my god, their teeth are all block and rotten. i had never seen this before. what happened. >> woodruff: mark shields and david brooks analyze the week's news. >> brown: and we look at the dashed hopes for a triple crown winner this year as the colt i'll have another is scratched from the belmont stakes after a leg injury. >> woodruff: that's all ahead on tonight's newshour. 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. >> 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: partisan shots were fired in washington and on the campaign trail today over how to bolster the u.s. economy and protect it from europe's looming debt woes. the day began with a presidential press conference. >> good morning. >> brown: president obama had economic troubles on his mind this morning as he took to the white house briefing podium five months before election day and urged european leaders to take action to deal with their growing crisis. >> they've got to stabilize their financial system. part of that is taking clear action as soon as possible to inject capital into weak banks. just as important, leaders can lay out a framework and a vision for a stronger euro-zone. >> brown: the president made clear that the fortunes of the u.s. are linked to europe's. >> if there is less demand for our products in places like paris or madrid, it could mean less businesses... or less business for manufacturers in places like pittsburgh or milwaukee. >> brown: president obama's call to european leaders came after several days of tough blows at home and abroad. the most recent unemployment report showed weak job growth. and news came that spain would likely ask the euro-zone for help recapitalizing its banks. that would make it the latest e.u. member nation to seek financial assistance. in addition, there was new concern over china-- the country's central bank just decided to cut interest rates in the face of a slowing economy. this morning, the president also took the opportunity to criticize congressional republicans for wrongly focusing their recovery efforts on tax cuts. >> the private sector is doing fine. what they should be thinking about is how do we help state and local governments, and how do we help the construction industry, because the recipes that they're promoting are basically the kinds of policies that would add weakness to the... to the economy. >> brown: republicans were quick to respond. house majority leader eric cantor: >> are you kidding? did he see the job numbers that came out last week? the private sector is not doing fine. i'd ask the president to stop engaging in the blame game. it's not because of the headwinds of europe. it's not despite his attempt and his party's attempts here in congress. it is not because of house republicans. it's because of the failed stimulus policies and other items in his agenda that small businesses in this country just aren't growing. >> brown: and on the campaign trail in iowa, mitt romney said the president is "out of touch." >> for the president of the united states to stand up and say the private sector is doing fine is going to go down in history. it's an extraordinary miscalculation and misunderstanding. >> brown: in the oval office a short time later, the president sought to clarify his remark about the private sector. >> the economy is not doing fine. and that's precisely why i asked congress to start taking some steps that can make a difference. >> brown: as sparring continued over policies to spur u.s. economic growth, the week made it even more clear that politicians, as well as businesses around the country, must keep a wary eye on europe's woes and signs of a further global slowdown. and we take our own look now at the global impact on u.s. economic growth. we're joined by nariman behravesh, chief economist with i.h.s., an economic and industry forecasting firm. and drew greenblatt, president of marlin steel wire products, a baltimore manufacturing company that exports to 34 countries around the world. nariman behravesh, let's start with you, where do the links between say europe and the u.s. show up? where are the concerns for our economy? >> well, there are two basic linkages between the u.s. and europe. one is exports to europe. the good news is at the national level they're actually not that big. we only export 2% of our gdp to europe, basically. to the yurdz. compare that with 70% of the economy, this consumer spending. so it's fairly small. that's one link. the other is the banking system. here the vulnerability is a little bit bigger. any kind of pullback by european banks or credit tightening in europe could have global ramifications including for u.s. banks. again good news is u.s. banks are reducing their vulnerability to europe and the european credit situation. but still that vulnerable is there. >> brown: drew greenblatt are you in the business, you make the linkment how specifically dot economic trouble notice europe affect your company? >> it's to the good. when the europeans are slowing down that means they're buying less. and that's to the good for us in terms of growing our business and hiring more people. however, south america, canada, mexico, asia is still plugging away. the american economy is still plugging away. so europe going down and muddling is not good for anybody. and it's troubling. and we need them to get healthy. >> brown: drew greenblatt fill that in a little more what dow hear from european clients what do they tell you, and therefore how does it translate, well, specifically to jobs? >> there's uncertainty. they are very scared. they're concerned about the future. and when you are uncertain you hesitate. and hesitation is bad for business. because what that means is you are not going to hire the next person. you're not going to buy more equipment. you're not going to be bold to grow your company. and that means there is going to be less orders sent to america. that means less jobs for us to create to fulfill those orders that are not coming from europe. we need europe to be vibrant and growing so that we can have a good client, a good prospect to sell to. >> brown: nariman