Transcript

9.23.25 · Washington Post

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Speaker 1: Welcome to the reading of the Washington Post for Tuesday,
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September twenty third, twenty twenty five. As a reminder, Radio
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I is a reading service intended for people who are
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blind or have other disabilities that make it difficult to
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read printed material. Your reader for to day is Cindy Fraser.
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To day's front page headlines from the Washington Post are
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how Biden tik tok law became a Trump when statute
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force the app's sail, but new owners are likely to
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be MAGA allies. Next, France defies Trump recognizes state of Palestine.
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Rubio had sought to kill multi country initiative at u
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N General Assembly our next headline, Trump links Tayalinaw autism.
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No firm evidence of a connection. Claims about a potential
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therapy also raise alarms. Next Justices allow firing of la
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as FTC Democrat High Court will review Congress's power to
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set up independent agencies. Next, Disney returns Kimmel Late Night
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Show to ABC. Program will be back Tuesday after suspension
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following Kirk's killing. And the final headline from today's front page,
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a secret cemetery comes to light. Effort begins to restore
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a neglected Maryland burial site of two hundred thirty black boys. Now,
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let's turn to our first item entitled how Biden tik
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Tok law became a Trump when statute forced the app sail,
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but new owners are likely to be Maga allies by
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Jew Harwell and Eva dou. When President Joe Biden signed
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a law last year forcing the sale of tik Tok,
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top democrats and China Hawks heralded it as a triumph.
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Four years earlier, Donald Trump tried and failed during his
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first term in the White House to push through a
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similar measure, but the Biden administration worked aggressively with Congress
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to craft a law officials said would sever all risks
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of political influence from China, where TikTok's owner by Dance
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is based. Now, some critics of an extraordinary deal to
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spin off a US version of TikTok say that effort
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has backfired. The app's recommendation algorithm will remain in by
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Dance's hands under the proposal, undermining one of the Biden
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team's central justifications for the law. TikTok's new owners are
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likely to include corporate interests tied to some of Trump's
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most prominent backers, including Larry Allison, jeff Yass, and Rupert Murdoch,
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who some fear could exert their own political influence. China
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even eked out its own kind of win in the process,
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hitching the company to broader negotiations with the United States
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regarding concessions on tariffs and trade. The wildly popular video
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app will soon be spun off into a new US
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joint venture mostly owned by American investors who quote are
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patriotic and love America, a senior White House official said Monday.
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A consortium of investors from the tech giant Oracle, the
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investment group silver Lake, and other groups will own about
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eighty percent of the company under the deal, which is
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not yet finalized but for which China and the US
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have confirmed their general support. Trump is expected to sign
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an executive order this week declaring that the deal, largely
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negotiated by administration officials, will be a qualified divestiture, satisfying
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the Biden Law's requirements to allow TikTok to continue operating
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in the US. That order could serve as an ignoble
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funeral for the Biden Law, which followed years of back
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room regulatory work, congressional hearings, and an endorsement from the
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Supreme Court, only to end with a social media platform
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more deeply linked to Trump's allies than ever. Biden's team
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had argued that TikTok, with one hundred seventy million US users,
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was too powerful to remain in Chinese hands, saying its
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extensive stores of US user data and for you recommendation
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algorithm could be misused to boost propaganda and undermine free expression.
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TikTok denied any such capability, including before the Supreme Court.
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A person familiar with TikTok strategy, whose book on the
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condition of anonymity to discuss internal details, said the apps policies,
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algorithm reviews, and trust and safety teams are all designed
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to prevent political manipulation and will continue operating after the
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US spinoff, but the lack of transparency in the process
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has raised concerns among civil liberty experts about political manipulation
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from a different quarter, the Trump administration and its political backers.
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David Green, a direct at the digital rights group Electronic
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Frontier Foundation, said in a statement that the law has
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only resulted in turning over the platform to allies of
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a president who seems to have no respect for the
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First Amendment. Emma L. Bryant, a visiting associate professor at
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the University of Notre Dame who researches influence and propaganda,
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said the heavy involvement of the White House in the
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private company's affairs raised the possibility that Trump was cherry
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picking the board, making deals with his buddies, and creating
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a media monopoly to keep himself in power. The government
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has basically forced this company into American ownership, so it's
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playing a role in what the company will be, she said,
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Where does that line stop? Brian said she worried that
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the new company could politicize its content moderation decisions in
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a way that would bolster pro Trump viewpoints and suppress criticism,
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a parallel to the argument TikTok critics may aid against
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China before the law passed last year with bipartisan support.
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Similar concerns have also been expressed about Elon Musk, the
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billionaire owner of X, and Larry Ellison's son David Ellison,
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the new owner of CBS. It's incredibly troubling how quickly
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media moguls are capturing information space at a time when
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there's a crackdown on speech. More broadly. Brian said they're
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grabbing and seeking to control more and more of the
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infrastructure through which political debate happens. After Biden signed the
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law requiring by Dance to sell the app or have
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it be banned in the US, Trump pledged repeatedly to
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quote save TikTok, saying he had become a big star
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on the app, which he tried to ban during his
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first presidency. On the first day of his second term,
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Trump signed an executive order he is first of four,
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commanding his administration to not enforce the TikTok law. Since January,
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TikTok has remained operational in the US, while the negotiating team,
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led by Vice President j d Vance has worked with
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by Dance and Chinese officials toward a quasi takeover deal
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that would allow the app to stay online. During that time,
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investors have flooded the White House expressing interest in the deal,
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including officials from Murdoch's Fox Corps. According to two people
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familiar with the negotiations who spoke on the condition of
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anonymity to discuss confidential talks. Trump sued Murdoch and others
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in July over a story in a different media property
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he owns The Wall Street Journal, after it reported on
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a two thousand three birthday letter in Drawing that Trump
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allegedly gave to Jeffrey Epstein. The lawsuit is ongoing. Decisions
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on who will get to buy into the final deal
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have been made by White House negotiators, not by by Dance,
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whose share of the new TikTok spin off will shrink
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under the deal to just below twenty percent. Some of
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by Dance's institutional investors will get a share of the
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spin off, including Susquehanna International Group, whose co founder Yas
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gave millions to support Trump's re election campaign. The person said.
