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prosecutors accused mr. trump of falsify business records during his campaign for president in an effort to conceal an extramarital affair. . we were in the courthouse today following it all alvin bragg once this case to be seen as a case about interference in the 2016 election and less about hush-money payments to stormy daniels. >> he was arguing donald trump engaged in and coordinated conspiracy to corrupt the 2016 election. that's the frame they want to jurors to see this case through.

it's not what they are charging. there is no insinuation they broke campaign finance laws. they are talking about prosecuting donald trump for falsify business records. they want 34 charges of cooking the books to be seen in service of that larger goal. prosecutors today took the jurors back in time to 2016. the access hollywood tape had just dropped did all of a sudden the story stormy daniels have been trying to sell for a few months suddenly became more urgent to them. then michael cohen paid her 130,000 dollars of his own money to stay quiet and not say anything about that.

then when donald trump became president he repaid that money and more. that is where prosecutors argue for conspiracy to cover this up was because they argue trump tried to make those payments seem like run-of-the-mill legal fees when in fact they were in service of this hush money so they said this was election fraud. they said donald trump is not guilty of any crime. they said the allegation was false and that trump have nothing to do with initial payments to her nor did he have anything to do with the accounting of how the payments to michael cohen were being made. he rejected the idea there was anything unusual about trump paying michael cohen who was his lawyer at the time and of course

you pay your lawyer fees all the time. he said there is nothing out of the ordinary there. >> michael cohen is expected to be the prosecution star witness given his centrality into this scheme. the trump team says he cannot be trusted. how are both sides laying the foundation. >> this will be one of the central tensions of this case. trying to impugn the trustworthiness. he's a convicted felon. he's been found guilty of perjury. the prosecution tried to inoculate themselves by admitting that and saying everything you hear michael cohen say on the witness stand, don't just take it as his word but they will promise they will back it up with evidence.

that affirm all of the things michael cohen has to say. todd blanche in his opening statement today said not only is he a liar who you cannot trust but he said he is obsessed with donald trump and seeing him in jail and his family in jail. he painted him as someone who has staked his entire career and financial future by selling books and doing these podcasts as someone who wants to see trump sunk at all costs and thus you cannot trust him and everything coming out of his mouth is poison. >> what other witnesses should we expect to hear from in the coming weeks. >> we heard from one of them today, the head of american media which was the publisher of the natural -- the national enquirer. he set up this pattern that david packer and michael cohen

and allegedly donald trump were all part of this early scheme set up in 2015 before the campaign began to make the national enquirer the eyes and ears for donald trump and if anyone came forward with stories that could be damaging to the candidate, they would get those stories and squash them. we are expected to hear from stormy daniels and michael cohen we will also hear from a campaign aide. the biggest unanswered question is donald trump himself. he has said he wants to testify but he has said this in previous cases and when given the choice chooses not to. whether he does is an open question. there is not a single legal analyst that thinks it is a good idea. that would be risky for trump himself to take the witness stand. >> thanks.

>> there have been more pro-palestinian protests at prominent universities. at yale university police arrested 45 demonstrators today calling on the school to divest from companies involved in the war in gaza. they pro-palestinian encampment has gone up outside the new york university and columbia university canceled in person classes today as it tries to calm tensions, police arrested 100 protesters there last week. the nypd said they haven't found any credible threats but it would maintain a presence outside the campus. >> we will always protect people but to the extent you have criminal conduct, we will take action and our officers are

clear on that. >> pro-palestinian demonstrators set up encampments at the university of michigan, m.i.t. and the university of north carolina among others. harvard has restricted access to its famous harvard yard to present -- to prevent any protests there. kamala harris unveiled new rules today. the new standards mandate a minimum number of hours that staff members must spend with residents. they also require a registered nurse to be onsite 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. it's the first time the government has issued such requirements. and it comes after the covid-19 pandemic exposed understaffing and neglect at facilities that care for the elderly and disabled. the supreme court has agreed to take up a biden administration appeal in favor of regulating so-called 'ghost guns'. those are kits that can be bought online to assemble

