. >> brown: and i'm jeffrey brown. on the newshour tonight, company officials denied any wrongdoing and said they did not mislead investors. we hear excerpts from today's hearing, and get perspective from two financial writers. >> ifill: then, margaret warner has an exclusive interview with vatican cardinal william levada about the global child sex abuse scandals.

on the "newshour" tonight, jeffrey brown looks at the proposals and the coming debate. >> woodruff: and i'm judy woodruff in tampa, where we're taking the pulse of floridians about government. there's been a lot of talk lately about where tax dollars go and what they buy. tonight, follow the federal money trail in florida. >> lehrer: then, we'll have excerpts from today's tough questions for attorney general eric holder about handling

jeffrey brown talks to author tim o'brien about a book on the war that has stood the test of time. >> brown: what makes a war story ring true and what makes one last? "the things they carried," a fork of fiction about the experience of a group of soldiers in the vietnam warp was published in 1990. it sold more than two million copies and appears on numerous high school and college reading lists. one of the rare works of recent literature that helped define vietnam and the experience of war. marking the an vary rs author tim o'brien is talking to students and others, including this webcast conversation shot at a washington, d.c. high school. o'brien himself served in vietnam and has written a memoir

. >> brown: and i'm jeffrey brown. on the newshour tonight, we look back at stevens' legacy, and ahead to possible candidates to replace him with marcia coyle of the "national law journal," plus law professors kathleen sullivan and john mcginness. >> lehrer: then, we return to the financial crisis commission. they heard more apologies, including from former executives of mortgage giant fannie mae. >> i want to be clear, i was the ceo of the company and i accept responsibility for everything that happened on my watch. >> brown: we continue our look at what members of congress are hearing about the new health care law. betty ann bowser follows democrat tom periello home to his virginia district. >> health care is not my fight t was about economic relief to working it in middle-class families. seniors who are struggling. if we can save them a little money, that's a really big deal for people. >> lehrer: and we get the analysis of david brooks and ruth marcus, filling in for mark shields. that's all ahead on tonight's news

. >> lehrer: then, jeffrey brown gets two views on the obama administration's call for new limits on nuclear weapons. >> this review describes how the united states will reduce the role and numbers of nuclear weapons with a long-term goal of nuclear free world. >> ifill: paul solman explores small community banks versus institutions deemed too big to fail. >> size does matter but you don't need to be a large institution in order to be successful as a financial institution today. >> lehrer: and we get an update on the deadly wave of bombings in iraq from rod nordland of the "new york times" in baghdad. that's all ahead on tonight's newshour. major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by:

jeffrey brown has that. >> brown: it was one year ago in prague that president obama pledged to work towards a nuclear-free world, a move that helped him win the nobel peace prize in december. >> the united states will take concrete steps towards a world without nuclear weapons. >> brown: today the administration took another step toward that goal, spelling out current risks and new policies in a document called the nuclear posture review or n.p.r. >> the n.p.r. provides a road map for implementing president obama's agenda for reducing nuclear risks to the united states, our allies and partners. and the international community. this review describes how the united states will reduce the role and numbers of nuclear weapons with a long-term goal of a nuclear-free world. >> brown: the review required by congress is the first by this administration but the third since the end of the cold war. when the u.s. and soviet union faced each other with thousands of nuclear weapons on high alert. officials today emphasized that current threats are different. >> the review rightly places the preve

jeffrey brown begins our coverage. >> brown: the president opened the second day of his nuclear security summit with a warning. >> two decades after the end of the cold war, we face a cruel irony of history. the risk of a nuclear confrontation between nations has gone down. but the risk of nuclear attack has gone up. >> brown: after the president's remarks he and the leaders of 47 other countries went behind closed doors to talk about what they could do individually and collectively to secure nuclear materials. even while those talks continued the administration could point to some progress on the side lines of the summit. >> secretary of state clinton and russian foreign minister .... >> brown: this afternoon secretary of state hillary clinton and russia's foreign minister finalized a ten-year-old deal to reduce each country's excess stocks of weapons grade plutonium. >> under the agreement we are about to sign the united states and russia will each irreversibly and transparently dispose of no less than 34 metric tons of weapons grade plutonium. together, that is enough material for nea

