ray suarez examines the effort this time around. >> ifill: half the delegates here are women. we'll look at the democrats' efforts to maintain their gender edge. >> woodruff: and gwen and i will be joined again tonight for insight and analysis from newshour regulars mark shields and david brooks. >> ifill: 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. >> they can be enlightening or engaging. conversations help us learn and grow. at wells fargo, we believe you can never underestimate the power of a conversation. it's this exchange of ideas that helps you move ahead with confidence. because an open dialogue is what open doors. wells fargo. together we'll go far. 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 b

. >> suarez: and i'm ray suarez. on the newshour tonight, as the presidential candidates focus on the economy, what do the mixed signals mean? we get perspective from two economists. >> woodruff: then, we go on board navy ships in the persian gulf to watch a massive military exercise aimed at securing the strait of hormuz. >> we need to be prepared to deal with mines go in the water. this exercise is focused on the mine trip and demonstrating our able to clear mines. we have to be able to do that. >> suarez: the chinese communist party ousts a once-powerful politician and prepares to unveil its new leadership. margaret warner has our update. >> woodruff: mark shields and david brooks analyze the weeks news. >> suarez: and from our "american graduate" series, we take an encore look at the story of an eighth grader who turns to journalism to tackle violence in his middle school. >> if i didn't have a-- i would probably be let up with the wrong people and doing the wrong stuff. >> woodruff: that's all ahead on tonight's

ray suarez examines the effort this time around. >> ifill: half the delegates here are women. we'll look at the democrats' efforts to maintain their gender edge. >> woodruff: and gwen and i will be joined again tonight for insight and analysis from newshour regulars mark shields and david brooks. >> ifill: 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. >> they can be enlightening or engaging. conversations help us learn and grow. at wells fargo, we believe you can never underestimate the power of a conversation. it's this exchange of ideas that helps you move ahead with confidence. because an open dialogue is what open doors. wells fargo. together we'll go far. and by the alfred p. sloan foundation. supporting science, technology, and iroved economic performan andinanal 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 contri

ray suarez looks at the effort to win latino votes this fall. >> suarez: a young mayor becomes the firstino to keynote a democratic convention. >> my grandmother spent her whole life working as a maid, a cook and a babysitter, barely scraping by, but still working hard to give my mother, her only child, a chance in life, so that my mother could give my brother and me an even better one. >> suarez: last week in tampa, a young u.s. senator became the first latino keynoter ever at a major party convention. >> my dad used to tell us: "en este pais, ustedes van a poder lograr todas las cosas que nosotros no pudimos." "in this country, you will be able to accomplish all the things we never could." >> suarez: that's no coincidence. the 2010 census counted more than 50 million latinos in the united states. new mexico's former governor, bill richardson, who ran for president himself in 2008, says a threshold has been crossed. >> we're the real deal now. we've been the sleeping giant, but we've woken up, just because of our numbers. >> suarez: turnout is key. on average, latinos have lower incomes

ray suarez has more. >> suarez: in addition to those who leave school without a diploma, there are millions more who are underperformers, failing classes, and falling behind. what happens when students drop out? our american... are american schools any good at providing a flexible path to graduation for those who have already checkd out? are schools doing enough to grab kids with potential before failure and negative reinforcement leads them to drop out? my guests' lives and work makes them unusually qualified to tackle those questions. stephanie krauss is a former dropout who runs an education institution in st. louis which operates a charter high school for high-risk students. adam stelts er i a nasa enginee. he helped design the landing for the curiosity mission to mars but once came close to dropping out of high school himself. we profile professor victor rees, a former gang member and high school dropout who now studies young men like himself. he teaches sociology at the university of california santa barbara. professor rees, if you failed classes, if you've missed credits, do we set t

somewhere down on the floor with all that confetti and dancing is our own ray suarez, right. >> suarezi'm not dancing myself. but it is an interesting reaction that this crowd has had. there were questions as to democrats came to charlotte, just what kind of party they were going to throw here. when so many of the numbers being sampled from americans showed some disappointment in the president, some disappointment in the way things had gone. how it's being received out in the country is for analysts and commentators and fact checkers, frankly, that in this hall the activists of the democratic party appear to be united, optimistic and energized. these are the people who are going to run state campaigns, these are the people who are going to canvas districts, these are the people who are going to continue to raise money all the way to november. and they think they have a winner or at least they say they do. >> woodruff: i don't know about you but we're getting confetti right up here in the sky box. you look relatively unscathed so far. >> i have people to take care of. >> ifill: let's go

. >> ifill: let's get started right down to the floor to ray suarez who will be with us tonight and theest of the conventions. ray suare. >> suarez: we will hear from senate majority leader harry reid of november and house minority leader nancy pelosi of california. later on there will be video tributes, the first to fermenter president jimmy carter and one to the late senator edward kennedy of massachusetts. and of course much later tonight as judy mentioned, the keynote from the 37 year old mayor of san antonio texas, hoolian julit trocastroand michelle obama, tht lady of the united states. >> woodruff: mark shields and draifd brooks were with us last weak in tampa and they are here with us in charlotte. what does this line up tonight say to you what the democrats, what barack obama wants to accomplish. >> michelle obama isç obviously the mostç interesting one. just as romney needed to be, still president obama needs to be humanized a little. he's a bit ensue her. motivation behind healthcare and the turmoil to do a lot of things; even though the overall rates is high and has been p

i'm ray suarez. >> woodruff: and i'm judy woodruff. "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 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

