jeffrey brown and ray suarez will be floor reporters in tampa and charlotte. they'll be talking with key convention speakers and showing you delegate reaction to what's happening on the stage. i'll bring you our daily map center moment, telling the story of the campaign through data and highlighting voter's voices through our "listen to me" project. we'll take our viewers behind the scenes and we'll talk to the newsmakers. see you there. >> woodruff: and a reminder-- the newshour airs at 6:00 p.m. eastern time, and our convention coverage follows at 8:00 p.m. eastern. the republicans will formally kick off their proceedings and the roll call to nominate mitt romney monday at 2:00 p.m. eastern. we'll have every moment for you on our livestream coverage online that hari mentioned. >> brown: again, the major developments of the day: new evidence surfaced that iran may be accelerating its nuclear weapons program. retired cyclist lance armstrong faces a lifelong ban from the sport and being stripped of his seven tour de france titles after he said he would no longe

ray suarez is our guide this week.t he visits the booming economy in western north dakota, where new drilling technologies have opened up massive oil reserves. in western north dakota near the montana border, there's so much oil around it almost feels risky to say it. boom. a 1% unemployment rate. heavy traffic in what was once a sleepy town of 12,000. nowhere to live. restaurants that close early because they cannot find enough people to work at $15 an hour and others offering signing bonuses to dishwashers and fast food workers. >> geologists say there is a small ocean of oil hundreds of billions of barrels trapped undergod here in north dakota. so thousands of workers flocked to williston to pull itsçha out. instant towns rose instead of corn and wheat as williston joined a new american energy boom driving growth in parts of the west. just two years ago, the united states was importing two thirds of its oil. today, imports are down to less than half u.s. oil needs. oil companies have known about the supplies for dec

. >> brown: ray suarez marks a milestone in the afghanistan war as the death tl for u.s. troops hit 2,000 this week. >> woodruff: while delegates gather for the g.o.p. convention, paul solman is on the ground talking to business owners about taxes, regulation, and the party's platform. >> in tampa florida, the republicans make their economic case. at thunder shirts, accoustablock and the convention hall. >> brown: and mark shields and david brooks analyze the week's news. >> woodruff: that's all ahead on tonight's newshour. >> major funding for thebs newshour has been provided by: bnsf railway. carnegie corporation >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. and... >> this program was made possible by the corporation for publ broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: new concerns were raised today that iran is expanding its nuclear weapons research and fuel production, and international monitors pressed the islamic republic to explain its actions at meetings in vienna. today's talks at

. >> woodruff: ray suarez has part two of our energy series.onight, he's in colorado, where natural gas battles coal for prominence, but it comes with a hefty price tag. >> taking a 60-year-old plant that's been generating electricity by burning coal and converting it to natural gas isn't cheap, and it isn't easy as flipping a switch. >> brown: margaret warner continues our look at congress' "unfinished business." tonight, solving the threat of cyber attacks on our critical infrastructure. >> woodruff: and poet priscilla uppall captures the olympic spirit. >> i just love it because it's really metaphorical. it's very playful. many of the sport terms are basically invented by teenagers and young people. >> wiidruff: that's all ahead on tonight's newshour. major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by:

ray suarez has that part of the story. >> suarez: days of shelling have forced tens of thousands of people to flee aleppo. many are struggling to find shelter and food. for more on the worsening humanitarian situation, we turn to michel gabaudan, president of refugees international. he recently met with syrian refugees in lebanon and jordan. mr. gabaudan, how many people have been displaced? what's the best estimate on how many are now refugees in syria? >> there are 120,000 syrians who have been registered as refugees in jordan, in turkey, in lebanon and a few in iraq. but there are many more that have crossed into this country than have not sought to be registered. >> suarez: probably many that are internally displaced, inside the country not having crossed borders. >> indeed. the numbers are extremely varied. they estimate to range from 400,000 to a million-and-a-half. whatever the real figure, these are astounding figures. unfortunately aid doesn't reach them well. >> suarez: has the syrian government and, for that matter, have the rebels allowed international aid to reach people who a

