>> welcome to al jazeera america live from new york city. i'm jonathan betz. for the next hour we are going to focus on poverty in america - from president lyndon johnson's war on poverty speech 50 years ago and today. how far have we come helping struggling americans to create a better life with their children. >> first, the top stories - vice president joe biden says he'll lead the services for ariel sharon. the former israeli prime minister decide in a hospital in positive. he was a decorated general and a controversial leader and spent the last eight years in a coma after suffering a stroke.

he was 85 years old. nick schifrin is in jerusalem. how are people acting to the news? >> you said it. he was a controversial polarizing figure throughout his life and in his death. israelis beloved him. he was dubbed king eric because of his military victories using his original first name. he was hated by arabs who called him a brutal bulldozer. more than anyone he defined the israeli state. first as a soldier in the 1950s. he created a commando unit that created ruthless reprisals. he was a military leader who won famous bot battles and he redrew the borders. his aggressiveness caught up with him. he supported militias that went into refugee camps that

slaughtered hundreds of thousands of civilians. he should have resigned and it should have been the end of his career. he returned to power and as prime minister he redrew the borders, creating a separation barrier between israel and the palestine territories. he pulled out settlers he helped to in-store. for so many he was the pillar of strength, and for others he was the symbol of cruelty. that polarization is what we are seeing in the statements and responses. for example, from hamas, which runs the gaza strip , they say: - >> the president of isra israisrael shimon peres said: >> that polarization and controversy.

as one reporter put it, today's israel is ariel sharon's israel. that's what we'll see as he's laid in state and on monday for a funeral down at his form. >> nick schifrin live in jerusalem. >> in west virginia hundreds of thousands of residents are waiting for an all-clear on the water supply. a toxic chemical spilled supplies. officials cannot say when it will be safe again. a federal government is trucking in millions of gallons of water. the utility began to flush the pipelines. >> it's the 50th anniversary of the report that links cigarettes to lung cancer, changing the way americans look at cigarettes. new york yankee's player alex rodriguez is getting a reduced suspension. only one season. it will cost him $25 million in salary. a rod will ask a federal judge to throw out the arbitrator's

decision. >> and this administration today, here and now, declares unconditional war on poverty in america. [ clapping ] >> >> and with those words in 1964 president lyndon johnson declared a national war on poverty. now 50 years after that war began, time to assess how effective was it, and what can be done to help americans living in poverty. president johnson's season led to the creation of medicare, medicade, head start and food stamps. have they worked? some say no. we start with mark schnyder looking at lyndon johnson's speech. >> this administration today, here and now, declares unconditional war on poverty in

america. [ clapping ] >> >> the speech came less than two months after the assassination of president kennedy. >> our aim is not only to relieve the simply tom of poverty, but to cure it and above all, to prevent it. >> poverty has been a major concern of president kennedy, and with a country grieving and one in five living in poverty, lyndon johnson declared war on poveredy. >> a u.s. professor wrote a thesis on how poverty could undermine the united states, saying the speech was one of the best and the timing was perfect. >> lyndon johnson realised he was not going to be a loved president. the therefore it's easy to continue the line of a president that was

admired and take his agenda and make it yours, all the time making sure that you give enough credit to the person. >> let us carry forward the plans and programs of john fitzgerald kennedy, not because of our sorrow, our sympathy, but because they are right. [ clapping ] >> >> to help convince congress lyndon johnson took the plan to the people. lyndon johnson went to see the poorest of the poor in the mount of west virginia. >> every time you play the theatrics, you have success >> five years after the law passed, poverty dropped from 20% to 11%. today it's back around 1%, more than 46 million americans,

according to the sensis bureau. >> the riches nation on earth can afford to win it. we cannot afford to lose it. >> the world's poverty is another war america is not winning. we cannot win the war on poverty for anyone else. those affected by poverty can be empowered to get out of this condition. >> the professor believes president johnson had the best intentions and the war on poverty had an impact, but not the impact the country hoped for. trillions of dollars and decades later, poverty persists. >> what is the official definition of poverty? the federal government says it depends how many people are in a household. one person working a full-type of minimum wage earns about $15,000 of the poverty line is

