asia, a chance to set the agenda on the world stage. and announce new agreements that would boost job creation back home. but things have not worked out that way for president obama. in summing up the trip he said today "instead of hitting home runs, sometimes we're going to hit singles." chip reid is traveling with the president in japan. >> reporter: president obama arrived at the g-20 economic summit confident that his top priority-- a free trade agreement with south korea-- was in the bag. a deal he said could create as many as 70,000 jobs in the u.s., but he walked away empty-handed after korea refused to open its market to u.s. automobiles. at a press conference the president tried to put the best face on what critics say is an embarrassing disappointment. >> it was important to take the extra time so that i am assured that it is a win for american workers and companies. >> reporter: the president fell short on china, failing to convince g-20 leaders to join him in cracking down on china's manipulation of its currency, which keeps prices of chinese goods artificially low. but some foreign leaders here accused the u.s. of doing the same thing, manipulating its currency through the federal reserve's decision to pump $600 billion into the economy. as a rule, the president doesn't defend decisions by the fed, but in this case, with the stakes so high, he couldn't resist. >> this decision was not one designed to have an impact on the currency, on the dollar, it was designed to grow the economy. >> reporter: at times, the president seemed defensive, like when asked to identify the top criticism or concern he heard from other leaders. >> what about compliments? you didn't put that in the list. >> reporter: the president firmly denied that the shellacking he took in last week's elections weakened him on the international stage, but he conceded he's getting a lot of pushback from other leaders. >> part of the reason that sometimes it seems as if the united states is attracting some dissent is because we're initiating ideas. >> reporter: preparing for a bitter battle over the bush tax cuts when he returns to washington next week, the president tried to regain the high ground after liberal critics accused him of caving to republican demands to extend the tax cuts for the wealthy. >> it would be fiscally irresponsible for us to permanently extend the high- income tax cuts. >> reporter: the president is spending the next two days here in yokohama, japan, at yet another international economic conference, but this time the white house is keeping expectations low. katie? >> couric: chip reid traveling with the president. chip, thanks very much. bob schieffer is cbs news' chief washington correspondent and anchor of "face the nation." bob, why do you think this trip has gone so badly for the president? >> reporter: well, first, it really did go badly, katie. and despite what the president said today, i think it had a lot to do with the shellacking the democrats took on election day. nations, especially asian nations, study our politics closely and, frankly, they know the president's in a weakened position and they simply took advantage of it. that's why the president got totally blindsided and there was no trade agreement with south korea as had been expected. but i have to say this: if it was bad over there this week, it may be worse next week when this current congress comes back for this special session to deal with those extensions of the bush tax cuts. right now, katie, i think the outlook for getting that done is pretty grim. >> couric: all right. bob schieffer. bob, as always, thanks so much. and, by the way, bob's guests on "face the nation" this sunday include republican senator elect rand paul and democrat senator chuck schumer. now to a serious and growing problem for the u.s. military: combat stress. nearly 70,000 americans who served in iraq or afghanistan have been diagnosed with p.t.s.d., post-traumatic stress disorder. many more may suffer from it but are just too reluctant to come forward. our chief investigative correspondent armen keteyian reports on one soldier who took a major risk in order to get help. his story took a dramatic turn last night. >> reporter: jeff hanks is a 30- year-old army specialist on a mission. >> people need to understand that this is a problem. that this is a widespread problem. >> reporter: in 2008, hanks served a six-month tour in iraq, his first taste of war taking a haunting toll. one graphic image: a marketplace bomb that hit too close to home. >> there was a little girl, it was hard to tell she was a little girl, but we knew. >> reporter: hard to tell meaning... >> she was badly hurt. she was about the same age as my oldest daughter and i saw her in pain and i just... you know.... it's always stuck with me. i just tried to... i just tried to deal with it, you know? >> reporter: earlier this year, he was deployed again, this time to afghanistan. he returned home in september a stranger to his wife and two young girls. >> she didn't want to be around me. that