Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by bnsf railway. Consumer cellular. And by the alfred p. Sloan foundation. Supporting science, technology,v and im Economic Performance and Financial Literacy in the 21st century. N Carnegie Corporation york. Supporting innovations in education, democratic engagement, and the advancement of International Peace and security. At carnegie. Org. H and we ongoing suppot of these institutions and individuals. This program was madey possiblee corporation for public broadcasting. Urand contributions to bs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Nawaz President Trump spentk part of this tiving in afghanistan, at bagram airbase, north of kabul. Mr. Trump met wi several hundred american troops, served a traditional thanksgiving dinner to many, and met th afghan president ashraf ghani. President trump also said he had restarted peace lks with the in early septemberch he cut off our own john yang,inm joined by studio. Lets talk about what the president said restarting the peace talks. Where do they stand. Its interesting anna officials tell want newshour this was not intended to talk about the peace tal. Ks as Stephanie Grisham told reporters on air force one on the way or this was simply meant to be a show of support for the troops, a holiday greeting, a traditional thing for predents to do. As so often is the case, President Trump had different afghan president ghani. With weve been wanting to make a deal, and so have thaliban. And we pulled back. We were getting close, and we pulled back. We didnt want to do it because of what they did. Was not a good it was not a good thing they did with killing the soldierw i dont k they knew he was a soldier, but he was a soldier, american soldier. To we wanake a steel diehl. Well see what happens. If they make it thats fine. If they dont make it, that fine. At the same time were bringing substantially. R of troops well be down to a number thats a good number, and were going to stay until such timas we have a deal or we have total victory. Yang now, these talks have been going on, were being told, for about three weeks now at what they call an informal level. D theyre not starting at scratch. Theyre starting, essentially, with the proposed agreement that was offered to President Trump talks. Tember when he stopped the remember, he went on twitter, blew up lks that were vid. Duled for camp da the u. S. Envoy and his counterparts are revhiewingt proposal, and thats the process going on now. Hes been in the region for three weeks, in pakistan and qatar, and holding these talks with taliban officials. Nawaz sothe talk talks are tank. He said that caught a lot oflse peoples attentions. Presdent trump said he wo like to bring the number of troops down to 8600. It was a very sper. Cific num we should say the pretense for the peace talks was to try to get that number down to 0. Where did the 8600 number come from . 0, of course, was the numbert he presented campaign. The, in 8600 the troop levels now are about 13,000. Scott miller, the u. S. Commander of troops in afghanistan, says he can carry out a mission of supporting afghan troops, Training Afghan troops, and carrying out counterterrorism efforts with that level of about 8600. Its interesting when he was talking to reporters, the president was asked about what level he wanted. He sain i dothink i want to tell you that level. I dont want to tell you what were planning, what i want to do. A reporter asked him, is it 8600 . He said, yeah. Nawaz okay, so confirmed, and moving on then. I want to ask you about Something Else you mentioned,is whicthis is something of a tradition for u. S. President s to visit u. S. Troops deployed around the world on thanksgiving. Is it particularly significant for President Trump right now during his presidency . Its only hi second trip in a war zone. Heas in iraq last christmas and now in afghanistan this thanksgiving. It was the beginnia campaign season. He campaigned on being fully out of afgnistan by next year, by the election, promises made, promises kept is something were likely to hear a lot about over the next year. And, also, it was a chance for him to be on the world stage as commander in chief, seen with the oops, going into a week when the House Judiciary Committee is holding its first impeachment hearing. Nawaz john yang with the thanksgiving, johp happy happy thanksgiving. Nawaz in the dayer news, tensions surged even higher in iraq after a bloodbath in the last 24 hours. Curity forces shot dead least 40 protesters. Gunfire sounded in the Southern City of nassiriya, where 31 peoe were killed. Crowds later joined funeral processions, despite a curfew. Four more died in baghdad as protesters again denounced government corruption d economic mismanagement. translated people are re today to demand their rights that have been stolen. For the past 16 years, t people have been played. Weve been living in destruction and wars. The youths and all the generations have been destroyed. Nawaz meanwhile, video from najaf showed the iranian consulate there burning last night, and prosters cheering as they condemned tehrans influence in their country. In recent days, iran carried out a crackdown on widespread protests in its own cities. Sc well s that situation, later in the program. Fierce fires are still burning tonight at a Chemical Plant in east texas, forcing more than 50,000 people to spend thanksgiving away from their homes. Two explosions rocd the site leading to evacuations within a fourmile radius. Today, huge plumes of black smoke billowed overhead as the fires raged on. Fire crews used Water Cannons to cool down nearby tanks, andex