once again, live from washington, moderator gwen ifill. gwen: good evening. first, to the good news. the oil well in the gulf is capped. for now. and after weeks of vote trading and nose counting, congress this week passed what the white house calls its wall street reform bill. republicans, most of whom voted against it, say it's a disaster. >> i think the financial reform bill is ill-conceived. i think it's going to make credit harder for the american people to get. clearly harder for businesses to get and the fact that it's going to punish every banker in america for the sins of a few on wall street i think is unwise. gwen:democrats, most of whom voted for it, predict it will tame wall street and turn the economy around. >> what members of both parties realize is that we can't allow a financial crisis like this one that we just kent -- went through to happen again. this reform will prevent that from happening. gwen:as often happens, both sides may be overstating the new law's impact or lack thereof. eamon? >> what's fascinating to me was the way there were

gwen: 80 years old. that's a lower blow than i think rangel thought he would be getting from the president that he supported. >> well, what everyone would like to see, as i said, is for this to go away. because coming back in september, if in fact they do have to have this trial in front of a subcommittee of the house ethics committee, this is going to drag on for weeks, possibly months, right into the election. and the good news for charlie rangel, if there is any this week, is that the subcommittee suggested that what they want to recommend is a reprimand. that is a relatively minor sanction compared to the other things that they could have done, including expulsion of the former chairman of the ways and means committee from the house. so i think the pressure is going to be there over the next few weeks for them to come to a resolution. gwen: what i don't get about this is if the committee -- the subcommittee was signaling a reprimand, which is a relatively mild sanction, why would the president go qui

. >> ifill: and i'm gwen ifill. on the newshour tonight, a majority of americans polled said they lacked faith in the president and in the way he's ndled the economy. we look at how the tide is turning and what that means for the midterm elections with newshour political editor, david chalian. >> lehrer: then, we flesh out public opinion with pbs correspondents in sacramento, california, rochester, new york, and hampton roads, virginia. >> ifill: spencer michels has the story of a california man who is fighting poverty in kenya by selling pumps to poor farmers. >> it won't break down. very lightweight. you can carry it to the field. the farmer doesn't have a screwdriver in rural africa. >> lehrer: margaret warner gets an update on cuba after the first of 52 freed political prisoners arrive in spain. >> ifill: and ray suarez has another report on haiti six months after the earthquake. >> suarez: in an interview with the newshour, haiti's president preval says his government is embarked on expensive reconstruction wor

gwen: two big items checked off the president's to do list. signing financial reform into law, and extending unemployment benefits. but it was a sloppy firing of an unknown government employee that forced the white house off message this week. i'm gloria borger sitting in for gwen ifill. tonight. on "washington week." >> we finally overcame the procedural blockade of a partisan minority in the senate to restore unemployment insurance to about 2.5 million americans who are out of work and looking for a job. >> he went out of his way to misrepresent the position of senate republicans. of course we ought to extend unemployment. but we ought to pay for it. >> the economic outlook remains unusually uncertain. gloria: so who should we believe and what's the best way to help those hit by the recession? the video clip that caused an uproar. followed by the firing and then the backpedaling. >> a disservice was done for which we apologize. >> i started off by extending to her my personal and profound apologies. >> the president expressed to ms. sherrod

. >> ifill: and i'm gwen ifill. on the "newshour" tonight, ray suarez reports from the state capitol in phoenix. and we explore the national fallout. >> lehrer: then judy woodruff takes an extended look at pakistan. she talks to pakistan's u.s. ambassador about the airliner crash that killed 152 people, and she examines u.s./pakistani relations after the leak of thousands of secret military documents. >> ifill: we ask environmental engineer nancy kinner to track what's happened to the oil in the water. 100 days after the gulf disaster. >> lehrer: and spencer michels tells the story of a one-man mission to help clean up the oil in louisiana. >> a private individual has taken it upon himself to try to protect the barrier islands in the gulf of mexico. >> lehrer: that's all ahead on tonight's "newshour." major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> this is the engine that zero emission technologies to breathing a little easier, while taking 4.6 million truckloads off the road every year. bnsf, the engine

