>> 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 your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> brown: gunfire tore at the nation's holiday mood again today, with the emotional wounds from a school massacre still fresh. there were more fatal shootings, including one in western new york, where an attacker lay in wait for a fire crew. >> responding firefighters when they pulled up on the scene started receiving -- were fired upon. >> police speaking shortly after a home and car erupted in flames. it was arson they said later that turned out to be an ambush. >> it does appear that it was a trap that was set. for responding first responders. >> gunmen killed two volunteer firefighters and wounded two others then killed himself. police identified him as william spangler, he haddon time, 17 years for manslaughter but ha motive for today's attack was unknown. in houston a gunman killed a police officer and another man before being captured. spate of christmas eve attacks among renewed gun violence that flared to life after the massacre at sandy hook in newtown, connecticut, ten days ago. on friday, the head of the national rifle association, wayne la pi oerriere called for armed guards in every school. that stance was met with awave of headlines and editorials that lampooned la pierre condemned the nra refusal to give any ground on gun control. but sunday on nbc's "meet the press" he was unrepentant. >> if it's crazy to call for putting police and armed security in our school to protect our children, then call me crazy. i tell what you the american people, i think the american people think it's crazy not to do it. it's the one thing that would keep people safe and the nra is going to try to do that. >> brown: on the same program, new york democrat senator chuck schumer called la pierre tone deaf. >> he blamed everything but guns, movies, the media, president obama, gun-free cool zones, you name it, the video games, he blames them. now, trying to prevent shootings in schools without talking about guns is like trying to prevent lung canger is without talking about cigarettes. >> brown: schumer and others are now urging renewed ban on assault-style weapons, curbs on high capacity ammunition magazines. some republicans have joined in. senator kay bailey hutchison of texas spoke on "face the nation." >> i think we ought to be looking at where the real danger is, like those large clips, i think that does need to be looked at. >> brown: but fellow republican lindsey brame 6 south carolina argued a new ban would not make the country safer. >> the best way to interrupt a shatter keep him out of the schools, if they get in the school have somebody that can interrupt them through armed force. >> brown: connecticut independent senator joe leiberman observed on cnn that passing new gun laws won't be easy. >> the strength of the nra that more than half of the abuts in america have guns, own guns, have them in their homes. >> brown: they already may be having affect, gun store owners around the country have reported their stock is flying off the shelves. >> we have christmas business, hunting season business now we have the political business. >> brown: back in newtown the focus remained on coping with a christmas ravaged by grief. local post office received a flood of cards with messages of hope and towns people expect to light hundreds of outdoor candles tonight for the 26 shooting victims. >> ifill: still to come on the newshour, egypt's troubled referendum; medical marijuana runs into federal law; special elections coming to the senate; helping haiti's orphans; and hundred years of "poetry" magazine. but first, with the other news of the day. here's kwame holman. >> holman: the christmas of 2012 began arriving around the world this evening. in bethlehem, manger square was adorned in decorations and lights, and christian pilgrims and others celebrated midnight mass at the church of the nativity. at the vatican, pope benedict xvi led an early version of midnight mass for hundreds of people in st. peter's basilica. thousands more gathered outside, in st. peter's square. and u.s. troops in afghanistan marked another holiday on the front lines with early christmas dinners. >> my family, however, this job comes with a price, many of the soldiers realize that price. even though we like to be with our families we realize the importance of what we're doing here and we believe in it. there also was another fatal shooting of an american in afghanistan today. a policewoman in kabul killed a u.s. civilian trainer who'd been working with the nato command. there've been more than 60 such "insider" attacks this year. this was the first committed by a woman. in syria, the u.n. envoy to syria met with president bashar al-assad in damascus, but he gave no sign of progress toward halting the civil war. lakhdar brahimi spoke with assad as part of a two-day visit. brahimi was appointed envoy in september, but he's made little apparent headway. the latest visit came a day after opposition groups reported a government air strike on a bakery killed at least 60 people. authorities in india restricted vehicle and railroad travel in new delhi today, in the wake of violent protests over a gang rape. on sunday, police sprayed tear gas and water cannons after crowds began throwing stones and tipping over vehicles. the protesters demanded stronger punishments for crimes against women after a 23-year old woman was attacked on a public bus last week. the victim was thrown from the bus afterward. she remains in critical condition. six arrests have been made. washington was quiet today with the president and congress gone for christmas. but the lack of