if they lose against ghana, i've a feeling they'll be home before the postcards. >> woodruff: those are just some of the stories we're covering on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: ♪ ♪ moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects us. bae systems. inspired work. united healthcare. >> and the william and flora hewlett foundation, helping people build immeasurably better lives. >> 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. >> ifill: house republicans scrambled today to organize their party ahead of next week's vote for a new majority leader. the race has been whittled down to two contenders: g.o.p. whip kevin mccarthy of california and pete sessions of texas, the chairman of the house rules committee. fellow texan jeb hensarling pulled out of the race. house speaker john boehner did not throw his support behind either candidate, but said he would work with whoever wins. >> the members are going to make this decision. we're going to do it next week. i'm sure some will argue it was too soon, some will argue it was too long. but it's important we resolve this issue in a fair amount of time so that we can do the work that we were elected to do. >> ifill: boehner also said american's frustration with president obama's failed policies contributed to eric cantor's loss. but house minority leader nancy pelosi said republican leaders are to blame and that a new leader won't make much of a difference. >> we have not passed inflation. we have not passed the voting rights act which has always been bipartisan. we have the votes for the immigration bill. it passed the senate in a bipartisan way. so i don't know how things could get worse than the obstruction that is already here. >> ifill: eric cantor, who was defeated tuesday, will serve out his term, but vacate the number two leadership spot at the end of july. >> woodruff: army sergeant bowe bergdahl is headed back to the u.s. from an army medical center in germany. it was widely reported he'll arrive early tomorrow at brook army medical center in san antonio, texas for further medical treatment. he was held by the taliban for five years and freed almost two weeks ago. >> ifill: u.s. drone strikes have started back up in pakistan after a nearly six-month lull. pakistani intelligence officials said 13 suspected insurgents were killed overnight in two separate strikes. the targets were in northwest pakistan in north waziristan. it is home to a number of militant groups. the strikes come just days after the airport in karachi, pakistan's busiest, was attacked. >> woodruff: oil prices spiked to their highest levels of the year today on news of the spreading insurgency in iraq. in new york trading, a barrel of oil settled above $106 dollars, its highest close in almost nine months. the iraq turmoil also impacted stocks on wall street. the dow jones industrial average lost 109 points to close at 16,734; the nasdaq fell 34 points to close at 4,297; and the s&p 500 shed nearly 14 points to close at 1,930. >> ifill: former president george h.w. bush celebrated his 90th birthday the way he celebrated his 75th, 80th and 85th by jumping out of a plane. the 41st president made a tandem parachute jump over the skies near kennebunkport, maine. after his last jump, he'd vowed he would skydive again, even though he can now no longer walk. family and friends greeted him on the ground. this was his eighth jump. the first came under fire, when his plane was shot down over the pacific during world war ii. >> ifill: still to come on the newshour. iraq struggles to stem a tide of insurgents across the country. a new survey finds americans are more polarized than ever. what to watch for as the world cup kicks off. a fresh take on rising economic inequality around the globe. plus, the passing of an award- winning actress and civil rights advocate, ruby dee. >> woodruff: as militants from the islamic state of iraq and the levant continued their march toward baghdad and widened the group's areas of operation and control across syria and iraq talk in washington turned to whether the u.s. should respond and how. at midday the president spoke in the oval office after a meeting with australian prime minister tony abbott. he said iraq would need more assistance not only from the u.s., but other nations as well. >> i don't rule out anything because we do have a stake in making sure that these jihadists are not getting a permanent foothold in either iraq or syria for that matter. in our consultations with the iraqis there will be some short term immediate things that need to be done militarily and our national security team is looking at all the options. but the basic principle obviously is that we like all nations are prepared to take military action whenever our national security is threatened. >> woodruff: later, administration officials said that all options did not include u.s. forces on the ground in iraq. "the new york times" reported this morning, that iraq had asked the obama administration last month to conduct air- strikes on militants in western iraq, but was denied. at the capitol earlier in the day, house speaker john boehner had a harsh direct appraisal of white house policy to date. >> it's not like we haven't seen this problem coming for over a year. and it hasn't-- it's not like we haven't seen over the last five or six months these terrorists moving in taking control of western iraq, and now they've taken control of mosul. they're a 100 miles from baghdad. and what's the president doing? taking a nap! >> reporter: that anger was echoed on the senate