prevent neosions. A winter storm system thatan disrupted giving travel across parts of the country, eased today. In new york, giant balloons were able to fly at the annual macys thanksgiving day parade, but they stayed much lower as spectators looked on. Very windy. All of the balloons, all of the peop carrying the balloons, they really had a tough task today keeping everhing under control. I saw a few people go down. Yeah, it was pretth. Nawaz in southern california, snow forced interstate5 to close for the second time in three days. Forecasters also warned of trouble ahead for holiday travelers in the western and central u. S. Beginning tomorrow night through saturday, the region could get two feet of snow. Ly an unusuevere rainy season in east africa is causing severe flooding across three countries. In djibouti, more than a foot of rain fell in a single day. Thats about two years worth of normal rainfall in an otherwise arid country in kenya, the government says 120 people have died in mudslides and flooding, and, somalia has seen heavy flooding the rains could continue through the end of the month. China today condemned President Trumps signing of two bills backing human rights in hong kong. Th Foreign Ministry in beijing warned the measures could damage cooperation with the u. S. , but it did not directly mention trade talks. In hg kong, thousands of prodemocracy activists gathered this evening, many of them wearing masks. They welcomed the new american laws. We are very thankful for that, and we knew today is althanksgiving, so we espe want to thank the United States citizens and also the president dona trump for supporting ho kong. Nawaz the rally was the latest in six nths of protests that have roiled hong kong. North korea has carried outte another weapon, the 13th this year. The north today fired two shortrange projectiles th flew 235 miles out to sea, off its eastern coast. Latest test of a new rockete the launcher. The north has carried out several laches in recent months, as it presses the u. S. For progress in Nuclear Talks by the end of the year. A federal Appeals Court in washington has temporarily delayed forcing former White House Counsel Don Mcgahn to appear befe congress. A lower court had ruled monday that he must comply with a congressional subpoena that was issued as part of the russia investigation. The Appeals Court said it will hear arguments in the case on january 3. And, as american shoppers gear up for a black friday buying binge, some lawmakers in france say they want to put an end to they say it promotes over consumption and waste, and generates emissions that damaget the cl the proposal to ban black friday will be debated in the national assembst next month. Ill to come on the newshour a scussion with experts on past impeachments. How some dairy farms are turning food waste into sustainable energy. A report from iran following a violent crackdown on nationwide protests. And much more. Nawaz impeachment is a rare event, and as the nation has watched the last weeks of public hearings, weve naturally wondered how this time in history compares to the others. To answer that question, i spoke with three historians last week. Each focused on a former president who had to deal with the threat of impeachment. In to tell bus bill clintons impeachment, peter baker joins us. He is chief White House Correspondent at the new york timesnd coauthor of impeachment an american history. Rd on ricixon, Timothy Naftali joins us. He is a professor at new yorkor university andmer director of the Richard Nixon president ial library, and he also coauthored impeachment an american history. And for andrew hnson, Brenda Wineapple joins us. She is the author of the impeachers, the trial of andren johnsothe dream of a just nation. Thank you, all of you, for being here. D, peter, ill start wi you. I want to go kind of backwards in time here. If you had to give sort of a 90second History Lesson on what the stry of bil bill clintons impeachmt was about, how would do you that . Well, its hard to do in 90 seconds, but well give it a try. Look, president clinton got caught up in a sex scandal. He was being accuse of of Sexual Harassment in ad lawsuit, an part of that lawsuit he was asked to testify about his relationship with other women. He lied about a renship with a former intern named monica lewinsky. I did not have sexual relations with that woman, miss lewinsky. And the house ultimately impeached him along party lines for perjury and obstction of justice. I hereby deliver these articles of impeachment. It wnt to the senate r trial but he ended up getting acquitted on a prevotty strong. The prosecutors didnt get more than 50 votes, even though they needed 67 to convict him. It is, therefore, ordered and adjudged, william jeffersonh clinton hi acquitted of the charges in the said article. At the core akie alld of interesting questions about accountability, balance of power, separion of powers, whats important in terms of impeachment, what coghstituteaie rime and misdemeanor, and these are the issues we see today as well. I want to say again to e American People how profoundly sorry i. Timothy naftaliell us th story of Richard Nixon and what was at stake there . Richard nixon gets caught up in an espionage and breakin story in the summer of 1972, a group of burglars are caught breaking into the democratic natial committees headquarters at the watergate. This leads to some excellent journalism, largely by woopped ward and bernstein. And after the 1972 election, a special Senate Watergate committee looks into issues and questions of misconduct in the campaign. That leads to verly cerated public