captioning sponsored by wnet >> sreenivasan: on this edition for sunday, january 5:la esng tensions in the middle east. and in our special peril and promise series we continue our reporting along the missisppi river exploring the challenges of climate change. next on "pbs newshour weekend." >> pbs newshour weekend is made possible by: ar bernard and irene sc. sue and edgar wachenheim iii.ch thyl and philip milstein family. rosalind p. walter. barbara hope zuckerberg. charles roselum. we try to live in the moment, to not miss what's right in front of us. at mutual of america, we believe taking care of tomorrow tcan help you makmost of

today. mutual of america financial ic group, retirement se and investments. nadditional support has b provided by: and by the corporation for public broadcastinrivate corporation funded by the americanbyeople. anontributionso your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. from the tisch wnet studios at lioln center in new york, hari sreenivasan. >> sreenivasan: goodvening and thanks for joining us we see the first significant repercussions tonight after the killing of iran's top general this week. iran announced it will no longer abide by any limits set in the 2015 nuclear deal. on state-run tv, the government said it would longer limit its enrichment of uranium.ck the drone atlso killed an iraqi militia leader, and the iraqi parliament approved a non- m nding resolution to expel all foreign forces froe country. in the special session, a majority of iraqi lawmakers

present voted in favor but many sunni and kurdish members did not attend. caretaker prime minister adel abdul mahdi, who resigned last month, told lawmakers "urgent measures" should be taken to f reeign troops. about 5,000 u.s. troops remain inraq. today thu.s.-led military coalition combating isis in iraq and syria announced that it hasd pats training mission in iraq and is now focused onts protectingases from attack. in a string of tweets last nit, president trump threatened retaliation if iran strikes back at american targets, saying "ve targeted 52 iranian sites... so at a very high level an important to iran and the iranian culture." on all fivsunday morning political talk shows, secretary of state mikpompeo, deflected questions of whether targeting cultural sites viotes international law. he said the u.s. will act" lawfully" and defended e president's threat to strike

targets inside iran. >> iranian leadership needs to understand that attacking americans is not cost free. setting out conditions that say these are our expectations, these are the things that amera is expecting from you and if you don't do them, the cost will be clear and-- and direct. >> sreenivas: in the holy shiite city of mashhad, iran, hundreds of thousands of mourners turned out to p tribute to general qassem soleimani, whose remains were flown to his home country this morning. and at a rally in lebanon day, the leader of the iranian-backed group hezbollah said the u.s. military will "pay the price" for soleimani's death.ho newsur weekend special correspondent jane ferguson hast more from beir >> reporter: furious chants began immediately as hezbollaher memband supporters gathered sunday afternoon to funeral prayers for iranian general qassim suleimani. in the midst of a packed hall in the lebanese militant's groups'

stronghold of southern beirut, supporte were still in shock. these people have seen leaders killed by american and israeli strikes before, buninever one so -- or so adored. one, who asked that ll not use his ame, spoke for many: >> ( translated ): did america tell us it was going to kill suleimani? it didn't, it just killed him. we will answer adst silence, no one will know where or when we will respond. nobody will know. >> reporter: it's hard to overstate just how angry the crowds here are in beirut. "death to america" has been ringing out all day today and these people say that revenge will happen across the region. suleimani was- and still is-- revered here. he was a close supporter and advisor to hezbollah, theia irbacked armed islamist group in lebanon. the group's leader, hassan nasrallah, was the last leader suleiman had been to see before

flying to baghdad where he and shia militia leader abu mahdi al-muhandis were assassinated by a u.s. air strike on friday night. he spoke to his followers via tv link. soleimani, nasrallah is almost never seen in public, foi fear of lar strike by israel. f this type of assassina goes unpunished the region will be violated by the acans and the israel." ouide the hall, other supporters of hezbollah watched the speech in the street. ny here say sumeilami's killing will only harden them against america. >> ( translated ): trump is an idiot, because he has no idea what the repercussions of histi s are. he thinks his actions are going to weaken us? not at all. his actions have made us he has created 1,000 suleimani's, 1,000 muhandis, 1,000 nasrallahs. he is e one that has lost, not us. >> reporter: hezbollah is the rongest non-state fighti

