Empire Builder: Journey Across America

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:00:00. > :00:00.day's news. But first we crossed the northern USA on the Empire Builder

:00:00. > :00:00.train route, to find out what issues resonate among American voters

:00:00. > :00:08.beyond the media spotlight. There's been a lot of talk

:00:09. > :00:11.of the personalities in this election, but there are big issues

:00:12. > :00:13.at stake for America. Things like counter-terrorism,

:00:14. > :00:20.like immigration. The idea of being constantly

:00:21. > :00:30.surveilled, of have people watching There is more protester

:00:31. > :00:34.activity, intimidation, We will look at those issues,

:00:35. > :00:40.as well as the role that race and the money in politics has played

:00:41. > :00:43.in this election cycle. We want to expand white privilege

:00:44. > :00:45.and deepen it. I do care about my people more

:00:46. > :00:55.than I do about other people. We'll doing it along an old,

:00:56. > :00:57.beautiful train route We will travel the famous route

:00:58. > :01:13.from Minneapolis to Seattle, taking a high-speed look at five key

:01:14. > :01:17.ways this election is crucial Many voters say their number one

:01:18. > :01:29.concern is immigration of one group We lived in this exact

:01:30. > :01:40.neighbourhood since I was seven. There is a sense of community

:01:41. > :01:44.and we are trying to keep it alive. There has been a lot of talk

:01:45. > :01:52.of Muslims coming to this country Some of those Muslims that have

:01:53. > :01:56.grown up in America say in the current climate, they feel

:01:57. > :01:59.more marginalised than ever before, undoing any successes

:02:00. > :02:01.counterterrorism Tens of thousands of Somali Muslims

:02:02. > :02:06.live in Minneapolis, either refugees Young people feel they

:02:07. > :02:20.are constantly being Young people feel they are

:02:21. > :02:22.constantly being watched by authorities and treated like a

:02:23. > :02:25.menace to society. With the approach they have

:02:26. > :02:27.to the Muslim community in America, it is to absolutely make you feel

:02:28. > :02:30.they are unAmerican. That is doing the job

:02:31. > :02:33.of Islamic State, because Isis is saying you are not American

:02:34. > :02:38.and they don't want you. Young American Somalis agreed

:02:39. > :02:46.they feel under they are intense scrutiny for being

:02:47. > :02:48.Muslims in the US. Sometimes I feel like

:02:49. > :02:50.it is like discrimination. There is this otherness

:02:51. > :02:55.attributed to Somalians. As a result, we are dealt

:02:56. > :02:58.with as a threat, not But over the years, a small number

:02:59. > :03:03.have gone on to join jihadi Nine Somali men were imprisoned

:03:04. > :03:15.this summer for trying to join The same department that prosecuted

:03:16. > :03:18.them is also giving out money to community groups

:03:19. > :03:20.to try to prevent radicalisation. Some here are saying that that

:03:21. > :03:23.money is not welcome. Of course I want the funding

:03:24. > :03:27.and of course I want the resources, but if this is being presented to us

:03:28. > :03:37.through a counter-terrorism lens, then you're definitely telling me

:03:38. > :03:42.I'm an issue and that some 8/9-year-old Somali kid has

:03:43. > :03:44.the potential to become something This woman is accepting government

:03:45. > :03:51.funds to help educate and mentor. She says the counter-terrorism tag

:03:52. > :03:54.bothers her, but she says the money is badly needed

:03:55. > :03:58.for some young people. They're in an ocean

:03:59. > :04:04.and don't know how to swim. These kids are looking

:04:05. > :04:07.for opportunities, they are looking But most agree that with the angry

:04:08. > :04:18.rhetoric in recent months, American Muslims are under pressure

:04:19. > :04:21.in the US like never before. I have never felt threatened

:04:22. > :04:24.in the 23 years I have been in I have never seen someone

:04:25. > :04:35.who is wanting to become the next President of the US threatening

:04:36. > :04:37.people because of their religion, saying, they cannot come to America

