we have an hour and 15 minutes left in our program, and kwame in duluth, georgia, you have been veryplease go ahead with your question or comment for randall robinson. >> caller: thank you so much, randall robinson and peter slen. bear with me, i have three questions for mr. robinson. i've been a follower of your work with transafrica, and i really want to thank you for your struggle and all the things that you have done for black people all over the world. >> guest: thank you, kwame. >> caller: all right. now, um, with my question, the first of my questions, my three questions is, question number one, what are your thoughts about imperialism as a philosophy? your work for human rights, for black people in america and all over the world highlights me egregious -- many egregious violations of human rights by the american empire. is this any different from how the roman empire or any other empire in history has mistreated peoples? >> host: kwame, if you could, very quickly your second and third questions, we'll try to get to all three. >> caller: okay, the second question. what are you

next fed chairman, let me ask you about today's statement from the fed, about the economy, the story kwame report aid few minute ago. how did you read that? >> i read it as the fed was going out of its way to say nothing. they crafted a statement that reflected some developments in the economy but they sent no new signal about their plans for winding down bond buying or changing interest rates. it was a no-news event. >> woodruff: let's talk about the position of being the chairman of the federal reserve. how important a job is this, not

kwame holman tells us what they're doing in this historic washington, d.c., cemetery. >> woodruff: that's all ahead on tonight's "newshour." >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> support also comes from carnegie corporation of new york, a foundation created to do what andrew carnegie called "real and permanent good." celebrating 100 years of philanthropy at carnegie.org. >> 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: president obama pledged new oversight of government surveillance programs today, but said the spying would continue. his comments came in the first full-scale news conference since april, lasting nearly an hour in the east room of the white house. >> it's not enough for me, as president, to have confidence in these programs. the american people need to have confidence in them as well. >> woodruff: the president followed those remarks by outlining four steps

here's kwame holman. >> holman: the federal reserve downgraded its assessment of the economy today. the central bank reported only modest growth-- slightly worse than the moderate reading it gave in june. that suggested there's no early end in sight to the fed's economic stimulus efforts. the reaction on wall street was mixed. the dow jones industrial average lost 21 points to close at 15,499. the nasdaq rose nearly ten points to close at 3,626. the u.s. house has given final approval to a student loan deal, just in time for the fall semester. the bipartisan agreement already passed the senate. it will tie interest rates to the performance of the financial markets. that means undergraduates who take out their own loans will pay 3.9% this fall. the interest rates would rise over time as the economy improves. president obama paid a rare call on congress today. he talked up his economic ideas to fellow democrats and tried to calm concerns about his health care law. >> hello, everybody! >> holman: the president arrived first on the house side of the capitol, and later after a closed-doo

kwame holman narrates this report. >> we're almost to the big tree. >> holman: even as wildfires raged miles away on the other end of yosemite, a steady stream of visitors this week hiked up a scenic trail to see one of the parks biggest attractions-- the giant sequoias. these massive trees, which are unique to california's sierra nevada mountains, are among the oldest living organisms on earth. the grandest in yosemite's mariposa grove is the so-called grizzly giant, estimated to be 1,800 years old and it's no stranger to fire. many here bear huge black scars from natural wildfires that have burned through these forests for thousands of years. but now an unprecedented fire-- the largest in sierra history-- is threatening two of yosemite's three giant sequoia groves. the rim fire, which has consumed more than 300 square miles since it began on august 17, is burning near the tuolumne and merced groves in the northwest corner of the park. more than 4,000 fire fighters from around the country have been battling the intense blaze. many work out of the incident command center near the fires

