♪ amna: good evening. i'm amna nawaz. geoff: and i am geoff bennett

. elon musk expands his influence in the trump administration, gutting parts of the government while gaining access to sensitive federal payment systems. amna: the u.s. agency tasked with overseeing foreign aid is put on the chopping block with potential risks for national security. geoff: and president trump threatens then pauses tariffs on major u.s. trading partners. how the back and forth could affect american consumers. >> the tariff is a very regressive tax. it hits lower income households more than higher income households. ♪ >> major funding for the pbs news hour has been provided by -- >> on an american cruise lines journey along the mississippi river, travelers explore civil war battlefields and historic riverside towns. aboard our fleet of riverboats,

you can experience local culture and cuisine and discover the music and history of the mighty mississippi. american curtiss lines, proud sponsor of pbs news hour. the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions and friends of the news hour, including that judy and peter blum kovler foundation. the william and flora hewlett foundation. for more than 50 years, advancing ideas and supporting institutions to promote a better world. at hewlett.org. and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions.

this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. geoff: welcome to the news hour. tonight, major tariffs against mexico and canada have been put on hold for one month, but others against china are set to go into effect tomorrow. amna: this all comes as president donald trump pushes new boundaries, taking steps to shutter an entire government agency, and giving his close adviser, elon musk, unprecedented leeway to cut costs in washington and beyond. our report tonight from laura barron lopez. laura: tonight, major tariffs

against mexico and canada are on pause. just hours before they were set to go into effect at the stroke of midnight tonight. president trump and mexican president claudia sheinbaum, after speaking by phone today, "agreed to immediately pause the anticipated tariffs for a one month period." mexico pledging to put 10,000 of its troops along the u.s. southern border to help combat the flow of drugs. and prime minister justin trudeau says the same delay will be given to canada. but other tariffs are not off the table. a 10% terrible remain on china, one of the united states largest trading partners. as punishment, the white house says, for chinese-made fentanyl flowing into the country. >> this is retaliatory. this is retaliatory to a certain extent. we have to stop people from pouring in and we have to stop fentanyl and that includes china. fentanyl has killed this year, at least 200,000 people. it's pouring in from china through

mexico and canada. and they have got to stop it. >> the now delayed tariffs on everything from produce in the grocery aisle, to lumber and building materials, to automobiles and electronics... the president admitted they would cost americans. >> we may have short-term a little pain. people understand that. but long term the united states has been ripped off by virtually every country in the world. >> the move follows backlash. canada threatened a 25 percent tariff this weekend on billions in u.s. goods. >> if president trump wants to usher in a new golden age for the united states, the better path is to partner with canada, not to punish us. >> meanwhile, the trump administration is sending shockwaves across its own federal government. this morning, staff at the u.s. agency for international development, or usaid, were told to work from home today because the agency's headquarters was closed.

the website was also shut down as multiple usaid officials have been placed on administrative leave. >> i love the concept but they turned out to be lunatics. >> the white house and billionaire elon musk have not provided evidence backing up claims of widespread corruption at usaid. in a midnight conversation on his platform, x, musk said the president wants the agency shut down altogether. >> you have basically got to get rid of the whole thing. it is beyond repair. he agreed that we should shut it down. >> this comes as elon musk's task force, known as the department of government efficiency, has also gained unprecedented access to sensitive internal government systems, including a treasury department payment system which holds private information on millions of americans, and classified spaces in usaid. musk's team has also accessed systems at the general services administration and personnel records for federal employees through the office of personnel

management, essentially known as the government's hr. >> he's got access only to letting people go that he thinks are no good, if we agree with him, and it's only if we agree with him. >> thousands of other government web pages have also been taken down since friday afternoon, according to an analysis by the new york times. all in order to satisfy president trump's executive orders targeting diversity initiatives and gender ideology. and the acting fbi director was ordered by the acting attorney general to remove a number of senior fbi executives, and to hand over the names of any fbi employee who worked on january 6 cases. >> thank you. >> all part of the unprecedented purge of anyone considered to be an enemy or disloyal to the president. geoff: laura joins us now. the department of government efficiency, what is it and how much access do musk in his team have? >> that is the million-dollar

