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allies, defense secretary pete hegseth charts major shifts on ukraine. >> the united states does not believe that nato membership for ukraine is you realistic outcome of a negotiated settlement. >> law makers a the so-called war on waste as elon musk's influence in the white house gross. >> the trump administration got's key research efforts within the education department, an agency the president has pledged to eliminate altogether. ♪ >> major funding for the "pbs news hour" has been provided by -- >> on an american cruise line's journey, travelers experience the maritime heritage and culture of the maine coast and new england islands.

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more information at macfound.org. and with the ongoing support of these 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. >> welcome to the "news hour." and a major shift of foreign policy president trump announced today that he and putin have agreed to immediately start talks to end the war new prepared the president also said he believed the two leaders would meet soon. >> the defense secretary outline further policy changes saying kyiv should not expect to recapture all territory occupied by russia and that it's bid for

nato membership is unrealistic at this time. nick schifrin begins our coverage. >> at the headquarters of what u.s. officials consider the most important lines, secretary defense pete hegseth but the lines on notice. >> we are here to unambiguously express that stark strategic realities prevent united states of america from being primarily focused on the security of europe. >> for decades, the u.s. has deployed tens of thousands of troops to europe to help guarantee that europe integrated free and secure. but beijing has launched the fastest military modernization and history and the turump administration prior try securing u.s. borders. >> as the united states prioritizes its attention to these threats, european airlines must lead from the front. together, we can establish a division of labor that maximizes

our comparative advantages in europe and pacific respectively. >> on ukraine the biden and first trump's always said publicly ukraine deserved all its territory taken by russia, including crimea invaded by soldiers and annexed in 2014. today, pressure controls 20% of ukrainian territory, land that hegseth said today was impossible to restore. >> we want, like you, a sovereign and prosperous ukraine. but we must start by recognizing that returning to ukraine's pre-2014 borders is an unrealistic objective. chasing this illusionary goal will only prolong the war and cause more suffering. >> he acknowledge that ukraine will need long-term security guarantees but said they would not be provided by nato. >> the united states does not believe that nato membership for ukraine is a realistic outcome of a negotiated settlement.

instead, any security guarantee must be backed by a capable european and non-european troops. if these troops are deployed as peacekeepers to ukraine at any point, they should be deployed as part of a non-nato mission and they should not be covered under article v. >> to kickstart negotiations, president putin. >> we had a great call. it lasted for a long time, over an hour. this morning. i also had with president zelenskyy a very good call after that. i think we are on the way to getting peace. i think putin wants peace and president zelenskyy wants peace. >the have been saying that for a long time that ukraine cannot go into nato. i'm ok with that. >> in response zelenskyy said he

was putting his eggs in trump's basket. >> we believe america's strength is sufficient to pressure russia to peace. >> do you feel ukraine is an equal member of this peace process? >> an interesting question. i think i think they have to make peace. >> a kremlin spokesperson said the talks would extend beyond ukraine. >> president trump in favor of stopping hostilities as soon as possible and resolving the problem by peaceful means. president putin mentioned the need to eliminate the root causes of the conflict. and as a conflict proceeds, today the u.s. reduced what ukraine can hope to expect as negotiations to end the war begin. i'm nick schifrin. >> for a perspective in all of this we get to -- two views. evelyn farkas is the executive director of the mccain institute. during the obama administration she served as deputy assistance

secretary of defense for eur-asia. and a political science professor at the university of chicago has written extensively about u.s. national security. thanks for joining us. evelyn, start us off. i want to get your reaction peer to the secretary of defense's remarks, particular the reversal of u.s. policy saying the u.s. does not believe that nato membership for ukraine is realistic or a return to the pre-2014 borders. what do you make of that and who does that benefit? >> first of all, it's technically not really - -tac tically not really something that helps the president in terms of meeting his objective. by telegraphing our position is closer to the russian position, we are reducing our leverage on russia. and at the end of the day, everyone knows if we want this war to end the one person who can end the war overnight is vladimir putin.

