04/05/2026: Return to Ram, Ghost Train, The Mardi Gras Indians

0:00Finding the right furniture for my home can be hard, especially when I'm looking for trendy, high-quality pieces that won't break the bank. Luckily, at Bob's Discount Furniture, I can shop the latest styles and customer favorites with tons of 5-star reviews, like Bob's Real Marble Elm Dining Set, which has over 600 5-star reviews, the Copper Radiance Mattress, which over 400 Bob's customers say will give you 5-star sleep, the Ultra Comfy Phantom Reclining Sofa, which boasts over 1 ,000 5-star reviews, and the customizable modular Bob's sectional, which not only costs just$250 per piece, but has over 1 ,700 five-star reviews.

0:35So when you're ready to score five-star style for every room in your home at everyday low prices, listen to the smartest shoppers around and stop in or shop online at Bob's Discount Furniture, where America shops for furniture. Hey parents, we all know summer break is for fun, but it's also a time when kids can start losing some of the progress they made during the school year. We want them to stay engaged and keep those young minds active. Between camps, vacations, and family time, it can be tough to keep a learning routine going. That's why I want to tell you about IXL. IXL is an award-winning online learning platform that helps kids truly understand what they're learning, whether they're building math confidence, strengthening reading and writing skills, or reviewing science concepts.

1:19From pre-K through 12th grade, IXL offers personalized interactive learning that adapts to each child's level and pace. It's an easy way to keep learning going through the summer and helps kids feel confident heading into the next school year. Studies show kids who use IXL score higher on tests, proven in all 50 states. And get this, IXL is used in 96 of the top 100 school districts in the U.S. That's a huge endorsement. Make an impact on your child's learning. Get IXL now. And listeners can get an exclusive 20 % off IXL membership when they sign up today at IXLLearning.com slash audio. Visit IXLLearning.com slash audio to get the most effective learning program out there at the best price.

2:11Parking for the free clinic fills days early. People sleep in their cars for a chance at medical care. If you didn't have remote area medical, what would you do? Suck. No other way around. With millions losing insurance, we saw desperation meet compassion. Looks good.

2:43Californians got on board for a$33 billion high-speed train that was supposed to connect L.A. to San Francisco by 2020. Instead, they have this, an unfinished line connecting, wait for it, Bakersfield and Merced. Why have 20 other countries managed to build high-speed rail while America hasn't? We've heard people saying what happened in the past is the past. Failure is not an option. Failure is always an option.

3:16Every year on Mardi Gras Day, an extraordinary sight emerges from the back streets of New Orleans. They call themselves Mardi Gras Indians or Black Masking Indians. And they roam the neighborhoods in dazzling hand-sewn suits. This Easter Sunday, take in the sights and sounds of one of America's last true secret societies.

3:44I'm Leslie Stahl. I'm Scott Pelley. I'm Anderson Cooper. I'm Sharon Alfonsi. I'm John Wertheim. I'm Cecilia Vega. I'm Bill Whitaker. Those stories end in our last minute, an article of faith by evangelist Franklin Graham. Tonight on 60 Minutes.

4:07Finding the right furniture for my home can be hard, especially when I'm looking for trendy, high-quality pieces that won't break the bank. Luckily, at Bob's Discount Furniture, I can shop the latest styles and customer favorites with tons of five-star reviews, like Bob's Real Marble Elm Dining Set, which has over 600 five-star reviews, the Copper Radiance Mattress, which over 400 Bob's customers say will give you five-star sleep, the ultra-comfy phantom reclining sofa, which boasts over 1 ,000 five-star reviews, and the customizable modular Bob's sectional, which not only costs just$250 per piece, but has over 1 ,700 five-star reviews.