hurt. >> reporter: last month, hanks says he asked for help. instead, he claims, a superior officer at fort campbell ordered him back to afghanistan just days before he was set to get a mental health exam. so he walked away. i mean, going awol is... it's about as bad as you can... >> yes, sir. >> reporter: something you can do. >> yes, sir. but i felt like i had no other choice. >> reporter: at home in north carolina, hanks got evaluations from three civilian therapists who all recommended he get tested for p.t.s.d. one doctor stating "his current functioning is clearly severely impaired." yesterday, on veterans day, hanks headed back to fort campbell to turn himself in. how are you feeling? >> nervous. anxious to get this going. >> reporter: hanks then walked across the street and into a waiting car and an uncertain fate. a spokesperson at fort campbell said hanks would be treated the same as any other soldier who chooses to go awol. and hanks told us last night he will now get the mental health care he so desperately wanted. that begins on monday, katie. >> couric: armen keteyian. armen, thank you. on another important issue for the military, the supreme court today allowed "don't ask, don't tell" to remain in place while a lower court considers whether it violates the constitution. that law prohibits gays from serving openly in the military. in other news, sarah palin no longer holds office, but she certainly holds sway. more than half the candidates she endorsed won in the midterm elections. today she announced a book tour across 13 states to begin later this month. and on sunday, she's headed to prime time t.v. with "sarah palin's alaska," which some consider a preview of 2012. here's nancy cordes. >> oh, my gosh! look at this! >> reporter: in "sarah palin's alaska," life is an adventure. >> how come we can't ever just be satisfied with tranquility? >> reporter: when she's not white water rafting, the former governor and vice presidential candidate is scaling mountains. >> that was a eureka moment, that was cool. >> reporter: and confronting wild predators in the bush. >> a bear is coming towards us. let's back up, look at his claws. it could think we are his lunch instead of those little tiny salmon. >> reporter: the program-- t.l.c. calls it a docu-series when karl rove called it a reality show, it sets off her inner grizzly. >> he knows it's not a reality show. he knows that it's eight episodes documenting what alaska has to offer. >> reporter: but the program captures family friction, a hallmark of the reality genre. >> willow, come here. no boys, go upstairs. >> reporter: palin reportedly made $1 million per episode. >> it's really a season-long campaign commercial for her. and not only is it free, she's getting paid to do it. >> that whole misperception about being a diva, it kind of cracks me up. there's a gnat stuck to my lip. i would describe myself, my family, as just normal average everyday americans. >> reporter: everyday americans who just happen to be flirting with a run for the white house. >> on a really clear day you can see russia from here. almost. >> reporter: nancy cordes, cbs news, washington. >> couric: and still ahead on the "cbs evening news," a six- year-old's stand for civil rights immortalized on canvas. 50 years later ruby bridges goes back to school. but next, mexico's bloody drug war. an exclusive interview with the country's president who vows to beat the cartels. [ female announcer ] with rheumatoid arthritis, there's the life you live... and the life you want to live. fortunately there's enbrel, the #1 most doctor-prescribed biologic medicine for ra. enbrel can help relieve pain, stiffness, fatigue, and stop joint damage. because enbrel suppresses your immune system, it may lower your ability to fight infections. serious, sometimes fatal, events including infections, tuberculosis, lymphoma, and other cancers, and nervous system and blood disorders have occurred. before starting enbrel, your doctor should test you for tuberculosis. ask your doctor if you live or have lived in an area where certain fungal infections are common. don't start enbrel if you have an infection like the flu. >> couric: mexico is a country have cuts or sores, have had hepatitis b, have been treated for heart failure, or if, while on enbrel, you experience persistent fever, bruising, bleeding, or paleness. ask your rheumatologist if enbrel is right for you. and help bridge the gap between the life you live... and the life you want to live. until you look at the gumline. the problem is, you could have plaque along your gumline that can lead to gingivitis. in fact, one in two adults actually has gingivitis and might not even know it. fortunately, there's new crest pro-health clinical gum protection toothpaste. it helps eliminate plaque at the gumline, helping prevent gingivitis. and it's even been clinically proven to help reverse it... in just four weeks. it also protects these other areas dentists check most. new crest pro-health clinical toothpaste. for healthier gums. it's that time of year. time for campbell's green bean casserole. you'll find the recipe at campbellskitchen.com. campbell's.