question. is it a federal advisor community? is it being run by newly appointed officials? those are all questions i asked the white house and have not received an answer on but the press secretary said that elon musk is a special government employee and claimed he is abiding by all applicable federal laws, but did not answer if he has gone through necessary security clearances, and as far of the scope -- as the scope of this, its extensive. newshour obtained an at the small business administration stating the agency needed to provide access to all systems, to a member of musk's d.o.g.e. team, who reportedly recently

graduated from high school. in a call with staff, he said he needed access to the hr system and contract system and payment systems. amna: we know that d.o.g.e. and the trump administration are already facing some lawsuits. laura: multiple lawsuits. there's one from the state democracy defenders fund and other groups nailed at -- other groups aimed at nailing down what is d.o.g.e. and is it in violation of that federal advisory committee act. there's another lawsuit that's been brought by federal employees against the office of personnel management. the lawsuit is over an email system that allows the agency to send emails to all civilian federal employees at once, which are sources and other outlets have reported was a specific project of d.o.g.e. and musk. the executive director of the national security counselors had

this to say. >> they have decided that the things that worked for them there are a good idea to implement in the federal government. the problem is that the federal government or any government for that matter does not function like a business and it literally cannot function like a business. laura: and moments ago, the other lawsuit. the afl-cio and other advocacy groups sued treasury forgiving d.o.g.e. and elon musk access to that payment system. amna: what are legal experts telling you about the legality of this? laura: whether elon musk is a special government employee or a full-time federal government employee, the criminal conflict of interest statute applies to him. that's according to legal experts i spoke to, according to a whiteouts ethics lawyer -- a white house ethics lawyer. >> it's a crime for a federal

officer to participate in a government matter that has a direct and predictable effect on their own holdings. the president and vice president are exempt but no one else is. if he's a federal officer he will have to divest. you cannot start bossing around the agencies, telling people in the agencies what to do. laura: so he has two options. he can sell off his interests, his holdings, his businesses, or he can recuse himself from government matters that could affect his businesses, so that means potentially anything involving cryptocurrency, electric vehicles, space acts or the social media company x. president trump said musk is tasked with ranking the government and if there's a problem he will make sure that musk and d.o.g.e. do not go near it but there's a pattern that

suggests there are little guardrails around elon musk and d.o.g.e. and that's what we are hearing from a number of sources. he could ultimately be vulnerable to lawsuits even five years from now. amna: thanks for your reporting. geoff: let's bring in correspondent lisa for more on the mass layoffs within the u.s. foreign aid agency and the possible effects. break down what is happening within the agency and what it means. >> this agency is essentially shut down. the administration announced that marco rubio is the acting administrator of usaid and told laura that pete morocco, a known trump ally, will be appointed to oversee usaid. programs around the world are frozen. workers are cut off from both

their staff and their own email. some workers have been fired. i am in touch with dozens around the world. this agency website itself conveys the clarity and state of things. this is what comes up when you look at usaid.gov, nothing. there has been no notice to staff before this happened. today, laura received from the white house indication that it's notified congress and is considering a reorganization. that's a week after some of these layoffs. it's a great deal. this is an agency with 13,000 or more staff. at least 1000 contractors. there are estimates for 3000 u.s. layoffs so far. that includes all the co-attracting agencies. usaid affect millions of people around the world in key areas of u.s. interest.

these programs, when they were founded, the wheat program, for example, pivotal in giving the u.s. a sphere of influence in asia and india. it is a program that counters china around the world. it's a small agency, but this is an idea about u.s. soft power. geoff: what is the knock on effect of that? lisa: it's not yet known because staffers overseeing these programs have been disconnected, but what i was able to piece together, we know malaria vaccines in africa, some of those programs have stopped. there's concern in africa as an ebola outbreak is happening there. a system to monitor famine. that website also down. so those trying to monitor famine cannot access it.

