captioning sponsored by wnet >> sreenivasan: on this edition r sunday, march 3: the u.s. announces a scaling down of war game exercises with south korea. the 200 year long dispute over the rightful place for the parthenon marbles. and, the salton sea: near a dying lake, an artist community thrives. next on pbs newshour weekend. >> pbs newshour weekend is made possible by: bernard and irene schwartz. sue and edgar wachenheim iii. seton melvin. the cheryl and philip milstein family.. roy vagelos and diana t. vagelos. the j.p.b. foundation. rosalind p. walter. barbara hope zuckerberg. corporate funding is provided by mutual of america--

designing customed individual and group retirement products. that's why we're your retirent company. additional support has been provided by: and by the corporation for public broadcasting, and by contributions to your pbs statiofrom viewers like you. thank you. from the tisch wnet studios at lincoln center in new york, hari sreenivasan. >> sreivasan: good evening and thank you for joining us. u.s. and south korean officials announced an end to longtime joint military drills on the korean peninsula. the announcement came late yesterday, just two days after presidt trump's summit with north korean leader kim jong un ended without any agreement. in a statement, the pentagon said that current springtime drills would be replaced with" newly designed command post ercises and revised field training programs." the purpose of the annual exercises was to prepare the countries for a possible tinvasion of south korea north.

north korea considers the joint exercises a sign of aggression. on thursday, while in vietnam, president ump called the operations, "a very, very expensive thing". that's also when the president said that he took chairman kim"" at his wor regarding the death of american student, otto ncrmbier. warmbier was sen to 15 years imprisonment for stealing a propaganda poster. according to president, kim told him that he was unaware of the treatmentedarmbier recehile a prisoner in north korea. today, on fox news sunday, national security advisor john bolton defended the president's statement. >> when he says, "i'm going to doesn't mean that he accepts it as reality. it means that he accepts that's what kim jonun said. >> sreenivasan: on abc's "this week," house minority leader kevin mccarthy disagreed with the president's claim that kim did not know about warmbier's treatment. >> i think kim knew what happened, whh was wrong. that's why when we passed sanctions we named it after otto warmer. >> sreenivasan: algerian president abdelaziz bouteflika announced that he is running for

a fifth term but says if he wins he will call another election and remove himself as a candidate. according to swiss media reports, the 82-year old bouteflika recently underwent medical tests in switzerland. a presenter onlgerian state tv read the written announcement from the president.ka boutef decision to run in the upcoming april 18th election triggered massive protests demanding he resign. today, police used water cannons rse the crowds and there were reportedly tens of thousands of protestors in cities across the countr bouteflika, first elected in 1999, has rarely been seen in s publce he suffered a stroke in 2013. the space x crew dragon capsule successfully docked with the international space station, just 27 hours after it launched from cape canaveral yesterday. tce three crew members aboard the space station d via tv cameras as the capsule connected. a few hours later the three tronauts floated inside the crew dragon to pick up supplies. o-ey also greeted the mannequin known as ripley, alled smart dummy designed to collect data throughout the mission. crew dragon is scheduled to

begin its return to earth next friday. days before the fifth anniversary of the disappeanceay of man airline flight 370, malaysia's transport minister said his government is open to new proposals to resume a search. family members gathered to rch 8th, 2014.e later onng e.o. of the u.s. company ocean infinity released a video message toying his company has developed more advanced technology and hopes to begin a new search this year. debris confirmed to be from then ple washed ashore in the western indian ocean in 2015 and helped narrow the search area. there is still no official explanation for the plane's disappearance. for more on e proposal to renew the search for flight 370, visit pbs.org/newshour. >> sreenivasan: a record number of women were elected toss congast november, and a handful of them are mothers of

young children. getting more moms into government is just one of the ways to start improving policies for american mothers, says amy : stervelt, in her new book," forget having it aw america messed up motherhood - and how to fix it." westervelt is a journalist, podcaster and author and she recently spoke with newshour weekd's megan thompson. >> reporter: so i feel like i have to just first start tut by sayit i, too, am a mom, i have a two-year-old son. so your book really struck a cord with me. the first chapter is called, oeing a mother shouldn't suck. where did thatme from? what brought you to write this book? >> i caught myself about two weeks after i had my second son i sort of joke about it but it's true. i took an afternoon off to have a kid andas right back to work the next day and twoks later was walking to get a check, andl procedure of mand realized that wasn't so much to be proud

