On guns, after newtown wraps up tonight with a report from chicago on the Public Health crisis in the city in the wake of rising gun violence. The people who come in after having been shot are some of the highest risk folks. These are people who have been shot, who may have been shot before, and really without some intervention, without some life changing moment, the trajectorys either going to be jail or death. Woodruff mark shields and david brooks analyze the weeks news. Suarez and, as a magistrate grants Oscar Pistorius bail, we talk to Charlayne Hunter gault about how his arrest has focused attention on the unusually high rate of violence against women in south africa. Domestic violence is shot through the entire society from the highest of the highed in socioeconomic terms to the lowest of the low. Woodruff thats all ahead on tonights 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. 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. Suarez with just a week left before automatic spending cuts are set to begin, the Obama Administration stepped up pressure on republicans in congress today. The latest warnings came over the potential impact that furloughs would have on air travel, starting in april. Transportation secretary ray lahood said travelers could face new delays of 90 minutes at major airports in chicago, new york and san francisco. More than 100 air control towers at smaller airports could be closed, lahood said. Airlines likely would cancel flights. And congress, he said, would hear of the fallout. Its not only the impact on the passengers, its the impact that it has on airports, control towers, people who work there, airports. And their phones are going to start ringing. Why does this have to happen . Nobody likes a delay. Nobody likes waiting in line. None of us do. If we cant get our hamburger within five minutes, if we cant get on the plane within 30, 40, 50 minutes after going through, you know what happens. They start calling their member of congress. Suarez more now on these latest warnings, the republican response and the timing of these possible cuts. Lisa rein is following this for the Washington Post and she joins me now. Lisa, in recent days senior members of the Obama Administration have laid out an exacting detail all the terrible consequences that the sequester goes through while republicans, in many cases, have said it might not be that bad. From your reporting, can you tell whos working closer to the truth . Well, it is hard to tell you about this is really in part a political game because it really does look like these 85 billion dollars in spending cuts will begin to take effect next fridayment it does not look as if congress, either side in congress has a real interest in resolving this issue. And the Obama Administration has over the past, im going to say, about two weeks has stepped up the pressure on republicans to say to the public, okay, dire consequences will result if these cuts take effect. Thats in part because the agencies have to make the cuts acrosstheboard and they cant really make them without furloughs. Now air traffic is just one area of the government that would that the white house says would be impacted. Youve got National Parks that are going to delay openings because they have to they cant do Seasonal Hiring and Seasonal Hiring are the folks who really drive parks. Poultry inspections would be compromised. Prosecutions in federal courts, you know, would be affected. The whole range of things. Now for the obama folks, in many ways its in their interest to blame republicans for these cuts because polls have showed that the republicans would take the blame. For republicans, many, many constituents in these republican districts want to cut Government Spending. And their members feel that this is really the only way to start doing it. Suarez these are being portrayed as sudden and sizable cuts. Where are they going to be seen first. Secretary lahood was talking about april for some of these air traffic affects. What will we see and how soon after march 1st . Well, its hard to say. Theres no question that no one is going to be furloughed next friday. And the cuts will really not be visible for several weeks if that. Its also possible that congress will reach a deal several weeks into these cuts to stop them. And nothing really noticeable, you know, would happen to government services. So they will be gradual and federal agencies have the ability to push off some of the cuts. But what they are saying is that they need to start furloughing people in about april. The defense, the pentagon says this week that it was issuing furlough notices to about 800,000 civilian employees. To prepare to be furloughed. So in the case of the pentagon, you know, that means that destroyers, various aircraft carriers will not deploy to places like the persian gulf and other theatre, and thats a big effect on local economies, in areas like rampton rode, virginia, san diego. And its an effect affect that will be clearly felt on contractors who rely on navy contracts for shipbuildings. So i think the affects will be gradual. No one can really tell when the agencies will sort of pull the plug. And as i said, the cuts nay not take effect for that long. Suarez you said at the outset there is a political dimension to this. Of course as we enter the final week there most certainly is what is the they are telling opinion researchers if friday comes and goes without a deal . Well, i think part of the problem is that Many Americans dont really