behravesh, mr. green bratt brought up china and latin america, but there are also concerns there. china as we said in our set up and brazil has had a slowdown in its economic growth. what's your assessment of how that may impact the u.s.? >> well, again, there will be an impact on export, we know that because they will be exporting more to brazil and china. the slowdown in china may be more troubling to many u.s. companies because so many of them have developed a growth strategy around china. so in that sense, china may be more important than europe almost to the u.s. economy. let me just reflect on one positive aspect of all of this. and that is because of the weakness in china, because of the weakness in europe, oil prices and commodity prices, food prices have all gone down it this is good news for u.s. consumers, that means there is more money in their pocket its and they will spend more. in that sense it's not all bad news. >> i will stay with you, nariman, we're all happy to have the good news but on china specifically, is that sort of a surprise for a lot of companies, because so much of the u.s. economy has been based on, or at least requiring continued very strong growth in china so where does that leave people now? >> well, i think it gives them pause, obviously. and it makes them a little more careful about putting all their eggs in the chinese basket so, to speak. i think everybody expected china to great 8-- grow 8, 9, 10%. and at this rate i think they will be lucky to grow 7%. they're slowing very dramatically, mostly because there are really two reasons, a double-whammy, if you will. one is the fact that the global economy is slowing, u.s. is sluggish, europe is in a recession. but the other is the chinese had a real estate bubble and the government tried to deflate it or burst it. and that is hurting their growth. so you have a domestic source of weakness and an international source of weakness, export source of weakness for china it is sort of a double shock, if you will, that they are being hit with. >> so drew greenblatt you want to fill in how this affects you, china specifically with a business like yours and what you are hearing from other companies? >> we're bullish about american manufacturing. we're bullish about the prospects of america. we are, our country has a very good situation in that we have international property rights. we have the rule of law. so these things are really helping factories right now decide where they're going to put future factories. companies are making decisions now. do i put my next plant in china. do i put my next plarbt in mexico. do i put my next plant in cleveland. and i think a lot of people are reconsidering where they are putting their plants in light of the slowdown in china n light of the slowdown in europe. our country is poised for good things, i think in the future. and i think right now we're at an inflection point. and if we make a couple positive changes internally, we're going to attract a lot more business and a lot more factories to our country. we're shipping more now to china than we do to europe and i expect that to grow because i think the chinese economy will continue growing. we, but mexico and canada are definitely our biggest markets. >> and nariman briefly to close here, how much does all this uncertainty over american politics, what we started our show with are the fighting and infighting that no doubt will continue, how much do you hear that affecting businesses, the people you talk to? >> well, clearly they're very worried about so the called fiscal cliff at the end of this year. but that said, i think our view is that nobody in washington wants to be blamed for killing the economy so they will come together and, in fact, come up with some kind of compromise. just sort of basically drags out or phases out the, or phases in the austerity. just to paraphrase winston churchill, americans can be counted on to do the right thing after they have tried everything else. and i think we're in one of those situations in washington these days. >> brown: all right. >> if i could add. >> brown: real quick. >> if i could add, that fiscal cliff is a big deal it adds a lot of uncertainty to american business. and at the end of this year we're going to have almost 20% increase in taxes and take away of deductions, this is very troubling to american factories, american entrepreneurs. job creators right now are pausing. and we need some clarity. we need washington to make some decisions in a positive way to improve our future economic climate. >> brown: drew greenblatt in baltimore o nariman we re rev-- behravesh thank you very much. >> woodruff: still to come on the newshour: the clashes between syrian troops and rebels forces; junk food and tooth problems in el salvador; shields and brooks; and the horse i'll have another out of the running at the belmont. but first, the other news of the day. here's kwame holman. >> holman: stocks on wall street rebounded to their best week of the year, in spite of continuing concerns over the global economy and how europe's woes will impact the u.s. the dow jones industrial average gained 93 points to close at 12,554. the nasdaq rose 27 points to close at 2,858. fothe week, the dow gained more than 3.5%; the nasdaq rose 4%. the commander of u.s. and nato forces in afghanistan apologized for the deaths of civilians in an air strike earlier this week. the operation on wednesday was targeting a taliban leader, but also killed women, children, and village elders celebrating a wedding. general john allen flew to the area today to deliver his regrets personally to family members and provincial officials. >> we will do the right thing in terms of compensation and in terms of restoring, rebuilding that home. and we've got work to do in terms of the investigation. but we will fully investigate this. we deeply regret the lots of innocent human life >> holman: across the border in pakistan today, a bomb tore through a bus carrying government employees and killed 19 people. the bus was near the city of peshawar when the bomb went off with a timing device. no group has