the history of mississippi understand the history of mississippi and share the history of mississippi. thank you so much. the moderator for reshaping discourse is dr. robbie. robbie is professor history at jackson state university and director of the margaret walker. his books include a collection of essays entitled redefining liberal arts education in the 21st century and t paterson and the wise south dilemma evolving resistance, black advancement. i serve the board for thed.

the history of mississippi understand the history of mississippi and share the history of mississippi. thank you so much. the moderator for reshaping discourse is dr. robbie. robbie is professor history at jackson state

senator from mississippi. she would've been the governor of mississippi. and just think taken deprived african-americans and women to of so many opportunities. we've been on the bottom, still on the bottom, we have not taken advantage of the brain power we have in the state. [applause] and it speaks to the need for teachers and mentors to share this history with our young people. to let them know that if they desire and they wish to be in the senate. or if they wish to be a great writer like david junior, that they can do that. but we have deprived this country so many intelligent people. hamer was just one example. you can think of your grandmother, your grandfather, your mother,r, your father who e of opportunities in the states. and of course, some of us cannot quite remember why we are still here. i guess there is a certain craziness to remain in mississippi. people here because they love the state they want to see change come. mrs. hamer in so many others help provide that plantation. so the legacy is absently amazing. and just think, that dave and bo

senator from mississippi and would have been governor of mississippi. just think in this state where we've deprived african-americans and women of so many opportunities we've been on the bottom because we haven't taken advantage of the brainpower that we have in this state and it speaks. for teachers and mentors. they desire and wish to be a great writer like dave junior that they can do that. we'veco deprived the country ofo many intelligent people. and this was just one example. you can think of your grandmother, grandfather who were deprived of opportunities in the state. to remain in mississippi people are here because they love the and want to see change come. so many others are providing that plantation so the legacy of fannie lou hamer is and just think that they were some of the chief architects of the mississippi movement but now think about the legacy of fannie lou hamer. she was a part of the community. at that kind of leadership helped to bring about the changes. if you think things are bad now, if you think trump was bad, think ifru fannie

senator from mississippi. she really would have been governor of mississippi. and just state in this state where we have deprived african-americans. and women, too, of so many opportunities we have been on the bottom. still on the bottom, because we have not taken of the brain power that have in this state that we in this state, in speaks. and it speaks the need for for teachers and mentors to share this history with our young people, to let them know that if they desire and they wish to be in the senate or they wish to be great writer like de jure, that they can do that. but we have deprived this country so much. many intelligent people in fannie lou hamer was just one example. i mean can think of your grandmother your grandfather, your mother your father who were deprived of in this state and and of course, some of us. can't quite remember where we are still here. but there's a certain law anti i guess there's a certain to to remain in mississippi. but people are here because love the state they want to see change. come in mrs. hamer and so many others helped

she had a fairly strong mississippi delta accent. she was very poor so her clothing didn't meet their standards and they said that directly to her, that she was an embarrassment to them. look what you were wearing, you should go home and you are going to -- you wouldn't say that to fannie blue hamer. she was so grassroot she couldn't lead to the elites in the movement and martin luther king could not relate to her despite how we all think of him as this grassroots organizer. all the people under him ending communities across the country that were the organizers and he was an inspiring leader that he and hamer talked past each other. in fact in atlantic city hamer was there with a group of people from mississippi challenging the rights of the mississippi all democratic party to be seated on the convention floor and to vote for president johnson as the nominee of the democratic party that year. she belonged to a more diverse group of people that wanted to represent mississippi so they have this challenge. martin luther king was there t

it was in mississippi and mississippi is where constance motley had one of her most extraordinary legal battles. can you describe her role in the segregating? >> yes. i wanted to become up on something you said is true in many ways these women are differently positioned and citing in contrast but it's also the case that both of them and something i deeply admire about motley and hamer, they both had such tremendous courage. it's moral courage but it's also the case that motley when she litigated in alabama and mississippi in particular she did so under threat of her life. and this was the case when she traveled from her new york city apartments down to mississippi 22 times in the span of 18 months. >> with a small child at home . >> yes, with the goal her son at home. her husband back in their apartment and just imagine doing that. you would only do something like that if you got yourself on a mission. and she did it because first of all, thurgood marshall signed the case to her. they were in the office at lgf and received this letter from james meredith who said he wanted to challenge