$11,490 for a person living alone. add a dependent, a child or sick parent, a minimum wage puts them below the poverty line of $15,500. the more depend ents, the higher the threshold. >> west kentucky is a town where coal was the main industry. many there now are struggling. david brown tells us his story. >> my name is david brown. >> there's no jobs to be had. there's no industry in this part of the country. when we took the coal mines out it affected everyone. grocery stores, the people ain't making money.

you got to cut. >> they took the lifeblood. i don't know whose false it is. people like us - there's nothing. >> when you got laid off the mine, unemployment runs out. my brother-in-law, his unemployment run out here. i don't know what he's going do. if you are a young person, there's no future here. there's no need to stay. you may as well move off. that's what i'm afraid will happen around here. what jobs are here is minimum wage stuff. a young person had no business staying here.

i don't see it getting better. years ago in oklahoma, they packed up and left. >> i believe it when i see it. you know, they can promise, but i don't know if the jobs will be back. they talk about the environment and but people's got to eat and work and need to work. there's no other industry in here. i don't see them bringing nothing in here to provide a decent job. it looks bleak to me. i don't know. they can promise to do this. . >> i don't see it myself. >> thanks to david brown. president obama called for a

year of action and will build the first promise zone, economically challenged areas helping to get them back to where they need to be. they are in san antonioio, los angeles, philadelphia, southeastern kentucky and choctaw nation of oklahoma. the goals of the promise zones are to tackle poverty, expand educational opportunities and access to affordable housing and to improve public safety. heidi zhou-castro visited the promise zone in san antonioio and filed this report. >> the evening regiment in the kitchen of maxi valedez - dinner in the oven, and homework at the table. >> can i hear you spell the words. >> maxi valedez is a single mother of three, working part-time in a department store and getting government assistance. she also cares for her parents and for a sick aunt. >> the challenges of the bills and the challenges of putting food on the table for the kids.

any necessities they need for school is difficult. >> most households in this san antonioio neighbourhood shares the struggles. east side is historically black, ethnically mixed and 65% latino. 58% here live in poverty. the unemployment rate is double the average. >> this side of san antonioio is low to moderate income. a lot of folks who live there, the schools need help. there's a great spirit there. >> the promise zone designation for east side san francisco means the communicatee has priority consideration for future federal grants, and businesses that hire and invest in the neighbourhood may qualify for tax breaks, pending congressional approval. >> a lot of people look down on it because of the area. we have a lot of potential, we

do. we need people to give us that chance. >> maxi valedez lived in eastside for 20 years. semi saw improvements since an educational grand was won in 2011. more afterschool programs and a science high school for heredly else. in a neighbourhood where 40% of adults don't have a degree, she's determined that her children succeed in their education. >> if they graduate from high school first, it's opening a door for college. once college opens, the rest of their life begins. for maxi valedez, her promise zone is a nudge to lift her family out of the poverty and help her children fulfil their promise. a professor of contemporary urban studies, irv garfinkel,

joins us now. poverty 50 years ago must have looked different than it looks doed. correct? >> yes. >> how did it look back then? >> first of all there was more poor. second, the composition was different. more than one in three was over the age of 55 were poor >> older people were poor. >> yes. >> unambiguous that we made a great victory on the war on poverty against the elderly. we are below 10%. >> for the elderly. >> no, the big group has not done quite so well - they are the chin, families of the children. we have done better than the official measure in the case. the official measure does not count food stamps, does not count the earned income tax credit or public housing or housing substances. when you count the benefits, we

reduced poverty with families with children from around 30% to just about 15. cut it almost in half. >> again, back 50 years ago, i wonder if the quality of life was different. if it's fair to compare the two rates. as we mentioned there was concern of people having indoor plumbing, malnutrition, which are not huge concerns now. >> that's correct. the figures i cited you take the contemporary measure of poverty, which includes those kinds of improvements and goes backwards. when you use that measure, we made better headway against poverty than what the official statistics suggest. and it's broader than that. we were much healthier than what we were 50 years ago. everybody, including the poor. >> what are the big changes that someone in poverty is facing.

