♪ >> good evening andelcome. i am undone the vase. -- on the in the vase. geoff: president biden works to sell his new budget to the american people and a divided congress. the ceo of northern suffolk future scrutiny after the toxic train derailment in ohio. geoff: the families of several americans held in iran press for a meeting with the white house to up securtheir loved ones releas >> i really hope president biden hears his cries and meets with us and does what he has continuously said he is going to do and bring them home. ♪

>> major funding for the phour - ♪ the candida fund committed to advancing restorative justice and meaningful work through investments in transformative leaders and ideas. more at candidafund.org. carnegie corporation of new york supporting innovations in education, democratic engagement, and the advancement of international pea security at carnegie.org. and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions.

this program was made possible for the corporation abide public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station fr viewers like you. thank you. geoff: welcome to the newshour. lawmakers are making thousds of political and financial calculations this evening after president biden it releases $6.9 trillion budget plan for 2024. amna: the white house proposal calls for raising taxes on the wealthiest americans to invest in the working class. pres. biden: my budget is about america, including places and people and folks who've been forgotten. amid the economic upheaval of the past four decadeany people have been left behind or treated like they're invisible. i promise you, i see you. amna: the white house plan anticipates the gap between what spends will grow next year to

$1.85 trillion. npr white houspondent tamara keith is here to break down the highlights and make dollars and sense of it all. see what i did there? correspondent: you got a budget plan in. amna: the president often ss budgets are re of the author's values. what does this budget tell us about the president at white house? correspondent: this is a decent preview on what we could expect him to run on for president in ith his anticipated reelection campaign. this is a lot of when he ran on in 2020 when he ran for president last time. what you see is a lot of spending. this is not an austerity budget. he is not getting the nearly $3 trillion in deficit savings the white house has been touting or days by cutting spending and a big way. what he is doing is putting into programs he believes

will make life easier for everyday americans, wings like paid familyeave, childcare, universal pre-k. also funding for border security. a budget is a huge document that covers the waterfront of every part of the american government, and president biden as a lot of ideas in there. amna: you mentioned the $3 trillion, and that has been the headline from the white is that this will reduce the budget -- the deficit by $3 triio over the next decade. correspondent: the math does back up that they are cutting by $3 trillion. let's add to contacts. the government will spend a lot deficits every single year in that 10 year window. by the end of the window the debt to gdp ratio, which is

something budget watchers pay attention to, the national debt compared to the size of the u.s. economy, the debt will exceed the size of the u.s. ecomy at a level not seen since immediately after world war ii according to analysis. it is both a budget that cuts the deficit and also a budget that continues to have deficits and continues to add to the national debt. amna: we see democrats saying they want to raise taxes on the wealthy. republicans are saying the country brings innough. we are simply spending too much. yes yesterday kevin mccarthy said he is ready to negotiate to appoint. -- a point. >> i do not believe that raising taxes is the answer. i've had this discussion with the president personally. if you look at the revenue that's coming in to america today, it's higher than at any 50 year average.

we've only topped this two other times at the same time, but our expenses are muc amna: is there any indication that either side is read compromise on this? correspondent: not really, not yet, though compromise is probably going to be inevitable if the debt ceiling is going to be raised in the gover going to be funded. if in long-term programs like medicare and social security will continue to be fully fu and viable, but president biden hearing t speaker was upset he had not met with him and had not negotiated yet talk to speech today by saying the speaker wants to meet with me today. i said i will meet with him again whene will show me his budget. it is a political document. it is also a opening volley in what will be a high-stakes battle between house republicans and the president of the united states and d amna: you mentioned medicare and

social security, those become top line issues. i do not think we could remind people enough where the money two when you take a look at federal spending. that blue chunk imandatory spending, yosave medicare and social security make up half of the green section is spending and military and defense spending except just a litt less than half of that. do we have any sense when republicans are saying we have to make cuts where those are going to ce from? correspondent: republicans said they did not want the cuts to come from defense and they do not want the to come from medicare and social security, so you take that giant smaller piece of the pie, and that is where they would need to get their cuts run, and they are saying they want the budget t balance over the next 10 years. that would require massive cuts the point where people would definitely notice, but just as the white house budget is pretty

