now, if pbs were privatized, no federal funding, what would happen to pbs? because i know how the private sector works. i'm a former business person myself. you have to be able to leverage resources. if you can't come to the table with public funding, then the corporate sector and the private sector walks away. they say you can't leverage what we're going to invest. so what in the world is going on and how in the world would you survive with no public funding or would you? ms. harrison: we wouldn't. it wouldn't be public media. it wouldn't be america's public mission-focused media. there wouldn't be these checks and balances, this stewardship. pbs -- i'll go back again to what i said earlier. when this was -- this construct was created 50 years ago in its own way it was brilliant wall of the checks and balance. we don't just give out grants. the stations then have to respond and report. we have an office of inspector general who does audits of the stations. we have to report back to congress. it is -- i like to think of it as a virtuous circle because at eve

pbs is an aggregation of content. children's content is available to teachers, homeschoolers, parents, right now it is being utilized by 1.83 million people and one third of all american teacherteachers aren't using thd every state has this available. they work with schools and supplements what teachers do. teachers are under such pressure in this new digital age, and whether it is through pbs were even ready to learn, we have programs that enable teachers to become more familiar with how to use these objects and how to use the technology in the classroom and state-by-state each one has tailored to their state. it's one of the things we should talk more about and in fact we have so many teachers saying they are inundated with this thing, that thing. this is free and available for over a million people. we want to increase it because it has been tested and it needs to bexpanded. >> thank you and thank you mr. chairman. >> i will indulge myself if i may take my questions asked and go tnext andgo to the gentle lam califo

pbs, the kind of short-term for a pbs british drama is a masterpiece theater thing which involves cocktailnd vintage cars and the dame of the british empire at the very least in some form or another and an arrest o aaristocratic atmosphere in old england people want to exist. in an american sitcom is the level of the audience, the sheer amount of whooping that goes on. you walk on the set and people scream and they're frenzied their thighs together or they've been spread a weird narcotic or something. there's a very different atmosphere. it is very lively. we british are a little bit reserved, as is probably known. >> yeah. >> and also, i mean, just technically things like we're a single camera. "blackadder" you mention was in front of an audience. i think in britain we make a comedy series, there will be six episodes in a season and you might do three or four series. you know, the greatest of them all in my opinion and in many other's opinion was "40 towers" and there was only two seasons of that, so 12 episodes. that was it. but then it is a very different way of doing it. john clease wr

. >> sreenivasan: next on pbs newshour weekend. >> pbs newshour weekend is made possible by: bernard and irene schwartz. judy and josh weston. the cheryl and philip milstein family. the john and helen glessner family trust-- supporting trustworthy journalism that informs and inspires. sue and edgar wachenheim, iii. barbara hope zuckerberg. corporate funding is provided by mutual of america-- designing customized individual and group retirement products. that's why we're your retirement company. additional support has been provided by: and by the corporation for public broadcasting, and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. from the tisch wnet studios at lincoln center in new york, hari sreenivasan. >> sreenivasan: good evening, and thanks for joining us. a man who tried to grab a military assault rifle from a soldier on patrol at the orly international airport, outside paris, today intended to shoot and kill travelers. prosecutor francois molins told reporters tonight the would-be attacker held a handgun to the soldier's head and wrestled away her rif

. >> sreenivasan: next on "pbs newshour weekend." >> pbs newshour weekend is made possible by: bernard and irene schwartz. judy and josh weston. the cheryl and philip milstein family. the john and helen glessner family trust-- supporting trustworthy journalism that informs and inspires. sue and edgar wachenheim, iii. barbara hope zuckerberg. corporate funding is provided by mutual of america-- designing customized individual and group retirement products. that's why we're your retirement company. additional support has been provided by: and by the corporation for public broadcasting, and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. from the tisch wnet studios at lincoln center in new york, hari sreenivasan. >> sreenivasan: good evening and thanks for joining us. president donald trump is urging congress to investigate whether president obama wiretapped trump tower, the place where then- candidate trump lived, worked, and headquartered his campaign. president trump launched the controversy in a series of tweets yesterday that said, in part: "obama had my wires

. >> woodruff: all that and more on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> i want the feel pride as a citizen of this country when we're in a place like this. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: >> 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: it's less than a week to go before the official start of spring, but you wouldn't have known it today in the northeast. a blizzard grounded more than 6,000 flights, shuttered schools and claimed at least one life. john yang has our report. >> yang: from western pennsylvania to new england, snow fell at a furious pace. this time-lapse video shows it piling up in new york state. >> after daylight savings time, i wouldn't have expected a storm like this. it kind of feels more like january than it does march. >> yang: wind gusts of more than 70 up to 50 miles an hour sent waves pounding into the shore from delaware to massachusetts. >> good day to make brownies is my p

. >> woodruff: all that and more, on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> xq institute. >> bnsf railway. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: >> 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 battle over affordable care act, or obamacare is now joined, in earnest. house republicans pressed forward today, in the face of resistance from democrats, and from inside their own party. lisa desjardins reports from capitol hill. >> reporter: it was day one of republicans' push to sell their long-awaited replacement plan for the affordable care act, obamacare. greg walden chairs the energy and commerce committee and helped author the bill. >> introduction of this bill is just the first step in helping american families across the country obtain truly affordable health care and we're eager to get started. >> reporter: named the "american health care act," republicans are keeping some and changing some of the aff