children are not necessarily starving, but they have major issues, true. >> yes, and inequality is up to where it was before the great depression. the roaring 20s. it's an embarrassment. the fact that we are talking about it is wonderful. i'm actually more optimistic than i have been since the 1960s that we'll do something about this >> really? >> yes. >> you believe there's a movement across the country. >> yes, the conversation, the fact that i'm here with you today. and it's broader than just priority. we are talking about inequality, which is really the fundamental issue. >> now, i think there's a larger concern and there's not a lot of sympathy out there for people living in poverty. i think there's a feeling among a lot of people in the country that people who are poor are poor because -- >> they deserve it.

>> -- because they want to be poor, because of poor decisions they made. >> that's a belief with no empirical backing. when you do research and ask people what their values are, there's virtually no difference between the poorest and the richest. where they are different is in their ability to achieve the values. >> what does that mean. why do we have poor people, especially in a country as rich as ours? >> i would say several things. one, we let the minimum wage lag. that's important. our social programs are not as good as they could be. i'd say the something important thing is we need to rebuild the infrastructure. that will increase the demand for low-wage labour. and at the same time will be -- >> you mean like highways and roads and buildings. >> bridges, tunnels. >> and we are so far behind, i'm not an engineer, but the society

of engineers have done studies on this, and give our countries on this, and give our countries a d. we led the world in infrastructure. >> basically create more jobs. and raise the minimum raise. >> yes. now is the time because interest rates are so low, when you invest in infrastructure, which will last, if it's a bridge, a tunnel, you don't pay for it now. >> my last question. president johnson, what would he say on the success rate on the war on poverty. would he give high marks. >> both. he will always give himself high marks. he deserves it, but he was - i'm not sure how honest he was. he was honest in terms of evaluating what he did. >> do you think he would be proud of how far a country has come, or not so proud?

>> given a midlevel grade, and if he had lived longer, and been president longer, we would have done better, actual. >> all right professor gar r thank you for -- irv garfinkel, thank you for coming in. it affects a lot of americans. >> a lot of people find it hard to make ends meet with the money they are making. >> they work hard but live in poverty. why so many american families are struggling. >> and 16 million children live in poverty in this country. ahead, what life is like for them. you are watching al jazeera america.

>> years after the war on poverty is the promise a lost cause. a main factor was people finding affordable housing, projects built across the country. 5 million families depend on rental assistance and millions of families live in housing public units, managed by 3300 housing authorities with varying degrees of success. melissa chan visited a project in san francisco. >> you don't get to see a lot of positive things >> drew jenkins walks me through the housing project where he grew up and works as a youth leader and activist. >> notorious for drugs, decay and violence. he shows me where he was wounded 10 years ago. it shattered his pelvis. >> shot 13 times with an ak.

>> sunnydale is a large housing project. the only retail store we came across, residents had much to complain about. >> the trash build up in all that. that is depressing. the parks are torn down, that is depressing. >> here is the so-called park. if the neighbourhood looks forgotten, the city has plans to change it, promising a multidevelopment project creating a mixed community, with gardens, open space, safe homes, green buildings and better schools. the promise go on and on. the utopia years away. children here continue to play in squaller. in the shadow of violence and crime. >> what we have seen here is neighbourhoods falling apart and neighbourhoods in need of repair, could not have been

lyndon johnson's vision. he established the cabinet level, department of housing and you'rian development. >> sunnydale was built in world war ii. it became public housing. residents say it was a pleasant place to live in the 1960s. people had jobs, and could save money until they had enough to leave. upon son believed the war on poverty -- president gordon johnson believed the war on poverty was linked. >> the federal policy was not about housing people and building structures. if the goal was to help families, especially african american ones to climb out of poverty, the war on poverty had lost its way long ago. >> we shouldn't have to live like this, it's filthy.