any fiscal cliff talks worried wall street. the dow jones industrial average lost more than 51 points to close at 13,139. the nasdaq fell eight points to close at 3012. those are some of the day's major stories. now, back to gwen. >> ifill: in egypt, although one side seems to have clearly won, citizens are still awaiting official results of the country's constitutional referendum. as the sun rose over cairo today, opposition activists vowed to hold their ground against the newly approved constitution. >> what we all need as constitution is express the demands of all egyptians. we are here to say that we need constitution for all of us. >> ifill: sunday leaders of the national salvation front warned the document would give too much way to islamic law and curb the rights of women and the christian minority. >> we are committed to continuing our collective peaceful struggle in order to bring down this constitution through legitimate means as soon as possible. because it's a constitution that is not worthy of egyptians. >> ifill: president's party supported the draft charter on 64% yes vote after saturday's second round of volting. the opposition had similar account that there were many instances of fraud. and even some supporters of the constitution set a higher margin of victory might have assured civility after years of political chaos. >> the referendum was completely free, this is something that i have seen with my own eyes. they say 63% yes. this is the least that should be. it should have been 70 or 75%. egyptian people need results of the ballot just as we have been taught in democracy. >> ifill: some independent newspapers challenged the legitimacy of the results over one-third voted on saturday. now parliamentary elections scheduled in two months the struggle over egypt's political future moves to a new arena once ratification of the new constitution is made official, the upper chamber of parliament will convene with enhanced powers to legislate. over the weekend, he appointedded 0 new members to the body already dominated by islamists. >> brown: i spoke nancy youssef in cairo. wall come again. when are we expecting certified results on the vote about the constitution? >> we expect that tomorrow. we've been hearing unofficial results literally minutes after the polls closed over the weekend on saturday. but said we expect official results tomorrow that will give us a good sense of not only how much referendum passed by, but what it says about his popularity and what it says about trends in the country, supporting the direction he's taking. there will be lot of information in there, from what we know preliminarily the referendum did particularly well in upper egypt and lost in the capital of cairo. >> brown: what does that tell you, those differences? what does it say about egyptian culture, society or political -- politics? >> it's interesting, because the numbers that we know so far tell us that first of all the enthusiasm for participating in this process is dropping in the first round of the election, presidential elections over the summer. 70% eligible egyptians voted. and run-off presidential elections, 50% of egypt's 50 million eligible voters participated. in this referendum it was 230%. the fact that the capital is not approved referendum raises a lot of questions from those who said that the constitution would lead to more stability. what it portends is more division and more urban areas and areas that ultimately will spur economic investment in this country which it so desperately needs. that could be reached in poor egyptians. what we hear is that they want stability, and economic development and until the urban areas on board prevailing feeling is that the rest of egypt won't progress. so it's troublesome for him fewer people are interested in participating, number two, that he hasn't gotten the areas where the urban vote is so important. >> brown: are you seeing any signs at this point of president morriseyy or brotherhood reaching out to opponents after this round of voting? >> they will say that they're interested in everything discussions, but what we're really seeing more than anything is that the muslim brotherhood and their supporters are already thinking about the parliamentary elections which under the constitution must be held within 60 days. that is the next battle that everybody is gearing up for. because this constitution is very vague, what it really does give a lot of power to the legislators. there are many, many causes, more than 30 of the 236 articles that say things like, egyptians have this right unless stated by law. everything is put in the hands of the legislature. while this document codifies the muslim brotherhood legitimacy, the real test in terms of power will now be in the parliamentary elections. rather than an effort towards trying to get consensus what we're really seeing miss supporters trying to prepare for the next and arguably the most election, parliamentary election. >> brown: in the meantime, the opposition is talking about potential fraud in this latest vote, are there any known documented irregularities that have been found? >> so far there are a lot of allegations and counter allegations by the opposition. they have alleged more than 600 violations from judges urging people to vote a tern say to balancing. what was interesting that this election, particularly the second round ever it on the 22nd really have least amount of monitoring that we had seen. so the cases or potential for fraud certainly were the highest that they have been since egypt started having these elections because there wasn't enough time to get enough monitors in here. even enough judges