Joce when east met west in the utah desert 150 years ago, it was the beginning of a new age. A century and a half later, railroads still serve america, but the American Commuter is feeling the need for speed. California is building a 520mile highspeed train system connecting San Francisco and los angeles. Some consider this to be the future of travel in the u. S. Others are calling it out as a billiondollar boondoggle. Rep. Kevin mccarthy i know hollywood happens to be in california, but this is not a Kevin Costner movie. If we build it, i dont know if they will come. Sharyl theres a seeming disconnect between what you see in the news and online. It seems everybody is so unhappy, but your poll shows quite the opposite. Jon clifton we have Different Things that we track on happiness, like, did you laugh and smile a lot all day yesterday . If you use that particular metric, americans are actually quite happy. Which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] sharyl welcome to full measure. Im sharyl attkisson. Today, we investigate the incredible case of a u. S. Federal agent who survived a brutal attack by Mexican Drug Cartel thugs. It shows how violent cartels are wreaking havoc south of the border. But it also says a lot about serious shortfalls inside the u. S. Government, which is still stonewalling on Unanswered Questions six long years later. Victor avila i fought the assignment. I challenged it. Sharyl you were supposed to drive down an extremely dangerous and maybe forbidden road, right . Victor correct. Sharyl victor avila was a special agent with u. S. Immigration and customs enforcement, or ice, in mexico. On february 15, 2011, he and fellow ice agent got an unusual assignment a task that required them to travel an Infamous Mexican highway to pick up equipment. And the assignment was unusual because there was an edict not to travel on that road, is that correct . Victor correct. The u. S. Ambassador to the Regional Security office of the u. S. Embassy had issued a notice of alert, prohibiting all u. S. Personnel to drive on highway 57 northbound, specifically to monterrey. Sharyl because the cartels control that highway. Victor correct. There was numerous amounts of violence and shootings involving the Mexican Government and military and the cartels. Sharyl why would you be sent on assignment thats so dangerous, that defies instructions . Victor i dont know. Sharyl not only that, they were sent on the forbidden road without the normal armed escort vehicle. So they were all alone, on the way back with agent zapata driving, when two suvs approached and forced them off the highway. Zetas Cartel Members surrounded them, shoved the barrels of a handgun and an ak47 rifle into their slightly crackedopen window, and opened fire. Victor during the shooting, i saw jaime get hit. He said, im hit, im shot. The handgun was shooting. I grabbed the handgun and burned my hand trying to stop it from shooting. And i tell jaime, go, go, go, go. Like step on the gas. Jaime was already severely wounded and he i grabbed the handle from the suburban. I slammed it down in gear and pushed his right leg onto the accelerator. The suburban went into the median of highway 57. Sharyl at what point did you get shot . Victor i was shot during that in time, i didnt realize. I didnt know that i had been shot. I was bleeding profusely from my chest and my leg and i had a lot of shrapnel and glass from my face. This is victor avila from ice. We are shot we are shot we are on the highway. Sharyl over 100 rounds were fired. Agent zapata didnt make it. Thats avila in a wheelchair at the funeral. This past july, avila and his family were there when the final two of seven known attackers were convicted in washington, d. C. Federal court. You and but that hardly closed the book on unfinished business. Like why the feds were investigating, but didnt manage to stop two suspects who trafficked some of the murder weapons. In 2012, i first uncovered internal case files showing that in june 2010, the government opened a case named baytown crew against this texas man, manuel barba. According to documents, while under federal investigation, barba took delivery of ten ak47s. Federal agents even recorded barba talking of having sent the firearms to mexico and obliterating the serial numbers one of those weapons was used in the shooting incident which killed special agent zapata, according to court documents. Meantime, federal agents were also investigating another suspect, otilio osorio, as he trafficked a different weapon used in the shooting. Victor i was very familiar with fast and furious and was following it. I never knew that we would end up being somewhat tied to that. Sharyl avila sees an eerie similarity to the governments fast and Furious Scandal that was unfolding at the exact same time. In fast and furious, federal agents secretly allowed thousands of weapons to be trafficked to Mexican Drug Cartels. One was used in the murder of Border Patrol agent brian terry, not long before agents avila and zapata were shot. Victor we want answers from the assignment, why the ice supervisors and the