. thinking like, why did i feel i had to work so hard right aft giving birth and also, why -- what was the system in place that made me both have to do that and then also feel like that was an comploicht-accomplishment. >> you really take this deep divento the history, why sit that you have this history that we talk about. tell us what are some of the vastorical explanations for how we view anlue mothers today. >> one of the things i found was that there is sort of kind of a practical reason for why american moms fel like and are expected to do sort of everything on their own. u know, the initial sort of settlers of the united states, were puritans, mostly of th calvinist tradition and they had a particular religious belief and each family being responsible for themselves and for their eventually path to

heav -- eventual patch to heaven. th they were doings for their family. we haven't moved too far away fromhat in th last 200 years. >> the responsibility for taking care ever kid ds reales fall on moms. i see it at my house, at my son's preschool. 100% the moms are the volunteers, bring in the snacks d that sort of stuffer. i'm not down on dads, things are way better than they used to be but it is still a big issue in this country. and i mean in you tr book youalk about ways to address this. one of the things i found really interesting was a lot of people often point to scandanavia and they say hey, let's do what sweden does. you say no, you should look atu other ries. you went to japan and why, what did you learn? >> ihink sweden is amazing. i thi canada they'v canadahey'vn

policies sound graik. but we don't live in a socialist democracy, and it's hard to imagine those policies on top of the current u.s.ystem working immediately in a way we sometimes talk about them. so i wanted to look at has any other countrthat is a little more similar to the u.s. tried to do this? and what i found was yes, japan has tried to did this. and they found exactly the oblem that i kinof expect us to have here if we try to do the same thing, which is they have a spot and cowment mismatch. in particular, men are not taking advantage of a lot of the pa terntd leave and flexible hours that were implement. they realize, we have some cultural work to do. they started ten years ago a certain propaganda around how col cool it was to be an involved dad. focused on executives in the workplace, they realized that their bosses were me that hadn't grown up in that cowment

and for whose things were kind of aberrant. if you are not doing these things you are a lazy worker. it takes time to move the needle. >> generous paternity leave bu people don't take advantage of it because of what you just described. how do we raise our boys to think diffently about these things? and to think of themselves, more as caregivers? >> you know in my case, i talk about this book, what my older son oen he hit abut three years old started asking for baby dolls. and when h wou say that around adults, other than myself and hisuad, wold almost always get this sort of oh like you don't want that. those are for girls. ls.ies are for gir like really kind of the message. so if we're starting with that message as early as three years old, of course, there's going to be this sort of engrained idea that, yoknow, men play a certain role as parents and

women play another role. i think that encouraging boys to be nurturing and to you know, babysit as annitial job, which is something that most women i know did pretty early on in their working life. but ry few men i know did. all of those kinds of things are work that still really needs to be done. >> reporter: all right amy i think we could probably keep talking about this all day but we're going to have to leave it there, thank you so much for joining me. >> thank you, thanks for havin me, i appreciate it. >> sreenivasan: when the parthenon in athens fell into ruins in the 1800s, a british ambassador acquired about half the sculptures thereoved them to the british museum. but greece wants the marble sculptures returned. in january, the director of the british museum sparked anger when he said the 2,500-year-old rnulptures would not be re

and called their early removal"t creativ" in a story we first broadcast this past fallnewshour weekend special correspondent christopher livesay explains the centuries-old controversy over the marble sculptures. >> reporter: a highlight osh london's briuseum is one of its earliest acquisitions, the parthenon marbles. these sculptures once decoraftd the great century b.c.e. temple on the acropolis in greece. considered among the achievements of the classical world, they depict mythical creatures, stories of the gods along with average people. >> they are very significant and important masterpieces, really, of the ancient greek world. >> reporter: hannah boulton isrs the spokes for the british museum. she admits that how these classical works came to be in england is a sensitive subject, one the museum takes some pains to explain. >> i think it, obviously, has always been a topic of debate ever since the objects came to london and into the british museum. it's not a new debate. >> reporter: the story starts in the early 1800s. the parthenon ha ruin.n into half the marbles were destroyed

