Transcript

8.8.26 · Washington Post

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Speaker 1: Hello, This is Jane at the Talking Information Center reading
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Speaker 1: the Washington Post for Friday, August seventh, twenty twenty six.
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Speaker 1: Trump privately tells donors to back Vance while publicly keeping
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Speaker 1: twenty twenty eight open. By Natalie Allison and Isaac Arnsdorf.
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Speaker 1: President Donald Trump recently told donors in private that he
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Speaker 1: wants to see his vice president win the twenty twenty
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Speaker 1: eight presidential election, a sign that he is open to
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Speaker 1: publicly backing J. D. Vance, even as some advisers caution
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Speaker 1: that Trump has yet to settle firmly on a successor.
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Speaker 1: At the end of the day, we need to elect J. D.
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Speaker 1: Trump said during an Oval Office meeting with donors roughly
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Speaker 1: two weeks ago. According to two people with knowledge of
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Speaker 1: the comments, who spoke on a condition of anonymity because
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Speaker 1: they were not authorized to discuss the matter, the private
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Speaker 1: remark contrasts with Trump's rhetoric over the past year, publicly
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Speaker 1: egging on a contest for his favor between Vance and
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Speaker 1: Secretary of State Marco Rubio. He has openly mused that
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Speaker 1: the two would make a good joint ticket, and has
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Speaker 1: repeatedly declined to specify who he would prefer to see
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Speaker 1: at the top. Even as Trump buoyed his vice president
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Speaker 1: to donors in the Oval office, though he was still
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Speaker 1: peppering people around him with questions about Vance versus Rubio.
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Speaker 1: One White House official said the President quiz staff about
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Speaker 1: the two men on a Marine one ride late last month.
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Speaker 1: An advisor to the President with direct knowledge of Trump's
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Speaker 1: comment to the donors said that Trump has privately resolved
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Speaker 1: that Vance will be the heir to the GOP, but
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Speaker 1: that is it is too early to determine when Vance
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Speaker 1: will announce his candidacy or when Trump will publicly endorse him.
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Speaker 1: Six other Trump World advisors and allies, however, cautioned that
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Speaker 1: they aren't convinced the President has settled on Vance, noting
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Speaker 1: that Trump tells different things to different people and could
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Speaker 1: still change his mind about an endorsement for twenty twenty eight.
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Speaker 1: Trump aids widely agree that the President will delay endorsing
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Speaker 1: to avoid appearing to be a lame duck. Anyone assuming
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Speaker 1: it's a locke, is just getting way ahead of themselves
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Speaker 1: or just doesn't know the president very well, said the
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Speaker 1: official with knowledge of Trump's recent Vance Rubio poll on
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Speaker 1: Marine I. Vance has not confirmed his plans people who
2:34
Speaker 1: have spoken to him about the matter told The Washington
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Speaker 1: Post earlier this year that he had not yet made
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Speaker 1: a decision. One person close to Vance said he would
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Speaker 1: delay a call until after the birth of his fourth child,
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Speaker 1: who arrived July nineteen. Vance told CBS in June that
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Speaker 1: he would discuss the matter with his wife after the
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Speaker 1: mid terms, but said he had no doubt that the
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Speaker 1: President of the United States is going to be very
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Speaker 1: supportive of whatever decision he makes. He has repeatedly said
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Speaker 1: that he has focused on his current job and that
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Speaker 1: he is good friends with Rubio, but the prospect of
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Speaker 1: a succession fight has already generated some of the tensions
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Speaker 1: of a heated primary, with donors, activists, and other party
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Speaker 1: figures passionately speaking out for or against Vance. Much depends
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Speaker 1: on the midterms. A poor showing for Republicans could embolden
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Speaker 1: challengers to run against Trump's choice and be more critical
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Speaker 1: of his administration. Vance or Rubio could be vulnerable to
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Speaker 1: intra party attacks that Republicans would not levy against Trump himself,
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Speaker 1: a dynamic already on display online as right wing influencers
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Speaker 1: target the Vice president over the Iran war. Trump enjoys
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Speaker 1: game show style drama, and advisers said he is loath
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Speaker 1: to yield the spotlight to his preferred CCGLE accessor. The
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Speaker 1: President has had fun toying with Vance and Rubio, as
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Speaker 1: well as with the press, by hyping up the competition
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Speaker 1: for his blessing, much as he did when deciding on
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Speaker 1: his running mate between the same two men in twenty
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Speaker 1: twenty four. Trump has also delighted in floating himself for
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Speaker 1: a third presidential term, regularly sharing Trump twenty twenty eight
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Speaker 1: graphics on social media and joking about the prospect at rallies,
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Speaker 1: even as those close to him confirm he is not
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Speaker 1: serious about it. During the twenty twenty four running mate
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Speaker 1: contest and now Rubio had the bank the backing of
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Speaker 1: most pre Trump GOP donors. Vance is more aligned with
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Speaker 1: the younger MAGA coalition that returned Trump to power in
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Speaker 1: twenty twenty four, but is now at risk of fraying.
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Speaker 1: He has also spent his vice presidency developing relationships with
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Speaker 1: party benefactors to fundraise for the GOP. Vance has done
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Speaker 1: a lot of political work in the last year and
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Speaker 1: a half, said the Trump adviser with knowledge of his
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Speaker 1: recent comment to donors. Lately, Vance impressed Trump by negotiating
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Speaker 1: a June cease fire deal with Iran, leading a task
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Speaker 1: force to crack down on fraud and federal benefits, and
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Speaker 1: parrying a range of media interviews for his book tour
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Speaker 1: in June. The adviser said. Even though the ceasefire deal
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Speaker 1: collapsed in July, Vance advisers believed that his role in
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Speaker 1: the talks was still a political win. The agreement he
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Speaker 1: negotiated was popular, whereas voters widely disapprove of Trump's handling
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Speaker 1: of the war. Rubio, by contrast, has served in multiple
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Speaker 1: key administration roles, none of which lend themselves to politics
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Speaker 1: legally and logistically. A Secretary of State or a national
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Speaker 1: security advisor, or role Rubio also occupies, would not be
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Speaker 1: able to run for president while serving. Rubio recoils at
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Speaker 1: any discussion of twenty twenty eight and has recently reduced
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Speaker 1: his media availability to avoid facing more questions about it
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Speaker 1: that would inevitably stir further chatter, a person close to
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Speaker 1: him said. But Rubio's team briefly increased speculation about his
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Speaker 1: ambitions earlier this year, when they produced a widely shared
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Speaker 1: video of him giving a campaign style monologue while holding
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Speaker 1: a press briefing. In some internal conversations, the person said,
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Speaker 1: Rubio has alluded to his remaining time in office, implying
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Speaker 1: he intends to serve out the term. He does not
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Speaker 1: have a campaign in waiting or political operation ready to assemble.
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Speaker 1: The Trump adviser said that Trump still would like to
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Speaker 1: see Rubio on a joint ticket with Vance, and the
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Speaker 1: President regularly praises Rubio, but that is it is unclear
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Speaker 1: whether Rubio would actually want the role of Vance's running mate.
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Speaker 1: Arubio spokesman declined to comment. Iran says Hormuz deal with
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Speaker 1: Oman won't fully reopen straight by Susannah George. While Iran
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Speaker 1: and Oman appear to be nearing an agreement to manage
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Speaker 1: traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, Iranian officials are now
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Speaker 1: warning that the deal will not fully reopen the crucial waterway.
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Speaker 1: The news injected fresh uncertainty into negotiations that President Donald
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Speaker 1: Trump previously described positively. Oil prices jumped Thursday following Tehran's comments.