u. S. Embassy ignored the alert from the u. S. Ambassador. Why they put us on this road without any operational plan, what specifically did the government know and evade and coverup about the transmission of those weapons to mexico. Sharyl when avila got stonewalled, Congress Demanded the Inspector General investigate and avila filed a civil suit against the government. Meantime, he returned to work, but says he was marginalized, repeatedly transferred against his wishes, and eventually felt forced to retire. Victor i never, never imagined that the treatment would be what it is. I never expected and i never felt entitled to any special treatment after being shot. All i wanted was to continue with my life and possibly my career. But my career ended that day. Sharyl in march, years after Congress Demanded an investigation, the Inspector General finally issued a report. Incredibly, it found that barba was a ow of the murder weapons. He was let loose because the feds wanted to use him as an informant. But that left barba free to lead the baytown crew trafficking ring that sent firearms to Mexican Drug Cartels, including one used in agent zapatas murder. All these errors had significant consequences, concluded the ig. Victor to this day, i dont know of anyone being admonished, held accountable at all, to this day. Sharyl documents avila says are crucial for his lawsuit were kept secret as part of president obamas unusual fast and furious claim of executive privilege. Victor to this day, we have not received any documents related to either the firearms or any of the investigative documentation related to our shooting. Sharyl are these documents part of whats been withheld after president obama issued an executive privilege claim . Victor sharyl there is a new president. There is a new attorney general. How come you cant get the documents now . Victor were trying. Were trying and my goal is to have this new administration lift that order and allow us the ability to view all the documents and get answers to our questions. Sharyl what are people to make of the story that youve told and things that happened to you . Victor i believe part of my duty as a survivor is to continue to tell the story. Its important for me that jaimes death not go in vain. He paid the ultimate sacrifice for his country. And we deserve answers just like the zapata famil sharyl theres been no movement on avilas request for additional documents. Seven Mexican Drug Cartel thugs convicted in the shooting have been sentenced to terms ranging from 12 years to life in prison. Some say its the future of travel. Others claim highspeed trains are a multibilliondollar [ splash ] [ horn sounds ] dang ok, i gotta run. Hey, wait, theres something i need to tell you dang. Dang dang dang. Dang. See zero in a whole new way. Zero first months payment, and zero due at signing on select volkswagen models. Now with the people first warranty. Sharyl americans returning from trips abroad marvel at highspeed rail in other countries, especially compared to what we have to offer here at home. Quickening the commute is a dream of almost every american urban worker. And we have a bit of train ey. Dream, but full measure correspondent joce sterman found a lot of critics and billions of your tax dollars that have already run off the rails. Joce when east met west in the utah desert 150 years ago, the completion of the First Transcontinental Railroad in the u. S. Opened the country to both travel and transport of goods. It was the beginning of a new age. A century and a half later, railroads still serve america, but the American Commuter is feeling the need for speed. Lisa marie alley when we offer them this opportunity to get from la, if you will, to palmdale in 17 minutes versus a twoandahalf hour drive, whats that going to mean for business and for the future . Joce lisa marie alley is a spokesperson for californias highspeed rail authority. In 2008, the states voters gave the goahead to finance the massive project, but its taken almost a decade for construction to start on a 520mile highspeed train system connecting San Francisco and los angeles. Once complete, the bullet train will ride along this track, cutting the sixhour trip by more than half. Its considered the future of travel in the united states, but a future built on the backs of u. S. Taxpayers. With more than 3 billion invested so far. Rep. Kevin mccarthy to date, the project in california has been the biggest recipient of federal money, billions of dollars. Joce Republican HouseMajority Leader Kevin Mccarthy calls the rail project a boondoggle. California democrats, including u. S. Senator dianne feinstein, are backing hundreds of millions in additional money. In support projects. Mccarthy says it should be stopped immediately. Hes been a vocal critic as far back as 2012. Rep. Mccarthy i know hollywood happens to be in california, but this is not a Kevin Costner movie. If we build it, i dont know if they will come. And that is not how we play with taxpayers money joce near fresno, the foundation is being laid for the system, viaducts and crossings being built. But it