just to hold the referendum vote, a lot of prosecutors and other illegal experts were brought in to hold the referendum. there was the expectation that allegations would be highest this time, but in terms of specifics we've heard some from the opposition but also heard from supporters of the referendum that any violations were minor don't affect the ultimate outcome. >> brown: okay, nancy youssef of mcclatchy newspapers in cairo, thanks so much. >> ifill: earlier today i spoke >> ifill: earlier today, i spoke with opposition leader, and coordinator for the national salvation front, mohamed elbaradei. he is the former head of the international atomic energy agency and a nobel peace prize winner. . >> ifill: thank you for joinings us. you called egypt to reject the -- what's recan to how it turned out? >> it is going to pass but it's a sad day in my view for egypt because it is going to institutionalize stability, very polarizing charter, defines a lot of the basic human value like treatment woman of religion, freedom of expression, so i'm not sure that this is the way forward. however, we would have to take it from there and i think that we treat that constitution try to get another assembly to work, that is not polarizing but establish a consensus among the two divided fraction of the society. right now we have educated middle class on one camp and the so-called islamists and majority of the illiterate part on the other side. that's not the way we expected after the uprising. we need a charter that unifies people that not talking about controversial issues like role, freedom of expression, freedom of religion, freedom of worship but talk about science, technology, health care, that is what people compare about. we are going through difficult time that the economy is falling apart, standard and poor downgraded us to a d minus. not in the greatest shape. we need to see a way to move forward. but it is difficult time right now. >> ifill: but if these numbers hold, it looks like pretty significant victory for the muslim brotherhood, was this silent majority that was speaking? >> i'm not sure it's a silent majority. you have islamists which is probably like 30% of the country the rest are as you know, one-third of the country is illiterate. they are being told that this is stability. i think they have right to think that way. going through turbulent time for two years, if you tell them this is way to stability and this is the way for your deliverance because we are going to apply god's word, it is very attractive for people who really cannot make much of a very sophisticated draft constitution. yes, it is a majority. but on the other side everybody pretty much who is educated in egypt, all that qualify, all the professionals are all on the 30% rejecting the constitution. you need to get the two together. you need to get qualified people to be part of the system. so far he has been not reaching out to the rest of the country. he needs to do that. because this is where the qualified people who can jumpstart economy, who can work on the education, health care, all the basic needs that are sorely needed here right now. >> ifill: let's go back for a moment. was there any evidence you have found so far, fraud or irregularities in the vote? >> a lot of complaints about irregularity. i believe there has been irregularity. people have been denied access to the falling -- people voting in groups, there have been some of that. but the fact that it has been -- however, i do believe either that referendum will not cleanse that document because as i said, it has intrinsic illegitimacy. it defies basic human values that is declaration of human rights, many of the other convention, is that protect guarantee freedom, guarantee human dignity. they are lacking. one of the most dangerous parts in that constitution that it opens the door for many controversial school of religious thoughts to seep through the process and undermine the authority of the judiciary. that is one of the issues that is very -- creates a lot of apprehension for many people here because they do not want the country moving from -- moving from totalitarian system to mr. mubarak or another system wrapping itself around religion or religious freedom. there's a lot of serious apprehension about this document. how to get -- saying let us start to go about amending that charter which is -- can just give you indication of how -- here is cons take city talks adopted today inviting opposition to start identifying areas where we can agree how to amend that constitution. >> ifill: the opposition has lost every battle that it has had against the president since he took over last june, are you two fractured, do you owe pose him? >> we have been fractured in the past. don't forget that after the uprising, after the revolution, the brotherhood has been underground for 780 years, it has been reaching out to the grass roots providing social services. they have excellent connection with average joe, if you like. opposition has been six months old. has been established in the last few months has been fractured. right now i think only in last month we had been getting together, establishing a united front. i think we're moving -- gaining ground right now. if you compare referendum a year and a half ago we've got 23%. this time we got 36%. we do hope that as the coming parliamentary election we can get majority. if we do that we finally would be able to correct the past of the revolution that focused on human dignity guarantees of freedom. we do need that everybody around the world to stand up and be counted, frankly. we have constitution right now that is not democratic. everybody should put