ukrainians do not want to fight but they have to fight because they are fighting for their sovereignty. and they will not accept any kind of trade how their territory without a firm security guarantee. and the security guarantee without the united states involved will not stop vladimir putin. that is the reality. >> john, what do you make of that? >> i think it's quite remarkable that the secretary of defense -- what the sec. defense said today. he's basically saying that he accepts the rusisians' two major conditions for moving toward a peace settlement for the russians have said that before a serious negotiation can even begin, the west and ukraine have to accept the fact that ukraine will not be in nato, that will be a neutral country. and number two, the west has to accept the fact that russia has annexed the east, so that it now in large part controls and

crimea and the secretary tof defense says ukraine will not be in nato and the united states will not give ukraine the security guarantee. that sounds like a neutral ukraine to me. and, furthermore, although he did not specify, what territory the russians can keep he sounded like he was very close to saying they can keep those four areas they have annexed and crimea. so, this is an amazing statement, almost complete reversal of what the biden administration was doing ukraine. >> we also heard from the secretary that europeans will now need to provide the security guarantees for ukraine, not the u.s. and not nato. and you hurt he also said if european troops are to act, they will be acting on their own, without the article v protection, meaning an attack on one is an attack on all. what does that mean in practical terms on the ground, in ukraine and also for the nato alliance? >> yeah, first of all everybody

agrees that europeans need to do more in terms of providing for their own defense and the defense of the continent. but let's not be naïve. vladimir putin is not afraid of the europeans without the united states backing up the europeans, which is to say, he's afraid of nato, and he will not make another move on ukraine if ukraine is in nato. however, if ukraine is not a nadal, and there's a security guarantee if just from the europeans, that is not going to be sufficient to stop vladimir putin. he has an imperialist agenda. he wants to take ukraine, he will not stop there. he will go for moldova and georgia. he is going to go for the former nato states, the baltics. and guess who is watching all this, his partner, they are closely allied, there is no way to split the china-russian threats from one another. china's watching, china will make a move on taiwan and china will not stop. china has disputed territories in japan, the philippines.

we have alliances with those countries. i can go on. but the reality is that it is very dangerous if we leave the security guarantee to the europeans. >> john, does this further emboldenn putin, and if you are a nato ally, does this say that the u.s. is no longer a reliable partner? >> well, i think with regard to your first question, putin has no interesting conquer all of ukraine, much less conquering countries in used eastern europe ear he never said he had an interest in re-creating the soviet union. furthermore, he simply does not have the capability to do that. you can see how much trouble he has had just conquering the eastern one fifth of ukraine. the idea it's highly poised to overcome europe is not a serious argument. he wants a big chunk of territory in eastern europe and

he is in all likelihood going to get that, in large part because he's winning on the battlefield. one of the reasons that trump is now cutting our losses is that trump and his lieutenants understand that we have lost on the battlefield. to put it in slightly different terms, the ukrainians have lost. we have no leverage anymore. trump is facing up to reality. i do not think there is any danger of, of vladimir putin finishing off, uh, eastern ukraine and then moving into western ukraine and then moving into eastern europe. >> i saw you shaking your head. i will give you a brief moment to respond. >> glenn reppert and has telegraphed very clearly in speeches and in writings, what his vision is. he wants to re-create the soviet union exactly. he wants to re-create the old russian empire. that is his agenda. make no mistake. and he will not stop with ukraine. and he will not stop with some territories. so, i think the danger will only

heighten if he gets his way with ukraine. >> we heard from president trump now that the negotiating teams have now been selected, and he hopes that this will help to bring an end to the war. do you see those negotiations as success, what do you think comes of those talks? >> well, these are very tricky negotiations because he has to get the ukrainians on board as well. it is not just the united states. he also has to pay attention to what his european allies are interested in doing. the united states is clearly the main force driver here, no question about that but it is not just us alone. so, it'll be somewhat difficult to wrap up some sort of agreement from that perspective. but furthermore, you want to understand that putin is interested in a much broader security agreement. he's not just shutting down --

interested in shutting down war in ukraine. i can name six potential flashpoints we should worry about and that putin should worry about and what he would like to get is get a comprehensive security architecture for europe in general and certainly for the eastern half of europe, so that we don't go down this road again and have a replay of the war in ukraine. >> evelyn, do you think this peace talks, these negotiations will yield success? >> if they do, it will take some time. we could get a quick cease-fire, but i don't think we will have a copper has a peace deal over the weekend at the munich security conference. >> thank you to you both. appreciate your time. >> you're welcome. >> i am stephanie sy with news