floor from arizona republican john mccain. he laid blame squarely on the withdrawal from iraq at the end of 2011, pushed for by the president, amid failed talks with the government of nouri al- maliki for a further u.s. presence. >> to declare that a conflict is over does not mean that it necessarily is over. a takeover of iraq in the iraq syria area which is now the largest concentration of al qaida in history is a direct threat to the united states of america. >> woodruff: but elsewhere on the hill, house minority leader nancy pelosi said it was the original decision to invade, by the george w. bush administration supported by mccain and boehner that was at fault. she said she opposed further u.s. military action in iraq. >> it's just not a good idea, and what's next? that's what the american people would want to know. what's next? i think this represents the failed policy that took us down this path 11-years-ago. >> woodruff: vice president biden spoke with iraqi prime minister maliki earlier today, and according to a white house statement, he told maliki that the u.s. is prepared to continue to intensify and accelerate security support and cooperation with iraq. >> woodruff: american officials say three planeloads of americans are being evacuated from an iraqi airbase in sunni territory north of baghdad to escape threats from the fast- moving insurgency. jonathan rugman of independent the iraqi government launched air strikes on insurgent positions in and ann around mosul. jonathan rugman filed this view of intensified fighting from irbil. >> outside katuk, iraqi troops from the 12th division were filmed. seems they didn't try for long. somebody filmed the iraqi soldiers fleeing, many in civilian clothing, and apparently leaving behind this military base as a play gowned for jihadists from iraq and al-sham. a playground, from this footage, we could count 14 abandoned tanks. and so it was that kurds moved in. they said to stop it from falling. kirkuk, the city kurds long claimed as their historical capital. the kurdish fighters here argue they are the only force for stability in this region because so much of the iraqi army has collapsed. but the temptation for the kurds is to hold on to kirkuk come what nay not just because of its oil wealth but because they've always wanted it as part of a future kurdish state and a kurdish state is what might eventurelely happen here if iraq does indeed collapse. at this checkpoint north of kirkuk, we found kurdish forces inspecting the cars of refugees for jihadist weapons and bomb-making equipment. one of their commanders had earlier survived a roadside bomb attack, but one of his men did not. this man said he was a refugee from syria, had fled to kirkuk to safety and now was fleeing again, he and his family struggling to stay ahead of the jihadist lightning advance. and from tikrit, a restaurant owner, took these foafsz of the jihadists before he packed up and left town fearing his throat would be cut if he stayed. >> he took me outside and calling my family, maybe $1 million. and when he take the $1 million, he kill me. >> that the what you thought might happen? >> because all these people -- did you see any foreign fighters? people from outside iraq? >> yeah, yeah. i'm seeing maybe afghanistan man and syrian man. >> but how could you tell? ecause the face is different, you know. and when he say hello, the language of the pakistani is not the same as iraqi. >> from the north, you can hear what sounds like a jihady with a british accent reveling in the city yesterday. >> we are celebrating. it's a big achievement. >> and there's no doubt from an audio message to its followers that isis believes it now has in its sights baghdad itself. we have a score to settle ivme. >> woodruff: so how are iraq's leaders in baghdad viewing the crisis? for that i spoke a short time ago to jane arraf, a freelance correspondent for al jazeera english and christian science monitor. she was in irbil. jane arraf, thank you very much for talking with us. how is the government in baghdad dealing with all this? we see reports that a large number of government troops are simply laying down their arms in the face of these insurgents. >> it's absolutely scrambling. one of the things that prime minister nouri al-maliki tried to do alook with forming a new government because it's now a government in the making is essentially he has tried to get parliament to agree to declare a state of emergency across the country. parliament has declined to do that. they feel he was using all of this for political gain to further expand his powers. so it's really a political crisis on top of a huge security crisis. he's reaching out to the united states, as you've seen, and reaching out to kurdish leaders to try to solve this but this is such an intractable problem, and the sail, the impones of it, the potential repercussions of losing iraq's second biggest city are absolutely huge ivment is there any question there, jane, about how serious a threat this insurgency poses? >> there's very little question because these people are not going to go away. in the face of four days, they managed to take over iraq's second biggest city, one of the major cities in importance as well as terms of size. so, now we have a situation where, according to people who are still coming out to try to come to the kurdish areas, still coming to the checkpoint just 20 miles from mosul, they say that the city is now completely in control of this group, that essentially is a reincarnation of al quaida, but the group, the islamic state of iraq and