Woodruff back in the u. S. , paul solman digs into todays jobs report, which points to strong gains in hiring and a fiveyear low in the Unemployment Rate. And mark shields and david brooks are here. They reflect on mandelas life and the rest of the weeks news. Those are just some of the stories were covering on tonights pbs newshour. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by support also comes from Carnegie Corporation of new york, a foundation created to do what Andrew Carnegie called real and permanent good. Celebrating 100 years of philanthropy at carnegie. Org. And with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. And friends of the newshour. This program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Woodruff the death of Nelson Mandela resonated across south africa and around the world today. Millions mourned the former president and symbol of racial reconciliation and officials planned a Mass Memorial Service on tuesday. We begin our coverage with Rohit Kachroo of independent Television News reporting from south africa. Rted this was a day to mourn one life lost, and a day to mark the many lives made by Nelson Mandela. The gift of freedom is being celebratedded here. And even those lost in the sadness of his death know how much bleaker things might have been. Im very, very sad, but today im sad and i dont know what can i say. From his home last night, his coffin was brought away draped in the rainbow colors. His pain is over. But the hurt is now all theirs. Yet through all the blurry eyes and broken hearts, this nation was to the broken. As the old songs of the struggle from sung, through the night. And the new day brought the start of south africas future. The sun will rise tomorrow. And the next day, and the next. It may not appear as bright as yesterday, but life will carry on. Reporter the man who freed Nelson Mandela, the last apartheid president of south africa spoke today of the political enemy who became a friend. He was a great man. He was a very special man. I think his greatest legacy to south africa and to the world is the emphasis which he has always put on the need for reconciliation. Reporter mandelas condition had worsened over his final few days. This was his last appearance in public, confused, frail and fading. His stair broken only by the flash of a camera. This afternoon president zuma went to comfort the Mandela Family and to finalize plans for his state funeral. Well spend the week mourning his passing. Well also spend it celebrating a life well lived, a life that we must all emulate. Nelson mandela will now lie in state. Next week at pretorias union buildings. Once a bastion of white rule. Here 19 years ago he was sworn in as president and the rainbow nation was born. Never, never again shall it be that this beautiful land will again experience the oppression of one over another. Reporter it was from this building south africas seat of government that he helped to steer his country away from civil war. Nation building and reconciliation in this country. It is not something that can be done by others. It is something in which i shall take a lead. And therefore i have to suppress my feelings. Reporter but the man the world most reveres wanted to be buried far from the capitol city in the village he called his home, even when politics became his life. Born in the british empire, he will be buried in a distant corner of a country that is in every sense his. The man who made the miracle of modern south africa, who brought a nation with him on his long walk to freedom. Though the world now mourns and president s will visit, it is ode South Africans who gain from his struggle and in finding out what this democracy looks like without him. Woodruff a short time ago, i spoke with lydia polgreen, Johannesburg Bureau chief for the New York Times. Lydia polgreen, thank you for talking with us. My pleasure, judy. Woodruff how are South Africans reacting today to mandelas death . Are they all black and white united in their view of him . Overwhelmingly i would say yes. Today i was outside his home in an upscale suburb of johannesburg. And there were not just black and white, there were, you know, yalmke and muslim knitted prayer caps. There were young and old, people from a whole variety of walks of life all over south africa. So what im seeing is a real kind of coming together of the rainbow nation. And when you talk to people, you get the sense that they feel very glad to have this opportunity to kind of reembrace and reassert that identity that was so strong when Nelson Mandela first became president in 1994. Woodruff you write today that South Africans were coming together to mourn his death in a way that you said seems increasingly rare in a nation confronting significant economic challenges. You also wrote about political corruption, and a sense that the nation is even slipping into despair. What were you saying there . Well, i think south africa has seen enormous challenges since 1994. Its a country that was reborn with tremendous hope when Nelson Mandela was elected. And i think youve seen quite a bit of that hope whittled away. Its one of the most unequaled country in the world. Crime remains an indem i believe problem. The Education System is riddled with problems. And you also see that there is an increasing public corruption. So the current president has been involved in a huge scandal involving his private home. So people look to Nelson Mandela and think theres with a leader. There was someone with real integrity. So i think that this is a moment for people to look back and reflect on where theyve come from and how to get back on the right path. Woodruff and also