hour west. here are the latest headlines. a multinational prisoner exchange continued today. us. officials say belarus released a three day teams including one american. a broader swap began yesterday when russia freed american schoolteacher mark vogel. in return, the u.s. released russian cyber criminal alexander vanek. he was suspected of funneling billions of dollars through his cryptocurrency exchange and pleaded guilty last year to a money laundering charge. fogel arrived in the united states last night. >> i feel like the luckiest man on earth right now. >> the 63-year-old join president trump at the white house late yesterday holding a can of iron city beer and draped in an flight flag. mr. trump said the exchange can be an important part in ending the war in ukraine. a federal judge has cleared the way for president trump's plan to shrink the federal workforce through deferred resignation plan.

u.s. district judge george o'toole junior in boston found a group of labor unions did not have legal standing because they are not directly impacted by the policy. more than 65,000 federal employees, roughly 3% of the federal workforce, have resigned as of tuesday morning according to the white house. and tonight, as folks -- a spokesperson for the office of personnel management says the program is closed to additional workers. eight government watchdogs are suing the president for abruptly firing them last month. the lawsuit argues the inspectors general who served during trump's first term, should get their jobs back. it states "president trump's attempt to eliminate a crucial a long-standing source of impartial, nonpartisan oversight of his administration is contrary to the rule of law." they further argue that mr. trump was legally required to give congress 30 days notice before hand. in washington dc, the newly

installed board of trustees at the kennedy center voted today to make president trump its chairman. it comes days after mr. trump announced plans to overhaul the institution and replaced the board with his own appointees. the board voted to for the is -- to fire the institutions president. she had planned to leave the end of the year. the interim president will be richard -- the former acting director of national intelligence. president trump has cited the centers hosting drag performances as a reason for wanting to reshape its programming. the trump administration is scrapping a biden policy that aimed to regulate name, image and likeness payments to college athletes under title ix. the guy does require that universities treat those funds the same as athletic scholarships. that would've meant paying out the money proportionately to male and female athletes. a trump official call that guidance overly burdensome.

federal health agencies are restoring websites and data sets that have been forced off-line due to a presidential order. that comes after a judge in washington dc ordered the content returned saying their loss threatened the work of doctors and public health at large. the material included information on hiv monitoring, contraception and enrollment of women in clinical trials among others. the site removals were apparently in keeping with an executive order president trump signed directing agencies to remove any indication of alleged gender ideology. consumer prices rose 3% compared to the same time last year. that was due largely to higher cost for groceries, gasoline and rents. today's reading is likely to give the u.s. federal reserve further reason to hold off on cutting interest rates. president trump made cutting prices a central part of his reelection bid, promising to reduce prices on day one. instead, economist say his

proposed tariffs could drive prices higher, even if temporarily. jerome powell told a congressional committee today that the fed will see how those policies play out before acting. >> we will then try to make an intelligent judgment about the overall effect on the economy of those and conduct our policy accordingly. it is not our role in any way to comment on the wisdom of the policies that are enacted by congress or by, by the administration. >> more winter weather hit the central u.s. today from oklahoma to the great lakes. further east, they are digging out from a separate storm that cut its way from kentucky to the nation's capital. plows were out of virginia as much as the mid -- much of the mid-atlantic was blanketed in white. at one point 200,000 were without power there. and canine enthusiasts are paying tribute today to the nation's new top dog.