. >> woodruff: all that and more, on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: ♪ ♪ moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects us. >> patagonia. >> xq institute. >> supporting social entrepreneurs and their solutions to the world's most pressing problems-- skollfoundation.org. >> the lemelson foundation. committed to improving lives through invention. in the u.s. and developing countries. on the web at lemelson.org. >> supported by the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation. committed to building a more just, verdant and peaceful world. more information at macfound.org >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: >> 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 republican bill to replace obamacare has officially begun its journey through congress today. republican leaders and the white house are pushing it, against opposition from conservative critics and powerful lobby groups. lisa desja

tv and radio entity that includes pbs and npr. the move would save about a $485 million, which is about a third of total federal spending, and believe. you have a chart for that? that's it. three easy slices. mc mulvaney defended the cuts in the interview. you talk about place that will reduce spending a lot of the questions we asked us can we really continue to ask a coal miner in west virginia or arc a single mom to pay for these programs and the answer was no. we could ask you pay for fans and we will probably can't for public broadcasting. >> michael, what do you think. >> is it high time we cut off pbr and nps, that whole thing. >> i think that people should be pardoned but this is the best bang for your buck in terms of cutting the budget because these agencies exist exclusively to spread progressivism as our lot's of a half of the government for all the population. so by getting rid of the groups that just print this kind of anti- american globalist ridiculous message, it is hard to wash a brain that small. the first place

. >> sreenivasan: all that and more, on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by:

next on pbs newshour weekend. >> pbs newshour weekend is made possible by: bernard and irene schwartz. judy and josh weston. the cheryl and philip milstein family. the john and helen glessner family trust-- supporting trustworthy journalism that informs and inspires. sue and edgar wachenheim, iii. barbara hope zuckerberg. corporate funding is provided by mutual of america-- designing customized individual and group retirement products. that's why we're your retirement company. additional support has been provided by: and by the corporation for public broadcasting, and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. from the tisch wnet studios at lincoln center in new york, hari sreenivasan. >> sreenivasan: hello, and thanks for joining us. vice president mike pence hit the road today to begin selling the virtues of the republican party's plan to repeal and replace the affordable care act. in kentucky this morning, mr. pence promoted the white house- backed legislation moving through the house of representatives. it is one of 32 states that expanded federally-fun

. >> sreenivasan: all that and more, on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: ♪ ♪ moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects us. >> patagonia. >> xq institute. >> the ford foundation. working with visionaries on the frontlines of social change worldwide. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: and friends of the newshour. >> 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 trump is warning that congress must act on a republican health care bill, to head off a crisis with obamacare. he called in key house committee chairs today to praise their work, despite opposition from democrats, medical groups and some conservatives. >> we must act now to save americans from the imploding obamacare disaster. premiums have skyrocketed by double digits, and triple digits in some cases. this is the time we're going to get it done. we're working together, we have some great results. we have tremend

. >> yang: all that and more on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: ♪ ♪ moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects us. >> and the william and flora hewlett foundation, helping people build immeasurably better lives. >> supported by the rockefeller foundation. promoting the well-being of humanity around the world by building resilience and inclusive economies. more at rockefellerfoundation.org >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: and individuals. >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. some of the key changes include ending direct government subsidies for low and middle income americans to buy coverage. instead there will be refundable tax credits. an individual mandate and a phaseout of the expansion of medicaid in 2020 but coverage would continue for a while for those already covered. lisa desjardins just attended a briefing in the house ways and means committee. she joins me from capito

mpr, and pbs is cherished by many families as a source of entertainment. why the cuts?ars. what you get is you don't get independence, you get propaganda. look at the pbs twitter feet, since friday, half of all of their tweets have been pushing, we have government funded pbs using it's resource to push for government funding. >> it's a good thing you mention the twitter feet. i want to take a look at some of your own posts, including one that says there's no legitimate reason for government to fund left-wing media, and then the next one, there are a ton of liberal billionaires that could find change in their couches enough to fund this. my point is this is budgetary decision-making just conservative revenge or is there a real financial logic? >> of course there's a financial logic, but should we be funding that is left wing, and both networks are networks that have an agenda, and back in 2011, one of the executives was found on video to be calling republicans anti-intellectu anti-intellectual, and was it neutral when they fired juan williams for ex -- >> i get you don't

all that and more on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: ♪ ♪ moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects us. >> our tradition has been to take care of mother earth, because it's that that gives us water, gives us life. the land is here for everyone. >> and the william and flora hewlett foundation, helping people build immeasurably better lives. >> supported by the rockefeller foundation. promoting the well-being of humanity around the world by building resilience and inclusive economies. more at rockefellerfoundation.org >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: and individuals. >> 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: friday's failure to get a house vote on replacing obamacare is still reverberating tonight. but the president and his team are having trouble trying to shift to new topics. john yang has our report. >> we're not saying its the end of healthcare but we're looking to

