. >> the walter cronkite award for excellence in journalism. is a well-deserved recognition of wolf's remarkable career and the great work he continues to do every day here in the situation room. accepting the award, wolf spoke about the example that walter cronkite set for journalists lessons that are as important as ever amid the rapid changes in the political environment and the way americans get their news. >> the method. >> of communication will change. >> but the principles. >> of journalism should not. >> walter cronkite. told told it like it was. he was. >> once heralded as the most trusted. >> man in america. >> we know. >> public trust in our institutions. >> is not what. >> it used to be. >> but walter. >> cronkite's legacy. remains alive. >> and strong. and i accept this award. and walter cronkite's honor. >> wolf, your cnn family is deeply proud. our congratulations to you. i'm jim

remember about walter cronkite? used to call him the most trusted man in america, because you knew that he was going to report the news. if you lived in the bay area in a certain era, you knew that about dennis. you know, these days, anybody who has a cell phone has an opinion. the one thing you knew about dennis is if you heard it come out of his mouth, you knew it was researched. you knew that he cared about the information. you knew that that information was going to be accurate. you know, and i think social media has changed the whole climate these days. it's a throwback to another era, you know, and i was when i first came to the bay area, i was at a competing station, and anybody who spent a time in the bay area knows that. you know, there was there were the van amberg's of the world. there were the dave mcelhatton of the world. and then there was dennis richmond at ktvu. you know, dennis, and whether it was with elaine corral or leslie griffith or then with julie, you knew that if information was coming acros

he was like the walter cronkite of my era that you rely upon him. you knew he was trustworthy. you always knew that the story was going to be accurately reported. and so you trusted him. >> dennis also developed a reputation among politicians as being someone who was always fair, and held the bar high for accuracy in delivering the news, former san francisco mayor willie brown said he recalls how there were very few african-american journalists when he first started out, and how dennis was a trailblazer. >> dennis richmond inspired every one of them to look to people of color, not only for broadcast purposes, for accuracy on information. and dennis said that standard. >> on wednesday, california governor gavin newsom and first partner jennifer siebel newsom sent a statement that said dennis was a man of integrity. he believed in finding and reporting the truth and in treating subjects and audiences alike with respect. his legacy lives on through all the reporters he inspired, the stories he shared, and the people who trusted in him. jennifer and i joined his family and friends

accepting the award, wolf spoke about the example that walter cronkite set for journalists lessons that are as important as ever amid the rapid changes in the political environment and the way americans get their news. >> the method. >> of communication will change. >> but the principles. >> of journalism should not. >> walter cronkite. told told it like it was. he was. >> once heralded as the most trusted. >> man in america. >> we know. >> public trust in our institutions. >> is not what. >> it used to be. >> but walter. >> cronkite's legacy. remains alive. >> and strong. and i accept this award. and walter cronkite's honor. >> wolf, your cnn family is deeply proud. our congratulations to you. i'm jim sciutto in the situation room. erin burnett outfront starts right now. >> outfront next. >> the breaking. >> news, democratic. >> lawmakers forcing. themselves into the speaker's. office today. they were demanding answers about elon musk. as musk is taking a sledgehammer. >> to. >> the federal government. one of the democrats who was in the speaker's office is out front tonight. plus, mor

he was like the walter cronkite of my era that you rely upon him. you knew he was trustworthy. you always knew that the story was going to be accurately reported. and so you trusted him. >> burris said richmond earned his reputation among bay area politicians and public figures for his fairness and accuracy. we did receive this statement from former congresswoman barbara lee of oakland, saying, i joined with so many in oakland in mourning the passing of dennis richmond, a legend, trailblazer and dear friend. for decades, he was the voice who shined a light on our city, breaking barriers in broadcast news. my heartfelt condolences are with his family, friends and the entire ktvu community. this is a loss for all of us. governor newsom also releasing a statement saying a newsman of the highest caliber, dennis richmond, was a pillar of bay area life for over 30 years. one of the nation's first black anchors on a major tv newscast. he was familiar with and unshaken by adversity. known best for his composure, a rock in any storm, dennis guided the public through some of the most his

pbs news hour west from the david and rubinstein studio at weta in washington and our bureau at walter cronkiternalism at arizona state university. ♪ >> y ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