4:43So when you're ready to score five-star style for every room in your home at everyday low prices, listen to the smartest shoppers around and stop in or shop online at Bob's Discount Furniture, where America shops for furniture. Hey parents, we all know summer break is for fun, but it's also a time when kids can start losing some of the progress they made during the school year. We want them to stay engaged and keep those young minds active. Between camps, vacations, and family time, it can be tough to keep a learning routine going. That's why I want to tell you about IXL. IXL is an award-winning online learning platform that helps kids truly understand what they're learning.

5:21Whether they're building math confidence, strengthening reading and writing skills, or reviewing science concepts. From pre-K through 12th grade, IXL offers personalized interactive learning that adapts to each child's level and pace. It's an easy way to keep learning going through the summer and helps kids feel confident heading into the next school year. Studies show kids who use IXL score higher on tests, proven in all 50 states. And get this, IXL is used in 96 of the top 100 school districts in the U.S. That's a huge endorsement. Make an impact on your child's learning. Get IXL now. And listeners can get an exclusive 20 % off IXL membership when they sign up today at IXLLearning.com slash audio.

6:05Visit IXLLearning.com slash audio to get the most effective learning program out there at the best price. About one-third of Americans say they have skipped meals, borrowed money, or cut back on utilities to pay for health care. That's in a Gallup poll released in March. The Trump administration has lowered prices on more than 50 drugs, but it also let premiums rise, even double, in the affordable care marketplace and made the biggest cuts ever to Medicaid. Already, 3 million have lost insurance, and it's estimated it'll be 10 million in three years. All of this reminded us of our story in 2008 about a charity called Remote Area Medical.

6:53RAM started out parachuting doctors into South American jungles, but in the 1990s it turned to another isolated people, Americans, cut off from health care by the cost. Recently, we returned to RAM at one of its free pop-up clinics. For Americans long on pain and short on hope, Ram is a ray of mercy in the darkness. The parking lot in Knoxville, Tennessee began to fill early. In a frigid February, many drove hundreds of miles in desperation. Nearby, remote area medical would open a clinic inside an empty exhibit hall. But Ram can take only so many patients on a weekend, so they joined the line days before.

7:45We met Sandra Talent at 5 a.m. Sandra, where did you come from? Huntsville, Alabama. And how long have you been in the parking lot here? Since 4.30, Wednesday night. Wednesday night? Yeah. So Wednesday night, Thursday night, and this is Friday morning. Two nights sleeping in her car, a 200-mile drive, all for lack of dental insurance. If you didn't have RAM, how would you get your teeth taken care of? I wouldn't. A few spaces over, Dave Bird spent the night in his truck, aching for a full set of dentures. What happened to your teeth? Several things. I had an uninsured drunk driver run a red light doing 80, hit me head on.

8:35Almost killed me. Two years of rehab and three surgeries, and 140 ,000 later I was able to go back to work. At work one day I'm drilling through a basement wall, and the drill hangs up on a piece of rebar and comes around, smacks me in the mouth, cracks my jaw, and broken back out again. By then I was pretty thin on money to do much about it, so I didn't have a lot of choices. I just kept working. But working was rare. Employers on construction jobs just assume he lost his teeth to meth addiction. Burge told us his only habits are nicotine and caffeine, and right now he could use a cup. He's wrapped in four layers against 27 degrees.

9:22If you didn't have remote area medical, what would you do? What's up? I'm not with no other way around. They're life-changing. Life-changing. When they hand you your life back, that's life-changing. That's what teeth mean to me. I can be a normal human again. I sure do appreciate you. Yes, sir. Thank you. Good luck. Let's go. Your dentures. Okay, you're going to be over here. He had the luck of being near the head of the line, which stretched to 1 ,200 patients in Knoxville over a Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Hold on to that. When you go up there for service, you've got to bring them that ticket.

10:14Brad Sands, a former paramedic, is a RAM clinic coordinator. I'm number four. Number four, head on up. Who are the people in the cars? Everybody. I mean, it's your neighbors, it's your parents, it's your friends, it's the community around you. It's everybody. And it's nationwide. Somewhere in America, Brad Sands sets up a clinic like this most every weekend. It's all comers. Mm-hmm. No questions asked. No insurance needed. You don't even have to give me your real name. We met a woman at a RAM expedition who was so grateful for the help she received. But she said, I just hate to ask. I'm not going to judge your story.