in atlantic city, hamer was there with a group from mississippi challenging the right of the mississippi all white democratic party to be seated on the convention floor and vote for president johnson as the nominee of the democratic party that year. and she belonged to a more diverse group of people that wanted to represent mississippi. so, they have this challenge. martin luther king was there to support them, but he did not have a feel for the people. he inspire people and he spoke eloquently, but he read his speech before hamer got on stage and she was the one that wowed everyone personally. the press followed king around until they heard hamer speak and then they could not get enough of fannie lou hamer. she spoke to people across the country living in circumstances like her. and so, some of those, mostly men around king, felt threatened by her rising power. they did not want her to have the strong voice that she had. but there was no denying fannie lou hamer. the nation really responded to her. she also had this amazing singing voice. so, she used that so effectively as part of her

[applause] within mississippi. mississippi is where constance baker motley had one of her most extraordinary legal battles. can you describe her role in desegregating? >> yes. i just want to pick up on something you said and something that kate said. it is true that in many ways these women's are starting in contrast. but it is also the case that both of them, something i deeply admire about motley and hamer, they both had such tremendous courage. it isn't moral courage but it is also the case that motley, when she litigated in alabama and mississippi in particular, she did so under threat of her life. this was the case when she traveled for new york city apartment down to mississippi, 22 times in the span of 18 months with a small child at home. cracks with her son at home. her husband back in their apartment. just imagine doing that. you would only do something like that if you felt yourself on a mission. and she did it because first of all, marshals assign the case to her. they were in the office at lds and rece

money, mississippi. it was a beneficiary of a 206,000 dollar mississippi civil rights historical sites grant. the grant went not to bryant's grocery in meat market, the only site in town with a civil rights history. rather, it went to ben roy service station. a long shuttered how thin canopy style golf station that sits precisely 66 feet south of the crumbling grocery. because bryant was crumbling, and because ben ros had a cover portico, the grant application reasoned, the gas ation have become a default lecture site from which tourist gaze at the grocerand learn their civil rights history. the obligation plead its case for several civil rights dollars like this. i am reading now, quote, it is very likely the events that transpired a brian scores we were discussed under the front canopy of the adjacent gas station. unquote. with nothing more than that the mississippi department of archive and history gave $200,000 your mic for civil rights to the restoration of been roy's. the restoration was completed

it's a weird town money, mississippi the town of money in 2011 was the beneficiary of a 206,000 mississippi civil rights historical sites grant the grant went not to bryant's grocery and meat market the only site in town with the civil rights history. rather it went to ben roy's service station. a long shuttered house a canopy style gulf station that sitsrecisely 67 feet south of the crumbling grocery because bryants was crumbling. and because ben roy's had a covered portico the grant application reasoned. the gas station had become a default lecture site from which tourists could gaze at the grocery and learn their civil rights history the application put its case for civil rights dollars like this, and i'm reading now. quote it is very likely that the events the transpired at bryant's grocery were discussed. underneath the front canopy. of the adjacent gas station and quote and with nothingore than that the mississippi department of archives and history gave $200,000 earmarked for civil rights to the restoration. of ben roy's the restoration was completed in 2014 and it is beautiful. but

in the mississippi situation. and they get on the river and he sent earl van dorn in the summer of 62, that is when van dorn sends john c breckinridge to attack baton rouge that's the end of the css arkansas, van dorn is over that department of the time of the offensive taking place, does that make sense. what i'm trying to get you an overview of how many places this guy is that in the short span that is in the war, no doubt jefferson davis trusted him up until this point. we have a problem again in northern mississippi, the missourians who crossed the river are under the command of sterling price the same guy at alcorn tavern van dorn is supposed to go up there and unite with him and take over and they are jointly going to attack the real junction of mississippi. the battle of shiloh with the real junction at the mississippi. . . . over and over and october 3 indian army is a lot to and is awaiting its arrival william rosecrans. there's a small gap between what the two union brigades in the confederate eventually

