Militants after a bombing in Kabul which killed 12 people including an American soldier from Washington here's Chris Buckley while officials insisted the trip was not connected to peace talks with the Taliban President Trump did confirm that the u.s. Had restarted negotiations the Us president also met Afghanistan's leader President Ashraf Ghani during what was his 2nd visit to an active conflict zone since taking office Mr Trump again emphasized his desire to remove troops from the Middle East he said that the u.s. Would be substantially reducing its presence in Afghanistan although he didn't give numbers or details around has broken out between 2 key NATO allies France and Turkey have a policy on Syria and a news conference in Paris president Emmanuel micro accused Turkey of in day during NATO actions against the Islamic state group with its military operation against Kurdish fighters in Syria in response Turkey accused him of sponsoring terrorism Mike Sanders reports President macro has already called NATO brain dead he's taking aim at the country with the alliance is 2nd biggest army acknowledges that Turkey had suffered from terrorism but he said Ankara couldn't expect solidarity from its NATO allies if it presented them with a military operation as a fed accompli to his foreign minister move the chair was sure to hit back he highlighted president macro's meetings in Paris with Kurdish militia Representatives saying if he considered terrorists as allies there was nothing more to add he said President macro did not have what it took to fill a leadership void in Europe the conservative Euro Grand Sen Luis like only a poll has won the presidential election putting an end to 15 years of Left wing government in the country Mr likely oppose has criticized excessive spending on social programs and that promised to observe fiscal discipline in order to revive your acquired sluggish economy will grant has more there are still some votes to be counted and an official declaration to be made by Europe wise electoral commission but after several days the very tight race for the presidency finally has a result the conservative candidates. Luis like a year has claimed victory after his opponent Daniel Martinez from the ruling left wing coalition accepted defeat Mr Martinez said the outstanding vote wouldn't change the result I greet the president elect with whom I have a meeting tomorrow he said before thanking those who voted for him researchers in Brazil say smoke from burning forests in the Amazon can intensify the melting of glasses threatening water supplies to millions but scientists started the movement of smoke particles and their effect on Andy and last years they found evidence that snow and ice has been darkened accelerating the rate of melting b.b.c. News the police commander in charge of that on the day of Britain's Worst sporting disaster at the Hillsborough football stadium 30 years ago has been cleared of the gross negligence manslaughter of 95 Liverpool fans our correspondent Judith Moritz was in court David Duncan filled his Noel stood trial 3 times now with the 3rd time of asking a jury has found he was not responsible and was unfairly singled out for prosecution and seduction Phil did not dispute that he ordered the opening of a gate at Hillsborough to let fans in all that he failed to close the tunnel to the terraces which were already full but his defense argued that he didn't breach is duty and had been a target of blame for the disaster prosecutors in the Netherlands say they're investigating a father who kept his family in religious seclusion over the alleged sexual abuse of 2 of his 9 children the family's situation came to light when the man's 25 year old son appealed for help at a local bar last month he said he and 5 siblings were being held in a secret room at the family's farm. 2 weeks before the British general election a router has broken out between the governing Conservative Party and the television network Channel 4 after it held a party leaders debate on climate change without any conservative representation the party leader and current Prime Minister Barak's Johnson had earlier said he would not take part but instead sent a cabinet minister Michael Gove but Channel 4 refused to seat Mr Gove saying the party the debate was for party leaders only. A small Canadian town has decided to change its identity because its current aim is putting off investors the town of asbestos was named in the late 19th century after the mineral that was mined there before its disastrous health effects were known the mine which operated until 2011 was once the largest source of asbestos in the world now the town in Quebec province is to consult its $7000.00 residents as to what its new name should be b.b.c. News. I'm Marco Werman this is the world good to have you with us today this Thanksgiving the holiday spirit moved President Trump to pay a surprise visit to u.s. Troops in Afghanistan there's nowhere I'd rather celebrate this Thanksgiving that right here with the toughest strongest best and bravest warriors on the face of the earth you are indeed that the president arrived in a darkened airplane and carried out a presidential tradition feeding turkey and mashed potatoes to American troops it was Trump's 1st visit to Afghanistan as president he said he'd restart peace negotiations with the Taliban but scones 3 months after he canceled talks with them the Taliban wants to make a deal we'll see if they want to make a deal is going to be a real deal but we'll see but they want to make a deal and they only want to make a deal because you're doing a great job at Chili's they want to make a deal so I want to thank you and I want to thank the Afghan soldiers for really broke into a lot of you today and you say they're really fighting hard I was very impressed with that actually so I want to thank you Trev said the u.s. Would stay until there is a deal or total victory he also said he'd like to reduce the number of American troops Trump also met with Afghanistan's president Gunny today in an unusual move Gunny joint Trump onstage with u.s. Troops at Bagram Air Base Gunny praised Trump as the architect of a strategy for wiping out al Qaeda in Afghanistan there are people also full of thanks in a Hong Kong today although it looks more like the 4th of July through. Protesters waving American flags others singing The Star-Spangled Banner. The demonstrators are offering thanks to President Trump for signing a bill that backs Hong