>> for best in show at the 149th annual westminster kennel club dog show, i choose the giant schnauzer. >> monty, the giant schnauzer, took home the most prestigious award in the u.s. dog show world last night, the first of his breed to ever win the top prize at westminster. some of the other finalists included a whippet named bourbon who had been runner-up three times, plus a bichon frise a and a sky terrier and it should sue. -- and a shi tzu. monty gets a trophy, giant ribbon and of course bragging rights. still to the news hour, house republicans released their budget blueprint as the senate confirms tulsi gabbard as director of national intelligence. cuts to the federal government continue, this time within the department of education. and after adrien brody unpacks his oscar-nominated performance

in the post were pickup the brutalist. -- the post were at the brutalist. >> this is the "pbs newshour." from the david m. rubenstein studio at weta in washington and in the west from the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. >> house republicans have released their long promised a budget outline as they seek to fulfill president trump's agenda while cutting both the deficit and taxes. but it remains unclear whether the plan will achieve those goals or if it even has the votes. correspondent lisa desjardins is here with the latest. good to see you, lisa. just a quick reminder -- why does all this matter? >> what republicans do or don't do will affect nearly every american taxpayer. it will also determine for potentially a decade who the winners or losers are in this economy. what about the poor, and it will also tell us is congress ever going to be serious about bringing down the deficit?

all of that is at stake here. >> now to the proposal. walk us through. there has been a lot of debate. what exactly are house republicans proposing? >> i will put on my glasses but first of all i want to say this has not been easy but republicans finally cobbled this together today. it is a sweeping plan. this is what they say they want to do as they're out my pick for tax cuts ,$4.5 trillion over 10 years, spending cuts, between 1.5 and $2 trillion four trillion. $300 billion four i.c.e. and it would increase the deficit of $3 trillion. republicans, dispute that because they say the economy will make up for that. we're going to get into that context as we get on the road but the key part here is that republicans are doing major tax cuts and also major spending cuts. one of the programs that would

be most on the chopping block is medicaid. that is the 72 million person program in the united states. republicans say it is worth of and fraud. democrats say no, but speaker johnson says even if that is controversial, it is a good start. he put out this statement. he remains focused on working through the process to deliver on promises made to the american people. there were still much work to be done but we are starting on the right path. now, that is to say also this agreement isn't entirely cemented. at the same time, democrats are pushing back against this plan, saying it would hurt working and middle-class americans. >> none of this is going to help the pain that americans are feeling when they go to the grocery tore or when they fill up at the pump or when they try to say for a house or when they pay their rent. all of it is a sham. and it is a way to make sure the rich get richer. >> but of course, republicans

control the house on the senate. whether this succeeds or fails will be entirely up to them. >> this is the proposal from house republicans. senate republicans seem to be moving in a different direction. what is happening, and is that assigned sign of bigger problems i had? >> something we will get into in the weeks ahead, but this is all to do with the process called budget reconciliation. which is essentially a way to get around the senate 60 vote requirement. republicans do not have 60 votes in the senate. they do have 53. they are using a processes shortcut. when you do that, it is an elaborate series of steps. both house and senate must agree on a budget. so, senate budget chairman lindsey graham thinks the house is taking too long, so he move forward with a separate plan that would only focus on the border portion, border detention. he explained to reporters yesterday why he thought this was necessary. >> i heard -- a pretty tough guy begging us for money. i beg you to give me more

resources. i heard the omb guy say, i.c.e. is out of money. all i can tell my house colleagues, whatever you need to do, to get the one beautiful bill, do it, do it now. you have my blessing, you have my support, but if we can't do it quickly we need to go to plan b. >> the border czar. let's look at the "balance of power the house. republicans barely have a majority. they cannot afford too many votes. let's take an easy win. we will see how this works out. >> a win for president trump, his pick to be the director of national intelligence tulsi gabbard was sworn in. what should we know about her and the other nominations? >> tulsa garber sworn in just a short while ago. she passed to the senate with just one republican voting no. that was mitch mcconnell. he wrote a statement saying that he was very concerned that tulsi

gabbard would not state clearly that vladimir putin is behind the war ukraine. he said that is a real risk of the intelligence chief -- doesn't acknowledge that. he says that he hopes that she rises to the responsibilities of the jobs. and we are watching robert f. kennedy, jr. to pass a key procedural vote whatever republican backing him. we do not know how the fun vote will go but he is well in the way to confirmation. we expect that tomorrow. >> lisa desjardins. thank you very much. >> you're welcome. >> president trump handed more power over to elon musk yesterday giving the billionaire and his team oversight over hiring decisions across every government agency. >> as musk's power grows he continues to post misleading or false accusations against the

