♪ ♪ geoff: good evening. amna: on the newshour tonight, the supreme court rules that states cannot remove former president donald trump from their presidential ballots. geoff: the vice president calls for an immediate cease-fire in gaza as negotiations to release as really hostages continue. amna: and our new series on america's social safety net takes a look at how the system began, the political fights from the last 90 years and where it

stands today. >> a majority of americans, 60%, will experience poverty at some point in their lifetime. ♪ announcer: major funding for the pbs newshour been provided by -- ♪ the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. and friends of the newshour including leonard and nora klorfine and judy and peter blum kovler. >> actually, you do not need vision to do most things in life. yes, i am legally blind and yes, i amresponsible for the user interface. data visualization, if i can see it and understand it quickly,

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♪ this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. amna: welcome to the newshour. the u.s. supreme court ruled unanimously that the 14th amendment does not allow individual states to remove former president donald trump from their ballots. geoff: in an unsigned opinion the court said congress and not states can disqualify candidates under the constitution's so-called insurrection clause. the former celebrated the decision. >> you cannot take somebody out of a race because an opponent would like to have it that way. and has nothing to do with the fact that it is the leading candidate. whether it is the leading

candidate or a candidate down on the totem pole, you cannot take someone out of the race. geoff: the court was unequivocal -- states do not have the power to remove candidates. help us understand how the justices arrived at this ruling. reporter: this came out of a group of republican voters in colorado saying that january 6 to their mind was an insurrection and donald trump was the cheerleader. and they cited the section three of the 14th amendment which is the insurrection clause. it argues that if you have sworn in -- an oath to uphold the constitution and engage in an insurrection you cannot hold office again and they appealed that all the way to the colorado supreme court and they won. donald trump was ruled to be taken off of the dollar. the supreme court overturned that saying you cannot ve a system where a lot of different states are making this decision because it would simply be an ad hoc state by state basis.

in their ruling they said for the reasons given responsibility for enforcing section three against federal officeholders and candidates res with congress and not the states. the judgment of the colorado supreme court cannot stand. it said states can choose to withhold and withdraw state candidates not federal candidates. geoff: tomorrow is super tuesday and colorado is one of the many states holding a primary but the impact of this decision sweeps far beyond colorado. reporter: trump will be on the ballot in colorado. they already printed the ballots. they thought if the ruling comes in the other direction, those folks will not be counted. there are over 30 states that were examining some kind of a challenge on 14th amend men -- and mimic grounds. they all go away now. trump will be on the ballot in all the states. geoff: how did the court deal

with the specific question of whether donald trump is an insurrectionist? reporter: they did not. they did not bring it up in the hearing last month or the ruling. there was some disagreement today as to who gets to make that decision and when they make the decision. the four female justices said that the ruling that states should not be able to make this decision should have stood. but, keegan, sotomayor and justice jackson all took issues with the further breadth of the ruling which they argued data harder to enforce section three saying congress has to write a particular statue in order to enforce a part of the constitution. very unusual. these three justices wrote that the other justices crafted the ruling to insulate themselves and donald trump. they wrote that the majority announces novel rules for h

that enforcementust operate. it reaches out to decide section three estions not before us and to foreclose future efforts to disqualify a presidential candidate under that provion. in a sensitive case crying out for judicial restraint, it abandons that course. they are clearly not happy with this. something to remap -- geoff: and separately, one of donald trump longest serving associates pleaded guilty for perjury. reporter: he was for almost 50 years donald trump's chief financial guy. he got his start as donald trump's father's bookkeeper. he admitted that he lied under oath. he lied to investigators and on the stand as part of the civil fraud trial that socked donald trump with fines. in that ruling the civil fraud ruling, the judge in that case ruled that he was central to all of the different fraudulent

things that donald trump got up to. he said he has to pay back half of the $2 million severance that donald trump gave him when he was walking out the door. now that he has pled guilty to perjury, he could spend a couple months in prison. notably in this case, he has never implicated donald trump in any wrongdoing. geoff: thank you so much for all of that reporting. ♪ amna: in the days other news, the biggest storm in the west so far this winter has moved on after dumping mountains of snow in the sierra nevada but another storm is moving in on its heels. [beeping] reporter: a new round of snow is