jeffrey brown begins our coverage. >> brown: it's the largest gathering of world leaders ever held in washington. today president obama greeted dignitaries from 47 countries. on hand for a two-day summit centered on preventing nuclear terrorism. which the president has called the most immediate and extreme threat to global security. the gathering here at washington's convention center is intended to focus the world's attention and push country to take concrete steps to secure the materials that go into making weapons. it's also part of a broader burst of nuclear diplomacy the administration is now engaged in. just last week, the president traveled to prague to sign a new start treaty with russia that would cut each nation's stock pile of nuclear war heads by nearly a third. that came days after the administration unveiled its nuclear posture review. >> this review describes how the united states will reduce the role and numbers of nuclear weapons with a long-term goal of a nuclear free world. >> brown: yesterday and today the president held a series of bilateral meetings with leaders

jeffrey brown has the story. >> brown: the white house was the setting this morning as president obama shifted focus from health care reform and nuclear security back to financial reform. he told the assembled congressional leaders the issue remains urgent. >> i think all of us recognize that we cannot have a circumstance in which a meltdown in the financial sector once again puts the entire economy in peril. and that if there's one lesson we learned, it's that an unfettered market where people are taking huge risks and expecting taxpayers to bail them out is simply not acceptable. >> brown: with the senate preparing to debate a reform bill, the president insisted that the measure on the table-- and a house bill that already passed-- would put an end to federal rescues. >> i am absolutely confident that the bill that emerges is going to be a bill that prevents bailouts. >> brown: but republicans at the meeting were unmoved and afterwards, senate republican leader mitch mcconnell claimed the bill would do just the opposite. >> if you look at it carefully, it will lead to endless taxpaye

jeffrey brown talks to author tim o'brien about a book on the war that has stood the test of time. >> brown: what makes a war story ring true and what makes one last? "the things they carried," a fork of fiction about the experience of a group of soldiers in the vietnam warp was published in 1990. it sold more than two million copies and appears on numerous high school and college reading lists. one of the rare works of recent literature that helped define vietnam and the experience of war. marking the an vary rs author tim o'brien is talking to students and others, including this webcast conversation shot at a washington, d.c. high school. o'brien himself served in vietnam and has written a memoir of that time, as well as six other novels. welcome to you. >> thanks for having me on. >> brown: what doucette out to do? i saw you talking to the students, and you talked about using fiction as a way of getting at the truth of war. >> for me, the way to approach a subject such as vietnam is through storytelling. it's one thing to watch a newscast or read a newspaper or a magazine articles,

jeffrey brown has our story. ♪ >> brown: natalie merchant has sold millions of records in her life. ♪rting in the 1980s as singer and songwriter for the rock band 10,000 maniacs. ♪ and later in a successful solo career. but there she was rehearsing for a concert recently at the beautiful music hall in troy, new york, singing other people's words including those of a mother goose rhyme. ♪ after a seven-year hiatus, merchant is releasing a new studio album, a collection of 26 poems she set to music. the project began when merchant gave birth to her daughter six years ago. >> i thought i was making the record that would introduce poetry and music to my child and to other children. but it just became more involved and more complex and more sophisticated as time went on. >> brown: the result is a two- disk album entitled "leave your sleep" using poetry about childhood but for adults. now 46 and living with her family in a house overlooking the hudson river, merchant says it took her a long while to come to poetry and only then through its sounds and rhythms. >> poetry comes alive to me thr