7:43
Speaker 1: Brent crude, the international benchmark, rose about four percent to
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Speaker 1: over eighty two dollars per barrel. Prices previously had fallen
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Speaker 1: about eight percent after the Trump administration expressed optimism over talks.
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Speaker 1: The status of the strait through a way which a
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Speaker 1: fifth of the world's oil travels, has emerged as one
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Speaker 1: of the most contentious issues between Iran and the United States.
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Speaker 1: Iran effectively closed the waterway, which connects the Persian Gulf
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Speaker 1: to the Indian Ocean and the wider world, days after
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Speaker 1: the United States and Israel launched their war in February. Now,
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Speaker 1: as the Trump administration pushes Iran to allow traffic through
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Speaker 1: the choke point to return to pre war levels, Tehran
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Speaker 1: is using its hold to extract further concessions. When Iran
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Speaker 1: and the United States agreed in June to halt fighting
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Speaker 1: and begin peace talks, it was the deal's vague language
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Speaker 1: regarding the strait that caused it to collapse. Iran and
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Speaker 1: Oman a US ally have agreed that incoming ships will
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Speaker 1: enter through Iranian territorial waters and outgoing ships will exit
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Speaker 1: through Omani waters. Tehran has said such an arrangement would
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Speaker 1: formalize Iranian control of the water. It's unclear whether the
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Speaker 1: Trump administration would accept it. Any temporary routes will be
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Speaker 1: without any impediments, meaning no approvals or permissions, and no
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Speaker 1: tolls or charges. A US official told The Washington Post
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Speaker 1: the Strait of Hormuz is an international waterway, and no
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Speaker 1: party controls the lanes or the ability to transit through them.
9:24
Speaker 1: The official spoke on the condition of anonymity under rules
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Speaker 1: set by the administration. Trump threatened Tehran's Sunday with the
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Speaker 1: biggest attacks since World War II, but said the following
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Speaker 1: day he had decided to give diplomacy more time. On Monday,
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Speaker 1: Trump said the talks were Iran's last chance at a deal.
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Speaker 1: On Tuesday, he said a lot of progress has been made.
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Speaker 1: Iran has denied being in direct talks with the United
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Speaker 1: States the negotiations with Oman, Tehran says are independent of Washington.
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Speaker 1: The discussions were approaching the final stage, Iranian Deputy Foreign
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Speaker 1: Minister Cousin Gharababadi said Wednesday, but he cautioned that Tehran
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Speaker 1: still has outstanding demands. The United States must end its
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Speaker 1: blockade of Iran's ports, address sanctions it imposed on Tehran
10:18
Speaker 1: after the truce collapsed, resumed talks over Iran's frozen assets,
10:24
Speaker 1: and address continued violence in Lebanon, where Hezbollah, a Tehran proxy,
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Speaker 1: is fighting with Israel, Garababadi said. According to Iran's state
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Speaker 1: run Islamic Republic News Agency, this understanding does not mean
10:40
Speaker 1: the complete opening of the Strait of Hormuz, but rather
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Speaker 1: a new and different model, Garababadi said. Under the new setup,
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Speaker 1: he said, a significant part of ship traffic would pass
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Speaker 1: through Iranian waters. Iran and Oman also discussed the establishment
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Speaker 1: of a joint coordination center between Iran and Oman to
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Speaker 1: direct maritime traffic, Garba Body said, in which the neighbors
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Speaker 1: would obtain the necessary information from vessels that want to
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Speaker 1: enter and exit. There was no mention of charging fees
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Speaker 1: or tolls in the summary the IRNA published of Garba
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Speaker 1: Body's remarks. Maritime lot forbids countries from imposing tolls for
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Speaker 1: the use of a naturally occurring strait, but Iranian officials
11:29
Speaker 1: said during previous stages of the conflict that they would
11:32
Speaker 1: look to charge a service fee. In the talks with Oman,
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Speaker 1: Reuters reported Wednesday, Iran is seeking fees of between five
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Speaker 1: and seven percent of the price of a ship's cargo.
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Speaker 1: If traffic returned to pre war levels, such a system
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Speaker 1: could generate fifty two million dollars per day or nineteen
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Speaker 1: billion dollars in the first year, according to Gregory Brew,
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Speaker 1: a senior analyst with the Eurasia Group. Over time, Brew
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Speaker 1: noted traffic is expected to decline as more countries build
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Speaker 1: out pipelines and other infrastructure that will allow them to
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Speaker 1: bypass the strait. Tehran and Washington are both under pressure
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Speaker 1: to reach an agreement. The U S blockade of Iranian
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Speaker 1: ports is delaying the country's economic recovery. Iran is already
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Speaker 1: displaying signs of growing economic pain that risks triggering social unrest.
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Speaker 1: The longer the strait is closed. Meanwhile, the greater the
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Speaker 1: risk of serious economic pain. In the United States. After
12:36
Speaker 1: the most recent violence, gas prices rose to over four
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Speaker 1: dollars a gallon. Analysts worn of future larger spikes as
12:44
Speaker 1: markets run out of ways to adapt to diminished supply.
12:53
Speaker 1: Under Trump, ninety percent of ambassador nominations have gone to
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Speaker 1: political supporters, by Adam Taylor, Apovra Mahajan, and Jenny Yee.
13:05
Speaker 1: The position of U S Ambassador to Egypt has been
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Speaker 1: held by a career diplomat for decades, but in June,
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Speaker 1: the Trump administration proposed a change, nominating a political donor
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Speaker 1: and lawyer who provided legal representation to rioters who attacked
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Speaker 1: the U. S Capital on January sixth, twenty twenty one.
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Speaker 1: Nick Oberheiden, forty eight, has no formal diplomatic experience. Born
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Speaker 1: in Germany, he has no public link to Egypt either. However,
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Speaker 1: his law firm has defended clients aligned with the administration,
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Speaker 1: and he has donated roughly one point three million dollars
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Speaker 1: to political committees that have supported President Donald Trump's re election.
13:48
Speaker 1: According to a Washington Post analysis of ambassador nominations and
13:52
Speaker 1: campaign finance data, the nomination illustrates how Trump, more than
13:58
Speaker 1: any president in recent history, is relying on wealthy donors
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Speaker 1: and political loyalists to fill ambassadorships at US embassies worldwide.
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Speaker 1: The Post analysis showed it comes as the president has
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Speaker 1: overseen a broader shake up at the State Department, marking
14:16
Speaker 1: a shift away from a political norms that have guided
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Speaker 1: American foreign policy for decades. Former diplomats and other observers
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Speaker 1: say Oberheiden did not respond to a request for comment,
14:30
Speaker 1: and as of Wednesday, the State Department had not published
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Speaker 1: a certificate of competency for him. Such documents are provided
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Speaker 1: to Congress to explain an individual's suitability for the role
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Speaker 1: to which they've been nominated. The Dallas based lawyer, whose
14:46
Speaker 1: clients often are involved in federal investigations, told d magazine
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Speaker 1: last year that he would love to serve as a
14:53
Speaker 1: diplomat and make a difference in peace negotiations. He's made
14:58
Speaker 1: deep connections in Republican politics. Mike Pompeo, Secretary of State
15:03
Speaker 1: in Trump's first administration, is listed as an affiliated lawyer
15:07
Speaker 1: on the website of Oberheiden's firm, and his social media
15:10
Speaker 1: pages show him interacting with the President, his family, and
15:14
Speaker 1: other senior administration officials. When asked about Trump's turn toward
15:20
Speaker 1: political donors for jobs typically held by career diplomats, Anna Kelly,
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Speaker 1: a White House spokeswoman, praised the president's foreign policy team
15:29
Speaker 1: and asserted in a written statement that all of his
15:32
Speaker 1: ambassadors are extraordinarily well qualified and have played an important
15:36
Speaker 1: role in advancing the America First agenda. Kelly did not
15:42
Speaker 1: address specific questions about Oberheiden or other donors nominated for ambassadorships.