:04:38. > :04:45.or they need to go back. In that, she also feels,

:04:46. > :04:50.is counter-productive and is potentially alienating

:04:51. > :04:54.more young people. We board the Empire Builder

:04:55. > :04:57.train that night. When this historic route

:04:58. > :04:59.was created, it helped communities across the northern USA feel

:05:00. > :05:07.connected to the rest of the country We're travelling in it at a time

:05:08. > :05:13.when many people are frustrated It doesn't mean they are not

:05:14. > :05:18.engaged with this election. There is, after all,

:05:19. > :05:20.so much at stake. There is only one Empire Builder

:05:21. > :05:25.train a day. That is why after a full day of

:05:26. > :05:33.speaking to people in Minneapolis, we are arriving in Fargo,

:05:34. > :05:35.North Dakota, at 3.40am. Many will associate Fargo

:05:36. > :05:38.with the dark comedy and strange happenings of the movie and TV

:05:39. > :05:40.series of the same name. But it's the cultural hub of this

:05:41. > :05:45.state and a vital town. We're here to talk about

:05:46. > :05:47.what continues to be One where it doesn't just matter

:05:48. > :05:55.who's in the White House, but who they then choose to serve

:05:56. > :05:59.in the Supreme Court to make laws Once a week, the day abortions

:06:00. > :06:08.happen, protestors gather outside the only abortion clinic

:06:09. > :06:10.in the State of North Dakota. This is the civil rights issue

:06:11. > :06:15.of our day because it has to do with the death of innocent human

:06:16. > :06:20.persons that's legal in our country. All of the other liberties

:06:21. > :06:23.that we have in life, all of the other things,

:06:24. > :06:26.mean nothing to a dead Every time one of the patients

:06:27. > :06:32.turned up, the anti-abortion protesters followed

:06:33. > :06:33.and intimidated her, When they get here their minds

:06:34. > :06:42.are made up so it is But if we can maybe just offer

:06:43. > :06:46.a kind word or a smile Those in the blue vests

:06:47. > :06:50.are volunteers who protect A huge reason I out am

:06:51. > :06:59.here on the sidewalk is to show support for my local clinic

:07:00. > :07:01.as a North Dakota native. And also to make sure

:07:02. > :07:04.that this option is still For many years now, women

:07:05. > :07:13.who have come to this clinic for their abortions have

:07:14. > :07:15.had to run the gauntlet I really don't think they care

:07:16. > :07:19.about us or what we are doing They're not going to be

:07:20. > :07:24.there to hold our hand if we go The surgery's come at risk

:07:25. > :07:28.of closure from local politicians, though that threat's

:07:29. > :07:33.been averted for now. But when the political risk

:07:34. > :07:37.to abortion clinics recedes nationally and locally,

:07:38. > :07:41.antiabortionists will resort Protesting has gone up in the last

:07:42. > :07:47.few years, really since There is more intimidation,

:07:48. > :07:50.harassment, at clinics, Some advocates for a woman's right

:07:51. > :07:58.to choose whether they have an abortion, like Tammy,

:07:59. > :08:02.say the levels of provision and the number of clinics now

:08:03. > :08:04.are greatly inadequate. North Dakota only has one clinic

:08:05. > :08:08.on the fight eastern North Dakota only has one

:08:09. > :08:10.clinic on the far eastern But we also serves a tri-state area,

:08:11. > :08:14.North Dakota, South Dakota, And those distances are already

:08:15. > :08:25.stopping some from coming here, but it doesn't mean

:08:26. > :08:26.they are stopping abortions. If a person doesn't

:08:27. > :08:28.want to give birth, There is what they did in the '80s

:08:29. > :08:40.with coathangers and pens and stuff. Do you know of others who've

:08:41. > :08:42.had abortions that way, Advocates say this is precisely why

:08:43. > :08:48.more clinics like this are needed What folks don't realise is that