his money where his mouth is, everybody should understand that stability will only come with the democracy. we should not repeat the mistake frankly during mubarak's time that giving or sacrificing democracy on the ouster of -- short term political. >> ifill: the next test will be the parly member terry -- parliamentary elections. thank you for joining us. >> thank you very much for having me. >> ifill: >> ifill: we asked representatives from the muslim brotherhood to appear on the program tonight, but none was available. we hope to bring you that view tomorrow. >> brown: next, the battle between federal and state authorities over legal marijuana is coming to a head in a high- profile case in california. a dispensary there is capturing national attention, even more so now that colorado and washington state have approved the legal use of recreational pot. our report comes from special correspondent jake schoneker. production help came from the media enterprise alliance, a pbs student reporting lab based in oakland. >> good afternoon, how are you? how can i help you today? >> i'm interested in probably -- >> richard scott silva suffered from lower back. he was in a motorcycle accident six years ago. he says the most effective treatment for his spain not a pill, but a plant. cannabis also known at marijuana. for the most part he gross his own at his home in california central valley. when he wants to try out new varieties or buy plants makes the two hour drive to harbor side health center in oakland. >> what's the best that you have on the top shelf? >> guaranteed good clean medicine, quality, just a nice safe haven, people feel safe coming here. like going to your neighborhood vcs or anywhere else, any neighborhood pharmacy. >> harbor side offers patients about 250 different strengths of cannabis in different forms. including edible, tinctures and creams. big business. they brought in $25 million in sales. money that cofounder steve deangelo would end up on the street. >> we have taken $25 million a year of illegal drug sales off the streets of oakland and brought them in to harbor side. >> deangelo has been a marijuana activists since he was a teenager. says when he moved to california in 2001 there weren't many places for patients to buy marijuana safely. >> i started harbor side to create a model of best practices for the cannabis industry to demonstrate that it can be distributed in a way that professional and responsible and bring benefits to -- >> since it was founded, harbore world's largest marijuana dispensary. it serves more than 115,000 patients. as expanded to a second location in san jose. deangelo's business attracted media attention from across the globe. >> the harbor side medical center this is actually the largest medical can business disbones knee. >> harbor side says it has 20,000 clients. >> from the harbor side health center in oakland. >> it wasn't just media that was paying attention. someone else noticed harbor side, too. the federal government. this past july u.s. attorney melinda hague filed forfeiture action against them. that means that the buildings could be seized dispensary shut down. it's all part of ongoing federal crackdown on pot in california. >> one of the reasons we are making these announcements today to try to put to rest the notion that large marijuana businesses can shelter themselves under state law and operate without fear of federal enforcement. >> henry, the lead attorney for harbor side, says in the past year hundreds of california dispensaries have been shut down. >> up until now every time the federal government has attempted to close down a dispensary through forfeiture action they have closed their doors and moved on. i suspect that that's what they thought was going to happen with harbor side but they got a big surprise. >> shortly after they received the notice, harbor side announced they would contest the case. and in october they received an unlikely ally, the city of oakland. city own barbara parker filed suited against the federal government. parker says oakland has already heavily invested in system to tax and regulate dispensaries. >> we laugh a great deal of time and energy and money setting up this system that is consistent with california law. and is a tragic way of the government's resources. >> but others say potash shops never should have been able to open 2349 first place. >> federal law, law of the land or is it law, that's the bottom line. >> carla lowe is citizens against legalization of marijuana. a lobbying group based in sacramento. pot is unsafe and ineffective. not a -- an 'digtive, dangerous drug. >> not a medicine. always been a joke, a cruel hoax, always has been, always will be. f.d.a. will never approved it for any product to be deemed a medicine. >> with the recent legalization of medical marijuana in washington and colorado national leaders are re-examining pot policies. the justice department soon expected to issue a response which now allow adults 21 and old tore possess up to one ounce legally. on capitol hill, senate judiciary chairman patrick leahy called for congressional hearings on the issue and for his part, president obama told abc's barbara walters that the federal government has bigger fish to try than to go after pot smokers. >> it does not make sense from a prior othertization point of view to focus on recreational drug users in a state that has already said that under state law that's legal. >> while marijuana users in those states may be off the hook, dispensaries and stores that sell the drug may not get the same treatment. the justice department hasn't said whether it will crackdown on businesses to try to sell marijuana