Kong's pro-democracy protesters Nathan was a key figure in that democracy movement and 2016 he was elected to Hong Kong's legislature but was later expelled from the parliament under pressure from Beijing he's now studying at Yale University we talked about the videos posted online of the celebrations in the streets of Hong Kong last night people were gathering in the How to Hong Kong. People holding up cellphone lights and cheering for victory I'm also seeing a lot of flags there are British flags of course a lot of American flags and there's somebody with a statue of liberty hat with like little lady like it's pretty amazing what does it tell us about the connections between Hong Kong and the United States do you think this is a leaderless movement so people express their opinion freely inside. Some a hole like American flags on the whole u.k. People feel like they need to thank the countries that have been helping. Them so helpful and looking at one flag that has a picture of a tank that says Trump on it and trump a standing with an assault rifle on top of the tank very proudly and the whole assembly is not meant to like make into the hero of Hong Kong but a way that people expressed their gratitude to President troubles of signed a bill banning the export of tear gas rubber bullets and stun guns to the police in Hong Kong do you think that's significant or mostly symbolic. The police now they have been firing tear gas made in China which is more dangerous to themselves and more uncertain about what it contains So I think the ban actually release a message that according to international standards does not agree on how the government or the police have been using this crowd control weapons and I hope that even in Europe the other countries who are selling weapons to the police force could follow that path at the same time Washington is trying to negotiate this trade deal with China and I'm wondering if you're concerned that a successful trade deal could reframe Hong Kong for Washington as a secondary concern to good economic ties with the Chinese mainland the trade deal is just out of the picture that the most important thing is how we could restrain expansion of the off the terrorism and how we could stop China abusing the power they have in order to suppress people so I think regardless of how the trade deal has been doing I think we need to uphold these principles. Does the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong think it can trust Washington because President Trump has been pretty non-committal to your movement in the past he's also called China's leadership in paying an incredible guy so is Trump a reliable ally Well I think the Hong Kong issue in the us is having strong bipartisan support regardless of the personal character of the President Trump we're not lying our work trust or of faith on one single person but we are relying on a share community that with the saying that he was and what the same pursuit of democracy to hold hands together and we are light in trust bipartisan support in the u.s. Of course the fight in Hong Kong is also a global fight way in the forefront of the clashes of values where are the forefront of stopping the expansion of altar terrorism and we got mutual benefits Nathan law is a key figure in Hong Kong's democracy movement he's now studying at Yale thanks for being with us happy holiday you very much. There's another growing source of tension between the u.s. And China tech talk and case you don't know tech talk is a wildly popular to post short videos it's owned by a Chinese company and critics say it's being censored not just things posted in China content posted anywhere critics point to one recent post here in the u.s. I got taken down it's a video that begins with some beauty tips but you also get something extra Here's the world's Lydia mentally do this video starts out like any other beauty to Tauriel you'd find on line I also want to show you guys how to go long lashes the 17 year old who made this take talk her name is frozen and she recorded it where she lives in New Jersey she sits close to the camera facing it she has long dark hair draped over one of her shoulders she's wearing a black shirt sporting a baby blue scrunchy around her right wrist and she's holding a pink eyelash curler up her face so the 1st thing you need to do is grab your last killer curl your lashes obviously and then for Rose's tone changes and the video takes a turn she tells people watching to put down their eyelash curlers and use their phone they're using right now to search of what's happening in China what's happening in China is a brutal government crackdown on Muslims in the country mainly ethnic weekers the Chinese government is accused of rounding up as many as 1000000 people over the past 3 years locking them up in internment camps and prisons across the remote province of Shane Jiang in northwest China separating their families from each other kidnapping them murdering them raping them forcing them to eat pork forcing them to drink the Chinese government denies all of this for ose who's a high school junior told me over the phone that she found out about what's going on in Shin Jiang through social media and I thought this cannot be true this this kind of can't be doing this for their own people and I searched up and sure enough they are it's been confirmed by the un and it broke my heart and I was. A Muslim growing up in America as an Afghan I think it's it's my duty it's my job to speak about this into spread awareness So last weekend she took to take talk now she didn't have a huge following she wasn't well known but she thought maybe if she made the video look like a beauty to Tauriel it get more views it was bait and switch basically and it worked on Sunday I woke up to a 1000000 views on there and I was like well I should create 2 more videos on this issue because there's a lot of questions regarding what's happening so I created it and then on Monday I woke up to see the message that my account suspended so here's what happened to talk made it so that for Rosie couldn't access the app from her phone and took down the video many are saying this is because of tick tocks connections to China remember it's owned by the Chinese company by dance for us I knew about those connections when she got on take talk she also knew that the Chinese government has a tight grip on what people there can say online but she never expected that those rules would impact her 18 thousands of