fighting hunger a major part of what usaid does. i spoke to one worker in africa who confirmed some hiv drugs are not being given out. some of these workers are cut off in dangerous places. geoff: does president trump have the authority to do this? lisa: this is also a great question for laura. this is an independent agency. it was founded by president kennedy under executive order but congress put this into code, so this will be a legal battle. it's not clear what democrats are going to do. they argue this is a constitutional crisis. trump and musk say the u.s. is overspending but that is not the debate. they also say this is an agency in need of reform but that's also what they are that's also not what they are doing -- put that is also know what they are doing. geoff: thanks. amna: to discuss more about the

fallout, i spoke earlier with chris coons of delaware, who serves on both the senate foreign relations and judiciary committees. welcome back. thanks for joining us. >> thank you. amna: it took just a few days for elon musk to essentially take control of usaid, now threatening to shut down the agency. if this is illegal, then what can be done about it? >> a legal challenge to how and why and when this happened could be coming. second, we are working to press the administration and colleagues to recognize the important work that is done around the world that makes us more safe, that keeps american

safe, secure and prosperous, and this work needs to continue, whether it's countering human trafficking in mexico, preserving wild spaces and mozambique, intercepting viruses like ebola in uganda before they break out, the men and women of usaid and the nonprofits from around our country who serve around the world in response to humanitarian disasters and crises and promote democracy, security and stability do valuable work that needs to continue and i will support and sustain their vital work. >> we reached out to every member. only senator curtis sent a statement saying he's open to

retooling usaid. i assume you mean your republican colleagues. do they share your concerns and are they concerned about ceding this congressional authority to elon musk and the president? >> that first one should be shared by congress. we have the power of the purse. the funding that has been shut down abruptly was already appropriated by congress and signed into law and was already being spent. that should unite congress and saying you cannot do this. the second question is whether the things that a.i.d. help us.

i heard a quote from secretary rubio in el salvador supporting that. a majority of what it's done today in humanitarian relief and promoting security and stability and promoting public health is worth continuing. there are others who say it should be shut down. that creates a huge opening for china and other adversaries around the world. the u.s. has been present in 100 countries for decades. since president kennedy created this agency, helping promote democracy, delivering on stability, and that has built great relationships. that opening will be filled by china and extremists and terrorists. we should not give them that opportunity. >> both those messages are coming from the same administration though. secretary rubio says a review is underway and some funding may continue and elon musk is saying shut it down. >> this goes to the core

question of what role does elon musk have. he's not elected and does not run an official agency and yet his role in this fight and taking on other agencies is central. is donald trump president? is secretary rubio secretary oregon one musk? >> you questioned kash patel in his confirmation hearing to lead the fbi and we saw the white house fire multiple officials who worked on the january 6 and mar-a-lago investigations. we have been hearing widespread concerns about mass firings at the fbi. how does this impact your vote to confirm or not confirm patel? >> this confirms my profound anxiety about patel and his

record of alarming public statements before his confirmation hearing suggesting he would use the resources of the fbi to go after political opponents of the president and in particular their would be retribution in the fbi against career agents following lawful orders to carry out investigations. the investigations into those who has felt on january 6 were completely appropriate -- who assaulted police officers on january 6 were completely appropriate. some have been disciplined and even fired just for doing their jobs without any connection to a political agenda and that is chilling. i will vote against patel. >> democratic senator chris coons of delaware, thank you for your time. >> thank you.

geoff: the u.s., canada and mexico all agreed to delay the start of new tariffs and hold off -- for now -- the possibility of a trade war among allies. but the delay is only for a few weeks. and as of now, there will be new tariffs taking effect tomorrow -- 10 percent on goods from china. that's already on top of tariffs on chinese products and materials dating back to president trump's first term. amna: president trump also called the new tariffs on china an "opening salvo." and he spoke this weekend about his plans to issue new punitive tariffs against another ally -- the european union. these threats and the prospects of a trade war lead to a number of questions about how tariffs have been used in the past, the effect they had and their potential impacts now. economics correspondent paul solman takes a closer look.