. >> from the walter cronkite school of journalism from arizona state university.: today the u.n. palestinian agency says it is providing humanitarian aid in gaza as well as the occupied west bank and east jerusalem despite a ban that went into effect yesterday. an israeli law passed in october forbids them from operating on israeli land and forbids contact with israeli authorities. nick shiffrin has more. nick: amra was established after the creation of the state of israel to serve the palestinian population. it has come to provide some six million palestinians in gaza and the occupied territories not only humanitarian assistance but education and healthcare. they help commit the hamas terror attacks israel says. the u.n. has said nine amra staff may have been involved and were fired. to understand the future, we get two views. the director of amra's washington, d.c. office and asa farayem with the israeli defense forces now a fellow with the washington institute for middle east policies. welcome to the news hour let me start with you. what is going on with amra a

and from the west at the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university.trump said today that he's in no rush to do anything in gaza. earlier this week he talked about the need for palestinians to leave gaza, calling it a demolition zone, and for the us to take over the area and develop it. amna: meanwhile hamas is accusing israel of delaying aid deliveries that were agreed to in the cease fire deal. an accusation israel denies. stephanie sy has this report with the latest. stephanie: half a million families streaming back to their homes in gaza on foot, on piggyback, children in tow. for more than one year their home, a battleground in the israel-hamas war. they survived while many did not come up their apartments, their businesses, everythng that makes a community are in ruins. i've minutes of the destruction it rescue workers and families dig trying to locate the remains of loved ones. bones are taken to the local morgue in the hopes that they can be identified in the future. 2 million gazans are displaced while winter's that are elements be done upon t

rubenstein studio at weta in washington and in the west from the walter cronkite school of journalismarizona state university. ♪ >> when the house passed the republican budget framework last night, it was an important step towards implementing president trump's agenda. the house budget plan includes $.45 trillion in tax cuts, spending cuts totaling $2 trillion and will add an estimated $3 trillion to the national debt over the next 10 years. jodey arrington of texas chairs the budget committee and he joins me now. welcome to the news. thanks for joining us. >> thank you. good to be with you. >> the bill passed on a 217 to 215 vote and one republican voted against it. is it fair to say now that the real work begins of trying to figure out exactly where you would get those $2 trillion in cuts? >> yeah, i think you are right. i mean, we had to lay out a framework that i think was fiscally responsible, progrowth, it makes adjustments for supporting tax cuts while reining in the wasteful spending to offset those cuts along with growth or revenue from growth, which is a conservative 2.6 per

news hour from the david and rubenstein stay duo at weta in washington and in the west from the walter cronkite journalism at arizona state university. amna: from the potential impact of trade tariffs to the confirmation votes for president trump's cabinet, let's look at the political stakes with amy walter of the cook political report, and tamara keith of npr. great to see you. we saw over the weekend confusion at usaid as elon musk essentially took over the agency and threatened to shut it down, concerns about the number of firings at the fbi and doj and markets in study after confusion about whether or not terrace will go into place. is this what trump voters voted for? >> i think it depends on which trump supporters you're talking about. some people voted because they were concerned about the price of eggs and everything else. were frustrated with president biden refusing to step aside and then having vice president harris come in in a way that made it seem rate. there are people upset about what was happening in gaza. and then there were people who really just wanted to blow up the boxes,

rubenstein studio at weta in washington and in the west from the walter cronkite school of journalismrizona 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 sweepin

he was like the walter cronkite of my era that you rely upon him. you knew he was trustworthy. you always knew that the story was going to be accurately reported. and so you trusted him. >> dennis also developed a reputation among politicians as being someone who was always fair, and held the bar high for accuracy in delivering the news, former san francisco mayor willie brown said he recalls how there were very few african-american journalists when he first started out, and how dennis was a trailblazer. >> dennis richmond inspired every one of them to look to people of color, not only for broadcast purposes, for accuracy on information, and dennis set that standard. >> former congresswoman barbara lee sent ktvu a statement saying, quote, i joined with so many in oakland in mourning the passing of dennis richmond, a legend, trailblazer and dear friend. for decades, he was the voice who shined a light on our city, breaking barriers and broadcast news. my heartfelt condolences are with his family, friends and the entire ktvu community. this is a loss for all of us. and from congr