miles away in New Jersey there have been other accusations in the past that to talk censors videos that criticize the Chinese government accusations the company strongly denies they say that the way they moderate content here in the u.s. Is not at all influenced by Beijing but that's not what Silver employees of Tick-Tock say this is Senator Joshua Holly a Republican from Missouri at a congressional hearing earlier this month to talk was invited to the hearing but didn't show up and so Senator Hawley facing the empty chair that had been set up for tech talk brought up news reports that said that executives based in Beijing have the final say on what gets to go on take talk even if it's for users here in the u.s. That's sure a different story than the one tech talk as told this committee and that's a plan. A problem because tick tock is super popular here in the u.s. Especially among teens and young adults and it's becoming a place where they learn about current events so for example for Rosa told me that when she posted that now viral video that many teens replied saying it was the 1st time they'd ever heard about Shin Jong as for that video it is now back up a tick tock spokesperson who didn't want to be recorded told me that the takedown was basically an accident they've since apologized and given for access to her account I don't think I really want to post on to talk anymore but same time I don't want this to silence me I will still spread awareness about these issues and she says there are plenty of other social media apps she could do that on for the world mainly due. On yesterday's show we heard from members of the u.s. Military sharing stories about Thanksgiving spent overseas today it's a turn of a career foreign service officer they're the public servants who spend much of their working lives away from the u.s. Often separated from family and who up until the impeachment hearings this month were not really on the minds of the public happy Thanksgiving this is Laura Kennedy I'm Our was a career foreign service officer spent almost 40 years with the Department of State Kennedy served as ambassador to Turkmenistan along with other posts in the foreign service but when it comes to Thanksgiving memory she goes straight back to her 1st posting overseas I'll never forget that 1st assignment in Moscow 1977 it was my 1st overseas assignment 3 weeks after I got there brand new foreign service are still trying to sort of find my way the embassy burned it was a devastating fire knocked out our communications all of our Clare classified working area now after this terrible fire we were just engulfed with the effort to trying to repair the damages so the whole priority went to getting back on our feet after the fire and I had received my what we call household effects every all shipments that were not essential that were not geared to repairing the fire it had been held at our staging point up in hell thinking so here was the winter coming on and there was a period that when or where the temperature stayed in the minus 30 days for 3 weeks it was a really brutal winter and we were already getting snow at the beginning of September and this was with a burnt roof on the of the embassy itself I had no where close so not a fun time so the embassy very kindly gave me a break over Thanksgiving to go up to retrieve some of my goods including winter coats and boots and things so it was a treat actually to be up in. I'm the other hand on your own 1st Thanksgiving away from family and so on and the American ambassador there who is the quite legendary Ross Ridgway heard that I was in town invited me sight unseen to her Thanksgiving dinner so I sat down at her residence with her other gas which included the embassy Marines other folks like me who might not have family at post and what it was a lovely dinner but the real value of that was that the ambassador reaches out to people who don't have their own Thanksgiving but people just make do all over the world there are increasingly around the world many people who are at a company post so they don't have the family to help them peel the potatoes and stuff the turkey is there really on their own and I'm talking about the fact that we've had huge numbers of foreign service people assigned in Iraq in Afghanistan in war zones places where we have civil unrest all over the world foreign service people face all sorts of different situations the main thing is that whether they have a full scale Turkey or just frozen turkey burger is the fact that they are overseas they're delighted to be serving their country but it reminds them of what you give up and that is being away from your own friends and family and your country and that's why Foreign Service folks support each other to look after your colleagues whether their kids there can they are family former ambassador Laura Kennedy remembering her 1st Thanksgiving abroad as a foreign service officer in the Soviet Union You're listening to the world. So what does giving back look like when you're a reporter either I'm Eric Dagens t.v. Critic for n.p.r. And if you ask me giving back is all about acknowledging people who've helped you along your journey now one person who shaped my understanding of media was best to share all possible journalism ethics or showed me how money influences media coverage she taught me the importance of free and independent press and how to keep my ethical compass true now the values that Professor Hall's Grove instilled in me Earth flecked in the coverage you hear on this public radio station every day is why you listen you can show how much this station means to you today by making a contribution give to your community give to the station give because someone else gave Here's how to help maintain k.c.l. Used blend local and global coverage with an end of 29000 contribution on Giving Tuesday December 3rd. I'm Marco Werman And you're with the world for the rest of this Thanksgiving Day We're going to rebroadcast one of our favorite stories from earlier this year and take you on a journey down the Mississippi River. All right right. Back or if you want to take a canoe trip from Helena Arkansas down the Mississippi and normal times you just put your boat in the river and go forwards but these are not normal times not only not in water here but a willow 'd tree but. Right now the. Thing. That's canoe guide Tanner alge it's with a Quapaw river company and I'm Jason Margolis reporter with the world this spring and summer cities