untraceable firearms. the justices will address a lower court's ruling that a regulation imposed in 2022 on ghost guns was unlawful. the case will be heard in the court's next term, which begins in the fall. ukrainian president volodymyr zelensky said today that president biden promised his country air defense systems once the u.s. senate signs off on $61 billion in aid. the two leaders spoke by phone after the house passed the aid measure this weekend. the senate is due to vote later this week. mr zelensky also told mr biden about an attack on kharkiv that happened just minutes before their call. a russian missile strike broke a tv tower in half, leaving it in pieces and disrupting television signals in ukraine's second largest city. there were no casualties. in southern china, state media is reporting that at least four people are dead and 10 others missing after a weekend of continuous rain

flooded parts of the region. across guangdong province, rescuers helped locals swim through neck-deep water to others fled from low-lying villages where farmlands were completely washed out. >> everything's gone, all the seedlings are gone. our fields over there, all flooded. we will eat some of the grain we have left, some of it was bought. nobody's paying attention to us this year. the government hasn't come; they did in previous years, but nobody came this year. >> official media reports say that more than 100,000 people have been evacuated throughout the province. the world has been marking earth day in support of environmental protection. president biden used the occasion to announce a $7 billion dollar investment in residential solar projects. he also vowed to expand the green jobs training program known as the "american climate corps." speaking at a park in northern virginia, the president stressed the urgency of aressing

climate change. >> over the last two years, natural disasters and extreme weather in america have caused $270 billion, $270 billion in damages and the impacts we're seeing decades in the making because of inaction are only going to get worse, more frequent, ferocious, and costly. geoff: europe is warming up faster than any other continent on europe. a new report warns temperatures are rising twice the global average. on wall street, stocks started higher across the board. the dow industrials added 253 points to close at 38,239. nasdaq snapped a sick section losing streak adding 169 points. the s&p 500 also ended a losing run. chinese swimmers face allegations of doping at the

last olympics. tamara keith and andrew desiderio break down the latest political headlines. and a major modern art museum creates space for the work of artists with disabilities. announcer: this is the pbs newshour from w eta studios in washington and in the west at arizona state university. geoff: israel's top military intelligence officer resigned today, blaming himself for missing the signals that hamas was poised to attack israel in the run-up to the october 7th attacks. and just two days after the house approved a new, large military aid package for israel, secretary of state antony blinken rejected claims that washington has a double standard when applying u.s. law to allegations of abuses by the israeli military in gaza. ali rogin has our report. reporter: another day in gaza is another day of mourning. a wife grieving over her

husband's remains. a daughter, left fatherless. osama's body was found in a mass grave in khan younis, gaza's second largest city. his family, nearly inconsolable. but today they find some measure of solace in his burial, in a freshly-dug grave. >> we found osama's body, but we couldn't find the body of his brother mohammed. you saw how the scene is, there are piles of bodies, and some victims cannot be found. reporter: like osama's family, many palestinians have returned to khan younis to search for their dead, after israeli forces withdrew from the city and for more than a week now they've unearthed graves where their loved ones are believed to be buried. so far more than 200 bodies have been found in the courtyard of nasser hospital. and according to the palestinian civil emergency service around 2,000 people are still missing under the rubble. but the pain for palestinians stretches across the entire gaza strip.

in rafah, gaza's southernmost city, over the weekend families mourned the death of loved ones after two israeli strikes killed at least 22 people, mostly children. saqr abdel aal's home was hit, killing his entire family. >> did you see one man in all of those killed? all of them inside the house and here are women and children, as reporter: but even in war, a miracle. this doctor at rafah's emirati hospital rushed to save a premature baby girl whose mother was 6-months pregnant when she was killed in the strike. rafah is home to some 1.4 million displaced gazans who've fled fighting elsewhere and despite u.s. calls for restraint, for months israel has insisted a major ground offensive in rafah is needed to destroy hamas. another issue shaking the u.s.-israel alliance today, a possible us move to punish an israeli military unit, the ultra-orthodox netzah yehuda battalion, accused of human rights abuses against

