major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> growing up in arctic norway, everybody took fish oil to stay healthy. when i moved to the united states almost 30 years ago, i could not find an omega-3 fish oil that worked for me. i became inspired to bring a new definition of fish oil quality to the world. today, nordic naturals is working to fulfill our mission of bringing omega-3s to everyone, because we believe omega-3s are essential to life.

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. >> ifill: this was a day of medals and milestones for u.s. athletes at the london olympics. we take a look now at some of what went on, including marquee results from the competition. spoiler alert: if you don't want to know the results just yet, you might want to tune out for a moment. gray skies and puddles didn't keep the crowds away from day four of competition at london's olympic park. after some early disappoint, today proved to be with a good one for u.s. fans. the women's gymnastics team won its first team gold since 1996 and beating the russians handily. and with two trips to the medal podium today, american swimmer mike phelps b

major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: bnsf carnegie corp 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: the "great recession" officially ended three years ago, but the latest look at the u.s. economy today suggests a full recovery is still a long way off. the struggle was highlighted in a report from the commerce department. consumer spending powers the u.s. economy, but americans weren't hitting the stores this spring, and when they did, they weren't spending nearly as much. as a result, economic output, measured as the gross domestic product, rose at an annual rate of just 1.5% from april through june. the commerce department did raise its estimate of first quarter growth to 2%. still, that's not considered sufficient to encourage hiring and bring down unemployment. at the white house, spokesman jay carney pointed to 12 straight quarters of growth, but acknowledged it's not en

major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: ♪ ♪ moving our economy for 160 years.f, the engine that connects us. 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. >> ifill: five days after a storm that cut a path from the midwest to the mid-atlantic, many americans were still in the dark, sweating out this fourth of july. the death toll from those storms has now reached 26. in the west, scores of wildfires continued to rage, but that didn't stop the cookouts and the parades. temperatures approaching 100 degrees didn't stop hundreds from lining the streets in washington today for a neighborhood fourth of july parade and picnic. but even as americans from coast to coast celebrated the nation's independence, many longed for a different kind of dependence on electricity. >> everybody on the block has power but our house and the house across the street. neighbor next door lets me plug into her hous

major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> bnsf railway. 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

major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> bnsf railway. 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 n.b.r. >> susie: good evening. i'm susie gharib. will the world's economic powers take action to boost the global economy? investors are waiting on key meetings at the federal reserve and european central bank. >> tom: i'm tom hudson. this week we're looking at regional banks. why smaller bank stocks are out- perfoming their bigger competitors. >> susie: and what's it going to take to make a new generation of innovators? we visit a camp teaching teenage girls about engineering. >> tom: that and more tonight on "n.b.r.!" >> tom: there are high expectations this week economic leaders in the u.s. and europe will take action to help their struggling ec

major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> bnsf railway. 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 vo:geico, committed to providing service to its auto insurance customers for over 70 years. more information on auto insurance at geico.com or 1-800-947-auto any time of the day or night.

major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> bnsf railway. 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 know your business, offering specialized solutions and capital to help you meet your growth objectives. we offer expertise and tailored solutions for small businesses and major corporations. what can we do for you? >> and now, "bbc world news america." >> this is "bbc world news america." reporting from washington, i am katty kay. our correspondent is in aleppo, witness to a ferocious battle. >> we know there are

. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: bnsf carnegie corporation 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: a fresh atrocity in syria stirred new condemnation today, and new despair over how to stop the killing. the opposition claimed the military and alawite militias loyal to president assad had slaughtered sunnis. accounts of how many died ranged from 70 to more than 200. we begin with a report from jonathan rugman of independent television news. a warning-- some of the images may be disturbing. >> reporter: "these are burned bodies," says a voice in a mosque which is clearly now a mortuary, and it's full of relatives from the village of taramseh, grieving from their dead. in these pictures, we counted 31 bodies laid out for burial. "it's just the first group," the cameraman says. tonight, the u.n. is confirming what this amateur video shows that syrian helicopters

major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> growing up in arctic norway, everybody tookfish oil to stay healthy. when i moved to the united states almost 30 years ago, i could not find an omega-3 fish oil that worked for me. i became inspired to bring a new definition of fish oil quality to the world. today, nordic naturals is working to fulfill our mission of bringing omega-3s to everyone, because we believe omega-3s are essential to life. >> 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. >> woodruff: the head of the international monetary fund issued a warning to u.s. policymakers today. in an interview with the newshour," christine lagarde said washington must find a way to avoid overreacting to debt and fiscal deadlines at the end of the year. th

major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: 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 yo >> woodruff: the past 12 months are the warmest ever recorded in the united states since record keeping began in 1895. that word comes as a new report from the national oceanic and atmospheric administration today says climate change, including human factors, has increased the odds of extreme weather. ( sirens ) the severe storms that finally broke the deadly heat wave in the united states blew in with their own set of dangers this week. in greensboro, north carolina, residents are struggling to recover from flooding and power outages brought on by slow moving storms yesterday. in fredericksbu

