tv Nightline ABC September 21, 2023 12:37am-1:07am PDT
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♪ this is "nightline." >> tonight, toxic legacy. it's one of america's most notorious highways. >> people call it the monster, why? >> forget it. it's ugly, it's obnoxious, and it ate up that neighborhood. >> trevor: tearing a path through the birthplace of jazz in new orleans. >> there was no compensation. we just woke up one morning and there it was. >> trevor: a nationwide abc news investigation into how highway
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pollution can impact health, often taking a toll on communities of color. is the air they're breathing making them sick? the so-called freeway fighters demanding action. >> i want the highway removed, gone. there's no in between for me. >> trevor: one on one with ron desantis. linsey davis sits down for an exclusive interview. the florida governor now seeking the 2024 republican nomination as desantis hits the campaign trail in texas -- >> i will restore america's energy independence. >> trevor: what he said about taking on the front-runner former donald trump on issues like abortion. >> you said he claimed to be pro-life, is he pro-life? >> you tell me. >> trevor: and "the hunger games." the highly anticipated prequel i. fans are already on the edge of their seats. ♪ (vo) for over 50 years purina cat chow has been helping cats feel at home.
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at kaiser permanente all of us work together to care for all that is you. ♪ >> trevor: good evening. thank you for joining us. i'm andrew dymburt. america's highways connect our cities and towns. there's evidence there's upending communities, putting lives, putting people at risk. "nightline" anchor byron pitts has the report from new orleans. >> it's huge. it's dirty.
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it's loud. >> byron: coursing through the middle of one of america's most iconic cities. >> it's always been known as a monster. >> byron: a concrete giant looms overhead. >> people call it the monster, why? >> forget it. it's ugly. it's obnoxious. it ate up that neighborhood. >> byron: interstate i-10, known as the claiborne corridor, cuts through the tremaine neighborhood of new orleans, the birthplace of jazz. it's one of the most notorious highways in america. >> it killed the center of the black community. >> byron: conceived as the title passage way to move people and goods across the city, it also left behind a toxic environmental legacy for generations to endure. more than 49 million americans live within a mile of a highway where traffic pollution may contribute to startling health risks, including elevated risk
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of cancer and lung disease according to an abc news data analysis done in collaboration with our own stations. >> residents within miles of interstate 880 have on average twice the cancer risk and are almost twice as likely to develop respiratory illnesses. >> we are sacrifice zones. our communities apparently can be sacrificed for an economic good that does not benefit our neighborhood. >> byron: now calls for change across the country. >> we're here to announce a first of its kind initiative to help cities and towns to deliver a transportation future. >> byron: the struggle to find solutions at the community level. >> the amount of tentacles attached to this is mind-blowing. >> i love tremaine. i love tremaine. >> byron: for nearly her entire life, amy stelily sbind the claiborne corridor. >> i loved growing up in my
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house. i'm the third generation to live in the house. we have a long history of residency here. my house is a block and a half from the elevated deck and a half block from the orleans avenue ramp. >> byron: you can see it? >> all day, every day. >> byron: smell it? >> all day, every day. the emissions cause all kinds of respiratory ailments. my house doesn't have air conditioning, so in the summer i sleep with windows open. >> byron: the monster gets in? >> the monster comes in, right. >> byron: a self-described freeway fighter -- >> first thing i notice is it's awfully loud. >> very loud. >> byron: amy has waged war on the highway outside her door. >> the claiborne expressway is the poster child for urban highways that need to be removed. the highway destroyed a key artery in the neighborhood, a key place. >> byron: by the 1950s, highways were being built across america, establishing vital trade ute routes and connecting suburbia
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with the nation's business centers downtown. in new orleans, urban planners began to envision two expressways. one along the river cutting through the famed french quarter, another through tremaine, one of the oldest african american communities in the country. white business merchants and haurs were able to stop the highway planned for the french quarter, but things went differently on claiborne. >> when you move to claiborne street, which is african american, mostly poor, there was no compensation. we just woke up one morning and there were the bull dozers. >> byron: historian and lifelong tremaine resident reyna sanders has spent years researching what claiborne avenue was like before the highway ran through it. >> this was the cultural hub for the tremaine community. at one point there was registered about 120 businesses. >> byron: 120? >> yeah, in this 22-block area. of course bars and music. so all of the early jazz musicians that created what we
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love today come from the tremaine community, and they played on claiborne street. >> byron: at the heart a towering canopy of oak trees that stretched as far as the eye could see. >> this is claiborne avenue here. four rows of oak trees. >> byron: then construction began. >> 200 oak trees, they just start tearing them down. >> byron: at first glance it looked hike it was bombed out, almost. >> yes. >> byron: oak trees replaced with concrete columns. businesses and homes reduced to empty lots. >> it came straight up claiborne street like a quarterback running up the center of the field. and it was like if you get in the way, you will die. >> byron: fred johnson was an eyewitness to the destruction. what did you think at the time? >> i didn't know what the hell was going on. all of a sudden, these bulldozers showed up. and the trees start coming up. it was horrible.
