captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening. i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight: threat assessment. the heads of u.s. intelligence outline the dangers posed by china, russia and iran. then, searching for a way out. britain's parliament votes on competing plans to leave the european union, before a looming deadline. plus, school dretricts are ired by law to provide services for students with special needs. but, not all meet those. requiremen and when schools fail students with special needs from military families, the results can be devastating. >> i was responsible for the health and welfare for 3,000or sa plus 2,000 additional deoyers on our ship. and even though that was stressful, it was more stressful for me to think about my daughter, who kes not being care of by the public school here.

>> woodruff: all that and more, on tonight's pbs newshr. >> major fundiws for the pbs ur has been provided by: >> on a cruise with american crcese lines, you can experi historic destinations along the mississippi river, the columbia river and across the unid states. american cruise lines fleet of small ships explore american landmarks, local cultures and calm waterways. american cruise lines, proud sponsor of pbs newshour.t >> tght 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. learn more at consumercellular.tv >> bnsf railway.ab >> bbel. a language program that teachesf spanisnch, german, italian,nd more. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: >> this program was made fossible by the corporatio public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: much of the americanidwest is in the grip of a visitor from the north ale-- and it is moving east. forecasters warn ttic blast will mean the lowest temperatures in a generation. the deep freeze has descended. ice choked waterways in chicago

today, and railway officials there set 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, even ten minutes of exposure may very well be harmful. >> woodruff: all of this isth 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 innn ota and the dakotas are expected to fall to minus-30 degrees, with a windchill of minus-60. schools are taking no chances. they've already canceled classes in minneapolis and st. paul through at least wednesday. >> there could be many unintended, unforeseen things that take place, that could expose a child tdangerous temperatures for a prolonged period of time. >> woodruff: wisconsin has declared a state of emergency,

and so have michigan and illinois. the bitter cold has raised fears for the homeless. michigan governor gretchen whitmer visited a warming center in lansing today. a>> this is an event unli we've seen in a generation, and i think it's really important that we protect people. >> woodruff: and dangerous roads caused chaos on monday. >> it's rough, slippery, and it's nasty. i'm hoping that it stops. >> woodruff: air travel 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 jumpednto lake michigan to save his dog. temperatur are expected to plunge even lower on wednesday. in the day's other news,p' president trlong-time friend and adviser, roger stone, pleaded not guilty to charges of

obstruction, lying to congress and witness tampering. he was indicted as parhe special counsel's russia investigation. supporters and opponents greeted one as he arrived for hi arraignment at federal court in washington. he made no public statements. the senate judics ry committee t off a planned vote on the nomination of william barr to be u.s. attorney neral. democrats raised concerns today that br might not make public the special counsel's report on the russia investigation when it is finished.rr ad criticized robert mueller's probe before being nominated.th committee vote is now set for next tuesday. the senate majority leader, 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 think 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: congrs now has less than three weeks to reach a deal on border security funding before the next shutdown deadline. meanwhile, stacey abrams willde deliver thcratic response to president trump's "state ofdd the union"ss next tuesday. abrams narrowly lost the georgia gubernatorial race in november. in venezuela, the government's chief prosecutor called for a crimal investigation of opposition leader juan guaido. last week, guaido declared himself inrim president of the country. so far, though, presidentdu nicolas has refused to step down. meanwhile the u.n. says at least 40 have died in recent violence. says 26 were killed by pro-government forces, and me than 850 were detained. china demanded today that the u.s. stop what it called the