force in the middle east today-- iran's most deadly proxy force. they have been fighting for years in syria to pr up the regime, gaining invaluable experience alongside russian special forces. if there is a wider war in the region, then hezbollah will almost definitely be involved, much like suleimani was himself. >> sreenivasan: in caracas, venezuela today, national guard oops surrounded the legislature building and blocked u.s.-backed opposition leader juan guaó from attending al speciassion of congress. guaó expected to be re-elected as leader as venezuela's arly, but both he and members of his p were blocked from the building. aat one point guaidóempted to imb over an iron fence a troops pushed him back. venezuela's president nicolas maduro backed rival candidate luis parra. there was no quorum and vote, but parra appeared on state

television being sworn in. in january of last year, guaidó declared he hapresidenti powers after charging maduro's reelection was illegitimateti because oppo candidates were not allowed on the ballot. for more on the middle east and other news around the world go to pbs.org/newshour. >> sreenivasan: tonight, we're continuing our special series examining the impact of climate change on states bordering the mississippi river. yesterday, we brought you stories from minnesota and iowa. today we travel fromissouri to louisiana with reporting on the environmental and economic hazards of rising waters. we begin in labadie, missouri, where one of those hazs coal ash, the residue created when coal is burne ale u.s. produces more than 100 million tons of sh each year, and storing it carries the potential for toxic materials leaching into groundwater. newshour weekend's ivette feliciano haour story. this special series is part of

our initiative: peril and promise: the challenge of climate change pand is produced artnership with nexus media news, a non-profit news organization. >> reporter: labadie, missouri, a town of just over 3,000, sits onhe southern bank of the missouri river. a notable sight is the labie power plant-the largest coal burning plant in the state. it's owned by ameren-- missouri's biggest energy supplier. in burning coal, the plant produces a byproduct: coal ash. both the plant and the ash stand in what's called a floodplain- an area next to a rir or stream that is prone to flooding during storms. that's a point of concern for some here, because coal ash is known to contain heavy metals-- like arsenic, chromium, and lead-- which can cause cancer, spiratory disease, and cardiovascular disease in humans. >> earlier this year, there was

at least 10-15 feet of water standing at this location. so imagine that over this entira >> reporter: patricia schuba is a resident of labadie and the founder of the grassroots non- profit, labadie environmental organization. does the location of these coal ash sites concern you? >> it absolutely does. because floodplains are used for and so, to have that waste thath contaivy metals and carcinogens sitting in the watel is really not good. we reporter: when it opened in 1970, the labadie planth stored coal basins called ash ponds dug next to the plant. the ash in one of those ponds has been in contact with the groundwater beneath for alst 50 years. groundwater is held in a porous network of rocks beneath the earth's surface called an aquifer. ameren says the grndwater found beneath the labadie plant is not used for drinking water, and the environmental prottion agency has separate

contamination standards for groundwater beneath a public utility, and groundwater used for drinking. ameren's reports indicate that most of the contaminants in the groundwater beneath the as ponds fall within the e.p.a. standards for utility companies. in 2016, ameren built a 166-acre coal ash landfill on the other side of the plant from the ponds. the landfill is lined at the bottom to protect against contaminating the groundwater beneath it. both the ponds and t landfill are surrounded by large berms that protect them from flood wars. but schuba worries that rising water levels could eventually top those berms, spreading rdxins from the ash away from the plant and to residential water sources. >> with climate change increasing the risk of significant storms, rainfalls,fl h floods, and flooding in our floodplains over weeks and sometimes months, the risk is