by definition losing what i think you call the moral center for the country. Well, i think for many people nelson pan della does represent a kind of moral center. And a choice to turn away from violence, to turn away from strife. And to turn away from racial divisions. And instead of standing in judgement of one another, to reconcile and to admit that we did terrible things to each other. But now were ready to move on. And i think that was the great gift of Nelson Mandela. That he was able to bring people together in a way that made them feel that they could forgive and made them move on. Woodruff lydia, one other thing. You wrote today in a personal way about what he meant to you in life and in death. Can you reflect on that . Sure. My mother comes from ethiopia an my father is american. I sppbt most of my childhood in africa, mostly in the 1980s, a time when south africa was a country that we con even visit as a result of the composition of my family. And so today as a correspondent in south africa, living froly in a nonracial country where anyone can marry anyone they want, where anyone can live anywhere they want, its an extraordinary feeling for me. Particularly since i, myself, am in a multiracial relationship. So its a real transformation for south africa. And i think its a real inspiration to the world. Woodruff lydia polgreen, with the New York Times, thank you very much. Thank you. Woodruff well talk with South Africans about the mandela legacy, a little later in the program. Unemployment in the u. S. Dipped to 7 in november the lowest rate since 2008. And, employers added 203,000 jobs. But the number of people actively looking for work remained near a 35year low. Paul solman explores the data and the debate over longterm jobless benefits right after this news summary. The jobs numbers touched off a rally on wall street. The Dow Jones Industrial average gained more than 198 points to close at 16,020, breaking a fiveday losing streak. The nasdaq rose 29 points to close at 4,062. For the week, the dow lost just under 0. 5 . The nasdaq rose 0. 1 snow and freezing rain fell from texas up to indiana today, posing an icy threat across the central u. S. Roads in north texas and arkansas starting icing over late last night and continued today. And, some parts of the midwest were forecast to get several inches of snow. American airlines whose major hub is in dallas canceled 1,000 flights by this morning. Britain and Northern Europe spent a second day coping with flooding and other damage from a powerful storm. It triggered the biggest tidal surge in 60 years on the eastern english coast. The surge pulled clifftop homes into the north sea, and caused severe flooding in many coastal communities. In london, the river thames barrier was closed for the second time in as many days to protect against the flood. Heavy smog descended on shanghai, china today one of the worst bouts of pollution to hit the city since records were started last december. Authorities reacted by pulling 30 of government vehicles off the road and banning fireworks and public sporting events. Visibility was down to just 160 feet in some places, as people struggled to cope. I have difficulty in breathing. I feel uncomfortable. My throat is all funny after i went home. I hate going outside. It was fine in the subway but the air quality is terrible outdoors. Visible is also bad and so is my mood. Woodruff the dirty air is being blamed on coal burning, car exhausts, factory pollution and shifting weather patterns. The International Chemical weapons watchdog now says all of syrias unfilled chemical munitions have been destroyed. The organization for the prohibition of chemical weapons announced it has verified that the assad regime did indeed destroy the empty weapons. It also confirmed destruction of buildings at production facilities. There was relative quiet across the capital city of the Central African republic today, as hundreds of french troops began arriving. A day earlier, at least 280 people died in heavy fighting between christian militias and muslim rebels. Soldiers reached the city this morning, with the permission of the u. N. Security council to use force. The french contingent will eventually reach 1,200. The embattled president of ukraine Viktor Yanukovych met today with russian president vladimir putin, in the face of ongoing protests back home. The demonstrations erupted after ukraines leaders backed away from improving ties with the european union. Moscow wants ukraine to join a trade bloc dominated by russia, instead. Still to come on the newshour good jobs news, but not for the longterm unemployed; fastfood workers fight for a living wage; what mandela meant for south africa. Plus, shields and brooks. Woodruff now, a pair of reports from the jobs front about a divide in the u. S. Economy the labor market seems to be getting stronger once again. Yet for many on the lower end of the income ladder, the big gap in wages is sparking a budding movement. We begin with economics correspondent paul solman on the Unemployment Rates drop to a fiveyear low, even as many jobless americans face more difficult times ahead. The story is part of pauls coverage on making sense of financial news. Reporter the latest snapshot of the nations jobs situation showing 203,000 positions added in november, and a jobless rate of 7 was even rosier than anticipated. We asked Northeastern University economist Barry Bluestone what he made of the numbers. On balance this was a good report today. Over 200,000 people are back to work. Weve brought the Unemployment Rate down from 7. 