palestinians in the west bank. the u.s. can apply penalties under the 1997 leahy law, which bans foreign military battalions accused of human rights violations from receiving u.s. aid or training. but today secretary of state antony blinken said there was no timeline yet. >> these efforts are ongoing and when we feel that we have the facts, we've been able to make the analysis, we'll make known the findings. >> there's important symbolic significance because the law has never been interpreted to restrict assistance to israeli security forces. reporter: sarah elaine harrison is an senior analyst with the international crisis group and an expert in u.s. foreign policy and national security. >> people who are watching what's happening in gaza and the and the violence in the west bank will be minimal because these units, these units can still function in these units, still receive, u.s. weapons if

they're purchased by israeli funds. reporter: yesterday prime minister benjamin netanyahu criticized u.s. plans. >> if anyone thinks they can impose sanctions on a unit of unit of the idf, i will fight it with all my strength. as our soldiers are united to protect us on the battlefield, we are united to protect them on the political field. reporter: meanwhile, turmoil has also reached inside the highest ranks of israel's military. today the country's top military intelligence chief, major general aharon haliva announced his resignation over the hamas october 7th attacks in southern israel. on that day, hamas militants blasted through israel's border defenses, rampaging through entire communities and killing an estimated 1,200 people, including more than 300 soldiers. 253 israelis were kidnapped. in a letter shared by the israel defence forces haliva said quote "the intelligence directorate under my command did not fulfill its task. i have carried that black day with me ever since, every day, every night. i will forever bear the terrible pain of the war."

but even in the shadow of war, in tel aviv today hostage families gathered to mark the beginning of passover, the festival of freedom as they pray for the freedom of the 133 captives remaining in gaza. for the pbs newshour, i'm ali rogin. ♪ >> the u.s. supreme court today heard arguments in the most significant case on homelessness in decades. the case looks at challenges to laws in a small oregon town for fining homeless people up to 300 dollars for setting up camps in public parks. the heart of the question is whether these laws classify as cruel and unusual punishment. our supreme court analyst marcia coyle has been following it all and joins us now. the justices expressed concern these laws punish homeless people who have no other choice

but to sleep outside. what was the basis of the case? >> the lawsuit filed by the homeless citizens in grants pass claimed the ordinance prohibiting camping in public spaces punish them and violate the eighth amendment cruel and unusual punishment clause. they said they were being punished because of their status and the supreme court said in earlier opinions you cannot punish someone on the basis of their status. you can punish conduct but not status. >> our team spoke with ed johnson, the attorney who first brought the suit against the city, grants pass, oregon as well as an attorney representing the city who argued before the court today. >> these are past for generations. went to high school there. all of a sudden there was no

place for them to live. this is not only not a solution to homelessness, it will make matters worse. they will have a criminal record which makes it harder to convince an employer or landlord to let you work there or live there. >> in grants pass in a tent on the little league field a dead body was found, believed to be overdose. this is a very real crisis, and people are dying on our streets. we think it's safer and better for people to avoid camping in public, and that cities need to have the tools. these laws help encourage people to accept available shelter in grants pass right now. >> walk us through these arguments. >> the arguments were dominated by this dividing line between status and conduct. the supreme court has said you cannot punish someone for being a drug addict.

that is punishment on the basis of status but you can punish conduct, say drug addicts buying and selling or possession of drugs. so the justices probed. you know, where where is the line here between status and conduct? so we have a lot of hypotheticals. what exactly is homelessness? what is the definition of it, and how do these ordinates play out? geoff: on that point we heard justices kagan and soto mayor focus on the eighth amendment and they are concerned this criminalizes homelessness. >> the ordinance prohibits a single person who is homeless, so does not have another place to sleep, that is a status, a single person with a blanket, you don't have to have a tent or a camp, it's a single person

with a blanket. >> sleeping in public -- >> sleeping is a necessity. breathing is conduct. presumably you would not think it is ok to criminalize breathing in public. for a homeless person who has no place to go, sleeping in public is like breathing in public. your statute says that person cannot take themselves and himself only and take a blanket and sleep someplace without it being a crime. >> what should we take away from that? >> during the arguments, it was clear the more liberal justices are more sympathetic to the homeless resident citizens of grants pass because they feel they are being punished on the basis of status. justice kagan explained that as clearly as she could.

