for more on that, here's ray suarez. >> suarez: this is china's tobacco country. maybe the north carolina or kentucky or virginia of china. and we're here to take a look at an interesting paradox. how can the chinese government both support efforts to stop people from smoking cigarettes an be the primary seller of tobacco in china >> sreenivasan: that's ray suarez reporting from china. his series begins monday on air and online. and you can keep in touch with the newshour tonight and all weekend long by visiting our web site, newshour.pbs.org. jeff. >> brown: and that's the newshour for tonight. i'm jeffrey brown. >> lehrer: and i'm jim lehrer. "washington week" can be seen later this evening on most pbs stations. we'll see you online, and again here monday evening. have a nice memorial day weekend. thank you and 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 sta

as ray suarez reports, they have their work cut out for them in china. >> suarez: no nation on earths more smokers than china. 350 million people here light up regularly. meaning china has more smokers than the united states has people. while warnings of dire health risks have pushed smoking rates down across the globe, tobacco consumption in china has quadrupled since the 1970s. how is business? are you telling more of expensive brands? >> the living standard in china has improved. it is easier to sell cigarettes. even sell expensive cigarettes. this one is a common gift. >> suarez: smoking in china is to popular that cigarettes are often the gift of choice for special occasions. >> this one is for a wedding. red color. double happiness. this is also for a wedding. it too is double happiness. >> suarez: china doesn't just have the most smokers. it also has become both the largest producer and manufacturer of tobacco in the world. the industry here is twice the size of international tobacco giant philip morris. susan lawrence, an anti-smoking advocate working in china, says the home

. >> woodruff: ray suarez joins us from the 2010 world expo in shanghai. nations and. >> close to 200 nations and continents are represented here. it's part trade fair, part national festival, part cultural event. >> ifill: betty ann bowser looks at how one state is tackling a health epidemic among children. >> this city has the highest rate of childhood obesity in the nation, and while people here are trying to do something about that, it's a difficult problem to solve. >> woodruff: and 41 years after the moon landing, kwame holman reports on a rare public appearance by astronaut neil armstrong testifying today in favor of staying the course in space exploration. >> ifill: and a tale of two boys-- now men-- who share the same name, but very different life stories. that's all ahead on tonight's newshour. 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 vie

we appreciate it. >> brown: next, decisions and orders at the supreme court, and to ray suarez. >> suarez: in two separate rulinged today the high court paved the way for an anti-trust lawsuit against the nfl to go forward and said that a lawsuit against chicago for racial discrimination in the hiring of firefighters was not time limited. justices also agreed to hear a case on a death row inmate's access to new dna evidence. here to walk us through it as always marcia coyle of the national law journal. now, mars ya, the first case involved the nfl. contracts to provide hats, t-shirts, jersey, that kind of thing. what kind of relief was american needel looking for. what did they argue in their original case? >> well, american needle had sued the nfl and its 32 teams claiming that they violated the federal anti-trust laws when they granted an exclusive licence to reebok to manufacture and sell trademarked head quarter-- head ware for the nfl teams. so american needle was asking the supreme court, because it had lost in the lower court, to find that the nfl did not have immunity from the fed

you. >> brown: finally tonight, poland tries to rebound from its latest national tragedy, and to ray suarezhe funeral of poland's president last month was still another reminder for millions of poles that fate seems to conspire against their country. the day president lech kaczynski, victim of an air crash in foggy weather, was buried another accident of geography turned against the nation. scores of world leaders, including president obama, were diverted from the state ceremony because ash from an icelandic volcano grounded flights over much of europe. one leader to did make the trip was russian president med ved, a tangible sign perhaps of a thaw in russian-polish relations brought about by the crash. from the first news of the crash, russia's leaders and people were quick to express sympathy and show their concern . the sad irony was this: the doomed plane carrying the president, his wife, and scores of top officials, was heading to a ceremony marking one of the bitterest moments between poland and russia: the world war ii murder of 20,000 polish officers and soldiers by russian secret p

." >> and ray suarez has the latest on the oil spill. >> dave iverson of san francisco reports on international relief groups, following the lead of haitians to feed the country's hungry. >> we firmly believe that this project is something that is serving the people of ham haiti, and it needs to be in haitian hands to operate the way we believe it can and should. >> we focus on another 2010 senate race, this time in connecticut where questions have been raised about the democrat candidates' military records. >> cartier bresson pictures the magic of taking one moment out of the flow of life. and finding in it a picture that lasts forever. that's one the things that makes people fall in love with photography. >> that's all ahead on tonight's newshour. >> announcer: major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by. pacific life, the power to help you succeed. bnsf railway. >> and by the alfred p.sloan foundation, supporting science, technology, and improved economic performance in financial literacy in the 21st century. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations.

