joining me now for a budget update is newshour political editor david chalian. tell me if i'm wrong but haven't we been here before. >> we were just here in some regard, you remember it was just a couple weeks ago that the congress passed that two- week extension where they did a little bit of the work. they cut $4 billion out of this year's budget and extended the funding of the government for a two-week period to allow for negotiation. what this is now all about is how do we get from here to september 30, the end of the fiscal year? there are only six months left. we're six months into this. this is not already solved. halfway there. we only have half the year to go. they have to figure out a way how to fu the government from now until then. >> ifill: feels like between the senate and the white house. >> within the senate what you're going to see tomorrow are two votes on these competing will bills. you have the house bill that cuts $61 billion from this year's funding and a senate bill cutting far less. they're still about $52 billion apart. that's where the

>> lehrer: newshour political editor david chalian goes through the list of republins preparing to run for president in 2012. >> woodruff: we get analysis of this week's news from mark shields and byron york, filling in for david brooks. >> lehrer: and margaret warner explores the looming food crisis in north korea. >> they're typically in a chronic situation where they can barely feed their own population, so a big shock like losing half their winter wheat or their barley crops is going to affect their population. >> lehrer: that's all ahead on tonight's newshour. major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> okay, listen. somebody has got to get serious. >> i think... >> we need renewable energy. >> ...renewable energy is vital to our planet. >> you hear about alternatives, right? wind, solar, algae. >> i think it's got to work on a big scale. and i think it's got to be affordable. >> so, where are they? >> it has to work in the real world. at chevron, we're investing millions in solar and biofuel technologies to make it work. >> we've got to get on this now. >> right n

newshour political editor david chalian joins me to give us a sense of what the president thinks he needs to accomplish tonight. >> he has to answer three fundamental questions, gwen. he has to answer why are we involved in this military action in libya. he has to say what are the next steps now that we're moving into this support role supposedly going forward? and the third question he has to answer is what if qaddafi stays since he has stated the country's policy as qaddafi has to go. >> ifill: does he have to make each of those cases or can he just make one of them tonight, basically making the case for why we're there but not have to make the case as to what happened next. >> most important for him he needs to leave the country with a message that this is not iraq or afghanistan not a third full-blown war in a muslim country the kind his own defense secretary said a president would have to have his head examined if he got involved. >> ifill: it has only been ten days since the first bombs began to fall in libya in an effort to make this coalition work. how much has the president and h

plus on this week's political checklist, political editor david chalian talks with judy about the ongoing debate in wisconsin over collective bargaining, and the details behind the government shutdown stopgap. all that and more is on our web site, newshour.pbs.org. >> woodruff: and that's the newshour for tonight. >> woodruff: that's the newshour for tonight. on tuesday we'll look at the congressional showdown over spending cuts. i'm judy woodruff. >> brown: and i'm jeffrey brown. we'll see you online, and again here tomorrow evening. thank you, and good night. major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> oil companies make huge profits. >> last year, chevron made a lot of money. >> where does it go? >> every penny and more went into bringing energy to the world. >> the economy is tough right now, everywhere. >> we pumped $21 million into local economies, into small businesses, communities, equipment, materials. >> that money could make a big difference to a lot of people. ming r ecomy r 16 years. bnsf, the engine that connects us. pacific life-- the power to help you succe

newshour political editor david chalian joins me to give us a sense of what the president thinks he needs to accomplish tonight. >> he has to answer three fundamental questions, gwen. he has to answer why are we involved in this military action in libya. he has to say what are the next steps now that we're moving into this support role supposedly going forward? and the third question he has to answer is what if qaddafi stays since he has stated the country's policy as qaddafi has to go. >> ifill: does he have to make each of those cases or can he just make one of them tonight, basically making the case for why we're there but not have to make the case as to what happened next. >> most important for him he needs to leave the country with a message that this is not iraq or afghanistan not a third full-blown war in a muslim country the kind his own defense secretary said a president would have to have his head examined if he got involved. >> ifill: it has only been ten days since the first bombs began to fall in libya in an effort to make this coalition work. how much has the president and h