blanketing the mountains of northern california even as resident struggled to dig out from a blizzard. hurricane force winds whipped up snow squalls and the sierra nevada where some communities were buried under more than seven feet of snow. a snow plow drivers has his equipment is wearing out. >> though snow is wet underneath. there is about a foot of fresh snow here in truckee. reporter: there is also the fun part. >> our dogs are having a blast. our neighbors are having fun. reporter: the storm closed ski resorts but diehard skiers were not deterred. >> the storm has been crazy. i have been hanging out inside. today we are going to go ski some tree lines and hopefully avoid the avalanches. reporter: after a weekend spent

closed, interstate 80 outside of tahoe reopen today to big rig trucks. an avalanche briefly closed a separate highway into a tahoe. truckee business owner kevin dupree said a trickle of customers. >> business has been closed -- business husband slow considering the roads are shut down. we get it. the roads have not been safe. reporter: utility crews have been working to restore power to thousands of businesses and residents. meanwhile, in the texas panhandle, it is fire and not waste it is the problem. the largest wildfire in the states history continues to rage fueled by strong winds. the smokehouse creek fire is only 15% contained. it is one of a cluster of blazes that have already burned some 1900 square miles around amarillo. amna: the texas fires are now

blamed for two deaths. the fires also destroyed hundreds of homes and killed thousands of cattle. massachusetts in -- an international -- the 22-year-old agreed to serve a maximum of nearly 17 years in federal prison. after the hearing in boston federal prosecutors said they hope the case and the plea deal send a message. >> jack will never get out sniff of a classified piece of information for the rest of his life. we also bring these cases for general deterrence. the message goes out to anyone that might be tempted to violate trust. amna: he posted secret assessments of russia's war in ukraine and other topics online. members of the social media platform discord said he was trying to impress them. the state department urged americans to leave haiti as

heavily armed gangs attack the main international airport. on sunday the government declared an emergency after gangs freed thousands of prison inmates leaving burning tires and open prison doors in their wake. an overnight curfew could help police recapture the escapees. in iran results from friday's election show hardliners kept control of parliament but turnout was just 41%, the lowest since the revolution of 1979. it was in part due to an opposition boycott. officials rejected american criticism of how the election was conducted. >> if u.s. government officials are concerned about democracies and votes of nations, they should first find a fix for their own country and the health of the election system and america because we are seeing strange stories and every u.s. election. amna: the election was the first since antigovernment protests rocked the country more than a

year ago. all in france voted overwhelmingly to enshrine abortion rights into the national constitution. the president pushed for that after the u.s. supreme court overturned nationwide wharton rights -- abortion rights in america. abortion has been legal in france since 1975 and is widely supported. the european union has find apple nearly 2 billion dollars for antitrust violations involving music streaming. can save money on subscriptions outside the iphone system. >> for decades apple has restricted music streaming developers from informing their consumers about cheaper options available outside of the app. this is illegal. it has impacted millions of european consumers. amna: apple disputed the finding

and said it will appeal the decision. in this country, jetblue and spirits airlines scrapped plans for a merger valued at 3.8 billion dollars. a federal judge walked the plan in january saying it violated federal -- antitrust law. on wall street, stocks edged lower after last week's run out. the dow jones industrial average lost 97 points. the nasdaq fell 67 points and the s&p 500 was down six. still to come on the newshour, israelis who live near the gaza border return home for the first time since tomas' october -- hamas' october 7 attack. we break down the latest political headlines plus much more. ♪ announcer: this is the pbs

newshour from wep a studios in washington and in the west from the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. geoff: today is really opposition and war cabinet member was in washington to meet with the vice president. the trip came without the authorization of the israeli prime minister and as egypt, qatar and hamas hold negotiations over a possible deal that would pause the war with gaza and release hostages. let's start with the negotiations in cairo. what we know about how they are progressing? reporter: publicly both sides are sticking to their combative positions. israel did not send negotiators to be a part of these negotiations. hamas demands a permanent cease-fire, something israel has rejected. u.s. officials tell me negotiations continue and they

have made progress with the idea of having a deal before ramadan begins. u.s. officials tell me israel has agreed to the outline of a deal that would pause the war for six weeks and release 35-40 hostages in the first round. israel would release palestinian detainees and israel would allow increased humanitarian aid into gaza. there are major sticking points. hamas refuses to hand over the names of those 35-40 hostages they would release in the first round and israel is pushing back on hamas' demands on which detainees they want released. usf henschel's believe the decision point rests in the hands of hamas. the humanitarian crisis in gaza continues. u.s. air drops we saw beginning this weekend will continue and u.s. officials say they are considering other eight -- other means to deliver aid including a