. >> brown: and i'm jeffrey brown. on the newshour tonight, the charges relate to the sub-prime mortgage crisis. we get the latest from zachary goldfarb of "the washington post." >> lehrer: then, ray suarez reports from london on the volcanic ash across northern europe that has disrupted air travel worldwide. >> those unfriendly skies grounded until at least saturday and left travelers scrambling for alternatives. >> brown: and we talk of volcanoes present and past with simon winchester, author of a book on the spectacular 1883 eruption on the island of krakatoa. >> lehrer: judy wooduff finishes our spotlight city series with a story about the rise of the right in a florida primary contest. >> the politics of ang ser fueling the senate campaign here of conservative republican marco rubeio, who is leading a more moderate governor charlie crist. it's a drama playing out in g.o.p. races across the country. >> brown: and we get the analysis of mark shields and david brooks. >> lehrer: that's all ahead on tonight's newshour

. >> brown: and i'm jeffrey brown. on the "newshour" tonight: a senate panel approved a measure regulating the financial tools called derivatives. we get analysis of the bill and what it means for the overhaul effort. >> ifill: then, ray suarez reports from london on the beginning of the end of europe's airport shutdown. >> no one knows how long it is going to take air traffic to return to normal, and the recriminations have >> brown: we examine the politics, the process and the choices for president obama as he picks a new supreme court justice. >> ifill: kwame holman looks at a new fighter plane under fire far from the frontlines. >> the defense department is embarked on building the most ambitious and complex war plane in u.s. history. the joint strike fighter f-35. but delays and skyrocketing costs have critics saying the program should be shut down. >> brown: and, margaret warner gets an update on general motors as it pays back its government loans. >> ifill: that's all ahead on tonight's "newshour." major funding

. >> brown: and i'm jeffrey brown. on the "newshour" tonight: the next step is a debate in the senate over ratification. we have our own debate with senators kyl and feinstien. >> lehrer: then, judy woodruff reports on day two of the bloody uprising in kyrgyzstan. >> brown: we'll talk to the chairmen of the commission studying the causes of the financial crisis on a day they heard apologies from former citigroup executives. >> let me start by saying i'm sorry. i'm sorry that the financial crisis had such an impact on country. >> we all bear responsibility for not recognizing this and i deeply regret that. >> brown: we have the first of two reports on what members of congress are hearing about the new health care law. tonight, spencer michels follows a california republican back in his district for the spring recess. >> the notion that somehow we can provide free health insurance for 32 million people without adding to the deficit or costing tax payers is simply absurd. >> brown: and, we close with a look at the many st

i'm jeffrey brown. there was new hope for travelers today as some flights took to the skies over europe for the first time in nearly a week. >> warner: and i'm margaret warner. on the newshour tonight, officials said all of britain's airports have reopened, although a massive backlog of flights remains. we get an update from ray suarez, one of many still stuck in london. >> suarez: thousands of stranded vacationers trying to get out of britain and trying to get back from the continent have passed a landmark they never thought they'd see from the air, the white cliffs of dover. >> brown: then, marcia coyle of the "national law journal" details today's supreme court ruling striking down a ban on videos of animal cruelty. >> warner: kwame holman covers the questioning at today's congressional hearing on last year's collapse of the investment firm lehman brothers. >> brown: paul solman tells the story of some homeowners who've stopped paying their mortgages, even though they can still afford them. >> warner

i'm jeffrey brown. limited air traffic may resume tomorrow after being grounded by volcanic ash for five days. >> woodruff: and i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight, the shutdown has cost the airlines more than $1 billion. we will hear from our ray suarez, who is one of 40,000 americans stranded in great britain. >> brown: then, marcia coyle of the "national law journal" fills us in on arguments in two supreme court cases, one centered on freedom of speech, the other workplace privacy. >> woodruff: tom bearden reports on american catholics reacting to the sex abuse scandals plaguing the vatican. >> reporter: here in denver some catholics feel betrayed and have left the church entirely while others believe the pope is being unfairly targeted. >> brown: we look at the merits and the fallout from fraud charges filed against goldman sachs. >> woodruff: margaret warner talks to andrew kohut about his latest poll showing mounting distrust in the government. >> brown: and we mark the 15th anniversary of

