. >> and by bnsf railway. 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. >> woodruff: for investors and traders alike, today brought a welcome end to a series of nerve-jangling sessions. there were no rumors, no bouts of panic selling, and no dizzying dives followed by sharp surges. instead, wall street managed a relatively calm advance, as the dow jones industrial average gained 125 points. when the closing bell finally rang this afternoon at the new york stock exchange, it capped one of the market's wildest spells since the meltdown of 2008. >> put the order up. they're going to send more later. >> woodruff: starting last monday, a track of the dow jones industrial average resembled the seismic plot of an ear

bnsf. 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. >> woodruff: wall street rallied sharply late today with the dow jones industrials gaining well over 400 points. stocks roared back after the federal reserve's new pronouncement on the economy, but only after a long day of gyrations. the morning starteded with u.s. stocks rising strongly. after the routes of recent days, including monday's huge losses. >> it's all momentum, guys. i think some of the people that were a little panicked about their stocks saw the bounce this morning as an opportunity to maybe unload some of their positions or at least lighten them up. quite frankly it's really a momentum-driven market. >> woodruff: it turned nega

. >> and by bnsf railway. >> and by the bill and melinda gates foundation. dedicated to the idea that all people deserve the chance to live a healthy, productive life. and with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. and... this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: wall street had its worst day since 2008, as investors fled stocks in a global rout. it was fueled by the downgrade of u.s. debt, worries about europe's debt load, and fears of a new world recession. swamped markets around the world, the sell-off, rolling across asia and europe and engulfing wall street. u.s. stocks plunged with the opening bell and never recovered. by the time it was over, the dow jones industrial average had lost nearly 635 points to close below 10,810. the nasdaq gave up 174 points to close at 2357. the prospects of more losses to come. >> i would anticipate that this this sts is going to go on for quite some time. like i said i think we ne

bnsf, the engine that connects us. and by the alfred p. sloan foundation.ing science, technology, and improved economic performance and financial literacy in the 21st century. 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

. >> and by bnsf railway. 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. >> woodruff: the struggle for economic recovery dominated political developments on both sides of the atlantic today. the leaders of france and germany-- nicolas sarkozy and angela merkel-- called for new discipline and unity on the continent. and here at home, president obama urged americans not to lose hope. the french president greeted the german chancellor at the elysee palace in paris, amid deepening worries about europe's economy. a new report showed overall growth in 17 eurozone countries increased just two-tenths of a percent in the second quarter. growth in germany came to a near standstill. merkel and sarkozy responded with a call fo

>> and by bnsf railway. >> 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. >> brown: the vermont national guard sent in helicopters and heavy trucks today to get supplies to hundreds of people. the dramatic relief effort was triggered by hurricane irene's weekend assault. ray suarez begins our coverage. >> suarez: the airlift order went out as a dozen vermont towns lay cut off after irene sent rivers of rainwater surging down hills and mountainsides. >> we've seen so many heartbreaking stories. we need all the help we can get. >> suarez: cavendish, hancock, pittsfield, stockbridge, strafford, and stratton were among the places hardest hit. statewide, 260 roads and 30 bridges were washed out by 11 inches of rain. >> water started coming through the front door, i knew it was getting bad. and once t

. >> and by bnsf railway. 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. >> brown: from north carolina to new england today, much of the east coast faced a weekend assault by hurricane irene. up to 65 million americans were in its path, and even though top winds dropped to 100 miles an hour, officials warned the storm could be one of the most damaging in decades. the warnings came from the very top, with president obama saying irene could be "a historic hurricane." >> i cannot stress this highly enough-- if you are in the projected path of this hurricane, you have to take precautions now. don't wait, don't delay. we all hope for best, but we have to be prepared for the worst. >> brown: images from space showed t

bnsf, the engine that connects us. chevron.an you think. >> and by the bill and melinda gates foundation. dedicated to the idea that all people deserve the chance to live a healthy, productive life. and with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. and... this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by macneil/lehrer productions captioned by media access group at wgbh access.w

bnsf, the engine that connects us. and by the alfred p. sloan foundation.ing science, technology, and improved economic performance and financial literacy in the 21st century. 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 >>> this is "bbc world news america." funding for this presentation is made possible by -- the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu, newman's own foundation, and union bank. >> union bank has put its global expertise to work for a wide range of companies. what can we do for you? what can we do for you?