northern point and a gaza. geoff: let's talk about the u.s. approach. we mentioned today's meeting with the israeli opposition leader and the vice president. what led to it and what did they discuss? reporter: u.s. officials say he requested the trip and the people that met him today tell me he is likely here to check out where the u.s. stands on all of the issues that israel is dealing with. and the u.s. priorities, according took, let harris who spoke with reporters earlier today are aid to gaza and the hostage deal. >> there are too many innocent civilians killed and we need to get more aid in and the hostage is out. that remains our position. it is important that we all understand that there is a window of time where we can actually get a hostage deal done.

we all want this conflict to end as soon as possible and how it does, matters. geoff: administration officials say she is trying to pressure hamas and israel to make the deal before ramadan begins. he is leading in israeli polls and he said that perhaps he would be willing to take steps that would bring down the israeli government at the people i spoke to that spoke to him say he is less interested in that and more interested and more interested in trying to get a deal with netanyahu to have an election by the fall. geoff: the u.n. released a report about sexual violence on october 7. reporter: this report is horrific. they concluded there is convincing information that sexual violence including rape, torture, degrading treatment has been committed against hostages and that echoes what israel has been saying happened by hamas militants on october 7. the report also concludes that

therare reasonable grounds to believe that such violence may be ongoing to those hostages in gaza right now. israel believes that to be the case and is really officials leave that may be one of the reasons why hamas is resisting releasing some of the female hostages. geoff: inside southern israel near gaza, much of life has been paused. there is a story of schools restarting. reporter: it has been paused in southern gaza over the last few months and much of gaza has been evacuated. this weekend we filmed in the largest city in southern israel nearest gaza where on october 7 hamas killed 50 civilians and 20 police officers. the government is facilitating families to return and restarting schools. a warning that some of our images in our report are disturbing to watch. it is the first day of school at the secondary school for the

second time this year. for five months all of these students and their families have been displaced. and today there is a reunion for boys that can be boys again including joseph. >> i am very, very very excited. reporter: the teachers feel being here is their duty. molly brings additional responsibilities. her two youngest children. she does not have childcare but she felt she felt she needed to be here. >> i must go to my job. i have responsibilities to my students. reporter: she made those students responsible for one homework assignment, create cards of the israeli soldiers who have died since october 7 and the words they live by. they are trying to give a lot of love. this is a history teacher and he

knows what the students have endured. >> they absolutely with the posttrauma and we are trying to make it educational and routine but how can you come back to routine when this movie is on your mind. reporter: that very real movie of israel's black saturday is enshrined on the school's wall. on october 7, hamas terrorist killed 51 people including a former student of the school and his wife, a former staff member. that morning hamas gunmen drove into the downtown unimpeded. he ended up in an ambush. a gunman shot and killed her point blank. and in the backseat, there are six and three-year-old daughters. police approached and the six-year-old asked which side they were on. she tells them she was protecting her little sister. that day gunmen also killed

their dad, leaving the girls orphan. this is the closest israeli city to gaza and hamas left it in flames targeting police vehicles with heavy weapons. they left executed bodies on the road. they captured the police station and they massacred dozens of tourists waiting at the bus stop. today the bus stop has been cleaned up. a mall has reopened. but the scars are everywhere. this tourist standing on the site of what used to be the police station. and the playgrounds are mostly empty. >> now the city is kind of a ghost. it is very hard to live like that. reporter: she and her six children evacuated to three different hotels and homes and ended up in jerusalem. >> we want our house back. it is not possible to live in another house. reporter: how does it feel to be

back? >> many are afraid to send their children. our city will be alive, will be alive but we must be patient. we must say that we are under more. -- under war. reporter: he evacuated his family south except for his youngest son. he also evacuated what he calls his second family. his students. he calls himself his students' anchor and hopes education in the desert provides routine and reassurance. >> what does a child ask for everywhere in the world? security, education and run like children in the street like kyle.

like any other child. reporter: do you feel safe? >> yes. i'm sure october 7 will not come back again but i know a lot of people that don't want to come back. until the government gives them a promise that this is the last war. reporter: but they do not believe the promise yet. >> we do not trust the government. reporter: he and his wife and daughter have also lived in multiple places since october 7. they returned when the childcare ran out he supports the war in gaza but cannot forgive his own government for a generational intelligence failure. >> it hurts. the government, the army and the intelligence ignored the alerts.