in colorado and washington. but in states like california, where only medical marijuana is legal the strategy has been to target the very largest cannabis growing and dispensaries and none bigger than harbor side. if the dispensary is shut down it could open the door for other federal crack downs across the country. but if harbor side is able to win its case in federal court it would be a game changer for the entire medical marijuana industry. >> this case presents an excellent opportunity for the cannabis community and federal government to sit down and work out the solution that would end the conflict between state law and federal law on this most important issue. >> deangelo says model he's established in oakland could be replicated across the country. a network of well run dissonance o pens rees with focus unequal control and customer service. he says that despite the new laws in colorado and washington, marijuana should remain a mid in. >> we're not a supermarket.peopo choose to come to a licensed cannabis dispensary. and people who don't choose to be exposed to it won't have to see it in their face. that's the future. >> but that dream could still go up in smoke. the next phase of the case is already begun, with hearings in federal court. >> brown: you can find more stories from stories from the students in the media enterprise alliance. just follow a link on our web site. >> ifill: high profile new jobs coverage in an unusual number of newly competitive senate openings. president obama set one prominent chain in motion last week nominated john kerry to succeed hillary clinton as secretary of state. here to walk us through the policeman call cause and effect in three states are "newshour" political editor christina and "roll call" we heard today that one of the kennedy h,irs, ted kennedy, junior, decided not to run for the seat in massachusetts, what's happening there? >> more of interesting dynamics at play. whenever a kennedy decides to run in massachusetts he sort of think that clears the field. so when he said he wanted to stay in connecticut, potentially run for something there one day -- >> ifill: which is where he lives. >> exactly. opens up the field for the democrats in a big way. really where everybody is paying attention right now the republican side. senator scott brown just lost the seat very high profile race in 2012 to elizabeth warren, should he choose to run for special election, try to repeat in 2010 to be able to catch democrats by surprise, that could be his seat. but he may not run. there are lot 6 different things at play, he has options down the line, always run for governor at some point. if he doesn't run, then the republicans will sort of start to step up. >> ifill: interesting that elizabeth warren is about to be senior senator from massachusetts before she's sworn in. also tomorrow mows falling in the house, there are three members, massachusetts members who are eyeing this seat. >> absolutely. there are three members, some of whom have been there nor decades and have been eyeing this senate seat have been looking at this one for a long time. it would be very interesting if all three of them ran in the special election, but that's not necessarily a good thing for democrats. divided primary would be expensive, probably damaging in the long run especially if they're going up against scott brown and the general election. >> ifill: who are they? >> you have edward markey, steven lynch. >> ifill: especially edward markey is quite senior, the house seat in order to get this. >> it's a special election. they wouldn't have to give up their house seat unless deval patrick appointed them to the seat in the meantime which they're unlikely to want that. because it would mean they have to give up their house seat even though it would give them a head start. >> ifill: in hawaii last week, daniel ioneu died. and in a letter written to the governor who gets -- decide who takes his seat he actually stated his preference. >> he did. there are a lot of interesting elements with this. one thing that actually very same three what happened when teddy kennedy passed away in massachusetts, in fall 2009 or summer, sent letter to deval patrick he wanted them to change the law in massachusetts somebody would be able to fill that seat during critical time when they were debating health care reform. then somebody would run with special election. well in hawaii basically what he said was, i really want someone to fill my seat i hope that is congress warm colleen hanabusa who has not been there very long, very close, he felt that she would represent him with fer per. he said he respected requested. that what is interesting, governor abercrombie did not release that letter. senator's office released that. there's some political pressure going on and essentially as they're having this fiscal cliff negotiations. >> ifill: governor abercrombie is slam dunk that colleen who is on the dying man's lips practically gets this job or other people still trying to figure a way in? >> what's going to happen this week is the hawaii democratic state central committee will meet. and they're going to give, according to state law, the governor three names of people who he could appoint to the seat. as long as colleen makes that list and is looking very, very likely that she will, the governor will most likely appoint her. it would be very difficult for governor to ignore such a legend as daniel's last and final tower appoint this word. >> ifill: others that we want to talk about, nothing to do with tragic loss or with dramatic promotion, just old fashioned politics, in south carolina christina, jim demit decided to quit. the governor