hearings. Good evening from washington. In a few mo tents were goi bring you the entire proceedings in the first day of the Senate Watergate hearings. The committee will come to order. No ones talking about impeachment at that point. We are beginning these hearings today innat moss fear of utmost gravity. But public hearings that bring outhe possible that the president himself was involved in a coverup, and the fact that the president is taping his conversations in the white house. I was aware of listening devices, ysir. There might not have been an impeachment inquiry at all, but the president is very nevous because in addition to the senate looking into him, there is a special prosecutor thats looking into him, and tha special prosecutor wants access tow those taims. The president does not want those tapes to go to the spe prosecutor. He fights it, and when het doesnt at he wants, and is on the verge of losing court, he fi the special prosecutor. And not only does he fire Archibald Cox but, he tries to investigation out iness. Nt that send a shockwave through want country after something htlled the saturday nig massacre and it is then that thought just democrats who control both howlses of congress at the time but republicans, too, join and say we need to investigate. From that point, in late 73, until august of 74, the house is engaged in an impeachment inquiry. Ultimately, the house votes three articles of impchment. All three have bipartisan support. Before those articles of voimpeachment can be ted on by the entire house, Richard Nixon, who understands his support is crumbling, Richard Nixon resigns. I shall res pign theresidency effective at noon tomorrow. Reporter Richard Nixons case iobvolveruction of justice and abuse of power. And its that abuse of power element of the watergate story current discussion oft in the impeachment. Dig through some ose issueso you made in a bit more detail. Brenda wineapple, ver to you. Tell us the story of Andrew Johnson and his impeachment proceedings. Johnson wasea imped just three years after the civil war. And when you think about what was going on then the country was in need, desperate need of putting itself back together again. You had a chief executive whogn as himself the role of not so much peacemaker, but a person who restored the south or wanted to restore the south tots former supremacy, which was white supremacy. And it wasnt a question of rieason or bbery. T when Andrew Johnson actually broke a law that congress had passed in order toeign hi in so that johnson would execute the laws of congress, which really restored civil rights and finally Voting Rights to black men in the south, to give them representation in the country, when johnson broke that law, th hodo choice, it felt, and voted overwhelmingly to impeach Andrew Johnson. So, tecicly, he was impeached because he stepped on a statute, because he violate aid law. He broke the law, but it been a long time coming. And for many, many people in te country, and certainly in congress among the republicans, felt he had been abusing power, denying the legitimacy of congress and obstructing justice, and t law for much, much too long. And he was really squdering, they felt, the victory, the union victory, whi had abolished slavery, but not itefs ct. Nawaz central to these narrative srksz of course, how each of these president s reacted in the time, in the moment, to the impeachment proceedings. Peter, ill come back to you here. Whato we know . And how would you characterize impeachment proceeionto the well, clinton took the approach of being above it all. Thats the image he wantedto project to the country. He was focused on the peoples he wasnt going tt down in the dirt with all these other people who were obsessed with scand l. And he tr, therefore, basically shove it off to the side in effect. He wasnt going to dignify it, if yu will, with being too obsessed by it in public. Behico the scenes, orse, he was obsessed by it. He was consumed by it. He was filled with rage and grievance and anger and unhappiness and resentment. A he so absorbed by tpeople would leave meetings with him and say it was like he wasnt even there. E of his ai during a trip to the middleeast whn he was i think in gaza trying to negotiate middle et peace 20 palestinians and israelis, noticed over his shotiulder, thy d the president writing on his notepad, foucus on yor job, focus on your job. He was trying very hard to project thisdea of a president who unaffected but in fact he was, as any person, i suppose, would be, quite consumedby it in private. Now the difference between him and the other two presidenciewa is hvery popular at the time. So he had a welspring of public support. His nrnz above 60 Approval Rating throughout the entire investigation by ken starr, and the house and Senate Impeachment trial. It went up, not down, after the Impeachment Vote in the house. 