the monster needs to die but who is the real criminal? reporter: politics can wait but she remains in a rented apartment refusing to return because she does not think it is safe. >> i have to clean the poison. i cannot even -- i cannot even the -- i cannot even stand the smell and the house. reporter: for months she has stayed busy helping others and giving tours of israel but now she feels she needs her own support for posttraumatic stress. >> i was so strong. i suddenly felt that i was not good. it is very hard for me to be on the others, the one that needs help. reporter: all she can do is hope that one day she feels confident enough to return and the city's recovery will also be the country's recovery. ♪

amna: it is the final countdown to super tuesday when voters in 16 states will make their voices heard and a third of all republican delegates are at stake. the two remaining candidates tallied primary wins over the weekend and hit the campaign trail with their sights set on tomorrow. reporter: at wilbur's barbecue in eastern north carolina, the food has always been served with a side of politics. >> nobody gets mad when you are talking about politics. reporter: the restaurant has hosted its fair share of politicians across its history including president george h w bush and bill clinton. in the days leading up to super tuesday and the presidential primary, the focus has been the

next raise for president. >> i would like to see trump for president. i don't care about a career politician. reporter: hundreds of miles from the u.s.-mexico border, immigration is top of mind. >> i think immigration is a key issue for americans right now. and i think it is a big problem. and next would be inflation. a lot of families are suffering. reporter: the former president, fresh of a trip to the border, seized on those concerns during a rally in carolina this weekend. reporter: donald trump railed against the bipartisan immigration deal that he helped demolished last month. he ramped down attacks on migrants and is aware that many voters see him as a threat to democracy paid unfounded accusations trying to pin the idea on his rival, joe biden. >> bidens contact on our border

is a conspiracy to overthrow the united states of america. reporter: the message resonated with trump supporters who lined up hours before he took the stage. >> we areoming to support a man that has been brave enough to withstand persecution. and i love him. i don't care what anyone says about him. reporter: his last remaining republican rival, nikki haley, is staying in the fight. >> we defeated a dozen of the fellas. i just have one more. reporter: she won her first primary contest yesterday and making history for a republican woman. she hopes the endorsement of lisa and susan collins of maine give her momentum heading into tomorrow when republicans in both states had to the polls. she has said she is not looking past tomorrow but if donald trump is gop nominee she opened

the door to abandoning her pledge to support the parties toys. >> at the debate we had to take it to, would you support the nominee? the rnc is not the same. >> you are no longer bound by that pledge? >> i will make my decision. reporter: her campaign's future and party's future is riding on how well she performs on super tuesday. amna: on this super tuesday eve, it is a perfect time for some analysis. amy walter of the cook political report with amy walter and tamra keith of npr who joins us from raleigh, north carolina. you are there in north carolina and voters will vote tomorrow. you heard from some republican voters but what are you hearing from democratic voters about the

issues animating them tomorrow? reporter: it is quite interesting. i was at an early voting location around charlotte. initially i would ask voters coming out of their polling place, what issue are you most passionate about? i did not ask them anything else. the vast majority of the democratic voters i spoke to said abortion and reproductive rights are there top issue. and that reflects the view of democrats in the state and also the view of the biden campaign that this is such a hot issue so front of mind for democratic voters in north carolina because of some changes and restrictions that have been added in the last year that they believe that puts the state into play. i spoke with the state's democratic governor and he has insisted that even though no

democratic presidential candidate has won the state 2000 eight and it was a narrow margin then, that the state could be in play this time. amna: to that point, the margins can be narrow. have you seen a sign of uncommitted voters in north carolina? reporter: not in terms of a protest vote related to gaza. i spoke to a bunch of voters early voting and only one brought up the issue of gaza. that does not mean that i was speaking to a representative sample of voters. but i did speak to a lot of voters who are not thrilled about their likely general election choices. democratic voters concerned about president biden but who are saying, you know, better than the alternative. amna: it is the single biggest primary contest. here is a look at the latest

delegate count. the last remaining candidates. 244 for mr. trump. 43 for nikki haley. nikki haley's team has made a big push. she won her first primary ndc and got key endorsements from lisa murkowski and susan collins . could any of that in some way move the needle for her tomorrow? reporter: no. [laughter] look, the math is just so very hard. not just because these are states where donald trump is polling well because of how the rules work that even if she was able to get 25 or 30% of the vote, she is not going to get any delegates or the same number of delegates that you could get on the democratic side. it is how it works. back of the envelope projections