understand what sequestration is. Its become this obsession in washington. But many people are only just now beginning to become aware of it. But the recent, a recent poll by the pew center for research said that many more republicans would be held responsible than would the Obama Administration. On the other hand, as i said earlier, republicans have been putting pressure on the administration for two years, three years now, to get to make deep spending cuts to the federal government which they see as excessive and in need of cutting and as causing huge deficit problems. And part of the problem is if you have automatic spending cuts which is what the sequestration would do across all arms of the government, virtually, then no one really needs to take responsible for having authorized specific cuts to specific agencies. And thats in part why the cuts are oddly enough politically more palatable than if republicans or democrats were to say, okay, we suggest that you cut this agency, or that agency. Suarez lisa rein of the Washington Post, thanks for joining us. Thank you. Woodruff still to come on the newshour china concerns at the u. S. Japan summit; a Public Health crisis linked to gun violence; shields and brooks and violence against women in south africa. But first, the other news of the day. Heres hari sreenivasan. Sreenivasan a winter storm headed east today, after socking the plains with snow, sleet and freezing rain. It was already blamed for four deaths, flight disruptions and hundreds of road accidents. The huge system was moving north and east, and losing some of its punch. But it was still expected to make trouble in the northeast and new england this weekend. The sounds of snowblowers roaring to life and shovels scraping the driveway could be heard in state after state today. Much of the nations midsection spent the day digging out from more than a foot of snow and for drivers, it quickly turned into an icy nightmare. The highly unsettled storm also brought lightning and thunder, but it was the snow falling at two inches an hour in places that caused the worst problems. Kansas city mayor sly james said it was the pace that was hard to deal with. It fell fast, it fell heavy and it fell at the wrong time. You know it started in the morning around rush hour and just continued until about 2 00 p. M. Sreenivasan the mayor said kansas citys main streets had been cleared by midday, and crews worked on residential neighborhoods. But yesterday, it was a far different story this kansas city bus couldnt navigate the drifting snow and fishtailed into a lamp post. The snow came with high winds that piled up large drifts. And that, in turn, caused problems on the interstates. Man, its kind of tough out here even if you got a four wheel drive i advise you to stay in because everybodys getting stuck all over the place. Its a mess out here. Sreenivasan crews worked through the night and into today in missouri and kansas to plough i70. 200 miles of the highway in kansas had been shut down as the storm blew through. Today as the system tracked north and east, it created more travel woes. A United Airlines plane skidded off the runway in cleveland, in icy conditions. No injuries were reported. Nato defense ministers discussed plans today for keeping 8,000 to 12,000 foreign troops in afghanistan beyond 2014. Thats when International Combat forces are scheduled to withdraw. Those remaining would focus mostly on Training Afghan units. In brussels, u. S. Defense secretary leon panetta said its unclear how Many Americans would be part of that longerterm force. We want to be able to have the flexibility to look at a range of options that we ought to have for our enduring presence but i want to make very clear that the range of options we were discussing was with regards to the nato force and the nato force consists of both a u. S. Presence plus nato contributions. Sreenivasan some 66,000 u. S. Troops are currently stationed in afghanistan. In egypt, a general strike in the city of port said entered a sixth day, with major new protests. Thousands of people rallied in the streets waving signs and chanting slogans demanding that president Mohammed Morsi step down. They also denounced his call for new elections, beginning in april. translated morsis call for parliamentary elections is null. I want to give a message to morsi who is a representative of the Muslim Brotherhood group. I want to tell him that port said is the one that will get rid of this regime. We have started this revolution and we started our strike. We do not fear them. Sreenivasan one Opposition LeaderMohammed Elbaradei said Holding Elections amid the current upheaval is a recipe for disaster. His group threatened a boycott of any vote unless morsi first agrees to political talks. The states of texas and georgia executed two men last night, by lethal injection. Carl blue was put to death in texas for dousing his girlfriend with gasoline and setting her on fire in 1994. She died later. And in georgia, Andrew Allen Cook was executed for killing two College Students in 1995. A second death row inmate in georgia had been scheduled to die this week, but his attorneys argued he is mentally disabled, and won a stay. The food and Drug Administration approved a firstofits kind Breast Cancer drug today. The medication named kadcyla attacks tumor cells without harming healthy ones. Studies by the drugs maker roche found it delays the progress of Breast Cancer by several months. The f. D. A. Approved its use for patients with