abstractndead on arrival in congress, a republican budget if they release one or when they release one, that is also not going to become law. as i, there is a back and forth. this is a conversation that is happening and these are vision documents. amna: we have the president's budget, fungus has a very pressures, they have to raise the debt ceiling by the summer. the weeks ahead in a body not in known for being deadlines? correspondent: it is not clear exactly when the x date will happen, sometime in the late summer likely. that is a real deadline with real consequences if it is not raised. i think that there are going to be negotiations, but my guess is the real, hard negotiations, serious talks will not happen until he gets much closer to the deadline. amna: always goe you,

thanks for being here. correspondent: good to be here with you.♪ geoff: in the day's other headlines. russia launched its biggest barrage in a month all across ukraine. the assault included 81 and killed at least 6 people.es, hundreds of thousands more lost power. in this eastern ukrainian village, residents picked up the pieces of what is left after s punishing bombardment. this home is sll standing but uninhabitable. >>hey are destroying our city, every day there is shelling and here are the results. geoff: today's wave of attacks

struck across ukraine. villag far been spared the worst of the fighting now in ruins. and the capital kyiv explosions rerted that this power plant and did thiresidential neighborhood. half of the city was left without heat. >> i am fed up with it, withstand all of this. how can they do this? >> the goals are achieve all assigned targets were hit. geoff: moscow said it launched a retaliatory strike in response to an attack this week russian territory. volodymyr zelenskyy called it terrorism and remained defiant. in a social media post he said we will altogether ensure the invincibility of ukraine. we are working. we will win. ukrainian soldiers are mostly working to defend bahkmut.

well most russian strikes today were hundreds of miles from the front they also struck zaporizhzhia, home to europe's largest nuclear plant. it lost power for the sixth time since the start of the war. the u.n. atomic agency has f a deal with moscow to create a safe zone that would prevent shelling. the director general urged immedie action. >> how can we sit here in this room this morni a allow this to happen? this cannot go on. i am by the complacency. geoff: more than one year into the war there are no signs yet the fighting will stop. russia says today's barrage was retaliation for attacks on russian territory last week that it blamed on ukraine. the streets of israel were alive with protests again today against a plan to overhaul the courts. this time, demonstrators clashed with police in tel aviv and

flooded major roads to the main international airport. prime minister benjamin netanyahu had to be airlifted there to leave on a trip abroad. meantime, three islamic jihad gunmen died in a shootout with israeli troops in the occupied west bank. police said the gunmen opened fire as security forces hunted suspects for attacks on israeli soldiers. it c.s. defense secretary lloyd austin visited israel and met with prime minister netanyahu. austin said he urged everyone to de-escalate. >> the united states also remains firmly opposed to any orinns.at could trigger more geoff: later, a crowded street in tel aviv erupted in chaos opened fire.tinian attacker police said he shot and wounded 3 people before he was killed. back in this country, senate republican leader mitch

mcconnell spent last night and today in a washington hospital. his ays he suffered a concussion when he fell at a private dinner wednesday night. mcconnell is 81. he's expected to be hospitalized, under observation, for a few days. the senate has confirmed president biden's choice of y werfel to lead the internal revenue service. today's vote was 54 to 42, mostly down party lines. werfel pledged not to expand audits of businesses andolds ma0 a year. the fbi is investigating whether hackers accessed personal data on members of congress, plus staffers and relatives. officials announced it late wednesday. social security numbers, names, and addresses may have been exposed in ayberattack on a health insurance marketplace. in economic news, general motors announced buyout offers for its 58,000 white-collar workers in the u.s. and, on wall street, stocks sank -- dropped again, weighed down

by worries over interest rates the dow jones industrial average lost 543 points, nearly 1.7% percent, to close below 32,255. the nasdaq fell 237 points, 2%. the s&p 500 was down more than 1.8%. still to come on the pbs newshour. an american detained in iran speaks orom behind bars. the former head of the natnal institutes of health discusses the white house plan to eradicats c. and we look at ways to be a smarter shopper amid rising grocery bills. ♪ >> this is the pbs newshour from weta studios in washington and in the west from the walter cronkite school of jo arizona state university. geoff: the ceo of norfolk southern faced intense questioning from senators today in the wake of last month's toxic train derailment in east palestine, ohio. during a hearing before the