11:01Nobody here that's working or volunteering today is going to judge any person that comes through that door. We are here to help. Can you see any of those lines out there? About half of the patients have no insurance. The rest have insurance they can't afford to use because of co-pays and deductibles. And many health insurance plans have no dental. Correct. No vision care? Correct. No hearing care? Correct. This is our triage area. Chris Hall volunteered at RAM when he was 12 years old. Now, he's CEO. So when you look at the patients that come through our door, 65 % of those patients are requesting dental service.

11:4430 % of those patients are requesting eye exams and glasses. Only 5 % are requesting medical care. Dental and vision are two things that are isolated that people do not have access to or can't afford the access to. Are you a diabetic? There's also screening for blood sugar, blood pressure, breast cancer, skin cancer, and more. Depending on the size of the clinic, Ram will spend between$100 ,000 and half a million dollars over a weekend. How do you pay for all of this? It's the generosity of the public. Over 81 % of our supporters are individual donors, people that write$5,$10,$20 checks every month.

12:22Those checks are leveraged with donated clinic space, donated supplies, and volunteers. 887 volunteers on this Knoxville weekend alone. This sheet here is extremely important. Medical professionals paid their own way from 30 states and brought medical students with them. Treat these patients with dignity, with respect. Talk to them like they're human beings, please. If you ever lose faith in humanity, go spend 10 minutes at a RAM clinic. You're going to see hundreds of people there that are donating their time. And they're coming out and they're donating large swaths of their own money, slash time, to help their neighbors.

13:09I remember there was a guy many years ago who had a broken tooth. And he told me that he tried to remove it with a screwdriver. So if that doesn't move you to help, you know, that's the desperation. Let's see what we got here. Dentist Glenn Goldstein volunteered from New Jersey. He sees patients suffering from a past without health care and no hope for the future. You know, I've had young people in, you know, I said, well, you know, some of these teeth can be saved. You know that, right? Because, yeah, I don't care. Please, I don't have any money. I don't have any way to get these fixed, so please, please take them out.

13:50I got a bunch of loose tooth and gross tooth, and it doesn't bother me, but I'm ready to get them all out. And it's heartbreaking to take all the teeth out. It's terrible. Patients ask you to take all of their teeth out? All their teeth. Let's see. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16. Because they know going forward they will not be able to take care of them. 100%. Relieving pain was the mission of Ram's late founder, an eccentric Englishman, daredevil pilot, and Amazon cowboy. Tell me about Stan Brock. Stan was a magnificent leader, magnificent man, humble. We met Stan Brock and Ram in 2008.

14:42We're very happy that you're here this morning. We've got a lot of really fine volunteer doctors, dentists, eye specialists. Stan was an adventurer who once walked 26 days in the Amazon to be treated for an injury. So he started his airborne medical charity with an Army Surplus C-47 that flew on D-Day. When we met, he was 72, had no family, took no salary, lived in an office donated to Ram, and showered with a garden hose. He died in 2018 in the office. He was perhaps the most dedicated person I've ever met. I agree with you completely on that. I joked around a lot when I tell people working with Stan, it was really hard to ask for a day off when your boss hadn't had a day off in 20 years.

15:38When we met in 2008, Stan Brock was staging 12 clinics a year. After our broadcast,$4 million in donations poured in along with thousands more volunteers. Ram has grown from a dozen to 90 clinics a year. It's because of you. and your story back in 2008 that brought me to almost to tears. And as soon as your segment was over about this organization, I immediately went online, looked it up, and registered down here. I'm from Jersey. I understand that volunteering at RAM has become a family thing. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. We've got one left. So my son, who's here with me now, my wife has been here, My daughter-in-law, my daughter, my other son, they've all been here a multitude of times.