syria is working as well with tribal leaders, some tribal leaders from fallujah and the ramadi leader of al-anbar and what appears to be fighters who come directly from anbar province. so this isn't just a foreign external problem but a domestic problem and one the iraqi government has been dealing with though not in this dramatic a form for many, many months ivment talking to people in the government, is it your sense that they believe they can hold this off without u.s. military help? >> they're pretty much desperate for u.s. military help. the problem is that u.s. military help, whether more missiles or drone strikes, isn't really going to solve this. at the heart of this is a country being torn apart and torn apart largely because large parts of the country don't feel they have a say in their own future. they don't feel they can walk in the streets without being discriminated against by iraqi security forces. one of the things that has really come clear in the past few days, again, as people flood from mosul and half a million iraqis have left mosul is that there is a large residual anger against the iraqi security forces in many parts of these cities that's going to make this even harder to solve. it's not just a military security problem, it's a political crisis as well with and one that really is -- it's really hard to see where this will end. >> jane, finally, we know the obama administration has been urging prime minister maliki for some time to reach out to the sunni leadership, the sunni population in iraq. is there any sense on the part of his administration that they're now prepared to do that or that they acknowledge it's been a mistake not to? >> judy, there are a few problems there. one, it's not just a monolithic sunni community. who does he reach out to? it's a very divided sunni political class, and we're seeing that in the problems of forming a new government. the iraqi government seems to feel like it's fighting for its life. this is a fight purely against al quaida and the latest incarnation of al quaida. there isn't a huge sense there when you talk to iraqi government officials that they feel that they need to make concessions. in fact, the incident here we've seen is pretty much to use force and then talk later. as for mosul, tikrit, is a maria and other cities, is it continuing to grow, and not just a security problem, but essentially what many fear is the disintegration of the country ivment jane arraf on the ground in irbil, iraq, thank you. >> woodruff: now, to the united states options. we turn to two men with extensive experience dealing with iraq. james jeffries was us ambassadaor to to iraq from 2010 to 2012. he's now a distinguished visiting fellow at the washington institute for near east policy. feisal istrabadi was iraq's deputy ambassador to the united states from 2004 to 2007. he's now a professor of the practice of international law and diplomacy indiana university, bloomington. ambassador, let me start with you. do you share i guess the perception we just got from jane arraf that this is a country that may be disintegrating and this is every bit as much as a political as military crisis? >> i do. i agree with much of what jane said now. iraq is facing an existential crisis, a moment where the iraqi political class and the broader people of iraq have to answer the questions do we as iraqis want to live together in one country or do we not and what other ramifications of answering the question one way or another. the root of the solution of this problem has been for years and not just in the last four or five days a political solution and the current government in iraq has simply failed to live up to the expectation that it could find a political solution because as jane has just said it seeks a military solution first. >> so ambassador jefferies, if that's the case, does it really matter about this conversation back and forth about military help or not from the u.s.? >> absolutely. i agree with everything the ambassador and jane has said but the point is right now we're not facing some kind of long-term campaign of reconciliation or stability like in iraq, we're facing a challenge as the i.s.i.l. forces seize all of sunni arab iraq which is one-third the country in the west. we're in the position to encircle baghdad and cut it off from electricity, oil, water, everything it needs, and that is an extraordinary threat. that can pull in the iranians, cause the kurds to leave. that's a military threat. >> what do you think needs to be done? >> in order to avoid iranians coming in, kurds going out and possibly extraordinary disaster, the u.s. needs to put, as the president seems to be suggesting he's considering, air power in as he did in libya, effective against mobile columns as we've seen in the film clips. >> if that's what happens and there is air power, does that change the balance of what's going on there? >> i don't think so. the fact is the united states commencing in 2003 was never able to get ahold of increasing insurgency as it was building up in 2005, 2006, 2007. the way that general petraeus was able to make the violence decrease in iraq was by negotiating a series of political deals with sunni tribal sheikhs and others in the community. the prime minister of iraq reneged on all the promises. without the political deals, there is, in my opinion, no military solution to the problem. if the united states was in iraq for ten years with tall the weaponry and intelligence assets it has was unable to defeat the insurgency, the iraqis won't be able to do it. >> you heard