♪ ♪ >> announcer: this is the "cbs overnight news." >> two new york city jail guards responsible for watching jeffrey epstein the night he died are now facing charges. a coroner ruled epstein took his own life in august as he awaited trial on sex trafficking charges involving minors. mola lenghi is following the investigation. >> reporter: federal investigators say tova noel and michael thomas failed to perform mandatory checks on convicted sex offender jeffrey epstein, even though his cell was just 15 feet away. inr desk, browsed the internet, and moved around the common area of the facility for eight hours, then falsified documents saying they actually conducted the

required half-hour checks. >> it is rare to see guards in the bureau of prisons be held accountable in a criminal court for felonies. this is a big deal. >> reporter: epstein, arrested on july 6, was being held at m.c.c. while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges. according to the indictment, at approximately 6:33, an alarm was activated. epstein was alone in his cell and not responsive with a noose around his neck. today in washington, the director of the bureau of prisons faced questions about the investigation into epstein's death in one of her facilities. >> there's got to be either a major malfunction of the system or a criminal enterprise at foot to allow this to happen. so are you looking at both? is the f.b.i. looking at both? >> if the f.b.i. is involved then they are looking at criminal enterprise, yes. >> reporter: the union representing the two officers who both pleaded not guilty today say that the charges sidestep the larger problem of chronic understaffing in federal prisons.te's

accusers is giving chilling new details about what life was like inside his manhattan. maria farmer says she met epstein in the 90s when she was a young artist. in a lawsuit, she accuses epstein of sexually assaulting her and her younger sister annie. farmer says she was the first known accuser to report epstein to police a decade before his first arrest. she spoke with anthony mason in her first tv interview. >> i want people to know that these women are strong and they're still standing. >> reporter: the women that maria farmer started drawing in month are all alleged victims of jeffrey epstein. she sketched seven so far, including her younger sister. >> i tried for a long time to just not think about them, and then i decided i can't ignore it any more. i'm going to draw them, i'm going to paint them, i'm going to glorify them. >> reporter: she'd been unable to paint for more than 20 years, she says, after her own alleged assault by epstein and his close friend ghislaine maxwell.

>> that's g jeffrey d they took away the thing i was supposed to do. they did that to everybody. >> reporter: farmer was a promising young artist when she said she met epstein and maxwell at an art show in new york city in 1995. epstein bought this painting of hers that night, then she says eventually offered her a job. the 26-year-old soon found herself working the front desk in his palatial new york city town house. did you see young women coming into the house? >> yes, i saw many, many, many, many, many. >> reporter: all day long? >> all day long. i saw ghislaine going to get the women. she went to places like central park. i was with her a couple times in the car. she would say, stop the car! and she would dash out and get a child. >> reporter: what did she say she was doing when she did this? >> getting victoria's secret models. >> reporter: farmer found epstein's behavior mysterious. >> one day i said to jeffrey, what goes on in this house? why are you always upstairs? he said, i'll show you.

so he took me up there in the elevator. we went -- he showed me all of ghislaine's quarters. >> reporter: she had her own suite in the house? >> oh, she had her own floor. >> reporter: ultimately farmer says epstein led her to his bathroom. >> and there was a marble altar. he said that's where he gets his massages. >> reporter: epstein told her the whole house was wired with pinhole cameras and took her into the media room where they were monitored. >> i looked on the cameras and i saw toilet, toilet, bed, bed, toilet, bed. i'm like, i am never going to use the rest room here and i am never going to sleep here. >> reporter: was there videotape? >> it was all video'd all the time, yeah. i asked him one time, what i do do with this? he said, i keep it. i keep everything in my safe. >> reporter: in the summer of 1996, farmer says epstein sent her to be an artist in residence on the vast estate of les wexner, the c.e.o. of elle brands which owns victoria's secret. how would you describe epstein's relationship with wexner?

