gwen: thank you. well, every republican running for office is trying to sell him or herself as the best alternative to president obama. add to that list this week a candidate who until recently actually worked for president obama. >> for the first time in history, we are passing down to the next generation a country that is less powerful, less compassionate, less competitive, and less confident than the one we got. this, ladies and gentlemen, is totally unacceptable and it is totally un-american. gwen: that was jon huntsman who is attempting to stake out new ground. not least of which on afghanistan. as we've been talking about. what's he doing with that? >> on afghanistan, he is in many ways to the left of president obama. calling for a drawdown that's much faster and a smaller footprint there. he has tossed out numbers of 15,000 troops and has really focused on this whome idea of having -- this whole idea of having a counterterrorism rather than a counterinsurgency. and he's also linking this effort

once again, live from washington, moderator gwen ifill. gwen: good evening. the most overused word in the last 24 hours? implosion. former house speaker newt gingrich, who is running for president in perhaps the most unorthodox way possible, was cut loose by his own senior staff this week. yet he vows to soldier on. >> the american people have to make a very big decision in 2012. do they want really dramatic deep change? change in both parties, change that leads us back to a balanced budget, change that takes power out of washington and sends it back home, change that creates jobs? change that creates an american energy industry? or do they want politics as usual. that's why i'm running. gwen: it is interesting to hear newt gingrich running on change. is he running to win the presidency or to be heard? >> the only option that may be left to him is to run to be heard because his chances of winning are significantly diminished. he got dramatic change this week when a dozen of his advisers bolted, gone. when you talk to politicians, they say the most important t

once again, live from washington, moderator gwen ifill. gwen: good evening. the 2012 presidential campaign finally began to look like one this week, complete with web videos, minor gaffes and full-fledged candidates debate. it ended pretty much the way it began with mitt romney looking like the man to beat but it also became clear he has even more reasons to look over his shoulder. so where does romney the frontrunner, dan, stand tonight? >> as you say, gwen, there's no more talk about a slow starting republican race for the nomination. gwen: mostly because we've been talking about it like -- >> we've talked about it for so long. but it happening. it's real. and informs a week that proved -- and this was a week that proved it. if you're mitt romney or romney's advisors you get to the end of this week feeling pretty good. he had a good debate in large part because his rivals didn't go after him. he had some awkward moments after the debate in the couple of days afterward, a couple of things he said including i'm unemployed to a group of people. gwen: it was a

gwen: hard news to spin. slower than expected job growth as unemployment creeps up. >> we've wasted $2 trillion and what have we gotten for it? gwen: is this issue going to decide the 2012 election? >> i'm mitt romney. i believe in america, and i'm running for president of the united states. gwen: or do republicans have to sort out their primary challengers first? >> the field isn't set yet. gwen: or might it all depend on whether congress and the white house can agree to reduce debt? >> the question is where's the in the >> we simply disagree. gwen: we sort through what matters with the reporters covering the week, deborah solomon of "the wall street journal," jeff zeleny of "the new york times" and john harwood of cnbc and "new york times." >> award-winning reporting and analysis, covering history as it happens. live from our nation's capital, this is "washington week" with gwen ifill, produced in association with "national journal." corporate funding is provided by -- >> we know why we're here. to give our

and gwen would probably say the same thing. the interesting thing about this for both of us, we ended up having the most interesting conversation about race because we wrote these books. both of us had the good fortune of embarking on fairly large bookstores and we're fortunate and not everybody had the opportunity to do and as we traveled we found that people would read our books and read our stories and come forward and tell us their stories and come forward with their own questions and as a result of that, we wound up having a very intense and very intimate and very personal and always interesting conversations about race. and the title of this panel discussion is, does race still matter? i think we could probably have a very quick discussion and just say yes. [laughter] >> you know, and then move on because it's been my experience in talking to people about my book. i set out to write a very different book than the one i wrote. i was planning to write a book that i thought in some ways would sort of be a complement that gwe

. >> ifill: and i'm gwen ifill. on the newshour tonight, david chalian walks us through the politics behind the posturing on spending cuts and raising the debt limit. >> lehrer: then, judy woodruff explores computer hacking and the impact cyber attacks have on government, business, individuals, and even the newshour. >> ifill: tom bearden reports on the scientific push to identify possible tornadoes sooner, get out warnings earlier. 6-top beardsley reports on the scientific push to identify possible tornados sooner and get out warnings earlier. >> lehrer: we look at the media spotlight on sarah palin's bus tour. >> ifill: and, jeffrey brown talks to trumpet player and band leader wynton marsalis about passing his love of jazz on to the next generation. >> lehrer: that's all ahead on tonight's newshour. major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> okay, listen. somebody has got to get serious. >> i think... >> we need renewable energy. >> ...renewable energy is vital to our planet. >> you hear about al