government agencies to his more than 200 million followers on his social media platforms x. during an on the oval office, musk was asked about his false claim that u.s.a.i.d. plan to allot $50 million for current in gaza before his team stopped it. musk said this. >> well, first of all, some of the things that i say will be incorrect and should be corrected. so, nobody is going to about 1000. >> hours later he continued to amplify the same claim. three weeks into this administration, president trump has given elon musk enormous power over government agencies but the billionaires companies do -- that the billionaires companies do business with. we have a closer look at the intersection of his government and private sector work and the potential conflicts of interests all of that brings. it's good to see you. how much to elon musk's companies make from his federal government contracts? >> musk owns six companies,

including x and nueuro link but that to that benefit the most is spacex and tesla, the electric car company. in all, musk companies have been awarded more than $13 billion in government contracts over the last five years. that includes $3.8 billion in government contracts awarded in 2024. and a lot of those contracts are with the defense department and nasa. and musk's defense apartment contracts are estimated to be in the billions. we do not have that number given that some of those details are classified. >> more recently, elon musk and his doge allies have targeted the faa and the consumer financial protection bureau. how does his work there present a conflict of interest? >> president trump has said that musk has free rein to slash spending. first with the fai, they regulate space-x. last fall, they propose that space should be fined more than

$600,000 for licensing violations. the faa is currently investigating space-x for some safety violations. so, again, potentially damaging some of musk's businesses. with the consumer watchdog, musk has called for its elimination, posting on x rip to cfpb. they are leading the efforts to dismantle the consumer watchdog. the white house ordered for all work to stop there. why is this a conflict for musk? for years musk has been trying to turn x into a digital wallet for people to send money to each other and that digital wallet known as x money is expected to launch later this year. cfpb is the main regulator of digital payment systems like that. and so musk's x money business would stand potentially benefit from no cfpb. >> is there any evidence he's

personally benefiting from this work? >> the new york times has found that the trump administers and has fired officials at least 11 federal agencies and those federal agencies have more than 32 ongoing investigations pending complaints or enforcement actions into musk's six companies. i spoke to eric lipton, who summed it up this way. >> across the landscape of the photo, there have been changes -- of the federal government, there have been changes in oversight through firings that have brought real benefit to elon musk and his companies, but there are lawsuits, there are investigations, there are pending matters that he is less likely to be fined as a result of or punished as a result of. and there is real benefit that elon musk has already achieved. >> so, there is no direct

evidence so far that elon musk has personally directed those firings, doge even though doge has been involved in some of them. but lipton said that his businesses are still benefiting from these firings. >> are there any guardrails, any constraints for elon musk apart from president trump saying he's had enough? >> there do not a peer to be any guardrails, and standing next to president trump in the oval office yesterday, elon musk suggested that he and his team will figure out for themselves if there are potential conflict of interest. >> over actions are fully public. so if you see anything, wait a second, elon, that seems like maybe that's, you know, there is a conflictthere, it is not like people will be shy about saying that. they will state immediately. >> essentially saying he can police himself but one of the main guardrails was weakened and that is the firing of inspectors general across, the board which trump fire more than 17 so far

and they are a key part of investigating whether government employees have complied with ethics laws or if companies who have government contracts have complied with the law. i spoke to an ethics lawyer who served in the george w. bush administration, and he said, elon musk cannot be touching c fpb, because it could potentially be in a lot of trouble with the criminal conflicts of interest law that is currently in statute. the white house press secretary was asked about that today. and she said that she has not seen that long and they trust that elon musk is following the law. ultimately, it is impossible to know the full scope of musk's potential conflict of interest, and how his control over these government systems could personally benefit him because musk has said and the white house has said that he is not going to be publicly releasing his financial disclosures. he's going to be filling out the

paperwork for the white house. >> thanks as always. >> also on capitol hill today, the house subcommittee that bears a slightly different name but the same acronym as doge, held its first hearing. >> all members of both parties say they were focused on rooting out fraud, democrats were quick to point out that musk did not a. peer before the committee >> directly to mr. elon musk, we are well aware that you are eager to engage with members of congress on social media. but we are not here to play. if you have serious desire to engage in democracy and transparency, we welcome you to the oversight committee. come and testify in front of the american people under oath. because we want to know what you are up to. >> meanwhile, republicans took aim at their colleagues across the aisle. >> if we've learned anything so far it is that republicans want