>> epstein told me what the relationship was. he said wexner would do anything for him. he bragged about it. >> reporter: the estate, she said, was heavily guarded by armed security and dogs. she stayed in what she was told was the guest house. did you ever see him? >> no, i called wexner the wizard of oz. he was the one behind the curtain that had all the power. >> reporter: on the night this photograph was taken by maxwell, farmer alleges in her complaint that maxwell and epstein sexually assaulted her there. how were you doing at that moment? >> oh, i was hysterical. >> reporter: farmer alleges in her complaint that when she tried to flee the following day, she was not allowed to leave. she claims a member of wexner's staff warned her. >> his exact words were, you're not going anywhere. you are never leaving. you are never leaving. >> reporter: farmer says she escaped only after calling her father for help. in a statement, the wexners said they had no knowledge of farmer, never met her, never spoke with

her. and the guest house where farmer says she stayed was not a wexner guest house. farmer alleges maxwell threatened to destroy her reputation in the art world. and in one phone call, she believes, threatened her life. >> she says, you're going out to jog on the west side highway every day and i know this. you need to be very careful because there are so many ways to die there. you have to be really careful. look over your shoulder. >> reporter: farmer said she reported the assault to the fbi, but she told us it wasn't for another decade, just before epstein's first arrest in 2006, that an agent finally appeared at her door. farmer says they never followed up. >> they still haven't asked to talk to me. they are trying to pretend i do not exist. that's right. i want my report and i want it printed out so i can show everyone how much they failed. i don't know if i'll ever get it. we've been requesting it forever. >> reporter: is this getting any

easier at all for you? >> this is not getting easier right now. i believe it will get easier once i do the paintings. i think that's going to be my therapy. >> reporter: she's still waiting for justice. but in painting her fellow survivors, maria farmer has finally found her art again. >> because i'm healing myself through this process. no one is going to do it for me. >> reporter: so those paintings mean a lot to you? >> they do. these women mean a lot to me. these women mean a lot to me. >> ghislaine maxwell has here's another cleaning tip from mr. clean. cleaning tough bathroom and kitchen messes with sprays and wipes can be a struggle. there's an easier way. try mr. clean magic eraser. just wet, squeeze and erase tough messes like bathtub soap scum... and caked-on grease from oven doors. now mr. clean magic eraser comes in disposable sheets. they're perfect for icky messes on stovetops... in microwaves... and all over the house. for an amazing clean, try mr. clean magic eraser, and mr. clean magic eraser sheets.

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rural communities across the country are struggling to fill teaching jobs. about one in five students attend rural schools, but qualified teachers are getting harder to recruit and retain. in colorado, rural teachers are hing towinado tore trying new >> reporter: these aspiring und ufr university of colorado in colorado springs are taking a road trip. the ranching community along highway 24 is only about 50 miles away from the city. but for some, simla feels a world away. >> ladies, welcome. >> reporter: steve wilson is the superintendent of the big sandy

school district where 335 students from grades pre-k through 12 learn under one roof. when you bring in prospective teachers to your school, what are they telling you they need? >> salary was a big thing, key thing, and that gets brought up every year at the state level. also, there's just a whole bunch more being dumped on educators than used to be. it's not as respected as much. it's just a tougher profession than it used to be. we have 11 sick days. >> reporter: 15 years ago wilson says there were about 30 candidates for every job opening. but in the last few years, some postings have attracted zero applicants. >> our high school principal, she happened to be at a restaurant. the waitress said that she was trying to become a teacher through an alternative licensure program. >> reporter: so you hired a waitress who was working to become a teacher. >> yes. >> reporter: you helped expedite that process. >> yes. >> reporter: on this day teachers in training visited

some of the classrooms, including holly kane's kindergarten class. what do you see as some of the major problems facing rural school districts? >> affordable housing is probably the number one, you know. we do live farther out so the prices of things are higher. you go to the grocery store in a small community, you're going to pay a higher price than you would at a king super's. >> reporter: the 26-year-old said she struggles to pay student loans and make ends meet on her $35,000 a year teaching salary. to cut costs, last year she lived in this camper in a field outside of school. what kept you going while you were living in that trailer? >> just coming to school every day and seeing, seeing the children and just making bonds with them. >> good job. >> reporter: we heard from holly who talked about living in a trailer. >> yes. >> reporter: what does it say about how difficult it is to work and make a reasonable salary? >> it's difficult. it has to be something you truly