will be nearly a decade before riders can hit the rails. A federal Railroad Administration report cited by lawmakers called the project over budget and behind schedule. Lisa marie alley i would disagree were behind schedule or over budget. We always have to predict what our budget is gonna be. We anticipate right now our system will cost 64 billion. I know people think its the Christmas Morning scenario where after we voted for this, were gonna wake up and its done. But these things take time. Joce alley says the highspeed rail project has already created hundreds of construction jobs and put businesses from 35 states to work. Texans have a cando spirit. California isnt the only state with eyes and plans for highspeed rail projects have also been launched in texas and along the east coast, where New Wayne Rogers one of the things i think is important is to not just look at it like a fast train. What were really doing is shrinking geography. Were taking all the cities between washington and new york and shrinking them down to one hour between all of those. So with that, its going to change where you live, it changes where you work. Joce wayne rogers is the ceo of northeast maglev. Thats the transport technology that floats trains on a magnetic field. To operate at speeds of over 300 miles per hour. Joce it is what speeds passengers in places like germany and japan. 28 million was awarded by the fra just to study the impact of a maglev train in the northeast. That project has a unique pledge from the japanese to cover half the estimated 10 billion cost. Major scale Infrastructure Investment will be made, including the highspeed train. Joce mix of funding to cover the rest, leaning heavily on private investors, just like california. Texas says it wont seek any public funds. Wayne rogers i think everyone can agree the private sector can do it faster, do it cheaper than the government would. So, in our case, its privatelyled, but that doesnt mean theres no role for government whatsoever. Everybodys gonna work together, multiple states, to get this done. Joce and have you secured specific private funders for this project yet . Wayne rogers we have some that are doing that right now. Obviously, as you get to the next stages, you would need more and more money as it develops. Joce in fresno, where california dreaming of highspeed trains has finally moved from plans to concrete platforms, its a long track ahead to find the funds to finish the job. Does the project have any Firm Investors locked down ready to fund this project and make sure it can be sustained . Lisa marie alley so, were not at that point to have those types of commitments. We need to get our system up and running. Thats what attracts the private sector funding. Joce rail projects launched from the Trump Administration, which has so far offered no public endorsement. And some in california claim the whole concept, for now, has run off the rails. Shawn steel is the former chairman of californias republican party. Shawn steel the theory is, well, weve put so much money in, weve got to keep going. No. Thats the wrong idea. Its a failed concept in the first place. So the proper thing to do is stop the bleeding, because its the old adage if youre in a hole, the first thing youve got to do is stop digging. Sharyl so what do you think, if they build it, will they come . Joce that is the multibilliondollar question here. California has paid consultants to map out whether they can get riders in seeds and they say they will have enough to cover the cost, but that is projections and we wont know until they get those trains on the tracks. Sharyl we will have to follow it up. Thanks, joce. If you listen to the media, it all starts with a wish. The final days of wish list are here. Hurry in and sign and drive off in a new lincoln with zero down and a complimentary first months payment. Sharyl if you watch the news and spend a lot of time on social media, you might be left with the impression that americans have never been so unhappy. So you might be surprised to hear the findings of the latest Gallup World Poll that surveys 150 countries each year to find out how people really feel. We found out from the analytics and advice companys managing partner, jon clifton. What does it mean when some, when a country, youre measuring their thriving index or whether theyre happy . Jon clifton so to get at the heart of how someones doing, we ask them two questions. One is, rate your life on a scale of zero to 10 today, and then once theyve done that we say, and then tell us where you think youll be in the next five years. We aggregate the top scores of those and then we call that index thriving. And thats how we measure it. Sharyl what have you found thats new in this latest poll . Jon in the united states, one concerning is right after the Global Economic crash, we found that about 66 of people were thriving. And that dropped to around 54 . Sharyl what was the start of that, when, you say about the time of the crash when things started to go down in the u. S. . Jon so, in between 2007, 2008, there was a pretty significant drop in terms of