here's kwame holman. >> holman: the number of syrians streaming into iraq has grown dramatically in the last five days. they are mostly kurdish refugees believed to be fleeing attacks by al-qaeda fighters involved in the syrian civil war. the u.n. reported some 30,000 such refugees have entered the kurdish region of iraq. the u.n. set up an emergency transit camp in the iraqi town of irbil to house the new arrivals. they bring the number of syrian refugees in iraq to nearly 200,000. >> we left syria because the situation is getting worse and -our young brother was sent after us telling us to come to the -tanquetanqueissue a region. we came before but each time they told us we couldn't cross because the borders were closed. >> holman: the u.n. high the high commissioner for refugees has commissioner for requested thousands of tents and refugees h requested thousands of other supplies from jordan that tents ander supplies are due to arrive by the end of from jo the week.rdan that are dew to arrive by thent of the wee heavy monsoon rains spawnedk. the flooding severe flooding across parts

here's kwame holman. >> holman: american government personnel left lahore, pakistan today because of a specific threat to the consulate there. the u.s. shifted non-essential staff from lahore to the capital, islamabad. embassy officials would not say when the consulate might reopen. the closing came amid a flurry of militant attacks, including one on a mosque in quetta today that killed six people. gunmen opened fire on worshippers as they were leaving. saudi arabia arrested two suspected al qaeda militants in connection with the recent closure of western embassies in the region. they were from yemen and chad. the saudi arabian interior ministry said an investigation found the two were plotting suicide attacks. computer hardware, electronic devices and mobile phones were seized along with the suspects. fire crews in southern california today battled strong winds as they raced to gain ground on a fast-moving wildfire. more than 1,600 firefighters are working to put out the flames across the san jacinto mountains. the fire has grown to 25 square miles and is 25% contained. the blaze br

here's kwame holman. >> holman: a military judge in texas today temporarily halted the mass shooting court martial of army major nidal hasan after just one day. hasan is defending himself, but his standby attorney said he appears intent on getting sentenced to death. the lawyer asked that his own role be minimized. hasan has admitted killing 13 people and wounding nearly three dozen in 2009. he says he acted because america is at war with islam. the trial is expected to reconvene tomorrow. the deadly assault on the u.s. consulate in benghazi, libya has produced its first criminal charges. it was widely reported overnight that u.s. prosecutors have begun the process of bringing suspects to trial. word of the charges comes almost a year after the attack in benghazi, that killed ambassador chris stevens and three other americans. it's unclear how many people are included in the sealed complaint, or what the charges are, but the reports name ahmed abu khattala, the former commander of a benghazi-based militia group. khattala has denied involvement in the past, and did so again today. he

but first, with the other news of the day, here's kwame holman. >> reporter: two u.s.ators urged egypt's interim leaders today to release jailed members of the muslim brotherhood. republicans john mccain and lindsey graham visited cairo in a bid to help resolve the stand- off between the military-backed government and supporters of ousted president mohammed morsi. >> we believe they should treat each other with respect. we also urge the release of political prisoners. we also urge strongly a national dialogue, a national dialogue that is inclusive for parties including the muslim brotherhood. >> reporter: senator graham said the interim government risks jeopardizing relations with the u.s. if it excludes brotherhood members from political negotiations. a spate of car bombings around baghdad killed more than 50 iraqis today as the recent surge of violence showed no signs of easing. the attacks began just before sunset and continued into the night. more than 650 people have been killed in iraq during the muslim holy month of ramadan. in syria, rebels claimed they've capt

kwame holman has more. >> holman: beneath a wide swath of ecuador's rain forest lies an estimated 850 million barrels of oil. the south american country is trying to crowd source enough money to make it worth forgoing the revenue from exploration. we partnered with the "miami herald" for the full report, which is on our homepage. and more on chris thile. all that and more is on our web site, newshour.pbs.org. ray? >> suarez: and that's the newshour for tonight. on tuesday, we'll talk with the director of the new film, "fruitvale station." i'm ray suarez. >> ifill: and i'm gwen ifill. 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: moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects us. >> supported by the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation. committed to building a more just, verdant and peaceful world. more information at macfound.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. and... >> this program was made possible by the corporation for

