out. 100 its more lives ground into the dust. across the other side of the capitol in the southern suburbs scenes of austerity as hundreds gather to morning yet another massacre. while many army units have begun deployed it to aleppo, the reason i'm has continued to try to crush opposition in damascus. with heavy clashes again erupting across the capitol. some of the more than 50 civilians killed here appear to have been executed. allegedly by soldiers and militiamen. as syria has plunged further into bloody chaos, the international community has appeared impotent. today a frustrated kofi annan had a meeting with the syrian president, announced he was resigning as the united nations peace envoy for syria. he blamed both the regime and the rebels for refusing to implement his peace plan. >> all of which is compounded by the disunity of the international community. at a time when we need, when the syrian people desperately need action, there continues to be fingerpointing and name calling in the security council. you have to understand as an envoy, i can't want peace more than the protagonists, more than the security council, or the international community for that matter. >> reporter: strong words from a diplomat reflecting the despair over the seemingly intractable syrian conflict. u.n. mission has been sidelined as world powers continue to arm and finance the opposing sides. with fighting spreading across syria. russia and china have been out of step with the security council. in london president putin said he regretted annan's depar ture but offered no new initiative. the prime minister too had little to add, though he later called on the u.n. to ramp up the pressure on the syrian regime. >> the current political process isn't working, hasn't worked. and we need to be tougher. >> reporter: no sign of that in aleppo today as rebels and president assad's forces continued to pound each other's positions. and tonight with the u.n. mission in total disarray, reports that the fighting is again in testifying and the dead continue to pileup. >> brown: joining us now is colum lynch, who covers the u.n. for the "washington post." and randa slim of the middle east institute. she's met with members of kofi annan's team and has regular contact with the opposition inside syria. >> brown: we start with you, the new diplomacy was to the going well but what happened here. was there a final straw that led to kofi annan's decision? >> well, i think that everybody has anticipated that he had rewould resign, it was just a matter of time. the final straw was the veto in the security council last month. it was a clear indication that the big powers were split on this issue. that they weren't going to be able to agree on a concerted approach to resolving the crisis. and i think at that point kofi annan just decided that if i don't have the backing of the big powers that's-- that there's no way we can apply pressure on the parties to calm and cease shooting at each other. >> brown: colum, the language we heard, fairly strong language, fingerpointing, name calling in the security council. how unusual is that and who is he calling out here who is he talking about? >> well, i guess he's talking about, what's interesting, is after the security council meeting this afternoon on sir atrussian ambassador and the french ambassador were exchanging insults. the russian ambassador was complaining about the french decision to pull annan's deputy back for a job in the pentagon in the middle of the negotiation. thought that was kind of undercutting the diplomacy. the french ambassador responded that there was a stupid remark, that it was unfair to say that-- to, you know to say that this was a politically motivated decision. this is a high level french, you know, international diplomat and he was needed and wanted by the french government. so it continues. >> brown: rhonda slim what do you think is behind this decision by kofi annan, what's going on? >> i think i agree with colum in terms of he realized he doesn't have the backing of the international community any more, with pointing the finger at the disunity inside the national security-- inside the security council. however, i would like to argue here that his plan was, in a way, i mean was dead on arrival. partly because as he pointed in his resignation letter today, the protagonist in syria, whether it's the regime or the oppositi, were not on board. the regime on one hand was not willing and not ready to go with the political transition process. his only plan, the only plan was to solve this conflict literally by force. and on the other hand the opposition, the fact that the plan did not call explicitly for assad to step down as a precondition for the political process to be launched, deligity myed the plan in the eyes of the opposition, especially in the activist inside syria who are now the most important player. >> brown: so you met with-- we have a loud-- well, okay there it goes. i think that's better. we had a loud noise behind you. you met with members of kofi annan's team. were they-- did they become aware of this problem that you were just referring to? when did they-- was there a growing frustration that you could sense? >> i met with them early june and coy sense the frustration then. at the time they were still hoping that they along with the arab league will be able to bring the syrian opposition together around a common platform. and this also did not common, you know, eventually this did not come together as we also in the arab league meeting, which failed in bringing the syrian opposition together, they were also, of course, frustrated at the time by the failure of the-- of russia or by unwillingness of russia to back resolution that will bring consequences on assad for violating the plan, the peace plan. >> brown: now colum lynch, the obvious question, where does this leave the diplomatic effort is there anyway to pick up the pieces. is there any plan behind the scenes to try to move forward at all? >> it looks pretty stark. i mean the french ambassador said the differences in the council are irreconcilable. there is sort of-- most of the council members are saying that the logic, it's moving towards military logic. we're seeing what is unfolding in aleppo tonight. the top u.n. peacekeeping chef told the council that he found-- he thought that the parties, he is convinced that the parties are preparing for one last final bat nell aleppo. so i think that this is moving away from a diplomatic tract to the military tract and maybe, you know, after this plays out they might be able to kind of return to the