>> sreenivasan: thanks, gwen. on the site tonight, david, judy, and gwen discuss what the recent polls could mean for president obama on our weekly edition of the political checklist. ray suarez has an essay on the progress made against h.i.v. over the past 30 years and the challenges ahead. paul solman has a behind-the- scenes blog post on what it's like to interview grover from "sesame street." all that and more is on our web site, newshour.pbs.org. gwen? >> ifill: and that's the newshour for tonight. on wednesday, we'll look at why four billion internet addresses are not enough, and what's being done to create more. i'm gwen ifill. >> woodruff: and i'm judy woodruff. 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: >> chevron. 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

i'm gwen ifill. >> brown: and i'm jeffrey brown. on the newshour tonight, marcia coyle walks us through the decisions, and we assess the wal-mart class-action ruling, in sex discrimination case that could have wide implications for american workers and companies. >> ifill: then, as the u.s. steps up contact with the taliban, margaret warner solicits views from three influential afghan women. >> brown: special correspondent john tulenko visits a high school classroom in new york, where turmoil in the middle east offers a "teaching moment" for a lesson about refugees. >> i think it's very important to expose them to what's happening in the rest of the world. they don't understand that it's important to care about people. it's even important to care about people that you don't know. >> ifill: we explore why children's food allergies are now more common and more severe. >> ifill: and we close with a musical memory of the "big man," e street band saxophonist clarence clemons. >> ifill: that's all ahead on tonight's newshour. major fundin

i'm gwen ifill. >> woodruff: and i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight, marcia coyle walks us through the video game ruling and a decision on a campaign finance law in arizona. >> ifill: then, hari sreenivasan has the latest on the conviction of ousted illinois governor rod blagojevich for trying to trade or sell the senate seat once held by president obama. >> woodruff: we update the growing field of republican presidential candidates as minnesota congresswoman michele bachmann kicks off her campaign. >> ifill: special correspondent fred de sam lazaro has a good news story about a west african nation that's enjoyed two decades of thriving democracy. >> reporter: in a region that's seen bloody political violence ghana has enjoyed stability, economic growth and freedom. >> woodruff: jeffrey brown looks at what's next for gay marriage, three days after new york state made it legal. >> ifill: that's all ahead on tonight's newshour. major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> oil companies have changed my country. >> o

. >> ifill: and i'm gwen ifill on the "newshour" tonight. margaret warner previews the president's speech from the white house and we get analysis from ruth marcus and bill kristol. >> woodruff: then, we examine the obama administration's record on climate change as former vice president al gore criticizes the president's failure to take bold action on global warming. >> ifill: from rhode island, paul solman reports on the risk to retirees and taxpayers alike when billions of dollars from state pension funds are tied up in the stock market. >> we'd be asking people, do you want to pay higher taxes in order to avoid taking the risk in the stock market? i think most people would say no to that. >> woodruff: and we continue our collaboration with "the economist" magazine to highlight the art of filmmaking. tonight, jeffrey brown talks to "my perestroika" director robin hessman about children growing up as the soviet union fell apart. >> for every individual, it was a complicated process and still is today. there are many conflicting feelings on

thanks you gwen. >>> almost 600 married couples said i do all over again at the basilica. it was part of the mass celebrated by donald wuerl. all of the couple there's have been married at least 25 years. in fact 387 of the couples have been married for 50 years or more. and while everyone has their own sec receipt to success. >> love never fails. we may often fail, love stands firm when everything else is shaky. >> after the mass today the couples received personalized certificates celebrating their long marriages. congratulations to them all. >>> rafael nadal and roger federer continue their heated rivalry in paris. >>> and for one golfer, how low can you go? lindsey murphy is up next in sports.  >>> there is a first time for everything, even if you have to wait a while. steve we croft has not would be on the nationwide or pga tour and had never held the lead after any single round. the last four days he's led the prince george's open and dominated. we crossed entering the day eight shots ahead of the pack at 22 under parr. what would he do in the

first, let's get a quick look at the weather with gwen tolbert. we have a scorcher. >> oh, boy, do we. it will be a very, very hot one. 74 at national. 64 at gaithersburg. frederick at 66 and 69 at baltimore. preddy good example of where we're headed when it is warm already at this hour. nothing happening in the skies. a ridge of high pressure settled in over the mid- atlantic. that is keeping our skies fairly clear. we are going to be holding preddy steady into the course of the day. heat advisory at 12:00 noon until 8:00 tonight. >> thank you. >>> checking our top stories, in the district, council chair kwame brown says he will announce a plan of action concerning councilman harry thomas. thomas is accused of spending hundreds of thousands of city dollars. he has denied it and says he won't resign. thomas could also face criminal charges. >>> now to the photo scandal of congressman anthony weiner. a house ethics investigation has been requested by house democratic leader nancy pelosi. this comes as more details are made public. as will thomas re