senate lawmakers focused on tough questions about railroad safety and preventing future accidents. >> norfolk southern will get the job done and help east palestine thrive. correspondent: on capitol hill today, an apology from the head of one of the nation's largest railroads, norfolk southern ceo an shaw. >> i want to begin today by expressing how deeply sorry i am for the impact this derailment palestine and the surroundingast communities. geoff: norfolk southern facing scrutiny since last month's derailment of dozens of cars on the ohio-pennsylvania border, some carryg toxic chemicals. days later, a controlled burn of vinyl chloride to prevent an explosion sent flames and smoke into the sky. that prompted the evacuation of thousands of residents. today, a local emergency official said that norfolk southern was absent at critical meetings about that planned release. i think this confusion was ably a result of the lack of communication from norfolk southern. residents in east palestine remain concerned a health following the chemical exposure.

>> i can share some good news with you. geoff:uring the hearing, epa officials said testing so far showed only low levels of hazardous chemicals known as diins. for hishaw promised some specific safety changes and pledged to send the community more than $20 million. >> just nounced several new initiatives to enhance safety, which included re hot box detectors across our network, partnering with other railroads to share best prac >> the devil is in the details. geoff: democratic senator bernie sanders accused the company of pu safety and its workers rights. >> will you make that commitment right now. to guarantee paid sick days to all of your workers? that's not a radical demand. it really is not. will you make that commitment, sir? >>, i share your focus to our employees, i will commit to continuing to discuss with them important quality of life issues. with our local craft colleagues. >> all due respect. you sound like a politician

here, mr. shaw. geoff: this week, the national transportation safety board launched a special investigation into a number of norfolk southern's issues, including its safety culture. it is investigating five incidents since december 2021, three of which involved employee deaths.there were more derailmen thlast week, one near springfield, ohio on saturday, with no casualties. another at an ohio steel plant, killing a conductor. and one today in alabama, involving roughly 30 train cars. senators also criticized the federal government for being slow in communicating potential health risks to the east palestine community. >> you can't address fear and mistrust by pointing residents to an epa website filled with fact sheets and press releases. geoff: government data shows more than a thousand derailments last year, though a decline in recent years. senators say they want safer railros and are pushing for bipartisan legislation to regulate an dustry they say enjoys lavish benefits.

that includes ce, a republican who's become an unlikely ally with ohio's other senator, democrat sherrod brown. they are working on a bill calling for re inspection and tougher fines. >> this is an industry that enjoys special subsidies, that almost no industry enjoys. this is an industry that enjoys special legal carve-outs that almost no industry enjoys. geoff: today, the norfolk southern ceo stopped short of endorsing that legislation. for a closer look at these issues and the investigation into norfolk southern, 'm joined by jennifer homendy, chair of the national transportation safety board. have you in your investigation been able to determine whatnorfy derailments as of late especially in ohio? >> we actually looked at the record of some of the major freight railroads in ohio, and it is interesting to note csx

operates twice the track mileagk southern has a greater number of accidents per 1000 miles. each of these accidents are very different. we are investigating six now involving norfolk southern, and occurred back in october.e that is a lot in a short period of time, but it is tough to say there is a commonality among all of them, because they are all different. off: the ntsb investigation into the east palestine derailment so far says there was an overheated errg on the car that caused the derailment. u have established the what. have you learned more about the why and the how? >> that is right, the fastest thing we will find is the what.