® it's amazing what soup can do.™ until the combination of three good probiotics in phillips' colon health defended against the bad gas, diarrhea and constipation. ...and? it helped balance her colon. oh, now that's the best part. i love your work. [ female announcer ] phillips' colon health. >> couric: mexico is a count >> couric: mexico is a country deep in crisis. the drug war has turned its cities into some of the most dangerous on earth. murder is rampant, battles between the mexican army and cartel gunmen are commonplace. mexico's president rarely grants interviews, but our peter greenberg was given exclusive access to his drug-fighting operations-- including his top- secret war room. >> reporter: president felipe calderone tours an army base in the border city of mexicali. with 10,000-plus drug-related murders this year, he views his soldiers as his best hope in a blood-soaked clash that critics on both sides of the border are starting to call unwinnable. a conclusion calderone will not accept. >> we are kicking them and kicking them really hard. >> reporter: he has deployed 45,000 troops to 18 mexican states in an aggressive offensive against the cartels. on this day, he's honoring soldiers killed fighting the drug cartels by giving awards to their families. >> i know that mexican soldiers are put in place, are risking their own lives. actually, we lost more than 80 soldiers in this battle against organized crime. and nevertheless, they realize that they are working for the future of mexico. >> reporter: the president showed us his top-secret state- of-the-art $100 million underground bunker, the central intelligence command. in a secret location in mexico city, mexican security forces are literally wiring the country with cameras, sensors, and computers to gather intelligence on organized crime. but he cannot shake the perception that his country is in crisis. his drug war failing. every day there are news reports of crime, of killings, of massacres, of bodies being found. you know this, sir, more than 28,000 people killed. that's a staggering number, isn't it? >> we have a serious problem, yes. however we are facing the problem. as i said to the mexican people, it's going to take us money, it's going to take time and unfortunately it's going to take human lives. >> reporter: last week when we were in mexico, dozens more lives were taken in a three-hour shootout in the border city of matamoros. drug kingpin tony tormenta killed by hundreds of mexican troops. in retaliation the cartel set fires, set up roadblocks, fired guns. calderone insists the growing violence is a sign the cartels are feeling his government's heat. >> they are losing market, they are losing territory, they are losing the capacity to do everything like in the past. so they are fighting each other in order to preserve their own territory. >> reporter: but the casualties and violence, once isolated to border states, is spreading to monterrey in the east, to once- quiet cities in the south, to resorts in the west. the death toll grows every year. 2010 is now turning into the bloodiest year on record. more than 10,000 murders so far, a 53% increase over last year. >> we've seen the killings of family members, the assassination of mayors and police chiefs. >> reporter: security expert fred burton is vice president of global intelligence company stratfor. he says president calderone is reading it wrong. >> your cartels are carrying out these kinds of executions to show the government, the mexican government, and the americans to a large measure, that they're responsible for that geography and that this is what's going to happen if you put your nose into places that it doesn't belong. >> reporter: remarkably, despite u.s. state department travel warnings, tourism is up 20% in mexico, including five million americans. and it is america, claims calderone, that's the key part of the problem. he says the $40 billion drug trade exists to feed an insatiable american appetite. >> we have a neighbor which is the largest consumer of drugs in the world. and the problem is everyone wants to sell him drugs through my window, through my door. so the united states needs to reduce consumption of drugs one way or another. >> reporter: he claims american drug use is financing the cartels and smuggled american guns are arming them. this is an example of the more than 90,000 weapons the calderone government has confiscated in the last four years. almost all of them high-powered and all of them bought in the united states. >> and i'm talking like 50,000 assault weapons, a.r.