right now, if things go the way the polling suggests they are, by the end of super tuesday, donald trump is 75% of the way there in terms of the number of delegates he needs. he needs to get to 1215. the one thing we do have to appreciate is there is a lot of attention on nikki haley and understandably so because there is still a contest. it is important to appreciate that donald trump got to this place where he is rolling out these margins and can wrap up the nomination this quickly -- i looked at where the polls were sitting in april, 2023 or at this point in 2020 three and less than half of republicans said they wanted to see him as their nominee and here we are so close to him wrapping this thing up. it is quite an important thing

to appreciate not just what the challenger is doing but because he was able to come from such a deficit. amna: the mathematical path for nikki haley is likely closed tomorrow. the math is what it is. the state of the union address is on thursday. president biden will be delivering that. he has a strong legislative record to talk about. a strong economy to talk about. headwinds on the israeli-hamas war. how do you think the white house is getting ready for this? how high are the stakes? reporter: this state of the union is the first big speech of the general election. after what happens on super tuesday, it is going to be clear to more americans than before that this is going to be a rematch between donald trump and

joe biden. a rematch a lot of people don't necessarily want. it is a rematch that even many democratic voters are concerned about. the stakes are quite high because the audience is so big for a state of the union. it is a news cycle and a big one. and especially because at the last state of the union, president biden got into a back and forth with republicans in the chamber. he jousted with them feeling like a winner. it changed the dynamic o establishment democrats questioning if he has the vitality to run for reelection. after that those concerns were quieted for many months. they are back. heading into the state of the young -- union after the special counsel report drew attention to the presidents age rekindling those concerns, voters and more

establishment democrats will be looking at this saying, does he have the fight? i spoke to a number of speechwriters and others who say more than the words he says, it is about whether he shows he is fighting for the american people. amna: will he be able to quiet those concerns? reporter: and the blueprint for going forward and the contrast. this is an official speech. to lay out what the goals would be not just for the next year but what is at stake in the november election in terms of the differences between the path that president biden would like to go and the path that republicans would like to go. we are also talking about a moment in time where it is clear that congress itself has ceased functioning doing anything. if you are thinking about as the president, what can i talk

about? very little of it will come through this body that has become paralyzed. so paralyzed. i will be curious to see if he is drawing that contrast between what is happening in congress or not happening in congress and what he would like to see get done. amna: speaking of congress, the battle for who will replace mitch mcconnell has already taken shape. we know the minority whip, john thune from south dakota said he will pursue the leadership role. reporter: the hardest piece in handicapping this race versus the speaker's race is because the speaker's race as public. you don't see that in the race for leaders. this is a secret ballot. people can talk. people can make promises out

loud but you will never know who they actually voted for. the influence that a donald trump or others could have will be significant. the biggest question beyond that is who the president will be because this is an election that will take place after the election. what the makeup of the senate will be and what those folks would like to see that leader do going forward. that will tell us more than what they talk about today as they are campaigning. amna: quick thoughts on this? reporter: the big question i have is that the johns have been loyal lieutenants to mitch mcconnell. the question is, will republicans who have been moving away from mitch mcconnell and towards donald trump want a leader that is closer to macconnell or will they want to shake things up? amna: we will wait and see.

tamra keith and amy walter, great to see you both. ♪ geoff: tonight we begin a new series, america's safety net on the complicated web of programs meant to help americans in need. we will take an in-depth look at the different forms of welfare and the u.s. but first with our producer we will spend some time explaining what the american social safety net is. who it serves and how it came to look away that it does today. the year was 1935. the u.s. was still struggling through the great depression. a quarter of the population was just unemployed, a level not seen before and has not seen since. that august, as part of his new deal, franklin roosevelt signed the social security act into law.