>> tariffs. here's a look at some of the reasons president trump gives to hike them. >> instead of taxing our citizens to enrich other countries, we will tariff and tax foreign countries to enrich our citizens. >> to raise money from foreigners instead of taxing americans. president trump insists tariffs were once the great revenue source for the u.s. and it is true. >> until the civil war, tariffs raised 90% of revenue for the federal government, but it was very small, so there was not much to fund. >> government spending is almost a quarter gdp. how much to tariff spring in? >> about 2% of federal revenue comes from tariffs. it's been swamped by taxes. >> the point is to replace those

taxes. so how much more money can hire tariffs raise? >> if you look at total federal revenues in a typical year, they are over $4 trillion. almost $3 trillion is the combination of the individual and corporate income tax. we think the maximum you could get out of tariffs would be in the neighborhood of $800 billion, so that's not going to come anywhere near what you need to replace the individual income tax let alone the corporate tax, payroll taxes and other tax on income. >> tariffs to protect american industry from foreign competition, a la william mckinley. >> mckinley ushered through a piece of legislation that became known as the mckinley tariff. it was passed in 1890. it was designed to protect domestic industry.

he was interested in helping out the steel industry in his district. >> president trump has promised to help out various industries. >> president mckinley made our country very rich through tariffs and talent. >> however, when mckinley became president -- >> it was not this massive boom. you had a depression in 1893 that lasted several years. mckinley said if we could ask for manufactured goods, we could pull out of this and do better, and he changed tack. he said the age of exclusion has passed. so he was much more outward oriented than he was as a member of congress. >> there's a problem with tariffs, counterterrorist, with -- counter tariffs, which

both canada and mexico threatened before they were delayed today. >> we will have tariffs on american goods, including on orange juice, along with vegetables, shoes. it will include major consumer products. and materials along with much more. >> which would make our goods more expensive and thus hurt our exports. who pays for tariffs anyway? according to research on the last trump tariffs -- >> what we found on the tariffs is that when the u.s. imposed tariffs on predominately chinese goods, importers bore the full cost, and some of those went to consumers. >> prices went up less than .5%,

but the first tariffs were just 50% on 15% of u.s. imports, not much, but the more and higher the tariffs the more expensive. moreover, they don't hit everyone equally. >> it is a very aggressive tax. so if we were to attempt to try to cut the income tax and replace it with tariffs, we would be going from a progressive to a regressive tax system. >> muscling other countries may be working as colombia's about-face suggests. as for manufacturing -- >> you hurt some industries and help others. >> what impact will the new tariffs actually have? we will soon find out. paul solman.

geoff: we are joined tonight by mary lovely, a senior fellow at the peterson institute for international economics. thanks for coming. we have this paws on tariffs for canada and mexico. how much of this is actually about addressing a trade imbalance? i raised the question because donald trump negotiated a trade deal with canada and mexico. is there an actual problem these tariff seem to solve? mary: the president has identified two problems of the border. sony has on occasion talked about the trade deficit that we have but it's hard to know what weight he places on these factors. for today's announcement, it looks like it was on the border.

>> when he talks about canada, he complains about the trade imbalance, which has existed for decades. canada sells more goods and services to the u.s. than advise from us. does that justify tariffs? >> there's no reason we should have balance bilaterally. there's no reason that the grocery store should buy as much for me as i buy from it. there is no reason why canada should not sell to us and then use those resources to produce things to sell to the rest of the world. there's really no reason or welfare implication of us having a trade deficit with canada or any other country for that matter. geoff: he's also acknowledging now that if these tariffs take effect it will hurt american consumers, at least in the short term. he said it's a little bit of pain but people understand that.

so much depends on when, if or how these tariffs are implemented, but how much pain are we talking about generally? mary: we have run the numbers on this latest round of terror threats and for the average household it would be about $1200 more a year. so you can think about $100 a month. of course, that number would rise it president trump thing goes ahead with other threats he's made to raid tariffs on the european union. >> i imagine china sees a lot of upside. what is the overall effect of other countries seeing the u.s. as an unreliable or your -- mercurial trading partner? >> there is this long-term cost

to doing this, and that is that the u.s. signaled that the trade agreement it signed on to the first trump administration was not really worth the paper it was written on, so that's a problem, particularly in the context of building economic resilience and de-risking our supply chains and reducing our dependence on china. to do that we have to create pathways for companies who actually do the creation of supply chains to have confidence that if they invest in a particular country they will not than face new tariffs trying to come into the u.s. some say why not just make everything in the u.s.? it is clear that we cannot. so it's not really the answer.