farms homes and businesses near the river have been besieged by flooding it was the wettest 12 month period ever recorded in the continental United States driven by record precipitation throughout parts of the Midwest much of that rain why. Snow melt made its way into the Mississippi drainage system and headed south so finding a canoe path to the Mississippi River in Arkansas paddling through the Gets of trees that would normally be on dry land. Well it's a mess then they get torn up by the corn the challenge of our canoe ride will be the 21st century challenge confronting the river too much water eventually after an hour of struggle covering a mile and a half as the crow flies we punched through to the main channel of the Mississippi Ok good job keep it done. Welcome to the Mississippi River. Marco Werman Back with you again today we're taking a trip down the Mississippi the Mississippi of today barely resembles the water system Mark Twain described in the $880.00 s. In his book Life on the Mississippi considering the Missouri its main branch it is the longest river in the world for solace and 300 miles it seems safe to say that it is also the crookedest river in the world but since that time engineers have shaped contained and dredge the river transforming it into an efficient hydro superhighway to ship American products across the globe my customers from my corner all over seas they're all over seas every one of them and if our transportation and fish and sea falls shackling the river has also brought some steep costs to the environment wildlife and cities and towns along the Mississippi and the challenges are only growing as climate change is added to the mix wetter weather in the Midwest more intense hurricanes and sea level rise the flooding on the Mississippi is sure to cost billions of dollars in damage and also lost business they are now in diverting underwater Father Sister Mary I just hear a computer the Mississippi is buckling under the strain The World's Jason Margolis brings us this story of a river system. Between competing interests. The water that drains into the Mississippi comes from $32.00 states and 2 Canadian provinces it all the bench really pours out into the Gulf of Mexico it's called gravity it's all got a pass you here is beer a slew easy about 60 miles southeast of New Orleans Brian Lambert runs duck hunting and fishing tours his black lab in Logan sits by his side in a flat bottomed boat a century ago the Mississippi River Delta was an area of vast coastal marshes but in the battle between land and water water is killing it we have we've lost 2000 square miles in the last 70 years which is you know the Grand Canyon 1996 square miles. We've lost 2000 Put another way it'll be like wiping an area the size of Delaware off the map then there's the football field stat everybody down here talks about the football field stat every 100 minutes a football field worth of land is swallowed by the sea while we're out here if we lose 3 football the lane while we're out here and it goes on 24 hours a day 7 days a week every single day we lose in l.a. And these wetlands aren't just critical to people who live work and play here when hurricanes reach land they lose strength and peter out the coastal marshes serve as a crucial buffer a shock absorber as storms barrel their way to the urban areas up north duck hunter Albertine Kimball has a message for the folks 60 miles away in New Orleans no wetlands equals no people just remember then we protect New Orleans of you don't save us you next with climate change scientists are predicting stronger and wetter hurricanes as ocean temperatures rise Kimball says the impacts are already here in d.c. In a Mexican black Billy tree. I think things change and absolutely honest. To get more wicked to you know. To kick in if I'm not assigned to still let me state that fact but she says she knows the solution the land here needs to be replenished the want to live free and so now we did have the compromise that's it we don't compromise none of us will be here so what exactly happened to Louisiana's coastal wetlands where did they go the sand and dirt they replenish is the easy Anna is still hundreds of miles up north will die further into that a bit later the transformation of the Mississippi truly begins in the mid 1900 century explains Bob Chris a professor emeritus of hydro geology at Washington University in St Louis if we look at an old lithographs from 859 here is a fledgling city of St Louis and look at the steamboats look at this thing well what have been great travel and luxury unless you want to ask what happened frequently back then Chris shows a map from the mid 19th century there are Stevo wrecks every model for probably a 1000 miles I. Think of the commercial lawsuits the untamed River also put military vessels at risk and so the Army Corps of Engineers was brought in to shackle the Mississippi they did their job but not quite well enough cliff Dean runs the Delta cultural center museum in Helena Arkansas my 1st name is actually James I switched over to the middle name because when I started teaching James Dean was pretty famous that Jimmy Dane smoked South Asians cliff Dean grew up in the Mississippi Delta hearing about the Great Flood of 1927 an area roughly the size of Ireland was underwater some 500 people died and more than 600000 were displaced the Red Cross called it one of America's greatest peacetime disasters Dean's grandparents lived through it he says one morning they woke up surrounded by. Water and the sheriff came back made everybody get in boats you had to leave in the me and all had to go to try to shore up the ladies or to build new ditches or something to try to stop the water and if you didn't go I mean you have people actually shot that go to the late. Game and you. Know one of them when the levee breaks by Kansas Joe McCoy in Memphis many from 1929 the Mississippi River connects the American heartland to the rest of the globe It also shares a lot of the world's environmental problems and people on the buy you want them fixed they still we should have done a 50 years ago what today's the 1st day of my grandchildren's 50 years that started all this could go on. For a. Bridge or Levon 100 mile journey down the Mississippi continues just ahead. Here with the world. This week on Wait Wait Don't Tell me we're thankful that we get to talk to people like Henry Winkler the nicest man in Hollywood as well as a live your wild and Piper Kernan We'll show