ambassador jefferies say if nothing is done we're looking at a dire change of circumstances. >> i understand that and, once again, i say that the iraqis, i think, are going to have to decide the exosteeningsle question of to be or not to be. if the iraqi army is going to make a stand, it has to staunch the bleeding. we have to make military progress. what is air power going to do? are you going to bomb the cities, tikrit, mosul? whole cities have fallen -- >> let me put the question to ambassador jefferies. >> first of all, i disagree. the ambassador was right, the united states with some help from iraqis reached out to sunnis in 2006-2007, and that's the kind of solution the ambassador is recommending and i agree with. but that the not what will happen in the next week or. so the americans up to that time may not have succeeded in ending the insurgencies but we kept major cities out of the hands of these people with american fire power and that's what's lacking now. without american fire power on the ground, city after city is going to fall and you're going to have a catastrophe the likes of what the middle east has not seen in a long time. >> i assume a debate like this is going on inside the obama administration right now. ambassadorrisambassador istrabau believe there is political will on behalf of prime minister nouri al-maliki to do what you're saying? >> i do not. i have seen no evidence he is prepared to engage in any meaningful process of reconciliation, having meetings which he is perfectly willing to do is not reconciliation. he is unwilling to share power. he has become, to paraphrase ronald reagan, a part of the problem, not the solution. they need new leadership in iraq. >> who? let the iraqis decide. this is a moment for the iraqi political elites who have just been reelected, this is a moment for them to grow up. this is a moment for them to realize that the stakes aren't personal. this isn't some personal dispute. the the country is at stake. they need to rise to the challenge and they need to do so now. >> ambassador jefferies. he's absolutely right. over the longer term, that's exactly the problem and ambassador istrabadi has a good solution, whether this al-maliki or a new one which the old one was not helpful, remains to be seen. that's weeks if not months ahead. we now have a military situation. if we don't stop it, there will be no cold front government, but will be catastrophe all up and down iraq. >> we hear you both and this is the kind of urgent situation we are watching constantly. ambassadors, we thank you. >> thank you. >> ifill: a huge new pew research center study of 10,000 american adults, finds us more divided than ever with personal and political polarization at a 20-year high. the number of people identifying themselves as either consistently liberal or consistently conservative, has doubled in the last decade. they are less likely to compromise, and often decide where to live, who to marry, and who their friends should be based on what they already believe. joining us now to talk about the new american extremes are. michael dimock, vice president of research at pew and the lead author on the survey and amy walter, national editor at the cook political report. let's start with the self labeling question, michael dimock. 11% in 2004, 21% in 2014 people said they were either consistently liberal or conservative. >> right, and we're not going by what people call themselves. we're asking questions about major political values, role of government, social issues that are a benefit or harm to our society and we're finding more and more people consistently answering those questions in a liberal or conservative direction, still a minority, 21%, but doubling over the last 21 years. >> ifill: and still people like each other a lot less, growing antipathy. from 1994, democratic attitudes about the republican party from 16% to 38% as very unfavorable now, same thing for republicans, from 17% in 1994 to 43% in 2014. >> right. i mean, it's not unusual to kind of dislike the other party, but now they're very unfavorable from pollsters is up. we asked a follow-up question saying would you so far as to say the other party poses a threat to the well being of the nation or wouldn't you go that far? most people would go that far. more than a third of republicans say the democrats are a threat to the nation, more than a quarter of democrats saying the same thing about the republicans. >> ifill: amy, what is the chicken and the egg? is it people choose to live among people like themselves and they become like that or they defy the beliefs and chooseo only associate with people like them? >> i think both. technology has only helped to exacerbate this. there was a time where it's not just that you choose to live in communities where people think a lot like you and i the study definitely showed people who are more liberal live in urban areas and people more conservative live in rural areas. in rural areas, they cite religious issues as the most important value. and then it gets exacerbated by the fact that you can literally isolate yourself in a bubble thanks to our technology on the internet, on cable television, you never ever have to see or hear anything that disagrees with your world view or your ideological point of view. >> ifill: we knew this. it's kind of stunning to see the numbers. it is just about politics, michael, or everything we are? >> it goes further, picking up on what amy said. some of the choices that may lead to what call echo chambers where your views are rebounded, they're choices you're making for other priorities in your life but correlated with politics and lead you to be around other people who share your views, whether preferring to live in a big house far from things even if you have to drive, which 75% of conservatives tell us is important to them or living in a small community where you can walk to things even if you have to live in a smaller house which 75% of liberals say would be their preference. >> ifill: what happens to the middle? 