yet the city continues to claim it is not punishing status, it is publishing -- punishing conduct. the camping in public spaces. >> the chief justice appeared to press the biden administration who filed an amicus brief in support of the homeless parties in the case. here's what he had to say. >> if there is a -- the town next to grants pass, 10 minutes away, has just completed building a homeless shelter that has many vacant beds, does that change the analysis here? because you don't want to be taken 10 minutes away where there's a homeless shelter? >> i think, if they're right across the town line, it would be appropriate to take into account that there's a homeless shelter there. >> so what if it's 30 miles away? is the shelter available in that case for your purposes? >> depends on accessibility. >> how far does that go? let's say there are five cities

around and they all have shelters and yet the person wants to stay. geoff: help us understand his concerns. >> he was trying to probe how far supporters of the homeless citizens who filed the lawsuit are going to go before the city can take action as grants pass has in fining one of them or giving them jail time. he was extending his hypothetical from right across the border of the city 30 miles away. what if there's a whole group of cities nearby that have shelter available and a homeless citizen does not want to leave? and he was somewhat frustrated that the government's response because government's response is basically -- it depends. these these people, these homeless residents of grants pass have lived there for many, years. and there's a community of interested they don't want to leave.

geoff: where did it appear the justices are leaning in this case? what are the implications? >> certainly one thing they all agreed upon and said many times, is that this is a very difficult policy issue. my feeling now is they are divided. they will go back and try to hash this out and maybe find common ground. maybe not. but it does seem as though the conservative majority is leaning toward the city. and the implications are huge, jeff, because so many cities are dealing with this problem. and what the supreme court has to say about what pass can do is going to affect how all the other cities tried to address this problem. geoff: marcia coyle, thanks as always. >> always a pleasure. ♪ geoff: less than 100 days from

the opening ceremony of the summer olympic games in paris, and a new doping scandal has erupted involving olympic swimmers from china. nearly two dozen chinese swimmers were cleared to compete despite testing positive for a banned drug prior to the tokyo games. jeffrey brown has the details. >> several of the swimmers who tested positive went on to win medals, including three gold medals. chinese authorities and the world anti-doping agency, or 'wada' had found the drug tmz, but cleared the swimmers and did not flag problems to olympic officials. in fact, none of this was widely known until the new york times and a german tv broadcaster broke the story this weekend. tmz is the same drug that led to russian olympic figure skater kamila valieva's 4 year ban after she was disqualified from the 2022 beijing olympics. for now, chinese officials and wada stand by the results of their initial investigation,

saying the use of the drug was not intentional. but that has not satisfied many in the sports world, including the u.s. anti doping agency. its ceo, travis tygart, joins me now. welcome to you. your contention is this should have been raised well before the olympics and gone through a more standard process. >> it's just it's not just my contention. it's actually the rules require it and and it's beyond question that china didn't follow the rules. they effectively swept this under the carpet because they didn't find a violation. theyidn't announce a violation. they didn't disqualify the athletes from the event at which they tested positive. and this is absolutely absolutely mandatory under the world anti doping code that all nations are required to follow, and that didn't happen. reporter: wada says that it did consult with scientists.

it did conclude that this was unintentional. it said that of course, this was happening during the covid lockdown that made some of the investigation the traditional on the ground investigation impossible. >> yeah, listen, it's just it's just simply, um, not believable to think during the covid lockdown that two months after these athletes eight in hotel -- ate in a hotel that two months later, they continued to find or found and remember, it was the chinese. you know, security that founded and did this report that water just --wada just accepted that tmz somehow still remained in the hotel kitchen and got into these athletes systems. many restaurants were not opened during those terrible times. the ones that were were doing a daily, if not hourly cleaning. so to think that this drug that has no business being in a kitchen, um somehow lasted there for two months during this covid time period is just incredible to believe. but even if you did believe, right, tinkerbell came and sprinkled some fairy dust, and

