was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. onal endowment for the humanities, promoting excellence in the humanities. the national endowment for the arts, because a great nation deserves great art. with support from the following: and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. gwen: could this be the closest campaign in a generation, or do the candidates know something we don't? we explore tonight on "washington week." >> hello, virginia! >> i'm glad to be here in columbus, ohio. >> how's it good, tampa? >> that's a nevada welcome! >> hello, colorado! gwen: it's getting close. getting nervous yet? it's now officially a billion-dollar campaign, and candidates are all in. >> i've been going for about 38 hours straight, even though my voice is getting kind of hoarse, i've still got a spring in my step because, because our cause it right. >> i'm not just optimistic about winning. i'm more optimistic about the future for america. gwen: so, what do we know about how the campaign is trending and who's alrea

was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting.he national endowment for the humanities, promoting excellence in the humanities. the national endowment for the arts, because a great nation deserves great art. with support from the following: and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. hello, i'm julie andrews. here at the shubert theatre, the anthem of the depression was first performed -- "brother, can you spare a dime?" from the crash in 1929 to the outbreak of world war ii, the broadway musical kept the troubles of the nation at bay. along with glamorous stars such as fred astaire and gene kelly, the musical theater offered political satire and folk opera, bringing hope and comic relief to these desperate times. in an era of yearning dreams, broadway offered an effervescent antidote to america's darkest days. man: thirties was the depression, you know. everybody was trying to make a living. to be working was the main thing. to survive was the main thing. weren't thinking so much of the art of the t

so, how much would sheldon adelson's tax breaks fund corporation for public broadcast broadcasting corporationting? 25 years for just one person's tax breaks or pbs you could fund for nearly 500 years if you just take away the extra tax breaks sheldon adelson would get under the romney administration. you want to talk about priorities? that's mitt romney's priority. i'm going to take sesame street away from all the kids in the country. i'm going to take pbs away from all of so i can give sheldon adelson the breaks he wants that could actually fund pbs for 500 years. that's republican priority. now when we come back did president obama take it easy on mitt romney because fox news and conservatives kept calling him an angry black man? really interesting conversation. we'll have that when we return. >> jim, you may want to move on to another topic but i would say this to the american people. >> obama does not have the latitude that white guys who start you morning with a daily dose of politics from a fresh perspective. >>i'm a slutty bob hope. the troops love me. >>only on current tv. home of the

was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. the national endowment for the humanities, promoting excellence in the humanities. the national endowment for the arts, because a great nation deserves great art. with support from the following: and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. gwen: another week, another debate. did the vice-presidential candidates do what they needed to do? or is their best yet to come? tonight on "washington week." >> i think the vice president very well knows that sometimes the word don't come out of your mouth the right way. [laughter] >> i always say what i mean. gwen: paul ryan. joe biden. run being mates with but a single goal. to paint the other one as unreliable. >> they got caught with their hands in the cookie jar. turning medicare into a piggy bank for obamacare. what we are witnessing as we turn on our television screens these days is the absolute unraveling of the obama foreign policy. >> with all due respect, that's at that bunch of malarkey. folks, use your co

♪ was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. ment for the humanities, promoting excellence in the humanities. the national endowment for the arts, because a great nation deserves great art. with support from the following: and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. gwen: two presidential debates down. one to go. as the race gets tighter, what have we learned? tonight on "washington week." >> he knows how to seize the moment, this president. and already has a compelling new campaign slogan. you're better off now than you were four weeks ago. >> after my sworn trip in 2008, i was attacked as a celebrity because i was so popular with our allies overseas and i have to say i'm impressed with how well governor romney has avoided that problem. gwen: why did a formal charity dinner do nothing to obscure what's at stake for the two men running for president? >> mr. president, let me finish. i'm going to continue. gwen: back on the post postdebate stump, each stepped up the attack. >> if you say you're for e

the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. once again, live from washington, moderator gwen ifill. gwen: good evening. what's at stake in this election came into sharp focus this week, both at the contention long island debate and the days that followed. it's now clear that as the polls tighten, both men are fighting for the same voters, not necessarily the undecided ones, but the decided ones, who can be persuaded to show up on election day to cast the ballot for the man they trust the most. that's what these debate night exchanges about energy, taxes and the 47% were really about. >> production on government land of oil is down 14%. and production -- >> what you're say something not true. it's just not true. >> it's absolutely true. you have looked at your pension? >> i've got to say -- >> mr. president, have you looked at your pension? >> i don't look at my pension. it's not as big as yours so it doesn't take as long. >> i care about 100% of the amer

corporate funding for "washington week" is providing by norfolk southern. boeing. additional funding for "washington week" is provided by the annenberg foundation, the corporation for public broadcastingand by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >>> the following kqed production was produced in high definition. >> and their buns are something i had yet to find anywhere else. >> and you can come to my house to dinner. >> breaded, fried, gooey, lovely. >> in the words of arnold schwarzenegger, i'll be back.