. >> brown: and i'm jeffrey brown. on the newshour tonight, company officials denied any wrongdoing and said they did not mislead investors. we hear excerpts from today's hearing, and get perspective from two financial writers. >> ifill: then, margaret warner has an exclusive interview with vatican cardinal william levada about the global child sex abuse scandals. >> priests are ordained to be good shepherds. this is anything but being a good shepherd when you abuse children and you violate their innocence and their persons. >> brown: fred de sam lazaro tells the story of vietnamese- american entrepreneurs, returning to their homeland to do business. >> 35 years after the south fell and became part of the socialist republic of vietnam, the capitalists are back. >> ifill: and we close with an update on the financial crisis roiling another continent, europe, where markets plunged after greece saw its debt downgraded today to junk status. that's all ahead on tonight's newshour. major funding for the pbs newshour has been

. >> brown: and i'm jeffrey brown. on the "newshour" tonight: the president called on industry leaders to back new regulations on banks. we hear from white house economic advisor lawrence summers and the head of a major bank, robert kelly. >> woodruff: then, simon marks reports from london on the second televised debate in britain's too-close-to-call election. >> reporter: tonight's discussion was all about foreign policy. but it was also about the future of britain's two-party political system now that a third candidate is threatening massive change. >> brown: margaret warner has the story of five americans awaiting trial in pakistan on terrorism charges. >> woodruff: dave iverson of kqed san francisco updates relief efforts in haiti, 100 days after the earthquake. >> brown: and, we look at a big man on the basketball court, making his mark with an art show. >> i named this show "size does matter" because when something is so big and beautiful you have to stop and take a second look. >> woodruff: that's all ahead on t

. >> brown: and i'm jeffrey brown. on the "newshour" tonight: family members cling to what the state's governor called "a sliver of hope." we'll talk to frank langfitt of national public radio on the scene. >> lehrer: then, gwen ifill reports on the political turmoil in the former soviet republic of kyrgyztan-- site of a u.s. air base that supplies troops in afghanistan. >> brown: we debate a court decision that could limit future regulation of the internet. >> lehrer: we have updates on two school systems: john merrow reports on alternatives for troubled teens in new orleans. >> i've got 16-year-old seventh graders and 17-year-old eighth graders and 18-year-old ninth graders who are reading at the third or fourth grade reading level. those are tremendous challenges. >> a lot of them put up walls. >> brown: and we look at washington d.c, where the schools chief struck a deal with the teachers union. >> lehrer: and, fred de sam lazaro tells a good news story about an effort championed by former president carter to rid t

. >> brown: and i'm jeffrey brown. on the "newshour" tonight: president obama said the measure could violate civil rights. we debate the new law and what it means for national immigration policy. >> woodruff: then, dave iverson of public tv's kqed san francisco updates relief efforts in haiti, 101 days after the earthquake. >> so not everyone here has the tents? >> no, no, no... >> do you have enough to eat? mangez? >> no, no, no... >> brown: margaret warner reports from the vatican on the church's growing sex abuse scandals. including the resignation of another bishop today. >> woodruff: we get the weekly analysis of mark shields and david brooks. >> brown: and, we profile an online cartoonist, winner of a pulitzer prize for stinging political satire. >> we tackle war, warming, health care, torture, spying and the impact of the great economic implosion. >> woodruff: that's all ahead on tonight's "newshour." major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> this is the engine that connects abundant grain from

. >> brown: and i'm jeffrey brown. on the newshour tonight, judy woodruff looks at the numbers with economists laura tyson and glenn hubbard. >> lehrer: and paul solman reports on getting and paying jobless benefits in florida. >> my benefits are on hold until they can get confirmation from the employer which could take three to six weeks. i said look, you know, i have a family, this is a family of five. how is it that we have to wait this long for these benefits. >> brown: then, a debate about who should own the rights to gene research. >> lehrer: and the analysis of mark shields and david brooks. that's all ahead on tonight's newshour. major funding for the pbs newshour is provided by: and with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. and... this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> lehrer: the u.s. economy showed new life in numbers today from the labor department. employers, public and pr