that's what caused these positive tests under the rules, , it is without question you still have to disqualify still , have to find a violation and you still have to announce the violation and this is the tragedy for athletes because this could have been announced at the time and we wouldn't necessarily be here. but unfortunately they allow china to not follow the rules and sweep this under the carpet, and then wada didn't do their job in ensuring that the rules were forced. and it took a whistleblower and other people in the new york times and this german documentary public station to come out and expose what we're now seeing. and of course, we're all horrified and you have to ask. well, why didn't they do the things that were required? reporter: we did note the different response to the russian figure skater. why was this treated differently? >> listen, i think on the eve of the games and what, in its press conference today, acknowledged the games were coming and that that obviously had a major influence on them.

she got out during the games and i think if you go back and look at it was it was actually leaked out. at that point wada had no choice. they were forced because the information was out in the world and look, they did what they should have done under the rules with valjevo to and they did that there and start contrast. that is inexplicable. reporter: tell us briefly about tmz and how much difference can it make in a swim race? >> you know, it was a drug i think originally developed in russia, um it's you know, prescription drug so it doesn't show up in the environment or magically appear in kitchens. it's controlled. it's not even available here in the united states, but it is in some parts of the world comes in pill form and look, it's it's prohibited in the most serious category of doping products. it's banned at all times because it can help you training. it can help you in recovery. it can help you in an event and that is why it is prohibited. it's why are mandatory four year sanction is what's put in place

like in the russian figure skating case, unless you can demonstrate the source and that you were without fault getting into your system, which hasn't been done to the level of satisfaction that needs to be done here but again, even if he -- even if you believed this story of contamination that the chinese government put to water -- put to wada that they readily accepted for some unknown reason without doing a full investigation and not much of you still have to announce those one. cases in china didn't do that. and they acknowledge that china didn't do that. that's a cover up of these cases by the chinese anti doping agency and they went along with it. reporter: so, what do you think should happen now? i mean, here we are less than 100 days before the start of the next olympics. what about the medals that were won by those swimmers? what about what's coming much can other athletes and all of the millions of people watching trust the results? >> look, i i think it's a collapse of the anti doping system, and it has to be

immediately repaired. there has to be major reconstruction at the world anti doping agency to make sure something like this never happens again. but more importantly, for those athletes at the 2021 games who competed against the swimmers that we now know had positive tests on the eve of those games. we have to get to the bottom of what happened here. and find some justice so that those athletes have confidence and and going into 2024 paris. if some of these swimmers with these positive tests or end up showing up in many, you know, are still swimming at high levels and likely will be on the chinese swim team. it's going to be a disaster, so we can't allow that to happen so immediately. we need to find a way to get justice and ensure that you know those who rightfully should have won and be recognized as the winners are rewarded for that and their hard work and sacrifice. it's injustice that we cannot allow to happen right now. reporter: thank you very much. >> thank you really appreciate your time. ♪

geoff: few things in washington are ever easy. that was certainly true for foreign aid for ukraine and israel. after months of debate and political gamesmanship, a bipartisan majority in the house passed bills worth $95 billion over the weekend. the senate is expected to vote this week. but the turmoil has put speaker mike johnson in the hot seat with some republicans. for the political stakes, i'm joined by tamara keith of npr. and andrew desiderio of punchbowl news. amy walter is away. great to see you. after much delay, the house passed the foreign aid bill. lots of money for israel and taiwan. $61 billion for ukraine. how did mike johnson defied his right flank? >> quite the 180 over the last year.

this guy embedded himself with the freedom caucus through his entire tenure in the house and voted consistently against every ukraine package that came up since the start of the war yet is now putting his speakership on the line over the issue. he has credited things with this transformation. the first is that he is receiving high-level intelligence briefings. when you are the speaker you are part of the gang of eight so you get the same intel briefings the president gets. that impressed upon him the stakes of the war in ukraine and what would happen if the u.s. doesn't send weapons and funding to them. he talked personally about his own son, to start at the u.s. naval academy. one of the arguments for aid to ukraine was that we are not putting american boots on the ground.

