once again, live from washington, moderator gwen ifill. gwen: good evening. this has been a week of standoffs between the president and congress, in congress between the house and the senate, among the g.o.p. presidential candidates, and at the united nations. the president was first up with a proposal to tax the rich and use the money for stimulus spending and deficit reduction. >> we shouldn't balance the budget on the backs of the poor and the middle class. for us to solve this problem, everybody, including the wealthiest americans and biggest corporations, have to pay their fair share the gwen: the republican response was swift. >> i don't believe that class warfare is leadership, and, you know, we could get into this tax the rich, tax the rich, but that is not -- that's not the basis for america. and it's not going to get our economy going again and it's not going to put people back to work the gwen: putting people back to work, john.

i'm gwen ifill. >> brown: and i'm jeffrey brown. on the "newshour" tonight: ray suarez, in new york, reports on the president's address to the general assembly. and we assess the state of middle east diplomacy with zbigniew brzezinski and richard haas. >> ifill: then, judy woodruff has the story of two american hikers released from iran after being jailed as spies for two years. >> brown: from libya, james foley of "global post" updates the bloody battle for moammar qaddafi's home town of sirte. >> ifill: is america's wealth gap as wide as it seems? one economist tells paul solman... maybe not. >> a good part of wealth is embodied in the right to your social security flow of income and also to the guaranteed health insurance that you get. that's worth hundreds of thousands of dollars to a typical person. >> brown: and we launch a new series examining america's high school dropout crisis. tonight: actor denzel washington talks about making a difference in the lives of at-risk youth. >> it's one thing to sit around and talk about what

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live from our nation's capital, this is "washington week" with gwen ifill. corporate funding for "washington week" is provided by --. >> we know why we're here. to give our war fighters every advantage. >> to deliver technologies that anticipate the future today. >> and help protect america everywhere from the battle space to cyberspace. >> around the globe, the people of boeing are working together to give our best for america's best. >> that's why we're here. >> additional funding for "washington week" is provided by prudential financial, norfolk southern. nean annenberg, 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. this has been a week of standoffs between the president and congress, in congress between the house and the senate, among the g.o.p. presidential candidates, and at the united nations. the president was first up with a proposal to tax the rich and use the money for stimulus spending and deficit reduct

good evening, i'm gwen ifill. >> woodruff: and i'm judy woodruff. on the "newshour" tonight, we look at the atmosphere and reaction in washington and preview tonight's g.o.p. presidential debate with political editor david chalian. >> ifill: then, ray suarez updates the battle to contain the texas wildfires that have taken four lives and destroyed more than 1,000 homes. >> woodruff: our coverage of the tenth anniversary of 9-11 continues with a report from n.p.r.'s daniel zwerdling about an effort to spot terrorists in an unlikely place, one of the nation's biggest shopping centers. >> i think our name, first of all, mall of america, is attractive to people that want to hurt america. unfortunately the world has changed, and we're doing the best we can to keep this building safe. >> ifill: and we ask white house counter terrorism chief john brennan about balancing national security and civil liberty in a post-9/11 world. >> we need do our job the best that we can, but we have to make sure we recognize the limits of the law and also that american citiz

once again, live from washington, moderator, gwen ifill. gwen: good evening. there were a lot of gauntlets thrown down this week. one thrower was president obama who pitched a jobs bill to congress last night and went on the road to richmond, virginia, to sell it today. >> i was glad to hear some republicans, including your congressman, say they see room for us to work together. they said that they're open to some of the proposals to create american jobs. look, i -- i know that folks sometimes think, you know, maybe i used up the benefit of the doubt, but i'm an eternal optimist. i'm an optimistic person. gwen: it's no accident that he was in richmond. that's house majority leader eric cantor's home district. this was his response to the president's pleadings. >> i've already said there are plenty of areas that i think have room for agreement but i object to the all-or-nothing message that the president is delivering. that's not how anybody operates. no two people usually agree on anything 100%. gwen: and on the campaign trail, another challenge. this one to s

live from our nation's capital, this is "washington week with gwen ifill." produced in association with "national journal." corporate funding for "washington week" is provided by -- >> this rock has never stood still. since 1875, we've been there for our clients through good times and bad. when their needs changed, we were there to meet them. through the years, from insurance to investment management, from real estate to retirement solutions, we've developed new ideas for the financial challenges ahead. this rock has never stood still. and that's one thing that will never change. prudential. >> corporate funding is also provided by boeing. at&t. rethink possible. additional funding for "washington week" is provided by 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. a lot of things got thrown into sharper focus this week as the president upped the ante on the pitch to sell his jobs plan. and a

i'm gwen ifill. >> woodruff: and i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight, we explore one piece of the plan, new funding for infrastructure programs like repairing crumbling bridges, roads, and schools. >> ifill: then we look at new fallout in the financial world, as bank of america announces plans to cut 30,000 jobs, and markets slump in europe over the deepening debt crisis. >> woodruff: jeffrey brown gets an update from margaret warner in egypt about anti-israel demonstrations and simmering unrest in cairo's streets. >> warner: what we pickd up from egyptians we talked to here is is just incredible frustration. a feeling of impotence as opposed to the empowerment we felt when we were here in february. >> ifill: ray suarez examines some early promise for treating alzheimer's disease with an insulin nasal spray. >> woodruff: and we have the story of russian circus performers, whose extraordinary talents could be the ticket to permanent residency in the united states. >> for the russians who do manage to stay in las vegas, life is abo