:08:49. > :08:57.abortion is extremely common, even It's common, it's normal

:08:58. > :09:02.and that is how abortion Abortion is one of those topics

:09:03. > :09:07.with very clear differences in the direction the USA could take

:09:08. > :09:16.depending on who is elected. And we were about to investigate

:09:17. > :09:19.another, in a part of America which would dramatically

:09:20. > :09:21.illustrate the tensions. I went on a daytime trip

:09:22. > :09:25.on the Empire Builder through some beautiful areas,

:09:26. > :09:27.but the evidence on the landscape in the last few moments shows

:09:28. > :09:30.we are going towards Williston, There were a number of companies,

:09:31. > :09:40.a lot of my friends themselves, they were shutting businesses down

:09:41. > :09:43.and on the border of bankruptcy. In the last decade they have made

:09:44. > :09:47.more money than the last 30 years The tremendous oil boom

:09:48. > :09:54.peaked three years ago, People who have made fortunes

:09:55. > :09:59.and money have poured it We have a new high school,

:10:00. > :10:03.a new rec centre where my children play

:10:04. > :10:05.three times a week. In a town where oil has brought

:10:06. > :10:17.riches and frustration In a town where oil has

:10:18. > :10:19.brought riches, there's gets in the way of business

:10:20. > :10:23.on the grounds of We have the outside influence,

:10:24. > :10:25.the Federal aspect, with the stroke of a pen,

:10:26. > :10:28.the pipeline is shut down. At the stroke of a pen,

:10:29. > :10:31.we have to worry about things It's tough to see that happening

:10:32. > :10:35.because you are left with this helpless feeling and you cannot do

:10:36. > :10:37.anything about it. But this is a story we're

:10:38. > :10:45.going to look at in two parts. We get back on the Empire Builder

:10:46. > :10:48.train to head west, to a place where the oil industry

:10:49. > :11:11.and climate change meet. As we left Williston behind,

:11:12. > :11:14.and we met Brandon, an oil worker, who is unimpressed

:11:15. > :11:16.by Hillary Clinton's What we do here is regulated

:11:17. > :11:19.and under the control And you have places like China that

:11:20. > :11:23.have no regulations that are dumping pollution into the atmosphere,

:11:24. > :11:25.and there is nothing But as we approach the stunning,

:11:26. > :11:29.rugged terrain of Glacier National That is a serious fracking

:11:30. > :11:33.operation going on. He said man's impact on the climate

:11:34. > :11:37.was being directly felt right here. You're not going to have the amount

:11:38. > :11:40.of snow required to sustain the glaciers if you have the amount

:11:41. > :11:45.of melt we have been experiencing We've just travelled seven hours

:11:46. > :11:55.from the town of Williston to here in East Glacier,

:11:56. > :11:58.an area that is something of a poster child

:11:59. > :12:11.for environmentalists. The beauty of the national

:12:12. > :12:16.park is breathtaking. But it's far harder to find

:12:17. > :12:20.a glacier than it once was. This is what the edge

:12:21. > :12:26.of a glacier looks like. The position it used to be

:12:27. > :12:29.in is exactly what the climate Say we came here in 1911,

:12:30. > :12:35.what would it look like? Some glaciers have ceased

:12:36. > :12:42.to become glaciers. They no longer have any moving ice

:12:43. > :12:49.and are now stagnant snow fields. Could there be a time

:12:50. > :12:54.when in the near future where Glacier National Park

:12:55. > :12:56.could have no glaciers? Mankind is contributing

:12:57. > :13:05.to global warming. The world has warmed and cooled

:13:06. > :13:10.and warmed and cooled naturally. What's going on now is the rate

:13:11. > :13:22.of it is so much faster. Disappearing glaciers are already

:13:23. > :13:24.having an impact on the water supplies, the forest,

:13:25. > :13:26.and the wildlife here. But as with many issues in America,

:13:27. > :13:32.climate change has been politicised, We cross the national park

:13:33. > :13:46.by train, contemplating one Specifically, what the election has

:13:47. > :13:51.done to embolden the far right. It's a pretty tourist town

:13:52. > :13:53.by the mountains of Montana. But White Fish is also home to this

:13:54. > :13:57.prominent white supremacist. I do care more about my people more

:13:58. > :14:13.than other people just like you care about your family more than you care