. >> woodruff: ray suarez has part two of our energy series. tonight, he's in colorado, where natural gas battles coal for prominence, but it comes with a hefty price tag. >> taking a 60-year-old plant that's been generating electricity by burning coal and converting it to natural gas isn't cheap, and it isn't easy as flipping a switch. >> brown: margaret warner continues our look at congress' "unfinished business." tonight, solving the threat of cyber attacks on our critical infrastructure. >> woodruff: and poet priscilla uppall captures the olympic spirit. >> i just love it because it's really metaphorical. it's very playful. many of the sport terms are basically invented by teenagers and young people. >> wiidruff: 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 viewers like you. thank you. >> brown: e

. >> woodruff: ray suarez continues our series on america's energy resources with a report from utah about an unusual agreement to drill for gas on public lands. >> what we've shown here is that there are compromises that can be reached that protect the special places while still allowing for a robust level of natural gas and oil development. >> brown: margaret warner interviews supreme court justice antonin scalia about his new book, a guide for judges on how to interpret the text of the law. >> the trick for a judge is to see where the balance resides. it's like a murder mystery. there are clues pointing one way, pointing another way. which clues are more persuasive? >> woodruff: we have a report from beijing on the closely watched murder trial of gu kailai, the wife of a disgraced communist party official. >> brown: and we close with a look at the golden successes of women athletes at the london games. that's all ahead on tonight's newshour. 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 alfr

. >> brown: ray suarez examines the turnabout at augusta national golf club and its decision to accept women members. >> ifill: lindsey hilsum reports from the west african nation of mali, where al qaeda militants have seized a huge area of land. >> the rest of the world should not stand just to look at the situation. unless they would like to see another somalia or another afghanistan. >> brown: and judy woodruff talks to e.j. dionne about his new book, on america's political divide. that's all ahead on tonight's newshour. 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. >> ifill: a controversial remark from a senate candidate dominated politics today, with both president obama and mitt romney weighing in-- and taking other jabs as well. president obama, who has been pinning his re-election hopes on women voters, took advantage today of co

>> brown: ray suarez begins a special series about the impact of natural gas and oil surpluses in americatonight he's in a north dakota town trying to cope with its sudden prosperity. >> woodruff: track and field heats up at the london olympics as gymnastics winds down. we get the latest from christine brennan of "u.s.a. today." >> brown: and we remember robert hughes and judith crist, two legendary critics of the arts whose deaths remind us of another era. >> warner: that's all ahead on tonight's newshour. major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the en t

ray suarez sat down with some who say they are undecided in the swing state of virginia as they listenedinal night of the republican convention. >> suarez: virginia switched from being an historically "red" state to the "blue" column when it voted for president obama last time. now, the battleground state is too close to call. we gathered six northern virginia voters to watch governor romney's acceptance speech carefully, and with 67 days till election day, they're still undecided. martha paschal, 51, a life-long democrat who voted for the president in 2008, but says she's reluctant to do it again. adam salazar, a 26 year-old grad student, who considers himself a republican, but voted for president obama last election. annabel foery, 64, who voted republican in the last two presidential elections, but isn't sure she trusts governor romney and wants to see more cooperation on both sides to get things done. beth hersom, 30, a registered democrat who considers herself a swing voter. she voted for obama but declares herself "disappointed," particularly on the issue of abortion. ben harris, a

. >> woodruff: ray suarez continues our series on america's energy resources with a report from utahabout an unusual agreement to drill for gas on public lands. >> what we've shown here is that there are compromises that can be reached that protect the special places while still allowing for a robust level of natural gas and oil development. >> brown: margaret warner interviews supreme court justice antonin scalia about his new book, a guide for judges on how to interpret the text of the law. >> the trick for a judge is to see where the balance resides. it's like a murder mystery. there are clues pointing one way, pointing another way. which clues are more persuasive? >> woodruff: we have a report from beijing on the closely watched murder trial of gu kailai, the wife of a disgraced communist party official. >> brown: and we close with a look at the golden successes of women athletes at the london games. that's all ahead on tonight's newshour. major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by:

ray suarez has our report. >> suarez: hour after hour, the storm slowly plodded inland.vy winds and lashing rains radiated hundreds of miles from the eye, and up to 20 inches of rain was forecast in some places. louisiana governor bobby jindal issued a new warning this afternoon, in baton rouge. >> we ask people to use their common sense, exercise caution. if you are somewhere in an impacted parrish where you are safe we recommend you stay there. if you do not need to do not travel on these roads especially on these highly, these gusts, these strong winds as well as the chance for localized flooding. >> suarez: the storm pushed massive amounts of water into lowlands of the central gulf coast with surges up to 15 feet across the louisiana and mississippi coastlines. the full force began arriving last night, but was felt most today-- the seventh anniversary the storm has been relentless, the wind and rain have not slowed up since this whole thing started. >> suarez: but in st. tammany parish, across lake ponchartrain from new orleans, officials said it appeared the worst h