matt is a native of houston, mississippi, and received a ba in history from the university of mississippi. he has worked at petersburg national battlefield, -- national historical park, manassas national battlefield and vicksburg national military park. he's currently employed as a ranger slash historian at gettysburg national military park. and he will be presenting to you about the fallen leader earl van dorn. >> [applause] >> this is the adjustment period, right? where you find out what the mic is like. or like hank williams said, one time, in 1952, my good friend down in georgia, his daddy saw him and hank williams stepped up to the microphone and he blew in it. and he says, well, boys, this works. let's see if i do. >> [laughs] >>. i appreciate you all having me again. it's good to be back in -- i have an impossible task, i will go ahead and tell you, i've got 13 pages of single spaced notes on earl van dorn and i've got 45 minutes. and i've got a man standing in the back. this is such a big seminar, you notice they had the introducer of the introducer. that's when you are big-time,

they tell the star of the west into the interior of the mississippi, or the state of mississippi. and when the union army approaches, during the yazoo pass expedition -- if you got that, one my hats off to you, the yazoo pass expedition -- i've been writing about it. -- lord have mercy. i'm going to show you what's holding that book up in just a few minutes. anyway, they literally sailed this thing into the interior of the state when the union navy approached, they sank it, they turned it at right angles and sank it. and guess what? that vessel that was supposed to resupply fort sumter, the one that van doren captured outside galveston, texas, is now still sitting at the bottom in greenwood, mississippi. there is some trivia for you. now, while he's down there, going back to texas, the good folks of san antonio threw a ball in van doren's honor and after a generous toast, van doren responded in parts like this, now, the only reason i'm telling you this is because i like to hear my voice okpo off this microphone. no, just getting. but it will give you, in all honesty, it will give

mississippi is maybe the only place on earth i did not feel gas lift. the divide between the reality of it and the dream of it. mississippi as is clean as the train tracks, still divide one half of any delta town from another. the academy and the defendant public counterpart. mississippi is the only place a white person has called me a negative or to my face without fear or trepidation. not out of a speeding car but in shared space. neither of us planning to leave the room before or after the exchange. mississippi is the reason the man brandishing the capitol on january 6 there's not any history maker. or refuse that superlative for many reasons. the beyond anything else the magnolia state made sure that was every day in the capitol. finally did the right thing and voted the confederate flag off their state flag. the best part of mississippi is the delta. do not delta means? change. mississippi filled me with wonder there's no way to hide from either side of it. they stare systemic iniquity the ridiculous weather, the living things consume me if i see y

that mississippi. so as we close out the conversation today, i think it is really important that we think about these issues and what has now been used so often, the terminology of intersectionality, but really to take a nod from dr. king, as we began, thinking about not segregating our -- and understanding these times and moral concerns in the lives of women and girls and individuals with the capacity for pregnancy. thank you also much. [applause] >> thank you to our interpreters too. reception to follow upstairs for some libations and some food. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2022] >> tonight, our campaign 2022 coveragenues several u.s. senate debates. we start at 8 p.m.astern in murkowski and her twoisa challengers, republican candidate and the democratic candidate. at 9 p.m., we take you to north dakota, where the senator democrats with -- the

this was at the university of mississippi ole miss. places where people think that there's no engagement on climate. places where people think that we are lost or we are forgotten and we are not engaging places where people think we are not environmentalist. no it was because and is because of our conversations with one another our inclusiveness with one another and beginning to realize the face of environmentalism doesn't look like the google search it looks like the person who is sitting right next to you. i'm beginning to understand and that's any compass it and everything that we do. beginning to wrap all of our issues from all of our communities in the cloak of climbing. it's one of the things that i love so much about moms clean air force an organization that i've been blessed to now be a part of. it's because mothers do what mamas do. that is we are going to protect our babies to no end. and whether we are protecting them from the impacts of climate or we are protecting them from gun violence or we are protecting them from immig

