captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening. i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour night: threat assessment. the heads of u.s. intelligence outline the dangers poseby china, russia and iran. then, searching r a way out. britain's parliament votes on competing plans to leave the european union, before a looming deadline. plus, school districts are required by law to provide services for students with special needs. but, not all meet those requirements. and when schools fail students with special needs from military families, the results can be devastating. >> i was responsible for the heth and welfare for 3,000 sailors, plus 2,000 additional atployers on our ship. and even though as stressful, it was more stressful for me to think about mywa daughter, whnot being taken care of by the public

school here. >> woodruff: all that and more, on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >>n a cruise with american cruise lines, you can experience historic destinations along the mississippi river, the columbia river and across the united states. american cruise lines fleet of small ships explore american landmark local cultures and calm waterways. american cruise lines,roud sponsor of pbs newshour. >> text night and day. >> catch it on replay. >> burning some fat. >> sharing the latest viral cat!

like to do with a wireless plan designed for you. with talk, text and data. consumer cellular.le n more at consumercellular.tv >> bnsf railway. >> babbel. a language program that teaches spanish, french, german,n, italnd more. >> and with the ongoing support these institutions: >> thiprogram was made ssible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: much of thean ameridwest is in the grip of a visitor from the north pole-- and it is moving east. forecasters warn the arctic blast will mean the lowest temperatures in a generation. the deep freeze has descended. ice choked waterways in chicago

today, and railway officials therset fires to keep frozen tracks from cracking. the frigid weather iced over the river in detroit as well, and prompted warnings everywhere. >> at these temperatures, evente minutes of exposure may very well be harmful. >> woodruff: all of this i the work of a polar vortex-- a low-pressure mass that normally sits near the earth's poles-- moving from north dakota to ohio. by tomorrow, readings in minnesota and the dakotas are expected to fall to minus-30 degrees, with a windchill ofmi nus-60. schools are taking no chances. they've already cancelsses in minneapolis and st. paul through at least wednesday.re >> tould be many unintended, unforeseen things that take place, that couldld expose a co dangerous temperatures for a prolonged period of time. >> woodruff: wisconsin has declared a state of emergency,

and so hile michigan and nois. the bitter cold has raised fears for the homeless. michigan governor gretchen whitmer visited a warming center in lansing today. this is an event unlike any we've seen in a generation, and i think it's really important that we protect people. >> woodruff: and dangerous rds caused chaos on monday. >> it's rough, slippery, and it's nasty. i'm hoping that it stops. >> woodruff: air tvel was also a casualty, as icy runways canceled more than 1,000 flights at o'hare international airport. and, chicago police body cam footage captured the dramatic rescue of a man who junto lake michigan to save his dog. temperatures are expected to plunge even lower on wednesday. in the day's other news, president trump's long-time friend and adviser, roger stone, pleaded not guilty to charges ol

obstructiong to congress and witness tampering. he was indicted as part of the special counsel's russia investigation. supporters and oonents greeted one as he arrived for his arraignment at federal court in washington. he made no public statements.ia the senate jud committee has put off a planned vote on the nomination of william barr to be u.s. attorney general. democrats raised concerns today that barr might not make public rtthe special counsel's ren the russia investigation when it is finished. barr had criticized robert mueller's probe before being nominated. the committee vote is now set for next tuesday. the senate majoritleader, mitch mcconnell, says he supports efforts to cut down on government shutdowns. he spoke today about various proposals in the house and the senate to block any future closures. >> i don't like shutdowns. i don't ink they work for anybody.

and i hope they will be avoided. i'd be open to anything that we can agree on, on a bipartisan basis, that would make them pretty hard to occur again. >> woodruff: congress now has less than three weeks to reach a deal on border security funding before the next shutdown deadline. meanwhile, stacey abrams will deliver the democratic response to president trump's "state of the union" address next tuesday. abrams narrowly lost the georgia gubernatorial race in november. in venezuela, the government's ief prosecutor called for a criminal investigation of l oppositider juan guaido. last week, guaido declared himself interim esident of they. coun so far, though, president nicolas maduro has refused to step down. meanwhile the u.n. says at least 40 have died irecent violence. it says 26 were killed by oro-government forces, andee than 850detained. china demanded today that the

u.s. stop what it called the "unreasonable crackdown" on tech giant huawei. the company was indicted mondayg on federal c that it stole trade secrets and violated sanctions on iran. beijing warned it will defend chinese companies, but it gave no details. back in this country, chicago police are investigating a possible hate crime against actor jussie smollett, star of the tv series "empire." he says two men assaulted him on a street early today. they allegedly shouted racial and homophobic slurs, poured an unknown substance on him, anded rope around his neck. smollett later went to a hospital. he's reported in good condition. the nation's largest utility, pacific gas and electric, filed for bankruptcy protection today. the utility faces hundreds of lawsuits over wildfires, even ough state investigators say that its equipment did not cause

