CBSN Originals: "America - Manufacturing Hope"

Our latest CBSN Originals documentary presents an ongoing series that examines the shifting sands in American society. 

In the first installment, which airs on Monday, Feb. 27 at 8 p.m. ET, CBSN documents the lives of struggling Americans in Erie, Pa. Correspondent Jamie Yuccas takes an intimate look at residents trying to make ends meet in a manufacturing town whose economy and population have been hollowed out over the past three decades.

It’s part one in a two-part story of an American town in decline – and the people trying to keep it alive, struggling with the reality that in order to provide for a family, the best option may be to leave everything they’ve ever known and start a new life elsewhere.

Patty Pauline sheds tears as she watches Donald Trump taking the oath of office. Her brother committed suicide when he was laid off, and nearly 20 years later, each new layoff in town makes those wounds feel raw. 

Jim Stewart was laid off a year ago but went straight back to school. He’s about to graduate from a professional training program at Erie Institute of Technology, as a heating and cooling specialist, but he may have to leave the only home he’s ever truly known to keep a roof over his family’s head. 

Four generations of the Gallagher family having grown up in Erie. But now, 21-year-old Justin is contemplating leaving after he graduates college this spring. His grandfather Patrick, an engineer at a local plant, is devastated that his grandson may soon take with him one more thread of Erie’s unraveling fabric.

 “America - Manufacturing Hope” will debut at Monday at 8 p.m. ET and will be available afterwards at CBSNews.com.