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One of the new investors, Oracle, will also retain a
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role as TikTok's security provider, hosting Americans user data and
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employing algorithm reviewers to audit the app's underlying code. Larry Ellison,
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Oracle's co founder, is an outspoken Trump's supporter and one
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of the world's richest people. Rushtoshi, a former Biden national
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security official now at the Council on Foreign Relations think tank,
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said the process had the appearance of crony capitalism because
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of how much Trump allies stood to gain The TikTok
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deal doesn't look open to all market participants, he said.
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It seems like it's mostly open to those close to
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the administration already, including its political supporters. By Dance will
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duplicate the recommendation algorithm, retrain it on US user data,
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and license it for use in the spun Off app,
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the White House official said, arguing that the oracle overseen
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arrangement would neutralize any risk of Chinese interference. The app
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will be overseen by a seven member board of directors
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with national security and cybersecurity experience. ByteDance will get to
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install one of its own representatives, but the US government
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will not, the White House official said. The names of
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all investors and board members have not yet been disclosed.
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Arati Prabhakar, Biden's science and tech advisor, said she worried
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that significant authoritarian dangers would still exist under the new structure.
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Why would we trust the licensed technology from by Dance
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anymore under this scenario, Why do we want a presidentially
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appointed board determining an algorithm for one company, she asked.
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The US government is expected to receive a transaction fee
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worth billions of dollars as part of the deal. One
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person familiar with the process. Trump demanded a similar payout
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during a failed attempt to force the app sale in
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twenty twenty, saying a quote very large percentage of the
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company's price tag should be paid into the US Treasury.
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Trumps signing of the order later this week, the White
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House official said, would initiate another one hundred twenty day
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pause of the law, during which by Dance would sign
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a framework agreement naming the new investors. The White House
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officials said they were one hundred percent confident China will
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approve the deal, but acknowledge that some hurdles remained, including
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regulatory and antitrust reviews on the Chinese and US sides.
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TikTok is one of the most influential media platforms in
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the US, playing a growing role in how Americans of
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all ages, but especially the young, learn about current events,
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follow influential figures, and participate in political debates. Top Democrats
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and Republicans have invested in accounts there with the hopes
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it could boost them in future elections, and Trump, whose
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White House just made in account, has said it helped
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him win the twenty twenty four race from China side. However,
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the app is part of a social media industry that
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is seen as less important economically and geopolitically than sectors
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such as artificial intelligence or manufacturing. Tech analyst Ruim said
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Beijing officials have for years criticized the robber's logic that
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Washington used to force the app's sale, saying it showed
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America's hypocrisy in declaring China a heavy handed and kleptocratic state.
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But the app's fate did offer a Chinese negotiator's real
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value as a bargaining ship, especially given Trump's robust pledges
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to save the app, said Ma founder of the research
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firm tek Buzz China. In the US, TikTok is a cultural, commercial,
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and political force that Washington wants full control over. For Beijing,
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TikTok itself as far less important, she said. What matters
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in US China negotiations are structural issues such as barriers
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to trade and capital flows, which directly shaped the Chinese
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economy and people's livelihoods. These are much more important to
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both the government and ordinary citizens than the fate of
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an overseas app. Though the senior White House official characterized
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some of the negotiations as tough and Treasury Secretary Scott
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Bessens said they included aggressive asks. The White House has
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yet to say what terms were reached to help save
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the deal after months avowing to block any deal, Chinese
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officials last week said recent talks in Spain between the
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two superpowers had been in depth and constructive, and expressed
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tentative support for a deal based on mutual respect. Nicholas Burns,
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the former US Ambassador to China who stepped down in January,
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welcomed the planned meeting between Trump and Chinese President Jijinping
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next month in South Korea, but said he hoped the
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administration would not agree to diminish the strong actions Biden
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took to, for instance, block the sale to China of
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advanced American technologies that could help the Chinese military compete
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against the US in the Indo Pacific. Alan Rosenstein, a
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former national security advisor to the Justice Department who is
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now a law professor at the University of Minnesota, said
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he worried about what the US had given away to
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preserve TikTok for its new American investors. The President may
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very well quote unquote save TikTok, but at what cost,
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he said, She knows that Trump wants TikTok much more
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than China cares about it. If I was a Chinese diplomat,
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I'd be delighted. Some observers are willing to give the
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negotiating teams the benefit of the doubt. Ryan Fadasiuk of
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former Biden administration officials, who is now a fellow at
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the American Enterprise Institute, said he thought the deal offered
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the least defensive option before the U S and Chinese
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negotiating teams and could help resolve some of Washington's lingering
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concerns about the potential for Chinese interference. But some terms
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of the deal, including by Dance's continued ownership of the algorithm,
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would ensure that the concern over TikTok's censorship and disinformation
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would continue. He said. The quiet truth is that Washington
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wants to keep a version of TikTok operational more than
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Beijing fears losing access to the American's social media market.
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He said, I'm not sure that concern is really addressed
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by allowing the licensing of an algorithm that is ultimately
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developed by by Dance. Our next article from today's front
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page is entitled France defies Trump recognize the state of Palestine.