3 to 7 . Thats all good news. Of course many of those were federal employees coming back to work after furlough, but we had some good news about manufacturing employment, construction employment, pretty much across the board. So in general this is good news plus over the last several months weve been seeing more job growth in the area of about 200,000 jobs a month. Reporter indeed, job gains were broadbased from manufacturing and construction to warehousing and transportation to retail, as the Holiday Shopping season kicked off. But amidst the good news, a curiously stubborn fact, says bluestone. We continue to see incredibly high levels of longterm unemployment. These are people who have been unemployed for 27 weeks or more. 4. 1 million americans have been unemployed that long. And that isnt moving at all, its been over four million for months. So these are people who are at a point where theyre just essentially out of the economy and of course hurting very badly. Reporter the longterm jobless are facing a key policy decision this month. Emergency Unemployment Insurance for them after 26 weeks, put in place during the great recession, will stop at the end of the month, immediately cutting off aid to over a Million People unless Congress Extends the program. The president has called for such an extension, which can provide several extra months of aid, but republicans have not committed to it yet. Bluestone, a liberal, thinks an extension would make both moral and economic sense. Without that unemployment benefit dollar coming into those families, they cant spend money. And if they cant spend money the economy continues to slowly move ahead and that keeps our Unemployment Rate for everybody up at 7 or above. So pouring more money into the economy through extended unemployment benefits, particularly for families who are going to spend every last dollar, creating tremendous consumption, putting people back to work, is in setup the out the he best policy we could do. We need to get money into their reporter james sherk, a labor analyst at the conservative heritage foundation, disagrees. Not extending benefits, he argues, would nudge people to accept jobs they might have rejected, and that in itself would lower the overall jobless rate. Workers understandably look for the job thats very close to what they had before, people dont want to have to move, they dont want to have to look for a job in a new industry, and they sure dont want to have to take a pay cut. When those benefits drop down, they become willing to broaden their search to jobs that they might be more likely to land, even if their job is not close to their ideal. Reporter for its part, the Nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that extending emergency benefits would cost 25 billion, but would create 200,000 jobs next year. Woodruff as bad as circumstances are for people who cant find a job, there is a different but tangible challenge for americans who have work, but earn barely enough to get by. For them, as newshour correspondent kwame holman reports, there is a battle playing out across the country to win a guarantee of higher pay. Its not fun to survive on low, low, low, low pay. Reporter mcdonalds employees gathered in the Nations Capital on thursday, including workers from the franchise inside the smithsonians air and space museum who struck a seasonal note as they proclaimed theyre tired of having to scrape by. You know, you shouldnt have to resort to the government assistance to live and take care of your children if youre eligible and able to work. You should be able to get paid for what you do and what youre my grandkids. I cant never say, they ask me, nana, can we go to the store . Can we go to the park . You know, any place like that. I can take them to the park but as far as having money to spend, i dont have it. I got paid yesterday. Wednesday. And im broke already. Reporter over the past year theres been a small but growing chorus of fast food workers who have pushed to raise their wage, from an average of about 9 an hour to whats called a living wage 15 an hour. The protests come at the same yesterdays strikes, planned for 100 cities, were organized by the Service EmployeesInternational Union and a New York Group pushing for higher wages, fast food forward. Fast food forward also funded a recent study by the university of california at berkeley. It found 52 of fast food workers depend on Public Programs like food stamps, medicaid, and the earned income tax credit to get by at a cost of nearly 7 billion a year to taxpayers. Thats compares to 25 of the overall workforce who depend on such programs. As workers from wendys to wal mart call for a living wage. Hold the burgers, hold the fries, we cant survive on 7. 25. Reporter others are calling on congress to increase the federal minimum wage now 7. 25 an hour and last raised in 2009. If you work hard, you should make a decent living. Reporter that includes president obama, who spoke wednesday about inequality at the leftleaning center for american progress. We all know the arguments that have been used against a higher minimum wage. Some say it actually hurts low wage workers; business will be less likely to hire them. Theres no solid evidence that a higher minimum wage costs jobs, and Research Shows it raises incomes for lowwage workers and boosts shortterm economic growth. applause reporter not everyone buys those arguments. In downtown washingtons freedom plaza, where skateboarders took advantage of unseasonal warmth this week, the head of the conservative American Action forum and former Congressional Budget Office chair, douglas holtzeakin, took issue. I think the president s argument is incomplete at best. Certainly the person who has the job, their wages are high