2017 fire in california. the bankruptcy filing could mean higher bills for customers, and smaller payouts to fire victims. and, on dow jones industrial average gained 51 points to close near. 24,5 the nasdaq fell 57 points, and the s&p 500 slipped three. still to come on the newshour: intelligence community g its assessment of international threats to the u.s. critical brexit votes british parliament. the challenges faced by students with special needs from military families. and, much more. >> woodruff: today, the aders of the u.s. intelligence community testified to congres for what's called an annual threat assessment, and painted major dangers posed

by north korea, isis, and to u.s. election security. some of their testimonygh highd the differences between president trump's policies, and the intelligence community's assessments. here to help navigate the contradictions, ouforeign affairs correspondent, nick schifrin. nick, hello. so let's start with north korea. we know the president has emphasized dialogue with the north. what is the intelligence community saying? >> the intelligence community has long been sceptical that north korea would ever be willing to give up its nuclear weapons because they assess that north korea believes those weapons are an essential deterpght. that's exactly what wey.eard to let's listen to the director of national intelligence, dan coates. >> kim jong-un continues to demonstrate openness to the denuclearization of the korean peninsula. having said, that we currently assess thanorth korea wil seek to retain its w.m.d.

capabilities and is unlikely to completely give up its nuclear weapons and production capabilities because its leaders ultimately view nuclear weapons as critical to regime survival. >> so that scepticism is ontrast toin president trump's opting mitchell. president trump has said thatn kim jongs serious about denuclearization. let's talk history here. the last fourpresidents have gotten the same exact intelligence assessment that we heard today. president clinton got the same assessment and decided eventually to talk with theno h koreans. president bush got the assessment and decided eventually to talk with the north koreans. president obama got it and resisted that talk. president trump and his all say, maybe they won't denuclearize and we need to give it a try.th 's their policy decision. kim jong-un says we will consider denuclearization if the u.s. improves diplomatic relation, reduces sanctions ands reduces military testing.

>> woodruff: we know the president has declared victory ater isis, particularly in syria. re we hearing from intelligence officials? >> the president declared victory an wdeclared n. vice president pence has said the caliphate has crumbled. the intelligence inmmunity distished between the threat isis poses to capture more territory and the threat as an insurgent group. here is the director gina haspel answering a question from susan collins. >> it is significant that isis has suffered significant leadership losses and a near total losses of territorial control, but, of course, they're still dangerous, which is your poin and they're the largest sunni terrorist point and they still command thousands of fight centers iraq and syria. >> what president trump is looking at is a mility defeat. that's what u.s. troops are in syria to do, to fight isis, and that's what he promised. of course, ring the campaign. the intelligence community iso saying toing terrorist threat and insurgent threat is

much more difficult to tackle an just with the mlitary, and they're admitting that tht terrorist threat will continue. he woodruff: as well as the ideological threatpose. iran, the president has ended u.s.'sole in the iran nuclear agreement. what is the intelligence community saying about iran'sr nucleapacity? >> the trump administration has long said iran did not heed that 2014 nuclear deal and always wanted a nuclear weapon. but gina haspel toda the c.i.a. director, was much more nuanced. she said iran was complying with ine deal, but that it might start enrichmenhe future. so here is her talking with senator angus king, who is anin pendent but caucuses with democrats. >> since our departure from thea deal, they haided by the terms. you're saying they're considering, but at the curre moment they're -- >> they're making some preparations that would increase their ability to take a step back if they make that decision. so at the moment, technically

they're in compliance, but we do see them debating amongstth selves as they failed to realize the economic benefits they hoped for frdeom the al. >> what europe is trying to do is give iran some those economic benefits to keep iran inside the deal. tothe boston um line, iran is ll.ding by that deal sti >> woodruff: nick, what about u.s. election, a threat posed to those? >> ths has been a cosistent warning, red light from the intelligence community. they have been vey worried about the elections, security, both in 2018 andn 2020, and that was actually the first topic that the director national intelligence raised. >> we assess that foreign actors will view the 2020 u.s. elections as an opportunity to erests. their int we expect them to refine their capabilities and add new tacti as they learn from each other's periences and efforts in previous election. >> president trumt has no

personally focused on election security, but the government as well as private mpanies like twitter especially, have rallied. in 2018 in ways they didn't in 2016. but still, a we heard from today, the intelligence community very worried, especially with siina, rus and iran will continue cyber attacks. and they're simply not much they can do to prevent those from happening. >> woodruff: oneidhing the prt has talked about, of course, is the southern border. he's called it has national dcurity threat, but than't come up today. >> it barely came up. the intelligence community sp a lot of time talking about russia and china. the threats that they pose, and they said they're working together more than in the last 70 years or so. iran, election security, but thd "border" did not come up at all in the opening statement by the director of natiol intelligence, dan coates, and nobody repeated the president's language that thepo bordeses a make threat to the united states. >> woodruff: fascinating. nick schifrin, thank you. >> thank you.