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Rubio had sought to kill multi country initiative at UN
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General Assembly by John Hudson from New York. France recognized
14:55
a Palestinian state on Monday, overcoming a month's long push
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by the Trump administration to intimidate and discourage countries from
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working with Paris on the initiative. Secretary of State Marc
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Arubio had tried to kill the initiative in the cradle,
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issuing cables to US embassies and consulates around the world
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in June and this month to discourage attendants at France's
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meetings and publicly slamming the effort as a gift to Hamas.
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But on Monday, at the outset of the United Nations
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General Assembly, French President Emmanuel Macron and his Saudi co
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hosts assembled a large gathering of world leaders and top
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diplomats spanning Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
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A speaker's list included the presidents of Brazil, Turkey, South
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Africa and Indonesia, Prime Ministers of Australia, Canada, Spain, Belgium,
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and Ireland, Kings of Jordan and Monaco. The UN Secretary
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General and many other dignitaries. The time has come, Macorne's said,
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speaking in the cavernous UN General Assembly building, I declare
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that today France recognizes the State of Palestine, he said,
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to a wave of applause. Macarlan recruited key US allies
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in the effort, including Britain, Canada, Australia and Portugal, which
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all recognized a Palestinian state on Sunday. The effort is
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a morale boost to the Palestinians, but it will create
16:24
no immediate changes on the ground, where Israel's far right
16:28
government has ruled out the creation of a Palestinian state.
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Israeli UN ambassador Danny Dannon called the event a circus.
16:37
What has Press Secretary Caroline Levitt condemned the recognition effort,
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saying it does not do anything to release the hostages,
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which is a primary goal right now in Gaza, and
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does nothing to end this conflict and bring this war
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to a close. The decisions are just more talk and
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not another action from some of our friends and allies,
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she added. In response to the record ignition effort, the
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Trump administration barred Palestinian leaders from obtaining visas to attend
17:05
the New York event as a workaround, The UN General
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Assembly voted Friday to allow Palestinian Authority president while booned
17:12
a boss to address the gathering via video. Critics of
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Trump say the event has shown the United States is
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outnumbered and outled on an issue gaining increasing prominence amid
17:23
the climbing deathtoll in Gaza. The majority of European countries
17:27
now recognize a Palestinian state. The United States is completely
17:32
isolated and it really is undermining our influence around the world.
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Senator Chris Van Hahnd, Democrat from Maryland, said in an
17:40
interview the Biden administration was feckless on this, but the
17:44
Trump administration is just a complete rubber stamp for Benjamin Netanyahoo,
17:48
the Israeli Prime Minister. Other countries around the world, especially
17:53
in the Global South, can see American double standards on
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human rights and our adversaries are exploiting that. Van Holla.
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A State Department official, rejected the notion that the US
18:04
was isolated. In fact, US officials are inundated with meeting
18:08
requests at Unga, the official said, referring to the UN
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General Assembly. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity
18:15
to describe sensitive diplomacy. The gathering is unique in that
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it pitted the US and France, two long standing allies,
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against each other during the year's most high profile week
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of international diplomacy. There was a widespread view back in
18:31
June that this conference was going to fizzle and France
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might not even bring itself to declare recognition, said Richard Gowen,
18:38
a UN expert at the International Crisis Group. But since
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Macron's announcement, the French pulled this together well. In terms
18:46
of stagecraft. The run up to the event saw the
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two allies slamming each other repeatedly. During the visit to Ecuador,
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Rubio accused the French recognition effort of setting back diplomatic
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efforts to end the war and God's The day the
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French announced their initiative, Haramas withdrew from the negotiation table.
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They immediately increased their demands, Rubio said. A French Foreign
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Ministry account on x immediately hit back, saying no at
19:14
sec Rubio the recognition of the state of Palestine did
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not cause a breakdown of hostage negotiations, which was followed
19:22
by subsequent posts pointing out that Gazza talks had faltered
19:25
before Macron's comments. In his remarks Monday, Macron emphasized France's
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support for Israel's security and batted away criticisms that his
19:35
move rewards Hamas. This recognition of the state of Palestine
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is a defeat for Hamas, just like for all those
19:43
who fullment anti Semitism, nurture anti Zionists obsessions, and who
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want the destruction of the state of Israel, Macron said.
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French officials have said that a key component of the
19:55
recognition effort was winning broad support for a resolution condemning
19:59
Hamas in the UN General Assembly, which passed this month,
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with new countries joining, such as Turkey and Qatar. France
20:07
has also put forward a proposal and its stabilizing Gaza
20:11
after a ceasefire is reached, said a French official, speaking
20:14
on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive plan.
20:18
The proposal calls for two state solutions, the disarmament of
20:21
Hamas and the transfer of security power in Gaza to
20:25
the Palestinian authority, but any peace plan would require the
20:29
support of Israel. On Sunday, net Nyahu said he would
20:33
never allow the creation of Palestinian state, and his far
20:37
right minister called for him to annex the West Bank.
20:41
The only response to an anti Israeli move is sovereignty
20:44
over the homeland territories of the Jewish people in Judea
20:48
and Samaria and removing the folly of the Palestinian state
20:51
idea from the agenda forever. Israeli Finance Minister Bezalels Mootrik
20:56
said in a statement referring to the West Bank by
20:58
its biblical names, Mister Prime Minister, this is the time
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and it is in your hands. The Trump administration continues
21:08
to support a Seesparangaza, but his efforts were styming this
21:11
month when Israel bombed Hamas's negotiating team in Doha, infuriating
21:16
Qatar and setting back the timeline of a hostage agreement.
21:22
Our next on him from today's front page is entitled
21:25
Trump links Talinol autism. No firm evidence of a connection.