16:32Sounds like you get as much out of this as the patients do. Maybe more. You have high blood pressure, anything like that. Only when I'm in pain. Remember Sandra Talent, the woman we met in her car? And Dave Burge, who lost his teeth in two accidents. they're here for dentures a process that would take weeks were it not for this trailer and the 22-year-old engineer who helped build it connor gibson uses computer design to make dentures with 3d printers they can print a set in an hour or so gibson has slept in here to keep the printers running non-stop. He's inspired by something he calls the mirror moment.

17:23We say it's worth a million dollars, but truly it's priceless. When you give them that mirror, you just see all that stress melt away. And no matter if they're 18 or 80. We see grown men cry sitting in the chair.

17:46And so it was for Dave Burge, the man who told us in the parking lot that he wanted to be a normal human again. You're a new man. Thank you. There you go. right and the mirror smiled on sandra talent looks good yeah

18:13happy tears yeah what does this moment mean to you i don't know what i do you know the lord would make a way but i feel like he has made a way through ram over the knoxville weekend ram RAM allowed more than 500 patients to see, 700 live without pain, and restored the smiles of 24. With insurance out of reach for growing millions, RAM will hurry to another city to make health in America a little less remote. Oh, you look beautiful! Do you think you look pretty? Yeah, you look gorgeous. Good. Seriously. Good. You look so pretty. Thank you for being here, honey. Have a great day. You too. Have a great life.

19:03Get some sleep.

19:10The Second World War is the largest event in human history. A 20-part series with Tom Hanks. No part of the globe was untouched. No life unchanged. Experience the ultimate account of World War II. Every single person had a story. These are the stories that make us who we are. Listen to World War II with Tom Hanks on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Finding the right furniture for my home can be hard, especially when I'm looking for trendy, high-quality pieces that won't break the bank. Luckily, at Bob's Discount Furniture, I can shop the latest styles and customer favorites with tons of five-star reviews, like Bob's Real Marble Elm Dining Set, which has over 600 five-star reviews.

19:57The Copper Radiance mattress, which over 400 Bob's customers say will give you five-star sleep. The ultra-comfy phantom reclining sofa, which boasts over 1 ,000 five-star reviews. And the customizable modular Bob's sectional, which not only costs just 250 per piece, but has over 1 ,700 five-star reviews. So when you're ready to score five-star style for every room in your home at everyday low prices, listen to the smartest shoppers around and stop in or shop online at Bob's Discount Furniture, where America shops for furniture. Hey parents, we all know summer break is for fun, but it's also a time when kids can start losing some of the progress they made during the school year.

20:36We want them to stay engaged and keep those young minds active. Between camps, vacations, and family time, it can be tough to keep a learning routine going. That's why I want to tell you about IXL. IXL is an award-winning online learning platform that helps kids truly understand what they're learning, whether they're building math confidence, strengthening reading and writing skills, or reviewing science concepts. From pre-K through 12th grade, IXL offers personalized interactive learning that adapts to each child's level and pace. It's an easy way to keep learning going through the summer and helps kids feel confident heading into the next school year.

21:13Studies show kids who use IXL score higher on tests, proven in all 50 states, And get this, IXL is used in 96 of the top 100 school districts in the U.S. That's a huge endorsement. Make an impact on your child's learning. Get IXL now. And listeners can get an exclusive 20 % off IXL membership when they sign up today at IXllearning.com slash audio. Visit IXllearning.com slash audio to get the most effective learning program out there at the best price. It's hard to exaggerate the role of the train in the American story, or the romance of train travel, those iron horses galloping down tracks of steel.

21:55Why then has high-speed rail, so common in other countries, not tracked in the U.S.? An ambitious state-run project connecting L.A. and San Francisco has lurched, derailed, cost billions, and may never happen. One private company is betting that it can succeed where the public sector is not, but that too has had its bumps. As U.S. high-speed rail remains a mirage, a ghost train, it's become a stand-in for a broader question. Can America get its act together and still build big things? The very model of modern engineering, it hums across the fruited plains at a top speed of 200 miles an hour. It's revolutionized travel.