and kwame killpatrcick is in jail. just let it die. >> there were swarms of dogs swimming in the basements of uh partsments. >> i am an animal lover. i care more about the dogs than most people a lot of times. what are we going to do? we should pull our money and go buy detroit. oh my god! we could get rich. >> could we buy something nice? why do we have to own detroit? >> that's the yn detroit is the way it is. there are a ton of casinos. >> nick, the postal service had to temporarily halt mail for fear of being bitten. it is a bad sign. >> it is the result of 40 years of liberal policies running that city. that's what happens. >> you have violent stuff on the street, dogs reading at a fourth grade level. >> that's actually impressive. >> that's pretty good. my dog can't read. >> it is just like people. same result jie. it is like planet of the dogs. it is scary. i am running out of steam on this story. >> i am angry. row bow cop didn't predict this. i do not remember one swarm of feril dogs attacking him during that

first with the other news of the day here is kwame holman. >> talk of u.s.itary strikes on syria rattled wall street. stocks sank on fears of unstability in the middle east. the dow jones lost 170 points to close at 14776, the nasdaq fell 79 points to close at 3578. in addition, the price of oil in new york topped $109. the highest in a year-and-a-half. firefighters in california claimed advances today against the huge fire nearhea yosemite national park. it's 20% contained. the battle against the expanding blaze entered its 11th day as fire crews worked to grow the containment lines around more of the perimeter. with that progress, the enormous wildfire burned more of the stanislaus national forest spreading to 280 square miles. >> it's not growing like it did in the earlier days. but it is still active. it's still:b0 moving. it's still giving them fits. >> nasa's satellite images showed smoke plumes reaching for miles. officials hoped the forecast cooler temperatures and higher humidity starting tomorrow will allow crews to get the upper hand. >> we are st

kwame has more. >> had a chinese cargo ship took a shortcut last week.ic to follow the path through the ice free northeast package. that is on neuls hour.pbs.org. >> on consequence we look back at the march on washington, 50 years on with one of the original organizers, eleanor holmes norton. i'm gene. >> i'm judy woodruff. see you online and here tomorrow evening. thank you and good night. >> major funding for the pbs news hour has been provided by >> rose: welcome to our summer sere wrez we bring you some of our favorite programs from the past year year. tonight lee daniels' "the butler." joining me to talk about the film with screenwriter danny strong and two of its stars -- forest whitaker and oprah winfrey. >> it was a challenge. it was one of the most challenging roles i've ever played. i think because of the sort of being able to communicate without words, you know? the process of going through all these years and the age prog says, trying to carry these experiences that were painted in the script by danny and lee, the side of myself so that you c

kwame has more. >> had a chinese cargo ship took a shortcut last week.ic to follow the path through the ice free northeast package. that is on neuls hour.pbs.org. >> on consequence we look back at the march on washington, 50 years on with one of the original organizers, eleanor holmes norton. i'm gene. >> i'm judy woodruff. see you online and here tomorrow evening. thank you and good night. >> major funding for the pbs news hour has been provided by wechsler into the "journal," coming july from dw in berlin -- >> welcome to the "journal." under pressure from british police. "the guardian" newspaper has destroyed hard drives with nsa documents but says there are safe copies elsewhere. >> the lead him of the muslim brotherhood in egypt has been the white house criticizes the move and considers cutting aid to cairo. >> get them while they are hot -- he gets to the soccer world cup go on sale in brazil

kwame holman tells us. >> holman: does wealth breed narcissism?esearchers have found a connection between how wealthy you are and how much you stare read more on making sense. as students start back to college, hari sreenivasan talks to anya kamen-etz, author of "generation debt" about the student loan debt crisis in america. and with open enrollment in health insurance exchanges beginning october first, we want to hear from you. we're hosting a twitter chat tomorrow-- be sure to join us online thursday at 1:00 p.m. est. all that and more is on our website newshour.pbs.org. ray? >> suarez: and that's the "newshour" for tonight. on thursday, we'll look at the challenge of governing in washington, d.c. at a time of gridlock. i'm ray suarez >> ifill: and i'm gwen ifill. 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: .(music ) moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects us. >> support also comes from carnegie corporation of new york, a fou