>> this was president lyndon johnson at the historic state of the union in 1964. >> we must, as a part of a revised housing and urban renewal program seek as our ultimate goal in our free enterprise system a decent home for every american family. >> decades after the speech, drew jenkins works at the youth center, trying to instill a sense of community. >> your house and home is everything. that's where you are supposed to feel safe. >> for the people here, that has been the dream, but not the reality. >> president obama said thursday that the government would begin to help five economically hard-hit communities in the country fight poverty. this is an approach to deal with stagnate rates. >> we are joined by sasha abramsky, an author of "the

american way of poverty," and "breadline usa: the hidden scandal of american hunger and how to fix it." what's your reaction it the promise zones? >> it's a good idea. it's part of the problem. one thing that lyndon johnson thought about was you had to bypass bureaucracy and bring the poor into a conversation about their lives. you can't just talk about people, you have to talk with people, bring them into the conversation. the encouraging thing about the promise zones is they are designed to stream line, bypass bureaucracies, designed to boost public transport systems, affordable housing and are designed to do so with public impact and participation. i hope it's a good start. i hope it doesn't become the end

point. >> the programs have been tried before, targeted help, to mixed reviews. why do you think this time it will work better. >> it is a mixed review. some work better than others. there have been extremely good results. >> some communities in atlanta have gone through tremendous rejuvenation. they were living cities projects which use public private partnerships. to say it is a failure is oversimplifying this. it works best when you bring communities into the conversation talking about how best to deal with the systematic problems. >> do you think that working on just a - on a local solution is best. why should these neighbourhoods and areas be more targeted when poverty affects many outside the areas. >> i think you are right. that's why i said it shouldn't

become an envoy. it's important to target areas. one of the area targeted is philadelphia, and some of the poor neighbourhoods in philadelphia. i spent a lot of time interviewing people in philadelphia for my book. you see entrenched poverty and dilapidated neighbourhoods. it makes sense to target areas for investment. that was done in the 1960, and in the 1930s. it goes back to the new deal. this idea that there were areas of the country with particular problems. they either didn't have access to the electricity grid or had high ingrained poverty. they had high literacy and malnutrition rates. it makes sense to funnel money where the need is greatest. one of the things we have seen in the last few decades and the scale is national. we see it in suburbs and in cities where there's a veneer of

affluence. people lost their homes. all over the country we see a debt crisis. people who are riding on credit cards but lost access to that income. if we adjust to 10, 15, 20 promise zones, we miss the scale of the problems. it is a starting point for a larger conversation about what poversy. >> break the problem into smaller points and they can build from there. author of the american way of the poverty, thank you for your time. >> thank you for having me on. >> empty buildings - when we return we go to detroit where many are struggling. that city was hailed once as a sign of success on the war of poverty. what happened. >> judging by landmark pov erties, could other ideas help.

you are watching al jazeera america.

>> wam to al jazeera america. i'm jonathan betz. our war on poverty special will continue. first the headlines - reaction to the death of ariel sharon is pouring in. he died in a tel aviv hospital. he spent the last eight years in a coma. his funeral will be on monday. >> in west virginia hundreds of

thousands learnt that they would not have tap water for some time. they are not able to estimate when their water can be used. >> new york yankees player alex rodriguez is getting a reduced suspension, out for the 2014 season. that will cost the third baseman $25 million in salary. a-rod said he will ask a federal judge to throw out that decision. >> target says 70 million customers had personal information stlg. initial reports suggested 40 million credit card users was compromised. it's not clear how they overlap with the 70 million. several states are launching investigations into the target security breach. >> neiman marcus say its customers were the subject of a breach. they announced they are working with the secret service to vet the break-in >> 50 years ago today the first

serge surgeon general report was linked on smoking. the first time it was linked as a principal cause of lung cancer. >> now welcome to the special coverage of the war on poverty. 50 years after president lyndon johnson declared that war. we look at that poverty today. his initiatives lead to medicare, medicate, head start and food stamps. the white house says the war on poverty has been a success. the poverty rate in 2012 was 16%, down from 26% in 1967. not everyone is encouraged. republican lawmakers say there's more that needs to be done. >> our federal government is a major embedment to the enterprise and injen uty of our people. an expensive tax code.