>> woodruff: the british parliament debated a number of proposals today on how to proceed with regard to leaving the european union. in the end, they voted to authorize the prime minister to go back to the european union to try to get a better deal. special correspondent ryanon chilcote is inn, and has our report.r: >> rep another raucous brex debate in the british parliament.p this time,r consideration: two competing paths for the united kingdom's withdrawal from the european union. it came exactly two months before britain has to ave the e.u., and two weeks after prime minister theresa may'slan suffered the worst parliamentary defeat in british history. since then, members from all sides have been offering ideas. today, they voted on more than a half a dozen proposals. en i believe that we are in

reach of an agreem but the days ahead are crucial. >> reporter: the first major proposal today-- keep the prime minister in charge of the process, but send her back to the e.u. to re-negotiate better terms.lt the secondnative: give may another month to secure a deal to parliament's liking. failing that, turn the future of brexit over to parliament and extend the deadline-- something she says would be a betrayal. >> i'm not prepared to stand still and put at risk either the brexit the people of this country voted for, or the success of this country. >> reporter: may has refused to step aside, but acknowledged that parliament must have more say in the final deal. the first plan-- keepi in charge of brexit-- calls for her to seek a better agreement from the e.u., on what is called the "irish backstop." right now,orthern ireland--

which is part of the united kingdom and still part of the european union-- and the republic of ireland-- also part ofhe e.u.-- have no land border, so cars and goods can cross easily. may's original brexit plan would have kept that border open when the u.k. leaves the e.u., as it has been ever since the good friday agreement that brought an end to the troubles in ireland 20 years ago.ve but conserva politicians have rejected part of the agreement focused on the border, saying it could leave britain subject to european union trade rules indefinitely. in an effort to win over those conservatives today, may pledgeo o something she has, up to now, said will never work. >> negotting such a change will not be easy. t i believe that with a mandate from this house and supported by the attorney general, the chancellor of the duchy of lancaster and the secretary of state fting the e.u., i can secure such a change in advance for our departure from the e.u. >> reporter: the e.u. has refused to budge on the backstop. less than an hour after may's

comments today, e.u. officials shot it down once again. still, there is growing concern that if britain crashes out of the e.u. on march 29 without a formal agreement, food shortages, plummeting housing pric and economic distress could follow. that's why some lawmakers-- including opposition and labour partleader jeremy corbyn-- a trying to force may's government to delay britain's exit from the e.u. >> labour will today back amendments that attempt to rule out this government's reckless option of allowing the u.k. to crash out thout a deal. everyone, everyo but the prime minister, accepts that this would be disastrous. >> reporter: delaying brexit would mean extending the so-called "article 50" that triggers the withdrawal process. but corbyn rebuffed efforts from his own party to call for a second brexit refereum.

>> is the p.m. seriously telling the house to wait until february >> reporter: against all odds, the prime minister succeed in mustering the support she needed for the idea of her going back to the e.u. to renegotiate the deal. it's her first win in a long while. e'll be hoping the e.u.'s insistence that it wouldn't negotiate any more was just a bluff. so success the underfor the prime minister, but definitely ot an unqualified success, because at the ethe day, she has to get the european union to agree to chae a deal that she already agreed to. judy? >> wdruff: so ryan, what ar the prospects then of the e.u. being willing to renegotiate, and what are her prospects of getting a better deal for leaving the e.u.? >> well, listen, you listen to their rhetoric, if you listen to the e.'urhetoric, the

spros suspension are very dim. they have been very clear eventh afte vote in saying that there will be no change to the deal. she agreed to it. they agreed to it. it's done as far as they're concerned. and we'rtalking about 27 countries on the other side of the negotiating table. so it's difficult to see how that could change, but what she will be etting on is thawhen she goes back, she'll say, look, i finally showed you that i can get a majority in the parliament ar a deal. we can agrongst ourselves on something, and that's the deal that we have already agrd with you, if you agree to change this one little thing, she wil describe it as, and that's the backstop. c they've said nange to that, but she's hoping that they're bluffing. a woodruff: so ryan, wt happens if she doesn't get a better deal? then what? >> well, if she desn't get a better deal, then things get complicated. she will come back to the housef