to cut waste and fraud and abuse from our federal government and save taxpayer dollars. and democrats want to grandstand and play politics. >> for some more perspective, we turn now to david walker. between 1998 and 2008 he headed the u.s. government accountability office that investigates federal spending. welcome to the news hour. thanks for joining us. >> good to be with you. >> i think it is fair to say you would be hard-pressed to find someone who says there is no waste or fraud in government spending. but when you look at what doge is doing and how they are doing their job so far, do you think they are targeting the waste and fraud that you think that they should be? >> what they are doing is they are really doing it review of information system and transactions. they are not doing an audit. and they are identifying areas that could be fraud and waste and abuse or mismanagement. in most cases, it is arguably waste and mismanagement. rather than necessarily illegal

or fraudulent activity. and what they are demonstrating is that the federal government has thousands of outdated, non-integrated information systems and totally inadequate controls. and that is one of the reasons that you are seeing some of these sensational items pop up. >> what about the way in which they're going about this, sort of more of a sledgehammer than a scalpel approach? we've seen entire agencies like usaid shutdown, wholesale slashing programs over 8700 federal workers have now been put on leave. is that the right approach in your view, and are they making a dent in what they have done so far? >> i think they need to be much more transparent about their targeting, but what they're doing, who's doing it. what type of background checks, what type of clearances they have been given. you know, in the case of usaid, i'm not sure what basis they came up with to go from thousands of employees down to

300. and i think there needs to be much more transparency with regard to the criteria they are using as to how they are getting to some of those numbers. >> where else would you want to see them point their efforts? in your expense, where are the big ticket items when it comes to waste and fraud? >> health care is number one. there is also a lot of problems with regard to certain payments in particular with regard to our covid payments that were made. i would not be surprised if there was a trillion dollars of frankly fraud and abuset with regard to that i do. ataxeds, there is a lot of improper activity that goes on with regard to our tax system. it also contracting. activity. those are some of the areas i think are the most fruitful. >> contract, you mean the department of defense for example? >> that would be one of the big agencies. there are a lot of agencies that

engage in contracts but defense is one of the biggest for sure. >> the doge team in the administration also say they are doing work the existing bodies have not been doing, the government accountability office for example but for the trump administration to then fire a number of inspectors general who would also arguably be doing this same work, do you think that hurts or helps their mission? >> first, the inspectors general are supposed to be on the front line of fraud and fighting fraud and waste and abuse and mismanagement. that is not the gao's job. that is the inspector general's job to whoever advise the president to be able to fire all of those inspectors general in wholesale without proper notification to congress, didn't the country or the present a favor. it was inappropriate and illegal and frankl;y gao and the inspectors general should be working in partnership with doge . they have done a terminus amount of work with regard to improper payments with regard to duplication, overlap and redundancy in the federal government. it can be very helpful to doge,

but i'm not sure doge is reaching out to them. >> david when you look at the mission here to cut spending, it clearly has a lot of support but effectively what you have is a private, unelected billionaire with numerous potential conflicts of interest in elon musk who has extraordinary access and power to government systems and decision-making. in some cases usurping even congressional authority, talking about halting congressionally appropriated funds in some cases . when you look at the way in which they are going about their work, does the end justify these means? >> what they're doing needs to be done, but as i said before, they need to be much more transparent with regard to what they are doing, how they are doing, who is doing it, and what type of background checks and conflict of interest checks these people have been subject to. i think if that ends up happening, it will improve their effectiveness and improve their credibility. it will enhance public trust. but understand this --doge is

just the first step in a multistep process. doge can help make a modest down payment in our deficit situation. but we are spending $5.5 billion a day more than we are taking in and the heavy lifting, the big changes are going to have to be done through legislation and a constitutional amendment. >> that is david walker, the former head of the u.s. government accountability office. david, really appreciate your time. >> my pleasure. >> the part of education is very much on thet trump chopping block. president trump has signaled plans to dismantle it and move some of its key functions elsewhere. the education department oversee student loans, federal funds for lower income students and special education programs among

