i would expect president trump didn't hesitate in saying the america's airports a third world facilities when i look at airports in china when i look at airports in abu dhabi and qatar and the different places where like a third world country you land in new york and la guardia airport or kennedy airport it's like a third world airport system and its latest report the american society of civil engineers graded the country's aviation infrastructure with a very unimpressive score of you know the united states has had. in an aging and. an aging infrastructure for about a generation so we sort of look back and the united states really built out our infrastructure in the fifty's and sixty's and early seventy's and then in some respects we've taken some time off from from from doing a lot of building and we've been somewhat maintaining our infrastructure but probably not as well as we can the a.s.c.a. says that progress the airports in a traffic control systems is slow unable to keep up with demands of increased

traffic and new technologies and passages of failing the effects according to sky tracks and based on millions of survey responses there's no us sample in the world's top ten and then the international bill to nine hundred ninety five is the first one on that list in the twenty eighth position the real problem however is that with the explosion of people traveling many airports are operating beyond their design capacity so we have a situation where the airports are crowded they're basically bursting at the seams and they're. looking to see traffic as increasing over the in the coming years over and beyond what they are already handling so there's definitely a need. to improve america's infrastructure according to the department of transportation a record nine hundred. sixty five million airline passengers flew in the united

states last year that's a three point four percent increase over twenty sixteen and more passengers mean more dollars in fact the federal aviation administration calculated that in twenty fourteen civil aviation generated one point six trillion dollars and supported around ten point six million jobs and not just any jobs because a lot of the jobs that are done at an airport are specially when we talk about aircraft maintenance and in other areas you know airport management these are high tech jobs these are jobs that pay very good incomes each employee who is a highly paid skilled worker you know is going to be part of a chain of a whole bunch of other workers along the way so having a good airport having a well maintained. making a favorable destination is one of the best things you can do for a community the f.a.a. also estimates that the national cost of their poor congestion is expected to rise

to thirty four billion in twenty twenty before going on to sixty three billion by twenty forty of current funding levels men tamed this takes us to the issue of funding in america airports are funded in very different ways such as federal grants passenger facility charges bonds and state and local grants it's not an easy puzzle to resolve and coordination between different sectors is as important as actually coming up with the money and airports need a lot of that according to a study by airports council international u.s. airports need an estimated seventy five point seven billion dollars in infrastructure investment through twenty nineteen but american airports don't only need an upgrade they require a deep comprehensive plan if that doesn't happen the country that saw the birth of aviation will. struggle to compete in the twenty first century nicholas i don't

know than ati and. oil and natural gas are driving forces behind much of the nation's energy and the transport behind it lies in our country's pipeline infrastructure for a closer look are to cya tablature reports. the us are only the largest consumer of oil consume twenty million barrels a day just in two thousand and seventeen but that wouldn't be possible without pipelines that transport the fuel from its source to the market and also the u.s. has fallen behind internationally as soon as a rapid decline and its infrastructure when it comes to telecommunications transportation and water the one critical bright spot has been on energy

thanks to what has come to be known as the shale revolution the u.s. is now growing closer to becoming a net exporter of crude oil and natural gas and is projected to bypass russia and saudi arabia the current global leaders in energy but does dramatic spike in energy production has created a dilemma in that the existing pipelines are not equipped to deal with such an influx as there are already operating in full capacity let's take the cost of transporting natural gas by train at cost that's nearly five or six times that of transporting my pipeline as economists kevin galen explains first of all take training translation weight training is sniffing more expensive in transportation by pipeline just to give you some numbers because about ten to fifteen dollars a barrel he transported there on natural gas by train and paid only five dollars a barrel to transport a pipeline so. it cost of transportation by train is due to the three times

transportation by pipeline the u.s. currently has more than two point six million miles of pipeline that transport more than sixteen billion barrels of crude oil and natural gas through the pipelines annually making it the world's largest network and over that network more than two hundred thousand miles of liquid pipelines over three hundred thousand miles of gas transmission pipelines and more than two point one million miles of gas distribution pipelines that move energy and raw materials that fueled his nation's economic engine but currently major ports like boston still rely on foreign oil from russia via the united kingdom as the region's high and unstable energy prices are routed with inadequate natural gas pipelines to meet its demand or oil industry's top lobbyist jack straw highlighted how resistance to infrastructure development has led new angle enders with some of the highest electricity costs in

