. >> woodruff: plus, mark shields and david brooks analyze the week's news. that's all ahead on tonight's newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided 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.c thank you. >> suarez: the jobs numbers for february offered new signs of hope today that the recovery is gaining some traction. the president pointed to progress, while his opponents said it's still not nearly good enough. the u.s. economy has now turned in three of its strongest months of job growth since the recession began. president obama marked the improvement today in petersburg, virginia, at a rolls royce aircraft engine plant. >> the economy is getting stronger. and when i come to places like this and i see the work that's b

joining me, michele morris, haley barbour, president of the naacp, ben jealous and david brooks fromew york times as well as doris kearns goodwin. we're up next after this brief commercial. man: okay, no problem. it's easy to get started; i can help you with the paperwork. um...this green line just appeared on my floor. yeah, that's fidelity helping you reach your financial goals. could you hold on a second? it's your money. roll over your old 401(k) into a fidelity ira and take control of your personal economy. this is going to be helpful. call or come in today. fidelity investments. turn here. but my nose is still runny. [ male announcer ] truth is, dayquil doesn't treat that. really? [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus fights your worst cold symptoms, plus it relieves your runny nose. [ deep breath ] awesome. [ male announcer ] yes, it is. that's the cold truth! i have twins, 21 years old. each kid has their own path. they grow up, and they're out having their life. i really started to talk to them about the things that are important that they have to take ownership over. my name

syndicated columnist mark shields and new york times columnist david brooks.e regulars on the newshour, and they come from different sides of the aisle. but they treat each other with respect. especially in what has been a very contentious race for president, it's a relief to hear 2 people sit down as adults discussing the merits and pitfalls of one side or the other and what it might mean for the election. even in politics, we believe public television is the place for civic dialogue and balanced news coverage. what do you think? >> like you, this public television station tries to focus on what's important. and, for us, it's making sure that our community is provided with the very best of what this powerful medium of television has to offer-- programs that bring the community together, programs that entertain and educate, programs that bring the world right into your living room and provide you with the tools to make positive changes in your life. if this station is something that you are grateful for, please do your part to help make sure it continues. it's

. >> suarez: and mark shields and david brooks analyze the week's news. >> brown: that's all ahead on tonight's newshour. major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: bnsf railway. >> 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. >> suarez: tornadoes raked the midwest and south today for the second time this week. at least three people were killed in indiana, and towns in four states were hit hard. throughout the day, sightings of funnel clouds, like this one in alabama, kept coming. one of the worst hit late this afternoon in southern indiana. a sheriff reported the town of marysville, home to 1,900 people, was "completely gone." other storms also caused damage north of louisville, kentucky; near chattanooga, tennessee; and just outside huntsvi

david brooks is actually one of the columnist that is the president reads religiously and believes davids the the center of the republican party. he says i think the obama administration made an error in cost control elements in the health care system. there's no way the government can adapt quickly to failure. there's no way planners can know how many employers drop coverage, how many doctors refuse to see patients, how to write up rules for state insurance exchanges. how many people will or won't enter high risk pools, cuts in the executive branch. how doctors will evade cost cuts. how spending is best controlled and of course that is michael steele, what conservatives worry about when you have these big centralized plans or schemes, depending on your world view. the law of unintended consequences. >> joe, this government can't even pass a budget, how are they going to make these decisions. they can't organize themselves to be honest with the american people to lay out a financial strategy to get out of a mess. how do they deal with the new messes they are creating? they can't. this is

-- syndicated columnist mark shields and "new york times" columnist david brooks. welcome gentlemen on this friday. so this week, three days of hearings before the supreme court on the president's health care reform law. david, what did you make of it all? >> well, i'm not a constitutional lawyer, but it certainly sent shockwaves through washington. people have been over-confident. i think the views of the conservatis have been underreported for monthand months, and their views slighted. and it turns out there are serious concerns. i don't pretend to pass judgment, but it strikes me as a valid constitutional issue. the mandate compels people to enter into a contract with an insurance company, which is not really in their best interest, in order to subs disguise other people who are forced to enter into that contract. that strikes me as a step forward in executive or governmental power, so it strikes me as a perfectly thing to do. i can see where morally we are all responsible for each other's health we're not going to let somebody die on the street. but constituti

. >> woodruff: we have the weekly analysis of mark shields and david brooks. >> brown: and we close with "the hunger games" phenomenon-- first, the books; now, the movie. >> woodruff: that's all ahead on tonight's newshour. major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided 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: army staff sergeant robert bales was formally charged with premeditated murder and other counts today in a shooting rampage outside kandahar, afghanistan. if convicted, bales would face a minimum of life in prison, and possibly the death penalty. in addition to the 17 counts of murder, robert bales stands charged with six counts of attempted murder and six counts of aggravated assault. initial reports said 16 afghan civilians were killed,

joining me "new york times" columnist david brooks, presidential historian doris kearns goodwin, nxzprksz rrksz 's initial norris, haily bar boar and the president of the naacp, ben jealous. welcome to all of you. this trayvon martin story is so painful for so many people and the president talked about it, as we say, in such personal terms. this is a portion of what he said on friday. >> i think all of us have to do some soul searching to figure out how does something like this happen? that means we examine the laws and the context for what happened. as well as the specifics of the instance. >> ben jealous, what does it mean that the president lent his voice to this in the way that he did? >> look, he spoke to the specific pain felt by the family when you look at the whole remarks. universal felt by the human family but he also, i think, put out a call for us to really look at how this happens in our country. the reality is that for too many years in too many places in too many cases, it's been the case that we've given permission to target and even kill black men. i held hearings th