this was at the university of mississippi ole miss. places where people think that there's no engagement on climate. places where people think that we are lost or we are forgotten and we are not engaging places where people think we are not environmentalist. no it was because and is because of our conversations with one another our inclusiveness with one another and beginning to realize the face of environmentalism doesn't look like the google search it looks like the person who is sitting right next to you. i'm beginning to understand and that's any compass it and everything that we do. beginning to wrap all of our issues from all of our communities in the cloak of climbing. it's one of the things that i love so much about moms clean air force an organization that i've been blessed to now be a part of. it's because mothers do what mamas do. that is we are going to protect our babies to no end. and whether we are protecting them from the impacts of climate or we are protecting them from gun violence or we are protecting them from immig

then to jackson, mississippi, to speak with the naacp about the environmental protection agency's civil rights investigation into the roots of jackson's water crisis. >> we will continue to highlight the egregious conditions of jackson's water system and how the action of state actors have called -- caused discriminatory actions but actions from this congress and the entire federal government is needed to ensure that there aren't crises in other communities. amy: andhe aclu issking th supreme urt to orturn an arkaas anti-s law th pelizes coanies th support boycotts of israel. we will speak to the publisher of the "arkansas times" who sued e state overturthe law. >> i have thright to boycott in the state haso busiss gettg involv in that peod. amy: will also speak to the aclu and the director of the documentary "boycott." all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. in ukraine, thousands in and around the russian-occupied city of kherson have fled as they battle to retake control of the strategiregion, located north

the best part of mississippi is the delta, you know what delta means? it means change. mississippi fills me with wonder because it is the best and worst of this country, all of the time, and there is no way to hide from either side of it. the terrible, systemic inequities. they ridiculous whether, be living things that will consume the house from under you, they relative lawlessness that means any back road is still a chaos highway, for good or ill. and, here is my favorite. in mississippi, so much of the human rot best parts, music, food, good history, hard work, cadences, and they triumphant transcendence from trauma is all very black. and, god help me, i love it that way. i spent a lot of my life, certainly my professional life as a rider working to re-frame things. not rewrite them, but revisit them so that we might understand them better. it is the work of really remembering. and, again, not defining but expanding definitions. open any decent dictionary and most of the best words have more than one meeting. just think, it is while the way the words share in a verb

that's the mississippi river.s reveals a century's old shipwreck and made it easy to reach the tower island in missouri. and scavengers are finding everything from discarded grills to sunglasses on the dry river bed. 580 million tons of freight move along the mississippi every year, and according to the army corps of engineers, that's more than $400 billion in value. transport along the mississippi accounts for 92% of our nation's agricultural exports, but as the mississippi runs dry, barges can't move as fast or carry as many goods, which is making essential items more expensive for all of us, which is why we should care. to give you a sense of the real impact, the arkansas bureau says the cost to move soybeans has skyrocketed 300% since july. soybeans are used in a wide variety ofans and an mer. jennifer carpenter is the president of the american waterways. good morning to you. as i understand it, the water levels are so low you can't move a barge down the river if it's hitting the dry bed down there. can you st