it also is important to recognize that doing so will actually make us poorer. many of the things we import are labor-intensive and would be prohibitively expensive if they were made with workers in the u.s. who were to receive a living wage. >> how damaging is this atmosphere of confusion and chaos? >> i think that even if we are caught in a cycle where it is threat and levy, the damage is profound. companies are making long-term bets on where to place supply chains into production. the rest of the world is not sitting still. it is forming agreements working around the u.s.. china is sitting out there and providing funds for infrastructure and other development and has changed its

tune. it is welcoming countries to sell into its market. we have seen some of our key allies and friends actually increasing their integration with china. so i think this strikes a blow at our long-term plans to increase the diversity of where we sell and buy and to enhance economic resilience in the u.s. geoff: thank you for sharing your expertise. we appreciate it. mary: you are welcome. ♪ geoff: we start the day's other headlines with a salvage operation in the nation's capital. crews spent the day recovering several parts of the passenger jet that collided midair with a military helicopter last week at reagan national airport. video from the scene showed a crane lifting pieces of the regional american airlines plane

out of the water. officials say they removed parts of the engine, fuselage and wing. crews also found additional human remains today. 55 of the 67 people killed have been identified. in ohio, a lawsuit was filed today alleging for the first time that people died because of the 2023 train derailment in east palesteen, ohio. the filing contains the first seven wrongful death claims against norfolk southern railroad. it also alleges the railroad and contractors botched the cleanup of the toxic crash and that federal officials failed to warn people about lingering health risks. it comes as vice president jd vance visited the site today on the second anniversary of the disaster. vance said the trump adminisration would prioritize the community's recovery, even as the administration cuts federal agencies. >> you do now have a government that cares about you that's going to work on these problems. president trump's desire to bring some efficiency back to

the federal government, that's not going to be bad for the people of east palestine. it's actually going to ensure that the resource we spend on health actually go to people on the ground rather than bureaucrats. geoff: they agreed to a class action settlement with residents and another with the government to clean up the mess. they set up funds for water monitoring but did not admit wrongdoing. secretary of state marco rubio said today he welcomes panama's decision to let its participation in china's global infrastructure plan expire. rubio said any move by panama to distance itself from china's belt and road initiative is a great step forward for u.s.-panama relationships. speaking from el salvador -- the next stop on rubio's trip through the region -- he addressed china's role in the flow of trade through the panama canal. >> win we turned over the canal, we turned it over to panama. we didn't turn it over to china. so you got there. and the chinese

control both entries to the port. both entries to the p. we don't want to have a hostile and negative relationship with panama. i don't believe we do but we had a frank and respectful conversation, and i hope it'll yield fruits and results in the days to come. >> rubio viewed a deporation flight carrying dozens of migrants from panama back to colombia. the state department says such actions send a message of deterrence to those trying to cross panama, en route to the u.s. the trump administration is ending deportation protections for nearly 350-thousand venezuelans living in the u.s. the order from homeland security secretary kristi noem affects more than half of the veneuelans covered by temporary protected status or tps. that means they could lose their work permits or be deported starting in april. today's order signaled that the administration believes conditions in venezuela no longer merit such protections against deportation. republican critics of tps say it's been used to allow migrants to stay much longer than intended.

the official termination notice will be published wednesday, and go into effect 60 days after that. in the democratic republic of congo, rwandan backed rebels have declared a unilateral cease-fire, starting tomorrow. in a statement, a spokeperson said the group has no intention of claiming more territory in the region. but he added that it remains committed "to protecting and defending the civilian population and our positions." the announcement comes as morgues in the eastern city of goma are overcrowded with bodies , forcing health workers to bury the dead in mass graves. the un's health agency said at least 900 people died in last week's fighting for the city. on wall street today: stocks slumped on worries about president trump's tariffs. the dow jones industrial average recovered from steep losses earlier in the day, ending about 120 points lower. the nasdaq fell 235 points on the day. the s&p 500 also ended in negative territory.