now we have to dig into the why and how, which is getting a lot of factual information from norfolk southern, and it will require a lot of digging and request for information, which our investigators are doing right now. in addition we are testing tpree tank cars carrying the vinyl chloride, and a lot of that ek.ting is going on through next so there is a lot of work our investigators are currently conducting. geoff: in talking with railroad union members, they point the finger at cost cutting by these major railroad companies and the reduction in workforce. i was toldn some cases safety inspections are not done by humans. they are done by some sort of automated processes. what is your assessment of that? >> that is exactly what we will

look at. this week we announced a special investigation into norfolk southern and the culture as a whole and the safety culture, and a part of that is what is occurring whether it is cost-cutting or staffing or training or how they are conducting theirnspections and maintenance? we want to look for commonalities across the organization, the company as a whole, to see if there are greater concerns within the company and make some recommendations on that. geoff: the train that derailed in east palestine two crewmembers and a trainee. i asked him if the train had only had one crew member on it, which is what the railroads wanted, that the problem would have been exponentially worse as bad as it was. have you been able to comto any determination on that issue? not on that issue. we recommend they collect

information on the number of crew members when accidents r. what i will say is the crew did nothing wrong in this derailment. in fact, they followed the seizure, which was on uncoupling the locomotive from the rail and move the locomotive up about 1 mile to make sure they were safe. one thing i to give some credit to the federal railroad raniad itistons came out with a noticef prosed rem oakg that will be published in the federal register for inviting train crews with emergency escape breathing apparatus. that is a recommendation we have had on the books since 2005 when two norfolk southern trains, a norfolk southern train collided with a part norfolk southern train collided and released

chlorine gas and killed eight crewmembers. geoff: what are the next step in the investigation and how long will it take to wrap up? >> we are in the fact-finding phase. we are requesting information from different entities, and then we will follow up on information. that could take about three months. then we will move into the analysis p investigation where we will start taking those facts and conducting an analysis t determine how this happened, and we will present a number of findings. probable cause but including contributing causes and safety recommendations toio entities like d.o.t. or department of transportation and norfolk southern and possibly even tsponse community to prevent this from reoccurring. we are going to have an investigative hearing in east

palestine in june, and we hope to wrap this up within the next 12 than 18 months -- 12 to 18 months. ntsb does issue urgent safety recommendations where we feel something is needed to address safety throughout the railroad system. geoff: so it will not take 12o e recommendations. you can make those recos along the way. >> that is right and we have done that in the past. i suspect we will do that here as well. geoff: thanks for your time. ♪ amna: unprecedented move,

an american detained in iran has given an interview from inside the notorious evin prison. siamak namazi has been held for more than seven years, and he spoke by phone to c's christiane amanpour. >> i keep getting told that i'm going to be rescued, and deals fall apart or i get left abandoned. honestly, the other hostages and ately need president biden to finally hear us out, to finally hear our cry for help and bring us home. and i suppose desperate times call for desperate measures. so this is a desperate measure. i am clearly nervous. amna: namazi is one of three american citizens currently held by iran. environmentalist morad tahbaz was detained in 2018, as was businessman emad shargi. shargi was sentenced without a trial in 2020 to 10 years in prison for espionage. his sister, neda shargi, and one of his daughters, hannah shargi, join me now for an exclusive interview.

welcome to you both. thank you for being here. >> you heard him speaking from inside the same prison where your father is held, yourheis h. he said it is dire, his voice was breaking. wht like for you to hear that interview? >> it was heartbreaking. i imagined him being only doors away from them, and i think it was so courageous of him to do that interview, and frankly just the risk you took to do it, hest risk. he should have been brought home a long time ago, all three should have been brought home,an can do is at least meet with the families as he requested. amna: did you watch the interview? >> i did not watch the interview because it is hard knowing that my dad was goi the same

situation. i did not want to be upset beforeoing this interview. all i can say is how much i for doing that and how desperate they are to be home, and i hope president biden hears his cries and meets with us and does what he continuously has said what he is going to do and bring them home after all of these years. amna: we note the iranians did not know about the interview. are you worried that your dad could face repercussions as a result of this? >> i am worried every day, and as he said this is a necessary measure he had to take to get the president's attention. i wish it did not have to come to this point, and i hope that they are safe and i hope that it pays off, risk pays off. amna: have you heard from him since the interview aired? >> no, we have not. we hope toear from him