claimed responsibility, but the area is a haven for taliban militants. president obama had strong words for those claiming the white house has leaked top secret details of its anti-terrorism programs. the president insisted he has zero tolerance for leaks of classified national security information. congress is investigating leaks after several detailed news accounts about u.s. drone attacks and cyber espionage. the president spoke directly to the charge by some republicans the administration may have leaked the information for political gain. >> the notion that my white house would purposefully release class side-- classified national security information is offensive. it's wrong and people i think need to have a better sense of how i approach this office and how the people around me approach this office. >> holman: the president also said the administration will carry out its own investigation into the leaks. suicides among u.s. forces are on the rise this year. according to the pentagon, military suicides now are averaging nearly one per day. 154 active-duty service members took their lives in the first 155 days of this year. that's an 18% increase over the same period last year. suicide deaths also now are outpacing the number of u.s. combat troops killed in afghanistan. some research has pointed to multiple tours of duty and post- traumatic stress as contributing to the rise in suicides. federal health officials ruled today that treatment for 50 types of cancer should be covered by a 9/11 victims fund. the $4.3 billion fund was set up to compensate and treat people exposed to toxic dust that fell on new york after the world trade center buildings collapsed. originally, only people suffering from less serious ailments, such as asthma, were eligible. now, those with the named types of cancer may qualify if they can connect their illness to the dust. the proposal also will go through a public comment period. those are some of the day's major stories. now, back to judy. >> woodruff: and we turn to syria, where violent clashes erupted again between government forces and the opposition. ray suarez has our report. >> suarez: friday morning brought a new barrage of shelling in the city of homs. amateur video captured a series of explosions in one of the rebel-held neighborhoods, plumes of smoke rising into the sky. in damascus, u.n. observers again departed for the small farming town of mazraat al- qubair in hama province, where yesterday they came under fire. today, they were able to reach the site where activists say at least 78 people were killed earlier this week. deborah amos of npr news was with u.n. monitors earlier today and joins us now from damascus by phone. >> we walked into buildings, there were carpets that were blood soaked. there was gore still on the floor. you could see low shots and some of the witnesses who did step forward say that is where the children were shot. these were low down am you can imagine them crouching before they were killed. there was dead animals in the dirt there, buildings were scorched. a couple of buildings had giant what looked like shell holes, big holes that sort of blew out ot sides of these places. so whatever happened in this village, it was pretty horrific. >> are there any witnesses to what did happen in the village who can tell how it all went down? how this unfolded. >> when we were still out on the road, on the way to the village, a man drove on a motorcycle and says his sons and his brothers and his cousins had all been killedment he was the first one to give us a number at about 78. and he said it was pro government militias from neighboring villages who came in to do the killing. there were fresh graves dug right behind the mosque in the villagement and these young people said to us what happened is the military came in on thursday. and said you will bury all of the dead before the u.n. gets here. and they did. so there was no bodies to see. that forensic evidence was lost. and the investigators, you know, said that is going to be a problem. it's going to be hard to sort out how these people were killed without being able to see the bodies. and they're already buried. >> suarez: the months of violence have forced ten of thousands to flee to refugee camps like this one in turkey. the turkish prime minister, recep tayyip erdogan, lashed out at those who haven't come to the aid of the syrian people. >> ( translated ): those who watch the massacres taking place in hama and in other cities across syria silently, indifferently, and without any reaction should know that the blood that is being shed will splatter across their own faces and consciences. >> it is an honor to welcome here to the state department the joint special envoy, former secretary general... >> suarez: secretary of state hillary clinton met with the head of international effort in syria, u.n. special envoy kofi annan in washington today. >> everyone is looking for a solution. some say the plan may be dead. is the problem the plan or the problem is implementation? so, all these questions are now being discussed, and we are also exploring how we can work with other governments in the region and around the world to achieve our goals. >> suarez: but those injured in the conflict, like this woman who had both legs amputated, have grown impatient with the international response. >> ( translated ): i think they are much too talkative. there is no implementation. too many people have been killed. >> suarez: still, residents across syria took the streets in protest after friday prayers, hoping the regime of bashar al assad will soon come to an end. >> brown: this week, we've reported extensively on the health impacts of soda and junk food and some moves in this country to counter them. tonight, from our occasional reports from journalism students around country, a story about the situation in el salvador. producer roberto daza and correspondent carl nasman are graduates of the journalism school at the university of california berkeley. a note: there are some images that viewers may find disturbing. >> reporter: this is santa ana, el salvador, where