"unreasonable crackdow on tech giant huawei. the company was indicted monday on federal chaes that it stole trade secrets and violated sanctions on iran. beijing warned it will defend chinese companies, but it gave no detai. back in this country, chicago police are investigating a ssible hate crime against actor jussie smollett, a star of the tv series "empire." he says two men assaulted him oe a early today. they allegedly shouted racial and homophobic slurs, poured an unknown substance on him, and a 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 ndr bankruptcy protection today. the utility faces ds of lawsuits over wildfires, even sthough state investigato that its equipment did not cause

a deadly 2017 fire in california. the bankruptcy filing could mean higher bills for customers, and smaller payouts to fire victims. and, on wall street today, the dow jones industrialge gained 51 points to close near 24,580 the nasdaq fell 57 points,nd the s&p 500 slipped three. still to come on t newshour: the intelligence community giv o its assessmeinternational threats to the u.s. critical brexit votes in t british parliament. the challenges faced by students with special needs from military families. and, much more. >> woodruff: today, the leaders of the u.s. intelligence community testified to congress for what's called an annualsm threat asst, and painted major dangers posed by north korea, isis, and to

u.s. election security. some of their testimony highlighd the differences between president trump's policies, and the intelligence community's assessme here to help navigate the contradictions, our foreignco affairespondent, nick schifrin. nick, hello. so let's start with north korea. we know the presint has emphasized dialogue with the north. what is the intelligence comm ity saying? e intelligence community has long beealn scept that north korea would ever be willg to give up itsuclear weapons because they assess that north korea believes those weapons are an essential deterpght. that's exactly what we heard today.le s listen to the director of national intelligence, dan coates. >> kim jong-un continues to demonstrate openness to thecl derization of the korean peninsula. having said, that we currently assess that north korea will seek to retain its w.m.d. capabilities and is unlikely to completely give up itsuclear

weapons and production capabilities because its leaders ultimately view nuclear weapons as critical to regime survival. >> so that scepticism is obviously in contrast to president trump's ting mitchell. president trump has said that kim jong-un was serious about denut'earization. talk history here. the last four presidents have gotten the same exact telligence assessment that we heard today. present clinton got the sam assessment and decided eventually to talk with the noidh koreans. prt bush got the assessment and decided eventually to talk with the north koreans. president obama got it anda resisted tht talk. president trump and his allies say, maybe they won't denuclearize and we need it a try. that's their policy decision. kim jong-un says we will consider denuclearization if the u.s. improves diplomaticdu relation, res sanctions and reduces u.. military testing. >> woodruff: we know the

president has declared victory er isis, particularly in syria. what are we hearing from intelligence officials? >>he president declared victory and declared we won. vice president pence has said the caliphate has crumbled. the intelligence community distinguhed between the threat isis poses to capture more territory and the threat as an insurgent group. here is the diector gina haspel answering a question from susan collins. >> it is significant that isisha suffered significant leadership losses and a near total losses of territoriall, contut, of course, they're still dangerous, which is your point, and they're the largest sunni terrorist point and they still command thousands of fight umnters iraq and syria. >> what president is looking at is a military defeat. that's what u.s. troops are in syria to do,to fight isis, and that's what he promised. of course, during campaign. the intelligence community is saying this ngoing terrorist threat and insurgent threat is much more difficult to tackle than just with the military, an

they're admitting that that terrorist threat will continue. >> woodruff: as well as the ideological threat they pose. iran, the president has ended u.s.'s role in the iran nuclear agreement. what is the inelligence community saying about iran's nuclear capacity? >> the trump administration has long said iran did not heed that 2014 nuclear del and always wanted a nuclear weapon. but gina haspel today, the c.i.a. director, was much more nuanced. she said iran was complying with the deal, but that it mig start enrichment in the future. so here is her talking with senator angus king, an independent but caucuses with democrats. >> since our departure from the deal, they havebided by the terms. you're saying they're considering, but at the curnt moment they're -- >> they're making some preparations that would increase their ability to take a step back if they make that decn.is so at the moment, technically they're in compliance, but we do sengthem debamongst

noemselves as they failed to realize the ecoc benefits they hoped for from the deal. >> what europe is trying to do is give iran some of those economic benefits to keep iran inside the deal. toe boston um line, iran is widing by that deal still. >> woodruff: nicat about u.s. election, a threat posed to those? >> this has been a cosistent warning, red light from the intelligence community. they have been very worried about the elections, security, both in 2018 and in 2020, and that was actuay the first topic that the director of national intelligence raised. >> w assess th foreign actors will view the 2020 u.s. elections as an opportunity to advance their interests. we expect them to refine their capabilities and add new tactics as they learn from each other's experiences and efforts in previous election. >> president trump has no personally focused on election security, but the government as