:14:14. > :14:16.about other children. Why is an African-American

:14:17. > :14:20.not your family? He is not part of this extended

:14:21. > :14:24.family that is a race that have evolved over tens

:14:25. > :14:26.of thousands of years. They are part of

:14:27. > :14:27.the American family. This United States was never

:14:28. > :14:35.defined by Africans. It was defined by Anglo-Saxons,

:14:36. > :14:39.white Europeans. Just as you are no longer European,

:14:40. > :14:42.they are no longer African, But I think who I am ultimately

:14:43. > :14:49.does derive from Europe. A tremendous amount of white people

:14:50. > :14:51.want race and identity Before this election,

:14:52. > :15:03.he and other white supremacists and separatists may have felt

:15:04. > :15:05.on the margins of society, Donald Trump came along and I feel

:15:06. > :15:14.like my movement and my ideology, we can be a kind of vanguard

:15:15. > :15:17.for a presidential candidate, that his arrow is pointing

:15:18. > :15:21.in our direction. And that is what is worrying many

:15:22. > :15:29.Americans, that somehow unpalatable, racist views have been in a sense

:15:30. > :15:33.legitimised by the rise of Donald The idea of Trump stepping

:15:34. > :15:36.into leadership in our country I believe that he is a bigot,

:15:37. > :15:45.and that he could just He is really, really

:15:46. > :15:52.milking the ignorance He wants to pretend he's not

:15:53. > :15:59.a racist but he totally is. They have needed a voice

:16:00. > :16:02.and a platform for their voice, I don't think he that he

:16:03. > :16:11.realises what he's saying, the kind of inflammatory

:16:12. > :16:13.message he's sending. But others felt Donald Trump should

:16:14. > :16:16.not be held accountable for every As long as they were not doing

:16:17. > :16:20.anything illegal, there was no Anybody in the United States,

:16:21. > :16:25.whether they're part of an organisation or not,

:16:26. > :16:27.they have the right What are Calvin's reasons

:16:28. > :16:33.for supporting the Trump has said he wants to put

:16:34. > :16:36.people back to work, close the borders until they figure

:16:37. > :16:39.out what is going on. But all the talk of shutting borders

:16:40. > :16:49.and building walls is definitely part of Trump's appeal

:16:50. > :16:51.to Richard Spencer, too. He has brought nationalism

:16:52. > :16:53.into the campaign. There is a sense that our power

:16:54. > :16:56.is going to be diminished. Average people see that Donald Trump

:16:57. > :16:59.is going to take care of them. He may be energised by Donald Trump,

:17:00. > :17:05.but whether he wins or loses, there are many others here who say

:17:06. > :17:08.that they feel Trump is already helping to cause deeper divisions

:17:09. > :17:22.in American society. After 1,700 miles and 38

:17:23. > :17:26.hours on this train, we're finally getting off

:17:27. > :17:30.for the last time. There is still one more important

:17:31. > :17:37.story to look into in Seattle. Seattle is one of the most

:17:38. > :17:42.left-leaning cities in the US. But still, inequality

:17:43. > :17:45.is not hard to find. Just a few blocks away from the most

:17:46. > :17:49.expensive real estate in the city, this is just one of several tent

:17:50. > :17:52.encampments of the homeless. This, activists say,

:17:53. > :17:55.is a tangible example of the problems

:17:56. > :18:00.of money in politics. As a person of faith,

:18:01. > :18:07.who is not necessarily that involved in politics otherwise,

:18:08. > :18:09.this is really a moral issue. Hi, have you heard about Initiative

:18:10. > :18:14.735 to get big money out Jonathan Tong is trying to raise

:18:15. > :18:19.awareness about the problems of senators and congressmen

:18:20. > :18:23.pandering to big-money and feeling they need to raise corporate money