20 up to 73. He had that sort of basic, you know, Political Base to work fromprhat other idents didnt have. But behind the scenes, of coonse, it was an allming thing for him. Nawaz brenda, what about you. D we obviousnt have tweets in realtime reacting to what was going on during the proceedings. What do we know Andrew Johnsons reaction. If Andrew Johnson could have been tweeting he would have been tweeting. He was agrieved, to, as clinton was. And he wanted to te his case to the people. He understood what impeachment was, but it was almost faz hed didnt, thought if he could go on a series of rallies and get peoplhind him, that somehow none of this would be happening. And his layers very deftly and very carefully warned hip to stay in the white house, which they made him do. He wanted to testify in his own behalf, but they were really afraid he was a vy pugnacious person, and they were very afraid of what he might say wh, he might do, and that he could further alienatpeople who may have been wobbling, and there were a couple who really were. Nawaz tim, i found i so interest, you told my colleague nixon actually withdrew. Chard he was not out there publicly advocating for himself. But im rious about how the rift of his party reacted. Its so interesting we see now republicans in the house really stand bing President Trump, staunchly defending him. Was that true of predent nixon and his party at the time . In 1974, the public had no idea that the leadership of the Republican Party was hoping th Richard Nixon would resign. When he didnt resign, those naders felt they hao choice but to stand behind him. They discovered there was a lot of support for Richard Nixone outs washington, and so they decide they had no better alternativthan to stand by him. What happens in this story is that rankandfile republicans, the republicans on the housete judiciary comm as they absorbed the data thats amassed for them, they come to the conclusion that Richard Nixon staying in power would be a threat to the cnstitution. And they decided, against their political judgment, their political fortunes and against want recommendations of of the leaders of the Republican Party to vote against the president. There are two different stories. There. Theres the story of the Republican Leadership in 1974, which ultimately stands behind nixon. And theres the stforton republicans the House Judiciary Committee, many of whom thought they had no alternative but to do their constitutional duty and vote for impeachmen, nawaz wnll give you last word here, of course a lot ofeople studying these moments in history to see if there aress les to be learned. What do you see in echoes of past proceedings and of ors paralltween the proceedings of the pasand the one were seeing today . One interesting parallel th fact there was an election coming. Johnson s impeachepeached in february of 1868. The trial started very soon after that. And by may, you have the Republican NationalConvention Starting to nominate a candidate. So that was a consideration, a very important consideration determining how some of the members of congress voted. And as you probably know, johnson was acquitted by only one vote. So there are a l of poitics that come into play, in addition to the constitutional issues. The interesting thing finally, though, is that johnson was impeached. He was not removed. He was not convicted. But he goes downn history as one of the few president s, one of the two, one of the only two to be impeach, and thats a stain that will stay on his record forever. Nawaz just a brief look at three important moments i our american history. Penda wineapple, Timothy Naftali, andeter baker. Thank you so much for being with us. Thank you. Li nawaz on a day when fa across the country gather for a thanksgiving meal, its worth noting that over the next 12 months, t average American Household of four will spend roughly 1,800 on food they never eat. S ecial correspondent Alison Aubrey of npr ta scientist and cookbook author dana gunders about why americans wa much in the kitchen, and she gets some lessons on how to cut thoslosses. Its the latest in our special series on fd waste. Reporter celebritykshefs share trf the trade how to waste less in the kitchen. Its part of a 20city tour underway the james beardun tion kicked off here in new york city. One of our y priorities is the reduction of food waste. Reporter esther choi is chefowner of mokbar, a Korean Restaurant in brooklyn. Tonight, she serves up a traditional korean rice dish she calls buddha bibimbap. And whats the easiest way to do that . You just turn up your oven at 150 to 200 degrees and leave the vegetables overnight. Then theyll dry up. Reporter teaching people how to do this at home is the goal. So what i have here are herbs that normally would be wasted. Reporter the foundation has unched a social media blitz with chefs online and instagramn coup wastefree recipes. And the Beard Foundation is not alone in its efforts. We waste 50 more food today than we did in the 1970s. We, in our homes, ac make we, in ouromes, actually make up the biggest source of all the food that is going to waste out ther reporter 43 of the food that americans waste frch year come what we toss at home. Thats double the 18 that restaurants waste, and the 1 Grocery Stores throw out. All told, americas food waste bill adds up to 218 billion. According to the u. S. D. A. , this would be akin to filling the willis tower in chicago 44 times. Ro when foo, it releases methane gas, and Climate Change experts estimate that aste is responsible for up to 10 of Greenhouse Gas emissions, so according to many scientists, recing it is one of thmo effective things each of us can do. Changing the way we shop and cook can make a difference. Beets, if you buy them, you can actually use those beet greens, t them up, saute them and cook them up reporter heres gunders at googles headquarters, sharing some hacks to employees at lunch time. Sh advises corporations and grocery chains on strategies to manage food waste, and shes also written the waste free kitchen handbook. Its full of ways to rse food you might have thrown out. She joins us in the kitchen to show us one of her favorite food waste kitchen hacks. O of the things i hate wasting the most are avocados. Reporter look at t its really gooey and dark. Youre not going to eat that, are you . Its totally fine to eat. The browning is justrom enzymes in the fruit. So, what