corporate funding for "washington week" is providing by norfolk southern. boeing. additional funding for "washington week" is provided by the annenberg foundation, the corporation for public broadcastingand by contributions to your pbs station from vieikrsweu.e lyo thank you.

additional funding is provided by the annenberg foundation, the corporation for public broadcasting andy contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. once again, live from washington, moderator gwen ifill. gwen: good evening. the first debate is behind us and the presidential race is tighter than ever. for different reasons, both candidates returned to the campaign trail this week with renewed vigor. >> you may know that a couple of nights ago we had a debate. you may have got an chance to see that. i got the chance to ask the president some questions i think people across the country have wanted to ask the president. which is why it was that when america needed jobs to badly he was pushing for obama care. >> my opponent has been trying to do a two-step and reposition and -- got an extreme makeover. governor romney plans to let wall street run wild again but he's going to bring down the hammer on "sesame street." it makes perfect sense. gwen: the morning the president got good news on the jobs front as the unemployment rate dropped if 8 .1 to 7 .8%. news so good t

additional funding is provided by the annenberg foundation, the corporation for public broadcasting, and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. once again, live from washington, modiator gwen ifill. gwen: good evening. there's this hole. your candidate dug it and it's up to the number two guy to diagnose you -- dig you both out. the other, the polls are teetening, wind at your back and up to his number two to make sure it stays that way. thasks the task facing vice president joe biden and congressman paul ryan last night. they settled on basically the same approach. arguing the other ticket is not to be trusted. in this exchange, the two sparred about medicare. >> this is a plan that's bipartisan. it's a plan i put together with a prominent democratic senator from oregon. >> there's not one democrat who endorses it. >> our partner is a democrat from oregon. >> and he said he no longer supports it. >> we put it together with the former clinton budget director -- >> who disavows it. gwen: president obama and governor romney continued that theme of untrus

public awareness of critical issues. and by tfrontline journalism fund. major funding for this program is provided by the bill and melinda gates foundation. and by the corporation for public broadcasting and its american graduate initiative for "middle school moment." >> be good. >> i won't. >> yeah, i know. >> my ninth grade year was probably the worst because i was constantly being beaten up and, you know, jumped and everything. i was pretty much an outcast. constantly in the office, like, literally every day. there were jumpings. somebody at the school got stabbed with a protractor and that was, like, the first two or three weeks of school. >> tenth grade year, i was only at school for a month, and that was just an accumulated 30 days, not even a month straight because i had to babysit for my younger sister while my mom was at work. so, i missed a complete year of school. truancy never knocked on our door, never gave us letters, never did anything. (sirens) >> it's disgraceful what is going on in public education in philadelphia. in most large urban cities, 50% of the kids are dropping out. almost every large urban district is dysfunctional. philadelphia is at the highest level of

that our out of control spending includes roughly $450 million given every year to the corporation for public broadcasting of that going to -- that's right -- sesame workshop and big bird. >> jon: $8 million. why, that's one $6 million man and then 20 $100,000 bars. not really a huge line item in the federal budget. for a guy like lou dobbs, ending these corporate handouts, no matter how small, is about principle >> president obama today calling for an end to $4 billion of tax breaks for big oil. $4 billion amounts to -- are you ready? -- it represents 0008%. $5 trillion, and this president is focused, for whatever reason, is .0008% of the problem. >> jon: forgetting for just a second that $4 billion is not .0008% of $5 trillion but in fact .05%, what's a couple of zeros between lead financial analysts on a business network? but let's focus on the argument which appears to be that $8 million is greater than $4 billion. in the words of a certain mathematically inclined vampire, i believe the quote would be "that's bull [bleep]." so why would conservatives, why would conservatives feel so strongly that sesa

and by the corporation for public broadcasting. major funding is provided by the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation, committed to building a more just, verdant and peaceful world. and by reva and david logan, committed to investigative journalism as the guardian of the public interest. additional funding is provided by the park foundation, dedicated to heightening public awareness of critical issues. and by tfrontline journalism fund, with grantsa1 from susan hunter and douglas watson, and scott nathan and laura debonis. major funding for "dropout nation" is provided by american graduate: let's make it happen, a public media initiative made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. >> (on intercom): good morning, apollos! today is day 109. it is thursday, february 2. at this time, we ask that you stand as we honor america and texas with our pledges. >> c'mon, guys, straight to 140, you're late. detention, you've got to get to school on time. stop, don't even try it. go to 140. make sure black adidas jacket wit