35% consistently liberal don't really much believe in compromise. 33% who are consistently conservatives don't much believe in compromise, but in the middle there are 54% who are neither chicken more egg. chicken nor egg who say, you know, maybe. so here's the problem -- >> the study points this without, the people are the majority but not the majority of voters. they don't show up to vote especially in primaries. the most engaged voters are also the most ideologically partisan and the ones who dislike the other party the most. what's driving them to the polls in those cases not love for their party but the dislike for the other side. >> ifill: is that what of what we saw in this week's big political surprise? >> absolutely. the people most motivated to go out and vote are the people who are in the consistently liberal/conservative category. and the people in the middle stay home. we talk about we've gotten the government we elected. the 10 to 20% of the electorate voted for it. so those folks in the middle, their voice isn't heard in some cases because they haven't voted. >> ifill: is it the same thing as polarization. >> the political scientists would want us to hold those things apart and we tried to be true to that. ideology, way you think about the world, priorities, the role of government, that's one element and we're seeing this as sorting out into these wings, so to speak, but partisanship, i think, is more about this idea that the other side is really wrong and no middle ground, so the compromise figures for most americans when they say where should obama and republicans end up when they disagree, most americans 50/50, just natural, split the difference, but to the folks on the left and the right, that's not the natural meeting point or where they should end up. the liberals tell us obama should get two-thirds of what he wants in any deal with the republicans and the conservatives say the same thing the other way. >> ifill: on the issues we debate all the time, gun rights, abortion, immigration reform, this does not bode well. >> right. >> ifill:. we as a broader electorate are saying we want people to compromise. when we look at the people turning out and voting, those people have no desire to compromise. in fact, that is the axe lull opposite of what they would like to see. so not even so much about the policy itself, it's the idea that they could be in a room with somebody from a different party actually coming up with an agenda when both sides have to give in. >> ifill: is that policy specific, michael? >> it is. one of the interesting things we wanted to tease out is because you're consistently liberal or conservative on views doesn't make you extreme or that you hold hard' line views. in fact, one to have the challenges of a center is the center is fragmented, it's all over the place, and they're not necessarily moderate in their views. they're not always looking for the middle ground. many hold very, very strong views on issues like abortion or homosexuality or the role of government, it's just that they don't fit cleanly into ideological categories. they're a little all over the map and, therefore, hard to gather into a new force in politics. >> michael dimock of the pew research center, amy walter of cook political report. thank you, this is an amazing piece of study work. >> woodruff: the biggest tournament on the planet got underway today. police and protesters clashed again in sao paulo earlier in the day about six miles away from the stadium. there were protests in rio as well. but most of the attention on the opening day of the world cup was focused on the first contest featuring the host country, brazil. jeffrey brown has a preview, starting with some background followed by a conversation recorded before today's match. >> reporter: soccer fans from around the world flocked to the corinthians arena in sao paulo today as celebrations kicked off the 20th edition of the fifa world cup. supporters of the host team were out in force. revving up the opening match of the competition, brazil against croatia. >> ( translated ): i feel a lot of emotion, a lot of joy, it's a pleasure to see all the world here, it's very good. >> reporter: that, of course, comes after a mostly bad lead- up, featuring construction delays and accidents; and protests over the costs of hosting the world cup. even as demonstrations continued today, the main event got underway. with 32 countries participating in the world's most watched sporting event. five-time champion brazil is one favorite to take this year's cup. another top contender, spain, warmed up for the competition in brazil with a so-called friendly match last weekend in washington d.c. against el salvador. that match and others around the u.s. drew large crowds. part of what soccer fans here hope is a continuing and growing trend to connect this country to the rest of the world's intense love of the sport. >> so much of the world plays i think it's a really important way to connect with somebody with the rest of the world in a way the united states really hasn't. yeah, i think just since it relates for so