of parliament bruary 13th. that's what she's talking about now, coming back f another meaningful vote where they will vote on whatever she has, whether it was the old deal or a slhtly tweaked del with some maybeclarations on the side of it, but without any legal changes to it, ande se if she can get that through. of course, you know, she iske un to get it through. then she'll have to negaiotiate with all the members of parliament. then we'll be looking at other options,ncluding running down the clock closer to march 29th when, no matter what, the u.k. as things stand now has leave the european union. >> woodruff: and very quickly, ryan, prospects for anfeher ndum in the u.k. on this? >> very interesting. e appetiteem to be t for that right now. there was an initiative today that was voted on in thue hoses of parliament, and the , no, that'sian sa not something we want to consider right now. i think the most likely thing is that if she doesn't have a deal

by march 2-9dou would start to see some changes in the parliament trying to eitr extend the u.k.'s relheionship withrew you so they can continue to negotiate or maybe even put it back to the people for a vote. but not right now. right now it is basically theresa may lives another day to continue her fight. >> woodruff: ryan chilcote reporting for us from the parliament. thank you, ryan. >> woodruff: we turn now to capitol hill. toth the federal government reopened, lawmakery were focused on committee hearings and legislative agendas.bu the pressure to avoid a second government shutdown hangs over congress. to discuss all this, i'm joined by republican senator sun collins of maine. senator collins, welcome back to the newshour. so, first question, what do you think the prospects are of anoter shutdown in three wks?

>> i'm very optimistic that we can avoid another shutdown. shutdowns are never justified, no matter what the cause may be, and i believe that those who thought a shutdown would be disabusede have bee of that notion. >> woodruff: do you know, senator, w mt theority leader, mitch mcconnell, was referring to today when he said he would like to see shutdowns made more difficult in these kind of budget neg totiations? re some kind of plan in mind? >> there are a couple of bills that have beeduintd that would have a mechanism by whi vernment would go on what we call a continuing resolution, a stopgap funding at the current 'svels in order to avoid any shutdown, and the lot of interest in how we could craft that to ensure that this is the last shutdown at our country

will ever endure. >> woodruff: you think that could get do in three weeks? >> i do. i believe that we can come up with a compromise that will allow us to fund soe of the president's border security initiative as well as to fund the remainder of government for the rest of the fiscal year through september 30th. and part of thact pakage may well the some sort of legislation that has a mechanism to ensure that no matter what the policy disputes may be, that there will not be a future shutdown. >> woodruff: i want to ask you about the president's demand for money for border security, because he is continuing to say there has be mney here for some kind of physical barrier at the border. democrats, as u know, are saying no, no money for a physical barrier. do you think the pdent could in the end be prepared to give

on that? >> i think there is plenty of room for a compromis on this issue. you have speaker nancy pelosi saying not one dollar for any kind of physical barrier despite the fact that we have bilt 654 miles of physical barriers, fences for the most part, in e last two administrations, botham president and president bush's administration. and then you have th president asking for $5.7 billion for some sort of wall or steel fence.of there's a looom between not one dollar and $5.7 billion. >> woodruff: so you think the democrats are going to need to do the giving? is that what you're saying, that they'll put some monehe line? >> i think both sides. keep in mind that just this past summer in the appropriations

committee in the senate, we proved a bill for the homeland security department that included $1.6 billion for physical barriers as well as other means of strngengtheur border security. the president's plan is to include actually $7 billion beyond that because it includes border patrol agents, immigration judge, cenr, roads to remote areas, new technology. we need an all-of-the-above approach, and i believe that people of goodwill can come a togethd come up with a package. >> woodruff: well, we're all anxious to know what that in between language is going to be. benator, several other things i want to ask youut very quickly. we heard the acting attorney general say this weethat he believes the special counsel's investigation, robert mueller's ngvestigation will be wrap up soon. do you know whether that's true

or not? >> i really don't. certainly the special counsel has handed down amber or has secured i think 34 indictments and some convictions and itll might e logical that he is at the point where he's wrapping up his investigation, but i tain. know that for cer >> woodruff: and a completely different topic, senator, we're seeing a large number of democrats express interest in running for president in 202 we're even hearing conversation from republicans who may be thinking about challenging president trump for the republican nomination. are you at this point prpared to endorse president trump? >> i'm really focused on my own campaign for 2020, and i really haven't foc ousthe presidential campaign. so i'm not prepared at this podet to make thacision. >> woodruff: do you expect at

some point between now and november of 2020 to endorse the president since you're a repuoican? >> i't know. i'm going to have to see what happens between now and ten, and look at what his record is. i can't imagine that i would endorse any of the democrats who are running right now, but i'm going to focus on 2020 in 2020. >> woodruff: but you'reth leavindoor open to perhaps support another republican? >> well, i'm just not focused on it, judy, right now, so i'm neither ruling it nor ruling it out. >> woodruff: allight. senator susan collins of maine, thank you very much. we appreciate it. >> thank you, judy. >> woodruff: stay with us.