. >>> well, tonight, a new development in the largest welfare scandal in mississippi history. cbs news has exclusively obtained text messages and documents that connect the plan to divert millions of dollars in welfarfunds to projects llme qrterback brett favre. s omar vfrancahe veevence. >> this is a game changer. >> reporter: a new concussion drug, backed by n.f.l. legend brett favre, needed financing, so he turned to his home state of mississippi, the poorest in the nation. the pitch was made in 2019, at favre's home, to the former head of the state's human services, and nancy new, a founder of a non-profit that distributes welfare funds in the state. in a document obtained exclusively by cbs news, the drug company, prevacus, asked for nearly $2 million from the division of human services in the state of mississippi. they struck this agreement: "in exchange for funding, the drug would be made and tested in mississippi." former federal prosecutor brad pigott investigated the transactions for the state. >> both federal and mississippi law required 100% of that money to go onl

well, tonight, a new development in the largest welfare scandal in mississippi history.s exclusively obtained text messages and documents that connect the plan to divert millions of dollars in welfare funds to pet projects of hall of fame quarterback brett favre. cbs's omar villafranca has the never-before-seen evidence. >> this is a game changer. >> reporter: a new concussion drug, backed by n.f.l. legend/2e brett favre, needed financing, so he turned to his home state of mississippi, the poorest in the nation. the pitch was made in 2019, at favre's home, to the former head of the state's human services, and nancy new, a founder of a non-profit that distributes welfare funds in the state. in a document obtained exclusively by cbs news, the drug company, prevacus, asked for nearly $2 million from the division of human services in the state of mississippi. they struck this agreement: they struck this agreement. in exchange "in exchange for funding, the drug would be made and tested in mississippi." former federal prosecutor brad pigott investigated the transactions for th

the history of mississippi understand the history of mississippi and share the history of mississippi. thank you so much. i'm chris. good luck with the mississippi department of archives and history. our session is titled uniquely american history. and in one way or another, these three books touch on nearly every state in the union, as well as our neighbors to the north and the south. we'll hear from each of our authors about the stories that they tell in your books. and then i'll ask a few questions before opening it up for questions and comments from you all. please remember. that since we are on c-span and the viewers won't be able to hear your question unless you go to the microphone and ask it. there. so all comments and questions take it to the podium. jeff lynne has chronicled the southwestern united states in such american undesirable roles as bonnie and clyde. charles manson and jim jones. lives in fort worth, texas, and is a member of the texas literary hall of fame for such bestselling books as go down together the last gunfight, manson the road, the jonestown town and wac

>>> plus mourning the mighty mississippi. the concern over his conditions spreads way beyond its banks. >> we can dredge it to a certain point and then mother nature wins. >>> and later, taking wane. >> look at that. >> the children leading the fight to save the monarch butterfly. >>> this is the "cbs weekend news" from new york with jericka duncan. >> good evening, and thanks for joining us on this sunday. tonight, we are learning new information about the attack on paul pelosi, he's the husband of house speaker nancy pelosi. cbs news has confirmed that investigators have determined that the suspect had a list of the people he wanted to target. the suspect had a bag of zip ties. along with the hammer he brought to the home. the speaker says her husband is making progress. the suspect meanwhile will be officially charged tomorrow. he's expected to be arraigned on tuesday. jonathan vigliotti. >> nancy pelosi says her family is heartbroken and traumatized. meanwhile tonight, her husband paul pelosi remains hospitalized. tonight

in exchange for tuned ifing, he drug would be made and tested in mississippi. former federal prosecutor brad pigott investigated the transactions for the stairchlt both federal and mountains-most law required 100% of that money to go only to the leaveiation of poverty within mississippi. >> reporter: court documents show prevacus was sent $1.5 million with favre's business associate later asking for the rest. we would love 784k, he wrote with a smiley face emoji in a text message obtained by cbs news. new responded, we can send 400k today adding, i will need to let brett know we will have to pull this from what we were hoping to put on other activities. she pled guilty for funding millions in money to a welfare basketball center. brad pigott said he didn't know the grants were coming from welfare fonds and favre didn't personally receive any of the money paid to prevacus. >> you're almost making him sound like a patsy. >> he's not a patsy. no one told him. do you want the quarterback say let me challenge the entire state as to what they do with their own funds?