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sinful. shameful. >> the highway keeps it grimy. it remains in disrepair. nobody wants to invest in it. >> byron: after i living in the shadow, amy created the claiborne avenue alliance, a nonprofit with one aim in mind. >> i want the highway removed. >> byron: gone? >> gone. there's no in between for me. >> byron: if they get rid of it what replaces it? it's still a major thoroughfare that people get in and out of new orleans. that's the purpose of highways, to get people in and out as quickly as possible? >> yes, that was the purpose, without regard for the people who live near it. i understand we need to transport people. but you have to do it putting people first, not only the people in cars, but the people who live near those arteries. >> byron: amy began working with environmental scientists. >> the reason we're here today is doing basic monitoring of the environment.
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>> byron: like lsu's dr. adrienne captain, who organizes pollution monitoring field trips near the highway with local science students. >> all particulate matter on us. >> byron: students measure air and soil pollution in a park located directly by the expressway. >> everybody breathing this air, it's a dangerous thing. because the numbers keep going up. now it's at 7. >> byron: as they approach the highway, the numbers start going up. >> makes me worry about the people that are down here. >> it's sad, though. because people have to, like, breathe this in every day. because they live so close to it. >> byron: abc analysis showing tremaine residents living within a mile of the corridor face higher levels of cancer and asthma, well above national averages. experts say traffic pollution is
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a known health hazard. for many here, the only solution to this stretch of i-10 known as "the monster" is to kill it, destroy it, tear it down. but the reality is, to tear this down would cause a new set of issues. >> you just can't up and move that highway. you have to make certain that there's a safety net for the people that has fought, bled, and died for that. >> byron: like many, the fears removing the highway would gentrify the neighborhood and lead to tax increases, pushing out longtime residents. >> however much i don't like it, i have to understand, it's kind of a quagmire. because certain things have to be done to make certain that folks don't get displaced all over again. >> byron: if the highway goes away, there are some that are concerned the neighborhood would become gentrified. >> right. it is a great fear and a valid
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fear. i refuse to see us as damned if you do, damned if you don't. >> byron: in 2021, amy's cause got a shot in the arm by president biden when he nouchbsed the american jobs plan would provide funding to reconnect neighborhoods divided by highways. >> it's not a plan that tinkers around the edges. >> byron: the white house listing claiborne by name in the plan's outline as a prime example of infrastructure that divided communities. biden proposed $20 billion to tackle the issue nationwide, but ultimately only $5 billion allocated after the new program was combined with another. is this enough money to get this done? the math doesn't quite say. >> right. freeway fighters across the country were upset at the reduction in the budget. it's nowhere near enough to take these things down. >> byron: amy's nonprofit submitted an application to the program anyway, asking for a grant to study the claiborne avenue expressway and reimagine
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the area without it. ultimately, the u.s. department of transportation chose not to fund amy's plan. instead, they offered a $500,000 planning grant towards $120 million u.s. state proposal which keeps the highway largely intact but provides better maintenance, as well as a public market and performance space underneath the highway. if you could speak to secretary buttigieg about this matter, what would you tell him? >> i would tell him to insist the state of louisiana and the city of new orleans plan properly and listen to the people and engage us. they aren't making decisions that put our health and well-being first. >> byron: the outcome in new orleans closely mirrors the program's spending at the national level. only 6 of the 45 winners get money for construction. the other 39 are all planning grants. >> i think the bot there's a lot of the interest, a
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lot of work to be done. >> byron: secretary buttigieg declined to be interviewed for this report but provided a statement, "there is no assumption the final iteration of the proposal will match the state submitted draft. the purpose of planning grants is to provide resources to allow public engagement and develop a plan that meets the needs of the community." adding that, "there are many other programs that can be utilized to fund projects that reconnect communities." for now, amy plans to keep fighting till she sees the highway gone once and for all. >> we're not going to be distracted no matter what. we are keeping an eye on the prize. i do believe that we'll be vehicle victorio >> find more on our abc news investigation at abcnews.com. up next, he's trying to catch donald trump. can ron desantis gain traction? linsey davis has an exclusive interview with the florida
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and it could wake at any time. think you're not at risk for shingles? it's time to wake up. because shingles could wake up in you. if you're over 50, talk to your doctor or pharmacist about shingles prevention. ♪ >> andrew: welcome back. florida governor ron desantis remains the runner-up in 538's latest poll of presidential hopefuls. he's also been losing ground. abc's linsey davis sat down with desantis in texas today for an exclusive interview. >> linsey: a number of your opponents have been really critical of your six-week abortion ban in florida. donald trump is in iowa today. called it a terrible mistake. he says you've gone too far.