15:49
Speaker 1: Dating to his first term as president, Trump has taken
15:52
Speaker 1: a disruptive approach to managing America's global interests and viewed
15:57
Speaker 1: some career diplomats as part of an adversarial deep state
16:01
Speaker 1: bent on impeding his foreign policy goals. Observers say he
16:06
Speaker 1: has relied heavily on friends and family, such as real
16:09
Speaker 1: estate magnate Steve Whitcoff and son in law Jared Kushner,
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Speaker 1: to advance his agenda in the second term. In selecting
16:18
Speaker 1: donors and loyalists for ambassadorships, the president is flouting a
16:23
Speaker 1: nineteen eighty law that states that only people with diplomatic
16:27
Speaker 1: experience should serve in such roles, and that these assignments
16:31
Speaker 1: should not be used as political patronage, but the law
16:35
Speaker 1: is seen as merely advisory due to the president's constitutional
16:40
Speaker 1: right to make political appointments. Set Ryan Scovell, a professor
16:44
Speaker 1: at Marquette University who has studied ambassador nominations. While presidents
16:50
Speaker 1: of both parties have rewarded some campaign donors with diplomatic postings,
16:55
Speaker 1: often reserving coveted slots for them in Western Europe or
16:58
Speaker 1: the Caribbean, Trump has named far more political nominees to
17:02
Speaker 1: posts traditionally held by career diplomats. The Posts analysis showed
17:07
Speaker 1: his administration also has left more than one hundred diplomatic
17:11
Speaker 1: missions without a confirmed leader, including key postings in Russia, Germany,
17:17
Speaker 1: and Saudi Arabia. Trump nominees awaiting Senate confirmation make up
17:22
Speaker 1: nearly a third of the vacancies, according to data maintained
17:25
Speaker 1: by the nonpartisan American Foreign Service Association. John Dinkleman, the
17:32
Speaker 1: afsea's president, said that while many political appointees perform well,
17:37
Speaker 1: government personnel with diplomatic experience are being passed over for
17:42
Speaker 1: candidates with political or financial ties to the president. There's
17:46
Speaker 1: a place for the benefactor on the hospital board. The
17:49
Speaker 1: problem comes when the benefactors outnumber the surgeons in the
17:53
Speaker 1: operating room, said Dinklemann, a former foreign service officer who
17:57
Speaker 1: served in Republican and Democratic admastdministrations. He was among hundreds
18:02
Speaker 1: of career diplomats forced out by the Trump administration last year.
18:08
Speaker 1: Of the one hundred two nominees put forward by the
18:10
Speaker 1: administration to fill ambassador positions as of Wednesday, ninety percent
18:15
Speaker 1: are political nominees. According to the Post's analysis of the
18:18
Speaker 1: AFSA's data, it's a significant break with recent president in
18:24
Speaker 1: each administration since President Gerald Fords, more than half of
18:28
Speaker 1: all ambassadorships went to career foreign service officers. Under President
18:34
Speaker 1: Joe Biden career officials accounted for sixty percent of ambassador
18:38
Speaker 1: nominees at this stage of his presidency. Of about ninety
18:43
Speaker 1: ambassadors now in office, less than a third twenty five
18:47
Speaker 1: our career diplomats most left over from the Biden administration.
18:52
Speaker 1: The data showed. A State Department spokesman, Tommy Piggott, confirmed
18:57
Speaker 1: that the Trump administration is well on track to have
19:01
Speaker 1: more political nominations confirmed in its first two years than
19:05
Speaker 1: the Biden administration had in the same period. If Oberheiden
19:11
Speaker 1: is confirmed for the egypt post, he would join other
19:14
Speaker 1: donors sent to an embassy long held by career diplomats
19:19
Speaker 1: in the Philippines. For instance, the US ambassador is Lee Lipton,
19:24
Speaker 1: owner of Benny's on the Beach, a restaurant in Palm Beach, Florida. Lipton,
19:29
Speaker 1: a friend of the president and member of his Mara
19:31
Speaker 1: A Lago club, donated roughly ten thousand dollars to Trump
19:35
Speaker 1: supporting political committees ahead of the twenty twenty four election.
19:39
Speaker 1: The Post analysis of campaign finance data showed Bernie Navarro,
19:44
Speaker 1: the US Ambassador to Peru, is a real estate investment
19:48
Speaker 1: firm executive from Florida who was a friend of and
19:51
Speaker 1: long standing donor to Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Navarro,
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Speaker 1: who donated tens of thousands of dollars to others Republican
20:00
Speaker 1: causes during the last election cycle, also made a one
20:04
Speaker 1: million dollar donation to Trump's inaugural committee after his re election.
20:08
Speaker 1: According to records Navarro provided to Congress, Manila and Lima
20:14
Speaker 1: have not hosted politically appointed US ambassadors in decades. The
20:19
Speaker 1: last one in Egypt was Richard H. Nolti, a Middle
20:23
Speaker 1: East academic who was nominated by President Lyndon B. Johnson,
20:27
Speaker 1: but served only a few weeks before his tenure was
20:29
Speaker 1: cut short by the nineteen sixty seven war. Lipton and
20:34
Speaker 1: Navarro did not respond to requests for comment. While the
20:38
Speaker 1: State Department is required to publish competency certificates for its candidates,
20:44
Speaker 1: critics argue they have become almost meaningless in the second
20:47
Speaker 1: Trump administration because the documents often lack information about the
20:51
Speaker 1: nominee's relevant experience and instead boast of the person's business success,
20:57
Speaker 1: said Kedrick Payne, senior director for FA at the advocacy
21:01
Speaker 1: group Campaign Legal Center. In response to questions about the
21:06
Speaker 1: competency certifications, the State Department said it was engaged with
21:11
Speaker 1: the Senate on what they may need to consider nominations.
21:16
Speaker 1: Supporters of political appointees say that in some cases, host
21:19
Speaker 1: nations prefer them. Trump has appointed trusted allies such as
21:24
Speaker 1: Tom Barrack and Sergio Gore to keep posts in Ancora, Turkey,
21:28
Speaker 1: and New Delhi, respectively, where both have gained reputations for
21:32
Speaker 1: having considerable sway in Washington. The administration also has said
21:38
Speaker 1: that the business experience of its nominees is a strength.
21:42
Speaker 1: All ambassadors undergo training before assuming their posts. However, some
21:47
Speaker 1: career diplomats say that this does not compare to decades
21:50
Speaker 1: of expertise and deep knowledge of a nation's language and society.
21:55
Speaker 1: When a coup breaks out or an earthquake hits at
21:58
Speaker 1: two a m that experience is the difference between a
22:01
Speaker 1: coordinated American response and an improvised one, Dinkleman said. In
22:08
Speaker 1: recent years, several donors turned ambassadors have been criticized by
22:12
Speaker 1: the State Department's Office and Inspector General, which has examined
22:16
Speaker 1: allegations of impropriety that range from making insensitive comments and
22:21
Speaker 1: improper spending to damaging relations with their host country. Senator
22:28
Speaker 1: Jean Shaheen of New Hampshire, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee's
22:32
Speaker 1: top democrat, accused the administration of retreating from the world
22:36
Speaker 1: stage by leaving ambassadorial postings vacant. China has ambassadors in
22:41
Speaker 1: nearly every country it has diplomatic relationships with, advancing its
22:45
Speaker 1: interests at the expense of America's, she said in a statement.