diplom-- diplomacy down the road but it will be a different game they are talking about then. >> brown: randa slim, does all that have any impact on the ground or is-- are we way past this diplomacy at this point? >> you know, the activists on the ground are way past this diplomacy. i think although the revolution started as a nonviolent uprising, but faced with the brutal crackdown by the reg seem-- regime and the inability of the international community to bring any kind of pressure on assad to abandon the military approach to which he and his advisor are wedded, i think the narrative for nonviolence inside the opposition camp lost traction. and this came especially after the assault in homses early this year. so the belief now among activists, especially among rebel fighters is that this will have to be settled militarily in the field. and that's why they keep calling on the international community to arm them. >> brown: and randa, one more thing in our last minute here, because there were two other reports today. one from reuters that the president had signed a directive allowing the cia to help rebels and the other from mcclatchy that the administration now made it legal to collect money in the u.s. to send to the rebels. what many details of this, on both these stories are still unclear at this point. but what dow make of those reports? >> i think what is happening is that the united states, at sad administration is trying to feel its way through the maze of the syrian rebel camp, if we can say so. it is a very dynamic environment right now inside syria. we are seeing armed factions appear together surface, emerging almost on a daily basis. and i think the united states through the order that you refer to which-- which enables the cia and other u.s. agencies to provide support to rib el-- rebels, short of armed support, label these agencies and the assad administration to really do some sort of a triage process among the different rebel factions to find out who is the influential, who is the not influential who is the good guy, who is the bad guy. and start to define what are the-- which are the partners we would be working with. if eventually president obama decides to up the ante on our involvement and step in the frey of arming the rebels. >> all right, randa slim, colum lynch, thank you both very much. > >> brown: you can track the history of the syrian conflict, including diplomatic efforts to end the fighting in a timeline on our world page. >> woodruff: still to come on the "newshour": the candidates spar over a tax reform plan; a big day at the olympics for team u.s.a.; california's water wars and an insider's indictment of the bank bailout. but first, the other news of the day. here's hari sreenivasan. >> sreenivasan: the european central bank today signaled it will try to drive down high borrowing rates for distressed countries, especially spain and italy. bank president mario draghi said the plan involves purchasing government bonds, but he gave few specifics. instead, draghi said policymakers will work on a detailed plan over the coming weeks. markets here and abroad were disappointed that the european bank took no immediate action. on wall street, the dow jones industrial average lost 92 points to close near 12,879. the nasdaq fell ten points to close at 2,909. drought conditions grew even worse in part of the plains states over the last week. a government report today said kansas, missouri, nebraska and oklahoma are especially hard hit. meanwhile, the u.s. house passed a republican drought bill to help livestock producers. democratic minority leader nancy pelosi said it would make more sense to pass a comprehensive, five-year farm bill, as the senate has done. >> make no mistake. we should be voting on a farm bill not a drought bill. i have great sympathy for the needs of our cattlemen and those who are suffering from the drought. but i think that this bill is just another indication of doing something that doesn't meet the needs of the issue that our economy requires. >> sreenivasan: on the republican side, house speaker john boehner said it was today's drought measure, or nothing at all, because the farm bill is stalled. >> the house is pretty well- divided. you've got the left concerned about reductions in the food stamp program. you've got the right who don't think the cuts go far enough in the food stamp program to bring it into compliance with what the law has been. and frankly i haven't seen 218 votes in the middle to pass the farm bill. >> sreenivasan: the current farm bill is set to expire at the end of september. the house's drought bill is not expected to survive in the senate. legislation to prevent cyber attacks on critical industries will have to wait. senate republicans blocked a final vote today. they argued the bill would mean new regulations that increase costs without doing much to reduce the risk of attacks. democrats said the bill is needed now to protect everything from power grids to water supplies. both sides said they'll work on a compromise, after the august recess. afghan security forces killed five insurgents in a pre-dawn raid in kabul today. officials said they'd foiled a plot to launch a large-scale attack in the capital. the raiding party found cars full of explosives and a compound filled with weapons and ammunition at the site. when the insurgents returneda gun battle erupted that lasted several hours. separately, two nato service members were killed in a bomb attack in the south. six coalition troops have died in the first two days of august. in egypt, a new prime minister and cabinet formally took office. prime minister hesham kandil asked egyptians to rally behind his new government. four cabinet positions went to members of the muslim brotherhood. but field marshall hussein tantawi was kept on as defense minister, a sign that the military still wields great power. those are some of the day's major stories. now, back to judy. >> woodruff: with fewer than 100 days to go until the november election, president obama and governor romney spent today campaigning in battleground states, trading barbs on taxes and the economy. for the president and his republican challenger, the day's stage was a pair of key states and the intended audience, the middle class. mitt romney stumped in golden, colorado-- his first campaign event since returning from a week-long overseas trip. romney argued again that the president's policies have failed the middle class. >> i know he will be able to speak eloquently and describe all the great things he's doing and what he's going to do, but look at the results. and you