22:36It's a source of national pride. In Morocco. Here in the U.S., high-speed rail looks like this, hardly passenger-ready. America's hopes for its first high-speed rail were kindled in 2008, when California voters approved a ballot measure for a train connecting Los Angeles to San Francisco in less than three hours. The estimated price tag,$33 billion. Completion date, 2020. It would cut pollution, revitalize local economies, clear gridlock. Status update. Today, the state's high-speed rail authority is preparing to lay its first tracks at roughly the same cost. Only slight course correction here.

23:21Instead of L.A. to San Francisco, it will run one-third of that distance connecting, wait for it, the metropolis of Bakersfield and Merced, population 96 ,000. Oh, and when will it open? 2033. Maybe. I think that the California high-speed rail nightmare is the probably quintessential example of government waste and mismanagement. You say this needs to stop. Needs to stop. Congressman Vince Fong, a Republican from Bakersfield, sits on the House Transportation Committee. He says that when California voters first approved high-speed rail, the promise and price tag were more marketing campaign than realistic projection.

24:01We're now in 2026. There are no trains. There's no track laid. It's a complete bait-and-switch. If I vote for a mansion in Malibu by next year and someone says, actually, you know what, in five years we're going to have a doghouse in Modesto, how do things go so off the rails? The business plan that was put out in 2008 was very theoretical. This is what we think is going to happen. And it became very clear that they didn't have the specifics worked out. On that point, management doesn't disagree. Toks Amashakhin is California's Secretary of Transportation and Anthony Williams, a Rail Authority board member.

24:38Both are relatively new to the job left to answer for their predecessors. There were mistakes made. Some of the criticism on this project, I think, are very fair. What happened? I don't think the voters fully understood, and neither did we in the public sector, what it was going to take to actually get this project delivered. To get the necessary political buy-in from the whole state, the plan called for the train to run inland, threading the farmland of the Central Valley. Yet the rail authority hadn't answered basic questions, like precisely where it could lay down its tracks, what's known as right-of-way.

25:153 ,000 parcels had to be negotiated just for the segments that we're working on today in the Central Valley. It seems to me one farmer doesn't want high-speed rail going through his field, and you've got a guy that can gum up the works for a long time. Yeah, that's what happens. sometimes in these processes. More snarl. California's exacting environmental regulations, which triggered all manner of reviews, lawsuits, and delays. As anyone who's renovated a home knows, delay adds to price. So do the high U.S. labor and construction costs, at least compared to many other countries. And while the federal government contributed modestly under the Obama and Biden administrations, the burden fell largely on the state.

25:59When construction started, was the financing there to complete this rail? It wasn't. Let's be real. We had a lot to learn and we had a lot of growth to do. And, you know, it's arguable whether, you know, we should have been clearer about that. By 2019, cost ballooning in the timeline years off schedule, bipartisan political pressure mounted. Newly elected, Governor Gavin Newsom said this in his first state of the state. Right now, there simply isn't a path to get from Sacramento to San Diego, let alone from San Francisco to L.A. Under Newsom, who didn't respond to repeated interview requests, California decided to focus on that initial Central Valley segment, a route few clamored for and fewer are likely to ride, though the ultimate goal remains connecting northern and southern California.

26:50When you have a project like this and when the budget no longer permits you to finish it the way you want it to, you start cutting off your arms and legs. Lou Thompson helped found Amtrak in the 1970s and until 2024 sat on California's high-speed rail peer review group. We've heard people say, time to cut bait. We've heard people saying what happened in the past is the past. Failure is not an option. Failure is always an option. Is that what's going to happen here? Uh, no, I don't think so. But I think what will happen in the short range is that they will cut back and do the best they can with the money they have available.