22:51
Speaker 1: A senior State Department official, speaking on the condition of
22:54
Speaker 1: anonymity to discuss internal planning, said the administration intends to
22:59
Speaker 1: amend RUMs rules governing senior level appointments that would allow
23:03
Speaker 1: for the faster promotion of qualified, though potentially more junior
23:07
Speaker 1: career officials. This change, in others would result in more
23:12
Speaker 1: career ambassadors, the officials said. Under Rubio, the State Department
23:18
Speaker 1: has laid off hundreds of career officials and dismantled entire offices.
23:23
Speaker 1: Key managerial positions at the agency's headquarters in Washington are
23:28
Speaker 1: now headed by political appointees with no prior foreign policy experience,
23:33
Speaker 1: some still in their twenties. But the different approach to
23:37
Speaker 1: America's ambassadorial positions may be the most public example of
23:42
Speaker 1: how the Trump administration has changed the face of American diplomacy.
23:47
Speaker 1: About a third of Trump's non career nominees have donated
23:51
Speaker 1: to committees aligned with him since twenty twenty three. According
23:54
Speaker 1: to the Post's analysis, this is similar to the Biden
23:59
Speaker 1: and first Trump administrations, but donors up for ambassadorships now
24:04
Speaker 1: have given far more money, about thirty five million dollars total,
24:08
Speaker 1: or more than double the combined donations to Biden and
24:11
Speaker 1: Trump previously. The analysis showed more than a dozen appointees
24:17
Speaker 1: have donated at least one million dollars since twenty twenty
24:20
Speaker 1: three to committees aligned with Trump, compared with just one
24:24
Speaker 1: during Biden's presidency and one during Trump's first term. According
24:28
Speaker 1: to the Posts analysis, Arkansas businessman Warren Stevens, who was
24:33
Speaker 1: confirmed as ambassador to Britain last year, donated more than
24:37
Speaker 1: nine million dollars alone to committees supporting Trump in that timeframe.
24:42
Speaker 1: The analysis showed other significant donors named to countries that
24:47
Speaker 1: had long been held by career diplomats include real estate
24:51
Speaker 1: mogul and philanthropist Melissa Argiros, who gave more than two
24:55
Speaker 1: million dollars to pro Trump committees according to the Post
24:58
Speaker 1: analysis of federal camp data. Ardiros now serves as US
25:03
Speaker 1: ambassador to Latvia, the first political appointee there since the
25:07
Speaker 1: George W. Bush administration. Piggott, the State Department spokesman, called
25:13
Speaker 1: any suggestion that Trump has awarded ambassadorships based on political
25:17
Speaker 1: donations a lazy, recycled narrative. Unlike the petitions that excuse me,
25:23
Speaker 1: Unlike the politicians of the past, he isn't bought by anyone,
25:27
Speaker 1: Piggott said. The United States is rare among developed nations
25:33
Speaker 1: in regularly selecting donors to lead diplomatic posts, even though
25:37
Speaker 1: the nineteen eighty Foreign Service Act was designed to curtail
25:40
Speaker 1: the practice. The oversize role of campaign funding in the
25:44
Speaker 1: United States makes it unlikely that Congress will challenge the issue,
25:49
Speaker 1: said Scoville, the Marquette professor. At least in some of
25:52
Speaker 1: these cases, the very individuals who are making donations to
25:56
Speaker 1: the president are also making donations to he said. Senate
26:06
Speaker 1: panel votes to hold Anthony Fauci in contempt of Congress
26:11
Speaker 1: by Dan Diamond and Annalys Roy. A Senate committee voted
26:16
Speaker 1: Thursday to hold Anthony S. Fauci in contempt of Congress
26:20
Speaker 1: after the long time infectious disease scientists declined to answer
26:24
Speaker 1: its questions and accused the Committee chairman Senator Ran Paul,
26:28
Speaker 1: Republican of Kentucky, of trying to wrongly and trap him.
26:33
Speaker 1: The panel voted eight to seven to hold Fauci, who
26:36
Speaker 1: helped lead the nation's response to the coronavirus pandemic, in
26:40
Speaker 1: contempt after he repeatedly invoked his Fifth Amendment right not
26:44
Speaker 1: to testify in a hearing before the Senate's Government Oversight
26:48
Speaker 1: Committee last week. Thursday's vote fell along party lines, with
26:53
Speaker 1: Republicans voting to hold Fauci in contempt. Democrats repeatedly attempted
26:59
Speaker 1: to delay the outcome and were voted down by the
27:01
Speaker 1: GOP majority. Two Democrats were absent and voted against the
27:06
Speaker 1: resolution by proxy. Paul reiterated that he plans to refer
27:11
Speaker 1: the matter directly to the Justice Department for potential prosecution.
27:15
Speaker 1: After the hearing, he told reporters that he didn't know
27:18
Speaker 1: whether the Department would act on the committee's referral, but
27:21
Speaker 1: that it would be hand delivered Thursday to the Attorney
27:24
Speaker 1: General and the US Attorney for the District of Columbia.
27:28
Speaker 1: The Justice Department, which is not obligated to prosecute Fauci,
27:32
Speaker 1: did not immediately respond to a request for comment. After
27:35
Speaker 1: the vote, but told The Washington Post last week that
27:38
Speaker 1: it seriously reviews all congressional referrals. Fauci has faced growing
27:45
Speaker 1: pressure and legal threats from Republicans, including Paul and others,
27:50
Speaker 1: who accused the eighty five year old doctor of covering
27:52
Speaker 1: up his agency's funding of risky coronavirus research in Wuhan, China,
27:58
Speaker 1: before the COVID nineteen virus went was first detected in
28:01
Speaker 1: Wuhan in late twenty nineteen. Fauci has dismissed the claims
28:05
Speaker 1: as preposterous, and his allies say that he has been
28:09
Speaker 1: appropriately transparent about virus funding and the possibility of a
28:13
Speaker 1: laboratory origin for the pandemic. At the beginning of Thursday's meeting,
28:18
Speaker 1: Paul argued that Fauchi had no legitimate reason to sidestep
28:22
Speaker 1: the committee's questions, in part because President Joe Biden issued
28:26
Speaker 1: a preemptive pardon to Fauci before Biden left office. Biden
28:30
Speaker 1: said that Fauchi had not committed wrongdoing, but was at
28:33
Speaker 1: risk of prosecution from the incoming Trump administration. Doctor Fauchi
28:39
Speaker 1: faced no risk of federal prosecution, Paul said, all he
28:43
Speaker 1: had to do was tell the truth. Senator Gary Peters
28:47
Speaker 1: of Michigan, the top Democrat on the panel, responded that
28:51
Speaker 1: the contempt vote would harm the committee's ability to conduct
28:54
Speaker 1: future investigations. The Committee's work depends on the legitimacy of
28:59
Speaker 1: our investigations and a recognition by witnesses, courts, and the
29:03
Speaker 1: public that Congress is exercising its powers dutifully, Peters said.
29:09
Speaker 1: The contempt resolution before us today puts all of that
29:12
Speaker 1: at risk. Peters also argued the full Senate, not just
29:17
Speaker 1: the Committee, should determine whether to refer the resolution to
29:20
Speaker 1: the Justice Department. It is unlikely the measure could clear
29:25
Speaker 1: the full Senate because it would need support from some
29:27
Speaker 1: Democrats to clear the sixty vote filibuster. David Schutler, a
29:33
Speaker 1: lawyer for Fauci, called Thursday's committee vote a crude political
29:37
Speaker 1: stunt intended to punish doctor Fauci for exercising his constitutional rights.
