. >> woodruff: mark shields and michael gerson, filling in for david brooks, analyze the week's news. >> brown: and we remember the life and career of veteran foreign correspondent anthony shadid. >> woodruff: 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. >> brown: china's rise offers the u.s. economic opportunities, not threats. that was the message today, as the man expected to be his country's future leader ended his american visit in los angeles, and a prominent u.s. film company announced it would open a studio in china. the new company will be called oriental dreamworks, a joint venture between dreamworks animation and several chinese medi

mark shields, michael gerson, thank you both. >> brown: finally tonight, we remember the life and work of a gifted foreign correspondent. anthony shadid's reporting took him from one conflict zone to the next. from egypt... >> this is anthony shadid for "the new york times" in cairo. in some ways, one revolution may have ended tonight with the overthrow of president hosni mubarak, and another revolution may have begun. >> brown: ...and iraq... >> baghdad's a pretty grim place right now. >> brown: ...to libya... >> the road to tripoli is about an eight-hour drive that seems to capture the hopes and ambitions, anxieties and fears of a country wrestling with its future. >> brown: ...and finally, syria. >> we have seen scenes of hundds of thousands of people gathering in downtown hama. >> brown: it was in syria that shadid died yesterday of a severe asthma attack while reporting on the violent crackdown by the assad government. the 43-year-old american of lebanese descent spent much of his career covering the middle east for a variety of news organizations, most recently "the new york time

. >> let's bring in washington post columnist michael gerson a former speech writer for president george religion contributor, father edward beck. thank you both. >> michael gerson, we'd like to start with you, if you don't mind. >> sure. >> the administration says they're willing to work out a compromise. is it possible. >> it's difficult to compromise on this kind much issue, hard to grant half of a constitutional right. the question here is whether religious institutions will be forced to buy an insurance product that violates their conscience. that either happens or it doesn't happen. there might be some things that you can do around it. but the administration is not conceding the kral point here. they believe that churches have religious liberty rights. but they think that religious institutions like hospital and charities and universities should be treated under federal law like a 7-eleven or an apple store. i think that's resented by the institutions themselves. it's really a binary choice they have here, whether to treat or not. >> michael, why do you think this is an ideological

we'll see you online and again here tomorrow evening with mark shields and michael gerson, among others. thank you and good night. 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 >> this is "bbc world news america." funding for this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu. newman's own foundation. and union bank. >> at union bank, our relationship managers work hard to understand the industry you operate in, working to nurture new ventures and help provide capital for key, strategic decisions. we offer expertise and tailored solutions in a wide range

we'll see you online and again here tomorrow evening with mark shields and michael gerson, among others. thank you and good night. 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 deser 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

catholic charities' benefits and catholic hospitals' benefits, who provide remarkable services, as michael gersonday in his "washington post" article, i hope they come to a compromise. there is a compromise to be had here. >> what would the compromise be? >> well, i don't know. >> you can opt out? >> you can opt out and refer people to another provider. >> is there not a way -- >> without incurring a fine. >> is there not a way for me, as a, if i'm, if i run catholic hospitals, is there not a way for me to talk to my insurance company and say listen, we're going to cover everything but contraceptive services? >> that's what hawaii does. >> is there not a way? there's a way around this. >> well the insurance is already provided by a third party. what are they going to refer them to some other provider somewhere? then you have to go off on your own, you have to call them up and you have to get a policy. >> it seems to me, that catholic hospitals and charities have such a powerful position in the marketplace, that when they're doing deals with insurance companies, they can say, we're not going to co

>> the first one is michael gerson in today's "washington post."as missed his own objectives in reducing the employment and the federal debility by a mile. obama having pledged to cut the deficit in half during his term, has done little or nothing, this is the craven part, about the unsustainable growth of entitlement spending which threatens the security of our government and the future stability of the economy. but as long as republicans are focused elsewhere, they are providing obama with his own private bailout. and michael steele as we've discussed, unless gas is $10 a gallon in august or $5 a gallon in august, aren't they, in effect, the republican field, giving the president a huge, huge lift? >> absolutely. i mean, this piece this morning, just nails it for me. because it is, it is quintessentially the problem that the party has right now. it is rudderless on its message. it is allowing the president three years, three and a half years of untenable increases in debt and spending. to just go unchecked. we're getting into these, these battles

i feared as "washington post" columnist michael gerson noted in his article today that such a trend willn the good work being done by faith-based groups of any faith, whether it be catholic or protestant, jewish or muslim. any group or nonprofit, hospital or charity that is working to provide services to people in need now have to compromise their basic religious tenets in order to continue to provide that insurance coverage for their employees or pay a fine by not doing so. there have been some bills introduced here to overturn this. i would hope that those in the administration who are listening to the people and listening to the protest that is being made against this almost unconscionable mandate will not stand by idly and wait to see whether or not congress will act, because we will act and we'll act as soon as we can. i would hope that they would reconsider this sweeping, unconstitutional authority which is in direct vootion of the first amendment. george washington once said every man conducting himself is a good citizen, and being accountable to god alone for his religious opinio