tomorrow. and before that we hope to hear from the white house to haveem o the interview and they might -- want to be with us right away. amna: there was a press conference today. other detained america it was there and yo family was not. can i ask why not? >> our three families are very close. we have a chat together all the time, and everything we do is really in coordination of one another for the benefit of the cause of bringing all three men home. if i had de that press conference, i would not be able to be here today. it is hard to get press, to expand his message far andble wide. we are hoping president biden hears this, watches this show tonight at the response to the words and calls our families and meets with us. amna: when it comes to the

forts to release detained americans, there were reports last month of indirect talks between iranians and the biden administration to arrange some kind of credit or exchange and secure their release. have you heard anything about those talks are any possible deal in the works? >> what i see in theia is what you see in the media, and those reports are speculation, and i cannot waste my time focusing on things that i do not know if they are true or not. i am just his sister, i am not a policymaker. my job is to get my brother home, and what i know will bring them home is one person, and that is president biden. in order to convince him to do that, we have to sit in front of him and have the chance to talk to them. that is what is real. that is accurate. everything else is speculation. amna: a state department's spokesperson was asked about that today.

he repeated it was a priority to free the americans. he says it is a cruel practice for iranians to hold them in this way a said we will do everything we possibly can to bring them home. what is your sense of the progress to free your dad? we ht this is a top p to bring them home, but how am i supposed to believe this is actually a priority when the president will not meet with us. when we cannot have those 15 minutes. we live 2.9 miles from the white house. we can to be there in 15 minutes. how am i supposed to believe that my dad is going to be home when we cannot even sit down with the president? that is what ian. i want to talk to my president about my dad, i want to tell them how scared we are and how this is a time sensitive matter. my dad was almost killed in the fires in october. that could happen tomorrow, the next day.

we need them home now and we cannot wait. i need to see it is a priority and i need a dad on my plane back to the airport. amna: five years? >>ive years he was detained. amna: what are those years like? >> is hard. the first year he was there i did not talk to them once. family.ifficult for our we have done everything we can. the person that willi know he hc person, he has a fher, a son, a brother. he has the ability to bring our dad home and i want the opportunity to sit of them and tell him how much in my dad. my dad has missed five years of my life and i do not want him to miss more. that is what i think about at night. that is my fr.

we need this action to weapon now. amna: you have clearly been asking forg with the president. it sounds like there is no progress, but you said you want him to know who he is. what do you want to say about your brother? >> my brother is a wonderful, ordinary american citizen who needs to be at home. is from washington dc. he lives down the street from the white house. i want him to know he is an ordinary citizen, and ordinary citizen like the others, i should not be the one to remind the president his priority should be and is supp to be the safety and security of american citizens like my brher and the others. amna: if you could say something directly to the president right now, what would you say? >> i would say i need my dad home. please use every tool you have

at your disposal back, the others are back. i would ask him to put patriotism above politics and lee his legacy, bringing innocent americans home like you did with greiner, trevor reed. amna: dghter and sister of a detained american citizen in iran. thank you so ch for being here. you can watch christian almond -- amanpour's full interview tonight at p.m. on pbs. check your local listings. ♪ one part of president biden's budget focuses on attacking a disease that is almostly curabl, hepatitis c.

roughly 2.4 million americans still have hepatitis c, a viral liver infection. untreated, it can lead to chronic illness, liver cancer, and death. but drugs made available since 2013 cure hep c in 95 percent of patients. yet all kinds of barriers remain over cost and access. the president is asking for $5 billion to expand rapid testing, access, and treatment. dr. francis collins, the former director of the nih, is now a special projects adviser to the president on this, and i spoke to him earlier this week, befor. >> welcome back to the newshour. >> glad to be here with you. amna: we do not often get to talk about hepatitis c, but it does disproportionately affect certain populations. who is most at risk and why? heo the blood.