pbs newshour from the david rubenstein studio in weta in washington and in the west from the walter cronkiterizona state university. amna: former usaid employees who have been fired or placed on leave by the trump administration began making their final visits to the agency's headquarters today to pack-up their belongings. carrying bags of personal items, workers were surrounded by supporters cheering them on. they include samantha power, who served as the agency's administrator under president biden. >> the people who are walking out of this building are american heroes. they did not come to usaid for the money. they didn't come for the glory. you know, we rightly honor our men and women in uniform. these are heroes who don't wear uniforms and they are being treated in a manner that nobody should treat their, their, their worst enemy and they're being treated that way by their own government. amna: with nearly all of the agency's work abroad now suspended, our laura barron-lopez takes a closer look one usaid effort that's been caught in this political crossfire. correspondent: in a meeting

rubenstein studio at weta in washington and in the west from the walter cronkite school of journalismarizona state university. >> within days of taking office, president trump fired more than 17 inspectors general across the federal government. it has already resulted in a lawsuit challenging the legality of the dismissals and continued protests outside federal agency buildings. like outside the department of health and human services today. our white house correspondent has more. >> eight of those fired inspectors general are suing the trump administration, seeking to be reinstated to their positions. these independent government watchdogs are a key check on waste, fraud and abuse. to discuss the impact, i am joined by two of the top watchdogs fired by the president. the former inspector general for the department of health and human services, and the former inspector general for the department of defense. thank you both for being here with me today. you were both fired on a friday night. and the white house said that it was terminating you and other ig's due to changing priorities.

i remember seeing horrible things on television, remember seeing walter cronkite, remember all of it, and i was just a baby. host: your concern is you do away with the federal education department, that states could reverse course and go back to that part of our society, part of our history, to segregation? caller: yes, ma'am, i do. i grew up in a privileged life and always felt some remorse for those who did not. i could see differences and could see dennis great -- discrimination occurring, even if it was not in my own backyard. at a global scale, it occurs, we had racism in this country. i think it gives power to those that will perhaps misuse their power because of their perspective. and i think when you look at things from the top-down, i would prefer we maintain any ability to not go back in that direction. host: got it. from that npr article from earlier, the department of education has no power over what is taught in schools. over the years, president trump has vowed to rid america's schools of such ideas as wokeness and critical race theory, and he has said he would close the

rubenstein studio at weta in washington and in the west at the walter cronkite school of journalism atte university. >> the trump administration is continuing to dismantle the u.s. agency for international development posting this message on the agency's main page. it says "all usaid direct hire personnel will be placed on administrative leave globally with the exception of designated personnel responsible for mission-critical functions, poor -- core leadership and specially designated programs. secretary of state marco rubio had this to say. >> our goal for usaid was to align the programs that it fulfills with the foreign policy of the united states. and yet over the last two decades, it has not and it has gotten worse and worse and multiple administrations have complained about but none have done anything about it. we are going to do something about it. this is not about ending foreign aid, it is about structuring it in a way that furthers the national interests of the united states. >> for perspective we turn now to andrew -- the administrator for usaid during the george w. bush adm

news hour" from the david m rubenstein studio at weta in washington and in the west from the walter cronkitel of journalism at arizona state university. amna: the trump administration recently announced at the national institutes of health or the nih will make me changes in the way it finds researchers. white house officials say they will save $4 billion by capping so-called indirect costs, or what you might think of as traditional operating expenses, that's funding universities that they receive on top of money for direct research. those can range from 30% to 70% in additional funds. the administration wants to cap that at 15%. scientists say the move will have a huge effect on their work. we spoke to medical researchers to hear what they had to say. carole labonne, northwestern university: hi. my name is carole labonne, and i am a professor of molecular biosciences at northwestern university. dr. hardeman: i'm dr. rachel hardeman, and i'm the blue cross endowed professor of health and racial equity at the university of minnesota school of public health and the founding director of the cent

rubenstein studio at wetta in washington and our bureau at the walter cronkite school of journalism atzona state university. [captioning performed by thenat, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy.] ♪ -"cook's country" is about more than just getting dinner on the table. we're also fascinated by the people and stories behind the dishes. we go inside kitchens in every corner of the country to learn how real people cook. and we look back through time to see how history influences the way we eat today.