in addition to the retirement benefits it is known for come of the law laid a foundation for the government's role in programs like unemployment insurance and cash assistance for families. roosevelt called it a cornerstone in a structure being built but not complete. >> we have tried to frame a law which will give some measure of protection to the average citizen and his family. geoff: in the nearly 90 years since roosevelt signed the law politicians in washington and across the country have argued about the best ways to help americans that live in and near poverty. the disagreements have ranged from the dollar amounts of the assistance to how much it should be tied to work requirements and how poverty itself is defined and measured. during his state of the union in 1964, president johnson announced an unconditional war on poverty in america. >> our aim is not only to

relieve the symptom of poverty but to cure it and two above all prevent it. geoff: johnson's war included the creation of medicare and medicaid. a permanent foodstuff program known as snap and the expansion of social security. at about the same time, the government came up with a uniform way to measure poverty. comparing a family's income against a national threshold. in 1959 poverty rate sat at 22%. in 1973, 11%. there it was in 2022. with almost 40 million americans in poverty. the measure is considered imperfect. some say the poverty line, $31,000 for a family of four is too low. there are other measures that account for things like geography, cost-of-living, consumption or how much government assistance a family gets no matter how it is

measured, poverty is often misunderstood says a cornell university professor. >> we think about poverty as more limited than it actually is. and because of that, we can tell ourselves that people living in poverty are very different than people who are not. ab there are some things wrong with them. a reality is that if we take a life course perspective, a majority of americans, something approaching 60%, will experience poverty at some point in their lifetime. most people -- geoff: 60% or higher. is the social safety net adequate? >> what i would say from my perspective is a resounding no. >> i would answer yes. geoff: a senior fellow at the conservative american enterprise institute has a different view. he created this chart of

programs from food aid to housing to health care that shows the complexity of the safety net. he says it can be difficult to track the success of specific programs but -- >> if you look at nuanced poverty measures that count the assistance that families have from work, relatives, owning their own homes, the level of poverty and the u.s. has dropped to a low level. geoff: as a congressional staffer he helped draft the landmark welfare reform law in the 1990's. the legislation followed years of anti-welfare sentiment driven by perceptions of rampant abuse. in his presidential campaigns, ronald reagan popularized the stereotype. by 1994, the number of americans receiving cash assistance reached its peak at 14 million. in 1996 after a pledge to end welfare as we know it, president

clinton struck a deal with republicans in congress. it replace the cash assistance program with temporary assistance for needy families. it imposed time limits and work requirements and made states responsible for distributing money. the number of families on welfare plummeted. in the years since, debates have continued over the size and shape of the safety net. >> i much more supportive of a work based safety net including because that is what the american people say they want. people do not understand the american dream as something where the government gives you a big enough check that you can avoid working. they understand it as helping people go to work and lift their family. >> it is important to make the safety net about what it is about witches supporting people and -- in times of need. when we try to make it about making people work, can end up not providing them with the support they need, ironically with the support they need to

work. often they want to do that because there is some sort of principal. we want to know that people are not mooching off the state or not working sufficiently hard. geoff: the benefits are taxpayer --are taxpayer funded. >> but to be fair, people living near poverty pay taxes also. many of us are paying into the safety net system and many of us will draw out of it in our time of need. geoff: before the pandemic 30% of the population used at least one of the countries he safety net programs. altogether the programs cost the federal government well over 700 billion dollars and that does not include all the money for things like the affordable care act which helps tens of millions of americans access health care. president obama signed it in 2010 and it represented the largest expansion of the safety net in decades. despite welfare's reach, almost

half of american households struggle to make ends meet and the number is higher among black and brown households. over the coming weeks, we will bring you the stories of those families and show you what it is like to navigate america's increasingly complex safety net. we explore white up to half of the people eligible for benefits not receive them. >> it is very time-consuming. they want to know every little penny and change in your circumstance. and anything could affect you. geoff: why it is so hard to access housing assistance, how benefits expanded dramatically during the pandemic and properly -- and poverty plunged only to rebound when the policies expired. >> i felt like someone felt our pain and then they forgot all of it and we were hung out to dry. geoff: and what works and does not when it comes to alleviating food insecurity nationwide. >> i was digging through my

purse to find two pennies to pay the rest of my snap. i felt like trash. like i am just nothing to this country. geoff: this as pbs newshour has our special series, america's safety net. and you can watch more stories on the safety net on mondays on the newshour and catch with a series on our youtube page and website. amna: we will be back shortly but first take a moment to hear from your local pbs station. geoff: it is a chance to offer your support which helps keep programs like ours on the air. ♪ amna: the gender gap that persists across the highest levels of u.s. government and business also endures in the art world. female artist he further -- fewer exhibitions.