the american shopping mall-- and diet-- have arrived. it's el salvador's second largest city, but the food and the waistlines are straight out of the united states. companies like pepsi, coca-cola, and mcdonald's have become part of the local diet. junk food here is cheap, and it's everywhere, from the mall to the most remote villages. in cities like santa ana, junk food is leading to a very american problem-- obesity. but in the countryside, it's causing something different. we're headed into the mountains about two hours north of san salvador. out here, there's still plenty of junk food for sale, but there's little or no access to proper dental care. this mobile clinic is one of the few places to see a dentist. it's run by a local non-profit called asaprosar, which provides free health services in rural areas. dentists like jorge graniello treat children with mouths full of painful, rotting teeth. >> ( translated ): there's many cavities, there are many signs of tooth decay. there are some that are rotten down to the roots. >> reporter: dentists here say they're seeing an epidemic of tooth decay across the countryside. more than half of the smiles at today's clinic look just like this. they blame the sugar and starch from junk food, and a lack of education about dental care. >> ( translated ): it's sad to see that the child could have been better if the parent had known that the only way to prevent a cavity is with a toothbrush. and that is a sad part of the story. >> reporter: silvia canales is one of the nearly 100 mothers at today's clinic. she says her daughter's mouth pain made it difficult to eat. >> ( translated ): she told me that it hurt. it hurt and the tooth was inflamed and swelled up here. >> reporter: most parents here can't afford to take their children to a dentist. but even with a high level of poverty, health experts say kids teeth used to be better. >> i was shocked... >> reporter: one of the first to notice a decline in dental health was karen sokal- gutierrez, a pediatrician and professor at u.c. berkeley. she showed us pictures from 30 years ago, when kids had healthy teeth. but just one generation later, the photos look different. >> this is a child who has all of the teeth on the bottom rotten and all of the teeth on the top. years later, when i'd go into a village and the kids would come flock around us and hug us and smile, and that's when i saw, "oh, my god, their teeth are all black and rotten." i'd never seen this before. what happened? so, you want to treat your patient... >> reporter: professor gutierrez and her team of volunteers work on the ground in el salvador, training health workers and donating supplies. she estimates that 85% of kids in rural areas of el salvador have tooth decay, and nearly half experience mouth pain leading to serious problems, like jaw infections, tooth loss, and malnutrition. she puts much of the blame on snack food imported from the united states. with sales peaking at home, american companies are searching for new markets. in 2009, 25% of coca-cola's operating profits came from latin america. and last year, nearly half of pepsi's sales were from outside the u.s. >> the marketing of junk food, candy, chips, soda at very low price really takes advantage of the poorest people. they're trying to show this image that if you drink soda or eat the junk food, you'll be healthy, happy, modern. >> reporter: but coke and pepsi insist their products should not be singled out for the rise in tooth decay. in a statement for the newshour, pepsico officials said: "with basic dental hygiene practices, people have enjoyed our products for decades without risk to their dental health." coca-cola officials said in a statement: "we believe that parents should decide what their children eat and drink. any food or beverage containing sugars and starches, including some of our beverages, can contribute to the development of cavities." >> reporter: but in el salvador, it's not just imported soda and chips. local companies also churn out cheap, unhealthy food. the local brand of cola costs less than a quarter. and soda here is super-sized. these three-liter bottles are bigger than most youd find in the united states. >> ( translated ): i have three liters of orange soda and pepsi. >> reporter: just down the road from the dental clinic, we find kids buying soda and chips from a store next to the local school. pedro lemus is the owner. >> ( translated ): what the kids ask for the most are these chips. >> reporter: he sells more than 100 bags of chips each day. >> ( translated ): at about 10:00 in the morning, i know that they need something in their stomach-- juice, soda, pastries, a treat. i know junk food isn't healthy, but they want it and i have to take advantage of what they want. >> reporter: in the countryside, tortillas are still made the old-fashioned way. but local health officials say the change in diet is a matter of economics. >> ( translated ): we ate real food. food and fruit carts would go by selling chilled fruit and real food. but now, junk food is cheaper. this shouldn't be. how is it possible that a tortilla chip is cheaper than a tortilla? >> reporter: the salvadoran association for rural health, or asaprosar, is doing what it can to stem the damage with free dental clinics and health classes. the lessons include what not to put in the baby bottle. >> ( translated ): when mothers don't know better, when they don't have milk to put their kid to sleep, the put soda, coffee, lemonade, or sugar water in the baby bottle. >> reporter: both pepsi and coca-cola have pledged to stop marketing directly to kids. but their products and other snack foods are as popular as ever. >> ( translated ): whenever i go shopping, she says, "mommy, bring me sweets, bring me candy." and she starts to cry if i don't bring it. i tell her they're not good for you. but i always give her candy, always. >> reporter: for parents here, prevention is a big part of dealing with the american diet. but like moms everywhere know, it can be hard to say no to your kids. >> brown: online, you can find our earlier reports on the spike in