29:42
Speaker 1: It is shameful and wrong that Senator Paul is abusing
29:45
Speaker 1: his power by trying to weaponize the Justice Department against
29:49
Speaker 1: an honorable public servant, Schutler said in a statement. Asked
29:55
Speaker 1: by a reporter in the Oval office later Thursday, whether
29:58
Speaker 1: the Justice Department should prosecute Fauci. President Donald Trump pointed
30:03
Speaker 1: to the prosecutions of two former advisers, Stephen K. Bannon
30:07
Speaker 1: and Peter Navarro. The two men served jail time after
30:11
Speaker 1: the House voted to hold them in criminal contempt of
30:13
Speaker 1: Congress for defying congressional subpoenas related to the investigation into
30:18
Speaker 1: the January sixth, twenty twenty one attack on the Capitol
30:21
Speaker 1: by a pro Trump mob. Trump said he would have
30:25
Speaker 1: pardoned them. What Fauci did is far more serious than
30:29
Speaker 1: a lot of crimes, frankly, Trump said. Senator Ron Johnson,
30:34
Speaker 1: Republican of Wisconsin, on Wednesday night, said that he had
30:37
Speaker 1: obtained a copy of Fauci's government phone from the Trump
30:40
Speaker 1: administration ahead of the vote. Hopefully this device will address
30:45
Speaker 1: many of the questions he refused to answer it last
30:48
Speaker 1: week's hearing. Johnson, the chairman of the Senate's Permanent Subcommittee
30:52
Speaker 1: on Investigations, wrote on social media, Paul and Johnson have
30:57
Speaker 1: spent years criticizing Fauci's guide during the coronavirus pandemic, such
31:02
Speaker 1: as his encouragement of vaccine mandates and social distancing. Johnson
31:07
Speaker 1: had been seeking to obtain the retired government scientist's phone
31:11
Speaker 1: for months, according to two people who spoke on the
31:14
Speaker 1: condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly,
31:19
Speaker 1: The Department of Health and Human Services, now led by
31:22
Speaker 1: fellow Fauci critics, including Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Junior,
31:27
Speaker 1: turned over the copy of Fauci's phone. Johnson wrote on
31:30
Speaker 1: social media, the iPhone is a copy of the device
31:33
Speaker 1: Fauci used during his time at HHS. Johnson's office said
31:39
Speaker 1: HHS also turned over years of Fauci's personal diary entries
31:43
Speaker 1: that were collected from government servers, Kennedy and Paul have
31:47
Speaker 1: previously said. A representative for Fauci declined to comment. The
31:53
Speaker 1: Wall Street Journal first reported that Johnson had obtained a
31:56
Speaker 1: copy of Fauci's phone. The Health Department turned over a
32:00
Speaker 1: copy of Fauci's government phone as part of a larger
32:03
Speaker 1: collection of data accumulated from devices that the doctor used
32:07
Speaker 1: during his long government career, according to two people with
32:11
Speaker 1: knowledge of Lawmaker's investigation, who spoke on the condition of
32:15
Speaker 1: anonymity because they were not authorized to comment. Paul subpoenat
32:20
Speaker 1: Fauci earlier this year, saying that the longtime National Institutes
32:24
Speaker 1: of Health officials excuse me, saying that the longtime National
32:29
Speaker 1: Institutes of Health official had not been forthcoming about the
32:33
Speaker 1: possible laboratory origins of COVID nineteen, along with other pandemic matters.
32:39
Speaker 1: Fauci has denied Paul's allegations and has said he already
32:43
Speaker 1: sat for extensive interviews, including twenty one hours of testimony
32:47
Speaker 1: in twenty twenty four, with a House subcommittee investigating the
32:51
Speaker 1: government's pandemic response. The only conclusion I can reach is
32:56
Speaker 1: that the sole reason he is calling me before this
32:58
Speaker 1: committee is to get me to say say something, anything
33:01
Speaker 1: that could vindicate his repeated public pledges that I end
33:05
Speaker 1: up in his words behind bars, Fauchi said last week
33:09
Speaker 1: before announcing his plan to invoke the Fifth Amendment. Lawmakers
33:14
Speaker 1: in both parties have moved in recent years to hold
33:17
Speaker 1: current and former government officials in contempt of Congress, including
33:21
Speaker 1: the House votes to hold Bannon and Navarro in contempt
33:24
Speaker 1: of Congress in twenty twenty one. In twenty twenty two,
33:29
Speaker 1: the votes were largely along party lines, with Democrats and
33:32
Speaker 1: several Republicans voting to hold Bannon and Navarro in contempt
33:36
Speaker 1: and the remaining two hundred plus Republicans opposed. Both Bannon
33:42
Speaker 1: and Navarro claimed that their decisions not to testify were
33:45
Speaker 1: by Trump's invocation of executive privilege. House Republicans in twenty
33:50
Speaker 1: twenty three also teed up a contempt vote against then
33:54
Speaker 1: FBI Director Christopher A. Ray, but canceled it after reaching
33:58
Speaker 1: an agreement to reveal more details about allegations against Biden.
34:04
Speaker 1: The Senate has taken such action less frequently. In twenty
34:08
Speaker 1: twenty four, the Senate voted unanimously to hold Stewart Healthcare
34:12
Speaker 1: CEO Ralph de la Torre in criminal contempt of Congress
34:17
Speaker 1: for defying a congressional subpoena to testify, the first time
34:21
Speaker 1: since nineteen seventy one that the Senate had asked the
34:23
Speaker 1: Justice Department to pursue criminal contempt charges against an individual's
34:28
Speaker 1: lawmakers said. Democrats called Thursday's contempt vote against Fauci a
34:34
Speaker 1: disgraceful way to approach a career NIH scientist who spent
34:39
Speaker 1: more than five decades in public service. Fauci left government
34:43
Speaker 1: at the end of twenty twenty two. These attacks upon
34:46
Speaker 1: doctor Fauci, it's not just about him. Senator Andy Kim,
34:51
Speaker 1: Democrat of New Jersey said in last week's hearing, warning
34:54
Speaker 1: that the session was sending signals that other researchers, scientists,
34:59
Speaker 1: and healthcare workers could face a tax if they don't
35:02
Speaker 1: get in line with political priorities. Democrats have also said
35:08
Speaker 1: that Republicans wrongly handled their investigation of Fauci. Leading up
35:12
Speaker 1: to last week's hearing, Peters has accused Paul of not
35:16
Speaker 1: permitting Democrats to take part in a planned transcribed interview
35:20
Speaker 1: with Fauci earlier this year. Paul also has repeatedly said
35:24
Speaker 1: he believes that Fauchi belongs in prison. Rather than attempting
35:29
Speaker 1: to work together to pursue areas of shared concern, you
35:32
Speaker 1: have directed your investigative efforts at doctor Fauci in a
35:36
Speaker 1: manner that appears to be pursuing an outcome you have prejudged,
35:40
Speaker 1: Peters wrote to Paul in a June nine public letter.
35:45
Speaker 1: Peters has contrasted Paul's approach to Fauci with a bipartisan
35:49
Speaker 1: investigation of biosafety and potential laboratory leaks that the two
35:53
Speaker 1: senators launched in twenty twenty four when Peters was Committee chairman.
