• Drought sends Mississippi into 'uncharted territory'

    Robert Ray/ AP

    Water levels on the Mississippi River continue to fall near Vicksburg, Miss., seen in this Aug. 6, 2012 photo.

    John Yang writes

    ABOARD THE DREDGE JADWIN IN THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER – The drought of 2012 has humbled the mighty Mississippi River.

    See our full drought coverage here. And on Wednesday, Aug. 15, watch NBC News, CNBC, MSNBC, The Weather Channel and Telemundo for daylong, network-wide coverage of the drought.

    A year after near-historic flooding, the river’s water levels are at near-historic lows from Cairo, Ill., where the Ohio River empties into it, to New Orleans, just north of its endpoint at the Gulf of Mexico.

    In July, water levels in Cairo, Memphis, Tenn., and Vicksburg, Miss., dipped below those of the historic drought of 1988. That’s affecting everything from commerce on the maritime superhighway to recreation to the drinking water in Louisiana.

    The biggest impact may be on shipping. “It’s getting near critical,” said Austin Golding, a third-generation co-owner of Vicksburg, Miss.-based Golding Barge Lines. “Without more rain, we’re heading into uncharted territory.”

    About $180 billion worth of goods move up and down the river on barges, 500 million tons of the basic ingredients for much of the U.S. economy, according to the American Waterways Operators, a trade group. It carries 60 percent of the nation’s grain, 22 percent of the oil and gas and 20 percent of the coal, according to American Waterways Operators. It would take 60 trailer trucks to carry the cargo in just one barge, 144 18-wheeler tankers to carry the oil and gas in one petroleum barge.

    MSNBC's Thomas Roberts talks to NBC News Correspondent John Yang and CNBC's Jackie Deangelis about the record-breaking drought gripping much of the country.

    The low water levels mean that barge companies have to lighten their load by about 25 percent so the barges ride higher in the water, reducing what’s known as the barges’ “draught.”

    That means each tow boat is moving less cargo than usual even though “it takes up the same amount of fuel to burn and the same amount of manpower,” said Ed Henleben, senior operations manager for Ingram Barge Co. in St. Louis.


    Already this summer, there are been 15 to 20 cases of barges running aground, according to Steve Jones, the Army Corps of Engineer’s Mississippi River navigation manager. Some cases have stalled river traffic for as much at three days. At this point in an average summer, there’d be only about eight or 10, Jones said.

    And as the water drops, the river channel narrows. In some places, the Mississippi is a one-way river as barges heading north have to wait for traffic headed south, adding to the costly delays.

    The result: Millions of dollars in higher shipping costs.

    “The products we tow, that product costs more,” said Golding. “Somebody’s got to come up with that cost.”

    Economists say ultimately, it will be the consumer.  “Some markets such as spot markets for agricultural products will be immediately impacted by increased transportation costs,” said Donald Sweeney of the University of Missouri-St. Louis.

    The Mississippi River, an essential waterway responsible for transporting billions of dollars of products every year, is becoming unnavigable. NBC's John Yang reports.

    The navigational hazards of the low water levels are compounded by last year’s flooding, which resulted in a great deal of soil and silt being washed into the river, altering and raising the riverbed.

    Because of that sediment in a flood, “as the ceiling rises, so does the floor,” said Golding. “We’ve just dealt with a historic flood, then the water drops.… We have some 50-year guys who’ve never seen anything like this before. It’s a completely different river than anybody’s ever seen.”

    As the Army Corps of Engineers’ navigation manager, Jones spend eight to 10 hours a day directing dredges to keep a navigable channel from St. Louis south at least nine feet deep (a system of locks and dams manages the water depth north of St. Louis). So far, the government has spent about $60 million in the effort.

    Grocery stores around the nation may soon see a ripple effect of the drought, with animal-based, perishable foods costs increasing by nearly 5 percent in the coming year. NBC's Janet Shamlian reports

    The low water levels in the Mississippi are also resulting in a wedge of salt water creeping upriver from the Gulf of Mexico, threatening the drinking water supply in New Orleans. The Army Corps of Engineers hopes to begin work this week on a $5.8 million underwater barrier to block the saltwater’s advance.

    The river’s low levels are the result of a combination of the mild winter in the Upper Midwest, which resulted in very little snow melt to feed the river, and the dry spring and summer in the tributaries to the Mississippi and Ohio rivers.

    What will it take to get the Mississippi back to normal? Says Jones: “Rainfall – which will occur, it’s just a question of when.”

    Slideshow: America's farmland baking in drought

    Drought conditions plague much of the United States after a summer of scorching temperatures and a lack of rain. The dryness is affecting America's farmland, threatening crops like soybean and corn.

    Launch slideshow

    More coverage of the drought: 

    ‘Best year ever’ for some farmers outside drought region   

    Forced to sell cattle during drought, dairy farmers ‘just keep praying’ for rain

    Drought expected to take toll at checkout

    Americans tell their story of #Drought2012 

    In drought-stricken Wisconsin, farmers helping farmers  

    Emergency well drilling brings relief to farmers stricken by drought

    Have you been affected by the worst drought in more than 50 years? Share your photos with us on Instagram, Tumblr or Twitter with the tag #Drought2012. You can also upload your photos in the box below. 