. >> woodruff: all that and more on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: ♪ ♪ moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects us. >> our tradition has been to take care of mother earth, because it's that that gives us water, gives us life. the land is here for everyone. >> the ford foundation. working with visionaries on the frontlines of social change worldwide. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: and friends of the newshour. >> 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 veteran german leader, the new american chief executive. chancellor angela merkel and president trump met today at the white house in what many thought would be a moment to smooth relations after a rocky start. it's far from clear that was the outcome. chief foreign affairs correspondent margaret warner has our report. >> warner: chancellor merkel was greeted warmly outside the north portico of the white house. yet

. >> woodruff: all that and more on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: ♪ ♪ moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects us. >> our tradition has been to take care of mother earth, because it's that that gives us water, gives us life. the land is here for everyone. >> supporting social entrepreneurs and their solutions to the world's most pressing problems-- skollfoundation.org. >> the lemelson foundation. committed to improving lives through invention. in the u.s. and developing countries. on the web at lemelson.org. >> supported by the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation. committed to building a more just, verdant and peaceful world. more information at macfound.org >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: >> 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 clock is ticking tonight on britain's withdrawal from the european union. london got things started today, nine months af

. >> woodruff: all that and more on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: ♪ ♪ moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects us. >> and the william and flora hewlett foundation, helping people build immeasurably better lives. >> supported by the rockefeller foundation. promoting the well-being of humanity around the world by building resilience and inclusive economies. more at rockefellerfoundation.org >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: and individuals. >> 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 congressional budget office is out tonight with its analysis of the republican health care bill. it includes the non-partisan agency's best estimates on cost, coverage and other issues. lisa desjardins has been looking at the numbers, and joins me now. lisa, what's the headline here? >> there are several, but a very big one, what will this mean for health insurance coverage for american

all that and more on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: ♪ ♪ moving our economy for 160 moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects us. >> the ford foundation. working with visionaries on the frontlines of social change worldwide. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: and friends of the newshour. >> 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 head of the federal reserve is sending the strongest signal yet that short- term interest rates are going up again this month. janet yellen addressed a business lunch in chicago today, and suggested conditions seem ripe for another rate hike. >> the committee will evaluate whether employment and inflation are continuing to evolve in line with our expectations, in which case a further adjustment of the federal funds rate would likely be appropriate. >> woodruff: the fed last raised interest rates in december, but officials have indicated the

all that and more on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> and by the alfred p. sloan foundation. supporting science, technology, and improved economic performance and financial literacy in the 21st century. >> supported by the rockefeller foundation. promoting the well-being of humanity around the world by building resilience and inclusive economies. more at rockefellerfoundation.org >> carnegie corporation of new york. supporting innovations in education, democratic engagement, and the advancement of international peace and security. at carnegie.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: and individuals. >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> sreenivasan: the nation's new attorney general has spent this day under growing fire. and now, jeff sessions says someone else will oversee an investigation of russian meddling in the election, and of contacts between the trump campaign and the russians. lisa desj

for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you and see you soon.he on. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> our tradition has been to take care of mother earth,to because it's that that gives us water, gives us life. the land is here for everyone. >> the ford foundation. working with visionaries on the frontlines of social change worldwide.d th >> carnegie corporation of new york. supporting innovations in education, democraticn engagement, and the advancement of international peace and security. at carnegie.org.er >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions and individuals. >> this program was made possible by the corporation foro public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc newshour productions, llc captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org >> rose: welcome to the prom, tonight robert costa saying-- president trump called friday afternoon saying he was withdrawing the obama replacement. >> he dn come out of the regular ang movement like so m

. >> woodruff: all that and more on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> it's hard not to feel pride as a citizen of this country when we're in a place like this. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: >> 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: it's been an all- day interrogation for supreme court nominee neil gorsuch, at his senate confirmation hearing. the federal appeals judge fended off democrats' efforts today to ferret out his views on hot- button issues. he also worked to show independence from the man who picked him, under friendly questioning from republican lindsey graham. >> had you ever met president trump personally? >> not until my interview. >> in that interview, did he ever ask you to overrule roe vs wade? >> no, senator. >> what would you have done if he had asked? >> senator, i would have walked out the door. it's not what judges do. they don't do it at that end of pennsylvania ave

. >> woodruff: all that and more, on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: ♪ ♪ moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects us. >> our tradition has been to take care of mother earth, because it's that that gives us water that gives us life. the land is here for everyone. >> the ford foundation. working with visionaries on the front lines of social change worldwide. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: and friends of the newshour. >> 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 republican effort to replace obamacare, the health care law, lies in ruins tonight. at the 11th hour today, house g.o.p. leaders gave up trying to hold a vote on their bill. our lisa desjardins has been at the capitol all day, and begins our coverage. >> i will not sugarcoat this; this is a disappointing day for us. >> reporter: after a dramatic week of "will they or won't they," republicans' selected "won't,"