i'm jeffrey brown. the oil spill in the gulf of mexico is far worse than authorities originally thought now leaking more than 200,000 gallons each day. >> woodruff: and i'm judy woodruff. on the "newshour" tonight, louisiana's governor declared a state of emergency and the u.s. navy was en route to help clean up the slick. we get the latest from "newshour" correspondent tom bearden on the louisiana coast. plus a b.p. spokesperson and a coast guard rear admiral. >> brown: then, we get an update on immigration policy, as senate democrats unveil a national plan. and civil rights groups challenge arizona's new law. >> woodruff: and margaret warner reports from rome on the impact of the child sex abuse scandals on the catholic church and on pope benedict the 16th. >> i think it's a communications nightmare. enron was more manageable than what's happening now with the church. >> brown: that's all ahead on tonight's "newshour." major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> this is the engine that

. >> brown: and i'm jeffrey brown. on the newshour tonight, as an ecological disaster loomed, president obama directed that no new offshore drilling leases be issued. we get an update from newshour corespondent tom bearden in louisiana. plus, admiral thad allen, the commandant of the coast guard, on the latest containment and clean-up efforts, and an assessment of the potential environmental damage to the region. >> woodruff: then, spencer michels reports from arkansas, where a senate primary fight between democrats is heating up. the senate race in arkansas is unique in that the current u.s. senator, democrat blanche lincoln is being challenged from the left. >> brown: we get the weekly analysis of mark shields and david brooks. >> woodruff: and on this 35th anniversary of the fall of saigon, ray suarez talks to james zumwalt about his new book on the vietnam war, seen through the eyes of north vietnamese and viet cong veterans. that's all ahead on tonight's newshour. and with the ongoing support of these institutions

. >> brown: and i'm jeffrey brown. on the newshour tonight, the deadly assault occurred just hours after a suicide bombing at a nearby rally. we get the latest from saima mohsin of dawn tv in pakistan. >> ifill: then, margaret warner looks at vatican pushback and u.s. reaction to the latest controversies roiling the catholic church. >> brown: and two technology stories. we explore apple's new i-pad and the future of personal computing. >> ifill: and spencer michels reports on the tech downturn in a place that once led the charge. silicon valley may be losing its edge. that could affect not only california but the nation. >> brown: plus, we preview a new documentary uncovering the lost stories of arabs helping jews during the holocaust. >> ifill: that's all ahead on tonight's newshour. major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: chevron. this is the power of human energy. the william and flora hewlett foundation, working to solve social and environmental problems at home and around the world. and with the o

. >> lehrer: then, jeffrey brown examines president obama's plans to revamp the space program. and simon marks reports from london on british politics-- american style-- with their first televised debate. >> lehrer: that's all ahead on tonight's "newshour." major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> every business day, bank of america lends nearly $3 billion to individuals, institutions, schools, organizations and businesses in every corner of the economy. america-- growing stronger everyday. this is the engine that connects zero emission technologies to breathing a little easier, while taking 4.6 million truckloads off the road every year. bnsf, the engine that connects us. and the william and flora hewlett foundation, working to solve social and environmental problems at home and around the world. and with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. and... this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> lehrer: air travel across parts of eur

jeffrey sachs and we go behind the scene with a day in the life of senator scott brown. joe" brewed by starbucks comes right back. >>> welcome back to "morning joe." top of the hour. nice, live look at the monuments in washington, d.c. this morning, where we are today. here with us now, cnbc chief washington correspondent and political writer for "the new york times," john harwood. and in new york, the director of the earth institute at columbia university and special adviser to the u.n. secretary-general, dr. jeffrey sachs. good to have you back on the show. >> thanks a lot. >> also with us here in d.c., mark leibovich and pat buchanan. >> jeffrey sachs, we just, of course, celebrated earth day. willie and i, it's one of the most special days of the year for us. how did you spend yourette day? and give us the state of the earth in 2010. >> had a wonderful day yesterday. earth is still here, fortunately, despite our best efforts to do it in. we're not making too much progress on all the things we've been talking about, joe, in the last couple of years on, you know, turni