childhood obesity and the proposed tax on sodas in richmond, california. >> woodruff: and to the analysis of shields and brooks. that is syndicated columnist mark shields and "new york times" columnist david brooks. gentlemen, welcome. good to have you here. so the president today called a news conference to urge european leaders, david, to do something about the debt crisis. he said it's solvable but he's clearly worried about it. is he right to be talking about it this way? >> absolutely. you know this is the biggest problem in front of us it is quite likely that greece will leave the euro which will have a negative effect on europe and on us. not some of of our exports but because of confidence. some forecasting models predict they will shrink our growth to 1.7. now if greece leaves which is more likely it's possible spain, bank runs, there is already slow motion bank runs, spain, italy, all the peripheral countries. there is a significant possibility, 20, 30, 40% of a complete meltdown across the eurozone. if that happens, if you talk to many economists, ir's looking at a financial crisis worth than 2008 so it's a completely appropriate the president is talking about this, warning people. b that he is active trying to do something and there is some talk could he be more involved because right now what's happening is sort of a game of chicken in europe where the span rich saying well you have to help us out. but we're not really going to give away much sovereignty. the germans say you need a structural reform. they are playing a dangerous game over there and it's extremely dang rao-- dangerous force. i think the administration policy is quite good right now. the question is whether it should be more aggressive having a public sum wit germany, some other countries and really getting beyond the european political situation and getting us all involved. >> is so is his involvement about the right amount, mark, or what. >> i think the results will determine that. if it does work and europe can come together with the president playing a role, then it will have been good. but his fortune as well as the fortune of this country is tied so inextricably to europe. and to the rest of the world. the interdependence. it isn't just happening in greece or in spain. it's felt everywhere and it's felt here and we're in an election year, you may have noticed. >> yes. >> woodruff: he also talked, mark, today about the u.s. economy and about what needs to be done about it. and he got in a little hot water about the way he talked about the private sector. he said it's doing fine compared to the public sector but david, he went on to make 9 point that congress needs to pass his jobs plan. he says what we need to do right now is get that money out there to the state and local governments or hiring people and for infrastructure is that an approach that makes sense. >> i think he's got some solid ground that the layoffs of the public sector workers have not helped. the thousands of teachers, other state employees, that clearly has not helped. it would be nice if we could have more money to pay for them. but the idea of stimulus package is to stimulatement and to stimulate small business, stimulate private sector activitiment and so far that hasn't happened and really there is no option on the table that in the near term will do that since this financial crisis started the u.s. has borrowed an additional $6 trillion. if we brother row, and all that money has been pumped into the economy, let alone what the fed has done. if we pump in another f it goes from 6 trillion to 6.2 trillion, do we really think the economy will get humming. i really do not think so so i'm not sure. i think he has a very great faith and keynesian stimulus but the amount we are doing is awesome right now. doing a little more. >> how do you see it. >> i think he has to do something and i think the case its president makes about 500,000 public employees, while the private sector is not doing fine, but there have been 4 million jobs created in the private sector since the spring of 2010. and so but obviously the grain and the drawdown from 500,000 public sector job, abolished, eliminated. and as well, what that does to the quality of national and public life. i think that is part of a president's concern as well as the gdp. >> but is he -- >> i would just say if you, as we heard earlier in the program, if you are thinking whether to expand, you have got europe really maybe on the verge of a cataclysm. as we heard earlier, you have the fiscal cliff, the chinese showndown. the indian slowdown there are many, many reasons to pull back. and you can stimulate if people are leaning forward wanting to stimulate but there is so much else going on in the world, i'm not sure will you get much private growth with all this other structural stuff really underlying it. >> woodruff: does that leave him almost helpless? i mean clearly he's working on the european. >> yeah, no, on the european. i just don't think will get any reaction out of the republican house. we now reached a point where we are into symbolic legislating, you can pass something in the democratic senate, whether it is equal pay and equal protection law and make the other side look bad. and it's a legit mass piece of legislation but it is to the going pass the republican house. the republican house can do its things in cutting taxes or whatever, in particular groups or interests. and that isn't gos to go anywhere in the senate or have the president sign it i think per's at loggerheads at this point. >> woodruff: wisconsin, there was a governor, recall vote this week, governor scott walker the republican survived. how much is that bad news for democrats across the country and for the president, mark? >> i think it's very much of a cold shower. power is the perception of power. if i think you have poer with, david thinks you have power, you have power. once your power is exposed or the lack of it, and certainly in the case of organized labor there was the sense that this is where public unions began, it was a blue state and i think in this sense, it was a real