i like to do is u it in a chocolate mousse. The cocoa really covers that up. First, you put avocado in a food processor. Reporter then we added five other simple ingredients cacao powder, milk, vanilla, salt and maple syrup. Its going to taste like dessert. It will, i promise. Reporter gunders says a large part of e food waste problem here in the u. S. Is cultural. If i walk down the street today and throw some food on the ground, peould think im crazy. But if i throw that same food in the garbage can, people would not think much of it. And i think that signals the right now of food going tohave waste. Reporter she points to Great Britain as an example of as country thut a dent in the cultural acceptance of food waste. The household, so we have a big responsibility here to sort of curb the waste culture. Reporter the british are spending millions on a decadeso long Natl Campaign called love food hate waste. Events to raise awareness showcase chefs that cook up leftovs at Public Events throhout the u. K. D the result . Consumer food ste fell by 18 in Great Britain between 2007 and 2015. Its created a culture where the coolhing to do for businesses is to reduce their own waste, and help consumers reduce waste as ll. Reporter here in the u. S. , three federal agencies have set strategies to help tacklfood waste, including new efforts ton measurtrack the problem. And at the end of 2018, congress allocated almost 30 million for grants to states to bolster composti and food waste recovery programs. Gunders says all this is good, and given how much we waste in our own homes, a cultural shift in our attitudes and our habits is important, too. It is really difficult to change policy and have that change culture. Bu when you look at campaigns like seatbelts, or littering, or smokey the bear, there is a way for the federal government to support large campaignshe throughout t country. And we have not seen them support a Campaign Around food waste. And, voila rorter all right. It looks le chocolate mousse. Want to try it . Reporter it does not tte like avocado at all it almost tastes like buttery or eamy. The avocado actually takes the place of the b ster and creaits much healthier for you. Reporter im Allison Aubrey of npr news, cooking for the pbs newshour in san francisco. Nawaz stay with us. U comion the newshour the American Trucking industry at a crossroads. And, a thank you to flossie. Students reflect on one teachers impact. For the past two weeks, iranians have taken to the streets by thousands in what began as protests denouncing a hike in gasoline prices. Q but the uprisickly turned political, with demands that top officials step down. Go the iraniarnment responded with a fiveday internet shutdown, so the usergenerateds vind accounts that raised were blacked out. Emonstrations we still know little about whatsdaappened. Yest irans Supreme LeaderAyatollah Ali Khamenei said the protests were a u. S. Led plot to destroy the country. translated it was a deep, extensive and very dangerous conspiracy that costte the united sso much money and effort. They wanted to use an opportunity to carry out this move, which was an act of destruction,rson, murder and vandalism, under the pretext of a gasoline price increase. Nawaz the internet has been partially restored, and spial correspondent reza sayah joins us from tehr, where hes been following the latest on the ground. Reza its good to see you. We know connectivity, being able to get any word out has been an issue so fill us in. What is the latest on the ground . Reporter amna giving you the latest is still a challenge because ma ianians are just now getting back online, just now getting their Internet Service back. The big new today here in iran, thursday, is that cell phone users are back online aftbeer g off line for the better part of two weeks. And it was a lack of intnet connections for cell phone use that perhaps played the biggest part in this information blackout we saw last week, an information blackout that made it very difficult, nearly impossibly for many peple to conclusively report on the magnitude and the scale and thet inte of the protest. That said, indications are that the protests have died down, and when you drive around tehra today, nowhere near the security presence that we saw last week. Nawaz reza, letsalk about why these protests are happening now. We mentioned that hike in gasoline prices. Do we have any idea why that decision was made in the first place . Reporter its impossible for to us say why authorities decide that this was the boast time to ra gas prices, at a time when many working class irians areuffering so much and under so much pressure. Iranian officials and iranian raising gas pricets righthat thing to do for irans economy. Long been heavily subsidized. Ave theyre some of the cheapest in the worldrunning about 50 cents per gallon, and officialsa here sayhas led to High Consumption and heavy smuggling, and something had toe don but the fact that they decided to do it now is perhaps an indication of how mue economy is struggling to a point where authorities had to take a desperate measure where there was a backlash. Then came the trump administration, who pulled out of the nuclear deael,imposed new sanctions. There was never any Foreign Investment that came in to iran. Oil sales went down significantly. There was inflation, alu deion of currency, unemployment, and that, many say, led to the government perhaps makin making that drastc measure, raising fuel prices. So, again, many people argue that the u. Sanions had a huge role in what happened last week. But, also, many ople arue that its these u. S. Sanctions that are hurting