the federal share of the corporation for public broadcasting is about $450 million this year, that is 15% of their overall operating budget for a perspective, that is about 1-100th of a percent of our federal budget. and that 450 million is about what the pentagon spends every six hours. the operator of pbs almost fell off her couch when he said that. >> to suggest that defunding the public broadcasting as part of the solution just seems really strange. >> the sesame street workshop is not a part of pbs, but that is how their programs get distributed. and big bird learned how many friends he had on debate night. at one point he was the topic of 7,000 tweets. he got on pbs, and the number of save big bird campaigns have sprouted up. if the federal money goes away, it will have to come from elsewhere, like charitable foundations, and you guessed it. viewers like you. >>> one more break here tonight. and when we come back, two legends of our time, and the one day that started it all. >>> finally tonight, a couple of icons of our culture, james bond and the beatles, they were both of cour

this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: tonight's vice presidential debate marks another high-stakes moment in the campaign. the romney-ryan team is hoping to hang on to its new momentum, while the obama-biden camp is trying to win it back. that left all of the pressure on the number two's today, as the hours counted down. the candidates were sounding upbeat, ahead of their face-off at centre college in danville, kentucky. vice president joe biden departed his home state of delaware today for the debate. >> i'm looking forward to it. >> woodruff: the republican vice presidential nominee, wisconsin congressman paul ryan, arrived yesterday. >> feel good about it. >> woodruff: but the public show of confidence belied the tension, as several new national polls show ryan's running mate, governor romney, with a slight lead, though within the margin of error. that made what happens on the stage tonight, even more critical. president obama calle

this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: the presidential campaign's focus turned to foreign policy-- at least for a day-- as mitt romney sought to capitalize on new momentum. in a major speech, he challenged president obama's handling of a host of trouble spots. i know the president hopes for a safer, freer and more prosperous middle east allied with us. i hope this hope but hope is not a strategy. >> woodruff: with that mitt romney took aim at foreign policy today in a speech at virginia military institute in lexington, virginia. >> when we look at the middle east today, with iran closer than ever to nuclear weapons capability with the conflict in syria threatening to destabilize the region and with violent extremists on the march and with an american ambassador and three others dead likely at the hands of al qaeda affiliates it's clear that the risk of conflict in the region is higher now than when the president took office. >> woodruff

this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: the former football coach who plunged penn state university into scandal by his sexual abuse of young boys over many years was sentenced today. the judge called his crime a "story of betrayal." jerry sandusky wore a red jail jump suit and a smile as he entered the center county courthouse this morning, less than two hours later, the smile was gone after the 68-year-old learned he will likely spend the rest of his life in prison. lead prosecutor. >> i believe that the sentence that the court imposed today was a wise and proper one and that it reflectedded the seriousness of the defendant's crimes. the harm he caused and the need to remove him from society. >> woodruff: sandusky was convicted three months ago on 45 counts of sexually abusing ten young boys over a 15-year period. in an audio statement that aird monday on a penn state student radio station, he again insisted he is innocent. >> they can

and by the corporation for public broadcasting. major funding is provided by the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation, committed to building a more just, verdant and peaceful world.additional funding is provided by the park foundation, dedicated to heightening public awareness of critical issues. and by the frontline journalism fund. with grants from scott nathan and laura debonis, and millicent bell, through the millicent and eugene bell foundation. major funding for this program is provided by the kendeda fund. >> chicago is now under full national security. >> a no-fly zone is in effect, except for the world leaders who are landing at o'hare, as president barack obama and a number of world leaders... >> hockenberry: it was a big weekend in chicago. last spring, the president was in town, along with the leaders of nato, to discuss threats to global security and nuclear proliferation. at a huge convention center, the eyes of the world were watching. >> ...that demands glol solutions. we came to chicago... (police whistle b

and... >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting.ributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by macneil/lehrer productions captioned by media access group at wgbh aess.wgbh.org

this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: president obama and mitt romney spent this day getting ready for their second debate, where questions will come directly from voters. as they did, new polls underscored what's riding on the outcome. from the obama and romney camp came signs of just how high the stakes will be tomorrow night. republican vice presidential candidate paul ryan talked up the coming confrontation as he campaigned in cincinatti. >> these debates are giving us the ability to cut through the clutter and give people a very clear choice. that's what we're offering. ( cheers and applause ) >> woodruff: and president obama issued a new fund-raising appeal saying this race is tied. a new abc news/"washington post" poll of likely voters found the president led 49% to 46%. but that was within the margin of error. and the poll found romney now leads in the level of enthusiasm among his supporters. the president hoped to reverse that

this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> brown: with election day less than two weeks away, the race for president looks tighter than ever. a new "associated press" poll today shows president obama and governor romney in a statistical dead heat. in the meantime, one prominent voter, the president himself, cast his ballot in early voting in chicago. ( cheers and applause ) in addition to showing the president and mitt romney running neck and neck nationally, the new poll reveals that among women, president obama has lost a 16-point lead he held just one month ago. the race has tightened among men, too, in the opposite direction, with romney losing much of his advantage over the president. still, on november 6, it will be the swing states that most matter, and, today, romney concentrated once again on ohio, where 18 electoral votes are up for grabs. he addressed a raucous crowd in cincinnati this morning. >> you know something's wrong about the direct