up next, new developments in the duel crisis out of mississippi.sadvantaged communities who need help the most. stay with us. stay with us (vo the new iphone 14 pro is here. and right now business owners can get it on us at t-mobile. apple business essentials with apple care+ is included so you can easily manage your team's devices, here, and here. all on the network with more 5g coverage. it's the ultimate business trifecta, with the new iphone 14 pro on us. only from t-mobile for business. i'd like to thank our sponsor liberty mutual. they customize your car insurance, so you only pay for what you need. contestants ready? go! only pay for what you need. jingle: liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. becoming a morning person starts the night before with new neuriva relax and sleep. it has l-theanine to help me relax from daily stress. plus, shoden ashwagandha for quality sleep. so i can wake up refreshed. neuriva: think bigger. >> turning now to our continuing crisis of the dual crises in mississippi. this week, the justice department threatened leg

the history of mississippi understand the history of mississippi and share the history of mississippi. thank you so much. the moderator for reshaping discourse is dr. robbie. robbie is professor history at jackson state university and director of the margaret walker. his books include a collection of essays entitled redefining liberal arts education in the 21st century and t paterson and the wise south dilemma evolving resistance, black advancement. i serve the board for the void. the book festival. i'm sorry. along with robbie. robbie, take it away from the venue in the lobby. so glad to see such a wonderful audience and it's my pleasure to introduce our esteemed panelists today. i will start with dr. eddie glaude. eddie glaude is the james mcdonald distinguished university professor and chair of the department of african-american studies at princeton university. he's the former president of the american academy of religion, the largest professional organization of scholars of religion in the world. he's the author of several important books, including his most recent work that we're

up next, new developments in the duel crisis out of mississippi.ing disadvantaged communities who need help the most. stay with us. stay with us. stay with us. stay with us. stay with us. alice loves the scent of gain so much, she wished there was a way to make it last longer. say hello to your fairy godmother alice and long-lasting gain scent beads. and now, get $10 back when you spend $30. that's a seriously good deal. new astepro allergy. now available without and a prescription.ck when you spend $30. astepro is the first and only 24-hour steroid free spray. while other allergy sprays take hours astepro starts working in 30 minutes. so you can... astepro and go. peaceful state. full plate. wait, are you my blind date? dancing crew. trip for two. nail the final interview. buy or lease? masterpiece. inside joke. artichoke. game with doug. brand new mug. come here, kid. gimme a hug. the more you want to do, the more we want to do. boosters designed for covid-19 variants are now available. brought to you by pfizer & biontech. (cecily) adam. look-y w

this is not just unique to the state of mississippi.oss the country. >> talk to me. i want to get sort of the bigger problem and how we see this play out. i want to ask how much of this comes down to the politics of having a blue city in a red state? >> in the state of mississippi, racial politics to pursue parts -- in many cases you can define the racial makeup of the state based on political parties. so, it's partisanship but it's also just old-school racism. the standard mississippi -- those -- living off poverty for many decades. so, what they've done is leverage the states demographic to receive federal funds. we receive almost for every $1 in tax dollars we paid in, we see between nine and $12 back. to get those federal funds and take the burden away from communities a need, where it's based on race or poverty, but use it to increase their profits. >> listen, i think it's interesting that you're taking a legal approach here. i wonder if you think that's how you ultimately remedy the situation or if it's gonna have to be a combinat

. >> they are a huge amount half of alabama two-thirds of what became mississippi, about a fifth of georgia just how much land they own but how valuable that land was. it was among the most valuable al cultural land -- agricultural land in the world at the time. removal covered the entire united states and think of it larger than seven story, and mostly the seven story but there were indian people in the north and northwest that moved as well and had much smaller plots of land by the early 19th century. >> you cover a number of other tribes who were also expelled from new york and ohio, and i know it ishi different from trie to tribe and state to state but generally, what kind of rights did they cast in the south. it was also contested. it still contested to this day. but but they were until a series of court fully sovereign peoples with the only limitation being that they could not sell their lands to a foreign power that ch >> they could not sell the property tobu french for example and other way with sovereign people and had elections and they had court systems, they had constitutions so