look at the results and it's been a disappointment. his policies have not worked. they have not got america back to work again. my policies will work and i know i understand that it's small businesses that create jobs in america, that people create jobs, not government, and i'm going to get america working again. >> woodruff: the romney campaign also went up with a new television ad highlighting economic troubles in florida, ahead of the president's visit there today. >> but under president obama, 8.6% unemployment, record foreclosures, 600,000 more floridians in poverty. he focused on obamacare instead of jobs. barack obama, what a disappointment. >> woodruff: the obama campaign countered with its own new ad. it attacked romney for paying just 14% of his income in taxes in 2010, and charged his tax reform proposal favors the rich. >> now he has a plan that will give millionaires another tax break and raises taxes on middle class families by up to $2,000 a year. mitt romney's middle class tax increase: he pays less, you pay more. >> woodruff: the president hit that same theme during an event this afternoon in orlando. >> they have tried to sell us this trickle-down tax cut fairy dust before. and guess what? it didn't work then and it will not work now. it is not a plan to create jobs, it is not a plan to reduce the deficit, it is not a plan to build our middle class, it is not a plan to move our economy forward. >> woodruff: mr. obama again highlighted a study by the non- partisan tax policy center that concluded romney's proposal would provide large tax cuts to high-income households, and increase the tax burdens on middle and/or lower-income taxpayers. but eric fehrnstrom, a top romney adviser, called the report, quote, "a joke" and raised questions about its impartiality and methodology. the sharpened debate on tax fairness underscores the importance both campaigns have placed on middle-class voters. a recent "nbc news-wall street journal" poll gave mr. obama a 16-point lead on romney when it comes to who would better look out for the middle class. for a closer look at what exactly is in the romney tax proposal, at the heart of this political fight, we turn to bill gale of the tax policy center. he is a co-author of the report in question. and scott hodge of the also non- partisan tax foundation, has a different read on the romney plan. we thank you both for being with us. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> so bill gale to you first, just quickly. how do you respond to the romney advisor who calls this assessment a joke and questioned its impartialiality and methodology? >> well, first thing, let's be clear, that's a shoot the messenger kind of answer. if they had a substantive response to our analysis i presume that they would make a substantive response. last fall when we put out analysis of the other republican candidates' tax options the romney campaign liked our analysis a lot and said very nice things about us. so it seems like their opinion of us depends on whether we're reporting on what they do or what someone else does. >> bill gale let me ask you what in a nutshell did the tax policy center conclude about where the tax burden falls, assuming the romney plan were enacted. >> thank you. we did a very straightforward exercise. we said governor romney wants to cut rates by 20%. he doesn't want to raise the rate on capital gains or dividends or other saving investments. but he wants his reform to be revenue neutral. that means you have to raise the revenue somewhere else. we took the most optimistic optimistic way, the most progressive way to raise that rev-- reenough. and we showed that even under those circumstances, there would be a big tax cut for high income households and a tax increase for middle income households. >> woodruff: that's boiling it down to a great degree. >> yes, and what i want to emphasize is it's a matter of arithmetic it is not some incredibly fancy calculation. it's simply that if you cut tax rate force high income households you lose so much revenue there that you can't make it up by shutting down the tax exemption stuff that high income tax households have. >> woodruff: scott hodge what do you make of the analysis from the tax center. >> i think you have to be fair and what bill and the brooks center have done is a pretty reasonable assessment but you have to understand it is not an analysis of the romney plan. the romney has only set out some very broad parameters in terms of what he would do in tax policy, in terms of cutting the individual rates all by 20%, cutting the corporate rate by 10 percentage points. but what brookings did was actually fill in a lot of this unknowns with their own assumptions. and then analyzed it. so this is not technically an analysis of the romney plan it is one option for how to get from here to there. there are many ways in which romney could fill out the details of his plan. they from, of course, not forthcoming with that because they would like to keep toy a big picture approach. so we have to be very careful about reading too much into this. ifological is not the romney plan. >> woodruff: so filling in a lot of a such shuns. >> let me respond to that. it's correct that governor romney has not specified all the details of his tax reform plan. he has specified the goodies, the tax cuts but he's not specified how he will pay for them. if he would do so -- >> he may not even pay for them. he may decide that we will cap revenue neutrality. >> he said he wants it to be revenue neutral. >> woodruff: meaning money is not raised-- that tax are not raised. >> mean on net the average tax cut is 0. so we took its options that he said he wanted and then when we filled in how to pay for that we did that in a way that-- that fills it in most by taxing high income households, okay. so if romney wants to finance his tax cuts with spending cuts, that's going to be even more regressive because spending cuts go largely to low and middle income households. so we-- we made what is the most optimistic assumptions in the filling in part. and still came out to the conclusion that i mentioned. >> woodruff: what about that explanation. >> well, one of the most interesting aspects of the study is that it really confirms how progressive our current income tax syem is. and what the study unfortunately doesn't show is half of all americans pay no income tax whatsoever. and the vast majority of income taxes are paid by the top. in fact, a recent cbo study shows that the top 20% of taxpayers pay 94% of all income taxes. and so they are correct. it's mathematically impossible to cut al