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can you trust that donald trump still has the views with regard to abortion that reflect the pace of the gop party? >> well, when you provide pro-life protection that is says if a baby has a heartbeat, that there's protections, that is not something that pro-lifers think is terrible. they think that that is a noble and just think to do. there have been many other states that have also done that. he claimed to be pro-. he spoke at the march for life and was waxing eloquently about how everybody counts. for him to then attack people like iowa, south carolina, florida, all these other states, i thought was a big mistake. but look, i mean, i think he's taking positions that i think are different from what he took in 2015 when he first came onto the scene. i do think he's a different candidate today than he was back then. are i think the one back then was probably closer to where republican voters want to be.
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>> linsey: you said he claimed to be pro-life. do you think he is pro-life? >> you tell me. i think if you have something where you have a baby this has a detectable heartbeat, if you're pro-life, you would want to say this should be protections there. and if he's saying that's a terrible thing, i know most pro-life voters would think he's wrong. >> linsey: you're governor of florida, congressman from florida, you're arguably the state's biggest cheerleader. why is it that you suppose the florida republican congressional delegates, the majority at any rate, support donald trump, who's been indicted four times, over you? >> i have almost the uniform support of the florida legislature, who's in florida. those are the guys i work with. we've been able to deliver huge wins for florida. we've really set the standard for the anything. right now our economy's rank the number one in the nation.
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businesses flocking to the state. people flocking to the state. i think those folks who we work with daily, 90% of them come to the conclusion that what i've been able to do, the leadership, if i could do that in washington, it would be good for the country. you know, i've never really been a guy that got along in d.c. i don't like the way it operates. i think we need a house-cleaning up there. there will not be usual when i become president. there will be changes. that doesn't necessarily sit well with everybody. that's true with both parties up there. >> linsey: how does that work as president, if you say, i've never really gotten along with the people in d.c.? >> because there's a culture that's developed, i think, that has put the interests of d.c. ahead of the interests of the american people. and you look right now. five of the eight wealthiest townies in the united states are suburbs of washington, d.c. how does that happen?
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it isn't like they have abundant resources there or they're producing much of anything. they're producing a lot of debt, spending. people politically connected to the government are doing better, meanwhile americans outside that area are basically bearing the costs with highest prices that the spending and inspiration have fueled. what i represent is saying, it's time that we, the people, come and that we're leading the charge up in d.c. it's not just about the people in d.c. it's about what you can do for folks throughout the country. there's a lot of people that are struggling. if we can't have in this country people that are working hard, trying to raise kids -- if they can't afford to buy a home, buy a car, even afford groceries, if america doesn't work for those people, we are not going to be successful as a >> andrew: the return to "panam.
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finally tonight, feeling hungry? >> after everything you've seen out there in the world -- >> andrew: an exclusive first look at the trailer for the new "hunger games" prequel, "the ballad of songbirds and snakes." it's the first installment of the franchise based on the suzanne collins books since 2015. the first without jennifer lawrence as the lead. it is still a star-studded cast, including tom blithe, rachel zegler, viola davis, peter
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dinklage. >> it's a mystery and mysteries have a way of driving people mad. >> andrew: it hits theaters november 17th in time for thanksgiving. >> mr. snow, let me ask you one final time. what are the hunger games for? ♪ hanging tree ♪ >> andrew: that's "nightline." watch full episodes on hulu. see you right back here at the same time tomorrow. thanks for staying up with us. good night, america. you didn't choose your hairline. hot flashes,
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