there were baby boomers who got the transfusions back before we knew how to test for the virus and they are infected and do not know it. more recently it is often times people who share needles tattoo needle could be the way this passes, and it can be passed from mother to child. it is a mix of folks. many of them in it marginalized communities who do not have great access to health care, is one of the reasons we need a program if we are going to take advantage of this historical moment. we can hear th amna: when you talk about testing, you noted 4 of people do not know they are infected. why the barriers to testing? >> it is complicated and expensive and the logistics are not great. the test requires going in one time to see if y antibodies against the virus. some people cure themselves. then you have to come back for the test. you have the virus now? that is an rna test, then

have to come back at their time and start on the bills. most people who are in difficult circumve trouble with revisits, and our medical care system does not do so well either on making that easy. you have to see a specialist. i do not think in this circumstance a specialist as needed, but that is the way a lot of systems are. a lot of things are getting in the way of what she did be an easier p -- what should be an easier process. come in, youave a simple figure stick. you have hepatitis c, 30 minutes later here are your pills. amna: in one visit. there is a cure. most cases are terrible. is cost one of the reasons cure ha of reach for some people? >> that is a big part of it but not the whole thing. the cost has been high, but the cure has been available for

about seven or eight years it is one of the most major dramatic achievements of medical research for the last decade. it knocks at the virus b not knock out anything in the host. one pill a day, 12 weeks, 95% cured and virtually no side effects. it is almost miraculous for a disease that has taken so many lives. it was priced very high, $90,000 per patient. it is still high at $24,000 per patient. if you are tryg to run a medicaid clinic or a clinic for people who have no insurancer people in prison the incidence is pretty high because of the interaction with the drug trade, you cannot figure out how to pay for it. amna: you mentioned overcoming barriers to testing and getting treatment into more people's hands. there w this investigation to look into the prison system and found state governments were failing to care for people in

because eyody, not tes he ts refusing to treat peopltie theym knew were infected. how do you overcome barriers? >> talking to people whod rs. they feel terrible about this but they cannot afford to actually offer the treatment.so, because if they tested and they are not doing anything that makes you feel worse. they are looking for a way forward. that is what this proposal is from the biden administration being rolled out now. a five-year plan to make the drug available essential free to prisons, medicaid clinics, community health centers that deal with the uninsured to people on the rervation people in opioid treatment centers, but we have to come up with a way to make that happen, which is a preeatia subscription model. i think it is the way to solve

this, and it already been successfully done. amna: it is a five-year plan based on a sscription model. how does that work at the community model? >> louisia piloted this. the idea netflix. when you sign up for netflix, i am not advertising forpayment an

binge all you want with whatever they have to author --ffer. you pay the drug company l sum, and they have to agree to make the drug available for free from that point on two people imprisoned, people in community health centers uninsured, people in medicaid, people on the reservation and you end up driving the cost down dramatically, and everybody wins because the company right now are not making any money selling those drugs to those groups because nobody can affor it. more importantly all of those people get treatment. it will work. amna: you have had success for -- successful pilot progra.

it is also a $5 billion plan at a time when there is a brewing congress.er spending c y torak ict carefully andt algh have t toee s pay upfront for testing and de drugs, if you look downseam in terms of dollars you save for people who will not need a liver transplant, that treatment for liver cancer, over the coursef 15 or 20 years you more than or make up for what you had to pay. this is actually deficit reduction. you just have to scale it out over time. amna: i hope you do not mind my asking, you come to this work with your own personal cenforming it? >> my brother-in-law, rict a wonderful human being, wonderful husband to his wife,

he had hepatitis c. it never was quite clear how he got it and he developed liver transplant, and then he turned out to have liver cancer and he died a terribly awful and difficult death. this was just a couple of years before the cure became available. i do not wt anybody to go through what rick went through or rick's family went through including me, my wife, his wife. it is totally preventable now. if we are a countrycas about all of our people, even those who have had a rough times , how can we look at this and walkway? amna: dr. francis collins, thank you for being here. >> be with you. ♪ geoff: and we'll be back shortly with some tips on how to keep your grocery bills low at a time

when prices keep climbing. amna: but first, take a moment to hear from your local pbsion. it's a chance to offer your support, which helps keep programs like this one on the air. ♪ geoff: for those staying with us, we take another look at an adaptation of "the hours," which opened last year at the metropolitan opera in new york. jeffrey brown reports for our arts and culeries, canvas. ♪ correspondent: the real-life english writer virginia woolf in 1923 in a suburb of london. sung by joyce didonato, she fights the demons in her head as she struggles with an idea for a novel. laura brown, sung by kelli o'hara, a fictional housewife in