kwame holman tells us about it. >> holman: from 300 tons of radioactive groundwater to $300 million.se are just some of the numbers to consider from the fallout of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami that damaged the nuclear facility. see more of those figures on our world page. and tomorrow, join our politics editor christina bellantoni as she hosts a reddit "ask me anything" chat. find the details on our homepage. all that and more is on our website newshour.pbs.org. gwen? >> ifill: and that's the "newshour" for tonight. on friday, we'll consider what bankruptcy means for already battered detroit. i'm gwen ifill >> brown: and i'm jeffrey brown. we'll see you online and again here tomorrow evening with david brooks and ruth marcus, among others. thanks for joining us. good night. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> 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 cor

kwame has more. >> had a chinese cargo ship took a shortcut last week.ic to follow the path through the ice free northeast package. that is on neuls hour.pbs.org. >> on consequence we look back at the march on washington, 50 years on with one of the original organizers, eleanor holmes norton. i'm gene. >> i'm judy woodruff. see you online and here tomorrow evening. thank you and good night. >> major funding for the pbs news hour has been provided by . >>> this is "nightly business report" with tyler mathisen and susie gharib brought to you by. >> sailing through the heart of historic cities and saland skip on a river, you get close to iconic landmarks, to local life, to cultural treasures. viking river cruises, exploring the world in comfort. >>> and a come back, best buy seemingly did it turning sharp losses into big profits. what went right at best buy and what can limping j.c. penney and barnes & noble learn from it? >> crunch time. six weeks until open enrollment but with privacy issues and an add war breaking out, will new health exchanges be up and

kwame holman has the details. >> holman: in a neighborhood in tanzania, one woman sells heroin to herbors. another provides clean needles. is the joint effort helping to reduce h.i.v. and tuberculosis? or just increasing drug abuse? read about the controversial harm reduction approach in our special report: "the street of blood and smoke." and economics correspondent paul solman responds to recent criticism of analysis given on these airwaves. read his defense on making sense all that and more is on our website newshour.pbs.org. judy? >> woodruff: and that's the "newshour" for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. >> brown: and i'm jeffrey brown. we'll see you online and again here tomorrow evening with mark shields and david brooks, among others. thanks for joining us. 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 mac

here's kwame holman. >> holman: a technical glitch on the nasdaq exchange shut trading down for threers this afternoon. the problem wasn't fixed until just before 3:30 p.m. the freeze in nasdaq trading did not shut down other markets. the dow jones industrial average gained 66 points to close above 14,963. in the end, the nasdaq closed 38 points up at 3,638. jia lynn yang covers the financial markets for the "washington post" and has been following the nasdaq story today. >> gia lynn, thank you. >> nasdaq had a computer error that they discovered earlier in the day, that basically made it difficult to figure out what prices stocks should be quoted at. so once they figured that out, they halted trading immediately of all nasdaq-listed companies. so we're talking big companies -- apple, might rosoft, intel. not just on nasdaq but also u.s. expectings. it took about a half hour to get the computer glitch figured out and spent the next two and a half hours to coordinate so the market would run smoothly. >> there was a crash some years ago, and goldman sachs had difficulty with its compute

kwame holman has more. >> holman: poison ivy: it's out, it's rampant, and some carbon dioxide levels wednesday, do higher carbon dioxide levels make plants grow faster and more poisonous? plus, find a map of where you'll encounter poison ivy, oak and sumac across the u.s. and on making sense, economist dean baker writes about how the media covers news about the federal budget. all that and more is on our website newshour.pbs.org. judy? >> woodruff: and that's the "newshour" for tonight. on thursday, we'll look at what lies ahead for egypt. i'm judy woodruff. >> brown: and i'm jeffrey brown. we'll see you online and again here tomorrow evening. thanks for joining us. good night. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: ♪ ♪ moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects us. >> support also comes from carnegie corporation of new york, a foundation created to do what andrew carnegie called "real and permanent good." celebrating 100 years of philanthropy at carnegie.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. and... >> t