you heard the speaker say when he was giving the press conference, i would rather american bullets than american boys go to ukraine. that was a personal element friend. you saw that play out over the weekend. this is a guy who went from opposing ukraine aid to being the one who could influence the tide of the war by deciding to bring this package to the floor. >> how does the white house view all of this being split into individual bills and is there anything that could threaten the passage in the senate? >> as long as this gets to the president's desk, the white house is happy. this is what the president has been asking for. there aren't poison pills. he isn't being jammed.

this is what he was asking for for months. we would ask him, what's your plan? how are you going to get this through? their response, they were restrained, they just repeated this refrain. if it got a vote, it would get bipartisan support. it was like a mantra. ultimately that is exactly what happened. not expecting, there could be drama in the senate but ultimately, this will get to the president and will become law. everything that involves. geoff: one thing that gets less attention is the tiktok bill. what's the deal with that, that requires new ownership for tiktok over the course of the next year, if not it would be banned in the u.s.? >> the house cobbles this bill together. it ignited this lobbying effort by tiktok and their allies.

it gives tiktok one year to divest from the chinese parent company. if they don't, the app would be banned. you have an interesting cross-section of republicans and democrats both for and against this bill. clear the house easily. never got a vote in the senate. mike johnson's decision to include this is what is going to get it signed by president biden who has said he supports the bill. there is the element of politics. he's got a huge chunk of his base that lives on tiktok. people make money on tiktok. the consequences are going to be talked about more once we get past the initial fervor of the foreign aid, which is the highlight of the package. geoff: the biden campaign courts tiktok influencers. >> campaign announced with

fanfare they were creating an account on tiktok. they are actively courting young voters and tiktok voters. working with influencers and others. same time, the president said he will sign this legislation. donald trump today said hey young voters, do you have any idea what joe biden might sign? former president trump also signed a ban on tiktok in the u.s. it's a flip-flop. geoff: what does the weekend passage mean for speaker johnson's job? does this make the motion to vacate more of a threat? >> the longer this hangs out there, the more marjorie taylor

greene benefits from it, the attention and fundraising. that's important. if she goes forward with this, the leadership will do a motion to table the motion to vacate. you are voting on whether to kill it or not. that will put democrats on the spot for them to say this is not be voting for mike johnson or jeffries, this is me voting to dispense with something that would ultimately force the ouster of johnson. that could be viewed a bunch of ways if you are marjorie taylor greene. if democrats help republicans kill the effort, marjorie taylor greene can say mike johnson serves at the pleasure of the democrats. that advances her argument. for democrats, it's a question of, jeffries is not going to be the speaker. do you want to cause more chaos

in the house, with this week's long fight that we had late last year when kevin mccarthy was ousted? some of them the answer might be yes because of the political benefit. you already have a number of democrats who are on the record saying they would vote for this motion to table the motion to vacate. congressional jargon. [laughter] you are voting on whether to kill it outright. geoff: you could argue the divisions within the house gop have never been this evident. listen to tony gonzales. >> the house is a rough and rowdy place, but mike johnson is going to be just fine. i served 20 years in the military, it's my absolute honor to be in congress. but i serve with some real scumbags. matt gaetz, he paid minors to have sex with him at drug parties. bob good endorsed my opponent, a a known neo-nazi. these people used to walk around white hoods at night.

now they're walking around with white hoods in the daytime. >> that frustration is in the open. >> that is a stunning series of statements to make. the ub of congress is not friendly right now. it's extremely toxic. you've seen members of congress leave before their terms were up, pretty inconvenient times for the rest of the republicans. geoff: you mentioned democrats potentially stepping into save speaker johnson. contextualize what we heard yesterday. >> i'm a progressive democrat and i think you would have a few progressive democrats doing that. and i disagree with speaker johnson on many issues and have been very critical of him. but he did the right thing here and he deserves to keep his job until the end of this term. i don't think everything in politics needs to be