david brooks, mark shields. thank you. >> we'll be back shortly with a convision of a former >> brown: we'll be back shortly with the conviction of a former rutgers student on hate crime charges. but first, this is pledge week on pbs. this break allows your public >> woodruff: finally tonight, a closer look at the verdict in the case of a former rutgers university student and the roommate he spied on. ray suarez has our story. >> suarez: the jury found dharun ravi guilty on 15 counts of bias intimidation, invasion of privacy, and tampering with evidence, among others. the 20-year-old was not charged with tyler clementi's death. but ravi's actions, including the spying on his roommate with a web cam, came three days before clementi took his own life. no direct connection was alleged, but the se became a fsh point foriscussions about bullying, intimidation, and attitudes towards gay men and women. kate zernike has been covering the case for "the new york times," and has been at the courthouse in new brunswick toda

david brooks, mark shields. thank you. >> we'll be back shortly with a convision of a former >> brown: we'll be back shortly with the conviction of a former rutgers student on hate crime charges. but first, this is pledge week on pbs. this break allows your public television station to ask for your support, and that support helps keep programs like ours on the air. >> woodruff: for those stations >> woodruff: for those stations not taking a pledge break, we take a second look at a colorado program that teaches children about the realities of spending and financial discipline. newshour correspondent tom bearden has the story. >> reporter: a carefree winter day on a preschool playground in a denver suburb, three- to five- year-old children who are many years away from the realities of adult life. or are they? >> i am going to buy a dog. >> reporter: these kids are learning about money-- drawing coins and dollar bills, simulating buying things from the classroom store, acting as cashiers to make those sales. in 200

just as today, president obama will bring in david brooks conservative columnist or franc rich, liberal columnist and try to spin them. he did the same thing. ralph waldo emerson comes into the white house and lincoln talks to him. >> superficially and in many ways is a heroic celebration of the midnight ride of paul revere and revolutionary war. the context was longfellow, he was a timid guy and weary of engaging in politics but was a very good friend with paul sumner who was an outspoken abolitionists. from 1850s through the '60s, longfellow was more and more taken up with abolitionist and the institution of slavery so he sort of infused with this fashion i have to do something about it. he had several years earlier written poetry about slavery. midnight ride of paul revere is to warn of the red coats coming. the passion is infuses is about ending slavery and the cause of the union. so, if you read it through and actual actually -- jill lapore goes through, there are many references through the poem, you know, they go back past a cemete cemetery, paul revere does on his ride, a cemete

david brooks wrote in the new york times monday or tuesday first drove out the moderates then the compassionate conservatives, now the mainstream conservatives and only the most radical right wingers are left. the only way it's going to change is if they lose this november. if the right wing is such that they are successful with some degree in november, republicans are going to say that's their party forever. i think they won't be. >> i do, too. >> we make, you know, people are unhappy with some of the things that obama has done, although i think if you look at the record, by the way we saw a great chart today from the federal reserve board chaired by a republican appointee, ben bernanke. you see unemployment in 2006 and 2007 under bush, it got worse and worse and 2009, significant improvement. not yet where we want to be, but if you look at the hole we were in obama was getting blamed for what he inherited but the point is simply now the extreme right wing nature of the republican party shown by the house they can't even pass a highway bill, shown by this presidential scandal, they've discredi

david brooks and i like t.r. he likes the authentically conservative and patriotic t.r. and they're all there. >> or a fight to struggle for the soul of t.r. >> right. so i think that was a very important point. the answer is i don't know. i think you're question has an assumption that's correct which is he has not been consistent in the court se of this year. i think it's a course correction on his part. i think it's a right one to go in. it is consistent with who he has been as a person and politically over time. if you go back to both the '08 campaign and what he was before the '08 campaign, so i have a sense that this speech is part of a template he's going to stick with. that he believes and i think he's probably right about this and i think some of his opponents think he's right about this, that the bigger you make the election the more it is about a very large choice. the easier it is for him to argue that, yes, there are still problems with the economy that i haven't solved, that we are still trying to solve. but you can't just make this a referendum on what you

we'll see you online and again here tomorrow evening with mark shields and david brooks, among others ♪ moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects us. >> 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

i thought it was interesting what david brooks said on "meet the press."clip for you. >> in 2006, democrats were asked, is bush responsible for gas prices. 73% said yes. and they were asked, is obama responsible for this, 33% of them said, yes. >> can either side win this blame game and turn it into votes in november? do you believe that most americans believe that the president can do something to turn the tide or that newt gingrich can make $2.50 gas happen? >> reporter: george w. bush was not responsible for the level of gas price. he didn't control them. barack obama doesn't control them now. so i think the blame game is something that doesn't matter all that much to voters because they've heard it so often. they heard it from democrats when bush was president. republicans now -- however, if gas prices are high, if it hurts the economy, if it sours the public mood, if it makes them feel less well off, that hurts the incumbent, whichever party it is. since it's barack obama, that is not good news for him. he would like to see gas prices come down. and t

we'll see yoonline and again here tomorrow evening with mark shields and david brooks among others.ou and good night. major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: 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. captioning sponsored by macneil/lehrer productions captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org