     

     

  • For alleged Afghan shooter, death penalty unlikely

    The defense attorney for Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, the soldier charged Friday with 17 counts of murder, has said the military lacks much of the physical evidence necessary to establish a solid case against his client. But prosecutors say there is ample evidence: surveillance video, shell casings and more. NBC's Jim Miklaszewski reports.

    John Yang writes
    FORT LEAVENWORTH, Kan. –   The charges against Staff Sgt. Robert Bales for the premeditated murder of 17 Afghan civilians include the possibility of a death sentence. But, analysts say, the chances of a death sentence actually being imposed are not high.


    “We don’t have a particularly bloodthirsty military justice program,” said Eugene Fidell, the co-founder of the National Institute of Military Justice who teaches at Yale Law School.

    Staff Sgt. Robert Bales charged with 17 counts of murder in Afghanistan massacre

    There are currently six men on death row in the military’s only maximum security prison -- euphemistically called the “Disciplinary Barracks” -- here on Fort Leavenworth. But the last execution was carried out in 1961, when an Army ammunition handler was hanged there for raping an 11-year-old girl in Austria.

    It’s been so long, in fact, that the military prison no longer has the equipment needed to execute a prisoner. Instead, the sentence would be carried out at the federal prison in Terre Haute, Ind., where Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh was executed. The current method is lethal injection; the Leavenworth military prison had an electric chair when that was the method, but it was never used.

    Women are going online to show their compassion for the wife of the Army staff sergeant who has been charged with 17 counts of murder. NBC's Miguel Almaguer reports.

    None of those currently on death row were convicted of crimes on the battlefield against foreign civilians; all were convicted of murders of U.S. civilians or fellow military personnel.

    Death toll in Afghanistan massacre climbs to 17

    The next step in the process is what’s called an Article 32 investigation, which will determine if the case should go to trial (which would be a court martial), and if so, what specific charges should be brought (they can be different from the charges originally filed), and if they should carry the possibility of the death penalty.

    Analysts say that process will not be quick.

    “I would expect that in a complicated case like this, it would be several months before we would see an Article 32 investigation,” said Victor Hansen, a retired Army lawyer who now teaches at New England Law in Boston. “There’s a lot of investigation the government has yet to do.”

    Retired Army Colonel and NBC military analyst Jack Jacobs examines the concerns set forth by the attorney for Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, the soldier who was charged Friday with 17 counts of murder.

    If this becomes a death penalty case, there would have to be 12 jury members, and their guilty verdict would have to be unanimous for it to result in an execution. In other cases, as few as five jurors are required and a two-thirds vote can convict.

    “If you have a capital case, we don’t cut corners,” said the Yale Law School’s Fidell.

    PTSD: Having the courage to ask for help

    And because Bales is an enlisted man, he could request that enlisted personnel make up at least a third of the 12 considering his fate.

    Even though Bales is being held at Fort Leavenworth, proceedings may not necessarily be held here. A leading contender for the trial venue is Joint Base Lewis-McChord outside Seattle, where Bales is based and near where his wife and two small children live.

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  • Interactions limited to guards and chaplain for alleged Afghan shooter at Ft. Leavenworth

    John Henry Browne, the lawyer for Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, questioned the military's case against his client. NBC's John Yang reports.

    John Yang, NBC News correspondent writes

    FORT LEAVENWORTH, Kan. – Wake up, 5 a.m.; breakfast, 5:15 a.m.; clean-up chores, 6:50 a.m. until 11:20 a.m., and so on until lights out at 10:05 p.m.

    That’s Staff Sgt. Robert Bales’ daily routine in a medium/minimum security pre-trial detention facility in a remote corner of this sprawling 5,600-acre Army post. Bales is the American soldier accused of massacring 16 civilians in southern Afghanistan. His lawyer, John Henry Browne, says the 17-month-old facility is cleaner than many civilian prisons he’s seen.

    For Bales, it’s a relatively lonely existence. He’s in a special cell by himself – solitary confinement – not the usual four-prisoner bays. He’s made use of the recreation facilities, according to prison officials, and has met with the prison chaplain, according to Browne.

    Like all new inmates, he’s in a black-out period of about a week while he’s processed and classified – no access to phones or e-mail. Later he will have access to email, that will be monitored by authorities, but not Internet access, according to his lawyer. And he will be able to keep books, newspapers and magazines.

    Browne says Army officials are working to make an exception for Bales so he may speak with his wife, Karilyn, by phone; their only contact since he was arrested March 12 was a 30-minute phone conversation when he was held in Kuwait. They are also arranging for Karilyn Bales to travel from Seattle to see her husband for the first time since he left for Afghanistan in December.

    The 464-bed facility also houses military convicts sentenced to up to five years of imprisonment. But the two populations are kept apart, according to Browne, Bales’ interactions are currently limited to guards and the chaplain. 

    John Henry Browne, the attorney for U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Robert Bales, speaks about the long and emotional first face-to-face meeting with his client.  NBC's John Yang reports.