:18:24. > :18:25.for election campaigns. 70% of their work week

:18:26. > :18:29.is spent raising money, making fund-raising calls instead

:18:30. > :18:31.of doing the work they When they are making those

:18:32. > :18:35.phonecalls, they are not calling people like you and me,

:18:36. > :18:39.they are calling people on a list that their aides gave them,

:18:40. > :18:43.people who give him This is the biggest problem

:18:44. > :18:55.we have in America. We do not even have a democracy any

:18:56. > :18:58.more. This region creates more and more

:18:59. > :19:00.millionaires by the day. There are many trying to fight

:19:01. > :19:03.the divide between rich and poor, like those at this meeting,

:19:04. > :19:05.calling for measures to reduce homelessness, but many on the left

:19:06. > :19:08.are furious with the Democratic presidential candidate they have

:19:09. > :19:09.ended up with. She represents the problems

:19:10. > :19:13.we are facing today. The corporate politics

:19:14. > :19:18.we have been dealing with. Sasha says while she could never

:19:19. > :19:20.vote for Donald Trump, she's going to go for a third-party

:19:21. > :19:23.candidate to protest against Hillary Clinton,

:19:24. > :19:25.who she does not think is interested She will get into office

:19:26. > :19:31.and I do not think she will do much We need to give Hillary Clinton

:19:32. > :19:38.a Congress that can continue to pull her to the left

:19:39. > :19:41.on places where she needs At a campaign event we find this

:19:42. > :19:46.woman, a progressive Democrat She is also upset about

:19:47. > :19:54.big-money in politics. What, locally, can you point

:19:55. > :19:57.to to say this is why money in politics

:19:58. > :19:58.is a problem? We have tried to pass bills around

:19:59. > :20:07.gun reform in the state legislature. The NRA has opposed every

:20:08. > :20:10.single one of those. But she thinks a protest vote

:20:11. > :20:16.for a third candidate Why would we waste that

:20:17. > :20:21.opportunity with a candidate Because the other alternative

:20:22. > :20:26.is to allow Donald Trump be president and I am not

:20:27. > :20:29.going to do that. While some on the left are angry,

:20:30. > :20:32.others think there is hope but there are large numbers who also

:20:33. > :20:37.feel utterly despondent. He was excited last year

:20:38. > :20:42.when he thought socialist Bernie Sanders had a chance

:20:43. > :20:45.of beating Hillary Clinton to the Democratic nomination,

:20:46. > :20:50.but that balloon has clearly burst. This election is everyone voting

:20:51. > :20:54.about who they hate. Democrats are voting

:20:55. > :20:58.against Trump and Republicans I was really excited

:20:59. > :21:02.about Obama in 2008. For those many Americans who believe

:21:03. > :21:11.that the amount of money in politics is the root of so many ills here,

:21:12. > :21:15.it is not hard to see why some fear that will not change at all,

:21:16. > :21:17.whatever the result When this extraordinary route

:21:18. > :21:27.was created, it made northern communities feel close to the rest

:21:28. > :21:29.of the country, But throughout our travels,

:21:30. > :21:35.we found people united in feeling their government was far

:21:36. > :21:41.away, and out of touch. We found the election had played

:21:42. > :21:43.a part in law-abiding Muslim immigrants in Minneapolis feeling

:21:44. > :21:47.under intense scrutiny. People in Fargo, on both sides

:21:48. > :21:52.of the abortion rights debate, felt the issue was at

:21:53. > :22:01.a critical juncture. The polarisation on views of climate

:22:02. > :22:04.change is as stark as ever with the next president having

:22:05. > :22:06.perhaps more responsibility than any We learned Donald Trump has

:22:07. > :22:12.empowered extremists And that Seattle's left had

:22:13. > :22:18.suspicions about Hillary Clinton and the claim she will reduce

:22:19. > :22:22.the influence of money in politics. Throughout, we found an electorate

:22:23. > :22:27.that was engaged and aware, and which, in every one

:22:28. > :22:30.of the diverse communities we passed through, felt this election

:22:31. > :23:19.really does matter. Some interesting developments taking

:23:20. > :23:24.place in the atmosphere in the week ahead. I'm confident we will not see

:23:25. > :23:28.anything as dramatic as we saw exactly 29 years ago when the great

:23:29. > :23:29.storm of October