coming up on the newshour: renewed efforts to pass the equal rights amendment. a conversation with sandeep jauhar, cardiologist and author of the book "heart: a history." and, i speak with three governors about working across the aisle with the other party. navigating a school system canng be challenor any parent with a child who has special needs. but for military families, that stress is compounded by their r lifestyle eated moves and attending different schools that offer varying levels of services. in her second report focusing on military kids, special ozcorrespondent kavitha ca with our partner education week, reports from virgiiaa beach, virgwhere a third of children in need of special educatn services can fall through the cracks. it's part of our e"mcation seriesing the grade." >>ave a good day! >> reporter: after yf military moves, navy captain cassidy norman was posted to.

virginia bea >> bye! >> reporter: the normans had livehere before, and their daughter loved her former school. 14-year-old marisa has several disabities, including cerebral palsy, severe anxiety, poor eyesight and hearing. >> so, her disabilities are all compounded in the classroom. it'sifficult for her to list and learn and write, at the same time. >> reporter: marisa needs one- on-one help and therapies-- but she has normal intelligence, which means, with patience and educational accommodations, she can learn just like any of her classmates. virginia beach is surrounded by bases and the economy is closely tied to the military. its schools have several programs to support military kids. but, several service members say the district is not meeting the needs of their children with disabiliti eileen huck with the national military family association says obtaining special educationes

servs a "significant challenge" for service members rotionwide. >> so often i hearfamilies who had things set at their previous location, and then they had to move, and then they feel as though they're starting from scratch. >> reporter: the military does consider a child's medical and educational needs during assiments... >> but there is less attention paid to the special education services, because federal law says that all school districts are required to provide a free and appropate public education. >> reporter: all children with special needs, in every public school district, are entitled to an evaluation and individualized plan, detailing the supports they will recei. but when marisa returned to the virginia beach district, her parents noticed right away something was wrong. >> we weren't getting progress reports.ep theytaking away services and goals from her education plan. >> it was very frustrating. >> at the same time, they wouldr giveonor roll and student of the month, but all the while,

she was stagnating and, in some areas, regressing. c >> reporter:sidy was away on training, and then deployed to the middle east.l, ste would call into meetings about marisa, which he said school officials often postponed or cancelled. more than a year passed, andno ing significant changed. the normans moved marisa to a private school. they also hired a lawyer. >> and i was so depressed.wa 't myself. i was crying all the time. g i had see a therapist. td cass was so worried ab ak, he had to send the base chaplain to come so me. >> during this case, i w responsible for the health and welfare for 3,000 sailors, plus 2,000 additional psonnel deployers on our ship. even though that was stressful, it was more stressful for me to think about my daughter, w was not being taken care of by the public school here. >> reporter: aaron spence is superintendent of virginia beach

city public schools. >> well, i want to be clear-- we actually do a great jowith our special education program in virginia beach. on rare occasions, we have some disagreements and differences with our families. fortunately, we have a great system for working through that. >> reporter: some military families here disagree. bryn bennett, adriana rodriguez and sydney jillson all have children with special needs: >> a few weeks after my husband left for deployment, my son was having some sort of breakdown in the classroom. they couldn't get him to calm down. and, i got there, and they had chairs lined up. it was almost like he was a caged animal. >> to see the people that i know are supposed to be on his side,t the ont are supposed to be helping him, to see them pushing his buttons and upsetting him to such l >> they didn't listen to a word we had to say, they didn't listen to a word his doctors.ad to s they didn't offer any supports. h>> reporter: virginia be

would not comment on any of the cases, saying it would be"ca inappropriate e we remain in litigation and due process with many of these families."t" but in a w statement, a spokesperson said the school district is committed to gproviding the best learn environment possible for all children." we he nationally recognized partnerships with our local installations and are acknowledged as a premiere provider of services in the military community." but in one complaint, which included military families, investigators found virginia beach schools were offering only the bare minimum in services, which translated into a deficient education. advocate eileen huck says there are school districts that just "wait it out." >> it's unfortunate, but i think it's sometimes true, that school districts will be hesitant to provide a new service or new resource to a family they know is going to be moving out of the district in a year or two. >> we're not activists. we're not looking for a fight. we're looking for a good community.