well as private companies likeia twitter espy, have rallied. in 2018 in ways they didn't in 2016. but still, as we heard from today, the intelligence community very worried, especially with china, russia, and iran will continue cyber attacks. and they're simply not much they can do to prevent those from happening. >> woodruff: one thing the present has talked about, of course, is the southern border. he's called it has national security threat, but that idn't come up today. >> it barely came up. the intelligence community speo a lotime talking about russia and china. the threats that they pose, ande they said re working together more than in the last 70 years or so. iran, election security, but the wo "border" did not come up at all in the opening statement by the director of natnal intelligence, dan coates, and nobody repeated the president's language that the border ses a make threat to the united states. >> woodruff: fascinating. nick schifrin, thank you. >> thank you. f:

>> woodrhe british parliament debated a number of proposaltoday on how to oceed with regard to leaving the european union. in the end, they voted to authorize the ime minister to go back to the european union to try to get a betr deal. special correspondent ryan chilcote is in london, and hasr port. >> reporter: ather raucous brexit debate in the british parliament. this time, up r consideration: two competing paths for the united kingdom's withdrawal from e european union. it came exactly two months before britain has to leave the e.u., and two weeks after prime minister theresa may's plan suffered the worst parliamentary defeat in british history.th sinc, members from all sides have been offering ideas. today, they voted on more than a half a dozen proposals. >> i believe that we are in reach of an agreement, but the

days ahead are crucial.r: >> reportehe first major proposal today-- keep the prime minister in charge of the process, but send her back to etthe e.u. to re-negotiater terms. the second alternative: give may another month to secure a dealli to pent'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 fos or the succ this country. >> reporter: may has refused to step aside, but acknowamdged that part must have more say in the final deal. the first plan-- keeping mf in charge oexit-- calls for her to seek a better agreement from the e.u., on what is called the "irish backstop." right now, northern ireland-- which is part of the united

kingdom and still part of the european union-- and the republic of ireland-- also part of the e.u.-- have no land border, so cars and goods cancr s 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. but conservativeoliticians have rejected part of these agreement foon the border, saying it could leave britain subject to european union trade rules indefinitely. in an effort to win over those conservatives today, may pledg to do something she has, up to now, said will never work. >> negotiating such a change will not be easy. but i believe that with mandate from this house and supported by the attorneyha general, theellor of the duchy of lancaster and the secretary of state forxiting e e.u., i can secure such a change in advance for our departure frep the e.u. >>ter: 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 shorges, plummeting housing prices and economic distress could foll. that's why some lawmakers-- including opposition and labour party leader jeremy corbyn-- are trying to force may's government to delayritain'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 without a deal. everyone, everyone 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 referendum.

>> is the p.m. seriously telling the house to wait until february >> reporter: against all odds,er the prime miniucceed in mustering the support she needed for the idea of her going back to the e deal.renegotiate the it's her first win in a long while. she'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 anfinitely nonqualified success, because at the end of the day, she has to get the european union to agree to change a deal that she already agreed to. judy? >> woodruff: so ryan, what are the prospects then of the e.. being willing to renegotiate, and what are her prospects of getting a better deal forle ing the e.u.? i well, listen, if you listen to their rhetori you listen to the e.u.'s rhetoric, the spros suspension are very dimey.

ave been very clear even after this 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're talking about 27 countries on the other side of the negotiating table. so it's difficult to see how that could change, buat she will be betting on is that when she goes back, she'll say, lok, i finally showed you that i can get a majority in the parliamen deal. we can agree amongst ourselves on something, and that'the deal that we have already agreed with you, if you agree to change thisne little thing, she will describe it as, and that's the backstop. they've said no change to that, but she's hoping that they'r bluffing. >> woodruff: so ryan, what happens if she doesn't get a better deal? then what? >> well, if she doesn't get a better deal, then things get complicated. she will come back to the hoses of parliament on february