love. >> reporter: mary bower loves the job so much she came back in 2018 after leaving in 2013 to be close to her husband and their home near denver. it's about 90 miles away. now during the week, bower stays with her sister in simla. >> she said i know someone who has cheap rent. by that i mean free of the. so i stay at my sister's for free. >> reporter: she returned too big sandy to teach spanish after the district failed to find a qualified teacher. >> they lost their spanish teacher at the beginning of the year and tried online. it was pretty difficult for them. a lot of the kids had to go back and repeat the year that they lost. >> reporter: they were that far behind? >> they were that far behind, yeah. >> reporter: the coaxing former teachers and retirees back into the classroom is a band aid solution. you're expecting upwards of 8 to 10 teachers to retire in the next five to ten years. what do you do then? >> tough thing.

some schools are in that boat right now, and i think we're short changing our students. >> reporter: wilson hopes that some of these college students actually return here as teachers. >> i'm curious. how many of you would be interested in a rural school or a school like this in the future? what changed your mind? >> everyone is kind of in it together and i really like that aspect. >> i went to a high school where i graduated with 300 people. to think this school has 300 kids from preschool to 12th grade blows my mind because everybody knows each other. and just to think that you could, like, work in a school with that kind of community, that bond, i just -- i want to be a part of it. >> reporter: jericka duncan, simla, colorado. >> and the "cbs overnight news" will be right back.

when you humble yourself under the mighty hand of god, in due time he will exalt you. hi, i'm joel osteen. i'm excited about being with you every week. i hope you'll tune in. you'll be inspired, you'll be encouraged. i'm looking forward to seeing you right here. you are fully loaded and completely equipped for the race that's been designed for you.

women in japan are taking a stand against having to wear high heels at work. this comes amid growing backlash against office fashion rules that many say are discriminatory and outdated. lucy craft has more from tokyo. >> reporter: activist yu yuni ishikawa has become the face of an activist in japan. her feet and shuds are not stat. heels are an expression of japan male cheuvenism.

their campaign means shoe suffering. japan has been called the land of uniforms for good reason. the nation's czar orrial conformity starts early and continues throughout life. high heels have become part of the dress code for working women in japan. wearing them is considered a kind of office etiquette. even japan's labor minister weighed in calling high heels necessary and reasonable. such was this entrenched male mind-set in japan that at her old job at a funeral parlor where she spent six hours a day on her feet, heels were mandatory. 3 inch heels were the rule, she said. when quitting time rolled around my toes were bleeding. i thought, guys do the same job as me. why do they get to wear flat shoes? she then vented online and japan felt her pain literally. scores of women shared war stories about grinning and bearing it through blisters, back pain and hammer toes inflicted by prolonged high heel

use. the kutoo movement was born demanding the right to wear comfortable footwear at work. it's a movement that seems to have legs. recently major bank sumitomo mitt tatsuma i abolished dress codes amid support. >> translator: i think heels should be optional, she said, an airline employee. requiring heels makes me wonder, why aren't men wearing them? traditional companies might wear high heels, but not progressive firms. she works in i.t. meanwhile, ishikawa is turning her pain to profit, she has a new book and is about tout her line of sensible shoes, another step toward footwear freedom. lucy craft, tokyo. a >> and that is the overnight news this wednesday. for some of you the news continues. for others, check back with us a little bit later for the morning news and, of course, "cbs this morning." from the broadcast center in new york city, i'm don dahler.

it's wednesday, november it's wednesday, november 20th, 2019. this is the "cbs morning news." day four, a new round of televised impeachment inquiry hearings set for today. who's next on deck and the key takeaways from tuesday's testimony. candidate showdown. the top ten democrats running for president square off in atlanta. what's at stake. breaking overnight from overseas. two u.s. service members have been killed in afghanistan after a helicopter crash. captioning funded by cbs captioning funded by cbs good morning from the studio 57 newsroom at cbs headquarters here in new yo