>> reporter: it is rare for a faly to file a formal complaint, and even more rare for them to win. but a virginia department of education investigation found that the school district had not provided the minimum education required by law for marisa. e school district appealed. the normans won again in federal court, and virginidebeach was ord to pay for her private school. >> marisa! oh! >> reporter: marisa had ton repeat a grader new school, t now, she's doing well. >> she plays on the volleyball team. >> she's making friends. she's learning. >> reporter: providing special education services can be expensive for school dtricts, but as the normans say, it's federal law. they say virginia beach schools have already spent more than $30000 just on their case. the normans say they hear from many other military families: >> and very few, if any, are able to afford a lyer. it's been depressing to see all the families that cannot fight the fight that we' been

fighting. and all the families that have given up or are afraid of retribution, and will not speak out. >> reporter: the virginia beachs schoolict recently stopped paying for marisa's private school, and is appealing the verdict, which means another long court case that michelle will have to deal with, on her own, because cassidy norman has just received transfer orders ipr a 15-month posting on a based in italy. for the pbs newshour and education week, i'kavitha cardoza in virginia beach, virginia. >> woodruff: it was almost 100ar ago, in 1923, that alice paul, a leader of the women's suffrsge movement, introduced to the public th idea of what would eventually becomproposed equal rights amendment. the rising voices of women, the passage of civil rights laws, and the power of organized labor all helped build momentum in the

'70s, when it passed congress. but opposition also mounted over time. as state legislaturefaced ratification votes, the e.r.a. ran out of steam and hit a wall. now, as amna nawaz reports,er is a new energy to try one more time to get it ratified. >> we want e.r.a.! weant e.r.a.! >> nawaz: it was over 40 years ago that congress proved the equal rights amendment, or e.r.a., and women took to the ndreets to get it ratified as a constitutional ant. >> so as we march today, rememb: forward together, backward never!rs >> nawaz: lady betty ford argued for it in 1975. il by the end of this century, i hope this nationbe a place where men and women can freely choose their life's work without restriction, and without ridicule. >> nawaz: the e.r.a. would guarantee protection from sex

discrimination in the constitution, something not explicitly stated elsewhere. s s "equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the united states or by any state on account of sex." but before it could be enshrined .a the constitution, the e needed three-quarters of all states, 38 tal, to ratify it. congress set a deadline for that goal. thtee.r.a. came up three sta shy by the original deline in 1979. 1982 saw a deadline extension. still, the e.r.a. fell short. but the largely latent campaign to ratify the e.r.a. picked up steam again two yearago, partly due to the "me too" movement. nevada became the 36th ste to ratify it in 2017, followed by illinois last year. supporters had hoped virginia would be the 38th state to ratify it, but last week, virginia failed to push it through. there are now several bills in congress to either extend or work around the deadline.

jackie speier, a cala democrat, introduced one. >> why is this important? becausunder the law in this country today, women need to ort only show that there is discrimination ir to win victory in court, but they need to show that the discrimination was intentional. and that is a very high bar to azmake. >> nawfive states that ratified the e.r.a. decades ago have since rescinded those petes. if a 38th state stin now, the battle could move to court. there's stposition to the e.r.a. some conservatives oppose it, arguing itould overturn abortion restrictions, that the deadline to ratify has long ulst, and that the e.r.a. make it more difficult to separate sexes in some falities. we'll examine some of those claims in a moment, but first, tolet's hear about the pus pass the e.r.a. from kate kelly,

an attorney working on these issues for the group, equality now. welcome to the newshour. >> thanks for having me. >> nawaz: so we just heard there virginia was widely that 38tho state that was going to push it over the finish line. does it have to be vir could another state step in right now and get the e.r.a. over that line? >> there are 13 stas that are yet to ratify, so any of those heates could ratify and be t one to push it over the finish line too get the three-fourths cessary. it's not quite dead in virginia yet. it did fail in one of the cmmittee, butpe theer of the house could still bring it to the floor. there is another option with a rule change ey're going to try to get. so it's not 100% dead in virginial we're stossing our fingers. but there is also north carolina has a vote, arizona has a bill coming up this session, and so there are lots of hopes inve l of the states. >> woodruff: >> nawaz: what about the other states we heard about, thveose hat rescinded their votes. does that take away from the 38 tally?