the nation particularly so through extreme winters the recent cold snap highlighted the difference between policy makers and regions and embrace america's energy abundance and those that do not. for example their wing leaders and subject to some of the highest electricity costs in the nation well above national averages because of resistance to infrastructure development but the trump administration's end for structure plan released earlier this year is set to change all of that with aggressive one point five trillion dollar plan that includes a sophisticated energy pipeline but an unexpected hurdle has been president trumps a recent twenty five percent tariff on steel and ten percent tariff on aluminum as terrorists on pipeline materials could be especially problematic for the industry since a large share of these products are imported another. major development holding

back the building of new pipeline has been funding we do growth from american shale in recent years the industry estimates that roughly one trillion dollar is needed in infrastructure costs over the next two decades in order to keep pace with increasing oil and gas production demands was one third of that being spent on new pipelines but the good news is that direct happily investment for the construction of new pipelines will average fifty five billion dollars through twenty twenty five so while the ultimate outcome is unpredictable the intention remains clear for the trumpet ministration and the industry to put the us as a top net export or of natural gas and oil and move not possible without infrastructure to support the pipeline sayyid have enter r.t. washington d.c. .

and we can't leave bridges out talk about infrastructure and we won't here's our to correspondent ashley banks with more. than half lee fifty four thousand bridges similar to the one behind me that are structurally that they're shipped here in the u.s. that's according to a report released by the american road and transportation builders association the report states americans cross these deficient bridges one hundred seventy four million times a day potentially placing their lives at risk according to the report deficient bridges are defined as safe to drive but show signs of age and decay and are in need of regular and spectrum last year the american society of civil engineers gave us in france structure and a deep loss great the group estimates the u.s. government will need to to spend. trillion dollars over the next ten years an order

to keep american and some structure from falling apart the group says over the last ten years there has been a two trillion dollar gap and which roads and bridges and mass transit transit systems were neglected at drums one point five trillion dollar plan would include congress three directing two hundred billion dollars of federal funds to amtrak and transit programs over the next ten years while calling for millions of dollars to come from cities states and the private sector the downside is that public private partnerships usually work an urban areas but require projects that generate money like toll roads and airports now only thirty five states allow that democratic congressman and ranking member on the house transportation committee peter de fazio believe trumps and some structure plan will fall apart if there isn't any substantial federal funding adding quote cutting other already underfunded

transportation programs to fund a new program is not going to happen experts believe the likelihood of congress focusing on and for an structure this year is limited to none and washington actually banks arts. it's time for a brief pause but hang here because when we return we'll look at the all important electrical grid and as we go to break here's a quiz question for you how many cars trucks buses motorcycles and other vehicles are there in the united states is it one hundred sixty eight million two hundred eighteen two hundred sixty eight million or three hundred eighteen the answer straight ahead when we return. if you want to. look at it it's just. muscle to.

know that. you could. do it a little bit unclear. this is. the thing you go to do it is really nice you know it's. all for school it's only about the walking on the other had to go. forward to one of the body while cones on the wall. one more. cut. you'll look. right we're also starting five guys in the studio has

a signal. he's not going to talk about no fly just maybe right after the mars explorers one knew it would appear and you. would record. yourself well below. zero zero zero zero zero zero zero welcome to sophie and co i'm sophie shevardnadze and today we're got lots to talk about in our program and our guest is. good luck to. welcome back to our quiz question how many cars trucks motorcycles and other

vehicles are there in the united states is it one hundred sixty eight million to eight hundred two hundred sixty eight million or three hundred eight million and the answer is c. two hundred sixty eight million vehicles in the united states. another kick of part of our infrastructure system is our electrical grid for more on this we turn to our to correspondent natasha suite. in it were noble energy like wind and solar are soaring it only accounts for roughly sixteen percent of the u.s. as electricity so the question remains on what's the best method to modernize our grid electric car rebates. and gas tax. are all examples of the government stepping in hoping to either promote

a certain type of energy or discourage it and now is more households are utilizing solar energy surprisingly enough it's still not even close to being the majority just to be clear solar is not the still more expensive and with the institute for energy research says that according to the federal government's predictions even by the year two thousand and fifty seventy eight percent of the u.s. is electricity will likely still be made up of fossil fuels wind suffers from intermittency issues so there are certain areas where niches a wind source can be very effective but in general you know there's only certain areas where the wind blows more than one point seven million solar energy systems are installed nationwide with a capacity it's. over forty gigawatts solar energy industries association estimates that one megawatt of electricity can power one hundred sixty four homes so forty gigawatts is reportedly enough to power more than six and a half million u.s. households but whether we're noble or more traditional sources of energy coal murphy believes the federal government shouldn't be in the business of picking