we may have more in common than you think. >> and by bnsf railway. >> and by the bill and melinda gates foundation. dedicated to the idea that all people deserve the chance to live a healthy productive life. and with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. and... this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by macneil/lehrer productions captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org >> this is "bbc world news america." funding for this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu. newman's own foundation. and union bank. ♪ ♪

. >> reporter: we've been watching teams with bnsf going up and down these tracks. i just checked with the fire chief in the last 90 minutes, he says there is still no official cause. but investigators are looking into how that freight train may have been involved. eric rasmussen, ktvu news. >>> we have an update on a football player involved in an on the field incident. ktvu learned he has awakened from a coma. the áf he -- he can whisper to his family and can tell his family what is going on. another player deliberately hit mcgovern on the head. >>> an uncle and his nephew spent this morning dangling part way up a seven story condominium in mission bay. firefighters pulled one of the man to the roof, the other through a window. >>> pride festival took over city hall tonight. councilwoman rebecca capland says oakland has the most diverse lesbian and gay community. >> our pride festival which will be on september 4th is both to celebrate the community and to showcase it. to invite more people to be involved. >> reporter: oakland deliberately scheduled this pride eve

. >> reporter: we've been watching teams with bnsf going up and down these tracks. i just checked with the fire chief in the last 90 minutes, he says there is still no official cause. but investigators are looking into how that freight train may have been involved. eric rasmussen, ktvu news. >>> we have an update on a football player involved in an on the field incident. ktvu learned he has awakened from a coma. the áf he -- he can whisper to his family and can tell his family what is going on. another player deliberately hit mcgovern on the head. >>> an uncle and his nephew spent this morning dangling part way up a seven story condominium in mission bay. firefighters pulled one of the man to the roof, the other through a window. >>> pride festival took over city hall tonight. councilwoman rebecca capland says oakland has the most diverse lesbian and gay community. >> our pride festival which will be on september 4th is both to celebrate the community and to showcase it. to invite more people to be involved. >> reporter: oakland deliberately scheduled this pride eve

bnsf, the engine that connects us. >> and by the bill and melinda gates foundation.icated to the idea that all people deserve the chance to live a healthy productive life. and with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. and... this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> ifill: a whirlwind few days in iowa has launched campaign 2012 into high gear for now. the republican field has effectively split into two tiers with three candidates emerging as the top contenders to challenge president obama. iowa's ames straw poll weekend came complete with all the normal trappings of a full-blown red white and blue campaign-- country music, corn-on-the-cob and plenty of games for the kids. as michele bachmann, the iowa- born congresswoman from minnesota, claimed the first big victory of her seven-week-old campaign. >> if we stick together in this huge movement: fiscal conservatives, national security conservatives, social conservatives and the tea party

bnsf, the engine that connects us. >> well, the best companies are driven by new ideas. >> our futurenew ideas. we spend billions on advanced technologies. >> it's all about investing in the future. >> we can find new energy-- more cleaner, safer and smarter. >> collaborating with the best in the field. >> chevron works with the smartest people at leading universities and tech companies. >> and yet, it's really basic. >> it's paying off every day. and by the alfred p. sloan foundation. supporting science, technology, and improved economic performance and financial literacy in the 21st century. 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. >> brown: financial concerns, especially the state of the u.s. economy, dominated vice president biden's talks with chinese leaders today in beijing. as they met, sell-offs spread from stock markets in asia around the world, all the way back again to wall street. u.s. stocks