blow to organized labor politically involvement as well as towards membership because of the new wisconsin law. add to that, judy, i think you have two approaches to campaigns, what i call the organized, versus the proselytize, we are going to go out and persuade people to support our candidate. the organized is we are just going to get our people, all the ones on our side to turn out. i think they did that very well. they got all the vote these were going to get in wisconsin. >> the labor, democrats. >> but i think that has been the model. seems to be the model for president o billiona's re-election, is organized and i think they have to think in terms of message is important. money is important. and i think money spoke loudly in this. >> i don't think was the money. i think it was the issue we are went through many decades where city kos promise pension ben fitsd, pay for health-care benefit its and also pay for schools and prisons and all the other stuff that is over. we're now in it, this age of austerity where the pension benefits, health benefits, all that stuff is just gobbling up the budget and people have to make a choice do. we want to pay for this or that. and as we see we saw in wisconsin, we saw in san diego, when people want to make those choices their per section-- perception and i think it an accurate one is that so benefits and pensions got out of control and they have to be racheted back so we can request:pay for this other stuff. i think what happened we entered an era of austerity where the old model is handing out benefit, making lavish promises. it's better, that's got toned. and so i really don't think this matters for obama in november. you know, whatever it was, 17, 18% of the people who voted for obama say they will vote for obama also voted for scott walker. >> right. >> i think 38% of union households voted for scott walker. and so you know i'm not not sure it has that message but it's the end of a certain style of welfare. >> what about that. >> i think there are two things. we're watching a public debate that has never really started. if you are for public library, spaces, transportation, education, public recreation t that is what government does. but if you can afford to buy private security and private ed case and private club memberships and private trainers, it is a public versus private debate and i think it's overdue in this country and i think the democrats have really letdown the side of the value of the public sector in our lives. >> what dow mean. >> i don't think this administration or the president or leading democrats make the case that government does make your life better whether it is the medicine your children take safe or the food that you eat safe, i mean all the things that are done every single day. but i think this is part of the debate that's coming. at least it should come, judy. but i would add i think it's important because the model, when you win an election politics are entirely derivative and imitative. what the republicans found out, to disagree with david, is if you can get enough people to write check force millions of dollars you can tie down your opponent. you can spend money to force your opponent to defend what his territory and what is presumed, whether it is pennsylvania, whether it's new jersey. if you have got enough money. i think that will be the models. the republicans will take out of wisconsin we can do this with 7 figure contributions. >> woodruff: you are saying that was partly determinive. >> i think when you succeed you look at the formula and draw from that. i think what they will draw from it is major contributions will give us options and give us an advantage that we obviously didn't --. john mccain didn't have. he was outspent 2-1 by obama in 2008. >> first i would say it's not is public versus public. what schools in milwaukee and all around the state of wisconsin have discovered when the reforms were made is they could save money on health insurance and stuff they were forced to pay for before and put that money into education and school it is two different public costs and how we will rebral public budgets. i think that is the debate. >> i agree with that. >> as for the money, i think the money is not going to affect, first of all i don't think it had a huge affect in this race it was very similar. we had an election two years ago. >> woodruff: let it be noted mark just dopely side. >> a sign of deep disrespect. >> these two guys just ran against each other and the results were very similar. and the final thing i will say is about the presidential election, they are going to be running in 12 states. both campaigns will have plenty of money. money will not be an issue in the presidential races i think it will be in the congressional races. >> woodruff: the fact that romney outraised obama 77 million to 60 million in may, does is that a one time thing. >> no, it's significant. the republican race is over now. there's no reason if are you a republican to sit on the sidelines whether you support santorum or didn't want to make a pick. to come back with where republicans are going to be, they want to beat barack obama. and they will open up their wallets and open up their security safety boxes. they are going-- the family jewels are going to be brought in, i'm telling you. >> we consider the two of you our family jewels, david books,-- brooks, mark shields, thank you. >> woodruff: and mark and david keep up the talk on the "doubleheader." that's on our web site coming up after this program. >> brown: we'll be back shortly with the end, once again, of a triple crown bid. but first, this is pledge week on pbs. this break allows your public television station to ask for your support, and that support helps keep programs like ours on the air. >> woodruff: for those stations not taking a pledge break, we take an encore look at president abraham lincoln and his evolving legacy. hari sreenivasan toured the new ford's theatre center for education and leadership here in washington, d.c., along with historian richard norton smith. >> sreenivasan: walking into the new theater center is