36:00
Speaker 1: Krats and Republicans have also disagreed over the purpose of
36:03
Speaker 1: last week's hearing, when Fauci invoked the Fifth Amendment more
36:06
Speaker 1: than one hundred times, Paul and other GOP lawmakers have
36:11
Speaker 1: said it was a necessary step for accountability around the
36:14
Speaker 1: government's pandemic response, and that Fauci's response demonstrated he was
36:19
Speaker 1: evading questions. Fauci's allies, Democratic lawmakers and others, including some
36:25
Speaker 1: Republicans who served with him in past administrations, asked whether
36:30
Speaker 1: it was appropriate for GOP lawmakers to spend several hours
36:34
Speaker 1: peppering Fauci with controversial questions he had already said he
36:38
Speaker 1: would not answer. One former GOP aid pointed to a
36:43
Speaker 1: twenty eleven ethics opinion issued by the District of Columbia Bar,
36:47
Speaker 1: an organization that guides lawyers on professional conduct. According to
36:52
Speaker 1: the dc Bar, Congressional staff, lawyers should not force a
36:56
Speaker 1: witness to testify if they will only invoke the Fifth
36:59
Speaker 1: Amendment because that creates a situation where a witness can
37:02
Speaker 1: be wrongly harassed and embarrassed. Senate Republicans last week publicly
37:09
Speaker 1: discussed whether Fauchie could be held in contempt for refusing
37:12
Speaker 1: to answer questions after making an opening statement. Senator James Langford,
37:17
Speaker 1: Republican of Oklahoma, noted a twenty thirteen episode in the
37:21
Speaker 1: House in which an IRS official made an opening statement
37:25
Speaker 1: and then invoked her Fifth Amendment right not to answer
37:28
Speaker 1: questions about whether her agency had wrongly targeted conservative groups.
37:33
Speaker 1: The GOP led House concluded that the official had waived
37:36
Speaker 1: her Fifth Amendment rights by making an opening statement, and
37:40
Speaker 1: she was ultimately found in contempt. Kimberly Ham, who served
37:46
Speaker 1: as general counsel to then House Speaker Kevin mc carthy
37:50
Speaker 1: and is now a partner at Morrison Forster, questioned whether
37:53
Speaker 1: Fauchie's opening statement was sufficient grounds to bring a contempt charge.
37:58
Speaker 1: It's hard for me to see that he substantively waived
38:01
Speaker 1: his Fifth Amendment rights, she said, noting the brevity of
38:04
Speaker 1: his comments. Ham also said that Senate committees conducting investigations
38:11
Speaker 1: had additional tools, such as providing immunity to witnesses, that
38:15
Speaker 1: could have helped Paul get answers from Fauci. An immunity
38:20
Speaker 1: order would allow you to get that information, and it
38:22
Speaker 1: would give the witness some comfort, said Ham. White House
38:30
Speaker 1: drafting order on vaccine's autism, despite Poster's warnings by Rachel
38:37
Speaker 1: Rubin Lena H. Sun and Dan Diamond, White House officials
38:42
Speaker 1: are drafting an executive order focused on the childhood vaccine
38:46
Speaker 1: schedule and autism. According to four people familiar with the matter,
38:51
Speaker 1: the order would continue to spotlight a divisive issue that
38:55
Speaker 1: Republican posters have warned Carrie's political risk ahead of November's
38:59
Speaker 1: midterm elections, and would follow the confirmation of a new
39:03
Speaker 1: CDC director who has promised to uphold the scientific integrity
39:07
Speaker 1: of the agency. The aim is to focus on the
39:11
Speaker 1: vaccine schedule, research around autism, and parental choice, according to
39:16
Speaker 1: three people familiar with the matter, who, like others, spoke
39:20
Speaker 1: on the condition of anonymity to share internal deliberations. Further
39:24
Speaker 1: details and timing of the order remain unclear, and it
39:28
Speaker 1: is subject to change. The effort underscores President Donald Trump's
39:33
Speaker 1: determination to elevate vaccine policy within the administration, even as
39:39
Speaker 1: a federal judge has halted Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy
39:42
Speaker 1: Junior's sweeping overhaul on this front, including changes to the
39:46
Speaker 1: childhood immunization schedule. The development also comes after a Federal
39:52
Speaker 1: Advisory Committee on Autism last month released a draft update
39:57
Speaker 1: to a federal Strategic plan that sets priority for autism
40:01
Speaker 1: research and serves as a blueprint for federal research funding.
40:05
Speaker 1: In a statement Thursday, White House spokesman Kush Desai said
40:09
Speaker 1: President Trump has been clear America must have the best
40:13
Speaker 1: childhood vaccine schedule in the world. He added, the administration
40:18
Speaker 1: remains steadfastly committed to delivering on this presidential priority with
40:22
Speaker 1: gold standard science for the countless parents whose questions and
40:26
Speaker 1: concerns about vaccinations have been ignored or mocked. Trump has
40:32
Speaker 1: questioned whether the number of childhood vaccines can cause autism,
40:37
Speaker 1: despite decades of research finding no link. At a cabinet
40:41
Speaker 1: meeting last week, Trump asked Kennedy for an update on
40:44
Speaker 1: autism research. We will have an answer for you, Kennedy replied. Kennedy,
40:51
Speaker 1: the founder of a prominent anti vaccine group, has long
40:55
Speaker 1: disparaged vaccines and argued they have not been properly studied,
40:59
Speaker 1: including during an appearance on CNN over the weekend. The
41:04
Speaker 1: comments have alarmed medical experts, who say commonly administered shots
41:08
Speaker 1: are safe and effective. In recent months, Kennedy has publicly
41:13
Speaker 1: leaned into his Health Department's quest to improve food and
41:17
Speaker 1: drug pricing instead of vaccines, but behind the scenes. Kennedy's
41:22
Speaker 1: allies are continuing work to reshape the federal apparatus guiding vaccines,
41:27
Speaker 1: including crafting studies to research a wide range of vaccine
41:30
Speaker 1: related questions, including whether routine immunizations are linked to autism,
41:36
Speaker 1: autoimmune disorders, and other medical conditions. After a federal judge
41:42
Speaker 1: halted the Department of Health and Human Services reduction of
41:45
Speaker 1: immunizations in the childhood schedule, the Trump administration released an
41:49
Speaker 1: executive order in late May directing the Health Department to
41:53
Speaker 1: realign the schedule with other developed countries that recommend fewer shots.
41:58
Speaker 1: It was not immediately clear how the new executive order
42:01
Speaker 1: would differ from the earlier directive. Trump last year announced
42:07
Speaker 1: moves that he said would combat the rise of autism
42:10
Speaker 1: in the United States. The president in September warned pregnant
42:14
Speaker 1: mothers against taking tailanol and touted the potential of lucivorin
42:19
Speaker 1: as an autism treatment. I told them we have to
42:23
Speaker 1: find out the causes of the condition, Trump said, flanked
42:27
Speaker 1: by Kennedy and other administration officials at the White House.