you what we mean this week with all new material with panelists Adam Burke any Dickinson and Bobcat Goldthwait kids the Thanksgiving dinner you wish you were invited to on this week's Wait Wait Don't Tell me from n.p.r. Saturdays between 10 and 11 am also 11 Sunday morning on k.c.a.l. Here. The Mississippi River broke all sorts of flood records this year people think they're nuts for living down here I mean I mean how many people spend that much money to build that beautiful home knowing that the bottom is going to fill up with water. Learning to live with more water we continue our journey down the Mississippi ahead around the world. Why from n.p.r. News in Washington I'm Jim Howard some of the Democratic presidential candidates are spending Thanksgiving in Iowa which goes 1st in the primary process with its caucuses I will Public Radio's Clay Masters reports some of them donned aprons to talk politics in people's kitchens Ok that's going to run like 2025 minutes California senator Comolli Harris ready to meal in Des Moines on the afternoon before the holiday Harris was asked what advice she'd give families who talk politics around the Thanksgiving table what I would encourage families to do is to find. And really tough policy about the things that we have in common Harris says it is especially important because the current mood of the country has caused people to work against each other Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar is also having Thanksgiving dinner here for n.p.r. News I'm claim asters in Des Moines the u.s. Supreme Court has scheduled oral arguments in its 1st major abortion case with 2 of president trumps conservative nominees on the bench as N.P.R.'s Sarah McCammon reports the closely watched case is similar to one that was before the High Court in 2016 the Supreme Court has scheduled oral arguments for March 4th of 2020 in a case involving a Louisiana state law that requires doctors who perform abortions to have hospital admitting privileges those can be difficult to get an abortion rights advocates say if the law stands 2 of the 3 clinics in the state would be forced to stop offering the procedure this case will be closely watched for signs of how the newly configured court might rule in future abortion cases N.P.R.'s Sarah McCammon reporting one of the more enduring legacies of the trumpet ministration will be the number of federal judges the president has put on the bench to date the Republican controlled Senate has confirmed more than 160 federal judicial nominees about one quarter of current federal appeals court judges are trumped nominees that's prompting the liberal activist group demand justice to target law firms that sponsor the conservative Federalist Society as recent annual convention with ads on social media the group back to the nominees of Brett Kavanaugh and the Al Gore such this is n.p.r. News. The world is brought to you by new offering a personalized weight loss program that uses psychology and small goals to change habits with the goal of losing weight and keeping it off for good learn more at new and o.o.m. Dot com and from at last in whether it's keeping thousands of people on the same page or managing projects from start to finish at last in works to unleash the potential of all types of teams with collaboration software more at last c.n.n. Dot com. I'm Marco Werman And you're with the world where a co-production of the b.b.c. World Service w g.b.h. Boston p.r.i. And. Even. When the Levee Breaks Led Zeppelin from the 1970 s. Earlier we were talking about the Great Flood of 1927 which inspired the song we're devoting much of the show today to the Mississippi River an iconic waterway that connects us trade to the rest of the globe Here's The World's Jason Margolis after 1927 the u.s. Army Corps ramped up its efforts to contain the lower Mississippi they built higher and deeper levees along with flood control structures and spillways to relieve stress during high water events it was one of the most ambitious engineering projects on earth and it's largely work to protect River Cities and keep trade flowing but with climate change many people along the river like Cliff Dean worry about how much longer the intricate system can hold they used to be at the 27 flood my 100 years before you have the next flood Well now we're beginning to get them every few years it's been a rough stretch along the Mississippi sense Hurricane Katrina struck 14 years ago. Just Bob Chris isn't surprised by all the flooding the modern river is featureless is a strand of spaghetti and this has been done for navigation Thank you your blood. For sure if this is your poison system body you can eat a bunch of donkey cog up all your arteries your life support this rumors on life support for many policymakers the solution is expensive pumps and more levees or higher ones that make good photo ops but increasingly many people now think more levees and walls aren't the solution the city of Davenport Iowa is 950 miles north of New Orleans Davenport decided that it isn't going to fight the river that can come with a steep cost though this spring several blocks of downtown were consumed by 4 to 6 feet of floodwater we would have been in water if we were driving where we are right now another and we couldn't have driven here that I drove around downtown Davenport with city council member Marion McGinnis the city did put up temporary flood walls but they preached water gushed in inundating buildings and cars within minutes when the Mississippi's waters eventually retreated they left behind cake to mud and dead fish in the streets I mean this is water filled with all kinds of unspeakable things because it's coming out of sewers it's coming out of everywhere so it's not something you want to go frolicking through at all Devonport has no permanent levee system to protect its waterfront and that's by choice we like our river view we want our river you we love our river view we can and don't know Davenport isn't ignoring the risks again it did erect temporary flood walls this spring but it also developed some natural solutions to deal with flooding we drive along Davenport's 9 mile riverfront past several long stretching waterfront parks the city that had made the decisions in the eighty's and ninety's to sort of clear property along the river front and let the river come in to a park and the idea is let the water come in and let it go back out the city has also restored some marshes to take in flood waters it mimics