many other people in parts of the world. i mean, the more we connect on any level i think it's great. so soccer is just another way. >> reporter: for its part, the u.s. team, led by its new coach, former german star jorgen klinsmann, will play its first match on monday, taking on ghana. the world cup will continue through july 13th when the championship match will take place in rio. and we get our own viewer's guide from the cup, tony smyth, featured on espnfc. and matthew is covering us from the "wall street journal." matthew, we're the host team which is a power house. we're talking before the first match. what are the expectations this time for brazil? >> well, for a country like brazil, there's only one expectation and that's to win the world cup. that's the way they go into these big tournaments, that's what's expected of them and hoped for and anything less would be considered a failure. >> brown: tremendous pressure on them as always, especially in their own home nation. >> absolutely, tremendous pressure, and with brazil, what's unique, is there's not just tremendous pressure to win the game but to win them beautifully. it's to play a style of soccer that comes with sort of acrobatics and heel passes and all sorts of fanciness that has enthralled generations of brazilians. so they have to win and win with style. >> brown: tommy smyth, broaden it out. who are you watching? >> well, i'm going to be watching -- i mean, argentina is certainly a team you're going to have to watch and sergeant is arguably the best player in the world. porgy is the second player, renaldo, the italians are always there. the germans are star studded. there's no shortage of good teams in this world cup, believe me. >> brown: tommy, you mentioned the great and good teams. are there any dark horses or non-traditional power houses that might win or do well? >> just mark in your notebook belgium because belgium has really come through qualifying in europe. they were unbelievable. they're an incredible team. if the pressure and the hype doesn't get to them, that could be a very dark horse for this world cup. i fancy they will go a long way. >> brown: matthew, a new coach, he took dramatic action in the u.s., leaving off the squad one of the most famous players, perhaps. what's the situation for the u.s. team? >> i think the u.s. is feeling very good about themselves right now. i was just with them on wednesday. head coach klemsman, the german you spoke about, is very positive. ghana eliminated the u.s. in the last two world cups. they're determined to make that not happen a third time. this is interesting, several german-americans on the team. they've come together, on a bit of a roll, won three games in a row, three tournament matches before they came and they're feeling good about themselves. >> brown: tommy, what do you think about the chance force the u.s. team? >> the key is how day do against dpa nay. if they -- ghana. if they lose against ghana, they should get postcards. my key for the u.s. is you've got to get -- this is a must-win game. the first game is a must-win game and, you know, maybe the third time is the charm because ghana has already knocked them out twice so the u.s. certainly owed them one. >> brown: it's funny, tommy because coach klinsmann is telling everyone the u.s. has no chance to win. so that's a little unusual psychology going into the world cup or any match. >> i never played under a coach who told me i didn't think i was going to win. even when he didn't think i was going to win, he told me i would. i don't understand what klinsmann is doing, but if he wins he'll be a hero. if he doesn't, i would hate to be in his shoes afterwards. >> brown: tell us the general themes of the world cup and of world football, soccer these days. one is globalization that these players, this is sort of a national competition. but these players play all over the world, don't they? >> yeah, they do play all over the world, except there is a trend among the brazilians that since there's more money in brazil now, some of the best brazilians actually play in the domestic league. but, yes, it used to be for years that the south american players were the magic, creative players, but europe had these great power house teams that were sort of technically more sophisticated in terms of strategy and that was what prevailed. that is sort of -- they've each drawn from each other in recent years, where is europeans had become very sort of skilled with their feet and technical in that sense, and the south american teams have gotten much more disappointed and much more organized, and i think you're going to see here on south american soil some of those teams do very well. tommy mentioned belgium as a dark horse. i would keep an eye on chile and some of the other south american teams because they all feel very comfortable here, it's very close to home and the europeans have never lifted the world cup trophy in this part of the world. >> brown: tommy smyth, what would you add to that in terms of how the game changed in terms of globalization and the nature of where players play these days? >> they do call it the world game. believe me, all you have to do now is find a grandfather or a grandmother that actually came from one country and you can play for another country. there's a great example, player diego costa, who played for spain. spain won the last time around. diego costa is a brazilian who signed to play with spain, so the brazilian is actually going back home to his own country to play for another country. so that in itself is just so unique