rubenstein studio at weta in washington and in the west from the walter cronkite school of journalismstate university. ♪ geoff: the consumer financial protection bureau has been shut down by president trump at least for this week and possibly much longer, perhaps permanently. the agency, which was created by congress after the 2008 financial crisis, has limited credit card fees, made mortgage loans easier to understand and returned billions of dollars to consumers. but it's also long been a target by many who see it as overly aggressive. rohit chopra is the former director of the consumer financial protection bureau and joins me now. thank you for coming in. this has been known as one of the nation's most powerful watchdog agencies. what has typically fallen under its purview since its creation? rohit: we saw what happened in the years leading up to the financial crisis. mortgages that were setting people up to fail, and it crashed the economy. what congress did is created some real law enforcement with teeth to take down crimes against consumers. over the years, we have recovered bil

news hour" from the david m rubenstein studio at weta in washington and in the west from the walter cronkiteournalism at arizona state university. geoff: this was a big day for president trump's team and some of his most controversial cabinet picks. robert f. kennedy jr., a noted vaccine skeptic and critic of the pharmaceutical and food industries, was sworn in as secretary of health and human services. he now has oversight over the fda, the cdc, medicare and medicaid. he was confirmed in a tight vote with no democratic support and a no-vote from the former senate majority leader republican mitch mcconnell. the senate confirmed brooke rollins overwhelmingly with a bipartisan vote to become the new secretary of agriculture. as the top official on food supply, she is expected to deal with the impact of tariffs and a crackdown on immigration that could affect farmers. amna: one of the president's most controversial nominations, kash patel to be the next fbi director, also took a big step forward after the senate judiciary committee voted along party lines to advance his nomination. and linda mc

from the david m rubenstein studio at weta in washington and from the walter cronkite school of journalisma state university. geoff: president trump and israeli prime minister netanyahu met for talks today that focused on hammering out a second phase of the cease fire and hostage agreement between israel and hamas. amna: netanyahu is the first foreign leader to visit the white house since trump's second term began. the two leaders also discussed the future of gaza, which trump has said might need to be "emptied of its population," a potential war crime, since israel's campagin to destroy hamas has also destroyed much of the enclave. president trump spoke in the oval office. pres. trump: you can't live in gaza right now. we need another location. we can build them, through massive amounts of money, supplied by other people, and it could be jordan, egypt, you could build four or five or six areas, probably 1.7 million people, maybe 1.8 million, but i think all of them, i think they will be resettled. geoff: under the terms of the current cease fire, hamas is supposed to release 33 hostages i

he was like the walter cronkite of my era that you rely upon him. you knew he was trustworthy.ou always knew that the story was going to be accurately reported. and so you trusted him. >> former san francisco mayor willie brown said he recalls how there were very few african american journalists when he first started out, and how dennis was a trailblazer. >> dennis richmond inspired every one of them to look to people of color, not only for broadcast purposes, for accuracy on information, and dennis set that standard. >> former california senator barbara boxer sent this message saying, in a world with so many ups and downs, dennis richmond had a calming effect as he brought light to every major story, no matter how complicated, disturbing or uplifting. former congresswoman barbara lee sent ktvu a statement as well, saying, quote, for decades, he was the voice who shined a light on our city, breaking barriers and broadcast news. my heartfelt condolences are with his family, friends, and the entire ktvu community. this is a loss for all of us. just a few of the remembrances were

news hour" from the david m rubenstein studio at weta in washington and in the west from the walter cronkiteournalism at arizona state university. geoff: late friday night, president trump fired the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, air force general c.q. brown, breaking with decades of precedent, as part of a broader purge of senior military leaders. defense secretary pete hegseth also announced the administration would replace the top lawyers for the army, navy and air force. here's hegseth explaining the decision "fox news sunday.” pete hegseth, u.s. defense secretary: ultimately, we want lawyers who give sound constitutional advice and don't exist to attempt to be roadblocks to anything -- anything that happens in their spots. geoff: for perspective, we turn now to retired rear admiral james mcpherson. he served as undersecretary of the army and as the army's general counsel during the first trump administration. it's great to have you here. so let's start with president trump's decision to fire the chairman of the joint chiefs, general c.q. brown. brown is the first in the job sinc