>> states attempted to rescind before the original deadline had passed, but there is a reay gaudreauust legal argument that rescissions don't count, in fact, with three amendments previous amendments, states attempted to rescind and wit the 14th amendment, two states attempted to rescind and that were not counted. they just counted in the final passage. so they were listed among the states that had ratified. >> nawaz: so there are a couple of legislative efforts being introduced.er is one that would elude the deadline altogether. another would restart the eithea ration process. how do they change the landscape and do either of them have eance? >> essentially tr.a. is going to happen. the question is do we get the start from where we left off in 1972, or do we have to start over, pass a new e.r.a. ad hav it ratified by three-fourths of the states. in my opinion, it is going to happen, like susan b. anthony said, "failure is impossible." the question is how.

the deadline l moval biluld eliminate that 1982 deadline put in place by congress. the deadline was originally in the preamble to the e.r.a., soha it's notthe states ratified. it wasn't considered. it wasn't part of the actual amendment. so congress put it in, they can take it out. y e other strat representative maloney is to start over, with a new e..a., pass it in both houses and then send it to the states for ratification. >> naw: the same language and intention, just starting the proces banew? >> tll is new. the original e.r.a. written by alice paul and evensally pased did not have the word "women" in it. and representative maloney's bill actually puts the word "woman" into a lot of women. >> nawaz: this might shock people. do you find that's a huge obstacle, just reminding people that's the current landscape? >> over 80% of americans think we already have an equal rigt s

amendmd that it passed and that it's in the constitution. so overcoming that barrier of educating people and letting them know, women are not protected to thexullesttent under the constitution comes as a real shock to most people.yo >> heard me hint at opposition arguments. some people oppose it because progress has been made i of states without the e.r.a. we've narrowed the pay gap. a number of statese basically passed their own version of the e.r.a., so why is this still neessary? >> 24 states have their own version of the e.r.a. however, in many of the ways that we've made progress are and under assault. we've relied on title ix. title ix is under attack. we've relied on equal pay acts. a lot of theiseecemeal types of legislation are at the wh tim people in congress. so they could be changed at think time. they could be defunded at any

time. but what we -- what can't be changed and what is a permanent protection is something that we t in the constitution. when you think of other amendments, like the second amendment or firsdment and how powerful those are to protect those rights, that's what we wuld have for women. >> nawaz: so you're worried all those otherllma legal issues, if they get undermined, those states gn udermined and those protections, too. >> and state laws only apply to that state some the federal constitution protects every woman and girl in tse united states of america. whereas if you ve in a state that doesn't have an e.r.a. or a state e.r.a. is lacking, you're not protected. >> nawaz: kate kellyf equality now, thanks so much for being here. >> thank you. >> woodruff: it's time for the latest installment of our newshour-"new york times" book club, "now read this." jeffrey brown has our conversation.

>> brown: heartbreak, heart attack, heart transplant, it's the organ that's at the heart of ofr health and emotional life and the subjec centuries of medical research. it's also the subject of ourk january boclub selection "heart: a history." author dr. sandeep jauhar iso hereswer some of the questions our readers sent in. first of all, thanks for doing this for us. >> thank you for having me. >> brown: give anerview of what you're after. you're looking at the heart asha metaphor, as mcs, as science. what were you doing? >> i have always been fascinated by the shuman heart, ao i wanted to write about it. my fascination stems from three reasons really. one is that i have a malignant family history of heart disease. my grandfather, paternal grandfather died when my father was only 14 years before i was born. i never met him. his deathúreally affected my

father and by extension all of us as i was growing up. the family history played a role. i'm ciso just fasted by the fact that the heart is just such an amazing machine. it's really the most amazing machine that nature has devised. it's a machine that pumps three billion times in aypical human lifetime. and finally, i was reallyed fascinnd i learned this more as i was researching the book, by the history of hearter disc you know, the heart had never been operated on up until the 1 end of tth century. it just is an organ that has unique challenges to surgical it's always moving, and it's filled with blood. how do you operate on it? so that history was one i really wanted to explore in the book. >> brown: okay. so will let's goquo some tions from our readers. >> what is your favorite heart metaphor? >> brown: heart metaphor. i arted with heartbreak, yeah.

>> there are a number i can think of, but probably take heart. take heart. th reason why isit is sort of what my father, it was like his prescription for living. you know, after his father died and my grandfather, there was really no one leading the hobame in 1950s india. and my father would go and he started going to college and he would walk home, you know, his family was indigent, and my grandmother would tell him, take heart, have courage, and soe beca's so cross cultural, i would say take heart. >> brown: okay. let's go to the second question. >> how much can ano emtional state affect the functioning of the heart? >> brown: the emotional sate affect the functioning of the heart. a lot of people wonder about. this you write much about it. w know that the emotions

affect the heart in many different ways. ute emotional disruption cange chhe heart's shape. why emotional stress would cau t the heare change shape, i mean, it's just fascinating, and 's really a mystery. so there is no question that the emotions, acute emotional disruption can affect the heart, and chnic emotional disruption. we know that people in difficult relations with their children and their touses who have a l of occupational stress devel premature heart disease. >> >> brown: let's go to our next questi. >> i'm wodering what you foresee as next major challenge or barrier to overcome in coronary or cardiac medicine. >> brown: so much of the bookt is abeecades, centuries of research. >> yeah, yeah. >> brown: where are we now? what's net? >> there is no question that we have, that cardiology is one of the great success stories of the

