it's estimated that the public health burden from industrial pollution across appalachia runs at nearly $75 billion dollars a year. and while many in the coal industry and many politicians deny that the health fallout is real, health care provideron the ground have seen it daily. as a doctor in southern west virginia, daniel doyle often treats coalfield residents. one of the clinics he works at is just outside charleston, so he's also been seeing people who were impacted by january's chemical spill. >> it's a huge population cohort study and it will take us 10, 20, 30 years - maybe longer - to know what the long term effects are. no question that it's an experiment, but mountaintop removal is an experiment. the water pollution that is taking place is an experiment. >> do you see the health consequences of mountain top removal on the people who live around it? >> definitely in the last eight years there's been a series of epidemiological studies finding clear association between mountain top removal and cardiovascular disease, heart attacks, birth defects, certain cancers and so there's

>> a trek to appalachia, when battles over marijuana?> a trek to appalachia, when "marijuana usa" returns. [ helicopter blades whirring ] >> this is cannabis country. down below, hidden in the wilderness of kentucky's appalachian mountains, are gardens of marijuana worth at least $1 billion, all of it illegal. there may be a growing acceptance of marijuana across the country, but not here in kentucky, where a small army refuses to go down without a fight. >> they went up through there, didn't they? >> i'd say this is probably it for us. >> lieutenant brent roper is the commander of kentucky's marijuana strike force. during the busy summer months, he leads 120 men and women from state and federal agencies. as they hike up and down plunging hills, they work in 95-degree heat and extreme humidity, combating the relentless onslaught of weed. >> we have a pill problem, a meth problem. we've got other drug problems, just like everybody else does. >> mm-hmm. >> but ours in kentucky have one thing all in common, and that is marijuana is supporti

we've told you about this new house bill that specifies that only rural areas in appalachia can benefita summer lunch program helping children from know income households. urban areas have been excluded, despite the fact that since 2010, this particular program has helped kids in urban and rural areas. that's not all. the name on the legislation is alabama congress manslaughter robert aderholt. here's a map of his district. it includes 16 counties. now, guess how many of them are covered under this rural summer lunch program? you guessed it. every single county, each one. we reached out to the congressman's office for clarification twice now. we have yet to get a response. now those on the right argue that this is just $27 million in a budget where nearly $500 million is dedicated to summer feeding program. but since when is $27 million a drop in the bucket? certainly not for poor kids in chicago or in new york, or in atlanta. and at a time when there seems to be so little we can agree on in washington, this seems to be a particularly heartless move from republicans. joining me now is k

we're very concerned about kids in rural appalachia, but we're also concerned about kids in our larger urban cities also. >> oh, absolutely, and we're not advocating they choose one or the other, we're saying all of the kids need to benefit. and, you know, the right has repeatedly blasted the need for summer lunch programs. listen to this, congressman. >> these free summer lunches come with a side of controversy. critics who wonder if this come one come all invitation won't have taxpayers feeding every child, whether they are needy or not. >> the president really has transformed america from a dynamic, prosperous growth economy into a bureaucracy that redistributes wealth. women, infants, and children, the wic program, 8 million there. the milk and summer food program goes to 2 million people. >> there are videos that have been produced to show you how to healthfully dine and how to dumpster dive and survive until school kicks back up in august. can you imagine the benefit we would provide people? >> now, congressman, isn't this really part of the larger demonization of the poor? i me

the bill was written in such a way, it's a sliver of an lapp a appalachia. into show this map.he rest of children in america are hungry too, so why do they not deserve food? >> the summer lunch program is already underfunded both in rural and urban areas. and whether this was an oversight on the part of republican or a deliberate move, the optics are terrible. i don't know why they wouldn't have thought this through and recognize that m thes would pint out, a lot of our constituents are in rural areas and democrat constituents are in urban area. so was this accidental or deliberate? even with the benefit of the doubt, it's hard for the republicans to fight this image that they've created where they are not only gutting food stamps but trying to cut the woman, infant, and children program and now you have this school lunch program where they're favoring rural children over urban, low-income families. it fits into that narrative that the republicans are, in fact, the party of just a very few people and not the vast majority of the families who are in need. >> we are not going to

in rural appalachia as opposed to the urban communities, you do tend to have families where you havea mom and dad living in the house and my dad was living in the house and had a job and that was different because largely they were out of the picture. their moms were starting to lose it because of the drug issues. what i saw and the community in cincinnati is similar to what you see in other urban families that grandma kind of steps in and starts taking over and taking control of the family and her grandma was her central caretaker and that was pretty common. >> guest: the key word is education. i have to be very grateful. i was a very naÏve working-class girl. i was a little bit of an anomaly because i loved reading so that is kind of a bookish little girl and i think because of that i did very well and i got this -- i know nothing about college committed into how to get in or apply to that process. a lot if i of it said i had a scholarship because this wonderful group of women, the american association had given me a scholarship. >> host: how did you get connected with them? >> gue