a widely admired flood control system in the Netherlands called were. Room for the river Devonport city leaders and even a flooded out business owners say this helped minimize the damage this spring and that flooding wasn't actually that bad it was contained to just a few blocks Davenport's mayor Frank Klipsch takes a holistic view of the river excess water has to go somewhere and it will find the next vulnerable spot downstream we don't build walls and push our problems down to Arkansas Louisiana and Missouri and yesterday I was on a national conference call and the mayor of Grafton Illinois said thanked us for doing that because their city might have been totally inundated in the and destroyed natural solutions like wetlands restoration are also generally more cost effective than permanent walls and levees of course there's a big caviar walls and levees offer greater protection and Davenport it's a risk to build near the river Shaunie homes gets that she's one of a handful of people who lives right along the banks of the Mississippi 2 months after the floods the city was still removing debris and slime from the road to get to homes as place they were about to go in the mud city. What is most city on the road. The grading goes lower and as the grading goes lower it filled up with more mud. Along if the river my life off and on people think we're not safe for living down here I mean I mean how many people spend that much money to build that beautiful home knowing that the bottom is going to fill up with water us to protect her home and she lifted it up more than 20 feet and it worked this spring I I received no water inside my house whatsoever. And you can't win against Mother Nature you you can't you can't win with the river it's going to do what it's going to do and you just live with it and you conform to what it needs but as severe river flooding becomes more frequent and as. Directed to get worse with climate change I asked Holmes is it fair for her fellow taxpayers to pay to fix riverfront roads and services to accommodate a handful of residents who want to live right on the river Well I pay taxes also. So I look at it is though my taxes just cleaned my road. But I do believe that if you come and you live on the river and that you do it with open eyes and know that it's going to flood and you can't constantly be saying Help me help me well the Mississippi River has always flooded Davenport and nearby cities were at flood stage this year for $98.00 days 4 hours south of Davenport I met with Collin while in camp or in the city of Arnold Missouri just north along the Mississippi River we stand next to a flooded city park next to the Merrimack River it flows into the Mississippi but because the Mississippi has been running so high the water in the Merrimack is backing up and it's spilling over its banks the flood waters come within a few feet of the road we're at we're just a few homes are left standing since 1903 they have been buying this property out in the city wants people out of harm's way and land to absorb floodwaters it's an idea well in camp supports up and down the river countless acres of urban pavement have replaced spongy soil while in camp is the executive director of the Mississippi River and Towns Initiative an association of mayors across the 10 states that border the Mississippi he says levees serve a purpose but his organization is looking for ways to return the river shed to a more natural state in order to protect these communities but these cities need help and when one camp says Washington needs to wake up and address what's going on if you want to call it climate change you know want to blame it on people fine don't that's that's your call but we've got to bring solutions to. Main Street because our people are suffering we're going on campus says weather related events are costing the Mississippi River corridor between 3 and 8 percent an annual economic growth what does that mean dollar wise that means we've sustained over $200000000000.00 in actual losses in the court or since 2005 and well income estimates that this year's flooding could end up costing the river basin another $4000000000.00 He factors in property damage crops that couldn't be planted and stuck barges that can't move products up and down the river and he says make no mistake these costs are passed along to all of us one in 12 people on earth in just food made from Mississippi River basin produce products all the manufacturing all the agriculture and then all the equipment that goes into that into that economy impacts all the cities in the country from New Jersey to California and that is dependent on a working ecologically Healthy Mississippi River basin. Cross the river go a few miles north and you're in East St Louis Illinois I stand behind a big pane of glass with Tyler Berg who manages the cargo plant here a truck dumps corn into a grain elevator so it's a it's a vertical conveyor with a bunch of buckets on it and it's up to the top and then dumps in and then based on where ever that the corn is being moved just a few 100 yards to barges waiting on the river river transport is the most efficient way to get corn soybeans and wheat from the Midwest to the Port of New Orleans and shipped across the globe one river tugboat pulling barges can transport the same amount as $2500.00 trucks you couldn't take $2500.00 semis from St Louis New Orleans and 4 days you just couldn't do it and you know the fuel the labor it would take how it would crowd the highway infrastructure record. To research from Texas a and m. 3 barges are 4 times as fuel efficient as trucks and about 25 percent more fuel efficient and trains it's not just corn and soy floating down the river furniture clothes oil products steel and chemicals you name it they all flow in and out of the Gulf Coast for Illinois farmers like Greg Gunther access to cheap river transport is crucial to compete in the global marketplace my customers for my corner are all over seas they're all over seas every one of them and we're in a highly competitive situation now with South America Brazil Argentina China does a little export in the corn and all these other countries are competing for the same customers that we're competing for and if our transportation the fish and sea falls to where we're not the lowest cost supplier we don't get the business and trade flows both ways exporters in Asia Europe and South America also need a healthy Port of New Orleans Sean Duffy is with the big river