13th. that's what she's talking about now, coming back for another meaningful vote where they will vote on whatever she has, whether it was the old deal or a slightly tweaked deal with some maybe declarations on the side of it, but without any leg changes to it, and see if she can get that through. y of cours know, she is unlikely to get it through. then she'll have to negotiate again with all the members of parliament. then we'll b looking at oter options, including running down the clock closer to march 29th when, no matter what,h the u.k. asgs stand now has to leave the european union. >> woodruff: and very quickly,an prospects for another referendum in the u.k. on this? >> very teresting. doesn't seem to be the appetite for that right now. there was an initiativtoday that was voted on in the houses of parliament, and the parliamentarian said, no, that's 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 2-9dth, you would start to see some changes in the

parliament trying to either tend the u.k.'s relationship with the brew you so they can continue to negotiate or maybe even put it back to the people for a vote.ow but not right. 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. with the federal government reopened, lawmakers today were focused on committee hearings and legislative agendas. t, the pressure to avoid second government shutdown hangs over congress. to discuss all this, i'm joined by republican senator susan collins of maine. senator collins, welcome back to the newshour. so, first question, whyou think the prospects are of another shutdown in three weeks? >> i'm very opt timistic tha

can avoid another shutdown. shutdowns are never jstified no matter what the cause may be, anai believe tht those who thought a shutdown would bewo hwhile have been disabused of that notion. >> woodruff: do you ow, senator, what the majority leader, mitch mcconnell, was referring to today when he sai he would like to see shutdowns made more difficult in these kind of dget negotiations? is there some kind of plan in mind? >> there are a cole of bills that have been introduced that would have a mechanism by which government would go on what we call a continuing resolution, a stopgapnding at the current levels in ordeto avoid any shutdown, and there's a lot of interest in how we could craft that to ensure that this is the last shutdown that our country will ever endure. woodruff: you think that

could get done in three weeks? >> i do. i believe that we can come up with a compromise that will allous to fund some of the presidens border security fnitiative as well as to fund the remainder government for the rest of the fiscal year h.rough september 30t and part of that package may well the some sort of legislation that has a mechanism to ensure that no matter what the policy disputes may be, tha there will not be a future shutdown. >> woodruff: i want to ask you abet the president'snd for money for border security, because he io cntinuing to say there has to be money here for some kind of physical barrier at the border. democrats, as you know, areo, sayingo money for a physical barrier. do you think the pre in the end be prepared to give on that? >> i think there is plenty of

room for a compromise on this issue. you have speaker nancy pelosi saying not one dollar for any kind of physical barrier despite the fact that we have built 654 miles of physical barriers, fences for the most part, in the last two administrations, both president obam and president bush's administration. and then you have the president asking for $5.7 billion for some so of wall or steel fence. there's a lot ofoom 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 heey'll put some money on line? >> i think both sides. keep in mind that just this past summer in the appropriations committee in the senate, we

approved a bill for te homeland security department that included $1.6 billion for physical barriers as well as other means of strengtheningur border security. the president's plan is to include actually $7 billion beyond that because it includes border patrol agents, immigration judge, censor, roads to remote areas, new technology. we need an all-of-the-above approach, and i believe that people of goodwill can come together ad come up with a package. >> woodruff: well, we're all anxious to know what that in between language is going to be. senator, several other things i want to ask you about very quickly. we heard the acting attorney general say this week that he believesci the speal counsel's investigation, robert mueller's investigation will be wrapping up soon. do you know whether that's tr or not? >> i really don't.

certainly the speal counsel has handed down a number or has secured i think 34 indictments and someo cnvictions and it might well be logical that he ip at tint where he's wrapping up his investigation, but i don't know that for certain. a >> woodruff: a completely different topic, senator, we're seeing a large number of democrats express interest in running for president in 2020. we're even hearing conversation from republicans who may beng thinbout challenging president trump for thebl rean nomination. are you at this point prepared to end?orse president tru >> i'm really focused on my own campaign for 2020, and i reallye t focused on the presidential campaign. so i'm not pepared at this point to make that decision. >> woodruff: do you expect a some point between now and november of 2020 to endorse the