washington dc's women and the arts exclusively features work by women. here is an encore report about our visit for our arts and culture series. reporter: when she was just starting as an unknown artist in new york, the work and the artist herself told some by surprise. >> one i was doing proposals for other cities i would write what i wanted to do. they would be at the airport with my name on a sign and i would get off they would go -- oh, we did not think you were -- a woman. and i said, you thought i was a man. well, no, we did not think you were a man but we did not think you were a woman. and i am like, well, ok, here we are. reporter: today her sculptures are shown in major museums around the world including here at the newly renovated national

museum of women in the arts in washington, d.c. they are extraordinarily labor-intensive using a variety of materials. and important to coin they take up space. >> i feel like the work has to be big. and it is all about scale. if this was small and petite, i think it would look goofy. the little christmas decoration. i'm not into christmas decorations. i'm into you feeling what that piece felt like to me. i want you to walk near it and have it in your space the same way it felt to me. reporter: it is that kind of experience the museum seeks beginning with the sculpture that greets the visitor. following a two year and $70 million overhaul, it has opened up its floorplan, enlarged its

galleries and can hang larger works. it is an experience with a specific mission says the deputy director and chief curator. >> we all want to make a bold statement about women and their creativity. i think there are conventional ideas aout what women artists do or how their art looks. reporter: and what is the statement? >> women's creativity does not know any bounds or boundaries. reporter: the museum, the first in the u.s. solely dedicated to women was found in 1987. howlett -- it had been a masonic temple, ironically a building from which women were barge. holiday and her husband admired the work of a 17th century flemish artist, clara peters, a contemporary of rembrandt but

were shocked to find no mention of her in history books. they set out to collect our eye women which became the basis for the museum. it's galleries are arranged around theme showings of how women have tackled various subjects. artists of the past such as freda kahlo and others are connected to contemporaries such as faith ringgold. >> this is a work by a brazilian artist. it is inspired by the landscape of rio de janeiro and carnavale in terms of its color and vibrancy. it weighs 450 pounds. reporter: you are feeling is that people still do not expect this scale of work from women. >> i think there is an idea that women like to work or prefer to work or have a proclivity to

working on a smaller scale. we want to blow that idea out of the water. reporter: is a museum dedicated to women's arts still needed as it might have been in the 1980's when the guerrilla girls were creating their direct confrontation advocacy art? much has changed as seen in exhibitions we featured including 17th century italian artist and contemporary americans such as sarah and for peta coin herself. you are exhibited in galleries and museums around the country and the world. is it still important for you to have work here in this museum? >> absolutely. reporter: why? >> it is sad that we still have to have this museum. this is what is sad. i am one of the privileged ones. i am. and maybe because i am irish and we dig until we die but i have

been blessed. but all those not blessed and are good, there are so many good women artists that do not get airplay. and it is just terrible. this museum must exist. and i think it should not be the only one. reporter: she and museum officials cite statistics including a recent survey of 31 u.s. museums showing 11% of acquisitions and a 15% of exhibitions between 2008 and 2020 were of work i women. >> i've seen changes over the last few years and they have been encouraging but i do not know if this is a sea change or a swing of the pendulum. it remains to be seen. reporter: is it possible to you to imagine a day where this museum is no longer needed? >> my hope is that we will reach

that day but i think there will always be a place for us as the leaders on this topic keeping it in the forefront of people's minds going forward. not just leading for gender equity in the arts but all kinds of equity and the arts. reporter: from the national museum of women in the arts in washington, d.c. ♪ geoff: voters in more than a dozen states will head to the polls tomorrow for republican and democratic presidential primaries. over one third of the delegates needed to clinch the nomination are up for grabs and we will be here covering it all. >> candidates prepare for super tuesday. will anyone catch trump? >> i really think this is time now for our country to come

together. >> what challenges will president biden face? >> donald trump's campaign is about him. >> the 2024 super tuesday elections. coverage begins on pbs. geoff: we hope you will join us. and that is the newshour for tonight. amna: on behalf of the newshour team, thank you for joining us. announcer: major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by -- ♪ >> on an american cruise line's journey, along the columbia and snake rivers, travelers read trees the route forged by lewis and clark more than 200 years ago. american cruise lines fleet of modern riverboats traveled through american landscapes drip -- two historic landmarks you can experience local customs and cuisine.

american cruise lines, proud sponsor of pbs newshour. announcer: the kendeda fund committed to advancing restorative justice and meaningful work through investments in transformative leaders and ideas. more at kendeda fund.org. ♪ supported by the john t and catherine t macarthur foundation. committed to building a more just and peaceful world. where 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. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

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