winners and losers in the energy sector i've been consistent on that i don't think that the obama administration should have been favoring wind and solar and i also don't think the trumpet ministration should be trying to implicitly subsidize nucular and coal fired plants either i think that the government's role should just have a neutral playing field and let the consumers and producers decide but one place where people desperately do need help is in puerto rico unfortunately while they have made significant progress rebuilding capabilities there are still communities in puerto rico's without power congressman randy weber of texas revisited the natural disasters of twenty seventeen in an energy summit committee hearing this month in his eyes in much work still needs to be done hurricane harvey in texas devastated much of the state however the points out the use of smart meters actually help pinpoint which areas were without power. but it's a much different story for puerto rico even nine months after hurricane maria hit

the island for months more than half of the island remain without power especially during those in medical care a category four storm caused an estimated one hundred billion dollars in damages and now there are at least eight hundred homes with temporary roofs still needing replacement. as impotent what you call impotence because i don't have the power the power to say look please how much are those when animals here take it. with an unemployment rate of nine point six percent the lowest in almost thirty years there are signs of economic recovery but the island still has a long way to go. the grid is evolving rapidly and threats are changing so countries have energy researchers agree that energy alone can't move forward without also taking national security into consideration u.s. power systems are potentially vulnerable to large scale impacts on complex threats including human existence is electronic pulses from

a healthy to nuclear detonation for national security remains on the forefront of energy technology industry leaders say that finding the most efficient battler storage of on able to us utilize renewable energy at a better capacity at the coachella valley we are giving. over half of all public schools to us are barely making the grade a deep list is all they get cording to the american society of civil engineers infrastructure report card the document shows fifty three percent of all schools need improvements to reach good condition this includes investments to make repairs renovations and modernization what's especially concerning here is that half of us schools are at least fifty years old and with that comes a number of problems such as poor air quality lead pipes for drinking water and

heating and cooling systems failures all these factors can affect the health of people who use the facilities more than twenty years ago the u.s. government accountability office put out a report that showed that as many as twenty eight million students attended schools with significant structural problems including fifteen thousand schools with unsafe indoor air quality more recently news headlines have featured some massive issues at schools for example philadelphia schools with lead paint flaking from the walls schools in south west virginia that are falling apart and baltimore schools which had to be closed for weeks during the cold months due to failing heating systems with the situation across the country dire at best. many were shocked when the president left schools out of the state of the union address earlier this year. and i'm calling on congress to say that generates at least one point five trillion dollars for the new and distraction investment that our country so desperately needs the exemption of schools had nothing to do with forgetfulness but instead

seems to be quite deliberate since congress has historically shot down the idea of giving federal money to public schools usually pushed by the republicans the logic has been that investing in public schools is the responsibility of state and local governments and recently u.s. secretary of education betsy de vos suggested a european education for americans by merging the department of education and department of labor to reduce the federal footprint in education and make the federal government more responsive to the full range of needs faced by american students and workers right now nearly fifty million kids from kindergarten to grade twelve go to public school each and every school day in america in addition another six million adults are also using the facilities for learning that's almost one hundred thousand schools across the country filled with people young and old looking for an education when you take infrastructure spending into consideration it looks like the people powered future is being neglected schools currently spend

about fifty billion annually on maintenance and operations and another forty nine billion on new school construction and capital development according to a two thousand and sixteen report by the twenty first century school fund the center for green schools and national council on school facilities it would cost roughly one hundred forty five billion annually to maintain and modernize school buildings and this deficit is bound to grow because the number of students is growing between one thousand nine hundred four and two thousand and thirteen to student population grew by nearly five million requiring an additional thirteen thousand k. to twelve schools. by two thousand and twenty six enrichment is projected at fifty one point four million students that's about one point five million more than right now with the problem obviously getting bigger and the many recent stories of school will some are hoping that the president will be persuaded to make an investment in education infrastructure sooner than later reporting for r.t.