that that material will be in contact with our drinking water all the time. and that means that we're at risk of being exposed to those coal waste toxins that clearly can cause disease. >> reporter: labadie and the restf the st. uis area sit at the confluence of the missouri and the mississippi-- the two longt rivers in the u.s. the area is highly susceptible to flooding from these and their smaller tributars. robert criss is a hydrogeologi at st. louis's washingtoner unty. 's says that groundwater plays a big role in the arloods. >> when it rains, you see the rivers go up, especially the small streams. well, you-- you think that's the immediate rainfall, this notion of overland flow. and sometimes that's true. but a really large component of that flow is displaced groundwater, that's been in the system a long time. so it rains, and you push out the old water. >> reporter: in addition to the

labadie plant, ameren owns and operates three other coal plants in t region. all are built and store coal ash along floodplains-either in criss says that storing coal ash in a floodplain puts the area's uifer at great risk. >> the groundwater in theai alluvial flood responds onsi a daily to the water level in the river. the water can come and go.mo it can move- than 100 yards a day, and any percolating waste will get into the water and-move it out through the aquifer and so forth. vi>> reporter: and rivers been rising more and more often in the st. louis aa. this past spring, the region was hit by its biggest fod in more than 25 years. environmental scientists link the flooding to an increase in storms caused by climate changel rach bartels heads the missouri chapter of the

waterkeepers alliance-an international organizati that monitors the water quality of rivers and streams. >> st. louis and, i think, the midwest in general has always had somewhat erratic weather. but it has definitely-the storms have increased. and the intensity of the storms has increased, as well. you kn, we've had major flooding events in the last few years. they-- you know, ey're called 100-year floods for a reason. >> reporter: between march and july last year, water levels near the labadie plant rose by alst 20 feet. bartels and members of her group took aerial photos. >> the coal plant was an island. you know, and knowing wh we know about water, it just-- i mean, you look at it, it was s-e such a powerfunder that it is not the place to be storing this toxic waste. >> reporter: but while flood waters did rise near the labadie plt, they never topped the berms rrounding the coal ash.

that's according to enrren wood, am vice president of legislative and regulatory affairs. >> fortunately, in our differen basins, theyen designed with different perimeter berms. we have water treatment in the event any water does go the basins. and here at labadie, we haven't had any flooding that got into any of the basins. esd so the ber have been, you know, performed asned and we haven't had flooding in our basins. >> reporter: in accoance withot environmental tion agency rules, ameren uses independent consultants to monitor the groundwater around its property at wells like this one. in addition, ameren's consultants analyze oundwater close to homes near the plant, as well as the surface water of the missouri river that flows next to it. it says none of its samples exceed the e.p.a.'s groundwater protection standards. >> we didn't have any impacts of groundwater on any of the-the groundwater checks around our property boundary or in the river or in the surface water in the area.ly the its were a few of the wells in the immediate vicinity of the basins where we did haveo

-some metal that we detected. >> reporter: but robert criss is skeptical of those findings.as >> it's a result if your own paid consultants arerkoing the >> ameren stands by itsdi consultants' fs and says it plans to cap all its ash ponds in the st. louis region to protect them against futureoo . regardless, hydrogeologist robert criss says at the groundwater beneath the plant may be beyond saving. >> if you pollute groundwater, there is no way ever clean it up. 'cause you've polluted your canteen. and so when we misuse our floodplains, and our-- our hauifers, we-- we are robbing our future in wayswe cannot imagine. >> reporter: but warren wood believes that ameren's plan will reduce contaminants in the groundwater beneath the ash ppnds. he also says that g the ponds and leaving them in place is the safest option in the lon.