and beyonce took home the top prize at the 2025 grammy awards, after four prior efforts came up short. >> i feel very full and honored. it's been many years. >> the most decorated artist in grammys history secured her first album of the year award for cowboy carter, her country music album. she's the first black woman to win the award since lauryn hill 26 years ago. rapper kendrick lamar swept both the record and song of the year categories for his track "not like us." and chappell roan won for 'best new artist' in what was a competitive field. the ceremony also paid tribute to the city of los angeles, which has been ravaged by wildfires. still to come, tamra keith and amy walter break down the latest political headlines and costume designer paul tazewell discusses his academy award-nominated work on the musical wicked.

collects this is the pbs news hour -- >> this is the pbs news hour. >> from the potential impact of trade tariffs to the confirmation votes for president trump's cabinet, let's take a look at the political stakes now with amy walter of “the cook political report with amy walter” who is in new orleans tonight and tamara keith of npr. let's start with you because we saw confusion at usaid as elon musk threatened to shut down the agency. concerns about firings at the fbi and doj. is all of this what trump supporters voted for? >> it depends on which trump supporters you are talking about, because some people voted

for donald trump because they were concerned about the price of eggs and everything else. there are others who voted for trump because they were frustrated with president biden refusing to step aside and having harris come in in this way. there were people upset about what was happening in gaza. there were people who wanted to shake things up and felt like government was not working for them and they are looking at this and saying they are shaking things up. this is a hostile takeover and that is what some share of trump's voters signed up for. i will say that when a president takes office they are never more popular and powerful than they are in their first couple weeks

and as they continue to do more things people who voted for them get upset so their popularity almost inevitably declines. >> the economy was a driving issue in the last election. when you talk about the potential for these tariffs, here is what president trump had to say. he said will there be some pain? maybe but it will be worth it. we know the prices of things could go up. how much will president trump's supporters be willing to stomach on that front. >> i think 10:00 -- i think tam made a good point of one -- point on that. he starts off in decent shape in

approval because people are ready to see the status quo disrupted and see the democratic party as avatars for the status quo they don't want to see their own lives disrupted and what's been interesting to watch his donald trump has, and quickly put a lot of things in place that are disruptive whether it is on the dei front or emigration or talking about ending birthright citizenship. on the issues that could impact the day-to-day lives of americans, one was shutting down government funding and putting a pause or a freeze on government funding that was rolled back or this issue of tariffs which was basically a 24 hour event. the impact of it will not be

felt by regular americans and so you have to wonder at some point either these tariffs go into place and people feel it or that this now becomes something that we don't hear from for a while or he gets solved and instead the president spends more of his time on the issues that will impact some people but don't have the broad impact on the economy. >> we know they continue to move through their confirmation process. we have seen among the more tenuous nominees to policy covered. we sought republicans expressed concerns about her in the confirmation hearings. and susan collins says she will vote to confirm gabbard and we know that vote is scheduled for tomorrow afternoon and gabbard

cannot afford to lose a single vote. what do you see happening? >> it looks like she's in an increasingly good position. and she certainly looks to be in a stronger position than during her hearing. she was frequently asked whether edward snowden was a traitor and could not or would not answer that question but the reality is that we have not seen a lot of senators willing to put their necks out and go up against trump. they are repeatedly saying he wants these people and we are going to give them to him and we should remember he also had threatened to appoint them through recess appointments and sort of force then there if the senate did not go along with it so i don't know where we are going to see the pushback. we might see it with r.o.k. junior and we might not.

and we have not at this point seen a lot of pushback on the administration's up actions to pause funding. we have not really seen republican house members or senators stand up and say we are the article one branch and we have the power of the purse. >> we should point out three senators to vote against pete hegseth for his confirmation but how do you look at this issue? >> susan collins being one of those votes against him. i look at it similarly, which is that they are treating the president somebody who is not just the leader of the party but one who has a mandate that is even stronger than their own individual mandates from their voters. in many cases, you have republican senators who --and members of the house, who got

fewer votes than donald trump did in their district, so they are giving him a lot of runway. where it really hits the road, again, comes down to the actual consequences hitting voters. you started to hear a little of it today even among some of trump's strongest supporters in congress questioning what kinds of damage these tariffs could do to people in their communities and to the industries in their communities, but for now, they have learned it is not worth it to get out over there's, wait a little bit -- over their skis, wait a little bit, and give him that runway to do the disrupting and the moving of all these different programs in the way that they see voters endorsing. amna: in the 30 seconds we have left, we know the democrats now

have their new dnc chair in the form of ken martin. what do you take away from his election? >> it didn't have a lot of intensity or ideology around it. democrats are still trying to find their way and it becomes important. as i said earlier, the question of the consequences on average americans, that's what people are counting on it and helping them find some success going forward. until that happens, the goal of the dnc chair is simply raising money and keeping the infrastructure, keeping the employees, keeping the people who do the work on the ground engaged and focused. >> great to see you both. thank you. >> you are welcome. ♪