in rural appalachia is supposed to inner city urban appalachian communities, you do tend to have a sortof families where you have a dad in on living in the house. my dad was living in the household, had a job and not with different because the growth i tightened the nanny, largely baghdad throughout the picture. they have biological dad, but they were not part of their everyday lives and their moms were starting to lose it because that's the drug issue and so their families are just beginning to be ripped apart. what i saw in this appalachian community event an idea similar to what you see another urban families at the grandma it's kind of step in and start taking over at taking control of the family. in fact, one of mr. say read about, her grandma was her central caretaker and that was pretty common. >> host: how did you get out? how did she get to college? >> guest: the one keyword is education. i have to be very grateful. i was a very naÏve working-class girl. i was a little bit of an anomaly because i loved vaux and i loved reading. i was a bookish little girl. i think because of th

in rural appalachia as opposed to urban appalachian communities, you did tend to have families whereyou have a dad and mom living in the house. my dad was living in the household, had a job and not was different because the girls that i taught in cincinnati, largely their dads are out of the picture. they had biological dad, but they were just not part of their everyday lives in their mom's worst dirtying to lose it because of the drug issue and so their families were beginning to be ripped apart. what i saw in this appalachian meaning in cincinnati, similar to other urban families that their grandma's kind stepped in and start taking over in taking control of the family. in fact, one of my students i write about in "the road out," blair, her grandmother was her central caretaker. >> host: how did you get out? added you to call us? >> guest: the one keyword education. i have to be very grateful. i was a very naÏve, working-class girl. i was a little bit of an anomaly because i loved books and i loved reading, so i was kind of a bookish girl. i think because of that, i did really well

include a 10% cut in funding and specify what areas can offer the program, in this case, rural appalachianot urban areas where the need is just as great. >> it the owners and bosses of companies that make french fries and frozen pizzas, the big makers of basic ingredients like potatoes and cheese, the people who prepare and serve school meals all found aspects of the hunger-free kids act of 2010 something to complain about. a requirement to feed kids healthier, fresher food had allies and enemies. what's up in the country's school cafeterias? >> this time on "inside story" wohl begin the conversation at the school level with david smith, chief of staff of the kansas city kansas public schools. welcome to the program. >> thank you. >> if we had gone to one of your schools before the 2010 act, what would we have seen on kids' platters on an avenue day? >> i think we would have seen food that was as good as we knew how to make it but not food that meets the standards we are talking about today. the food would have had more fats, more car bo hydrates, more sugar, more of the things that are e

>> guest: i think was pretty common in those days and i think in rural appalachia as opposed to innercity like urban appalachian communities you did tend to have sort of families where you have a dad and mom in the house. my dad was living in the house and had a job and that was different because the girls in cincinnati large sway their dads were out of the picture. they had biological debts obviously that they were not part of their everyday lives. their moms were starting to lose it because of the drug issue. so their families were just beginning to be ripped apart. what i saw in the appalachian communities in in cincinnati and other urban families that the grandmas kind of step in and start taking over and taking control of the family. in fact one of my students i read about her grandma was her central caretaker. that was really common. >> host: how did you get to college? >> guest: the one key word is education. i has to be very grateful for i was as i mentioned a very naÏve working-class girl. i was a little bit an anomaly because i loved books and i loved reading so i was kind o

i know people from appalachia. there hast 75 years been no poorer place.hose people there are not robbing people to buy drugs, robbing stores at gunpoint, home invasions, burglarizing homes? those people are poor as anyone else, if not worse off. drugs down there, but nothing near the big city. i disagree with poor people and poverty as the answer to the war on drugs. thank you. thank you for the call. pbs has put together a forty-year timeline on the drug issue, starting in the 1960's, when drugs became prevalent during the vietnam war and the creation of the drug enforcement agency to nancy reagan just say no campaign in the 1980's and the three strikes and you are out from the 1990's. 40 years of the war on drugs, available online at the pbs news website. kentucky.om ashland, steve, republican line, good morning. maybe there is a reason we went into the war on drugs. century,e 19th reaching back a ways, you could walk into a general store and or cocainecaine containing products, opiate products, right across the counter with no control whatsoever. we ha

and there were poor white from appalachia.re were native americans from various parts of the country. there were chicanos, mexicanos from the southwest primarily. there were blacks from both north and south. and i was just struck by the way in which i saw, i felt, in the faces of so many of the people there the question of "are we really ready to go this far to bring a major challenge across these lines into the face of the face of the nation itself?" but that was the last memory that i have of that year, and i did not speak to him directly before he went to memphis, but i knew that he was going in, and i knew that he was going, because he was deeply committed to what the struggle of the garbage workers meant to them and meant to the country. >> there is a lot of commentary now about ministers speaking out, like jeremiah wright, barack obama's minister in chicago, quoting him saying things like "god damn america." and i was thinking back to dr. king and what he was saying at the time, for example, saying that the united states