21:30
Claims about a potential therapy also raise alarms by Ariana
21:35
n Jung Chah, Matt Fizer, and Dan Diamond. The Trump
21:40
administration on Monday ventured into uncertain scientific territory, calling to
21:45
limit the use of one medication under investigation for a
21:48
possible connection to autism, while pushing to expand access to
21:52
another being studied as a potential therapy, despite the lack
21:55
of definitive evidence for either. Taking tollinal is not President
22:00
Donald Trump said during a briefing in the White House,
22:03
I'll say it. It's not good. US health officials warned
22:07
that a ceedominicin the act of ingredient in tailenol, and
22:10
more than six hundred other medications should be avoided in
22:14
early pregnancy except in cases of high fever, a sharp
22:17
pivot in public health guidance on a medication that many
22:21
major medical associations, including the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists,
22:26
say is safe. The administration said that the Food and
22:30
Drug Administration would be updating the drugs labeling and that
22:34
a letter would be sent to all physicians in the country.
22:37
Trump also highlighted luka oren, a drug used to treat
22:41
the side effects of certain cancer medications, as a potential
22:44
autism treatment. Early trials involving small groups of children have
22:49
shown encouraging gains and speech, though researchers emphasized the need
22:53
for larger studies. The administration said the FDA would move
22:57
to formally acknowledge the drug's potential use in autism treatment
23:01
and estates to monitor and study its use. The President
23:05
called the moods historic, but the announcement was met with
23:08
sharp criticism and concern from doctors, scientists, and autism advocates.
23:14
Some express concerns that the warnings could prompt pregnant individuals
23:17
to avoid plinnel even when sick, or could push parents
23:21
to try luc of varren without proper medical oversight and
23:24
limited understanding of its effectiveness or long term risks. But
23:28
the fears run deeper than medical misuse. What alarms many
23:32
in the scientific community is the politicized rush to present
23:36
these drugs as solutions by passing the slow, careful work
23:40
that research demands. They warn that drawing broad conclusions from
23:44
incomplete evidence isn't just premature, but reckless, and it risks
23:50
undermining the public trust that is the foundation of public health.
23:54
It's wild, said Colin Killock, executive director of the Autistic
23:58
Self Advocacy Network. They are playing loose with facts to
24:02
show the appearance of a connection, rather than doing responsible science.
24:06
Teresa miss kim and rivera president of the American Psychiatric
24:10
Association and clinical professor of psychiatry at Rucker's Robert Wood
24:14
Johnson Medical School expressed concern about the mixed messages reaching
24:19
the public and creating anxiety. Rivera urged individuals to talk
24:23
with their doctors when deciding whether to take the medication,
24:27
just as they would with any other drug. The administration's
24:31
announcements are very, very premature, she said. When you do that,
24:36
it's endangering not only physical health but mental health. Tromp
24:40
throughout the event, repeatedly warned pregnant women to avoid taking
24:43
taylannel and to not give it to newborns, even as
24:47
he seemed to concede that he was going further than
24:49
medical advisers and scientists would support. He also said that
24:54
the research wasn't robust enough to back up what he
24:56
was saying because a government in the past had politicized
24:59
what projects to fund. This is based on what I feel,
25:03
he said. In one instance, there's a rumor, and I
25:06
don't know if it's so or not, that Cuba they
25:10
don't have tyalinol because they don't have the money for tilanol,
25:13
he said. In another, and they are virtually no autism, Okay,
25:18
he said he was giving a very strong recommendation, while
25:21
also saying it was maybe stronger from me than from
25:24
the group because they're waiting for certain studies. But he
25:27
was emphatic in issuing the warning. At one point on
25:30
the verge of shouting don't take tylanol, Trump said, there's
25:34
no downside. Don't take it. You'll be uncomfortable. It won't
25:38
be as easy, maybe, but don't take it. The FDA's
25:42
notice offered a more measure take on the possibility of
25:45
a connection between the drug and autism. It noted that
25:48
a causal link has not been established, but in the
25:51
quote spirit of patient safety and prudent medicine, it urged
25:55
clinicians to consider minimizing the use of acetaminifin during pregnancy
25:59
for route low grade fevers. Can View, the company that
26:03
makes tolinol, said in a statement Monday that research shows
26:07
that medication does not cause autism. The facts are that
26:11
over a decade of rigorous research endorsed by leading medical
26:14
professionals and global health regulators, confirms there is no credible
26:19
evidence linking acedamenipin to autism. Research into a potential link
26:24
between tolinol and autism has produced some conflicting findings. The
26:29
largest study to date, a twenty twenty four analysis published
26:32
in Jamma that tracts siblings across Sweden found no evidence
26:36
of a connection. Yet a comprehensive review releases August, which
26:41
pooled all existing studies, did uncover a link. Its author's
26:44
caution that it's too soon to conclude that the medication
26:47
causes autism, but they did recommend what they called a
26:51
precautionary approach to taking the drug. Patients who need fever
26:55
or pain reduction during pregnancy should take the lowest effective
26:59
dose of acedama for the shortest possible duration. Andrea Bartarelli,
27:04
one of the authors and a professor of environmental health
27:06
at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health,
27:09
said in a statement the Autism Initiative is a shared
27:13
brainchild of Trump and Robert F. Kennedy Junior, his Secretary
27:17
of Health and Human Services, with both men long voicing
27:20
concerns about the rise of autism diagnoses in the US
27:24
and often invoking debunct claims that the condition is linked
27:27
to vaccines. Kennedy in April pledged that his team would
27:31
know by September quote what has caused the autism epidemic
27:35
and work quote to eliminate those exposures, sparking skepticism from
27:40
researchers and former officials, who said a five month timeline
27:44
was unrealistic given that decades of careful study have not
27:48
produced definitive answers. Kennedy has since made autism a key
27:53
part of his Make America Healthy Again agenda, with his
27:56
deputies launching a high stakes, politically charged research effort to
28:00
uncover the causes of autism. Public health experts, Democrats, and
28:05
some Republican senators have warned Kennedy not to resurrect discredited
28:10
claims about vaccines. The administration's autism event was set to
28:15
focus on the potential world of taylinol and luc of
28:18
varren in either causing or treating the condition, already controversial ideas,
28:23
but ones that eschewed the fraught vaccine politics that many Republicans,
28:27
including the president's polster, have warned could harm the party arte.