42:32
Speaker 1: The warnings from Trump and US health officials on acedamnifin,
42:36
Speaker 1: the active ingredient in tailanol, and hundreds of other medications
42:41
Speaker 1: represented a major shift in public health guidance. Research has
42:45
Speaker 1: yet to bear out the president's claims on tailanol and
42:48
Speaker 1: lucivorin Trump as privately questioned why his administration has yet
42:54
Speaker 1: to release new recommendations on vaccines and urged his deputies
42:58
Speaker 1: to move faster. Ording to two people who spoke on
43:01
Speaker 1: the condition of anonymity to describe internal discussions, the Wall
43:05
Speaker 1: Street Journal first reported that Trump was pushing to prioritize
43:09
Speaker 1: the study of vaccines and autism. It's a personal issue
43:13
Speaker 1: for him, said one of the people. An administration official
43:17
Speaker 1: with knowledge of Trump's comments. Trump has repeatedly invoked his
43:21
Speaker 1: own theories on the rise in autism, shaped by conversations
43:25
Speaker 1: with friends and advocates. Trump has previously said that he
43:29
Speaker 1: and his wife, First Lady Milania Trump, deliberately spaced out
43:34
Speaker 1: childhood vaccines for their twenty year old son, Baron. Trump
43:39
Speaker 1: has repeatedly pressed Kennedy on his agency's autism efforts in
43:42
Speaker 1: public cabinet meetings, including five minutes of back and forth
43:46
Speaker 1: during an October meeting. I'm addressing it the best I
43:50
Speaker 1: can as a non doctor, but I'm a man of
43:52
Speaker 1: common sense, Trump said. Then on Wednesday, the Senate confirmed
43:58
Speaker 1: Erika Schwartz to helm the Hunters for Disease Control and Prevention,
44:02
Speaker 1: which makes recommendations on vaccines. The CDC has been without
44:07
Speaker 1: a permanent leader for most of Trump's second term. Susan Manares,
44:12
Speaker 1: who served in the role for less than a month,
44:14
Speaker 1: told senators she was fired last year after Kennedy pressured
44:18
Speaker 1: her to support changes to the childhood vaccine schedule. During
44:22
Speaker 1: her confirmation hearing, Schwartz was repeatedly pressed by senators on
44:27
Speaker 1: whether she would defend the CDC's scientific integrity if political
44:32
Speaker 1: directors con directives conflicted with the evidence. She pledged that
44:38
Speaker 1: she would never betray the science, but stopped short of
44:41
Speaker 1: saying she would publicly oppose Kennedy if he directed the
44:45
Speaker 1: agency to take actions she believed were unsupported by scientific evidence.
44:50
Speaker 1: Schwartz said she had not reviewed a CDC web page
44:54
Speaker 1: that suggests a connection between childhood vaccines and autism, and
44:58
Speaker 1: declined to say whether it should be be removed. She said, however,
45:02
Speaker 1: that the existing medical evidence does not support a link.
45:07
Speaker 1: In July, the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee released a three
45:11
Speaker 1: hundred thirty six page draft strategic plan. Some advocates say
45:16
Speaker 1: the draft from the Federal Autism Advisory Committee shifts the
45:20
Speaker 1: field toward investigating autism as a result of medical injury,
45:25
Speaker 1: despite decades of research showing that autism is primarily rooted
45:28
Speaker 1: in genetics and early brain development. Although the plan does
45:33
Speaker 1: not explicitly identify vaccines as a cause of autism, critics
45:37
Speaker 1: say references to a potential exposure or biological event that
45:42
Speaker 1: might lead to autism echoes the framework, long advanced by
45:46
Speaker 1: Kennedy and others who have promoted the debunct claim that
45:50
Speaker 1: vaccines cause autism. The Autism Advisory Committee was reconstituted earlier
45:57
Speaker 1: this year by Kennedy, who appoints members who have echoed
46:01
Speaker 1: his controversial views and advocated for unproven treatments. The draft
46:07
Speaker 1: strategic Plan doesn't mention or describe the cause of medical injury,
46:11
Speaker 1: but we can read between the lines, said Allison Singer,
46:15
Speaker 1: president of the Autism Science Foundation. The President and the
46:19
Speaker 1: HHS Secretary have been very vocal in the past about
46:23
Speaker 1: their belief that vaccines cause autism, as of several public
46:27
Speaker 1: members of the new federal IACC in their past statements,
46:31
Speaker 1: despite overwhelming scientific evidence to the contrary, Singer said, the
46:37
Speaker 1: concern is less about what the draft says than the
46:40
Speaker 1: research agenda it establishes. Current research suggests that autism is
46:46
Speaker 1: largely written into our biology. Scientists have identified hundreds of
46:51
Speaker 1: genetic variants that collectively shape the developing brain. The evidence
46:56
Speaker 1: now points more clearly in one direction. Autism begins before
47:01
Speaker 1: birth and is not caused by vaccines or any single
47:05
Speaker 1: environmental factor. Vaccines are the one environmental factor that have
47:10
Speaker 1: been studied most extensively, she said, and large studies across
47:14
Speaker 1: multiple countries have found no evidence that they cause autism.
47:20
Speaker 1: But an executive order linking childhood vaccines to autism could
47:25
Speaker 1: be viewed as providing back up ammunition and another legal document,
47:30
Speaker 1: one administration official said on background to revisit vaccine related
47:35
Speaker 1: research in a final version of the strategic plan. Kennedy
47:40
Speaker 1: is slated to visit the Atlanta based CDC on Friday,
47:44
Speaker 1: where he will participate in a ceremony marking the first
47:47
Speaker 1: anniversary of a gunman spraying hundreds of bullets at the
47:51
Speaker 1: agency's headquarters. Investigators said the gunmen appeared motivated by distrust
47:57
Speaker 1: of coronavirus vaccines. This is chaos water emergency in Puerto
48:07
Speaker 1: Rico leaves some desperate by Stella Canino Quignones For over
48:14
Speaker 1: a month, Nouria Victoria Escallea, fifty, did not have running
48:19
Speaker 1: water in her community in Pignones, a coastal Louisa, Puerto
48:24
Speaker 1: Rico neighborhood about fifteen minutes away from the San Juan Airport,
48:29
Speaker 1: known for its fritters, turquoise beaches, and Afro Puerto Rican
48:33
Speaker 1: dance Bamba. Escallera's source of water is whatever arrives at
48:38
Speaker 1: her door first. Some days it's the municipality's water tanker trucks,
48:44
Speaker 1: other times its packs of bottled water from the local government.
48:48
Speaker 1: She says the soup kitchen can't reliably cook for those
48:51
Speaker 1: in need. The community summer camp depends on donations to
48:55
Speaker 1: buy water for attendees. Business owners have paid for their
48:59
Speaker 1: own water trucks to help their neighbors. When the water
49:03
Speaker 1: does arrive and taps across the region, the pressure is
49:06
Speaker 1: too low for it to be more than a trickle.
49:09
Speaker 1: Residents have been forced to choose between washing dishes, taking
49:13
Speaker 1: a shower, or filling buckets to flush toilets. For the
49:18
Speaker 1: past year, the San Juan region affected by the outages,
49:22
Speaker 1: with just shy of one million residents has faced increased
49:26
Speaker 1: water interruptions and issues with low water pressure. In June,
49:30
Speaker 1: more than one hundred twenty thousand clients of the Puerto
49:33
Speaker 1: Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority pr ASA had their taps
49:38
Speaker 1: run dry after three major ruptures were found in a
49:42
Speaker 1: key pipeline. Government officials attribute the issues to years of
49:47
Speaker 1: maintenance problems and aging infrastructure, but there is also a
49:51
Speaker 1: growing rift within Puerto Rico's governing party, with one faction
49:55
Speaker 1: accusing another of exacerbating the issues by meddling in the
49:59
Speaker 1: management of the water utility. Now in the heart of
50:04
Speaker 1: hurricane season, while the island continues to deal with electrical
50:08
Speaker 1: issues caused by Hurricane Maria in twenty seventeen, some residents
50:12
Speaker 1: are getting desperate. Some have resorted to building their own infrastructure,
50:18
Speaker 1: hoping to reopen historical wells that have supplied their community
50:22
Speaker 1: with drinking water since the sixteen hundreds. We have always
50:26
Speaker 1: adopted an attitude that we have to do things for
50:29
Speaker 1: ourselves because we can't depend on any one or anything,
50:33
Speaker 1: Escala said. We are resigned to the fact that our
50:36
Speaker 1: needs are always sidelined and not addressed. She's waiting to
50:40
Speaker 1: get well installed too. Puerto Rico is a US territory
50:46
Speaker 1: and residents are US citizens, but it has only one
50:50
Speaker 1: non voting representative in Congress. Although two pieces of federal
50:54
Speaker 1: legislation have been introduced that would address aspects of the
50:58
Speaker 1: water crisis, neither has advanced to a vote in the House.