>> if you go to an excavation approach, you're looking at up to three decades and you're gonna leave these sins open that entire time for more water filtration to potentially pickal up mand move into the groundwater. >> reporter: wood told newshour weekend that ameren's coal ash facilities are built to withstand what he terms" a massive flood event." s enivasan: last week, nth carolina announced an agreement with duke energy to excavate and remove nearly 80 million tons of coal ash the state says it will be the largest such clean-up inis american hry. >> sreenivasan: one of the southernmost ports on the mississippi river is in rouge, louisiana. nexus media and newshour weekend specl correspondent josh landis recently returned from there with this report about how those who navigate the river are dealing with rising waters.

>> reporter: in ton rouge, the river starts its final dash to the ocean, through a 233-mile, man-made channel that snes its way into the gulf of mexico. along the way, the ports of baton rouge, new orleans, and south louisiana form greatest trading hub in the western hemisphere. steven hathorn is presidt of the new orleans-baton rouge steamship pilots association. >> i believe the economic effect is around $730 billion per year. one out of every six jobs in louisiana is frothe mississippi river. i like to say it's one of our greatest, probably our greatest natural resource. >> reporter: hathorn has navigated large ships up and down the channel for decades. >>ur area is one of the most treacherous pilotage reas in the world. very congested, with, tens of thousands of barges, hundreds of tow boats. we have, i think, seveges in between new orleans and baton rouge to navigate through. it can be very trying on a person.

eporter: even in normal conditions, navigating the misssippi is so challenging that a specially trained local s pilot muster every international freighter safely to port. but the unpredictable high water season is making that job tougher. 2019's flooding was record- setting for both its duration ad volume. >> in iowa, the mississippi >> we're having vesselthat won't stay at anchor. we've had twisted anchors, broken anchors, broken chains. 10, 15 years ago you didn't see that. >> reporter: captain jared ruizs of the ebaton rouge sheriff's office deals with the aftermath of broken chains and twisted anchors. >> we'll come out here and make sure during a high water event anat these tugs are secureon they look like you know they're going to come off and hit the levy because if they do, that's, that's what happened during katrina. >> reporter: heeding the lessons from that hurricane, captain ruiz now keeps a close eye on parked barges. and on the city's landmark east bank. >> i use the sign to gaugeow high the wer is.

uh, well, you know, it'll be, i'll say, well, it's coverg half of baton rouge, or it's covering all of baton rouge. >> rorter: earlier this erar, did it ct? >>t covered it. it was totally covered this year. >> reporter: the challenges ofhi water levels on the mississippi are many. >> right heris where these tugs have hit the, this pilon of the bridge structure and, you'lt see like the le scrape marks and gouges, you have some tugsat ave such, you know, like i said, three football fields long. >> reporter: so as wide as this is, it's kind of a tight squeeze when the river's going >> yes. >> reporter: and high water here can join forces with powerful storms in the gulf. this spring, hurricane barry left cities like new orleans on he brink of disaster. >> hurricane seasoighwater ason when you have those overlap each other, you have trble. and there was a great fear here that when the hurricane came, it would cause the river to back up and come up, and it was already so high that it would flood new orleans. >> reporter:7 feet of high river water left the city with only three feet of remaining levee protection that's a safeguard the height of

a garden fence against the storm surge of a hurricane. >> we were lucky, i think it came up six inches or less than a foot. and so we were good. but katrina, i believe it rose like ten feet. >> reporter: torrential rains and wispread flooding ambushed baton rouge in 2016. submerging almost 75% ofomes in livingston parish. the catastrophic damage reshaped the way many citizens thought about the threat of floodwaters, including mayor of the city, sharon weston broome, who is also president of east baton rouge parish. >> if it never happens to you, you often think, "oh, i'll be ay, i don't need to do anything." >> you would go in one area one day and it would be no water. and then within, you know,ho s, it would up on rooftops. and you'd have river current going through it. ve never seen anything like that. >> i thought for sure, "oh, it's going to go down.go it'lown." >> reporter: then orders came to evacuate. >> leaving that saturday, i

thought, "i'll be back sunday." i didn't get back into my house until a year and a half after that. that impact was very profound. what we now understand... we have to think abt ter in everything that we do, everything that weevelop, everything that we build. water has to be in the fabric of our planning. and so that's what we're doing. >> reporter: in a deep-red state where talk of climate changean still polarize, broome does addresses the issue head on. >>e have learned not to deb climate change with people. i have just pointed the facts to them. water is warmer in theulf. that is having, scientists are telling us, that it having an effect on a lot of the swers and downpours that we're experiencing. i'm not gonna debate it. i'm just going to address it.