    Interestingly, the facility holds a few other noteworthy pre-trail detainees – including PFC Bradley Manning, accused of giving classified documents to Wikileaks. 

    Browne, who’s previous clients include serial killer Ted Bundy, said his 11 hours with Bales were some of the most emotional he’s ever spent, as his client described his three deployments to Iraq and the three months in Afghanistan leading up to the shooting rampage.

    “He's dragged pieces of bodies all over the place and had people shot out from right next to him,” Browne told NBC News. “Things that are hard to imagine.... If you saw the movie ‘The Hurt Locker,’ well, that's like a Disney movie compared to what he's gone through,” he said, referring to the Academy Award-winning film about a bomb disposal unit in Iraq.

    Contrary to reports from villagers where the massacre took place, U.S. military officials say there is no evidence of an IED attack on Americans around the time of the shooting that killed 16 Afghan civilians. NBC's Jim Miklaszewski reports.

    It was Browne and Bales’ first face-to-face meeting; all previous conversations were by phone. Bales’ first questions to him, according to Browne?  “‘How are the boys on the ground? How are my buddies? I'm really worried about them. I'm really worried that this allegation will make their lives more difficult.’” And all of the rest of the questions were about his family. Not once did he ask about his own plight, according to Browne.

    “If I was in a life threatening situation, I would want him next to me,” Browne said. 

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  • Daycare on demand: round-the-clock childcare services on the rise

    As parents take jobs with odd hours to stay afloat in a difficult economy, their daycare needs go beyond the typical nine to five. NBC's John Yang reports.

    By John Yang
    NBC News

    ELYRIA - It’s 8:30 p.m, dinner’s done (spaghetti and meatballs), and 6-year-old twins Michael and Mateo Lopez are snuggled under blankets, watching television in their pajamas.  

    But the boys aren’t at home. Michael and Mateo are at ABC & Me Childcare, a converted carpet and tile showroom amid strip malls, fast food restaurants and gas stations, in a gritty corner of a Cleveland suburb. Their mother, Alicia Fuerstenberg, will pick them up in about an hour after finishing her evening shift at a Bob Evans restaurant where she works as a waitress.  

    “Nine-to-five jobs are a dream,” said Alicia Fuerstenberg, a 26-year-old single mother who lives in Elyria, Ohio. “They’re all taken or you have to have a Master’s.”

    The tight job market means that parents can’t always choose their working hours. Instead, they take second jobs to make ends meet or add classes to their work day to improve their skills. More than 40 percent of the American labor force works early in the morning, late at night or on weekends, according to census data. As a result, daycare has become around-the-clock care.

    ABC & Me offers its services 24 hours a day, seven days a week. On this night, Michael and Mateo were among about a dozen children -- including a 3-month-old -- drifting off to sleep. On some days, the first child is dropped off at 1:30 a.m. The last pick-up is usually around midnight.

    “Most families are running as fast as they can to try to pull it together and try to make it work for their kids, and make it work for them, so they can support their families,” said Ellen Galinsky, the founder and president of the Families and Work Institute.

    Demand for nontraditional hours is growing. In Ohio, the number of centers offering overnight hours has doubled since 2003 and those open on weekends has quadrupled, according to the Ohio Child Care Resource and Referral Association.

    ABC & Me has offered around-the-clock services since the center opened in 2007.

    “That was the first thing that we were able to fill … the evening hours or the wee hours of the morning rather than the 8 to 5, 9 to 6 type of hours,” said ABC & Me owner Erin Price.

    Some children arrive both before and after school. So the center’s staff tries to make things as much like home as possible -- breakfasts, lunches and dinners are cooked on-site, school-aged children do homework, and there’s a strict bedtime.

    Brianna Smith and Erin Prince of ABC & Me Childcare, and parents who need the option of 24 hour day care, describe the  benefits.     

    “I try to make it as consistent for them as possible, with routines -- with what they’re going to do, with the learning, with the nutrition,” said Brianna Smith, who runs the center.

    Parents say they appreciate the staff’s efforts.

    “They’re cooks, they’re caretakers, they’re mothers, they’re aunts, they’re sisters, they’re friends—they’re everything,” said Tiffany Bickley, a restaurant cook whose six-year-old daughter, Airalyn, is at ABC & Me from the time she leaves kindergarten, at 3:15 p.m., until her mother leaves work around 9 p.m.

    She says the center’s staff is “exactly what I am, just in a different form.”

    Childcare experts say it may not be perfect, but daycare centers like ABC & Me can be a source of stability for the children.

    “It can be a home away from home rather than going to this person this night, and that person another night,” said Galinsky, of the Families and Work Institute. “There are other children there, so other kids are living a life you’re living -- it doesn’t seem so different.”

    The center’s operators estimate that about 85 percent of their clients are single parents and a similar proportion get state aid to pay for childcare.  For Tiffany Bickley, 26, an experienced babysitter was out of the question. 

    “They’re wanting $10 and $15 an hour,” said Bickley, who pays $29 a week for ABC & Me. “I make $10 an hour. Where does that leave me?”