joining, us ana wolf, a reporter for the mississippi today.e done extraordinary reporting since the very beginning, on the, story the scandal. if it wasn't for journalists like you, would any of this come out? with brett favre still have that million dollars? what we know nothing about this volleyball center, he'd be living his beagle life? >> i think that's really good question. this story is kind of blown up here nationally, most recently. but the story has also been out here for over two years. when they made six arrests back in 2020, we were the first to really make that connection between brett favre and as well for a scandal that was unfolding. when a company that he had been investing in and was trying to get the state to support him on, was named in the indictment says having received 2 million in stolen welfare funds. i think a lot of this, you could've seen been swept under the rug, if it wasn't for people staying under on its. >> good for you. i want to ask you, if you've been working on this since 2020, what has been you or your te

grain exports travel down the mississippi.ven if farmers can get on a barge, the barges cannot carry as much product to avoid sitting too low in the water and another problem, the price of traveling by barge has skyrocketed. >> we've seen a 383% increase in barge freight rates, and so obviously that's a significant cost that's just simply dropped onto our food delivery system. >> reporter: also impacted is the riverboat cruise industry which has had to change some itinries good luck finding a boat trip down to new orleans. but unlike farmers who have to go south, cruise operators can choose to go north >> we'll probably spend more time on the island and lower tennessee while the mississippi is getting sorted out. >> reporter: the forecast isn't calling for rain anytime soon, so dredgers are working as fast as they can. but farmers may have to skip the river and try to find space on rail cars or trucks. it's going to take a lot of rail cars or trucks >> for instance, one of those barges right there is the equivalent of 15 rail

basin. 40% of the global food supply starts at the mississippi river basin. a serious issue about who's going to feed the world, if america can't get its agriculture products out. >> reporter: these massive barges also carry everything from coal and petroleum to fertilizer and road salt. this is like a super highway. >> it is absolutely a water super-highway. this is irreplaceable. we have got to keep commerce moving. >> reporter: that's the job of the army corps of engineers. it's been dredging the river nonstop for three months. so you guys are doing this 24/7. >> 24/7. >> reporter: near st. louis, they are desperately trying to maintain a nine-foot-deep shipping channel, sucking up enough sand and silt to fill an olympic-sized swimming pool every hour. >> so we've had three dredges working in our reach of the river to keep the thing open based on the forecast. >> reporter: if this drought continues, can you dredge your way out of this? >> we can dredge it to a certain point, and then mother nature wins. >> reporter: climate change is making mother nature u

is there rain coming soon to the mississippi?rain in the forecast and that's a problem. not only for the people that live along the mississippi, but a lot of the industry surrounded by it. this is a look at one location along the mississippi river. look at all the barges out there, but they're really having to deal with very limited areas along the mississippi where those barges can go through. look at this, you can see the bottom along long stretches of the mississippi river. that was just one spot. look at all of these brown dots. they indicate certain points along the mississippi river basin where that water has now met low water thresholds. some of them you're talking extreme low levels. these three spots on the left-hand side here have broken new records, all-time low levels. these two spots here on the right including the one in memphis are within their top five lowest and those numbers are going to keep coming down as we go through the rest of the week. this is a look at tower rock. this is normally what's looks like, surr

owing for the mississippi book festival. [laughter] >> i've a question,or sorry.i did not mean to interrupt you. i was going to say it with this i am more interested in what you're saying as well as like do you have any accounts, you to buy all of youry books. give accounts of missionaries going along with these people m and what was their experiences with that? he was a complete failure as a minister. he doesn't like doing his sermon he shows up at the church. he would read his sermon for the week he would just read from a list of everybody who died in massachusetts that week. in 1850 at the age of 35 hinges set decided to reinvent himself as a missionary on the front tier which is the mississippi river at that point. he was just as much a failure as a missionary and there are a loc of people to minister too. he was just not that good of a minister but he found himself. he found his voice as a writer. he wrote several best-selling books, wrote a biography. wrote a biography of davy crockett. generate a huge amount of interest in other peoples following going down