by neglect and war. then, a british ambassador, lord elgin, made an agreement with ottoman authorities who were ina control ens at the time to remove some of the statues and friezes. he took about half of the remaining sculptures. >> and then he shipped that back to the u.k. for a long time it remained part of his personal collection, sot he put display and then he made the decision to sell the collection to the nation. and the parliament chose to acquire itnd then passed it on to the british museum. so we would certainly say that lord elgin had pformed a great service in terms of rescuing some of these examples. >> reporter: but greeks don't see it that way. for decades now, the argued that the ottomans were occupiers, so the deal with elgin wasn't valid and the marbles belong in greece. why does greece want to have the parthenon marbles back in athens? >> it's not just bringing them back to athens or to greece. that's where they were created. but this is not our claim. our claim is to put back a

unique piece of art. to put it back together. brg it back together. >> reporter: lydia koniordou was greece's minister of culture from 2016 to 2018. we met her at the acropolis where the parthenon temple stands overlooking athens. so first it was lord elgin who removed 50%. >> almost 50%. >> reporter: all of the marbles, shdsays, have now been remo from the monument for protection from the elements.ce then it was grhat consciously decid to remove the remaining. >> yes, the scientists that were responsible decided to remove t and take them acropolis museum. it was nine years ago when the acropolis museum was completed. >> reporter: in fact, the new acropolis museum was built in part as a response to british museum's claim that gree place to display the sculptures. the glass and steel structur v has a dramatw of the acropolis, so while you're observing the ar you can see the actual parthenon.

the third floor is set up just like the parthenon, wi the same proportions. these friezes, from the west side of the temple, are nearly all original. on the other three sides, there are some originals but also a lot of gaps, as well as white plaster copies of the friezes and statues now in britain. >> we believe thatne day we could replace the copies with the originals to show all this unique art piece in its grandeur. every block has two or three figures and here is only one. >> reporter: dimitrios pandermalis is the director of the acropolis museum where the story of the missing marbleswi differly from that of the british museum. presentations for visitors portray lord elgin critically. one fi shows the marbles flying off the parthenon and calls it the "uncontrollable plundering of the acropolis." another film depicts how one of the marbles was crudely split by elgin's workmen. >> he damaged the art pieces,

yes. of course, it was to be ripected. >> reporter: thesh museum disputes the claim elgin damaged the sculptures. is also sees it as a pat half the collection britain and half in greece. >> i think the situation we find ourselves in now we feel is quite neficial. it ensures that examples of the wonderful sculptures from the parthenon cabe seen by a world audience here at the british museum and in a wod context in terms of being able to compare with egypt and rome and so on and so forth. >> reporter: but pandealis says rather than being in two places, the sculptures should be reunified, literally. he showed us examples around the museum, including one is almost complete, save for one thing. >> so this sculpture is original, except the right foot. >> reporter: and perhaps most dramatic, this frieze. so the darker stone ishe original and this white plaster that represents what's in the british museum >> yes. exactly. >> reporter: and here it is in the british museum.

the missing marble head and chest floating in a display space. >> we feel also it's a symbolic act today to bring back this emblem of our world. to put it back together. >> reporter: if you bring back this emblem, aren't there untol otblems that need to be brought back? is this a slippery slope? >> we do not claim-- as greekdo state, wot claim other treasures.s we feel that t unique. this claim will never be abandoned by this country because we feel this is our duty. >> reporter:muut the british um's position is the marbles in its collection are legally theirs. they would, however, consider a loan. after all, the british museum regularly loans pieces from its collection to other mu around the world. >> i think we would certainlyer see being a great benefit in extending that lending and trying to find ways to collaborate with colleagues, not just in greece but elsewhere in hae world. >> reporter: butng the

sculptures is not what the ancient greeks who created them would have wanted, claims pandermalis. >> they would be very angry. because they were crazy for perfection. it was a perfection, but today it is not. >> sreenivasan: california's salton sea, the state's larges inland body of water, formed when a dam broke. it stayed alive fed by agricultural water runoff. today, it's water supply is slowing, and the sea is drying up and losing its place as a fishing and recreation hotspot. but, as newshour weekend's christopher booker fir reported last july, the salton sea is finding new life as haven for artists.te >> rep the sunset paints the sky in a tie-dyed fire of red and orange.e but it is lence on the sater that tells the real story. life is leaving thon sea. the water is evaporating, fish