president since you're a republican? >> i dn't know. i'm going to have to see what happens betwe now and then, and look at what his record is. i can't imagine that i would endorse any of the democrats who are nning right now, but i'm going to focus on 2020 in 2020. >> woodruff: but you're leaving the door 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: all right. senator susan collins of maine, .hank you very much. we appreciate it >> thank you, judy. >> woodruff: stay with us. coming up on the newshour:re

wed efforts to pass the equal rights amendment. a conversation with sandeep jauhar, cardiologist and author of the book "heart: a history."w and, i speh three governors about working acrosse sle with the other party. navigating a school system can be challengingor any parent with a child who has special needs.t r military families, that stress is compounded by their lifestyle of repeated moves and attending different schools that offer varying levels o services. in her second rert focusing on military kids, special correspondent kavitha cardozer with our parducation week, reports from virginia beach, virginiawhere a third of children in need of special education services can fall through the cracks. it's part of our education series, "making the grade." >> have a good day! >> reporter: after years of military moves, navy captain cassidy norman was posd to virginia beach.

>> bye! >> reporter: the normans had lived here before, and their daughter loved her former school. 14-year-old marisa has several disabilities, including cerebral palsy, severe anxiety, poor eyesight and hearing. >> so, her disabilities are all compounded in the classroom. it's difficult for her to listen med learn and write, at the 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. y rginia beach is surrounded by bases and the econ closely tied to the military. its schools have several programso support military kids. but, several service members say the district is not meeting the needof their children with disabilities. eileen huck with the national military family association says obtaining special education servicess a "significant

challenge" for service members nationwide. >> so often i hear frofamilies who had things set at their previous location, and then thev had to and then they feel as though they're starting from scratch. >> reporter: the military does consider a child's medical and educational needs during assignments... >> but there is less attenti paid to the special education services, because federal law says that all school districts are required to provide a free and appropriate public education. >> reporter: all childrenpe with sal needs, in every public school district, are entitled to an evaluation and individualized plan, detailing the supports they will receive. but when marisa returned to the virginia beach district, her parents noticed right away something was wrong. >> we weren't getting progress reports. they kept taking away services and goals from her education plan. >> it was very frustrating. >> at the same time, they would give her honor roll and student of the month, but all the while,

she was stagnating and, in somen areas, regre >> reporter: cassidy was away on training, and then deployed to the middle east. still, he would call into meetings about marisa, which he said school officials often postponed or cancelled. more than a year passed, and nothg significant changed. the normans moved ma to a private school. they also hid a lawyer. >> and i was so depressed. i wa't myself. i was crying all the time. i had to gsee a therapist. and cass was so worried about me, he had to send the base chaplain to come speak to me. >> during this case, i was responsible for the health andar wefor 3,000 sailors, plus 2,000 additional personnel deployers on our ship. even though that was stressful, it was more stressful for me to think about my daughter, who was not being taken care of by the public school here. >> reporter: aaron spence is superintendent of virginia beach

city public schools.>> ell, i want to be clear-- we actually do a great job with 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:ks >> a few wfter my husband left for deployment, my son was having some sort of breakdown i. the classr they couldn't get him to calm down.d, got there, and they had chairs lined up. it was caged animal. was a >> to see the people that i know are supposed to be on his side, the ones that are supposed to be helping him, to see them pushing his buttons and upsetting him to such lengths, was upsetting. >> they didn't listen to a word we had to say, ty didn't listen to a word his doctors had to say. they didn't offer any supports. >> reporter: virginia beach would not comment on any of the

cases, saying it would be" inappropriate because we remain in litigation and due process with many of these families." but in a written statement, a spokesperson said thschool district is committed to providing the best learning environment possible for all children." we have 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 ucation. 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 tow provide a rvice 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. r >> reporter: it is rare