>> reporter: according to nasa, earth's average surface temperature has increased more than one and a half degrees fahrenheit, mainly as a resultl of burning fosels. warmer air holds more moisture, leading to more extreme rain and snow. warmer waters provide more fuel for hurricanes, which sce ntists say tting more powerful. all of this adds up to regions like the mississippi delta being trapped by fuller rivers and rising seas. steven hathorn who knows this pa of the river better tha almost anyone, has noticed the change. >> i think is probably a lot of little things adding up toge us where we're at. the river is diked, dammed, that's increas the current in it. you also have a lot of development along thriver, whicprably pushes the water back into it. i'm not going to discount climate ange either. there's no doubt that some that could haveomething to do with it, too. what happens if this becomes the new norm? you know, i mean everybody, i think is saying a little pyer that it won't.

>> this is pbs newshour weekend, sunday. >> sreenivasan: as we've been reporting in our series, experts and researchers are exploring a number of ways to address rising waters in the states along the mississippi river. l.s.u. professor clint willson, is tackling louisiana's issues on the mighty mississippi on a more manageable scale. we have more from nexus media's josh landis who had a tour of a unique replica. >>eporter: on this 10,000 square foot replica of the mississippi delta, he shows me the vanishing barrier islandsh whed to help protect southern louisiana from storms. in partnership with thstate's coastal protection a restoration authority, the faculty here created this model as well as the center for river studies. it's a multidisciplinary effort to understand the ever-changing nature of the delta he goal of a sustainable future for its inhabitants, commerce, and wetlands. >> we're tryg to help the state understand river sedimentw diversions andand moves down river.

the idea is to recbanect the rive to these wetland areas. g,is could be thought of as controlled flood don't mean we're trying to flood people or increase the risk to anybod you have large gated structures sitting here that replace the levee. you open up these gates when the river is high and that sand is moving down to reconnect t river to the wetlands. like it storically was, before weeveed it. sand ibasically now dropping out and is nourishing these areas. this very channelization of the river, in some cases over- engineering of the river. i don't think people quite understand the footprint, how complex or how unnatural it is, i should say.or >> rr: yesterday's imperfect, unpredictable mississippi has become tay's highly engineered superhighway, carrying america's fortunes around the world. >> sreenivas: for all our stories about climate impacts on states along the mississippi river go to pbs.org/newshour.

>> sreenivasan: finally tonight, the pentagon, said an al-shabab attack on a military base in kenya claimed the lives of a ons. service member and two defense departmentactors. the pentagon said kenyan defense forces and u.s. troops repelled the attack. that's all for this edition of" pbs newshour weekend." i'm hari sreenivasan. thanks for watching. have a good night. wn ptioning sponsored b captioned by media access group at wgbh acss.wgbh.org >> pbs newshour weekend is made possible by: bernard and irene hwartz. sue and edgar wachenheim iii. the cheryl a philip milstein family. rosalind p. lter. barbara hope zuckerberg. charles rosenblum. we try to live in the moment, to not miss what's right in

front of us. at mutual of america, we believe taking care of tomorrow can help you make the most of today. lmutual of america financ group, retirement services and investments. on our noct plans give you as much or as little talk, text and data as you want.-b and our u.s.ed customer service team is on-hand to help. to learn more, go to www.consumercellular.tv. additional support has been provided by: he corporation for public broadcasting, a private corporation funded by theic am people. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. beat mus

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