ray suarez takes a look at the conclusion of that city's teacher strike. >> suarez: chicago mayor rahmnuel greeted students and faculty at frederic chopin elementary school this morning, as the nation's third largest school district went back to work. >> good morning, mr. mayor, how are you. >> suarez: the welcome back for some 350,000 students and more than 26,000 teachers and support staff, followed a seven-day strike, the first by the chicago teachers union in 25 years. but tuesday evening, some 800 union delegates cheered after a nearly unanimous vote to end the strike. >> we got what we wanted. that's what it seems like. i'm just glad we're going back to work that's all. >> suarez: two days earlier, the delegates had balked at returning to work, as they demanded more time to study the tentative deal. but union president karen lewis welcomed the ultimate outcome last night. >> we feel very positive about moving forward. we feel grateful that we have a united union and that when a union moves together, amazing things happen. >> suarez: leaders of the city's public school district al

ray suarez has our report. some images in this story are graphic. >> suarez: they've been called "the sopranos" of the afghan war, and the pakistan-based haqqani group have pulled off some of the bloodiest attacks in the u.s.'s 11-year war in afghanistan. secretary of state hillary clinton explained the order in a statement, saying this country will "continue our robust campaign of diplomatic, military, and intelligence pressure on the network, demonstrating the united states' resolve to degrade the organization's ability to execute violent attacks." in 2008, it's believed the group launched an assault on the indian embassy in kabul, killing 54 and wounding hundreds. in september 2011, 77 u.s. soldiers were wounded and five afghans were killed during a reported haqqani truck bombing. the network struck again a few weeks later, allegedly attacking the u.s. embassy and nato headquarters simultaneously. 16 afghans were killed after a 19-hour gunfight. and the haqqanis have held u.s. sergeant bowe bergdahl in captiv

. >> ifill: let's get started right down to the floor to ray suarez who will be with us tonight and theest of the conventions. ray suare. >> suarez: we will hear from senate majority leader harry reid of november and house minority leader nancy pelosi of california. later on there will be video tributes, the first to fermenter president jimmy carter and one to the late senator edward kennedy of massachusetts. and of course much later tonight as judy mentioned, the keynote from the 37 year old mayor of san antonio texas, hoolian julit trocastroand michelle obama, tht lady of the united states. >> woodruff: mark shields and draifd brooks were with us last weak in tampa and they are here with us in charlotte. what does this line up tonight say to you what the democrats, what barack obama wants to accomplish. >> michelle obama isç obviously the mostç interesting one. just as romney needed to be, still president obama needs to be humanized a little. he's a bit ensue her. motivation behind healthcare and the turmoil to do a lot of things; even though the overall rates is high and has been p

. >> woodruff: from our american graduate series, ray suarez reports on growing pains for north dakota schools brought on by the oil boom. >> i always make it very clear to any perspective teachers of what they are really getting themselves into. i tell them this is the new wild west. >> brown: on the "daily download," we examine how the candidates are using video games to push early voting. >> woodruff: and regular pro referees are back on the football field tonight after three weeks of questionable calls by replacements. we talk to npr's mike pesca about the deal struck with the nfl. >> brown: 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 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 you

ray suarez has the story. >> suarez: students, faculty and trustees at florida a&m university, commonly"famu", gathered yesterday for a town hall on hazing. it was their latest effort to deal with an issue that made headlines last november. that's when drum major robert champion died after he was severely beaten in a hazing ritual by members of the school's popular marching band. 11 famu band members now face felony hazing charges, and on sunday, the school played its first football game in decades without the marching band. the band is suspended for a year. yesterday, the student body vice president said he hoped the town hall would mark a turning point. >> we've had these before but none like this. today was different, today was inclusion. today, you saw students that were a part of it, that were excited about it, that were standing up saying, "i commit to end hazing." >> suarez: that may be easier said than done. as the 1988 movie "school daze" depicted, at many schools, hazing has been a rite of initiation in fraternities, sororities and other organizations for generations. but the

ray suarez has the story. >> suarez: the seasonal shrinkage in arctic ice is more extensive than ever before as seen in this animation. the rate of melting increases in e spring and summer months and reaches its peak in september. according to the national snow and ice data center the low point came on sunday when ice covered just 24% of the arctic ocean. the previous low of 29% was set in 2007. walt meier is a research scientist at the national ice and snow data center. his work specialized in sea ice and its impact on climate and, walt meier, as we mentioned, there's always a freeze-and-thaw cycle during the year. what was different about 2012? >> this year was different in that it was the lowest we've ever seen in our satellite record which dates back to 1979 and it kind of-- it puts an exclamation point on a long-term trend thate've been seeing over those years since 1979 of less and less sea ice at the end of each summer and this year was much less than anything we had seen before. >> suarez: when you talk about a long-term trend, how far back to the records go. close observation

ray suarez has our story. >> suarez: albert is a maintenance man at a las vegas casino. when he came to this country from cuba 30 years ago, his goal was to buy a house for his wife and children. in 2006, he made that happen. >> this was my dream. i worked two jobs, no vacation. finally i get the savings to give the downpayment for the house. >> suarez: he paid $395,000 with $100,000 downpayment. the nevada economy was booming. jobs were plentiful thanks to a sustained burst of commercial and residential construction. just two years later, the bottom fell out. housing prices plummeted. new construction stopped. and more than 60% of las vegas residents found themselves underwater, holding mortgages bigger than the value of their properties. his house was suddenly worth less than half of what he paid. on top of that, his wifeost her job. so you were underwater. >> i was underwater. suarez: if that kept on going that way, would you have lost the house? >> yes. i definitely would have lost the house if that kept going. >> suarez: but he heard about a government program calle