. ♪ >> this is pbs news hour west from the david and rubinstein studio at weta in washington and ourter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. ♪ >> y ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

. ♪ >> this is the pbs news hour from the david rubenstein studio at weta in washington, d.c. at the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. geoff: president 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

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

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.

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

announcer: this is the pbs news hour from the david and rubenstein stay duo at weta in washington andst from the walter cronkite school of 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 real

. ♪ >> this is the pbs newshour from the david rubenstein studio in weta in washington and in the westschool of journalism at arizona 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. cor

. >> this is the "pbs news hour" from the david m rubenstein studio at weta in washington and in thehe walter cronkite school of journalism 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. brow

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

. >> this is the "pbs news hour" from the david m rubenstein studio at weta in washington and in thehe walter cronkite school of journalism 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 advanc

is pbs news hour west, from the david and ruben sided studio at wet -- david m rubenstein studio at wetaati: green gold, the nickname for a plant that at one time made yucatán one of the wealthiest states in the world. production boomed. money flowed, and haciendas were the center of it all. today i meet preservationist daniel chiyean at hacienda tamchen,

. >> this is pbs news weekend from the david m rubenstein studio at weta in washington home of the pbshour weeknights on pbs. john: america's biggest trading partners are bracing for sweeping tariffs that president trump is imposing. 25% on imports from canada and mexico and 10% on energy products in canada. tariff threats have been a bargaining chip in trump's effort to get america's neighbors to curb the flow of migrants and drugs into the united states. together, canada, mexico and china account for nearly half of all u.s. imports, and tariffs could mean higher prices for american consumers. ali rogin explores the trickle down effects of these tariffs with matina stevis-gridneff, the canada bureau chief for the new york times. >> thank you for joining us. mexican and canadian officials say they plan to impose retaliatory tariffs. what is the effect on americans? >> the immediate effect experts say will be inflation will be higher prices and disruptions of industries closely linked to canada and mexico. things like avocados and vehicles could become much more expensive for americans

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

rubenstein studio at weta in washington, home of the pbs news hour weeknights on pbs. ♪ john: the shiftupport for ukraine in its war with russia, which enters its fourth year tomorrow, has raised alarms not only in kyiv but in capitals across europe. a new documentary finds that those anxieties are especially high in some of russia's neighbors on the baltic sea, estonia, finland and sweden. >> every day we are working to get this, this message over to russia that even if you try, we will make it right. >> russia invaded one of their neighbors. so it was a quite a awakening for the whole swedish society and of course, for us really strong forces. yeah. >> at least in this part of the world, we would be ready to fight tomorrow. john: the film is called putin's endgame. the stakes beyond ukraine. it was produced in partnership with the atlantic council's eurasia center. it's the work of two veterans of nbc news producer joel seidman and correspondent kevin tibbles. kevin, i'd like to start with you. in the film we see you traveling through these countries asking a lot of people the same qu

. ♪ >> this is pbs news weekend from weta in washington home of the pbs news hour weeknights on pbs.the first month of his second term, president trump has reshaped the government with a flurry of executive orders. as william brangham reports, many of them echo the language of a policy blueprint he once disavowed. >> during the heat of the presidential race, the 900 page project 2025 became a rallying cry for democrats and a focal point for their warnings about a second trump term. it was published by the conservative heritage foundation, and it outlined plans to reshape the federal government, expand presidential power and enact right leaning social policies. in polls, it proved wildly unpopular with voters, and then candidate trump distanced himself from it, calling parts of it "ridiculous and abysmal." >> i have nothing to do with project 2025. that is out there. i haven't read it, i don't want to read it purposely. i'm not going to read it. >> but a recent analysis by politico found dozens of instances where president trump's executive actions have closely aligned with project 20