unsustainable national debt are suffocating the economy's ability to create steady and good paying jobs. that's why poverty and ipp equality has gotten worse. lyndon johnson once described detroit as an outstanding success story. millions poured in to help the poor. despite the effort 50 years later the motor city is considered a failure. since 1966 its population dropped by 400,000 people. al jazeera's reports on what went right and what went wrong. >> detroit today stands at the threshold of a bright future. >> it was 1966. motor city was the automotive and music capital of the world. detroit was considered a model city for lyndon johnson's war on poverty.

in 1967 the federal government sent 490 million to detroit to fight the 36% poverty rate, fund low income housing and social programs. in the summer of that year, this. a domestic rebellion. rioters destroyed city blocks, dozens of people were killed, thousands injured. >> 1967 was first and foremost about police brutality and violence against people in the neighbourhoods and the inner city of detroit, and the lack of economic opportunity. >> those were two things that the poverty programs were not set up to address. >> sheila cockrel was a civil rights act visit and a member of the detroit city council. >> the fiction is that it was a model city. >> an example of black-white conflict that exploded, accelerating the white flight and economic exodoes.

auto plants moved. >> we thought it would be a model of good race relations. and we found out we weren't. once the riots destroyed the notion and populations left. >> many who stayed did not trust the top-down approach to fighting poverty. some programs worked. the mums and tots clinic worked. >> children were able to get early childhood care and the nursery school. i don't think there was anything like that anywhere nearby. >> it was funded by the war on poverty, and beloved, untoucheded by the rioters. >> it worked it was local, neighbourhood centered. >> the mum and pops program operated out of the store front. it survived the riots, it did not survive the economic

decline. >> john gallagher, author of "revolution detroit" believes it won't come from an injection of money. >> it's not just a top-down solution, it's the things trying on the ground. >> detroit has 60% child poverty and a continuing exodus. the hope is that the city's resurrection will come from small businesses, private donors and people who care. >> america is among the richest nations in the world. one in six live in poverty. who were they. back in 1964 you had to make less than $1500. today it's about $11,000 annually. if you make minimum wage, you are not in poverty unless you have kids. is the u.s. winning the war. >> some worry no.

50 years ago 19%, and now all this time later close to is a% of americans are in poverty. that's 46 million people. studies show without the government benefits like food stamps and social security, the rate would have been higher. close to 30%. evidence some say the programs worked. also keep in mind the united states no longer has children, almost everyone now has indoor plumbing. >> another bright spot, the elderly. clearly it's dropped over the decade. close to 30%. now, less than 10%. medicare, social security are getting a lot of credit. the u.s. may not be helping if it's giving money to the poor. >> american spends a trillion a year fighting poverty, breaking down to 20,000 a person.

some argue it may be better to cut a check. >> the war on poverty did not do enough to create jobs. everyone that worked full time is not in poverty. some face a daily struggle. >> a fore now on a poor neighbourhood. >> supporting the wealth and family surviving on $1600 a month requires a financial shuffle. paying some bills, delaying others and worrying about every penny. >> fear that a little income that we have, if it leaves, where are we at? will i be out the door? >> 32-year-old alicia wilson is an until working mum, a nationally certified medical assistant, but can't find work in her field, earning $4.30 an hour and making tips. >> it makes me discourage the. when i look at the kids i can't

get discouraged. >> she pays $135 a month for public housing and relies on food stamps. it's a life shared with four daughters, and her fiancee who helps to pay the bills. she doesn't want this to be anything more tan a pitt stop on the way to a better life. they live in a section of miami, one of the poorest and dangerous neighbourhoods, and one full of families with dreams, colliding against the harsh realities. >> this is a symbol to wilson and other families of what is possible. she lived a life of poverty. now she runs a nonprofit. 50 years after lyndon johnson declared a war on poverty, the battle wages on for many.