transactional. i think here you have speaker johnson, who not only put this up for a vote, but he also separated the bills, which i thought was courageous. geoff: that could be a possibility. >> it could. you have a number of democrats saying they would do this. that would presumably make up for the number of republicans that would vote for the motion to vacate. you heard and say it. mike johnson did the right thing in their view and he deserves to be rewarded. you do not hear that often in politics especially from a member of the opposite party. one of the reasons democrats decided to get together with the effort to oust mccarthy because they didn't think he would do the right thing on ukraine, appropriations or any issue. facebook mike johnson do what they believe is the right thing and as a result, this is likely going to be an effort hakeem

jeffries, even if he doesn't vote to kill the motion. geoff: pray conversation. we appreciate it. -- great conversation. ♪ >> thank you. geoff: it's a center for art by artists with disabilities, which has the larger art world paying major attention. jeffrey brown recently visited the san francisco bay area for our ongoing look at health and the arts, part of our canvas series. >> a crowded exhibition at 'sf moma' - the san francisco museum of modern art, known for showing works of leading contemporary artists. on display here, a large abstract painting by 43 year old joseph alef. >> it's a big thing. it's a big accomplishment in my life. to see a painting like this and to imagine how incredible i did.

and it is while. it's just, i'll be, amazing. it's just wow. announcer: also in the exhibition, susan janow. [laughter] >> know and here i am today doing exhibitions. reporter: janow and alef are among some 140 self-taught artists who call 'creative growth art center' in oakland, california their creative home. >> it's really awesome. reporter: the organization, celebrating its 50th year, offers an open, light-filled space, supplies and instructors like amy keefer. >> different colors. reporter: camaraderie and all around support to people with developmental, mental and physical disabilities. >> executive director tom dimaria. >> the idea of being an artist is often a privileged act. so i think if we bring people into an

artistic studio and say, 'you can be creative here, we'll support you, you have materials, please tell your story, please experiment, there's no right or wrong here' -- that's an incredible opportunity. reporter: and you're saying these are people who often have been told the opposite. tom: these are people who have been told the opposite. and i think it's as simple as flipping the switch from, you know, 'i don't want to hear from you' to 'i do want to hear from you.' 'you can't contribute', 'you can be a major contributor.' 'you're outside of culture', 'you're a cultural leader.' and i think those are important ideas. reporter: founded in 1974 by elias katz and florence ludnis-katz as part of a burgeoning disability rights movement, "creative growth" is one of three such organizations in the bay area alone - not a 'therapy' or health center, but

a working art studio for people making a variety of kinds of art including, on this day, textiles for an upcoming annual fashion show. 59 year old william scott was using 3d modeling software to help plan his next painting. he has autism. >> i should read a little. reporter: he had prepared a statement for us. >> i feel happiness because i am a peacemaker. i feel very proud of my big mural in the museum, sf moma. (i reporter: scott paints versions of himself, family members and others and alternative worlds. his 32 foot long mural at the museum presents a re-imagined san francisco called "praise frisco". you're also looking at a different kind of city, with no violence. scott: that's right. yes. reporter: how does the art let you do that? scott: because the art makes a real world. making the real world. reporter: the art makes the real world? scott: it does. it makes the real world. that's why i does that, that's why i do that. reporter: the museum exhibition is titled "creative growth: the

house that art built", with 80 works by 11 artists including intricately layered works on paper by dwight mcintosh. and dan miller. brightly colored paintings by alice alice wong and ron veasey. ceramics by john martin. susan janow, who has an intellectual disability, works in a variety of media, including video. in this one, she stares at the camera, while posing questions in voiceover. >> when i first started going to creative growth, i found art and started drawing. and i just, that was my calling. reporter: joseph alef, who has autism, paints most days at creative growth. going to creative growth, that's been a very important part of your life? joseph: yeah. reporter: tell me what, what do you get from it? joseph: just, just try going there and get my exper, experience out and how i feel. and just imagine in how i feel

in my heart and in my soul, and just paint. reporter: most striking now, the embrace of these artists by the mainstream art world, where a number of them, including william scott, are in important collections and leading museums like sf moma and earning money for their work. the museum, in fact, recently purchased more than 100 works by creative growth artists, and this exhibition is the start of a three-year partnership. katy siegel is sf moma's research director. the hope for this first exhibition she says -- >> just to blow people away, just to blow people away, overwhelm with the evidence that these artists are incredibly important. that said, going forward, i'm really most excited in a way about showing that art throughout the whole museum, putting it in the context of the larger collection and showing these artist, just like all the other great artists making great artwork in our collection.