. >>> gwen has an updated forecast when the news edge continues. stay with us.     >>> not a bad day today. some of you got a little bit of wet weather. we're starting out with plenty of sunshine for you. we'll have bright skies. humidity on the rise, and as well, we have a heat wave that will be returning. you'll have to prepare for that. late week we could see a little bit of unsettled weather. today wasn't all bad. temperatures into the low 80s for ow highs. now it's 73 degrees at national. 68 at gaithersburg. 69 in baltimore this hour. 69degrees at martinsburg. little mild outside. the heat to the south is about talking, because all of this will push up the mid-atlantic. mid-week, under the influence of a bermuda high, and that will push our temperatures well above seasonal. heading for the 90s. tonight, a ridge of high pressure building in, keeping our skies clear into tomorrow. odd shower or two that's kicked up to the south and more activity to the north of us. we've got this ridge of high pressure that will slide across an

. >> ifill: and i'm gwen ifill. on the newshour tonight, we preview the president's options ahead of his prime-time address tomorrow on the troop drawdown. >> brown: then, political editor david chalian updates the expanding 2012 republican presidential field, as former ambassador to china jon huntsman jumps in. >> ifill: margaret warner talks to food and drug administration commissioner margaret hamburg about a new campaign to get people to stop smoking by putting graphic warning labels on cigarette packages. >> brown: from cambodia, we have a report on teaching young people about their country's violent past, even as a new round of genocide trials is set to begin. >> many here who lost family members and many others whose parents were in the regime. learning about had history isn't just a school lesson, it's the story of who they are. >> ifill: and judy woodruff explores investment bank j.p. morgan's multimillion-dollar settlement over fraud charges related to the mortgage meltdown. >> brown: that's all ahead on t

. >> ifill: i'm gwen ifill. n the newshour tonight, we have the latest on the border situation and on the government's counteroffensive. >> woodruff: then, david chalian walks us through the highlights of last night's debate among republican presidential hopefuls. >> ifill: we explain new effectiveness guidelines for sunscreen products. >> woodruff: spencer michels reports on the booming business of one of the biggest social media companies on the internet. twitter is growing incredibly fast but that doesn't mean its future is assured. >> ifill: ray suarez talks to puerto rico's governor luis fortuno as president obama makes a rare visit to the commonwealth. >> we've been trying to make sure that every family on the island can find work and make a living and provide for their children. >> woodruff: and jeffrey brown details the ups and downs of spiderman's official broadway debut. that's all ahead on tonight's newshour. major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> okay, listen. somebody has got to

. >> ifill: and i'm gwen ifill. on the newshour tonight, we have a report from athens, where protesters clashed with police. >> woodruff: we assess the new pick to head the international monetary fund, christine lagarde of france. >> ifill: science correspondent miles o'brien reports on high- tech artificial body parts that perform almost like real ones. >> what did you do? >> i thought about lifting my arm up just like you would think about raising your arm or lowering your arm. >> it's that natural. >> it's that natural. >> woodruff: from gender discrimination to military funerals to climate change, we look back at this year's consequential supreme court term, with analysis from marcia coyle and tom goldstein. >> ifill: and margaret warner talks with the u.s. special envoy for sudan on the mounting violence there, as the nation prepares to split in two. >> out of fighting more than 70,000 people have been displaced. we're very concerned about getting humanitarian aid into those areas. >> woodruff: that's all ahead

i'm gwen ifill. >> woodruff: and i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight, we look at what's driving down sticker prices. >> ifill: then, we have our own congressional debate over a vote to increase the nation's debt limit. >> woodruff: jeffrey brown talks to neurosurgeon keith black about a possible link between cell phones and brain cancer. >> ifill: spencer michels reports on a california family's remarkable art collection, featuring early works from picasso, matisse and the parisian avant-garde. >> woodruff: and margaret warner explores why yemen's president ali abdullah saleh remains in power amid growing violence and calls to step down. >> ifill: that's all ahead on tonight's newshour. major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> okay, listen. somebody has got to get serious. >> i think... >> we need renewable energy. >> ...renewable energy is vital to our planet. >> you hear about alternatives, right? wind, solar, algae. >> i think it's got to work on a big scale. and i think it's got to be affordable. >> so, wh