he was like the walter cronkite of my era that you can rely upon him. you knew he was trustworthy. you always knew that the story was going to be accurately reported. and so you trusted him. >> dennis also developed a reputation among politicians as being someone who was always fair, and held the bar high for accuracy in delivering the news. former san francisco mayor willie brown said he recalls how there were very few african-american journalists when he first started out, and how dennis was a trailblazer. >> dennis richmond inspired every one of them to look to people of color, not only for broadcast purposes, for accuracy on information, and dennis set that standard. >> former congresswoman barbara lee sent ktvu a statement saying, quote, i joined with so many in oakland in mourning the passing of dennis richmond, a legend, trailblazer and dear friend. for decades, he was the voice who shined a light on our city, breaking barriers in broadcast news. my heartfelt condolences are with his family, friends and the entire ktvu community. this is a loss for all of us. and from congre

rubenstein studio at weta in washington, and in the west from the walter cronkite school of journalismstate university. amna: there are now more than 120 confirmed measles cases linked to an outbreak in western outbreak the state has seen in -- in western texas, the largest such outbreak the state has seen in over 30 years. there are another nine cases further west in new mexico. geoff: that's raising questions about vaccine hesitancy in some communities and the growing challenge of these periodic outbreaks. william brangham has our look. william: unvaccinated people account for almost all the cases , and children are among the most infected. we spoke with dr. ron cook, a leading physician in lubbock, texas, who is trying to educate the community about the outbreak and the risks. dr. cook: if you walk into a room and you have measles, 80% to 90% of those individuals within a week will come down with measles. all you have to do is go in that room, breathe, cough a couple of times, but 80% to 90% of those individuals in that room will become infected with measles if they're not vaccinate

his friend bebe raposo, actually spent time in georgetown harbor and visited the property of walter cronkite, who a house overlooking the harbor. now, in recent times, it's known that both bill clinton, barack obama loved the vineyard and spent summer vacations. it was really the presidential retreat, much more so than than camp david would be able to claim. and clinton visited. vineyard for the first time in august of 93. he actually did working vacation and went over crime legislation and and health care reform. you that was going to be his big impetus to get universal health care passed that was a lot of planning happened right here on the vineyard he returned in october of 1995 for the three day wedding celebration and for ted danson, dead. ted danson and, mary steenburgen and he gave his weekly radio address from the old whaling church in newtown in august of 97. it is claimed our president clinton claimed that he broke 80 farms, neck golf with all due respect to the president, he does have a reputation of taking more than a few mulligans. when he was golfing. we don't know how legitima

he was like the walter cronkite of my era that you rely upon him. you knew he was trustworthy. always knew that the story was going to be accurately reported. and so you trusted him. >> and john burris said that dennis earned his reputation among bay area political leaders and public figures for his fairness and accuracy. and we received this statement from former congresswoman barbara lee of oakland. quote, i joined with so many in oakland in mourning the passing of dennis richmond, a legend, trailblazer and a dear friend. for decades, he was the voice who shined a light on our city, breaking barriers in broadcast news. governor gavin newsom also released a statement saying a newsman of the highest caliber, dennis richmond, was a pillar of bay area life for over 30 years. one of the nation's first black anchors on a major tv newscast. he was familiar with and unshaken by adversity. and known best for his composur. a rock in any storm, dennis guided the public through some of the most historic moments in bay area history, including the assassinations of mayor george moscone and

. >> this is the pbs "newshour" at weta in washington and in the west from the walter cronkite school of jowrnallism at arizona state university. vice president vance met with president zelenskyy. geoff: vance spoke at the munich security conference and focused on adversaries and nick is in munich for us tonight. >> in front of a mostly european audience, today vice president vance delivered a scoalding. >> i worry about the threat from within. the retreat of europe from some of its most fundamental values. >> world leaders were hoping. vance had support for right wing parties whose leader he met this afternoon. >> if american democracy can survive, you can survive a few months of elon musk. what no democracy, american, german or european will survive is telling millions of voters their thoughts and concerns, aspirations, pleas of relief are invalid i had. >> he including by throwing out remaining he elections over russian misinformation. >> if you are running in fear of your own voters. nothing america can do for you. >> in a new "wall street journal" interview said that the west cou