once again, moderator gwen ifill. gwen: good evening. more bad news on the jobs front today. sent the stock market into a tizzy and guaranteed that the president will spend his labor day weekend working. no job growth, a flat unemployment rate, and a sharp increase in unemployment among african-americans as 16.7%, now the highest since 1984. unimpressive new numbers as the president prepares to present his jobs plan to a joint session of congress next week. republican candidate mitt romney weighed in today while campaigning in florida. >> i watch washington right now and it breaks my heart. because the people there don't understand how america works. obama is not working. and he has disappointed the american people and this morning, very bad news. did you see numbers that came out on job growth? look, there is zero faith in barack obama because he's created zero jobs last month. gwen: this economic undertoe is affecting everything this week, igniting new recession worries and raising as you just saw political questions for republicans and democrats alike. what are we to read

i'm gwen ifill. >> woodruff: and i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight, we look at the substance and the politics that undergirds the $3 trillion reduction plan. >> ifill: then, we talk to world bank president robert zoellick about the financial turmoil in europe that threatens to engulf the u.s. and developing countries around the world. >> woodruff: plus, ray suarez looks at the deadly government crackdown on protesters in yemen. >> ifill: science correspondent miles o'brien reports on the return of a once-endangered species, now caught in the cross-hairs of cattle ranchers. >> six teen after gray wolves were reintroduceded to yellowstone park, they'll be hunting them this fall in idaho and montana. ranchers say it's high time. environmentalists say it's a full-scale assault on the endangered species act. >> woodruff: and hari sreenivasan explores the impact of big money in college athletics with historian taylor branch. that's all ahead on tonight's newshour. major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> oil compan

i'm gwen ifill. >> woodruff: and i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight: we get the latest on the deadliest food outbreak in more than a decade from thomas frieden of the centers for disease control. >> ifill: then, margaret warner gets an update from libya on rebel efforts to consolidate control over the country. >> woodruff: we have another of paul solman's reports on economic inequality in the united states. tonight: the connection between wealth and health. >> societies with big income differences between rich and poor do worse on a whole range of measures. they have worse health, they have more violence, they have more drug problems. >> ifill: will he or won't he? political editor david chalian assesses whether new jersey governor chris christie is planning to run for president. >> woodruff: ray suarez examines the politics and the economics of social security. >> ifill: and jeffrey brown talks to writer russell banks, whose new novel explores a dark underside of contemporary urban life. major funding for the pbs newshour has b

. >> ifill: and i'm gwen ifill. on the newshour tonight, margaret warner gets the latest on the assassination from patrick quinn of the associated press in kabul. >> woodruff: then we look at shifting arguments for and against the death penalty, as a parole board in georgia rejects clemency for a man slated to be executed tomorrow. >> ifill: we talk to two now openly gay members of the military on the day the pentagon officially ends "don't ask, don't tell." >> woodruff: spencer michels tells the story of an opera that recounts the life and death of a man who saved others in vietnam and again at ground zero. >> he had no choice. duty came before anything else. duty to one's fellow man takes precedence over all other values. >> ifill: and hari sreenivasan has a follow-up to yesterday's conversation about big money in college athletics, this time with n.c.a.a. historian joseph crowley. >> woodruff: that's all ahead on tonight's newshour. major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: somebody has got to get

gwen ifill explains. >> ifill: u.s.presidential campaigns always produce a winner. 43 men have served, one of them twice, as the nation's commander in chief. history books pay less attention to the losers, even though many had an out-sized impact on the election and on the national debate. a number of them turned out to be ahead of their times. beginning september 9, a new c-span series titled "the contenders" they ran and lost but changed political history, will examine 14 of the losers who turned out to be influential, even in defeat. richard norton smith, scholar and resident at george mason university, is an adviser to the series, and carl cannon is washington editor for the political web site realclearpolitics.com. isn't the point to win? why do we care about the losers? >> well, has famously been said, the winners write the history books, and there's a lot of truth to that. turns out winning and losing are relative terms. of these 14 people, there are a number-- and we could debate who, who went on, perhaps, ultim

good evening, i'm gwen ifill. >> brown: and i'm jeffrey brown. on the "newshour" tonight, we update the rescue, the recovery and the clean up after hurricane irene. >> ifill: then, ray suarez examines the obama administration's move to block the merger of two wireless giants at&t and t-mobile with cecilia kang of the "washington post." >> brown: we have a report from tripoli, where libyans are marking the end of ramadan and celebrating the first holiday in decades without moammar qaddafi in power. >> ( translated ): this is the first time in my life i feel that i am free and i pray free without any restrictions from qaddafi's regime. >> ifill: from texas, we get the latest on the scorching temperatures, raging wildfires and the worst drought on record from wade goodwyn of npr. >> brown: we look at who's behind the spike in the illegal marijuana trade in california in a story produced by the center for investigative reporting. >> we're at a fork in the road. if we don't make an aggressive push now to take back public lands, we may be at a point of

. >> ifill: and i'm gwen ifill. on the newshour tonight, we ask postmaster general patrick donahoe and the head of the letter carriers union, frederic rolando, what can be done to stave off a shutdown. >> brown: then, markets continue to fall, and we look at the vulnerability of banks here and in europe. >> ifill: judy woodruff gets an update on the 2012 campaign from ari shapiro of npr, as g.o.p. hopeful mitt romney offers a plan for job growth, and as president obama's approval ratings continue to sink. >> brown: as part of our coverage of the tenth anniversary of the terrorist attacks, miles o'brien examines what's changed in the design and construction of tall buildings. >> ten years after 9/11, a new sky scraper is rising on the site of ground zero. how much have we learned about building sky scrapers to make them safer? >> ifill: and ray suarez explores the latest storm over wikileaks' secrets. >> brown: that's all ahead on tonight's newshour. major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> okay, l