reporter: so the idea for now has to be an exhibition dedicated to disabled artists, but eventually integrated into what we think of as art. >> i think museums have done a lot of gatekeeping over the years around who's a professional artist and so the idea of having self-trained artists, having artists with differing abilities, having artists with different, from different backgrounds and judging people not by their certifications, but by their artwork. reporter: back at creative growth art center, i asked executive director tom dimaria about this. are you asking people to come see this as the work of disabled artists? >> right. reporter: or are you asking them to come see the art? tom dimaria: yes, so that's the critical question. is this a disabled art exhibition or that an exhibition by artists, who have disabilities? and we tend to lead with art, saying that, you know, the art is interesting, that's why it's in the museum. but there is a very important lived experience of the artist's disability and the culture of

disability that's within the work. reporter: that's the advocacy part. >> that's the advocacy, right. and then once that's happened, you can say, 'okay, the work is on the wall and we're in the art world, and now we have something to say. [applause] reporter: the magnitude of the museum exhibition brought plenty of emotion, including tears - as well as the support people told us they feel among a community of friends. ♪ it all culminated, as every friday afternoon, with a dance party, one more celebration of a special week in making and showing art. for the pbs newshour, i'm jeffrey brown in the san francisco bay area. ♪ geoff: kevin j. patel is a climate activist from los angeles. after experiencing health issues due to poor air quality in his city, he founded an organization aimed at giving young people from under-served communities a chance to be change-makers.

on this year's earth day, he gives his brief but spectacular take on giving climate activism a shot. >> when i was younger, my parents told me the story of them leaving india. they had to come to america to seek better opportunities but as climate migrants. generations of my family are farmers. in india, with extreme droughts and extreme weather, it was not tenable for farmers. ♪ living in a community like south-central, you get to experience and see a lot of the injustice. one potent example is a lack of access to fresh fruit, non-gmo and organic, healthy produce. what we have an abundance of his fast food. i want to do something about it.

my father taught me the ways in which to grow food. that sparked me teaching fellow peers about where their food comes from, speaking out against food injustice. when i was 12, i was diagnosed with irregular heartbeat tied to the air pollution that ravaged l.a. understanding air pollution and smog impacted myself but also my entire community, i was one of thousands and millions who were affected because they live in a certain area. 2019, i didn't see people who look like me. it was founded in the light of putting marginalized voices at the forefront of decision-making tables but also making sure their voices or ideas or solutions are heard. when people tell me climate change is inevitable, i tell them, that's not true.

we can still do something about this crisis. i'm optimistic in the young people leading the fight. everything makes a difference, making sure we are working together to solve shared issues that are impacting all of us. the possibilities around lisman we do something. this is my brief but spectacular take on giving climate activism a shot. geoff: you can join us tomorrow night when we will look at the growing number of protests over israel's war in gaza across college campuses. and that's the newshour for tonight. i'm geoff bennett. for all of us here at the pbs newshour, thank you for joining us. have a good evening. announcer: major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by -- ♪ >> on an american cruise line's journey, along the columbia and snake rivers, travelers retrace their route forged by lewis and

clark 200 years ago. american cruise lines fleet of modern riverboats traveled through american landscapes to historic landmarks, where you can experience local customs and cuisine. american cruise lines, proud sponsor of pbs newshour. >> certified financial planner professionals are proud to support pbs newshour, committed to acting in their clients best interest. for more information. >> kendeda fund, committed to restorative justice and meaningful work through investments in transformative leaders and ideas. supported by the john d and catherine t macarthur foundation, committed to building a more just world. and with the ongoing support of these institutions.

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wow, you get to watch all your favorite stuff. it's to die for. now you won't miss a thing. this is the way. the xfinity 10g network. made for streaming. hello, everyone. welcome to "amanpour & company." here's what's coming up. >> we're committed to israel's security. we're also committed to de-escalating. >> israel strikes back at iran. wh's