average irania and t impacting the government. We can also tell you that when the protests happened, many groups, both inside and outside iran, tried to take over the narrative. E hardliners here blamed the moderates on the rising fuel prices. Ra the mos blamed the hardliners. And in d. C. , the ump ministration and the iran hawks said the protests and rising fuel prices were evidence that thu. S. Sactions were working. And on the other hand, thete modebservers of iran said that the protests and the rising gas prices were an indicationat he sanctions were only impacting average iranians, and the fact that the govement is still in power was proof that the sanctions were not working. Nawaz e point it was reported there were protests in more than 100 cities across the country. Tell us a little bit about the overall government response. Hathe scale ofse protests shaken them at all . Reporter all indications are that the govnmts reacted swiftly. They reacted brutally. And they reacted with deadly force, perhaps more deadly force than theyve ever used. Over the past seeral days, weve heard a growing number of reports naming individuals who were allegedly killed by Security Forces during the protests. A lot of names have been posted online. Repos that we cant independently confirm. We can tell you that Amnesty International made headlines when they put out a report that more than 100 people were this time, of course, they made the seemingly effective move of shutting down internet. And, again, using deadlforce nawaz reza, these are easily among the largest demonstrations against want Islamic Republic since the resolution four decks ago, nota as lar the green resolution in 2009, though, tell uswh happens now. Reporter whats interesting is this week there were demonstrations in tehranr otd cities, sanctions approved by the government, where there were some people who were proteing against the rising fuel prices in aru ling economy. They were peaceful protests and there was no violence. There waalno crackdown. This week, there was a National Newspaper with ali he criticizing Iranian State media of not hearing out the peoples concerns. Med you also have the sup leader, government leaders here continuing to say that want peoples concerns must be met,me ing must improve with the economy, that the government must address the peoples concerns. So youre hearing some rhetoric. But it still remains rhetoric. At this point, theres no idngation that theres goo be a turnaround for the economy, that the economy is going to improve. And, certainly, no indication that the government is going to tolerate protests the that evolve into something that the government sees as a threat. Nawaz that is special correspondent reza sayah reporting from tehran. Thanks, reza. Nawaz the American Trucking industry today employs more than two million people, the vast majority of th men many of them older, with no college the race to put driverless trucks on the road has been underway for several years now, leading many to wonder if those driver jobs are doomed. And yet, the industry is facing a driver shortage, and has for years. In this encore presentation of our weekly making sense series, economics correspondent paul solman asks whos right . How long before driverless trucks are the kings of the road . And, what will it the mean for reporter longtime trucker finn murphy, inadvertently showing me how tough a job a truckers can be. What i need to do is turn around, before i get on a low that i dont want to gethtmare involved in. Reporter despite such subtleties, though, says murphyo the future o on the road is just around the corner the driverless truck. I think its immineah. I think its going to happen within the next three years or autonomous vehicleich means it doesnt need a human operator. Reporter finn murphys a longhaul human operator, has been since he dropped out of college in the early 1980s. Hes now at the top of the trucking hierarchy a driver and mover of pricey cargo like art. So, movers, were called bed buggers. Reporter bed buggers . Yep, bed buggers. And our trucks are called roach coaches, because it has peoples stuff in it. And then the flatbed haulers, theyre called skateboarde. Reporter bed buggers like murphy driving roach coaches, which haul highend merchandise, can gross 200,000 a year. Skateboarders, on the other hand, and other nonspecialists in this increangly deregulated, deunionized industry, are paid 30,000 to 50,000. Companies are struggling to find qualified commercial truckers who deliver 7 of all goods in this country. The American Trucking association predicts a major reporter along with the many hazards someing like a quarter of all workrelated fatalities are truckers and endless hours away from home, paltry pay explains whats become a chronic trucker shortage. But were still talking some two million trucking jobs in americte to be outcomcompletely by automation . Theyve got their eyes on the prize get rid of drivers. Reporter but can programmers teach trucks to hook u trailer, as a human can learn to do . Connect the hoses . An . Check the oil . Not mention navigate rain, wind, sleet or snow and pedestrians . Thats why finn murphys boss, will joyce, thinks humans are still in the drivers seat. Even if a truck had the capabilities for braking and guidance which is fantastic; the more, the better, for safety but youe still going to need an operator, like a train needs a conductor. Reporter but murphy remains adamant. I think theyre in denial because its already here. Weve already logged 23 million miles. There are autonomous trucks on the road right now. Reporter theres volvos vera. The truck by startup