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. >> ifill: tax politics returned to center stage in washington today, as president obama called for extending middle class tax cuts and mitt romney said the white house plan doesn't go nearly far enough. ( applause ) the white house east room was the backdrop for a presidential pivot today: moving away from talk of job loss to promises of tax cuts. >> the republicans say they don't want to raise taxes on the middle class. i don't want to raise taxes on the middle class. so we should all agree to extend the tax cuts for the middle class. let's agree to do what we agree on, right? ( applause ) that's what compromise is all about. let's not hold the vast majority of americans and our entire economy hostage while we debate the merits of another tax cut for the wealthy. >> ifill: the president is reviving his proposal t

major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: 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. >> woodruff: syrian battle groups bore down on the country's commercial capital today. they targeted rebels in aleppo, where some three million people were already under air and artillery attack. we begin with alex thomson of "independent television news" reporting from damascus. >> reporter: damascus one week into the battle for city and video broadcast by syrian state television shows sustained fire fights yesterday in the city's outskirts. but its aleppo-- syria's biggest city-- where the latest major assault is likely. hounded again by the regime's forces from both the north and the south, helicopters move overhead as troops on the ground prepare for a

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. >> woodruff: syrian rebels dealt a stunning blow to the assad government today-- a bombing that wiped out part of the country's power elite. the attack in damascus raised new fears in washington and other capitals. the bomb exploded in a meeting of syrian cabinet and top security officers-- the most serious assault yet on the core of the regime. among the dead, the defense minister, dawoud rahja and president bashar al-assad's brother-in-law, asef shawkat, who was the widely-feared deputy defense minister. one other senior official was killed, too. state television confirmed the killings and blamed unspecified terrorists. >> ( translated ): the two field marshals today, the defense minister and deputy defense minister, are not the first of our martyrs, although we hope that they are the last martyrs. >> woodruff:

major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects us. >> 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 corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> brown: power grids in the eastern u.s. struggled to rebuild today, even as new storms did new damage overnight. the death toll reached 22 killed in six states since friday, and for many thousands of others, there was only stifling heat and no air conditioning. for a third day, utility crews logged long hours to restore power to some two million customers. for a third day many endured long hours of misery after losing power in violent storms that struck friday. it started around west chicago, illinois, with straight line winds reaching 90 miles an hour. from there, the storms blasted across indiana and o

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. >> woodruff: a major look at the f.b.i.'s handling of forensic evidence is underway. yesterday, the justice department announced it will conduct a review of thousands of criminal cases, dating back to 1985, where hair and fiber analysis led to convictions. e examinations were deiled in a front page article in today's "washington post." included were the stories of two men wrongfully convicted on flawed hair analysis. they've since been exonerated by d.n.a. testing-- one just yesterday. the justice department review comes after the "washington post" identified those two men, and others as part of a report on forensic errors by f.b.i. labs. national reporter spencer hsu wrote today's piece. he joins us now from the "washington post" newsroom. spencer, welcome. so this investigation of forensics mainly was triggered by

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 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 med accesgroup wgbh access.wgbh.org

major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> growing up in arctic norway, everybody took fish oil to stay healthy. when i moved to the united states almost 30 years ago, i co could not find an omega-3 fish oil that worked for me. i became inspired to bring a new definition of fish oil quality to the world. today, nordic naturals is working to fulfill our mission of bringing omega-3s to everyone, because we believe omega-3s are essential to life. 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 corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: the debate over whether the health care mandate is a tax remained front and center in the campaign today, en as the president shifted his attention to economic issues at the start of a midwest bus tour. president obama was back on the stump today in ohio, touting his own e

major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects us. >> 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 corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> ifill: the world got a look today at the man who allegedly gunned down scores of people in aurora, colorado, on friday. he appeared at his initial court hearing as police pieced together what led up to the assault in a movie theater. >> please be seatedded. ifill: it was the first time he had been seen publicly since friday's shootings, and james holmes cut a bizarre figure. his hair dyed bright orange, his eyes dazed. it was unclear if he was on medication, but the 24-year-old staredded blankly or not at all... or nodded off. and he never spoke as the judge explained the murder charges against him.