>> people do not have the courage or will to address the challenges of these community. we allowed ourselves to be okay with saving some and not all. >> in the last year miami children's initiative built a playground and pushed a city to repave a main road and plant trees. the block by block approach is designed to show people they matter. the goal is that kids get the ticket out of poverty, a college education. >> children can do everything, if every community commence it and says in our block, on these streets in this community, our children will be the future, demonstrate the ones at the bottom. we'll see a different story. >> for wilson and her family, life was tougher. after our interview her hours were reduced. unable to afford gas for the

commute, she was forced to quit. >> concerned lawmakers argue that lyndon johnson's war on poverty has been a failure, even if it reduced the numbers. >> we are joined by brandon rice, and also a columnist for the washington times. >> do you think the war on poverty has been a failure? >> i think we are looking at the wrong thing. we are looking at social programs. we fail to look at quality education reform and getting to economics and saying, "the best social program is not a welfare check, it's a job." we had past presidents, j.f.k. said that. i think we have to get serious about what are the implications that cause poverty. >> what does that look like, trying to create jobs, trying to help the poor americans get jobs. how do you do that? . >> before you talk about creating a job, you have to

create the atmosphere. they need to do that in washington. you can't create a job, but you can create the atmosphere where the jobs flourish. >> how do you do that? >> it comes to taxation. we talk about job killers. it's heavy taxes. people say why would i bring an industry here, when i can bring it to where the taxes are lower. pumping money into small business administration. little things like that do big things. second of all, third of all, talk about education. and the quality. >> what do you make. president obama's promise zones. >> we did that in the '70s. instead of looking at promise zones, we need to look at lowering taxes, increasing minority business, and getting to the reality that although we

want everyone to go to college, but we have to prepare for those that don't. >> where do social programs, food stamps and unemployment - do they deserving a place? >> they do, but it's for a safety net, not a lifetime. we have to get serious about getting the individuals in the program. the ones that don't, it's time to take a second look. >> meaning ta people who - line, talk specifically about unemployment benefits. >> right. >> 1.3 million on long-term unemployment. do you think they should be extended. >> it's interesting. if you say yes, you look harsh. if you say no, you are looking at 1.3 million men's who are out of luck. >> i think the one thing you have to look at is creating new industries for those people to survive. really looking at low-term fixes, making sure they have an

opportunity to gain employment. the sad part is when we look at the unemployment numbers, according to the bureau of statistics, it's not full of time jobs, but part of time jobs. >> a lot of people say conservatives are not sympathetic. do you think that's fair? >> it's not about being fair, it's about looking at reality and telling the truth. the economy is not getting better. part-time jobs substituted what many in the past consider full-time employment. when we look at quality education, right now we have cities that are failing. some of the cities in the promise zone have low literacy rates, the lowest in septemberuries. we saw a major education dilemma in the 1970s, and we remained stagnant when it came to quality education, when we had a job

force and world that changed. we are not competing with our neighbour, but the world. >> do you feel like too many republicans are not sympathetic enough when it comes to the poor. the answer is often we need to create better and more jobs. when it comes to the minimum wage and unemployment benefits, they are usually ideas that are pushed aside. >> i wouldn't say they are pushed aside. >> they haven't cost. >> that's the culture of washington. we have a washington that cares about being re-elected than addressing the working poor issue. it's not a black, white or green think, it's an american problem we need to address. >> brendan rice with the washington times and republican strategist. >> when we come back, one out of every five american children are born into poverty. what is done to help them achieve the american dream. you're watching al jazeera america.

>> welcome back, more than 16 million american children, one in five live in poverty, that number has been growing steadily in the past 15 years. what life is like for the children growing up poor in new orleans. >> meet single mother april white. she grew up in a new orleans housing project, is 33 years old, has three kids and is studying to become a paralegal. and she is working a part-time job making less than the $24,000 poverty line.

>> nothing comes easy, everything is a struggle. >> being poor is a term she doesn't want her kids to grow up with. >> you know, the main thing i breach is education and perseverance in whatever you do. >> you know, you take a bad situation. and you totally make it good. >> that is what she's trying to do. since 2000. the number of poor children in america has increased 35%. that is over 60 million kids nationwide. >> as the war on poverty continues in metropolitan areas across america. you can see the remnants of projects once years ago holding families and children are now torn down. this one in new orleans, this courtyard just a few years ago, men children out here playing, not a safe place as it's ridden with gangs and violence. >> two decades after public housing demolitions began, four