Coalition a group that seeks to protect commerce along the Mississippi he says when people in the maritime industry see a photo of a flooded Mississippi River City we see that photo we think Holy crap I mean that's truthfully what we see it's scary because the height of the river and when the river is high the flow is faster and that makes a treacherous for pilots to navigate through New Orleans Matt Gresham with the New Orleans port authority took me on yet another Mississippi River boat ride so the city is built around that that big turn in the river right there and that's one of the most difficult or challenging navigation spots in the in the United States really because you have basically a 90 degree turn in the river you'll see when we get down there the eddies that form in the river the currents that that are pushing in different directions so it could be challenging for mariners imaginable. Boat pilot like a racecar driver tart enough for rounding a turn then throw some slick rain on the track not easy Still it's the best way to get goods across the globe but being so close to the straight corridor can come with a cost this year up and down the river hundreds of thousands of acres of farmland were impacted by floods near Quincy Illinois soybean farmer Michael Klinger isn't growing any crops this season that's why you buy insurance that'll cover about 75 percent of what he lost he laughs things off but he's not laughing about what's happening in Washington or what's not happening cleaner is also a civil engineer in the northern stretch of the Mississippi locks and dams manage the river but the controls here are far less comprehensive than in the south so the Midwest floods like it did this spring we get on national news every few years we have another disaster we'd like to do something to avoid these disasters back in 1993 after flooding near Quincy displaced 70000 people cling near another farmer's push Congress to establish a better flood management plan for upper Mississippi states that took from 1983 to 1999 to get the plan authorized and it took to 2008 for the corps to frappe up the plan and to present it to Congress at the center of the plan a one time payment of just $3000000.02 pay farmers to voluntarily flood their fields during times of high water but ultimately the federal government didn't fund the plan and it's just sat there and died clean or argues paying farmers to take in excess water would benefit everybody along the river system we're not asking for a lot of dollars it's actually absolutely crazy to. Put a legal system a place that was designed in 1954 and not allow us to make improvements to meet the current weather conditions that we see today you know we've got a lot of data we can keep this from happening again. immediately around grandma you was made up of just 10 percent water in 1916 and is now 90 percent water for this community and others across the coast where he and his land lost is a daily reality a ruthless succession of fierce hurricanes have further accelerated decay the state of Louisiana along with a lot of other invested parties is trying to turn back the clock by doing things like pumping in Salmon planting more vegetation they're also looking to punch out holes and levees and let the water along with mud and sand to reach the swamps where it's badly needed seems like a relatively easy solution but if you punch too many holes divert too much water you could alter the modern Mississippi. Which basically has become a long canal levees don't just protect River Cities again they keep world trade flowing fix one problem potentially create a new one that's The World's Jason Margolis he's taking us down the Mississippi today to understand how this one river connects us to the rest of the world just ahead of the rivers environmental problems too big to solve your with the world. 9 years ago farm girl flowers was launched as an alternative to traditional flour company's prices though they're still not low we're never going to be the cheapest Ok because we believe strongly in hiring full time employees with benefits and retirement plans I'm caught result chat with that company's founder next on Marketplace at 3 pm Thanksgiving Day Also it's 6 30 in the evening on k.c.a.l. And you. Feel your programming is made possible by contributing members and in part by community West Bank celebrating 30 years with banking offices throughout the Central Coast including its newest locations in Oxnard Santa Maria family with the bespoke and Paso Robles more information at community West Bank dot com. Marco Werman With the world back with you today we've been talking about the Mississippi River as you've heard it's a place of competing interests as a river it's a trade superhighway for much of the country and the world but it's also a ticking environmental time bomb a lot of people say it's already exploded but try to fix that tip the balance in favor of the environment too much and you can put trade at risk solutions won't be easy but environmentalists and business interests are working together the World's Jason Margolis finishes our river trip looming over a massive model of the Mississippi River at Louisiana State University hang the words of Albert Einstein quote We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them. Engineers environmentalists shippers farmers the oil and gas industry they're all trying to find a better solution for the modern Mississippi and as we've said the challenge is only getting harder with climate change June schoo a professor of hydrology at l.a.s.u. Is alarmed by the strain put on the river system in recent years the projections for the year 2100 are worse water flows on the river are projected to increase by between 11 and 60 percent Professor Shu says consider even the middle scenario just queasy don't want to be huge for this river I don't or they have the system order survive I'm not sure add in the sea level rise caused by climate change and he says more and more researchers are skeptical about the state's so-called master plan it calls for $50000000000.00 in funding over 50 years so far Louisiana has raised about $10000000000.00 much of it coming from settlement money from the b.p. Oil spill which devastated the Gulf 9 years ago here's a New Orleans Professor Shu points to a map does some quick math factors and projected sea level rise and then concludes even if Louisiana can find the cash to fully fund its plan the state will still lose the battle there's