51:04
Speaker 1: The island archipelago has also been facing a drought since June.
51:08
Speaker 1: Governor Jennifer Gonzalez Cologne declared a state of emergency on
51:12
Speaker 1: July thirty one and activated the National Guard to help
51:16
Speaker 1: distribute and transport water, the second time the Guard was
51:20
Speaker 1: activated this summer due to water issues. Reservoir levels are
51:24
Speaker 1: so low that water rations are in place for the
51:27
Speaker 1: San Juan region starting on Friday. The June rupture in
51:32
Speaker 1: a fifty mile super pipeline imperiled water access in communities
51:36
Speaker 1: around San Juan, including wealthy and lower income neighborhoods, as
51:41
Speaker 1: well as tourist heavy locations where vacation spending helps bolster
51:45
Speaker 1: Puerto Rico's economy. Residents said they are all too familiar
51:50
Speaker 1: with losing water services due to seasonal droughts or heavy storms,
51:55
Speaker 1: but the last year has brought additional challenges. In July
51:59
Speaker 1: twenty one, twenty five, a rupture was found on the
52:02
Speaker 1: pipeline that transports water from the Caraiso Dam to the
52:06
Speaker 1: Sergio Cuevas filtration plant that serves the San Juan area.
52:11
Speaker 1: More than one hundred eighty thousand customers were without service
52:14
Speaker 1: for four days. In October twenty twenty five, a rupture
52:19
Speaker 1: in another area left one hundred ninety thousand clients without water,
52:23
Speaker 1: some for a week. In February, the motors of one
52:27
Speaker 1: of the pumps that the dam broke down, leaving forty
52:30
Speaker 1: four thousand customers without water, some for up to two weeks.
52:35
Speaker 1: Access to drinking water is not a privilege, a convenience,
52:38
Speaker 1: or a luxury. It is an essential service and an inescapable,
52:42
Speaker 1: non delicable responsibility of the state. San Juan Mayor Miguel
52:47
Speaker 1: Romero said in a recent special hearing, calling the situation
52:52
Speaker 1: a disgrace. The city declared a state of emergency last
52:56
Speaker 1: year and activated a call center and water delivery services
53:00
Speaker 1: to homes and businesses. He said, over six point nine
53:05
Speaker 1: million gallons of water have been distributed since the start
53:08
Speaker 1: of the emergency. According to a statement from the city,
53:11
Speaker 1: of San Juan. The water truck delivery service, has responded
53:15
Speaker 1: to thirteen thousand, three hundred requests for assistance. Romero said
53:21
Speaker 1: the city went to the management of PRASA, the public
53:24
Speaker 1: utility company that provides water to one point two million clients,
53:28
Speaker 1: to discuss concerns, but Romero said city officials have been
53:33
Speaker 1: met consistently with institutional arrogance and lack of urgency. San
53:40
Speaker 1: Juan filed a lawsuit against the utility company in May
53:44
Speaker 1: to demand greater transparency regarding service issues. It sought periodic
53:49
Speaker 1: reports about restoration and interruptions, judicial oversight via a monitor
53:54
Speaker 1: or special commissioner, and a comprehensive plan to identify and
53:59
Speaker 1: mitigate the pro problems. The parties reached a settlement in
54:03
Speaker 1: June that included a joint committee to investigate and address
54:06
Speaker 1: the shortages, access to operational information and data, the city's personnel,
54:12
Speaker 1: inspections of equipment and facilities, and a three hundred sixty
54:16
Speaker 1: three thousand, three hundred eight dollars reimbursement. Still, there is
54:21
Speaker 1: no agreement on whom to blame or how to move forward.
54:27
Speaker 1: Members of the New Progressive Party, the party that controls
54:31
Speaker 1: Puerto Rico's legislative branch have focused their anger at Luis
54:35
Speaker 1: Gonsalez Delgado, pr ASA's executive president. A few months after
54:41
Speaker 1: being appointed to his role in twenty twenty five, Gonsales
54:45
Speaker 1: Delgado removed Roberto Martinez Tolelo, the utilities regional director for
54:51
Speaker 1: San Juan, from his role. San Juan officials in the
54:55
Speaker 1: lawsuit against pr ASA connected the timing of the water
54:59
Speaker 1: crisis to Martinez Toledo's exit from the company. In a
55:04
Speaker 1: Senate committee meeting room in San Juan last month, lawmakers
55:08
Speaker 1: and government officials gathered for a public hearing with the
55:11
Speaker 1: utility company president about the ongoing water issues. Gonzales Delgado
55:17
Speaker 1: said he removed Martinez Toledo because he wasn't aligned with
55:21
Speaker 1: utility leadership on how to address service issues. He specifically
55:26
Speaker 1: alleged failures to install critical infrastructure and complete maintenance and
55:31
Speaker 1: capital improvements during Martinez Toledo's tenure tenure, we are dealing
55:37
Speaker 1: with critical infrastructure that has seen decades of use, Gonzales
55:41
Speaker 1: Delgado said. Its accumulated deterioration required sustained attention and investment
55:48
Speaker 1: over many years. Attenchment, attention and investment that were withheld
55:53
Speaker 1: for too long. San Juan officials, however, argued in the
55:58
Speaker 1: lawsuit that the loss of Martin Nis Toledo's knowledge has
56:01
Speaker 1: hampered service restoration. He declined to comment through a San
56:05
Speaker 1: Juan spokesperson. Engineer Martinez Toledo believes that this is not
56:11
Speaker 1: the time to open another public controversy. City spokesperson Betsy
56:15
Speaker 1: Nasario said in a statement, adding that the allegations do
56:19
Speaker 1: not accurately reflect the facts. During the hearing, another pipeline broke,
56:26
Speaker 1: leaving thirty six thousand customers without service for a day.
56:32
Speaker 1: Tanisha Gaspard Clemente founded pa Ye, a nonprofit organization in
56:38
Speaker 1: Pignones to help provide education services to neighborhood children after
56:43
Speaker 1: the elementary school closed in twenty seventeen. The organization also
56:48
Speaker 1: provides social programs for the elderly and mothers, as well
56:51
Speaker 1: as a community soup kitchen for ten months a year.
56:55
Speaker 1: The soup kitchen serves one hundred lunches a week from
56:58
Speaker 1: August to May, when it halt service to focus space
57:01
Speaker 1: and funds for its children's summer program. Now, the nonprofit
57:06
Speaker 1: is struggling while water access remains unstable. When the neighborhood
57:11
Speaker 1: lacked consistent water access for a month. Earlier this year,
57:15
Speaker 1: the organization reopened the Soup Kitchen to address food insecurity
57:19
Speaker 1: in the community, but it closed after one week due
57:23
Speaker 1: to limited water to run both the kitchen and the
57:26
Speaker 1: summer program. That concludes this Friday's reading of stories from
57:34
Speaker 1: the Washington Post. My name is Jane, and it's been
57:38
Speaker 1: my pleasure to read for you.