and i've never seen it happen before. >> brown: that's a little head spinning as we start this world cup. >> it certainly is. i mean, i know people out there are saying, yeah, but you irish guys did it for a long time, look at all the english guys you had play for them. but this is different and much more major. believe me, it's a different trend, and i don't know, i think it's going to continue. you will not see the end of it very soon. >> brown: all to unfold over the coming weeks. tommy smyth and matthew futterman. thanks very much. >> thanks. >> ifill: today on twitter we asked you: what do you find most beautiful about the game? tweet us your response @newshour. >> woodruff: next, a conversation about the scope of growing inequality, not only in the u.s. but in other countries around the world. it's the focus of new research by the organization for economic cooperation and development or o.e.c.d. among its findings: income inequality has been rising over the past three decades in the u.s. most of all, but also in other countries including the united kingdom, canada, and france. the o.e.c.d. also said the share of income going to the richest citizens grew in many countries. with the wealthiest 1% of the population in the u.s. more than doubling their share since 1980. to nearly 20% of all income. secretary general angel gurria is the head of the o.e.c.d. he was in washington today for a speech on the subject and joins me now. welcome to the "newshour." >> thank you. is o.e.c.d., this organization founded in europe principally around european countries interested in inequality in the u.s. why? >> first of all, the organization was found bid the united states because it's a successor to the marshall plan. the united states are heavily invested in the organization and heavily invested in europe, of course. second, it happens to be based in paris, but it has 34 members, 20 of which are european, the rest non-european. so they're from all over the world and, of course, the united states is a very important member. >> woodruff: so tell me, what did you find in terms of inequality that disturbed you so much? this is a big focus for you. >> before the crisis, inequality had been rising, already. in 2008, after three years of research, we started ten years ago, and then in 2008 we issued a report called "growing unequal?" with a question mark. a little later we removed the question mark because it was very obvious we were growing unequally but the differences were growing very fast. in 2011, after three years of crisis, we found that inequality had grown faster i in 2009, 2010 and 2011 than the 12 years before. it accelerated to the point where it was becoming a very serious social, political and practical issue besides the ethical and moral underpinning. so it is a problem to which no country is alien, but the speed and the situation today makes it a forbiddable obstacle for the reforever, for the economic recovery. >> woodruff: explain why that's a worry for people who care about economic growth and what do you think needs to be done about it? >> because, for every 1% that inequality grows, you will have a drop in growth of about 0.2, 0.3%. that means a more unequal society will grow less, and inequality becomes an obstacle to growth in and of itself. second, the problem is not just the question of income. it's also a question of inequality of opportunities, inequality of access to health services, inequality of access to education, inequality to access to employment opportunities, and these have been also growing, and they have been polarizing, they have been concentrating on the wealthiest, and you have been left now with a legacy of a very large group of people with lower, dropping wages that are also missing opportunities, and the problem is they're going to also leave their children a legacy with lower possibilities. >> woodruff: so what do you see as the main remedy? >> the main remedies are activation policies, meaning get services in the governments that will get the people who are unemployed or seeking for employment with the job opportunities. this is not being done enough. the united states spends one-fourth of what the rest of the o.e.c.d. countries spend on this particular service, seeking employment with the employment opportunities. second, skills -- education and skills. there's a big mismatch between the skills and what the market is demanding. therefore, people have diplomas but they can't do much wit. third, use a tax structure and a budget in order to support companies that may be providing jobs or better opportunities. last but not least, remember, this is a problem that is affecting the capacity of the united states to get the people at the lowest revenue levels and at the lowest education levels to get up in the social ladder, in the ladder of opportunities. >> woodruff: but these are all prescriptions that involve more government involvement and spending more tax dollars or raising taxes, solutions that politically in the united states are not very popular. conservatives would push back and say some of these things would hurt growth and not help, to raise taxes, for example. >> this is a great opportunity of bipartisan support for an agenda which maybe one or the other party, if they so choose to not support, would do at their peril because we're talking here about not government intervention but government doing what they were voted in to do which is to protect the most vulnerable. second, it is about leveling the playing field, something which republicans, democrats and governments, socialists