simply not enough river sediment out there to rebuild coastal Louisiana got to stand so we do have the resource to create a new man to says we need to face a hard truth restoring coastal Louisiana to what was there before or even completely halting the erosion this simply isn't possible we are loose and let's not talk about a restore ration Let's talk about the top of the patient we needed to sink. Downeast you can by the end of this essentially we're we have a better chance to pour take the us put another way some communities are simply going to be swallowed by the sea There is however another way to slow down land loss and the easy Anna battle climate change at the start by decreasing greenhouse gases that means getting off fossil fuels and building more solar panels and wind turbines the southern states that border the Mississippi River Kentucky Arkansas Tennessee Mississippi and Louisiana their legislatures just aren't moving in that direction. In the easy Anna the oil and gas industry drives the economy a powerful lobby with a history of downplaying the causes and risks of climate change Angela Chalke lives in New Orleans 7th Ward I live in a house that my grandfather one in the car again and 5 generations have lived in that house I talk runs the group Healthy Community Services a nonprofit that's working to green the neighborhood that means things like planting trees and community gardens to absorb storm water runoff I asked her if her work includes mobilizing people to battle climate change she says it does but it's hard I know folks who work in the petrochemical industry in the gas industry and they realize the effect that those industries are have it. Environmentally but at the end of the day this is how people make their living in So how do you speak against your company when they provide you with so much that's a reality I wish it wasn't a reality but Steve Cochran is with the Environmental Defense Fund he says environmentalist can't just pound the table and demand action like an immediate shift to solar and wind energy let's say we can do this tomorrow we switch immediately we're off of fossil fuels what we have in Louisiana we have a huge stranded asset base and stranded taxes but Cochrane also says state and federal policymakers need to understand some hard truths if we continue with business as usual if climate change continues unchecked and sea levels continue to rise and more frequent stronger hurricanes pummeled the Gulf Coast it will cost all of us taxpayers a lot more money in the long run and it will become much harder to govern Cochran asks is a future governor really prepared to deliver this message things are going to get bad and we can't sack they tell you that how bad it's going to be but it's probably going to be bad and you need to move and I've decided that. The governor or whoever that you're going to have to. So go. I just don't think that's ever going to happen I mean in in New Orleans after the storm we couldn't do that Cochrane says businesses and environmentalists historical adversaries are coming together for the common goal to protect and restore the coast and Mississippi River system. The clock is ticking and there's simply too much at stake to not work together is everybody going to be completely happy with the solutions never but out on his flat bottom boat with his dog Logan Ryan Lambert says the time for debate is over if you look at will with laws you see was left here. Next 50 years it'll all be done. We should have done it 50 years ago but today's the 1st day of my grandchildren's 50 years that started all of this get gone it's not about me I'll see it I'm living there look at a giant alligator in front. As a fig. For The World I'm Jason Margolis along the Mississippi. Reporting for this story was made possible in part by a fellowship with the Institute for Journalism and natural resources. Solace by Scott Joplin takes us out today to really grasp the full expanse of the modern Mississippi check out some stunning shots of the river from high above as well as photos of some of the people Jason met along his journey all at the world. From the Nana Bill Harris studio at w g.b.h. In Boston I'm Marco Werman enjoy the rest of your Thanksgiving will see a back here tomorrow. The world is supported in part by the John d. And Catherine t. MacArthur Foundation committed to building a more just verdant and peaceful world back found dot org by the Ford Foundation by p.r.i. 2020 donors including Cecilia and Garrett boot the billy and Dodi Crockett advised fund of the Dallas foundation and Betsy Atwater in memory of Paul at water Connelly and by the w. G.b.h. Fund for environmental reporting whose donors include the Grantham foundation for the protection of the environment supporting a cooperative approach to solving our critical environmental problems while we still can the world's theme music is composed by Ned Porter the world is a coproduction of g.b.h. Boston the b.b.c. World Service p.r.i. And p r x. From the polluted studios to California Lutheran University this is listener supported k c o u. Every year new Thanksgiving This American Life brings your annual program about . Poultry. Chickens. That's the day we had before the night 3000 turkeys died real and fictional. This week the tradition continues why would you do that. This American Life at 12 noon Saturday on. It's 3 o'clock. Bringing you the sounds and stories of the California coast this is a good 8.3 k.c.a.l. U.f.o. Am an h.d. 1000 Oaks one of 2.3 f.m. 1340 am. And 89.7 m. And k.c.a.l. M.h.d. Santamaria heard on 92 point one in San Luis Obispo that case. Marketplace is supported by Raymond James offering personalized wealth management advise on capital markets expertise with a commitment to putting clients financial needs 1st more at Raymond James dot com. We've got a full meal for you this Thanksgiving Day bunch of retail and trade for the main course with a healthy side of anti consumerism and after you've digested How about a trip to the gym from American Public Media this is Marketplace. Marketplace is supported by Dana Farber Cancer Institute discovering the p.d.-l one pathway gave the world a revolutionary new way of treating cancer another breakthrough from Dana Farber Dana Farber dot org slash everywhere and biologic Bourbon the small batch bourbon Kentucky straight bourbon whiskey Bardstown Kentucky 47 percent alcohol by volume. Drink wisely and by Fidelity Investments taking a personalized approach to helping clients.