like taking a step back in time to the cobblestone streets of washington on april 16, 1865, the day after president abraham lincoln's death. newspaper headlines cover the walls of the new exhibit which opened today in a building across the street from ford's theater, where the president was assassinated. >> you walk to the third floor and you come to this more thematic, less chronological treatment. >> reporter: presidential historian richard norton smith who helped design the center says its mission is to examine how lincoln has influenced americans great and small since his death. in part, that influence is symbolized by the 34-foot high book tower that connects the center's three floors. it's made of aluminum and represents some of the roughly 15,000 works written about lincoln. >> the story didn't end on april 15. in some ways, the story begins. the story of what we want lincoln to be. which lincoln are we talking about? the evolution of the posthumous lincoln. it's like a mirror held up to the evolution of the country itself. >> sreenivasan: it's almost like his words and possibly his life is a poem to be constantly reinterpreted. i mean, over your shoulder are two very different presidents using his words. >> absolutely. nowhere has lincoln's posthumous influence been greater than on the presidency itself. the classic example of how everyone needs to, as one historian says, get right with lincoln. we have eisenhower and franklin roosevelt. ike from the right, fdr from the left-- each of them admiring lincoln. there's a quote, a famous quote about the role of government. talk about something contemporary. well, both eisenhower and fdr regarded it as their favorite lincoln quote. in fact, barack obama quoted from the same passage in his state of the union address. >> i'm a democrat. but i believe what republican abraham lincoln believed-- that government should do for people only what they cannot do better by themselves and no more. ( applause ) >> you can take away from lincoln almost anything that you want. presidents in war time, embattled presidents, unpopular presidents-- they all look to lincoln. he's their patron saint because no president was more embattled or more unpopular than lincoln was during his presidency. we think he was born on mount rushmore. not so. theodore roosevelt hung his picture in the president's office and said, "whenever i have a major decision to make, i always ask myself would lincoln would do." woodrow wilson, who was a son of the south, who remembered seeing jefferson davis in chains being led past him at the end of the war, nevertheless developed something of a hero worship for lincoln. richard nixon as a 12-year-old was given a portrait of lincoln that he hung over his bed. nixon also justified what would later be seen as abuses of power by comparing america in the vietnam era to the country during the civil war. so, over and over again, lincoln is always there if you want to cite him to justify the expansion of presidential power, particularly in war time. >> sreenivasan: why do you think it is that people keep coming back to lincoln to study and to write and rewrite? >> it's a great question. he's not washington or jefferson about whom scholars obviously continue to write but who seem more remote. lincoln seems more accessible to us. in many ways, lincoln is one of us. a number of reasons for that. first of all he had a sense of humor, which does more than anything to humanize people. he had an unhappy marriage, which makes him somehow accessible. he had children. he experienced tragedy. of the events of lincoln's life and how he dealt with them and the personal growth-- that makes lincoln very nearly timeless. >> sreenivasan: lincoln is an icon that we see so much in pop culture today. give us some examples of how lincoln is so used. >> well, used and abused. i'm sure there are viewers out this who when they think of lincoln, they think of the, depending on their ages, raymond massey or henry fonda or hal holbrook or gregory peck or others who have played lincoln in the movies. >> furthermore, it's well known that the more a man speaks, the less he's understood. ( laughter ) >> lincoln has in fact been used almost from the days of his assassination to sell products. we have lincoln logs. for a younger generation, "ted and bill's excellent adventure" includes lincoln. he is just one of those figures, if you're selling a product, that's synonymous with integrity whether it's an automobile or insurance or a remedy for sleep deprivation. >> honest abe. >> absolutely. honest abe. everyone wants lincoln on their side. almost everyone can devise a rationale to justify that. we go on debating who he is, what he really believed, and how it influences our politics and our culture to this day. >> sreenivasan: and that story is not over. >> that story is far from over. we deliberately wanted an unfinished quality about this museum, about the story that we're telling here. because the one thing we know is the last word about lincoln will never be written, and the next generation and the generation after that will discover and interpret lincoln for themselves just as we have. >> sreenivasan: richard norton smith, thanks so much for your time. >> thanks for your interest. >> brown: finally tonight, a bitter blow for the sport of horse racing and for many fans who'd been pulling for a one- time underdog. ray suarez is back with that story. >> suarez: there will be no triple crown winner this year. >> this is officially to tell you that i'll have another is retired. >> suarez: the heavily favored horse 'i'll have another' was scratched from the belmont stakes today. after the colt's morning workout, trainer paul o'neill said the kentucky derby and preakness winner had developed a strained tendon on his left, front leg, and will now be retired from racing. >> it is extremely disappointing, and i feel so sorry for the whole team who had such an amazing run. >> suarez: i'll have another's career will end in the barn instead on the racetrack. j. paul reddam is the horse's owner. >> we're all a bit shocked, but we have to do what's best