embark, with no one in sight. Google, waymo, daimler, the inspiration. L alseem to validate the truckers lament, written andec sung by onocrooner merle the wheel. Ven asleep at chip chip chips and Software Call the shots now the roads will be for n driving bo old schl highway cowboys lost the fight reporter and yet, such visions may be a bit premature. From bstol, connecticut, we flew to portland, oregon, home of daimler tcks north america, one of the worlds leading producers of semis, now at work on automating them. Three years ago in nevada, daimler showed off its inspiration, the worlds first roadlicensed selfdriving truck. Steve nadig, daimlers head engineer for mechatronics, showed us the newest freightliner mel. It has all the latest sensors and doodads but can it operate without a driver yet . Absolutely not. Not at this point. Reporter all right, so when is that point at this point,l inu. Go i can tell you what were going to do. And we, Daimler Trucks are going to take it step by step, safety byasafety, use case by use c to make sure that were putting the safest truck on the road possible. Reporter what were likely to see, nadig says, at least in thshort and medium term, is more automated features to make trucks safer and more fuel efficient. Automated transmission, of course. Automated braking. Autopilot for staying in the lane. But look, in this wind tunnel, theyre also still working on oldschool stuff like aerodynamic styling to save fuel. And many of the newfangled features are already ale on cars. For 80,000 pound, hefoot long 18ers, theres still a long way to go. In the next three years, says m steve nadig, tt were where, to decrease winddrag while increasing safet multiple trucks can be electronically linked gether. And when might you or i actually pull up alongside an autonomous truck . Five years . All right,en years . Maybe, maybe not. I still think in ten years, when we look at it, we still have a driver in the seat. R orter but as an engineer, i just assume that you believe that ultimately, systems will be safer than people. To be hest with you . I dont know if can put this on pbs i have a lot of beer discussions over that. Can a human being ever be safer than a vehicle or can a vehicle be safer than a human being . And weve had a lot of d intellectucussions on both sides of it. Reporter where are you, before you have too much beer . I would tell you at this point in my career iavent seen the evidence to take the driver out of the seat. Reporter and that seems tong be theeering consensus autonomous trucks in 10, 20, maybe 30 years. But even then, likely driving only the long stretches of open highway, where conditions arees the eaand demand for drivers is greatest, before handing off to human drivers for the ,st mile into cities with their turns and twists, traffic lights and. Us. So, whew, ght . Truckers can keep on trucking . The biggest threat to Truck Drivers is not job loss in the near tm. Reporter sociologist Steve Viscelli wrote the book trucng a book, anyway after driving a rig for six months himself. The biggest threat to truckers . Its the loss of job quality, particular, as automated features come online. Its going to allow thindustry to use lessskilled drivers, e which wiend a longterm trend in trucking wages where drivers are earning less, working longer hours, staying out on the road for long periods of time, and automation could feed right into that. Reporter that doesnt leave finn murphy our longhaul driver and student of history with much hope. I mean, weve had this problem in civilizatr millennia. Society decide if they have a role in helping these folks out . And if the average age is 55, shmputer programmers . E they didnt finiigh school. I doubt it. Oh, look at these three pedestrians ladies. Are you really doing this . Now, how is a machine going to view that . Thats the question. laughter reporter from bristol, connecticut to portland, oregon, this is economics correspondent paul solman for the pbs newshour. Nawaz next, we turn to a special encore presentation from our brief but spectacular series, aturing one of our most popular profiles, Flossie Lewis. It includes series creator Steve Goldbloom as he accompanies flossie back to the classroom, where she reencounterer students who were grateful to have her in their lives. Getting old is a state of mind. Now, im 91, im badly crippled. But i still think im 15. Will this go viral . This . We hope so. Accepting the fact that the body is going to go but theon peity doesnt have to gohi and that which is the hardest to admit is that character doesnt have to go. Im Flossie Lewis, and this is my brief but spectacular takeo on growi. Welcome to this speciie episode of but spectacular. Im Steve Goldbloom. The clip you just saw of Flossie Lewis first aired on pbs henewshour in 2016 and, as predicted, it did indeed go viral. More than seven llion viewers watched her take on growing old and living well, with thousands of comments coming in from around the world. And, flossie was a little overwhelmed by all the attention. She called me and asked if she was expected to respond personally to each othe comments on facebook. I assured her that she was not. Flossies video struck a chord with millions, but ones of the responses caught our attention. It came from author author daniel handler, aka lemony snicket, who wondered how wege mato track down his High School English teacher. We soon heard from otheres bay areaents who passed through flossies classroom exd not just passed through, but who described thrience as having a profound effect on their education and their appreciation of language. So, based on popular demand, we took a deeper