family to file a formal complaint, and even more rare for them to win. but a virginia department of education investigation foundch that thel district had not provided the minimum education required by law for marisa. the school district appealed. the normans won agn in federal court, and virginia beach was ordered to pay for her private school. >> marisa! oh! >> reporter: marisa had to repeat a grade in r new school, but 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 districts, but as the normans say, it's federal law. they say virginia beach schools have already spent more than $300,000 just on their case. the normans say they hear from many other military families: >> and very few, if any, are able to afford a lawyer. it's been depressing to see all the families that cannot fight the fight that we've been fighting. and all the families that have

given up or are afraid of w retribution, al not speak out. >> reporter: the virginia beach school dtrict recently stopped paying for marisa's private nshool, and is appealing the verdict, which mnother long court case that michelleto will haveal with, on her own, because cassidy norman has just received transfer orders for a 15-month posting on a ship based in italy for the pbs newshour and education week, i'm kavitha v cardoza inirginia beach, virginia. >> woodruff: it s almost 100 years ago, in 1923, that ale paul, a leader of the women's suffrage movement, first introduced to the publicha an idea ofwould eventually become the proposed equal rights amendment. the rising voices of women, the passage of civil rigs laws, and the power of organized labor all help build momentum in the '70s, when it passed congress.

but opposition also mounted over me. as state legislatures faced ratification votes, the e.r.a. ran out of steam and hit a wall. now, as amna nawaz reports, there is a new energy to try one more time to get it ratified. >> we want e.r.a.! we want e.r.a.! >> nawaz: it was over 40 years ago that congress approved the equal rights amendmentor e.r.a., and women took to the streets to get it ratified as a constitutional amendment. >> so as we march today, remember: forward together, backward never! >> nawaz: first lady betty ford argued for it in 1975. ur>> by the end of this ce i hope this nation will be a place where men and women can freely choose their life's workt without restn, and without ridicule. >> n guarantee protection from sex discrimination in the

constitution, something not explicitly sted elsewhere. it says "equality of rights under the law shall t be denied or abridged by the united states or by any state on account of sex." but before it could be enshrined in the constitution, the e.r.a needed three-quarters of all states, 38 total, to ratify it. congress set a deadline for that goal. the e.r.a. came up three states shy by the original deadline 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. p steam again two years ago, partly due to the "me too" movement. nevada became the 36th state 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 inei congress ter extend or work around the deadline. jackie speier, a california

democrat, introduced one. >> why is this important? because under the law in this country today, women need to not only show that there is discrimination in order to win victory in court, but they need to show that the discrimination was intentional. and that is a very higr to make. >> nawaz: five states that s ratified the e.r.a. decao have since rescinded those votes. if a 38th state stepd in now, the battle could move to court. there's stilopposition to the e.r.a. some conservativesppose it, arguing it could overturn abortion restrictions, that the deadline to ratify has long past, and that the e.r.a. would make it more difficult to separate sexes in some facilities. we'll examine some of those claims in a moment, but first, let's hear about the push 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 the virginia was widely believed to be that 38th state that was going to push it over the finish line. does it have to be virginia? could another state step in right now and get the e.r.a. over that line? >> there are 13 states that are yet to ratify, so any of those states could ratify and be thev one to push iter the finish line too get the three-fourths necessary. it's notte dead in virginia yet. it did fail in one of thecm ttee, but the speaker of the house could still bring it to the floor. thh e is another option wi rule change they're going to try to get. so it's not 100% dead in virginia. we're stilcrossing 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 in seral of the stes. >> woodruff: >> nawaz: what about the other states we heard about, those fis that recinded their votes. does that take away from the 38 tally? >> states attempted to rescind before the original deadline hah

passed, bue is a really gaudreau bust legal argument that rescissions don't count, in fact, with three amendments previous amendments, states attempted to rescind and with the 14tamendment, two states attempted to rescind and that were not counted. they just counted in the final passage. edso they were limong the states that had ratified. >> nawaz: so there are a couple of legislative efforts being introduced. there is one that would elude the deadline aogher. another would restart the either ratificaw on process. they change the landscape and do either of them have chance? r.a. isntially the e going to happen. the question is do we get the start from where we left off 1972, or do we have to start over, pass a new e.r.a. and have ratified by three-fourths of the states. in my opinion, it is going toha en, like susan b. anthony said, "failure is impossible." the question is how. the deadline removal bill uld