28:33
But at several points during the event, Trump ventured into
28:36
the subject, urging Americans to not give the hepatotis B
28:40
vaccines to babies and to quote break it up by
28:43
taking different vaccines at different times, an approach that is
28:46
not recommended by medical groups. Don't let them pump your
28:50
baby up. With the largest pile of stuff you've ever
28:52
seen in your life going into the delicate little body
28:55
of a baby, he said. A report on autism, led
28:58
by the National Institutes of Health, expected to be a
29:01
centerpiece of the administration's work, is not yet complete, with
29:05
researches expected to review several dozen hypotheses related to the condition.
29:10
According to two officials who spoke on the condition of
29:12
anonymity to discuss deliberations that were in progress. Officials said
29:17
the lead up to Trump's rushed announcement was far chhoppier
29:20
than some of the carefully choreographed government health rollouts, which
29:24
came in months or years in the making. Federal officials
29:28
last week battle over what would be in Monday's announcement,
29:32
how strongly to tout their findings, and whether to even
29:35
brief reporters, according to two people who spoke on the
29:38
condition of anonymity to describe internal discussions. A notice in
29:42
the Federal Register saying that the FDA would be approving
29:46
a branded version of Luca Borren was posted prematurely Monday morning,
29:50
a Health Department official said, before government officials withdrew it.
29:55
HHS did not respond to a request for comment on
29:58
internal disagreements about the autism initiative, but the president's eagerness
30:03
outweighed his deputy's reticence, with Trump hinting on Friday that
30:07
an autism announcement was forthcoming. I don't want to wait
30:10
any longer, Trump said Saturday night, teasing the upcoming announcement
30:14
god to be Monday. I don't want to do it Tuesday, Wednesday. Thursday,
30:19
administration officials said they were in talks with companies about
30:22
increasing supplies of Lucavoring. GSK, which held a patent for
30:26
a brand name version of Luca Vorn before it expired,
30:30
confirmed Monday that it had been asked by the Administration
30:33
to submit a supplemental New Drug application to update the
30:36
label to include an indication for the treatment of a
30:39
type of full aid deficiency linked to autism. Daniel Gilbert,
30:43
Rachel Rubin, Brianna Tucker, and Marianna Alfaro contributed to this report.
30:50
Next is an item entitled Justices allow firing of last
30:54
FDC Democrat. High Court will review Congress's power to set
30:58
up independent agents by justin juvenal. The Supreme Court on
31:04
Monday cleared the way for President Donald Trump to fire
31:07
the sole remaining Democrat on the Federal Trade Commission, the
31:11
latest victory in his aggressive push to exert greater control
31:15
over the federal bureaucracy. The Justices overturned a lower court
31:19
injunction that reinstated Rebecca Slaughter to her position with the
31:22
agency that oversees antitrust and consumer protection issues while litigation
31:28
over her removal works its way through the courts. Congress
31:32
gave independent regulators removal protections to preserve the integrity of
31:36
our economy. Giving the executive branch unchecked power over who
31:40
sits on these boards and commissions would have seismic implications
31:44
for our economy that will harm ordinary Americans. Her attorneys
31:48
set in a statement, this day is not a final
31:51
ruling on the merits, and it will not deter us
31:53
from defending Commissioner Slaughter's lawfully held position at the Federal
31:57
Trade Commission. We have the law and nearly a century
32:00
of Supreme Court precedent on our side. The ruling, while provisional,
32:05
is significant because the High Court also said it will
32:09
hear arguments in December on overturning a ninety year old
32:12
precedent that allowed Congress to set up independent, nonpartisan agencies
32:18
insulated from political interference by the president if they do
32:21
not wield executive power, as is customary in cases decided
32:27
on the emergency docket. The justices did not offer reasons
32:30
for their ruling, and it was unsigned, so the votecount
32:34
was unclear. The decision came over the objections of the
32:38
Court's three liberal justices, who have regularly argued against such moves.
32:42
In a series of rulings by the High Court allowing
32:45
the President to fire the heads of several independent agencies,
32:49
the majority stay order. By stay order, has handed full
32:52
control of all those agencies to the president. Justice Atlanta
32:56
Keikean wrote in her descent, he may now remove, so
32:59
says the Majority, though Congress said differently, any member he wishes,
33:04
for any reason or no reason at all, and he
33:07
may thereby extinguish the agencies by partisanship and independence. In
33:11
nineteen thirty five, the Justice's rule the President Franklin D.