around cincinnati, one of the swingiest areas of the state and the southeast is coal country, a appalachiaa republican strong hold. cincinnati is on the short list of cities to host the rnc convention, while columbus has been invited to submit bids for the democratic convention. cleveland is in the running of both, the only city with that designation outside of las vegas. connie travels the country as a journalist and as somebody who is watching politics and watching with a political eye as well. connie, good morning to you. >> good morning to you, todd. >> so let's talk about sort of where ohio is today. it's funny, about eight years ago when you had in 2000 gore pulled out of ohio famously about three weeks before the election to focus all his resources to florida, there was some question on whether kerry was trying to hard, that ohio was unwinnable. all of a sudden ohio bounced back to being a swing state again. there was this feeling it ever so closely was going to go the way of missouri and it was going to become where's ohio headed today and is it still because of its lack of populat

>> news from kentucky in the heart of appalachia which is also suffering a depression, as a result of this administration's war on coal. >> the last five years we've seen an all-out war on coal. >> the national energy tax and a continuation of the war on coal -- >> this resolution is the best opportunity to begin fighting back against president obama's war on coal. >> these lost jobs are all part of obama's wider war on coal and fossil fuels. >> war on coal. war on fossil fuels. there's wars all over the place. and we're just totally in denial as a country when it comes to regulations and them having an impact. if everybody were to get new regulations cross the energy board we might set an example and we might increase the job mairkt if we were to do that collectively. and can we do big stuff like that anymore? first off, coal powered plants, they're not going anywhere. this whole war on coal idea is a major stretch by people who aren't politically aligned, clearly. president obama's regulations would limit carbon and hopefully, reduce our reliance on coal. the president is not out th

which is absolutely essential in the moral self-confidence, development of any young person, and appalachiait is a real problem. you spent a great deal of time at the walmart foundation doing exactly that. when it comes down to it, you want people to have health insurance, you want them to have that peace of mind. i don't need to do this, but i am going to do it because i so enjoy doing it. your service in federal government is absolutely unmatched. the clinton administration staff director for the national economic council. wow, that is context stuff -- not that anybody can tell you what goes on there, but the future of the country depends enormously on what does go on their. chief of staff to secretary robert rubin. deputy chief of staff to the president of the united states. deputy director of the office of management and budget, and then the director of that. you are central to crafting the clinton budget in the 1990's which led to budget surpluses for 3 years in a row, something i'll most impossible to imagine -- something almost impossible to imagine, and enormous growth economically

which is absolutely essential in the moral self-confidence, development of any young person, and appalachiait is a real problem. you spent a great deal of time at the walmart foundation doing exactly that. when it comes down to it, you want people to have health insurance, you want them to have that peace of mind. i don't need to do this, but i am going to do it because i so enjoy doing it. your service in federal government is absolutely unmatched. the clinton administration staff director for the national economic council. wow, that is context stuff -- not that anybody can tell you what goes on there, but the future of the country depends enormously on what does go on their. chief of staff to secretary robert rubin. deputy chief of staff to the president of the united states. deputy director of the office of management and budget, and then the director of that. you are central to crafting the clinton budget in the 1990's which led to budget surpluses for 3 years in a row, something i'll most impossible to imagine -- something almost impossible to imagine, and enormous growth economically

appalachia, new york, our first call this morning. jack, good morning.on't think school segregation is that much of an issue anymore. j from souderton, pennsylvania, go ahead. well.: read studies and i think michelle obama is correct. the problem is forced integration militates against the mystic tranquility. you can't force people together. some of the wiser than me once said that if diversity really was a wonderful strength and a beautiful thing, people would practice it spontaneously, you wouldn't have to have always .iversity apparat chicks preach diversity the loudest are people who live in places like chevy chase maryland, georgetown up in vermont in places like that people live in buckingham, pennsylvania who live in neighborhoods that are 100% white while they put their kids in all-white schools. nobody practices it. when you look at the inner cities like philadelphia, you have the problem of black people going from classroom to classroom beating up chinese kids. they have to orientations to keep things in line. california is the greatest example

but it's been primarily driven by the strong work ethic of those same people from appalachia. 5 few months ago, i was visiting in one of the advanced manufacturing facilities involved in automobile manufacturing parts, talk to a man who smiled and said, great news about this job is i got to come home. but in order to accommodate all this new growth, we found it important to upgrade u.s. highway 78 and make it interstate 22. a lot of work has been done by federal, state, and local stake holders. we're about ready to make that transition. there's one more change that needs to be completed. a small tweak in the law is necessary. while advanced manufacturing is a very important part of our economy, agriculture is an important part of our economy as well. under the existing law, ag products on their way to market have to obtain a permit to carry an additional 5% weight on u.s. highway 78. in the absence of this bill that wouldn't be available. to make it clear, this bill is no loss, no gain. the roadway in use today is the exact same roadway that will be used as interstate 22. the mile markers