1949 los angeles, barely surviving a sense of meaninglessnesto her life. and clarissa ward, in new york city at the end of the 20th century, on a day her dear friend, dying of aids, will take his life, and she will contemplate the course of her own. sung by soprano renee fleming. >> you've got an incredibly interesting story about three women from different periods and their complicated lives, their -- there's suicide, there's mental health, there's, you know, pretty much evything in it. and opera can do this without any problem, kind of tak three different periods and puttg em together, because it's the music that connects everything. correspondent: the music is by 50 year old kevin puts, and days before opening, he was intently

watching and listening at a rehearsal. conferring with key members of the production team, including director phelim mcdermott. this is his fourth opera. the silent night was also a pulitzer prize winner. which itself was inspired by virginia woolf's classic 1925 novel "mrs. dalloway." for lovers of different art forms, novels, films, operas, it offers a way into thinking about what each can do. with opera, two characters from different times can share the stage and sing with, almost to, one anothe ♪ for puts, who's composed everything from solo to orchestral music as it taps io his love of

large-scale storytelling. >> i love storytelling in music. i love evoking certain things, emotions, situations, through music. i think that's the kind of most amazing thing that music can do. to first introduce the three stories of "the hours" and sort of establish differe music for each of those, and then gradually begin to blur the lines between them and then overlap in a way that only music can. >> bringing new opera is my ♪ correspondent: met opera conductor yannick nezat-seguin says he loves the collaborative aspect of opera, especially when he can work with a living composer. >> we play so many dead ones. [lauing] we play so many mozart and so many verdi operas and so many wagner operas. >> you're not knocking mozart and verdi, are you? >> no, i love them. but sometimes, you know, you wish that you would be able to ask them questions and say in

desk questions. and often to make a joke with the orchestra, i say, one day i'm going to ask verdi, is it in heaven or in hell, i do not know but i'm going to ask verdi what he means opera is a living element. correspondent:ving art form, and one that can engage contemporary issues. >> every time i work on a new piece with a composer, i say, "listen, i wt to sing words that are relevant toe in my life, that sound like i could be singing them and should be singing them, so." >> you, renee fleming. >> exactly. at this stage of my life, i want to sing something that meansmet. correspondent: in "the hours," renee fleming saw it. a story of women as artists, friends, lovers, mothers. here, it's the smallest pieces

of daily life, buying flowers, for w raise the biggest questions about life itself. underlying all of this, the knowledge that the real virginia woolf would take her own life in 1941 at age 59. >> every single person who is in this opera has a really interesting role and a tale to tell. and the stories are relevant. we are in a mental health crisis in this country that is, in the world actually, that is unprecedented, certainly in my lifetime. and i fear for young people, especially because it is hitting them so hard. >> if the audience recognize themselves on stage, they going to relate to the story, and it can talk about social -- story. so i believe that this then can not just because we want to have more people in our seats, but because we believe in the mission of opera, that is to convey those messages and collectivelycathartic experience that can give us hope. correspondent: kevin puts, who also teaches at the peabody institute in baltimore, says

tapping into that mission and the contemporary possi for opera is attracting a new generation of composers. >> the fact that so much new opera is happening in this country, not only at the metropolitan opera, but in companies all over the country. my students all want to write operas. when i was a student, i had no interest in doing that, because i thought, well who is going to perform it? maybe i wite an orchestra piece and try to get an orchestra. even that would be difficult. but these days it is a ibility. correspondent: at opera's end, in a gorgeous trio, puts shows what opera can do, finally bringing the three women fully together. the hours of one day, three lives. for the pbs newshour, i'm jeffrey brown at the metropolitan opera in new york. geoff: "the hours" will return to the metropolitan opera next yebuyou don't have to wait