. >> ifill: and i'm gwen ifill. on the newshour tonight, we get an assessment of the nation's economic outlook from treasury secretary timothy geithner. >> lehrer: we look at today's white house meeting between president obama and israeli prime minister netanyahu. >> ifill: betty anne bowser reports on a new program for the hard to insure. >> if you're one of those millions of americans who is uninsureable because of a pre-existing condition like heart disease or cancer, help may be on the way this summer. >> lehrer: margaret warner talks to global post reporter jean mckinsey about u.s. efforts to build up local security forces in afghanistan. >> ifill: and geoffrey brown talks to artist chuck close and his biographer christopher finch about art and overcoming adversity. >> i have a great deal of difficulty recognizing faces. especially if i happen to... if i've just met somebody, it's hopeless. >> brown: you are known for portrays of faces. >> i was driven to make them. i'm absolutely positive. >> lehrer: that's al

i'm gwen ifill. >> lehrer: and i'm jim lehrer. we'll see you online, 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, the record highs disrupted train travel and pushed electricity use toward record levels. we get the latest on the heat wave and on how people are coping. >> lehrer: then, judy woodruff reports on the philosophical war inside the republican party. >> ifill: paul solman interviews french finance minister christine lagarde about the european debt crisis and france's moves toward economic reform. >> we want as our first priority economies to develop value and to create jobs. and this is my constant obsession. how are we going to create jobs in europe. the first priority is a bit of >> lehrer: jeffrey brown gets a rare view from inside the failed state of somalia, from jeffrey gettleman of the "new york times." >> ifill: and spencer michels unveils the soon-to-be-published life story of a literary giant. >> mark twain decreed that his autobiography couldn't be published until 100 years after his death. that's this year. >> lehrer: that's all ahead on tonight's "n

now back to gwen. >> ifill: in uganda, terrorism turns celebration into tragedy. the names of some of the dead were tacked to a tree outside a hospital in the ugandan capital this morning. inside, survivors of the twin blasts flooded the wards. >> the hospital actually has been overloaded with patients. >> ifill: at least 74 people died in the bombings including one american aid worker. scores more were wounded. they had all gathered to watch and cheer the world cup final which was being played in johannesburg. but at that moment of african pride as the successful tournament was ending, the bombers struck. targeted an ethiopian restaurant and a rugby club. this man survived the club blast. >> i smelled the gun powder. boom, boom, boom. >> i don't know how i survived. >> ifill: american thomas kramer was at the restaurant. >> i have a big laceration in my leg. it's like deep. i have to get surgery for it again. our friend becky, she moved away from me. she didn't make it. >> ifill: today the somali based islamist terror group claimed responsibility for the attacks.

lots of different ways in which gwen address that issue. nothing sam can add disagree that you can produce nutritious food that is not tasty. >> i think about our reservation, and we have a number of them in south dakota, you have native americans making up 8% of our population. they are challenged in they have tribal trust land where it is difficult to set up a business because there is no ownership except through a trust. because of that there are a number of places in rural areas where you do not have a store, you do not have a business, and i am wondering if there may not be an opportunity somewhere in the middle of the financing programs you have that some of the rural areas might be served, even if on tribal trust lands. native americans have challenges. they have a huge poverty rate. they have an unemployment rate that goes up 85%. they also have an obesity problem and an issue with diabetes. a lot of that comes down to poor dietary opportunities in that they do not have the availability of a full-service, if you will, or a store tha

. >> ifill: and i'm gwen ifill. on the "newshour" tonight, this month's u.s. death toll stands at 33 so far on track to top last month's record of 60. we have the latest on the violence, the dangers and the difficulties on the frontlines. >> lehrer: then, we assess the risks and benefits of the diabetes drug, avandia. >> ifill: we have another report from haiti-- six months after the earthquake. tonight, ray suarez looks at the road ahead for the many amputees. >> thousands of haitians lost limbs in january's earthquake. international charities are bringing pros thesees, mobility and hope. >> lehrer: and margaret warner updates the charges against six new orleans police officers in the killing and cover-up of unarmed citizens after hurricane katrina. >> what appears to me is that the officers based upon the admitted statements immediately decided to not tell the truth. that's just disgusting. >> lehrer: that's all ahead on tonight's "newshour." major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: this is the engine that connects zero emission technologies