eliminate that 1982 deadline put in place by congress. the deadline was originally in the preamble to the e.r.a., so it's not whathe states ratified. it wasn't considered. it wasn't part of the actual amendment. so congress put it in, they can take it out. the other strategy by representative maloney is toov star, with a new e.r.a., pass it in both houses and theni seto the states for ratification. >> nawaz: the same languaged tention, just starting the process anew? >> the bwll is ne. the original e.r.a. written by alice paul and eventually pasdid not have the word "women" in it. and so representative maloney's bill actually the word "woman" into a lot of wom. >> 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 rights amendment ad that itssed and

that it's in the constitution. so overcoming that barrier of educating people and letting them know, women are not protected to the fullest extent under the constitution comes as a real shock to most people. >> yo heard me hint at opposition argents. some people oppose it because progress has been made in a lot of states without th.a. we've narrowed the pay gap. a number of states have basically passed their own version e e.r.a., so why is this still necessary? >> 24 states have their own version of the e.r.a. however, in many of the ways that we've made progress are up and under assault. we've relied on title ix. title ix is under attack. we've relied on equal pay acts. a lot of these piecemeal types of legislation are at the whim of the 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 put in the constitution. en you think of other amendments, like the second amendment or first am how powerful those are to protect those rights, that's what we would have for women. >> nawaz: so you're worried all those other small legal issues, if they get undermined, those states get undermined and those protections, too. >> and sate laws only apply to that state some the federal constitution protects giery woman anl in tse united states of america. whereas if you live in a state that doesn't have an e.r.a. or a state e.r.a. iso lacking,u're not protected. >> nawaz: kate kelly of 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 our health and emotional life and the subject of centuries of medical research s it's also thbject of our january book club selection "heart: a history." author dr. sandeep jauhar is here to answer some of the questions our readers sent in. first of all, thanks for doing this for us. >> thank you for having me. >> brown: give us an overview of what you're after. you're looking at thrt as metaphor, as mechanics, as science. what were you doing? >> i have ways been fascinated by the human heart, and so 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. so the family history played a role. i'm also just fascinated 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 pum three billion times in a typical human lifetime. and finally, i really fascinated and i learned this more as i was researching the book, by the history o heart discovery. you know, the heart had never been orated on up until the end of the 19th century. it just is an organ that has unique challenges to surgical manipulation. it's always moving, and it's filled with blood. hodo you operate on it? so that history was one i r wanted to explore in the book. >> brown: okay. so will let's go to some quetions from our raders. >> what is your favorite heart metaphor? >> brown: heart metaphor. i started with heartbreak, yeah. >>here are a number i can

think of, but probably take heart. take heart. the reason why is it is sort of what my fatr, it was like his prescription for living. you know, after his father died and my grandfather, there was really no one leading the home ba in 1950s india. and my father would go and he started going college and he would walk home, you know, his family was indigent, and my grandmother would tell him, take heart, have courage, and so because 's so cro cultural, i would say take heart. ay.brown: ok let's go to the second question. >> how much can an emotional state affect the functioning of the heart? >> brown: the emotional state affect the functioning of the heart. a lot of people wondou ab this you write much about it. tions know that the em affect the heart in many different ways.

utemotional disruption can changet'he heshape. why emotional stress would cause the heart te 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 chronic emotional disruption. we know that people in difficult relations with their children and their spouses who have a lot of occupational stress develop premature heart disease. >> >> brown: let's go to our next question. >> i'm wondering what you foresee as next major challenge or barrier to overcome in coronary or cardiac me. >> brown: so much of the book is about the decades, centuries. of resea >> yeah, yeah. >> brown: where are we now? what's next? >> there is no question that wei have, that caogy is one of the great success stories of the 20th century. for xample, when coronary

angiography was ind in 1958, the mortality from a heart attack was about 30%. in-hospital mortality. now it's about 3%. 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 focusing the emotions, how we live, because that really ise an ara that's been relativelylo undered. it's so much easier for cardiologists to prescribe a lesterol than cho it is to lower social and emotional disruption. the next accept isocusing on our emotional lives. >> brown: okay. i think we have time for one more, and it goes to some of these issues you were just talking about. ha what is one cnge to the standard american diet that would have the greatest pact in reducing heart disease? >> brown: okay. there's the question everybody oants to know, right? you started with own personal story. >> yeah.