many other things. already the doge group and the administration put a number of staff on leave and are stopping more than $900 million in contracts that allow for key education research on student and school performance. for more, we are joined by laura macklin, the national education writer for the washington post. thanks for being here. so, the $900 million worth of contracts that elon musk and his allies have canceled all but decimated the agency's research division, a big part of what the department of education does, it gathers in research and data. what is the expected impact? >> well, a lot of this stuff is low-key stuff that we do not really think about peer for instance, one of the things that this institute for educational sciences does is they do a census of all schools, how many schools, how many kids enrolled, what is the demographics of the students, what is the demographics of the teaching fourth -- force? it is information that

researchers rely on, journalists rely on that really forms the backbone of our understanding. so that is an example of one of the contracts that was suddenly canceled out of the blue on monday. you also have work to evaluate programs, to try to understand better whatnworks and what doe'' n't, early childhood or literacy programs. it ranges from big things like that to niche programs. also, the u.s. participation in international assessments, whenever you hear data like, the u.s. ranks x or y against other countries in reading or math, that comes from testing that is done. and there was a contract to do that testing. that was cut. >> president trump apparently said today he wants to do part of education to be closed immediately. he has routinely criticize the department during the campaign. his criticism fits within sort of the larger, long-standing conservative goal of rolling back the role of the federal government in education.

most legal experts agree that no president can unilaterally shut down an established government department or agency but that does not -- has not stop them from trying to dismantle agencies they don't like. what programs, what sort of assistance for public school students would go away? >> there's two separate questions. one is, does the department of education exist and the other is, does the stuff the education department does, does that exist? you could theoretically take the functions of the department of education and scattered them about the government. so, one thing important thing education department does is it enforces civil rights laws. and that can be done by the justice department. runs the federal student loan debts program. that could theoretically go to the treasury department. or you could decide, you know what? we're not going to do this that or the other. there is a big program called title i that provides money for high poverty schools. theoretically you can decide not to do that or you can cut it back or you could just turn it into a block grant to the states and let the states do whatever

they want with the money. so there is a lot of different ways that this could look. >> when president trump and republicans talk about returning the control of education to the states, isn't that already the case were states and districts control local education? the department of education does not have a national curriculum. >> every time i hear him say that, i just want to like put an asterisk up for everybody to see and hear, because yes, education is controlled by the states and local school boards. states that broad rules that schools have to follow and then the school districts supplement them and set the curriculum. the department of education, the federal government is not controlling education. it is providing some supplemental work. it is enforcing civil rights, it has a big role in the federal student loan debts program for colleges. but, you know, it is not, we, we would not be returning education to the states. that is where it is largely today. >> linda mcmahon is set to be

the next secretary of education confirmation hearing is tomorrow. where does she fit within mr. trump's overall vision for rolling back this department? >> we should say that linda mcmahon is close to president trump here she was the cochair of his transition committee. she was his administrator for the small business administration. one of the people who came back for a second term. so, they're very close. you would presume she would be ready, willing and we will see if she's able to implement his vision. but her own past is actually not particularly incendiary. she has a thin education record but she does have an education record. and the work that she did in connecticut, the thing she said when she was running for senate and connecticut, unsuccessfully twice, were much more mainstream. >> based on reporting, what do educators think about all of this? because there was a nest report card that was released a couple weeks ago and it found that most fourth and eighth graders in

2024 still performs below pre-pandemic 2019 in reading and math. it suggests the status quo is not working. >> right, and that is the argument you hear from conservatives for closing education department, they will say, we have these horrible test scores and things are not getting better pit we have a crisis. how is this helped? let's try something new. but other people look at it and say, it does not mean we need less support from the federal government, and means we need more support. so the things that we know where, such as high dosage tutoring or extended time in schools, they say they need more support for those kind of efforts. so, you know, how you interpret those data, so much in d.c. really depends on what your point of view is. >> laura meckler. thanks for coming in. >> thanks for having me. >> now to another look at this

year's upcoming oscars. one of the year's most acclaimed films, the brutalist, received 10 nominations. and it star adrien brody a winner at last month golden globes is a favorite for actor in a leading role. he recently joined senior arts correspondent jeffrey brown for our arts and culture series canvas. >> may i keep this? >> in the brutalist, adrien brody place lazslo a fictional jewish architect survivor of a concentration camp. his past always present in postwar america. for brody it was a kind of deeply meaningful role that comes rarely in the life of an actor. >> you are receiving material, interpreting material to the best of your ability. sometimes that material comes and it's incredible to. and sometimes it's powerful. and when you've something that is incredibly powerful.