here's kwame holman. >> holman: the u.s.tice department signaled a major drug policy change today. the department announced it will not go to court to block colorado and washington state from permitting recreational use of marijuana. voters in the thosstates approved the practice last year. justice said it will focus on other priorities, including drugged driving and violence in the cultivation of marijuana. a federal appeals court has upheld the nation's first law barring medical therapy aimed at making gay youth straight. the ninth circuit court of appeals issued the ruling today letting stand california's ban on so-called conversion therapy. the state ban applies to healthcare practitioners, but does not extend to pastors and unlicensed lay counselors. the obama administration is moving to curb the re-importation of military surplus weapons sold overseas. vice president biden made the announcement today, as he swore in a new head of the bureau of alcohol, tobacco, firearms and explosives. he said the new federal rule will

here's kwame holman. >> holman: a federal judge ruled today new york city police have violated the rights of thousands of people with a "stop-and- frisk" policy. the tactic is allowed based on a reasonable suspicion of wrongdoing. but the judge said officers stopped mostly black and hispanic men using questionable criteria, so the policy intentionally discriminates based on race. mayor michael bloomberg denied that charge. and he said the policy is a vital deterrent to crime. >> today we have fewer guns, fewer shootings, and fewer homicides. the fact that fewer guns are on the street now shows that our efforts have been successful. and there is just no question that "stop, question, and frisk" has saved countless lives. and we know that most of those lives saved-- based on the statistics-- have been black and hispanic young men. >> holman: bloomberg vowed to appeal. in the meantime, the judge also appointed an independent monitor to oversee substantial reforms to "stop and frisk." the governor of north carolina signed a sweeping new voting law today. it mandates a photo i.d. for any would

here's kwame holman. >> holman: the jobs report sent wall street lower at first, but in the end, stocks managed small gains. the dow jones industrial average added 30 points to close at 15,658. the nasdaq rose nearly 14 points to close at 3,689. for the week, the dow gained just over half a percent. the nasdaq rose 2%. the defense rested today in boston, in the murder and racketeering trial of james "whitey" bulger. the reputed former underworld boss opted not to testify. instead, he told the federal court judge: "as far as i'm concerned, this is a sham." bulger is accused in the murders of 19 people, among other crimes. closing arguments are set for monday, and the jury is expected to get the case on tuesday. the italian coalition government initially struggled today to deal with fallout from silvio berlusconi's tax fraud conviction. the country's supreme court upheld the former prime minister's four-year prison sentence on thursday. the 76-year-old media billionaire ialso is likely to lose his seat in parliament. today, prime minister enrico letta played down prospects that berlusconi

here's kwame holman. >> holman: ariel castro who held three women captive and raped them repeatedly,r a decade, was sentenced to life without parole today, plus 1,000 years. one of his victims, michelle knight, addressed the hearing. she told castro she spent eleven years in hell, but now, has her life back. >> from this moment on i will not let you define me or affect who i am, you will. i will live on. you will die a little everyday as you think of the 11 years of atrocities you inflicted on us. >> holman: castro then delivered a rambling statement. he acknowledged what he did was wrong but insisted most of the sex he had with the three women was consensual. >> i just wanted to clear the record that i am not a monster. i didn't prey on these women, i just acted on sexual instincts because of my sexual addiction. as god is my witness, i never beat these women, like they are trying to say that i did. i never tortured them >> holman: last week, castro pleaded guilty to more than 900 counts, including kidnapping, rape and murder, for beating and starving one of his captives until she m