. >> suarez: and i'm ray suarez. on the "newshour" tonight, we look at the preparations and the celebrations as severe weather battered parts of the u.s. and elsewhere. >> brown: then, we re-visit one of the year's biggest stories: the gulf oil spill with an update from national oceanic and atmospheric administration chief jane lubchenko. >> suarez: plus tom bearden returns to the gulf where scientists are searching for lessons learned from damage done to fish. >> it's possible that what we could do is be able to give some information back to the people who are deciding about the way to deal with oil spills as to what the best approach might be. >> brown: we wrap up a week of encore reports on the foreclosure crisis from paul solman with a look at winners and losers when mortgages are modified. >> suarez: e.j. dionne and michael gerson offer their end of the year analysis filling in for mark shields and david brooks. >> brown: from minnesota, fred de sam lazaro tells the story of one monastery's mission to preserve s

ray suarez has that story. >> suarez: with less than one month to go before the primary, an illinois appellate court ruled in a 2-1 decision to remove former white house chief of staff rahm emanuel from the ballot in the chicago mayoral race. emanuel's eligibility to run was called into question because he lived in washington while serving in the obama administration. today's ruling was a setback for the frontrunner, but he plans to appeal to the illinois supreme court. he spoke to reporters this afternoon. >> when the president asks you to serve the country as his chief of staff that counts as part of serving your country. i have no doubt that we will in the end prevail at this effort. as my father always used to say, nothing is ever easy in life. so nothing is ever easy. this is just one turn in the road. >> suarez: for more on the fallout from today's ruling, we are joined by lynn sweet. she is the washington bureau chief for the "chicago sun times" and a columnist for "politics daily." why was this case even back in court? a cook county court said he could run. a board of electio

. >> suarez: and i'm ray suarez. on the "newshour" tonight, we have the latest on the investigation behind the attack, including new details on suspect jared loughner. >> woodruff: then, tom bearden gets reaction in tucson to last night's call for national healing and a new era in civility. >> thousands of people from all sides of the political spectrum turned out to hear president obama's message of reconciliation. >> suarez: congresswoman debbie wasserman schultz talks about the moment her friend representative gabrielle giffords opened her eyes in a tucson hospital yesterday. >> woodruff: and we get a broader reaction to the president's speech with reporters from public broadcasting stations in new york, ohio, california, and oklahoma. >> suarez: plus, jeffrey brown, just back from haiti, details the growing frustration over the slow pace of reconstruction a year after the devastating earthquake. >> one year after the earthquake this is the larger reality for so many of the people. tent camp on what was once the c

ray suarez has the story. >> suarez: in the aftermath of the oil spill disaster in the gulf coast last april, people wanted answers to three basic questions. what led to the deadly fire and explosion of b.p.'s macondo well? could it have been prevented? how do we keep something similar from happening again? the president appointed an oil spill commission which has studied those issues for months. today it released its final report. among its recommendations: the creation of a new independent safety agency; better funded oversight and tighter regulation of offshore drilling; and lifting the liability cap for accidents, now at $75 million. former u.s. senator bob graham, a democrat, and republican william reilly, a former head of the e.p.a., are the co-chairs, and they join me to discuss their findings. what led to your conclusion that this was both foreseeable and preventable, senator? >> first, there's been a major transformation in the off-shore oil industry, up to 1990 it was primarily shallow water drilling. since 1990, the industry have been moving in to deeper and deeper inherentl

ray suarez has the story. >> suarez: this image of the "deepwater horizon" oil rig-- on fire in the gulf of mexico-- is now a memory, but the president's commission warns it could all happen again. the final report is not due until next week, but a 48-page excerpt was released publicly today. the panel concluded that: "absent significant reform in both industry practices and government policies, a disaster might well recur." all three companies involved with the well b.p., transocean and halliburton were cited for cutting corners to save time or money. the report said those choices led to the flooding of the gulf with more than 200 million gallons of oil. last november, the commission's lead investigator had testified he found no evidence of wanton wrongdoing. >> we see no instance where a decision-making person or group of people sat there, aware of safety risks, aware of costs, and opted to give up safety for cost. >> suarez: instead, the report says the problem was much bigger than any individual, and that the root causes are systemic. as evidence, the commission counted nine decision

ray suarez has the story. >> suarez: the popular social networking web site facebook is now worth more than companies like ebay, time warner, and starbucks. according to today's "new york times," the investment firm goldman sachs and a russian company called digital sky technologies invested $500 million in facebook in a deal that values the company at $50 billion. facebook lets users create personal web profiles as well as connect to and share information with friends. it is used by about half a billion people around the world. last year it surpassed google as the most visited web site in the u.s. here to tell us more is andrew ross sorkin, who co-wrote the story for the "times." andrew, what dogs goldman see in makes it worth that much money? >> i think there's two stories here. one is this valuation of facebook at $50 billion. you say why? why $50 billion? that sounds like a lot of money. on a relative basis, something like a google which, as you just said, facebook has just surpassed in terms of use, google is worth close to $200 billion. they're all trying to get at the advertisin