an advanced form of the disease thats more aggressive. Wall street closed out a volatile week with a big day. The Dow Jones Industrial average gained nearly 120 points to close just over 14,000, making up most of the lost ground of the last two days. The nasdaq rose 30 points to close well above 3,161. For the week, the dow gained a fraction of 1 . The nasdaq fell nearly 1 . Those are some of the days major stories. Now, back to judy. Woodruff u. S. And japanese leaders met today at the white house. One major topic was how to deal with an increasingly assertive china. Margaret warner has the story. Warner for Prime Minister shinzo abe, just two months in office, this visit to washington was an early opportunity to emphasize japans alliance with the United States. And at the white house today, he heard welcome words from president obama. Obviously, japan is one of and the u. S. Japan alliance is the Central Foundation for our regional security. And so much of what we do in the pacific region. Warner the u. S. Has a robust trading relationship with japan, and some 50,000 troops stationed there since the end of world war ii. And now both nations face the challenge of dealing with a rising china, and its new leader, xi jinping. But u. S. Officials are growing concerned about the rising tensions between china and japan. The most recent flareup hs come in the East China Sea over control of some small uninhabited islands known as the diaoyu in china and senkaku in japan. They lie near critical shipping lanes, fishing grounds and gas deposits. Ships from both countries patrol the waters there and japan recently scrambled fighter jets when chinese planes entered air space nearby. The dispute has stirred public passions too. Large protests in china last fall targeted japanese embassies and businesses. In a Washington Post interview before this trip, abe said chinas communist rulers are using the dispute to shore up domestic support. He warned they will not be able to change the rules or take away somebodys territorial water or territory by coercion or intimidation. In beijing today, Chinas Foreign Ministry spokesman rejected those comments. translated china conducts normal maritime activities according to our domestic and international law. There is nothing to object to on that. Japan must have a hidden agenda by hyping up a china threat, misleading international opinion, and purposely creating regional tension. Warner at the white house, abe sounded a somewhat more restrained note, speaking through a translator. I also explained that we have always been dealing with this issue, the senkaku issue, in a calm manner. We will continue to do so and we have always done so. Sreenivasan the two leaders also agreed to stand together against north Koreas Nuclear provocations. And to pursue even closer economic cooperation, which abe needs as he tries to revive a longstagnant economy. To explore this flareup between japan and china and the stakes for the u. S. , we turn to mike mochizuki, associate dean of the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington university. His upcoming book is the new strategic triangle the u. S. Japan alliance and the rise of china. Welcome back to the program. Thank you. Warner so first of all, how serious is this escalation of tensions between china and japan, these two neighbors . Well, it is serious. But its not like the two sides are on the verge of having some kind of shooting war over these uninhabited islands. But every week theres been a racheting up of the tensions. China has been escalating its patrols near these disputed islands and the japanese are resisting. And so the real danger is that there will be some unintentional accident, a collision, that then could lead to a loss of life and then that could really feel a nationalistic backlash in china and really lead to tensions. And then this could draw in the United States into an unwanted conflict. Are you saying that it could happen then through miscalculation rather than deliberate intent on the part of either country . Yes, through miscalculation or accident. I mean its very unfortunate that now you have fighter jets coming close and then also almost on a daily basis there are faceoffs between the Japan Coast Guard and various marine surveillance vessels from china. Now so far its good that the chinese navy and the Japanese Navy are really far apart. But even recently there have been reports that a Chinese Naval ship had locked in a fire control radar and this was seen as a very aggressive act by the japanese. So what is driving this . Well at its root. Well, i think there are a couple of things. One is the Power Transition thats going on in the region. Japan used to be the most powerful economy in the region but china has grown, a lot of it is due to the help that japan has given it. But now china feels that its day has returned. And in fact it surpassed japan just in economic test. Thats right. And it is now building up a military capable which is still interior to that of japan. And definitely inper inferior to that of the United States but they feel now that china cant be pushed aroundment and they want to assert themselves. And so when their territorial interests are being challenged, then they push very hard. The other reason is. Warner were you talking about japan or china. China. Warner and what about japan . Then japan feels that it is on the defensive. That if it does not show kind of firmness and resolve, then it invites further intimidation and bullying on the part of