for the horse. and if he can't compete at the top level, you know, he's done enough. >> suarez: 34 years have passed since the last triple crown winner when 'affirmed' took home the prize in 1978. build and i'm joined by jay grinman of the daily racing form at belmont park. jay, has it ever happened that a triple crown favorite has been scratched so close to post time? >> no, it's unprecedented that you would have a horse going for the triple crown scratched on the eve of the race. there were two horses in the 1930s who had won the derby and preakness who ended up not being able to compete in the belmontment but no, this set of circumstances would certainly be-- certainly be unprecedented. >> his trainer said he was gallopping great. his owner said he could have one. what were the risked involved in just letting i'll have forego tomorrow and fixing his ailment after the race was done? >> well, the ailment might have been a lot more serious and probably would have been if they had run in the race. right now it is a very minor thing that would preclude a horse of his calibre from racing again, there' just too much of a risk. but it's mine are. had they run in the race it certainly could have continue mood something very major and i think they are to be commended for making the smart decision, the decision that's in the best interest of the animal and not risking him in a situation like, this even it is obviously extremely tempting to run a horse like this but you can't do it and they made the right call. >> there is a lot of interest riding on the race. there was a lot of money riding on the race for a wide range of stakeholders, broadcasters, advertisers, betting parlors, how does the news like this wrip el-- ripple through the business side of the bell month stakes? >> well, certainly the crowd tomorrow will i would doubt would be as strong as it would have been had i'll have another been competing. maybe the betting handle on the race won't be quite as strong. but it's the interest in the race that will take the biggest beatingment and how you can quantify that in dollars and cents is something that i'm not really able to come up with. but it's obviously a major blow from that standpoint and a major blow from a sporting standpoint that none of us will see whether he could have pulled it off. >> let's talk a little bit more about the horse. can a horse let you know when it's not feeling 100 percent, or is there sort of an art to knowing when it's better to keep him in his paddock? >> well, that's one of the things that top class trainers are able to perceive. and really that's what happened here with trainer doug o'neill. he noticed something that just wasn't quite normal yesterday afternoon with the horses left front leg. they did some treatment on it. they thought it looked better at the end of the day yesterday and it was fine this morning when they took him out for his daily routine gallop. but when i'll have another came back from the gallop the difference in that left front leg that they had noticed yesterday had returned. and at that point they knew they had ray problem on their hands, a more serious problem than they first had hoped it would be. >> even after the tendonitis that felled i'll have another, the horse is still worth a lot to its owner. >> very much so he will go to stud next year. the breeding season is in the spring because the gestation period is 11mont vow at the end of the cycle. will go to stud next year. >> is there a new favorite now that i'll have another is out? >> it's kind of like being on broadway, isn't it. the show must go on. the favorite of the race now will be dulihan who finished third in the kentucky derby and sat out the preakness in order to be at his best for the belmont stakes. and the second choice will probably be union rag who finished 7th in the derby and had a lot of traffic trouble in that race. they will be the top two choices in the absence of i'll have another. >> jay of the daily racing form joined us from belmont. thanks for being with us. >> my pleasure, rea. >> on-line we've reprieved earlier stories about. >> my apologies for >> woodruff: again, the major developments of the day: president obama pressed european leaders to get their economic house in order before it harms the u.s. and u.n. monitors in syria saw evidence of multiple killings in a small town where activists reported a massacre. they said they found flesh, blood and piles of ash but no bodies. online, we continue our series on health care reform. kwame holman has the details. >> holman: with a supreme court ruling coming soon, we have a primer on the law from marcia coyle. and health correspondent betty ann bowser talks with a professor who turned health reform into a comic book. find both of those on our health page. and tonight's edition of the pbs program "need to know" travels to cambodia, where former khmer rouge leaders are on trial, charged with committing mass murder more than three decades ago. here's an excerpt. >> in six years of operations by a court only expected to last three years, and after 150 million dollars spent, there has been just one conviction. and the second trial with three defendants still in its early phase. there has been some disappointment that crimes like rape and starvation do to the figure prominently in the courts charges. and even supporters of the court are frustrated by the limited number of those being tried. >> minot satisfied because i see the person who beat me and killed people. and they still survive and ride their motorbike through here every day. every time i see them it reminded me about the old days. they are still living freely. and i have my doubt it's about this. >> holman: "international justice" airs tonight on most pbs stations. there's a link to "need to know" on our web site. find that and much more at newshour.pbs.org. judy. >> woodruff: and that's the newshour for tonight. on monday, we'll look at decisions handed down by the supreme court. 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: >> at&t by nordic naturals >> 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