ray suarez has our look. >> suarez: from the beginning, technology has been a crucial part of the uprising. protesters signaled their intentions and plans on social media like facebook and twitter that helped organize mass demonstrations. but the government has tried to choke off access, by blocking cell phones and shutting down the internet. we talk to two people watching this closely. mohammed el-nawawy studies arab media at queens university of charlotte. he is the author of several books on the subject, including "islam.com." and david keyes is the director of cyberdissidents.org, which advocates for dissident writings and blogs on the web. >> suarez: from the beginning. mohammed el-nawawy, did personal computers and smart phones accelerate the current unrest in egypt? >> i think they did to some extent. there's no question that they did instigate change. they encouraged young people in their 20s and 30s to go out on the streets. but i always say that social media do not topple governments. people have to do that. that's what we are seeing today. those people who were instigated by the

ray suarez has the story. >> suarez: in 1980 cornelius dupree was sentenced to 75 years for aggravated robbery. the crime included abduction and rape. dupree was released last july on parole after 30 years behind bars. one week later, d.n.a. test results proved his innocence. today a dallas county judge overturned the conviction and officially cleared his name. dupree spoke to reporters afterwards. >> i just feel that the system needs to be fixed by whatever means, so that this won't happen to anyone else. that's about all i have to say. >> suarez: dupree served more time than any other texas inmate exonerated by d.n.a. evidence. since 2001, texas has freed 41 wrongly convicted inmates through d.n.a. that's more than any other state. for more, we're joined by the dallas county district attorney, craig watkins. mr. watkins, cornelius dupre as we've mentioned was in jail for decades. hadn't he maintained his innocence all along and tried to win a reexamination of his case? >> fortunately mr. dupre stuck to his core belief and hoped that the justice system would work for him one day. that

ray suarez has our story. >> suarez: newly-minted congressman jim renacci arrived in washington earlierhis week with his family. renacci represents a part of northeast ohio ravaged by economic decline, as the newshour documented during the fall campaign. a cpa, former mayor of a small city, a former gm car dealer, renacci has only visited washington a few times in his life. he hopes to maintain that outsider status, even as he joins an elite group, a freshman class of 96 new representatives, almost all republicans. >> i plan on going home every weekend. it's only a 53-minute flight. it gives me an opportunity to get back to the district and understand their concerns and their problems. >> suarez: earlier this week, renacci and an aide headed to the capitol. >> is there another level? >> i didn't see it. >> suarez: there was time to unpack a few personal items and settle in before the onslaught of business. with the help of his wife and son, he had to find a place to live close to the capitol. >> the one upstairs is exactly the same. >> yes, i'll show it to you. we have one more closet.

ray suarez has the story. >> suarez: it's a media marriage that's not quite like any other to date-- a merger of the country's biggest cable and internet provider with one of the largest and best-known entertainment companies. there's been much concern about the concentration of power that would result from pairing comcast with nbc universal. but yesterday, the federal communications commission in a four to one vote blessed comcast's $30 billion purchase. that approval came with some conditions, though, to try to prevent comcast from stifling competition on the web from smaller players. we explore the impact of the deal with jessica vascellaro, media reporter for the "wall street journal." jessica, why would comcast-- already a big media company that its own right along with being a cable and internet provider-- want a big complicated conglomerate like nbc? >> well, ray-- and thanks for having me on-- it's a little bit of a hedge. so comcast is the u.s.'s largest cable operator, also sells internet connections and broadband, but that business is maturing. people have television servi

ray suarez has the story. >> suarez: the public and her doctors have been impressed by the congresswoman's progress. she's responded to questions. her husband said today she was even able to give him a back rub. and doctors say they may send her home within days to weeks. but the road ahead is undoubtedly long. we look at what medicine understands about treating the brain and its ability to adapt. dr. henry brem is chairman of the department of neurosurgery at the johns hopkins medical center in baltimore. and dr. norman doidge is a psychiatrist who specializes in this field. he's author of "the brain that changes itself: stories of personal triumph from the frontiers of brain science." dr. brem, we're talking about a woman who was shot at close range and about ten days later is giving her husband a neck rub. blinking her eyes. moving her limbs on command. unusual, no? >> extraordinary. two thirds of people who are shot by a gun in the head die at the scene. over 90% of the people die within a short amount of time after the injury. so surviving at any level of function is truly extraordina