are dying and the lakesi retreats are shells of what they once wer.. california's largest lake, now a portrait of abandonment. but some believe this emptiness can be fild. >> this piece here it has an interesting history, too. >> reporter: to hear brian sadler tell it, the open air desert museum of east jesus is a living, breathing, experiment in free-expressn. just off the shore of the salton sea, it's a commune that allows painters, sculptors, and conceptual artists to do battle with the sand,he sun, anthe wind. >> this is el brino, the lost dinosaur of the salton sea. touching part of it because it's, like, powder, it goes back to powder. >> reporter: the brain child of late artist charles russell, east jesus began on the dump site of slab city-- a squaers camp on an abandoned military base just outside of niland, california, and the on of leonard knight's famed salvation mountain. after russell passed away in 2011, the growing roster of

artists in east jesus formed the tax-exempt chasterus foundation to protect the project. >> his friends rallied around and said, "look, we don't want this ia to die. we've all had such a great time contributing and inspiring one another." and so they formed a 5013c to preserve his memory. >> reporter: in 2013, the foundation purchased the 30at acres of land urround the collection, and three years later, east jesus beca accredited member of the california museum association. >>oving right along. this is our tv wall. one of the photo-- most photographed and shared pieces, itthink, of east jesus online because people lovy it says so manfferent things to so many different pple. >> reporter: but thilyisn't the on artists' haven along the salton sea. ifast jesus was built on t discarded, the works of bombay beach spring from the yet to be hauled away. at one time, the 1,000 lot community offered access to the water at an affordable price. but as the sea started to die, so to did the town.

>> i fell in love with bombay beach from the beginning because of-- it's so differem everything else that you see in american life. and i just think it inspires artists. >> reporte for the last four years, tao ruspoli and his two partners have been using the nearly abandoned town as a staging ground for art installations, lectures, and performances. >> every time i would come here for the last ten years i'd see c videos,ooting mu doing fashion shoots. like, really kind of capitalizing on how strange and removed it was.an yet, the town had nothing to show for it. >> reporter: in 2015, ruspoli and his partners started buying up homes and lots for as little as $5,000, and invited artists from around the world to come to and start creating. three years ago, they launchedh "the bombay beennale," ath ree day gathering billed as celebration of art, muhyc, and philos see only agenda: saving th >> i think the job of the artist is to help people see the world

through new eyes. i and therefors like a sense of discovering something together, uncovering something, reterpreting something. and so when an artist does that to a place, it brings it to life. >> reporter: the efforts have sparked a renaissance of sorts, there are now 40 different permanent exhibits in beach. >> so like everything that thi place inspires, there's a bit of-- there's a bit of sadness mixed with a bit of humor xed with a bit of absurdity. >> reporter: perhaps no other inallation illustrates thi mix better than the bombay beach opera house. created by british artist james ostrer, the house is lined with flip-flops collected from the beaches of nigeria. >> this door opens on hydraulic hinges. s is transformed into one of the great performance spaces, i think, on earth. and james was doing another

installation with the flip-flops in new york a few months ago, and someone came up to him and said, "oh, someone's already done that in bombay beach." so that was the great validatiom that we haveon to the map. >> reporter: while bombay beach may have arrived in the art world and east jesus might have its accreditation, you are never far from the backdrop that allowed this to happen.d it's ht to-- i have very kind of apocalyptic feelings about all this. i mean, it's a frightening portrait of change, of an environment changing. >> yeah. >> reporter: is that too hyperbolic? >> not at all. th's like the closest thin i've seen to an environmentaly catastrophe infetime. and it's so tangible. it's right now. you can watch the sea going away. you can smell the problem. you can see the dead fish on the shore. like, it's just-- and it all i think that this place embodies a lot of contradictions, and they're all there for people to kind of contemplate.

>> sreenivasan: that's all for this edition of pbs newshour weekend. s i'reenivasan. thanks for watching. have a good night. captioning sponsored by wnet captioned by media access roup at wgbh access.wgbh.org >> pbs newshour weekend is made possle by: bernard and irene schwartz. sue and edgar wachenheim iii. seton melvin. mi the cheryl and philitein family. dr. p. roy vagelos and diana t. vagelo lthe j.p.b. foundation. rosalind p. . ebarbara hope zucke corporate funding is provided by mutual of america-- iddesigning customized indl and group retirement products. that's why we're your retirement company. additional support has been provided by: and by theorporation for public broadcasting, and by

contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. america's first national park

and one of our most beloicd. set to cla music from the world's best composers, "yellowstone symphony" showcases the park's stunning scenery and wildlife as it changes through the seasons. see yellowstone like never before and marvel tt the natural wonder s special place. ♪ -explore new worlds through programs like this, made available for everyone, through contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. ♪