33:15
Roosevelt could not fire board member of the FDC William Humphrey,
33:19
simply because he opposed the president's Noon Deal policies. Congress
33:24
had stipulated that members could only be fired for inefficiency,
33:28
neglect of duty, or malfeasance. The case is known as
33:32
Humphrey's Executor the United States, the current Supreme Court has
33:36
all but overturned that president in recent rulings. The Justices
33:40
allowed Trump to fire democratic members of the Consumer Product
33:44
Safety Commission in July and members of the National Labor
33:47
Relations Board and Merit Systems Protection Board in May. Trump
33:51
gave no reasons for the officials dismissals, despite statutes saying
33:55
they could only be removed for cause. Because the Constitution
34:00
invests the executive power in the president, the majority wrote
34:03
in the May decision, he may remove without cause executive
34:07
officers who exercised that power on his behalf, subject to
34:11
narrow exceptions recognized by our precedents. A case involving Trump's
34:16
bid to fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook has also
34:19
made his way to the High Court. Trump has asked
34:22
the justices to allow him to immediately remove Cook from
34:25
her position. The court has not ruled on that request.
34:29
Trump moved to fire Cook in August, claiming she had
34:32
committed mortgage fraud. Cook sued, denying any wrongdoing and asserting
34:37
that the allegations were pretexts to get rid of her.
34:40
So Trump could push the FED to lower interest rates.
34:44
The justices have suggested that the constitutional rules governing the
34:47
FED may differ from those for federal agencies like the FTC.
34:52
A federal appeals court has blocked the firing of Cook
34:55
for the time being. Trump dismissed Slaughter and the second
34:59
Democratic member of the the five member FTC of ra
35:01
Obadoya in March. Slaughter and Badoya filed a lawsuit soon after,
35:06
saying the President had overstepped his authority. Badoya eventually resigned
35:11
from the commission. In July, a federal judge ruled for Slaughter,
35:16
saying Trump had illegally dismissed her. A divided appeals court
35:20
found the president removed Slaughter without cause, which was illegal
35:24
under the Humphreys executive president. Supreme Court Chief Justice John G.
35:29
Roberts Junior issued a temporary ruling this month allowing Trump
35:33
to remove Slaughter while the High Court was deciding whether
35:36
to act on her case. Trump officials argued in their
35:40
appeal to the High Court that the FTC that exists
35:43
today is far different from the commission in nineteen thirty five,
35:47
which exercised much more limited powers. So Humphrey's executor was
35:51
no longer the controlling precedent. They cited the court's recent
35:54
rulings allowing the president to remove independent agency heads as
35:58
more relevant. The modern FTC has amassed considerable executive power
36:03
in the intervening ninety years, power that equals or exceeds
36:07
that of the National Labor Relations Board, Merit Systems Protection Board,
36:12
and the Consumer Products Safety Commission, Government attorneys wrote. Slaughter
36:16
said previously that she would continue to fight her removal.
36:20
I intend to see this case through to the end.
36:23
Said Slaughter, who had briefly resumed work as a result
36:26
of earlier court rulings. In the week I was back
36:29
at the ft C, it became even more clear to
36:31
me that we desperately need the transparency and accountability Congress
36:36
intended to have at bipartisan independent agencies. On Monday, the
36:41
Supreme Court also turned aside request by members of the
36:44
Merit Systems Protection Board and National Labor Relations Board fired
36:48
by Trump to hear their cases before lower courts issue
36:52
final judgments. Our next item is entitled Disney returns Kimmel
36:57
Late Night Show to a b C program. Will be
37:00
back Tuesday after suspension following Kirk's killing by Scott Nover
37:06
and Jeremy Barr. Jimmy Kimmel will return to television Tuesday,
37:10
nearly one week after Disney owned ABC took his long
37:13
running late night talk show Jimmy Kimmel Live off the
37:17
air under pressure from the Trump administration, station owners and
37:21
conservative critics over comments he made after the killing of
37:25
right wing activist Charlie Kirk last Wednesday. We made the
37:29
decision to suspend production on the show to avoid further
37:32
inflaming a tense situation and an emotional moment for our country,
37:36
the Walt Disney Company wrote in a statement Monday. It
37:39
is a decision we made because we felt some of
37:42
the comments were ill timed and thus insensitive. We have
37:46
spent the last days having thoughtful conversations with Jimmy, and
37:49
after those conversations, we reached the decision to return the
37:53
show on Tuesday. Kimmel outraged some conservatives in his monologue
37:58
September fifteenth when he said quote the Maga gang was
38:02
trying to paint the accused killer, whom Utah Governor Spencer
38:05
Cox had said had a quote left his ideology as
38:09
quote anything other than one of them, and suggested Trump
38:13
was feigning grief of the killing to score political points.
38:17
Kimmel had previously condemned the shooting, and those who celebrated
38:21
his jokes leading up to a suspension did not target Kirk,
38:25
but rather Republicans, whom Kimmel accused of exploiting the death,
38:29
including Trump's son Eric. This poor guy might need someone
38:32
to adopt him, Kimmel said, Vice President j. D. Vance
38:37
and quote his little mascera stained finger, and FBI director
38:41
Cash Ptel, who was heard repeatedly sniffing into a microphone
38:45
in Kimmel's clip montage. The monologue was standard fare for Kimmel,
38:50
and the right wing backlash to it did not seem
38:52
especially remarkable until Trump's Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr
38:58
appeared on a conservative pot podcast Wednesday and link Kimmel
39:02
to quote a very concerted effort to try to lie
39:05
to the American people about the politics of Kurt's killer.
39:09
We can do this the easy way or the hard way,
39:12
Carr said, accusing ABC, its parent company, Disney, and any
39:17
companies that broadcast its content for potentially violating government rules.
39:22
These companies can find ways to change conduct and take
39:25
actions on Kimmel or there's going to be additional work
39:28
for the FCC. Ahead that same evening, ABC and two
39:33
companies that own large networks of its local affiliate stations,
39:36
Next Aar in Sinclair, said they would stop airing Kimmel's show.
39:41
ABC said Kimmel's show would be preempted indefinitely on Wednesday,
39:45
but did not offer any explanation for why it made
39:48
that decision. Nexttar in Sinclair, however, explicitly said they took
39:53
issue with Kimmel's comments about the response to Kirk's killing.