dive with flose. We spent some time with her in her retirent home in oakland, and we even organized a reunion to take place inside her old classroom. Wenvited many of her forme students, some of whom, she hadnt seen in 40 years. Flossie got right to work. She prepared a lecture for the occasion on whether or not bob dylan was worthy of the nobel prize for literature. Thats really all the context you ed for what youre about to see. Lets start with an troduction. Tell us where you were born. I think i was born in bensonhurst, which is a ction of brooklyn. I received my b. A. From brooklyn college, 1945. In the Jewish Community of brooklyn in the 40s, a girl was expected to be married, and the peworst thing that could hto her would be spinsterhood. And what was my fate . To be a spinster. I went with a friend and it toos ive days and constipation to get to berkeley. W teachi the one thing that a woman could do. I could commanthe atteion of a class. I had a voice. I had that kind of personality y that did not seem teachet was provocative. Well, you couldnt be in charge of the weather. Should have done this yesterday. I think this works well. Well, my philosophy is that everything that can go wrong, will go wrg. Lets hope for the best. Okay. Now steve, are we on ocea ave . I think we are. I dont know. Are we on ocean aveer . Not yet. Because we used to go down ocean ave and wed be there by this time. So when you go back, go back by oceaave, please okay. I think i was intimidated by her name. Flossie is a very unusual name. Etite woman who always wore very funky clothes. She called me once when i was in college, i was very ill. I had just come out of the hospital. And she read to me from kafkas diary. She said this will cheer you up. I said, but it didnt go well for kafka, though, did it . And she said, no, no it didnt. She changed the direction of my life. Because of flossie, became a writer. All throughout my life, flossier has been theree. Everyone else said no to me, and she said yes. My wheelchair is ince . Its in place. This is the absolute bleep thats all i can say it aint no n, but im delighted to be here and thank you for coming oh jesus, how lovely. Okay, ready. The trivial task before us is to decide whether bobby dylan isth wortlaureate for literature. The people in sweden were very defend his work. Or, open my eyes to something that i havent seen. On and we have to go up and down the row, but speak what is wrong with dylan, flossie . I an, hes just putting out the questions. So he makes a search . For some people. Rena, dear. Youre on, baby. How many roads must a mann walk dfore you call him a man is a rhetorical question. Yes. r i see what ysaying. I will not dispute anything that i know you love hi i happen not to love him, but thats not the point. He speaks for your generation. How do we decide who represents poetry . Honey . Speak. Whether hes a poet laureate. The question for me is, compared to what . Put him next to someone tt also merits this kind of consideration, and show me how he wins, and then we can give we used to fuss when the landlord dissed us. No heat. We wondered why christmas missed us. Birthdays was the worst days now we sip champagne when we thirsty. I like that so much more for what it does for the english language. I personally am unequivocally opposed to dylan being chosen at the nobel laureate, but that doesnt mean that im opposed to the views that ive heard here. And, thats what was wonderfulyo abou classroom, flossie, was it wasnt just your voice. You would bring us all in. I remember when you read us a sonnet from shakespeare and you said its no good laughter and that was amazing. That was amazing. Thank you for remembering. I remember so clearly. My i remembeirst u,mposition i wrote for yo and your comment was im concerned by how drab your verbs are. Laughter when i was here in high school and coming out, i was depressed. I was kind of lost. I was maybe suicidal. I tell people, have this english teacher who i think maybe saved my life. And, i think you did, so thank you ani love you. R ylly introduced me to poetry. Ive gone on to become an architt and i have a really strong affinity for clsical greek architecture. You have made those buildings come to life for me, and shown me that architecture can have poetry. Thank you very much. Okay, guys. The class is over, but i hope it will never be over, and i hope even if the answers are blowing in the wind, that maybe having an answer that is too certain can destroy us also. applause oh, the cab is here. The cabbies here. s the same man. Tell him to go on o avenue. Oh boy. You touched a lot of people, flossie. A l of people touched me. Imagine teachi those kids. Hes going to go the w d he wants to if its not ocean avenue, what the hell. And that was Flossie Lewis. F are greatful to her and grateful to yor spending some of your thanksgiving for us. Im amna nawaz. Join us online and again here tomorrow evening. For all us at the pbs newshourhave a great thanksgiving, and well see you soon. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by bnsf railway. Me concellular. Of these institutigoing support and friends of the newshour. His program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Captioning sponsored by newshourroductions, llc captioned by media accessroup at wgbh access. Wgbh. Org today on milk street we travel to oaxaca. We visit beatrice, in the market in ocotlan. Rida we learned to make enchiladas verdes as well as molletes, a simple mexican sandwich served with pico de gallo. So stay right here with milk street as we learned to cook the oaxacan way. Funding for this series was provided by the following