>> the movie version of the hit musical “wicked” soared at the box office this winter, and among its ten oscar nominations, one is for costume designer paul tazewell. senior arts correspondent jeffrey brown starts our coverage of oscar nominees this year with this report. it is part of our arts and culture series, canvas. collects it's a visually spectacular world. intended to feel both familiar and fresh. >> the witch is dead. >> the costume designer. for him, wicked is a canvas of colors and materials in motion. it's the biggest thing he's ever been involved in. >> it's a blast and it's my life. it's the way that i communicate. it is my language.

and it is my means of being creative. >> we met recently at a film production complex in brooklyn. he told us that for all the huge scale, the key is still through his designs and working with the director and actors to help create characters, not only their outer clothing but their inner emotional life. >> my focus is who these characters are and how to create a world that makes sense within itself and provides a magical environment for this story to exist so i am stepping into their shoes. and if i'm working adjacent to it >> these are big shoes to

fill beginning with the books by ella frank baum. the classic 1939 film that's taken generations over the rainbow. and the wizard, a 19 73 telling on stage and film through the contemporary black experience in a new series of books by gregory maguire conjured a kind of back story and revisionist history. it turns out we didn't really know the witch after all. an amazingly successful musical running 21 years and now the new film. >> i acknowledge all of those as i am designing it but with the intent of creating new images, new icons, new ways of seeing who these characters are in a

new way of telling the story and i delight in it. >> the wiz was the first show taz well-designed and acted in it as a student. >> alexander hamilton. >> he went on to a hugely successful career in theater design, including on hamilton. most recently socks. he won a television me -- emmy for wiz live. an oscar nomination for the film version of west side story. you are grabbing images. >> that's right. that viscerally speak to me. they could be random. but collectively, they create a world. >> for wicked, taswell has taken

past icons and made them his own. he created a mashup of old and new fashions, looked to the art of one of history's greatest graphic artists, mc escher, and used nature, the swirl of the tornado so indelible in the 1939 film. he showed me an early plastic 3d model of a slipper made from one of the characters, the swirl pattern appearing throughout. it's a detail that required weeks for him and his team to experiment with, design and make. seen the film, i would not know all that. >> my hope was -- that was for all the details of oz and what we were creating for wicked

is that it becomes immersive and that you are drawn into this world. >> taswell says he's always bringing his own personal connections to the story and characters he's working on. >> what i bring to the event is my own life experience and how i walk through life as well. i have a direct emotional relationship to that. >> so you connect in that sense. >> absolutely. so decisions around how she emotionally represents herself, what her intention is, i have to build some kind of connection to have an honest take on what a character might wear. >> there's also another kind of history at stake in this nomination.

in 2019, ruth carter became the first black costume designer to win an oscar for her work in black panther. taswell would be the first black man to win. >> number of people coming up in this business like -- there were very few. that's why it's important for me to be a face that is visible and out there. >> he's also seeking to make a case for the role of the costume designer more broadly, something he says is often not well understood and has implications for such things as pay equity. >> what has become more of a priority is to be expensive in the way that is not only identified as a costume designer but a creative artist. i have tried to turn up the volume on what it is we do and

the power that we have as costume designers to create character. our contribution is huge towards that. >> while he vies for an oscar, one of 10 nominations overall for wicked, on march 2. >> and paul taswell is paying it forward. he established a scholarship at his alma mater for art students. >> we wish him luck. that is the news hour. i am on no no -- i am amna navaz. >> and i am geoff bennett. thank you. >> major funding has been provided by -- >> cunard is a supporter of public television. on a voyage with cunard, the world awaits.

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