appointed tim scott. >> which is very interesting first african american senator to represent this state for south carolina. and his seat, he will vacate that as early as january 2 that would open up the house seat which is whole other story. which is so fascinating if you'll have fully lex for that seat in 2014. also in 2014 senator lindsey graham is up for re-election. we don't know for sure if he's going to run, but conservatives have been challenging him in pry mother for a long time. they don't view him as conservative enough. which jim was a very conservative senator all in favor of conservative primaries getting the more moderate republicans. this is going to be two very interesting, very competitive races in a state that's not necessarily very competitive in the national landscape. >> ifill: who wants their job, who wants lindsey graham's job and who wants tim scott's job? >> now that tim scott is appointed, it's obviously very early to tell but i don't think he'll get as much as primary challenge. he's very -- pretty well regarded among conservatives in the state. lindsey graham, there were several people maybe someone in the sell gibbs, a state senator perhaps who might challenge him in the primary. still up in the air, but i'd be very surprised if he didn't get a challenge of some sort in the primary next year. >> ifill: in general, do these kinds of races, are these watched closely for fundraising purposes, for ambition purposes or just all town themselves? >> all of the above, quite actually. you have a lot of money can be raised very quickly in a short period of time. but also there's a lot of national groups that get there interests advocated for. in addition to to that usually shorter timeframe people aren't running for a year, they can run and turn out you can spend less money to implement more voters. >> ifill: how unusual to have these special elections? are we just overreacting because it seems like so many happened so quickly? >> it's fairly unusual to have so many so quickly right after another election ends. remember dough dealt with some of this after 2008 when obama was going to the senate a lot to appoint people to his cabinet, dealing with a lot of fallout then as well. sometimes it happens, when president switching terms but it's very rare to have this much political activity so soon after november 2012. >> ifill: thank you both very much. tomorrow we'll talk with christina about shifting political landscape in illinois. south carolina again and new jersey. >> brown: next, the story of a catholic priest's journey as a doctor ministering through 25 years of haiti's recent history. fred de sam lazaro has the latest in our "agents for change" series. a version of this report aired on the pbs program, "religion and ethics newsweekly." >> brown: for 25 years, father rick, defined and redefined through crisis and even catastrophe. he came to this impoverished caribbean nation in 1987 after a few years in mexico and honduras to expand the mission of his catholic religious order. >> we came in fact to set up what we do everywhere, which is home and school for orphan and abandoned children. we say orphanage is just -- it's easier the fact is we have community of families, that's what we have. community of families that have been broken by tragedy. >> today 800 children whose parents have died or whose families are unable to care for them are housed in several centers. this one taking to functions out of shipping containers. the shelters' young managers themselves grew up here like 22-year-old billy. his mother was here when she was three. >> my mother was very early a about 16 years old, then my father took off. then my mother couldn't take care of me. >> his mother visits occasionally he says, but the orphanage is very much his family. >> that's our goal to restore the family over one generation, to raise the children together so they have memories of their own childhood. restored childhood that later in life they become aunts and uncles to each other's children and their family regenerates after a generation, that's our goal. >> early in the 1990s, came a new challenge, children with hiv/aids. >> we received some really bad occasions with almost nobody around to manage them and us with nothing but our goodwill. to manage them. that really engraved itself hard on my memory. seeing such terrible things, honestly not having a clue. >> so he decided to become a doctor, he got his medical degree when he was in his 40s his newly acquired expertise combined with astute fundraising resulted in a modern pediatric hospital in 2006. country's largest. a wing was added for women with high risk pregnancies which often resulted in premature births. this way such newborns are right near the 22-bed center for neonatology. the doctor is the federal director. >> >> which is a ventilation. >> on any given day you have 22 kids in here who would not have lived. >> correct. >> then a new challenge, devastating earthquake of 2010. the quake did not damage this hospital but quickly overwhelmed it. >> the conforming to a full mass center. we have patients everywhere. >> donations poured in, $9 million in all after the quake. were used to start a new adult hospital. but ten months later came a new crisis, cole la which killed -- cholera, which killed nearly 5,000 people. most recently as a result of hurricane sandy. >> we kind of mushroomed out in response to all of these problems. i think the surprise to everybody including to us is that we could do it all pretty much without batting an eyelash. the real wonder of it to tell you the truth, this is a country of no infrastructure practically. and it's a country of failed -- >> three years after the quakeds given to thousands of nge he is, nongovernment organizations, the rebuilding has been slow. >> too much to -- it's goodwill, it should be recognized fully as that and appreciated. but it doesn't get channeled in a way that makes sense and in fact it's a way that gets -- is disruptive. >> many smaller ngos have come and gone as their funding allowed. bureaucracy slowed larger agencies and major projects in housing and clean water and sanitation. some 360,000 earthquake victims remain displaced intent camps. so the suffering continues and the toll presents itself darkly and literally. each morning in the chapel of st. damien's children hospital, the shrouded bodies of those who have died, several infants and one adult on this day, are counted. the names written down for prayers that follow at daily mass. >> anybody that dies in our arms as they say, in our place, their body is first brought to the chapel so that the very next mass we have the prayers for the dead and for their peace and for the transformation of their life to eternity and for the strength and courage of their family. >> beyond prayer, he says it's important to strengthen families and communities in development work, unlike many ngos project manager rafael says this one tries to involve the community. >> organizations come in with their own ideas and do things their own way, the way that father rick works, we don't come in to a community and give our idea of what to do and how to do it. you look in to the community, listen to their needs because they know them the best then we work together. >> in the sprawling port-au-prince slum, he says the group is partnering with the community to build homes in a sea of shacks and squall already. they're built on the principle that if you wait to do things right nothing will get done for years. prolonging the suffering. >> we're investing in the purchase of time, there's simple block structures, we make most of them ourselves, simple aluminum -- more towards normal than anything that they have known but just buying time while the people with big money and big plans and interwoven network of organizations can do a proper urban development. that's what we're doing. >> they're also building a new health care facility here, all told about 1800 haitians work for the mission begun by him, hundreds of thousands have been served in orphanages, schools and hospitals. funding comes from individuals, foundations and government grants. this year he was awarded the $1 million opus prize given to a faith-based social entrepreneur out of the minnesota-based opus foundation. he does not see his work for the haitians he serves as charity. >> we give them the chance that we all have had, rather than saying, i gave you this chance. i say, i was fortunate i had that chance, it dime me. i didn't make it. we want that same chance to come to you. >> but in haiti, he admits, progress is slow and success builds one small stretch at a time. >> ifill: >> ifill: fred's reporting is a partnership with the under-told stories project at saint mary's university in minnesota. >> brown: finally tonight, the gift of poetry over 100 years, in a conversation we recorded recently with poet and editor christian wiman. written today whatever style, genre or approach, written a hundred years ago by harriet monroe when she founded poetry. now the oldest monthly journal. along the way introduced figures as esra and t.s. elliott and wallace stevens to former poet laureate ryan. in 2003, poetry received a large grant that led to the creation of the poultry foundation. which funds projects to support the art of -- to mark the anniversary now comes a new book "open door" 100 poems, 100 years of poetry magazine. with me is christian wiman. >> thanks for having me. >> this is not a greatest hits of poetry magazine, what were you and coed for after? >> we want to make a book that did a couple of things that represented the magazine's history so that it had some of the high water moments like the love song and others. but it also represented sort of the living history of the magazine, what we're reading 120,000 submissions a year and choosing from among the best of them. >> 140,000? >> 140,000. >> i saw you -- i went, my, goodness. >> we're looking for unexpected pieces by recognizably great poets, but also even more so strand out features by young poets. we wanted it to represent that. >> in the introduction i'll quote, one of the qualities to be good at reading poetry is being good at life. the capacity for surprise. here you are as editor getting all of these, you're reading poetry. what does surprise mean to you when you're reading a poem? >> i think it's usually first a quality of language. some sort of signature language that you notice. but it's easy to get sidetracked with that. we need that in a poem, but even more than that you have to have some sort of emotional engine running the thing. those two things, you're surprised on the level of technique and surprised at the level of your heart. >> is there an example you can think of while you're culling through these? >> every poem in the book. what pops to mind, one by thomas dish who died a few years ago, he wrote a poem, i forget the title, about -- he uses words like terror and civilization and words that we hear in the news all the time now but he wrote this poem in the '70s. that poem is a real surprise to the way it seemed to anticipate things that we're talking about now. another by a young poet, one we wanted to include several young poets, out in california named maria hummell a very beautiful poem about having a sick child, seriously ill child, taking care that have