39:57
Next Are, the country's largest owner of local TV stations,
40:01
has immediate business before the FCC. The company is seeking
40:05
agency approval for a six point two billion dollar merger
40:08
with rival Tegna, and needs the commission to raise the
40:12
long standing national ownership cap that prevents them from growing larger.
40:17
Sinclair on Monday said it will preempt Kimmel's show on
40:20
its affiliate stations and replace it with new programming. Discussions
40:24
with ABC are ongoing as we evaluate the show's potential return,
40:28
a spokesperson said. Andrew Culbott, a spokesperson for Kirk's organization,
40:33
Turning Point USA and executive producer for Kirk's show criticized
40:37
ABC's decision on X. Disney and ABC caving and allowing
40:42
Kimmel back on the air is not surprising, but is
40:45
their mistake to make, he wrote next, stir in Sinclair
40:48
do not have to make the same choice. ABC and
40:52
Disney have stayed mom about Kimmel since the sidelined him,
40:55
though the ordeal has unleashed a spasm of condemnation from
40:59
Hollywood celebrity, fellow comedians and late night hosts and show runners.
41:03
Democratic politicians, including former President Barack Obama and Senate Minority
41:08
Leader Charles E. Schumer, Democrat from New York, have criticized
41:12
the Trump administration for pressuring Kimmel's cancelation. The Trump administration
41:18
hasn't been spared from criticism from the political right either.
41:22
The Wall Street Journal's editorial board and the Free Press
41:25
conservative media mainstays lamb asted what they said was the
41:29
government's sensorial behavior. The National Review called for the dissolution
41:34
of the FCC, which it says shouldn't exist as an
41:38
instrument of government regulation, let alone quote bullying. Republican Senator
41:43
Ted Cruz from Texas joined Democratic counterparts, calling Carr's actions
41:49
Dangerous as Hell and ride out of Goodfellows. During a
41:53
podcast episode Friday, Republican Senators Ran Paul Kentucky, Todd Young Indiana,
42:00
and Dave McCormick Pennsylvania also expressed frustration with Carr. Senator
42:05
Mitch McConnell, Republican from Kentucky, chimed in on social media
42:09
after Kimmel was reinstated. Well, my colleague Ted Cruz said
42:14
it looked just like Goodfellows, he wrote. As a First
42:17
Amendment guy myself, I think he's probably got it right.
42:21
You don't have to like what somebody says on TV
42:24
to agree that the government shouldn't be getting involved here.
42:28
Schumer celebrated the announcement Monday afternoon. This is about fighting
42:33
for free speech and against these abuses by Donald Trump
42:36
and Brendan Carr, he wrote on x Anna M. Gomez,
42:41
the SEC's sole Democratic commissioner, said in his statement she
42:45
was glad to see Disney find its courage in the
42:48
face of clear government intimidation. More importantly, I want to
42:52
thank those Americans from across the ideological spectrum who spoke
42:56
loudly and courageously against this blatant attempt to silence free speech.
43:01
Gomez added, Trump has made no secret of his disdain
43:05
for Hollywood's elite, particularly left leaning comedians who make him
43:09
the butt of their jokes. The president celebrated on social
43:12
media in July when CBS said it would cancel the
43:15
Emmy winning Late Show with Stephen Colbert. CBS said its
43:19
decision was purely financial, though its corporate owner, Paramount, was
43:24
also seeking FCC approval to combine with sky Dance. Trump
43:28
celebrated again after Kimmel's suspension was announced, Great news for America,
43:32
he wrote, and called for two other comedians, NBC's Jimmy
43:36
Fallon and Seth Meyers, to also be quote canceled. Must
43:40
be nice to be a leftist. Cancelation lasts five nights,
43:44
and you're right back under cleat lights. Megan Kelly, a
43:47
former Fox News host and host of The Megan Kelly
43:50
Show on Serious exam posted on X on the Right,
43:53
You're underground. It's unclear whether Kimmel will offer an apology
43:58
upon his return, or whether their affiliate stations across the
44:01
country go boycott the show. Theodoric Meyer contributed to this report.
44:07
Now for the last item on today's front page, entitled
44:11
a Secret cemetery comes to light. Effort begins to restore
44:15
a neglected Maryland burial site of two hundred thirty black
44:19
boys by Katie Mettler and Michael Bryce Sadler, the founder
44:24
of Maryland's legislative Black Caucus, heard whispers of a secret
44:28
cemetery holding children's grave, so in nineteen seventy two, he
44:32
walked into the woods to see for himself. Among weeds
44:36
and crawling vines, then state Delegate Troy Brayley found cracked
44:41
gravestones marking the burial plots of black boys who died
44:45
during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries at a
44:48
state juvenile detention facility with a documented history of abuse
44:52
and neglect. It was called the House of Reformation and
44:56
Instruction for Colored Children. Rayley, a prominence a rights leader
45:00
who has since died, called the site, located twenty two
45:04
miles southwest of Washington, d C. In Prince George's County,
45:08
disgraceful in an Afro American newspaper article about his visit.
45:13
State officials later launched in the inquiry their conclusion the
45:17
boys had died of consumption, an old word for tuberculosis.