>> brown: what should people do? >> in the book talk about when i learned that i myself have heart disease, and, you know, i way living a pree healthy leaf and i was exercising and would say that the best information we have at this point, to be perfectly practical, is to follow a mediterranean diet. that's a diet that's rich in olive oil, inruits and vegetables, a little bit of wine, whole grains, fish, kind of what michael pollen i advocates, whi history prescriptions for a good diet is eat food, which means od that your mother or your grandmother would recognize as food, nottoo much, mostly plant. >> brown: all right. as alwa, we'll continue wi our questions and have the full conversation on our now read this facebook page. for nsaweep jauhar, thank you so much for joining us. >> thank you.

>> brown: and le announce our february pick. we're returning to fiction with the oscars comi up at the end of next month, "the wife" is a novel about a nobelg prize-winniter with a big secret. the film version came out last year and the great glenn close picked up an oscar nomination for best actress. eoin us, read along, discuss th book and more with other readers on our facebook page. it's all part of now read this, a become club partnershipith "the new york times." dr >> wf: as washington d.c. feels more divided now than ever before, some leaders on the state level are aiming for something often unheard of in today's politics: common grounda last night, down with governors from three states who have had to work with atures dominated by the opposite party. all three were critical of

washington's handling federal government shutdown. maryland governor larry hogan told me he "would have donefe everything dntly." but the governors 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. can you gi them hope? can you give them a few sentences to believe that the system is still worth believing in, that we haven't just lost our way in this country? >> yoknow, i know people are very frustrated. i'm frustrated, not just wit washington, but the divisive, angry politics, and i know a lot of pple are ready to gve up, and they say that the system is broken and that we can't do anything about it. i just happen to believe that in spite of h divided we are that there really is more that united us as americans than that which divideas.

i think aority 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 thate yoebating with. recognize that you have ce deeply held beliefs and principles, but you might be able to learn something from 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 engaginth and k if you do that honestly, you'll end up in ala good. >> have some empathy. know what it means, and practice know what respect is, and practice it. practicing these things that we know what the definitio the key to actually really coming together and having viable discussio g. that shoulve people hope. the formula is there. we don't need to rebuild our system. we dn't need to change the rules because we're not happy. the system really, really works.

the founding fathers were brilliant and got it right they really did. because we're in a polarizing point doesn't mdn we sho give up on the system. be part of that solution. >> woodruff: our conorsation atns hopkins university in baltimore also touched on the 2020 presidential contest d speculation over governor hogan's own ambitions. >> look,i'mreally focused on maryland. i just was sworn in last week for my seconderm. that's where my focus is for right now. s'm flattered that people are talking about thata possibility, but it's not something i'm focused on. >> woodruff: but you' not ruling it out? >> who knows what will happen two years from now. you never know. on woodruff: you never know. that was a versation that was inspired by the snf angora institute. and that's the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. join us online, and again here tomorrow ening. for all of us at the, pbs newshourthank you, andso we'll see you . >> major funding for the pbs

newshour has been provided by: >> babbel. a language program that teaches spanish, french, german,or italian, ande. >> consumer cellular. >> american cruise lines. >> the ford foundation. working with visionaries on the frontlines of social change worldwide. >> carnegie corporation of new york. supporting innovations ined ation, 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 public broadcasting.

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♪ ♪ - you know, if i say, "south of border," you probably think of mexico, but you can go a lot farther south than mexico, you can go to south america. and that's what we're going to do on milk street today, we're going a start looking fot roast in colombia. it has a fair amount of sugar in it but lots of spices. it's really quite different than what we make herin the states. and then we're going to also stay in colombia n and look for kind of guacamole. it's very different than the mexican version. and then we're going to travel down to peru