it really, it is something. >> there was a war on and yet many of the sites of my projects -- were devised when -- >> the film directed by brady corvet is big in every way, big dreams, big buildings, big personalities. a story that unfolds over several decades and runs 3 and a half hours long, including an intermission. brody is there for nearly every minute, playing a damaged complicated man driven by his art and his need to build. >> most deeply creative people have moments of , i don't know, unpredictability. you know? they are consumed with work. and ideas. and can't do everything right.

>> when you get a roll, do you immediately start thinking who is this person? in this case, who is lazslo toth ? >> sure, sure. i tried to go into any character without judgment, and to uncover qualities that are accessible and find avenues into the things that are less accessible. >> come back to the neighborhood and look like a freak. >> he made a first impression in spike lee's film summer of sam. in 2003, age 29, he became the youngest ever to win the oscar for best actor playing a musician in nazi occupied warsaw in "the pianist." >> all will be well. >> that role, he says, offered ways towards understanding

laszlo ototh, but he also drew n a more direct connection, the immigrant experience of his hungarian born grandparents and his mother silvia, a noted photographer, who came to this country at age 15. in the wake of the 1956 hungarian uprising crushed by soviet tanks. >> how much were you able to mie -- to mine that? >> a lot, a lot. i think my grandfather struggles -- my grandfather struggles, assimilating and speaking with a very distinct accent, and despite being so gregarious and charming, still being treated as a foreigner and not quite able to excel as much as he could have. and my mother's journey and my mother's understanding of, of loss and her sensitivity to the loss of others and how that has been very much part of her work. >> winning the golden globe

awards in january, brody pay tribute. >> although i do not know fully how to express all of the challenges that you have faced an experienced and the many people who have struggled immigrating to this country, i hope that this work stands to lift you up a bit and to give you a voice. so grateful. i will cherish this moment forever. thank you. >> did you tell them anything about me? >> the science of connecting to becoming a character is fundamental to his approach pretty says to seek "act less and feel honest an interpretation." >> acting has some kind of connotation of acting like something, doing an impression of something. any actor whose studied has found the greatest sense of connection when they're able to

do a bit less of that and the only moments that you are really acting are when you are not. and that is not what one should be doing. >> in "the pianist" brody put rock's in his shoes. >> make myself feel discomfort, and i don't, i'm not required to put something on. i can just kind of experience it and it will trigger something else. that's the beauty of being an actor, you can only get better if you can remain focused and grounded and connected with the work. >> he is start of the 2005 blockbuster king kong. >> i want to buy it. >> smaller roles and several west anderson movies. -- in several wes anderson

movies and a billionaire with his own island in succession. >> i have a wish list. some stock buyback, you know, let me in, hmm? >> but he has lamented the dearth of truly important roles. for a time, he put more of his creative energy into an early love --painting >> it is never a clear path. it's n-- one of a constant need to find things that aren't quite apparent, but you have to make your way through. and every once in a while something will come along that is a beacon, that is an opportunity to do your best work, and you are around people doing their best work and it lifts you up and gives you space to exist and, in the full capacity in which you are yearning to give. >> they do not want us here.

catholic wife, does not want us here. >> he also knows with its themes of anti-semitism, art in a time of upheaval, it feels relevant to our own moment. >> it is great to have an artistic film like this present in the conversation. it shows that the film that speaks to much deeper issues and is an artistic work is not a commercial work can be commercially viable and audiences are not only curious enough to see them but yearning for storytelling of this nature. so, i'm really grateful to be part of something that speaks to, to all of that. >> adrien brody goes to his second oscar on march 2. for the pbs news hour, i'm jeffrey brown in new york. ♪

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