out of 10 children in new orleans lived in high poverty neighbourhoods, one of the highest rates in america. katherine medina grew up in child poverty and running the harmony neighbour hood development, nonprofit. >> the biggest thing is having access to information, having access to quality products, quality food. you find a lot of poor kids are obese and things like that because they can't afford healthy food. >> it's called food insecurity, and the most recent data released by the u.s. department of agriculture reveals over 25% of african american households do not have access to proper nutrition, and that's a change of child poverty. we hear about murders every day and it amazes me that the

suspects are teenagers. >> with little or no structure and school not a priority. some schools formed gangs and life on the streets. >> it has to be individuals who are willing to work with the kids and who are committed to helping the kids make a difference. otherwise we are continually going to have more young people in gaol. >> for april white and her three children, they count their blessings each day, happy to have a roof over their heads and food on the table. >> a lot of people employ and make ends meet with the money you are making working all day. >> for white and others living below the poverty line, the belief raising the minimum wage could take the chiment out from the bellows of being poor is as real as every day life with as little or no money. >> a signature program is head start. designed to give children from low income families a better

chance at school. it serves about a million children and women a year. it's funding could be at risk. >> by all accounts martina hoen is an accomplished woman, law school graduate. congressional aid and said it started in a room like this one. >> head start made me believe that school was a happy place. school was a place where you could go and grow and learn. >> hone grew up in chicago, daughter of a single mum. her father stressed education. it head, but so did lessons learnt in head start. >> when i entered kindergarten i felt confidence. that is so much of your eighty to master anything new. the subtle thing, things that they may not be getting credit

for. >> do you like coming here. >> yes, it's my favourite class. >> why is that. >> this is my school. >> the three and four yooerlss in washington d.c. get more than an early education. there are two meals a day, health care, play time and classes for the mums and dads. head start helped more than 30 million children. even today, there's an ongoing debate about its effectiveness. two studies by the government found the benefit of head start by children and families appeared to fade. research by the government, commissioned by it, shows that there's no lasting benefits, including not just economic or educational. >> neil mccluskey believes head start, costing $7600 for every student, should be phased out. >> the research does not support

continuing head start, and certainly not expanding. >> the obama administration tried to boost standard for head start centres and the latest deal adds back some funding that was cut. many say the program was a life saver. >> my son is learning. it's so beneficial to me that it's, "oh, my cosh, i'm about to cry." >> it's so beneficial. they helped me so much. >> martina understands and now started a local nonprofit to help kids like these succeed after preschool. >> that is our special report on poverty in america. more on the website aljazeera.com. i'm jonathan betz, i'll be back in an hour with more news. first a check of the forecast and top stories after a quick break. thanks for joining us.

>> a powerful storm slamming into the pacific north-west right now in the 3 o'clock hour. seattle at sea tag airport with a 60 minneapolis. the highest wind gust is 69 miles an hour. 13 miles away, that's a powerful storm slamming into the north-west. gusts across the board. up to 40, 40 miles per hour. we have gusts up to 45 miles per hour on the coast. 50 miles for yakama. the winds will continue as we look at the satellite. an area of low pressure tracking towards vancouver island. as it moves north of the sound, the winds will get sucked up from the south and be stronger

yet and gust strongly all the way through seattle. this storm system dumped a lot of rain and is starting to really hammer the cascades with snow. snow levels not down to snow qualities, but steven's pass getting a quoting of snow. idaho and montana beginning to get the snow. skiers dlighting here in the next few days. now, as we look at the rain for the east coast, we had severe thunder storms, we still have a risk for north and south carolina . almost an inch of rain for seattle. over an inch for washington d.c. concerns for the north-east, where snow is on the ground and the ground is frozen. temperatures warming up, but we'll have a lot of water on the ground.

>> this is al jazeera america live from new york. former israeli prime minister ariel sharon died early this morning in the hospital at the age of 85. he was a polarizing figure, called everything from a terrorist to a fierce protector. he'll lie in state tomorrow, and a military funeral will be held on monday. >> baseball star alex rodriguez is getting a reduced suspension following a decision that he violated the league's performance enhancing drug policy. he will not plea the 2014 season, costing $25 million. a rod says he'll ask a judge to