in previous stories, ray suarez has looked at the impact of oil production on some boomtowns and how a demand for natural gas is changing the business for coal and alternative fuels. tonight, ray visits utah. his focus: the use of public lands for private development. >> suarez: the banks of the white river in eastern utah are perfectly quiet in a way it's sometimes hard to find in a world of seven billion people. just the sounds of gently flowing water, a hint of a breeze, the occasional bird. the gorgeous vistas and rare solitude sit on public land, thousands of feet above a bonanza trapped deep in the earth. from high above, it's easy to see how the gas industry has changed the landscape, with gas wells by the thousands altering the fragile desert ecosystem. utah environmentalists say the view from the air and from the canyon floor illustrate why they want these public lands protected. >> you know what families find when they come here, what outfitters, what americans come for to experience this place? it's the quiet, it's the solitude, it's that you don't have the sights and sound

. >> brown: next, ray suarez continues his series about the changing energy picture in this country.ado, where natural gas is taking center stage, prompting questions about the future of both coal and alternative energy resources. >> suarez: for a long time, it was simple and straightforward here in colorado: the coal sits in big fat seams close to the surface. strip off a layer of soil, pull out the coal, burn it right next door to make electricity and sell what you don't burn right here. >> federal regulations have made it tougher to meet e.p.a. guidelines burning only coal. at the same time, the price of natural gas has been dropping, and we're finding it in more and more places, setting up a tough battle between coal companies and the natural gas industry. when the new regulations are fully phased in, colorado utilities are going to burn a lot less coal, converting some plants to burning natural gas, shutting others down all together. >> we went in and reformed all the rules. >> colorado's former governor brokered a deal with the state's largest electricity producer. >> over time

and on art beat, ray suarez talks to marcus samuelson, celebrity chef, restaurateur and best-selling author of a new memoir, "yes, chef." tonight on "need to know" on pbs, the grand plan of chicago mayor rahm emanuel seeks to rebuild the city's aging infrastructure without raising taxes. we have a link. all that and more is on our web site: newshour.pbs.org. and that's the "newshour" for tonight. on monday, we'll look at unfinished business congress left before its summer recess, from cyber-security to help for drought. we'll begin a multi-part look. i'm judy woodruff. >> brown: and i'm jeffrey brown. "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 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 station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by macneil/lehrer

ray suarez has our report. >> suarez: hour after hour, the storm slowly plodded inland.vy winds and lashing rains radiated hundreds of miles from the eye, and up to 20 inches of rain was forecast in some places. louisiana governor bobby jindal issued a new warning this afternoon, in baton rouge. >> we ask people to use their common sense, exercise caution. if you are somewhere in an impacted parrish where you are safe we recommend you stay there. if you do not need to do not travel on these roads especially on these highly, these gusts, these strong winds as well as the chance for localized flooding. >> suarez: the storm pushed massive amounts of water into lowlands of the central gulf coast with surges up to 15 feet across the louisiana and mississippi coastlines. the full force began arriving last night, but was felt most today-- the seventh anniversary the storm has been relentless, the wind and rain have not slowed up since this whole thing started. >> suarez: but in st. tammany parish, across lake ponchartrain from new orleans, officials said it appeared the worst h

ray suarez has our story. >> reporter: a nondescript office building in downtown san francisco may seemunlikely headquarters for one of the world's most prominent virus hunters, but it's where stanford university biologist nathan wolfe has setup his war room to monitor and study new, and potentially deadly, viruses emerging around the globe. the 41-year-old wolfe is the founder and director of the global viral forecasting initiative. the mission sounds simple but it's not: detect pandemics and stop them before they spread. how wolfe and his team do that is a mix of high tech detective work and old fashioned on the ground epidemiology research and it's the subject of his new book the viral storm-- the dawn of a new pandemic age. i sat down with wolfe in his office. >> what we're looking at is this interface between human and animal populations. and we're trying to catch the really early stages of these pandemics the moment at which frankly the pandemic is born. i always joke that if you go to you know ocean bean here in san francisco, you'll always see you know people running up and kiss