policy and politics. why is august never a good month for barack obama? now we are safely in september, the question must be asked. >> you detected the pattern haven't you. he has had difficulties in augusts and ended this one in a very busy week. when he gave that speech in the oval office, he talked about turning the page. what he meant to convey is, it's time now to focus on the economy. but as that speech showed, the tension in that speech as he was trying to deal with a lot of issues at once underscored the political problems that he and the democrats and the administration have. i mean, he said the economy is my principal responsibility as president. that's why we want to turn the page. but turning the page, let's just start with iraq. yes, the co

thank you. >> once again, live from washington, moderator gwen ifill. gwen: good evening.e appear now to be in the middle of a wave election when everything changes. but who is behind the wave and who is likely to get flopped? christine o'donnell this week's big winner in the delaware senate primary thinks she knows. she was in washington to address the value voters summit. >> the elite don't get us, they call us wacky, they call us wing nuts, we call us "we the people." gwen: defeated republicans like delaware's mike castronevesle, bob bennett and murkowski are trying to figure out what happened. and also arlen specter and struggling incumbents like ohio governor ted strickland and president obama himself who knows he must convince voters the economy can improve. >> we stop the bleeding, stabilize the economy but the fact of the matter is the pace of improvement is not where it needs to be. and the hole we had dug ourselfs in was enormous. gwen: the scary truth appears to be rattled voters appear to lash out at lots of people for lots of reasons. let's go through some of

live from our nation's capital, this is "washington week with gwen ifill." produced in association with national journal. funding for "washington week" is provided by -- >> we know why we're here. >> to connect our forces to what they need, when they need it. >> to help troops see danger. before it sees them. >> to answer the call of the brave and bring them safely home. >> around the globe, the people of boeing are working together to support and protect all who serve. >> that's why we're here. >> funding for "washington week" is also provided by exxonmobil, e-harmony, the ethics and excellence in journalism foundation, the annenberg foundation, the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. once again, live from washington, moderator gwen ifill. gwen: good evening. economic advisor larry summers became the latest member of the president's inner circle to head for the exits this week with the recent departures of christina romer and peter orszad and the imminent decampment of chief of staff

. >> ifill: and i'm gwen ifill. on the newshour tonight, "newshour" political editor david chalian and "time" magazine reporter mark thompson dissect today's vote and look at what's next for the "don't ask, don't tell" policy. >> lehrer: then, judy woodruff talks to transportation secretary ray lahood about his drive to end distracted driving. >> ifill: john tulenko of learning matters reports on tennessee's plan to reward teachers when students do well. >> we need to move to a system that says if you work harder, if you do better, if you try to improve your craft and your students perform better, you get paid more. >> lehrer: we have an election season look at campaign cash-- who's giving, and why. >> ifill: margaret warner examines the impact international sanctions are having on iranians. >> they're having a dramatic impact. i think that the u.n. security council resolution was underestimated . it was underestimated by iran and it was undersfimented by lots of people in the international community. >> lehrer: tha

gwen ifill sat down with her last week. she joins us from new york.come. >> thank you, gwen. >> ifill: arianna, i look at the cover of your book and i think to myself america is still the world's most prosperous nation. how do you define "third world"? >> well, i know it's a jarring phrase, gwen, but i chose it deliberatery because i felt that we needed a warning. we needed to sort of sound the alarm about the trajectory we're arm about the middle-class crumbling. and the middle-class is the foundation not just of our democracy and our prosperity but our political stability. and so as the middle-class is crumbling, we really have a certain time, a window during which we can course correct and turn things around. and i end the book on an optimistic note that we can do that, but only if we bring a see of urgency to the undertaking. >> ifill: you're a political animal, when you say the middle-class is crumbling, what are the events you would say led us to this point? >> well, it has been going on for about 30 years. it didn't just happen because of the f

i'm gwen ifill. president obama said health care legislation set to go into effect tomorrow will prevent insurance companies from unfairly denying coverage to people in need. >> woodruff: and i'm judy woodruff. on the "newshour" tonight, betty ann bowser looks at the impact political and otherwise of the reform legislation six months after its passage. >> ifill: then, judy talks to former president clinton about the economic recovery, his global initiative and the upcoming midterm elections. >> if this is a referendum on people's anger and apathy, so our side stays home and their side's in play, we don't cowell. if it's a choice between who is going to do what, we can do well, and that's what i hope it will be. >> woodruff: tom bearden reports from louisiana on the state's growing battle against coastal erosion, in the wake of the b.p. oil spill. >> large chunks of louisiana's coastal wetlands are literally dissolving and so are some of the nation's best fishing ground. >> ifill: plus, we hear from f

. >> ifill: and i'm gwen ifill. on the newshour tonight, we talk to two iran watchers, including one once jailed in teheran, about today's release and what it tells us about the regime. >> brown: then margaret warner interviews former british prime minister and united nations envoy tony blair about the newest round of middle east peace talks. >> i find it hard to see if these two political leader s in this context with an american administration pushing for a deal, if we can't get one, i don't know where we go from there. >> ifill: fred de sam lazaro has the story of a jewish entrepreneur working with palestinians and israelis for both peace and profit. >> brown: susan dentzer of "health affairs" and karen tumulty of the "washington post" sort through the latest give- and-take on health care politics. >> ifill: and we sit down with writer and cartoonist austin kleon for a dose of poetry inspired by newspaper prose. >> what i found out is that i need to treat the newspaper as a blank canvas in order to really come up