until then. you can watch it here on pbs' great performances at the met. that premiesarch 17th. check your local listings. ♪ amna: if you've been to the grocery store lately, it's hard to miss. consumers are having to eat the cost of higher food bills. while overall inflation is down after hitting a decas-high last year, grocery prices were compared to the same time iny 2022. to help consumers make the most of their food budget, digital video prucer casey kuhn decided to put together some tips, including a quiz. hi, casey, good to see you. why did you decide to do this? >> so, to be honest, when i saw my husband bringing home brand-name items with the ocery store, in this enomy, i said no. so we've covered inflation and higher food pricesbut how can

i actually make some news our viewers can use? my mom taught me the shopping but to some experts to help. amna: this video is for people who hate to go grocery shopping, people like my dad, my husband, and my boss. -- it is that we put food on the table. beth started a cooking blood after the 2008 recession. >> i had nothing left that i can come back so i started b down the cost of the food i was leaving -- eating. >> she has a lot of advi how to navigate shopping at the grocery store, where prices fluctuate and always seem to be getting higher. >> it's a really easy way to save money or manipulate your budget is just based on whatou choose to buy and what you choose to cook or not cook. amna: you along with others put

together this quiz. >> you shut up to and megan. amna: i have already taken this quiz.i got 4 out of 5 right. toake homemade pizza, and i need to buy the ingredients. the first question is about how to pick the base. >> right, should you choose raw pizza dough or a pre-made crust. >> and i picked the pre-made crust, which is wrong. why? >> is thmore processed option. when you were buying something more processed, you are paying if you buy the raw pizza dough it is one more step to make it to the cross. i will say this was a divive question on the internet because a lot of people would rather pay for convenience than save the money. amna: ok, now we want to add cheese.

and i chose the block cheese, which is correct, i was thinking i would get more for my money. >> you get more cheese for your money versus the process cheese per dollar. a big giveaway for this quiz is if you look at one item, one thing on the sales data, price per ounce, you will always get it. if it is a lower price per ounce it will be a better deal, and that is true in the grocery store too. s one big takeaway i hope people of. if you compare prices in they se difference. amna: you are getting more for your money, and that is the point. digital video producer casey kuhn. thanks so much. >> you. amna: you could watch the entire video and take the quiz yourself, go tos.org/newshour. ♪

geoff:nd there's a lot more online, including a story about why people who have been incarcerated and are diagnosed with cancer often struggle to get care after they are released. amna: and join us again here tomorrow night, when we'll speak with former arkansas govnor asa hutchinson about the gop's priorities and why he' considering running for president. and that is the newshour for tonight. i'm amna nawaz. geoff: and i'm goeff bennett. thanks forit us. have a great night. >> major funding for the pbs n's has been provided by -- >> 420 five years consumer cellular as beenviding no contract plans what people do more of what they like. our u.s.-based customer service team can help you with a plan that fits you. visit cons cellular.tv. >> it was like an aha moment. this is what i love doing.

companies have this energy that energizes me. these are people trying to change the world. when i volunteer with women entrepreneurs, it is the same thing. i am helping people reach their dreams. i am driving by helping otherse. people that know know bdo. >> the ford foundation, working with visionaries on the front lines of social change worldwide. ♪ >> and with the ongoing support of these iividuals and instit, and friends of the newshour. and with the ongoing support of these institutions. ♪ and friends of the newshour.

this program it was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. ♪ >>ly excited to be the anchor of pbs news weekend. we have become known for independent, fact-based reporting. we are challenging viewers to understand the world a little better. we present all sides of the story. we take the time to put them in context. when vwers watch pbs news weekend we hopey come away informed and perhaps a different perspective than they have thought of four. >> good eng i am john yang. tonight on pbs news weekend. ♪

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. hello, everyone and welcome to "amanpour and company." here is what is coming up. >> humans rights are being accused, sentenced and violated around the world. >> on international womes day we speak to those who have been in the room. first up, fiona hill, the former national security official and russia expert on how the second year of putin's war will turn out. then,ng iranian protiuttest into his to women's rights unde shaw then. >> the college classroom is a rehearsal space for democracy. >> the crisis in liberal arts education. michelle martin speaks with the beloved colombia university american studies professor andrew