child. it shows the way using very plain language to bring across this very complicated tragic situation. >> when you're talking about the writing of poetry, i'm referring to your introduction you emphasize language, you emphasize craft, you also emphasize a kind of moral way to wrote in poetry. what did you learn about writing of poetry again from going back. >> a famous quote who is foreign correspondent for poetry mag sheen for years. he said, technique is the test of a man's sincerity. i think that surprises some people because they think if you are spending too much time concentrating on the technique of an art that then you're losing the feel that's behind it a lot of students think that, can make me learn the right of it. but i think any time you spend a long time with poetry what you learn is that anyone who make those technical decisions part of their emotional life, you feel those, not really writing poetry that will last. that's what we saw throughout a hundred years, the poems that last have some real concentration with the formal elements. >> also said, i think, something about paraphrase, telling you what it is in a sentence or a phrase. >> similarity to dreams in that regard. also make a lot of that interpreting our own dreams. but always something about, that you've dream and it seems to say something and you figure it out. you think, i figured it out. same with poems, you have great poem and we ask to tell us what it means, always element of disappointment i find that a poem is a clear expression. i think you want -- need some way to in habit these parts of our lives that are not clear, that aren't black or white, one way or the other. poetry can give us that. >> well, this long running question that you -- sometimes tired question role of poetry in our culture, your answer seems to be something like that, who knows in what ways poetry seeps in to all of our lives. >> i think there are a couple of answers to that question. if you look at the metrics, poetry is present in american culture is increasing, you see it on the "newshour," for instance, you hear it on the radio, you come across it on the internet which i think street actually great boon to poetry. >> i remember talking to philip levine the number of poetry readings, he said you can't take a walk without tripping over one as owe poe posed to when he was young. >> it's enormous. a small percentage of that population that actually reads poetry, i think however that poetry is influencing the culture in ways we don't see and ways that other arts are as well. in the lives of people who don't pay attention to it. in ways that not always aware of. i talk about that in the introduction. >> more than 100,000 submissions certainly a lot of people are writing poetry. >> i think it's actually -- may not get people to admit that they're writing poetry, but the number of people who write poetry -- don't show it to anybody. i mean all the time, they don't want to show it just talk about the act of having written something. i think it's embedded in our genes. we don't know it as culture that doesn't have poetry. it has such roots that not going to be -- >> we'll continue this conversation online. i hope our viewers will join us there. for now, christian wiman thanks for talking to us about the "the other dope, 1010 poems in 100 years". >> there is in need more of our >> brown: there's more of our conversation about christian wiman's own poetry and his latest book, "every riven thing". that's on our poetry page. >> ifill: again, the major developments of the day. a gunman set a fire in western new york state, then ambushed firefighters, killing two. it was one of several attacks nationwide, with memories of the newtown school massacre still fresh. and in bethlehem, the church of the nativity marked the arrival of christmas day with midnight mass. and the pope presided over late night services for hundreds of the faithful, in st. peter's basilica at the vatican. actor jack klugman was died in california. online, we ask "what did the world look like in 2012?" kwame holman is here to tell us. >> holman: rewind the year in photos and revisit some of the most memorable and tumultuous moments around the globe. find that slideshow on our world page. plus larry kotlikoff continues to answer questions about social security, including what happens to the benefits of those who die without a survivor. find "ask larry" on the business desk. all that and more is on our web site, newshour.pbs.org. >> brown: and that's the newshour for tonight. on tuesday, christmas day, we'll look ahead to 2013, a pivotal year for implementing the new health care reform law. i'm jeffrey brown. >> ifill: and i'm gwen ifill. we'll see you online and again here tomorrow evening. merry christmas, thank you, and good night. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> bnsf railway. >> macarthur foundation. >> 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 >> and this is "bbc world news america." funding for this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu. newman's own foundation. and union bank. >> at union bank, our relationship managers work hard to know your business, offering specialized solutions and capital to help you meet your growth objectives. we offer expertise and tailored solutions for small businesses and major corporations. what can we do for you? >> and now, "bbc world news america." >> christmas begins at the church of the nativity, as thousands celebrate at the midnight mass in bethlehem. pope benedict conducts christmas eve mass. two firefighters are killed, two wounded as it is another gun attack. hello. welcome to bbc news. also in this program, the