walter cronkite: we seem to be going downhill in life's most important venture, marriage.elix: do you compare everybody to your ex-wife? oscar: sure i do, and compared to blanche everybody looks good. willie aames: the odd couple was one of the first shows that began to explore the breakup of the family on television. vo: can two divorced men share an apartment, without driving each other crazy? jon cryer: the perfect opening to a sitcom was of course the odd couple opening, which told all the backstory and set it all up in this beautiful way. vo: felix unger was asked to remove himself from his place of residence... that request came from his wife. bob lesczak: the odd couple was originally a neil simon play on broadway. it then became a movie, and came to television in 1970 thanks to garry marshall. felix: would you do me a favor? oscar: what? felix: for my birthday, let me clean up in here? oscar: no. elinor donahue: the finicky-ness of tony randall's character, was because tony randall was a little bit finicky! bob lesczak: oscar madison, the total opposite. the slob,

this is the pbs newshour from the david rubenstein studio in washington and in the west from the walter cronkitechool of journalism at arizona state university. geoff: president trump said today that he is in no rush to do anything in gaza. he talked about the need for palestinians to lead gaza, calling it a demolition zone. amna: meanwhile, hamas is accusing israel of delaying aid deliveries that were agreed to in the cease-fire deal, an accusation israel denies. stephanie sy has this report on the latest. >> half a million families streaming back to their homes in gaza on foot, on piggyback, children in tow. for more than a year, their home a battleground in the israel-hamas war. they survived while many did not but their apartments, their businesses, everything that makes a community are in ruins. amidst the destruction, rescue workers and families dig, trying to locate the remains of loved ones. bones are taken to the local morgan the hope they can -- local morgue in the hope they can be identified in the future. sheltering intense while the elements be down upon them and temperatures drop.

i learned so much and finally i graduated, walter cronkite was the anchor of the cbs news who had a radiohow, every day he did a radio commentary written by a wonderful writer, gail minor. when gail minor was on vacation i became one of the people who filled in for him. once when i was filling in for dale, cronkite himself took vacation and a young guy named dan rather came in so i ended up writing for him and then dan became the anchor at cbs and i became the writer of his commentary, which was a fabulous job and it was like doing a column every day, like a four and a half minute show and four minutes of it was copy. it was, hello, i am dan rather, this is what is happening, this is what i think, and these are the questions we ought to be asking. it was very demanding but excellent and i was a conservative and he was a liberal, i think it's fair to say that at this point. and between the conservative and liberal we had a show that i think was so good and fair and i think it had a generous feel to it, not full of judgment. it started out awkwardly but in time i think it became good. anywa

rubinstein studio in washington and from the west from the walter cronkite school of journal from arizonatate university. geoff: president trump plans to fire the governing board of the u.s. postal service and place the independent agency turned control of the commerce department, a move that could be the first step in privatizing a service established 250 years ago. the white house initially denied that an executive order to make that change is in the works. but late today, president trump admit had that he's considering it. jacob bogage broke the story for "the washington post." thanks for being was. >> hey, greet hear from you, geoff. thanks for having me. >> what are your sources telling you about what the administration is planning and what it could mean for the u.s. postal service? >> step one is to take it out of independent status and embed it inside the commerce department. commerce secretary harry ludnik was committed today and they spoke about privatizing this agency and so take it out o of that independent status will be step one. and step two, louis joy plans to retire soon.

is the pbs news hour from the david rubenstein studio in washington and from the west from the walter cronkitel of journalism at arizona state university. geoff: president trump reportedly plans to fire the governing board of the u.s. postal service and plays the independent agency under the commerce department. a move that could be the first step in privatizing a service has doubtless to 250 years ago. the white house initially denied that an executive order to make that changes in the works but late today the president admitted he is considering it. jacob broke the story for the washington post enjoins us now. thank you for being with us. what are your sources telling you about what the administration is planning and what it could ultimately mean for the u.s. postal service? reporter: step one would be to place the postal service and take it out of independent status and embed inside the commerce department. the commerce secretary was just sworn in today and we have reported that he has been engaging with then president-elect and now president trump about privatizing this agency. so taking i

pbs news hour from the david rubenstein studio at weta in washington and in the west from the walter cronkiteool of journalism at arizona state university. amna: a broad federal funding freeze announced by the trump administration last week blocked by a pair of judges is destabilizing a wide range of programs despite the court interventions. over the past few days, some health care and head start programs report they've had sporadically been blocked from funding, forcing some to shut down. lisa desjardins has been investigating what has happened and joins us to share what she has found. who is being affected? >> news hour has been doing three days of reporting to figure out what is happening. one area, head start programs around the country, and community health care centers. both are funded in large part by the department of health and human services. there have been funding problems in the last week and day. head start programs have felt these funding freezes. many still feeling it. 20,000 kids and families the affected program. community health centers in nine states over the past few days

