kadima did not survive sharon's political demise.y, kadima has two seats in the 120-member knesset. so his last-minute effort to realign israeli politics ended in total failure. his enduring legacy in israel's history is that he empowered and emboldened some of the most aggressive, racist, expansionist and intransigent elements in israel's dysfunctional local system. >> professor rashid khalidi? >> another thing that might be mentioned about gaza, there is a huge debate in israel about whether the withdrawal was a good or bad thing. the withdrawal did not change the situation of gaza as being completely under israeli control, which it is until -- which it is to this day. it completely controls the strip. sharon also had a notorious period of commander of the southern command in which he participated in the savage repression of resistance inside gaza, killing thousands -- many hundreds of thousands per destroying thousands of homes as part of a huge repression of the resistance. >> noam chomsky, a top aide to ariel sharon described th

infuriated many in his conservative constituency and later that year he quit likud to form a new centrist kadima party. he was widely expected to win another term as prime minister. the two strokes, a mild one in december of 2005 and a massive brain hemorrhage two weeks later put an abrupt end to his political life. the life long warrior, never fully regained consciousness. >>> as the newshour has been reporting, this week marked the 50th anniversary of the war on poverty. president johnson announced the initiative during the 1964 state of the union address. >> our joint federal local effort must pursue poverty. pursue it wherever it exists. in city slums, in small towns. sharecropper shacks or in migrant worker camps. >> that night, the president did not mention poverty in the suburbs. but in the year since the number of americans living in suburbs had surged. it's a very real problem. newshour correspondent megan thompson has the first report in our year long series poverty in america. >> you want to do the chocolate chip or sugar cookies first? >> by all appearances, this woman is living a co

he was forced out of the military and turned to politics where he helped form the conservative kadimaly responsible for the massacre of massacres in refugees in refugee camps. he was determined to keep the arab world at bay. he was always suspicious of the united states role in the peace process fearing a rollback to the territories occupied before the 1967 war. for most of his life, sharon was an ardent supporter of building more jewish settlements on the occupied land but he changed his mind in 2005 and destroyed the settlements in the gaza strip. in 2006 he suffered a massive stroke and had been in a coma since then. mark barger, nbc news. >>> and to an nbc bay area follow-up, back in business. the usda gave the green light to foster farms, the chicken processing flant livingston can reopen this morning in the central valley. the usda lifted the suspension yesterday two days after inspectors shut it down because of a cockroach infestation. foster farms issued a statement saying investigators will continue to monitor continue to monitor conditions. >>> 110 million people may be impa

he then formed the kadima party to advance peace talks, but in december, he had a stroke and since january 4th, 2006 had been in a coma. it's impossible to say what sharon would have achieved had he continued on his path. his life and legacy are full of twists and turns, but always at the forefront of his mind was securing israel. alex marquardt, abc news, london. >> ariel sharon was 85 years old. alex hit this point, there's so much contemplation about what he would have achieved and where he would have gone had he survived. >> he was a huge player in that country's history. >> yes. >>> we'll travel now for a >>> travel alert for americans planning to attend the sochi winter olympics in russia next month. there's been growing concern that terrorists could strike during the games after several recent attacks around the country. abc's kirit radia is in moscow with details of the new u.s. state department warning. kirit, how worried should americans be this morning? >> reporter: good morning, bianna. no specific threat to americans but after this latest string of atta attacks across the regi

he formed the new, more centrist kadima party.ime minister. a week before christmas, 2005, sharon suffered what was described as a mild stroke. three days later he was back on his feet resuming the duties of prime minister. appearing once again to be unstoppable. within three weeks sharon suffered another stroke. this one described as massive. sharon's final battle with the one for his life fought and lost in hospital. >> thanks to mike tobin there. once again, israeli prime minister ariel sharon has died this morning. he was 85 years old. >> thank you, mike. that was fantastic. >> yep. now we have other stories making headlines this saturday morning to get to. 300,000 people in west virginia are still without water this morning as crews rushed to flush out the water supply after a chemical spill. officials say people in nine counties in the state still need to assume their tap water is dangerous. >> baby formula with it, don't brush your teeth with it, don't wash with it, don't shower with it, don't drink it you can't just boil i