on alex mileage and. what we already took a look at rose a previous episode back on the other way arch liches as well. you see them all over the roads on highways freeways and squeezing through tight streets with precision often you're probably annoyed when stuck behind one but the reality is trucking is the lifeblood of the us economy around eighty percent of all freight tonnage moved around the us is delivered on trucks around ten and a half billion tons of freight gets trucked all across the country dwarfing all other modes of transport combined trucking move everything from the bed you sleep on the car you drive in the food you eat all the way to the clothes on your back

valued at almost one hundred thirty billion dollars in goods per year that's more than four thousand dollars every second travelling on those big rigs trucking is a six hundred fifty billion dollar a year business which is approximately five percent of america's annual g.d.p. and is the most common job in america the number one job for twenty nine states although there are more than three and a half million professional truckers in the united states according to the american trucking association america is currently still short nearly sixty thousand drivers every year and that driver shortage seems like it's just to be. getting projections show that at this rate the demand will grow to a shortage of over one hundred thousand drivers annually in the next five years i talk to steve the sally fox family pet million scholar at the university of pennsylvania and author of the book the big rig for his take on the industry this shortage has traditionally been confined to the long haul for hire segment which

are really the toughest jobs out there like the ones i was just describing that you know require you to work seventy eighty ninety hours a week live on the truck for weeks at a time. those jobs and always been tough to fill and now we're starting to see it hard for companies that don't have those poor working conditions and also low pay. to fill their jobs these are these are talking jobs that traditionally been very good jobs. sometimes excellent wages and even some of those companies are now having trouble finding skill experienced drivers the trucking industry not only has demographics working against it but some might argue that technology will eventually kill the profession altogether the white house council of economic advisors published a report in two thousand and sixteen that found that vehicle automation could threaten up to three point three million jobs industry professionals however argue

that trucking will always need a human if for nothing more than ensuring proper functionality and in case of emergencies such as flat tires system failures or the need to recharge batteries on vehicles like test was semi autonomous all electric class eight semi were several decades away from you know trucks that are going to be able to drive themselves in urban areas in particular technology that we're adding so that it will she get less intensive less labor intensive as far as. the technical skill of the driver. but what it is doing is adding safety technology by leaps and bounds incorporated into the trucks autonomous vehicles is great they're fun to talk about they truly are but no matter where you go no matter what autonomous truck you see generally see a driver seen a steering wheel which means it's going to be a need for a driver to drive it given that the trucking industry accounts for five percent of

the u.s. g.d.p. just how much is the u.s. government reciprocating to support the industry the lap of dating roads feeling bridges unaccommodating rest and truck stops that are too far and few apart those are just some complaints the drivers say make their already tough jobs even more difficult make no mistake you know our roads and bridges are falling apart and we need infrastructure funding to to fund those repairs and create a safer environment for not only our truck drivers but everybody that drives on our nation's highways americans will continue to demand products food and other goods and the need to fulfill that demand will never cease no matter the capacity whether as a driver or a systems monitor someone will be needed in the cabin of that thirty five thousand pound machine for decades to come in washington the knowledge and r.t. . to detach from the speech weekday on direct t.v. channel three twenty one dish network channel two eighty or streaming twenty four

seven on pluto t.v. the free t.v.'s show one thirty two or if you missed the first episode of the infrastructure deficit program you can access it and other boom busting shows at you took dot com pleasure boom bust r t thanks for being with us as a truckers might say we'll catch you on the flip flop. for man or sitting in a car when the fifth gets shot in the hand. all four different versions of what happened. one of them is on the death row there's no way he could have done it there's no possible way because the owners do not shoot around a corner. six guys or financial survival guys. when customers go buy your supplies. in elf well reducible our.

that's undercutting but what's good for market is not good for the global economy. clothing. some people come on down. i use indigenous people as you know we that the. people treat. mostly you should say that only behind but yes he did so. out of a sudden a man just. simple be gentle with time. i said i when entering it's been if they would not allow him and. if they will shoot

me. i don't know how long a million me indeed i'm not i'm not picking on you need to be in that you could have been killed by me don't feel manana and i got a bike i mean you don't look like i mean you got me i you. join me every thursday on the alex simon short and i'll be speaking to get us out of the world of politics sports business i'm show business i'll see you then.

i guess. this is headline story. claims responsibility for a string of devastating. head. there is still some fear it's possible for groups of militants to go into houses. families in neighboring iraq meanwhile islamic state all its terror campaign government security adviser admits the media. the increased violence to prevent. the number of high school kidnappings and not the special forces do not have enough resources upon the militants is there hiding out in the most mountainous areas.