20th century.r xample, when coronary angiography was invented in 1958, the mortality from a heara attack waout 30%. now it's about 3%.ity. how much lower can we go? i think, and i advocate in the book, that the next step in heart disease and in coronary disease is really focg us the emotions, how we live, becausthat really is an area that's been relatively underexplored. it's so much easier forst cardioloto prescribe a pill to lower cholesterol than it is to lower social and emotional disruption. the next accept is focusing on our emotional lives. >> brown: okay. i think we have timeor one more, and it goes to some of these issues you were just talking about. what is one change to the standard american diet that would have thet greatpact in reducing heart disease? >> brown: okay. there's the questiorybody wants to know, right?

you started with your own al story. >> yeah. >> brown: what should people do? >> in the book i talk about when i learned that i myselhave heart disease, and, you know, wi living a pretty the healthy leaf and i was exercising and i would say that the best information we have at this point, to be perfectlyca prac is to follow a mediterranean diet. that's a diet that'rich in olive oil, in fruits and vegetables, a little bit of wine, whole grains, fish, kind of wh michael pollen advocates, which is history prescriptions foa goodiet is eat food, which means food that your mother or youmor graer would recognize as food, not too much, mostly plant. >> brown: all right. as always, we'll continue with our questions and have the full conversation on our now rea d this facebook page. for now, sandeep jauhar, thank

.ou so much for joining us >> thank you. >> brown: and let me announce our februa pick. we're returning to fiction withi the oscars up at the end of next month, "the wife" is a novel about a nobel prize-winning writer with a big secret. the film version came out last year and t great glenn close picked up an oscar nomination for best actress. join us, read alongdiscuss the book and more with other readers on our facebook page. it's all part of now read this, a become club partnership with "the new york times." >> woodruff: as washington d.c. feels more divided now than ever before, some leaders on th state level are aiming for something often unheard of in today's politics: common ground. last night, i sat down with governors from three states who have had to work withgi atures dominated by the opposite party.

all three were critical of washington's handling of the federal government shutdown. maryland governor larry hogan told me he "would have done everything differently."go but thrnors also struck a hopeful note about the state of american politics. here's a little of that. >> as you look at this audience, we were really, really frustrated for all the reasons we've been talking about.gi can yo them hope? can you give them a few sentences to believe that the w system is stilrth believing in, that weu haven'tst lost our way in this country? >> you know, i know people are very frustrated. i'm frurated, not just wth washington, but the divisive, angry politics, and i know a lop ple are ready to give up, and they say that the system is broken and that w can't do anything about it. i just happen to believe that in spite of how divided we are that there really is moe that united

us as americans than that which divide us. i think a majority of people would like us to get back toward like i said, that middle ground, where we can all stand together. and we can't keep going like this. >> i'd suggest that you show some respect to the people that you're debating with. recognize that you have certain deeply held beliefs and principles, but you might be ngle to learn sometrom them. i think that respect is what we need to see a little more of democracy is not about yelling at each other. it's not about making pronouncements. it's about engin and i think if you do that honestly, you'll end up a good place. >> have some empathy. cticewhat it means, and pra it. know what respect is, and practice it. practicing these tings that we know what the definitions of are the key to actually reall t comiether and having viable discussions. that should give people hope. the formula is there. we don't need to rebuild our system. we don't need to change the yules because we're not happy. the sstem really, really works.

the founding fathers were brilliant angot it right. they really did. because we're in a polarizing point doesn't mean we should give up on the system.ha be part ofsolution. >> woodruff: ove conation at johns hopkins university in baltimore also touched on the 2020anpresidential contes speculation over governor hogan's own ambitions. >> look,m really focused on maryland. i just was sworn in last week t for my secorm. that's where my focus is for right now. i'm flattered that people are talking about that as a possibility, but it's no something i'm focused on. >> woodruff: but you're not ruling it out? >> who knows what will happen two years from now. you never know. >> woodruff: you never know. that was a conversation that was inspired by the snf angora institute. and that's the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. join us online, and again hereve tomorrowng. for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you, and

we'll see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> babbel. a language program that teaches spanish, french, german, italian, and more. >> consumer cellular. >> american cruise lines. >> the ford foundation. working with visionaries on the frontlines of social change worldwide. >> carnegie corporation of new york. supporti innovations in education, democratic engagement, and the advancement of international peace and security. at carnegie.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions >> this program was made possible by the corporation for

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