ray suarez has that story. >> suarez: the justices ruled on major cases involving the sentencing of juveniles and sexually dangerous offenders, plus they looked at the boundaries of an international child custody treaty. and as always, marcia coyle of the "national law journal" was at the court, and is now here to walk us through today's decisions. >> suarez: marcia, how did the court breakdown when ruling on life without parole sentences for people who committed the crimes as minors, short of homicide? >> the court ruled 6-3 that that sentence violates the 8th amendment ban on cruel and unusual punishment. the three dissenters were justices thomas, scalia and alito. >> suarez: answering very broadly the question, can you ever impose a life sentence without parole for crimes short of murders on a minor? or ruling very narrowly in the case of this one man terrance graham? >> it was not a narrow decision, ray. the court announced the categorical rule that this sentence violates the constitution. but justice kennedy who wrote the majority opinion said this doesn't mean that a juvenile may never

ray suarez has that story. >> suarez: secretary of state hillary clinton took time out from talks inng to join her hosts for a bit of vintage chinese opera today. elsewhere in the chinese capital, there was relatively little harmony between the chinese and the high-level u.s. dell grags, some 200 strong. the second annual strategic dialogue talks were aimed at resolving long-standing economic and foreign policy issues. but the original agenda was overshadowed by the showdown between north and south korea over the sinking of a south korean ship. secretary clinton said it's in chinese interests to help rein in the north koreans. >> china not only values but is very committed to regional stability and it shares with us the goal of a denuclearized korean peninsula. >> suarez: clinton's chinese counterpart barely mentioned the korean tensions in his statement. he called for all sides to avoid escalation. likewise, there was no visible progress on china's policy of peging its currency, formally known as the renmen b to the u.s. dollar. that makes chinese exports much cheaper and prices man

ray suarez has our story. >> madame speaker, the president of mexico. (applause) >> suarez: it was the second and final day of president felipe calderon's state visit to washington. >> it's a great honor to stand before you today. >> suarez: and as he did yesterday at the white house, the mexican leader used today's address to congress to make his case on immigration. >> i am convinced that a comprehensive immigration reform is also crucial to securing our common border. however, i strong ly disagree with your recently adopted law in arizona. >> suarez: that law makes it a state crime not to carry proper documentation. and it empowers police to check anyone they find suspicious. >> it is a law that not only ignores a reality but cannot be-- but also introduce a terrible idea using racial profiling as the basis. we must find together a better way to face and fix this common problem. >> suarez: calderon's criticism drew cheers and a standing ovation from the democratic side of the aisle. most republicans remained seated and did not applaud. later republica

. >> woodruff: ray suarez has part two of his reports on the politics of new media. tonight, republicans blogging, tweeting, and friending in advance of this year's elections. >> we advise every candidate to have as big a budget for new media as radio and television. >> brown: and margaret warner looks at what the greek debt crisis means for global markets and the u.s. economy. >> brown: that's all ahead on tonight's newshour. major funding for the pbs newshour is provided by: >> 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. >> brown: a flurry of action brought the times square bombing investigation to a head today. the prime suspect appeared in federal court in new york city, just hours after being arrested. newshour correspondent kwame holman begins our

ray suarez begins our coverage. >> reporter: images from a mile deep in the gulf showed a dirty plume from the blowout preventer. it was a visual signature of the top kill operation. crews had been pumping heavy drilling fluid called mud into the well since early wednesday afternoon. if all goes to plan, once the flow of oil is stopped, crews will inject concrete to seal the site permanently. >> mud into the well bore... >> reporter: the former coast guard common tkapbltover seeing things, admiral thad allen, appraise it had situation in venice, louisiana. >> they're pumping mud into the well bore. as long as the mud is going down, the hydrocarbons are not going up. the goal is to put enough mud into the well bore to produce zero pressure so they can put a cement plug over it. they are still in the process of doing that. so while i said the hydrocarbons have been stopped, that does not mean the exercise was over. >> reporter: b.p. said it wanted to wait another 24 to 48 hours before rendering its own judgment. there was also word the spill now exceeds the 1989 exxon "valdez" disaster

as he mentioned, i am ray suarez, and i was born in the united states. [laughter] for the record, i am not a lawyer, a sociologist, a political scientist, but as a reporter, i am a member of a craft that is expected to be bits of all of these things and then after the fact judge to have done it badly. i am flattered to be asked to be at this conference after a career over a period of tremendous change in the united states. i have had a front-row seat with a press pass in my hand. i have been given unusual access to people at their best and their worst as they talked themselves into being, bounced off of the events that they were witnessing and living through, and talking to me to make sense of it, so it is a privilege and one that is especially handy when trying to understand how trace operates as a variable, how race works in this country -- trying to understand how race operates. as a latino of some sort, so when people take me into their confidence in interviews, it is sometimes with the assumed comfort of someone who is a safe recipient of difficult

johnson was rapsidizing about how brilliant jack kennedy's cabinet was, sam ray burn, all the ivy league pedigrees, sam. >> suarez: burn said he wished somebody had run for sheriff. >> lehrer: david can speak for himself, but, mark, if you ever do run for sheriff , i will vote for you. >> thank you. >> lehrer: will you vote for him david? >> i'll think about it. >> lehrer: thank you both very much. >> lehrer: again, the major developments of the day: president obama vowed to end what he called the "cozy relationship" between regulators and the oil industry, as the u.s. government approved the wide-scale use of undersea chemical dispersants for the leak. and the standoff in the streets of bangkok, thailand, between thai troops and anti-government protesters left eight people dead and more than 100 wounded. >> brown: the newshour is always online. hari sreenivasan, in our newsroom, previews what's there. hari. >> sreenivasan: find more from scientists about the size of the gulf oil spill. explore different scenarios on the oil tracker you saw on tonight's program. and on "newshour connect," we talk to louisiana pub