how people felt about their own lives. Sharyl and what was about the low point . Jon so the low point was last year, right before the election. Two years ago, it dropped and it went down to about 50 right before the election of president trump. Sharyl and whats new for this year . Jon this year, it went back up, so well see it at around 57 of people that were thriving. And so were looking into that, but one of the reasons might be that perhaps republicans feel that theres a little bit of hope in front of them. Again, were asking people where they think theyll be in the next five years. So we think that might be one of the reasons that it went back up. President trump the people of this country should be very comfortable. Sharyl theres a seeming disconnect between what you see in the news and online. Unhappy, but your poll shows quite the opposite. Jon we have Different Things that we track on happiness, like, did you laugh and smile a lot all day yesterday . If you use that particular metric, americans are actually quite happy, in fact, theyre very happy on the weekends, and theyre the most happy on days like mothers day and thanksgiving. So, despite what you read here and see in the news, Americans Still know how to have a lot of fun. Sharyl what are the happiest countries and least happy countries according to the latest poll . Jon the happiest countries in the world are places like denmark, switzerland, and norway. And the least happy, the people who dont see their live very well, are places like syria, places like haiti, and most recently one place that appears to be in total collapse, which is india. Sharyl so this measure, youre saying, is more accurate, in some ways, when looking at the mood of a country than many other things we look at. Jon you know, theres a famous quote by Ronald Reagan when he was in the 1980 president ial debates with jimmy carter, and he asked a question that i think a lot of people felt was a turning point in the election. President reagan are you better off than you were four years ago . Jon our data would suggest that it is, people do want to see change based on how theyre feeling. Our founder has a famous video where he was being interviewed by edward r. Murrow. Edward r. Murrow dr. Gallup, i know youve surveyed Public Opinion on a great many subjects. Jon and Edward Murrow said to him, dr. Gallup, of all things that youve surveyed on, what is it that interests you most . And the thing that he said back to him is not american politics, it was not election tracking. The thing that he said back to him was happiness. So we feel like were actually going in the direction of what our founder was most interested by doing this, not just in america, but around the world. Sharyl clifton says, in a way, gallups poll ended up foretelling the brexit vote. Traditional Economic Indicators said things were going well as they were. But look at gallups socalled thriving index in the u. K. And it collapsed from 55 down to 40 right before voters decided to withdraw from the european union. When we return, weve reported about it. Now well show you what the new wall between the u. S. And mexico may look like. Whoa the mercedesbenz winter event is back and you wont want to stop for anything else. [ barks ] ho lease the gla 250 for 349 a month at your local mercedesbenz dealer. Mercedesbenz. The best or nothing. Sharyl an update now to our recent story about president trumps border wall. We recently visited laredo, texas, where the rio grande separates the u. S. And mexico. We saw firsthand the challenge of keeping Illegal Immigrants and drugs out. Though the funding for a new wall hasnt been approved, the white house is moving forward. Border patrol agents are now testing the prototypes to prevent breaches. Theyre using jackhammers and saws to test the vulnerability of the walls. These tests will go on for several weeks. President trump is expected to personally inspect the prototypes, but theres been no announcement about when that will happen. Next week on full measure, the costly road to repairing our failing infrastructure. The big question is how to pay for it. And as that debate goes on, delays are costing you money. Taken, ultimately probably costing more money to the people paying for it and taxpayers . Lenna hawkins its original estimated cost was about 750 million. And right now were looking at 2. 7 billion. Thats huge. Thats huge. Sharyl we examine the costly road to success next week on full measure. Until then, thanks for watching, and thanks to the great team that helps put this show together every week. From washington d. C. And around the world, this is Government Matters with francis rose. Thanks for watching the Weekend Edition of Government Matters. The only show covering the latest news, trends, and topics that matter to the business of government. Im your host francis rose. It has been a quite a year for government. The country transitions to a new administration, and at times grinded washington to a halt. Ripe for bipartisan action. In twoirn alone, the Trump Administration created the American Technology council, launched a plan to reor