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

rubenstein studio at weta in washington, home of the pbs news hour weeknights on pbs.: one in 10 women of reproductive age around the world suffer from a condition known as endometriosis. it's an illness where tissue similar to the uterine lining grows outside of that organ, in places it's not supposed to be. it can lead to infertility, debilitating pain and financial hardship. for our series, unequal treatment, i recently spoke with dr. laura homewood a gynecologic surgeon at uva health about how the medical community is working with patients to learn more about this disease. dr., thank you for joining us. we mentioned sometimes it takes years to get a diagnosis. it is the average patient's time to get a diagnosis and why does it take so long? dr. homewood: the statistic around endometriosis, it can take an average of seven years and seeing seven different doctors before a woman can get her definitive diagnosis of endometriosis. despite it being a very common diagnosis it is difficult to diagnose because you actually have to have surgery to get a tissue diagnosis. the

rubenstein studio at weta in washington, home of the pbs news hour weeknights on pbs. ♪ ali: this weekdline for israeli troops to withdraw from southern lebanon. tuesday is the agreed upon date -- but israel already missed one previous deadline at the end of january. and it's indicated it will remain in some strategic areas along the border, raising fears of a prolonged occupation. u.s. central command -- which chairs the ceasefire committee -- reiterated on friday it expects israel to hand over control of all population centers by the tuesday deadline. special correspondent simona foltyn has our report from southern lebanon - where she embedded with u.n. forces. simona: in southern lebanon you when peacekeepers walk over -- watch over a fragile cease-fire. he leads the battalion here. >> we are about six to seven kilometers from the blue line. simona: that is the demarcation line separating lebanon and israel. for decades this mission has been stationed here to keep hostilities between israel and hezbollah at bay. >> our job is to be the eyes and ears of the international community an

rubenstein studio at weta in washington home of the pbs news hour weeknights on pbs.his weekend, california officials declared that the last of the deadly fires that scorched more 59 square miles and destroyed 16,000 structures were fully contained, and now recovery and rebuilding gets underway. cleanup crews are working to clear debris, contain toxins, and evaluate damage -- while residents grapple with the lingering mental health effects of this life-altering event. ali rogin has more on this ongoing toll. reporter: rebecca's home of 20 years burned to the ground several weeks ago. she and her sister donned hazmat suits and picked through the rubble. brexit was an overwhelming situation seeing the devastation. i had seen a picture of the house, but nothing could give me any forewarning of what i would feel when i got here and it overtook me. >> look at this beautiful home. reporter: actor and producer steve gutenberg captured the destruction after the fire tore through his pacific palisades neighborhood. >> i was conscious of my mental state and mental health. i hav

. >> 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

. ♪ >> this is the pbs news hour from the david rubenstein studio at weta in washington and in the westm the walter cronkite school 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 stat

rubinstein studio at weta in washington and from our bureau at the walter cronkite school of journalismiversity. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2025] ♪ >> it is for shock and all campaign of president trump already over? he is already on the defensive and casting blame widely aftetea terrible tragedy and a chaotic week in politics. next. >> this is "washington week"

. >> this is the pbs news hour from the david m rubenstein studio at weta in washington and the weste walter cronkite school of 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 m

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

rubenstein studio at weta in washington and at the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. geoff: president trump she's tarved 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 government departments has sparked lamar. 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 would use to slash the federal brock ski. william brangham looks at the history of the man at the center of this effort. >> if the bureaucracy in charge, what meaning does democracy actually have? >> 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. >> 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 career, end up working with president donald trum

rubenstein studio from weta in washington, and in the west from the walter cronkite school of journalismizona state university. geoff: the trump administration continues to hollow out the federal workforce. more cuts are in the forecast, despite courts largely siding with fired employees so far. let's bring in our lisa desjardins. let's start with the latest mass firings, including the national weather service. lisa: we have seen more firings in the past four days. that includes national weather service forecasters that work as a part of noaa. some 1200 new firings in the past few days. that includes forecasters. i also have confirmed the irs, at least a thousand to 5000 firings have been happening across the last week. the current total -- i've looked at every mass firing in the last couple of weeks -- i have 30,000 plus people fired by the trump -- geoff: 30,000 people? lisa: that is correct, what is known. it does not include 7000 at the social security administration who we have heard from them that they intend to fire those people. it is not even in that total. this is just the begi

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

. >> this is the "pbs news hour" from the david m rubenstein studio at weta in washington and in thefrom the walter cronkite school 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