-15, machine guns, more than 8,000 grenades. almost ten billion bullets, just amazing figures. >> reporter: while the u.s. has offered $1.6 billion in aid and equipment to help mexico fight the cartels, president calderone knows the burden of the war falls on him. >> what were the options for a government? either you allow all those criminals to take over the country or you face the problem and we decide to face that. and that's the most important decision of my government. >> reporter: a high-stakes decision with costly implications on both sides of the border. peter greenberg, cbs news, mexico city. >> couric: and for more of peter's exclusive interview with mexican president felipe calderone you can go to our web site at cbsnews.com. meanwhile, in north carolina, police made a sad announcement today. after a month-long search, they found the remains of ten- year-old zahra baker. she had lost a leg to cancer, her prosthetic leg was found in the woods late last month. her stepmother is in jail, charged with obstructing the investigation, but she has not been named a suspect in the girl's death. we'll be right back. i take care with vesicare, because i have better places to visit than just the bathroom. 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[ male announcer ] ask your doctor if cialis for daily use is right for you. for a 30-tablet free trial offer, go to cialis.com. theater refuses to screen it. next on cbs 5 discount store? a bay area >> couric: angry shouts at a six-year-old girl. one of norman rockwell's most powerful paintings was inspired by a brave walk to school 50 years ago this sunday. rockwell called it "the problem we all live with." in tonight's "american spirit" michelle miller introduces us to the woman who lived through it. >> reporter: 3811 galvez street. another empty building ravaged by katrina, but spared the wrecking ball. because 50 years ago history whistled through these windows. >> a token break in the color line. a new orleans girl goes to school. >> reporter: now 56, the memories flow easily for ruby bridges, the little girl who integrated william frantz school, protected by a team of federal marshals. >> there was lots of people outside and they were screaming and shouting. and the police officers... but i thought it was mardi gras, you know? i didn't actually know that all of that was there because of me. >> reporter: her parents were committed to challenging jim crow laws and made the uneasy decision of sending their child daily into the teeth of a hate- filled crowd. >> there were days when they would come and they would bring a baby's coffin. and inside this baby's coffin was a black doll. and i used to have nightmares about the coffin. >> we don't want the (bleep)s going in this school. >> reporter: resistance was ugly and downtown protests turned violent. white parents scurried to take their children out of the newly integrated schools. >> and they went into every classroom and they pulled out every child. >> reporter: but the next day, one family took a stand. >> i simply want the privilege of taking my child to school. >> reporter: 34-year-old methodist minister lloyd foreman was the first to crack that school boycott. he took his five-year-old daughter pam and without federal protection walked right through that same angry mob. >> why don't you move to the colored quarter? >> reporter: days later a handful of other parents followed foreman's lead and the protests began to fade. >> hello! >> reporter: now for the first time in 50 years... >> how are you? >> reporter: ruby and pam reunited at frantz school. >> daddy always called it the longest walk because in my case, our own white race was against us. we had bomb threats, we had to move out of the house. it was terrible. >> why do you think your father stood his ground in face of all of that? >> because of his faith in god and his beliefs that every child, regardless of their race, deserved a right to an education. >> is that your father? >> that's daddy. >> reporter: reliving their separate but equally painful memories. pam's father divide in 2005. >> he makes me want to cry. >> i know, huh? >> reporter: the two former schoolmates say times have changed, but the issue remains. by the 1980s, frantz had become nearly all black. ruby hopes the school can one day live up to its legacy. >> i entered this building to integrate the school. if we are going to get past our racial differences, it's going to come from our kids. but they have to be together to do that. >> reporter: michelle miller, cbs news, new orleans. >> couric: and that's the "cbs evening news." i'm katie couric. thank you for watching and have a great weekend. good night. captioning sponsored by cbs your realtime captioner is linda marie macdonald. caption colorado, l.l.c. he's daddy's little girl. they are to take a vow of chastity. >> a provocative movie about a problem in america. why one bay area theater says a film about teen pregnancy is not relevant to their community and why that decision has sparked outrage. he just came up and started beating him up. i have no idea. >> it's the assault that has drawn waves of support. tonight, actual sound from the day a man is said to have attacked a priest in retaliation for sexual abuse. i'm hoping to be able to bring back most of the laidoff officers. >> she is taking on a job some people think impossible. jean quan's thoughts as she prepares to take over reins in