and conservatives in other parts of the world in europe, et cetera, all are supporting. last, which is a country where inequality as grown more in the last few years, would you believe sweden? a country that is reputed to be very equal in that sense. but the problem is generalized. it's not just in the united states. inequality has grown faster in the united states and also where this is now becoming very evident where we have to address it. >> well, it is an issue that is many layered. the report is fascinating. i think it's certainly worth discussing and debating. the secretary general of the o.e.c.d., angel gurria, thank you very much for talking with us about it. >> thank you very much. it's a great privilege and, right now, the best-selling book in amazon is a book about inequality. president obama said the defining issue in the rest of his administration would be on inequality. so we seem to be focusing on the right issues. >> woodruff: all the more reason we're glad to have you. >> thank you so much. >> ifill: the acclaimed actress and civil rights activist ruby dee has died. dee had a multi-faceted career, often acting alongside her husband, ossie davis. more recent performances included roles in spike lee's 1987 "do the right thing." as well the 2007 film "american gangster," for which she received an oscar nomination. she won an emmy, a grammy and was honored by the screen actors guild. she and her husband jointly received national medals of art and were recipients of the kennedy center honors. ruby dee starred on broadway in "a raisin in the sun" before it was made into the 1961 film in the same role. in this scene, dee's character, ruth younger, has just found out that her mother-in-law has bought a house for the growing family in an all white chicago neighborhood. ere are no other houses? m areas all seem to cost twice as much! i did the best i could! >> well... all i can say... this is my time in life! my time... to say goodbye to these old, tired walls, these marching cockroaches, ha! and this never was no kitchen! i'll say it loud and good! goodbye, misery... i don't want never want to see your ugly face again. >> yes, honey. is there a whole lot of sunlight? >> yes, child. there's a whole lot of sunlight. (laughter) >> ifill: ruby dee in "raisin in the sun". her daughter said, dee was surrounded by family and friends when she passed away wednesday night at her home in new rochelle, new york. she was 91 years old. >> woodruff: again, the major developments of the day. islamic militants in iraq pushed forward toward baghdad, and president obama said iraq might need u.s. support. army sergeant bowe bergdahl who was held captive in afghanistan for five years is headed back to the u.s. for further medical treatment at an army base in texas. and, the first day of soccer's world cup got underway in brazil, with the host country winning its first game. >> ifill: on the newshour online right now, one of the most resonant voices of his generation, charles wright has been named america's next poet laureate. the 78-year-old writer has spent his career exploring the "inexhaustable power of words." we talked to wright about his craft in 2011, at his home in charlottesville, virginia: you can watch that entire profile, plus charles wright reading a number of his poems on our poetry page. all that and more is on our web site, newshour.pbs.org. >> woodruff: and that's the newshour for tonight. on friday, we'll talk with federal trade commission head edith ramirez on her push for consumer data protection laws. i'm judy woodruff. >> ifill: and i'm gwen ifill. we'll see you, on-line and again here tomorrow evening with mark shields and david brooks among others. for all of us here at the pbs newshour, thank you and good night. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> i've been around long enough to recognize the people who are out there owning it. the ones getting involved, staying engaged. they are not afraid to question the path they're on. because the one question they never want to ask is, "how did i end up here?" i started schwab with those people. people who want to take ownership of their investments, like they do in every other aspect of their lives. >> when i was pregnant, i got more advice than i knew what to do with. what i needed was information i could trust, on how to take care of me and my baby. united healthcare has a simple program that helps moms stay on track with their doctors and get care and guidance they can use before and after the baby is born. simple is what i need right now. >> that's health in numbers, united healthcare >> and the william and flora hewlett foundation, helping people build immeasurably better lives. >> 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. captioning sponsored by macneil/lehrer productions captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org . this is "nightly business report," with tyler mathisen and susie gharib. oil shot, prices rising to their highest level in years as the iraq violence intensifies. some oil experts say that it could easily go higher. and disruption as the conflict escalates, a number of american companies in iraq could feel the heat. and show me the profits. add streaming music to the list of things that amazon now offers. but will it help increase profits? something shareholders keep looking for. all this and more on "nightly business report" june 12th, thursday. good evening, everyone, we begin tonight with the escalating violence and chaos across iraq. and even

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