pbs news hour from the david m rubenstein studio at weta in washington and the west from the walter cronkiteof journalism at arizona state university. >> today in munich i'm a vice president jd vance met with ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy and with german political leaders, including the head of the far-right afd party. >> that came after vance spoke at the munich security conference. it is usually focus on western adversaries. he instead critiqued america's european allies. nick schifrin is in munich tonight. >> and from -- front of a mostly european audience, vice president vance delivered a scolding. >> what i worry about is the threat from within. the retreat of europe from some of its most fundamental values. >> world leaders hoping for clarity on the administration's plan for ukraine. instead, he expressed support for right-wing parties, including germany's afd, whose leaders he met this afternoon and who's been endorsed by elon musk. >> if american democracy can survive 10 years of greta thunberg's scolding, you guys can survive a few months of elon musk. what no democracy, a

is the pbs news hour from the david m rubenstein studio in washington and in the west from the walter cronkiteournalism at arizona state university. geoff: president trump has tasked elon musk with an enormous job to search across , the federal government and root out inefficiencies and waste. but musk's initial, often chaotic infiltration of various departments has sparked alarm. it's also put the tech entrepreneur at center stage of the conservative movement -- appearing today in front of an audience at c-pac, wielding a chainsaw he said he'd use to cut the federal bureaucracy. william brangham looks at the history of the man at the center of this effort. >> if the bureaucracy is in charge and then then what meaning does democracy actually have? william: elon musk, the richest man in the world, now standing in the most powerful office in the world. >> the people voted for major government reform. there should be no doubt about that. william: but how did this visionary tech leader a man who , once championed clean energy to save the planet and remained politically neutral for much of his care

rubenstein studio at weta in washington, and in the west from the walter cronkite school of journalismizona state university. amna: more drama is unfolding on capitol hill this evening as house republicans stuggle to pass a budget that would advance president trump's agenda. for more on this, i'm joined by our capitol hill correspondent, lisa desardins. bring us up to speed on the latest. where do things stand right now? lisa: this is a critical test for of speaker johnson and the trump agenda to get it started. let's take a look at the room across the hall from me now, the house chamber. the voting series has begun where the test on this framework will happen. this is something that republicans are hoping to pass, but the truth is this is close. they don't know if they have the votes. this morning, speaker johnson himself spoke. >> so, we are planning on taking up our budget resolution as early as today which is a major step to unlock the process in delivering president trump's america first legislative agenda. we're very, very close. we're excited by the progress, and i'm very positi

rubinstein studio at weta in washington and from the west from the walter cronkite school of journalismona state university. amna: this evening, a federal district judge ruled against a lawsuit brought by 14 attorneys general alleging that trump violated the constitution by granting elon musk what they called unchecked power. in the ruling, judge tanya chutkin said, "the court finds that plaintiffs have not carried their burden of showing that they will suffer imminent, irreparable harm absent a temporary restraining order." for more on this, i'm joined by arizona attorney general kris mayes, one of the plaintiffs on the suit. attorney general, welcome to the newshour. thanks for being with us. >> thanks for having me. amna: let's begin with your reaction to the ruling this evening. >> basically, the ruling that the judge made in this case essentially had a lot of great language for us, and this is just the first step in what will be a long process. she did, as you noted, denied the tro, the temporary restraining order, but the loss of moves forward. and we now have the opportunity to d

walter cronkite. imagine that now. that was the golden era, that in watergate, breaking the big scam but then it started coming down. thinking about tim russert, if mainstream news, very neutral but too boring for anybody to watch but he pulled it off for a long time. not sure it has to be this way but -- >> it also seemed to decline to almost rhythmically during election cycles. right? >> i think so. >> and studying trust in other institutions, either examples of these trend lines bottoming out and better examples of these trendlines turning backup? is there any precedent for saving this difficult picture? >> that is fixable. that one is very hard. what you don't like to see our trends that when you put regression to them they are straight down, you would rather have one like this where you get some change, those are hard to change but when leaders do pull it off you got to have the right strategy. the right strategy is not to reverse it. you can't do it, you need strong hands to get the decline to stop and get it hea