45:21
Their count sixty seven deaths. More than fifty years later,
45:26
a Washington Post investigation has found that state officials had
45:30
grossly undercounted and that the number of children who died
45:33
while in the care of the House of Reformation is
45:36
at least two hundred thirty. While many of the boy's
45:39
death certificates listed disease as their cause of death, news
45:43
reports from the time call into question those determinations. In
45:48
the decades after Brayley's visit, the Post found the state
45:51
noted the existence of the House of Reformation graveyard in maps, surveys,
45:56
and other government documents, one of which featured a photograph
45:59
of headstones and about one hundred graves marked only by
46:03
center blocks, Yet it took no action to restore the site. Instead,
46:08
state leaders authorized another cemetery, this one for veterans, just
46:13
yards away from the boy's burial site. While the veteran
46:16
cemetery has been meticulously maintained, the House of Reformation graveyard
46:21
is more dilapidated than ever. The stories of many of
46:24
the boys buried there lost to time. A fledgling effort
46:29
to acknowledge a burial site is under way. Maryland's Department
46:33
of Juvenile Services has applied for a thirty one thousand
46:36
dollars grand to explore a potential restoration project. In response
46:41
to a post inquiry, a spokesperson for Governor Wesmore Democrat
46:45
said in a statement that we anticipate additional investments in
46:49
the restoration and repair of the cemetery and next year's
46:52
state budget. Former g ja's secretary Vincent Shiraldi, whose team
46:58
launched the restoration effort before he left the administration earlier
47:01
this year, said the states decades of neglect amount to
47:05
a deep level of depersonalization and dehumanization. The history of
47:11
institutionalization is to rob people of their personhood, and I
47:15
cannot think of a better example than taking children, some
47:19
of whom hadn't even committed a crime, some of whom
47:22
were ten years old, having them die in custody, and
47:26
bearing them in a potter's field and not acknowledging it.
47:29
Schiraldi said that is not just robbing them of their
47:33
personhood while they were in our care and custody, but
47:36
even after death. Under the guise of providing structure and
47:40
educational opportunity, House of Reformation officials forced the children to
47:45
sow crops and cane shares while leasing others to local farmers.
47:49
According to state documents, the most common reasons for detention
47:53
were incorrigibility, stealing, and vagrancy. Record show and the teens
47:58
and boys were malnourished and faced unsanitary conditions. The Post
48:03
visited the graveyard multiple times, read hundreds of pages of
48:07
records from the state archives in Annapolis, and analyzed death
48:10
certificates to determine the number of children who died in
48:13
state custody at the facility. At least one hundred eight
48:17
deaths are documented in annual reports from the House of
48:20
Reformation to the Governor's office between eighteen seventy three and
48:24
eighteen ninety seven. Death records account for another one hundred
48:27
twenty two children who died between eighteen ninety eight, when
48:31
Prince George's County began recording death certificates, and nineteen thirty nine,
48:35
when the last known burial took place. The article includes
48:40
a graph of known deaths at House of Reformation. At
48:44
least two hundred thirty black boys and teens died while
48:46
in the care of the House of Reformation between eighteen
48:49
seventy and nineteen thirty nine. According to a review of
48:52
state records, news reports and death certificates. This tallly is
48:57
likely an undercount because key records are missing from many
49:00
of the years analyzed eighteen seventy to eighteen seventy nine,
49:04
nineteen eighteen eighty through eighteen eighty nine, thirty two, eighteen
49:10
ninety to eighteen ninety nine, seventy three, nineteen hundred to
49:15
nineteen oh nine, thirty four, nineteen ten through nineteen nineteen
49:20
thirty four, nineteen twenty to nineteen twenty nine, fourteen, nineteen
49:26
thirty to nineteen thirty nine, twenty four source House of
49:30
Reformation annual Reports, Prince George's County death records, archival news clippings,
49:36
But even the post death tally, the most comprehensive public
49:40
accounting to date, is likely an undercount of how many
49:43
children died there because key records are missing from many
49:46
of the years analyzed. Without further forensic and anthropological work
49:52
at the side, it's impossible to determine exactly how many
49:55
children are buried in the House of Reformation Graveyard. After
49:59
learning the the graveyard's existence from a Washington Post article
50:02
this summer, a cohort within Maryland's legislative Black Caucus, the
50:07
one founded by Brayley, which is now one of the
50:09
largest in the country, started discussing how to keep the
50:12
effort alive. Delegate Jeffrey E. Long Junior, a Democrat who
50:17
represents the area of Prince George's County where the boys
50:20
are buried, said he hopes to propose a bill in
50:23
the upcoming legislative session that would set up a commission
50:27
to investigate the desks and restore the burial grounds. He
50:31
refuses to call the boy's graveyard a cemetery until it
50:34
is maintained like one. The state needs to put its
50:38
money where its mouth is, Long said, adding that the
50:41
process must include input from Prince George's County residents, who
50:45
are overwhelmingly black and could be related to those buried
50:48
at the site. There's more to learn about the graveyard,
50:52
Long said, including how many bodies are there and why?
50:56
Who knows? He said, how much could still be lying
50:59
beneath the surface Maryland's hell hole. The first black boys
51:04
arrived at the House of Reformation in eighteen seventy three,
51:08
sent there primarily by judges to learn order under the
51:11
supervision of a former Civil War general. Once there, the
51:16
children and teenagers were assigned inmate numbers. The General Assembly
51:20
had established the privately run institution as an alternative to
51:24
sending those kids to adult prison fifteen years after, the
51:27
state opened a similar facility for white children called the
51:31
House of Refuge. By the House of Reformation's third year,
51:35
three boys had died in a tuberculosis opreak. Record show,
51:39
but the earliest names the Posts could find were from
51:41
the eighteen seventy seven Annual Report, when six mort boys
51:45
died James Black, William Brown, James Dixon, John Robertson, George Williams,
51:52
and Matthew Blow. Their ages were not given. The reported
51:56
causes of death ranged from lockjaw to scarlet fever. Illnesses
52:01
like pneumonia and typhoid fever appear frequently in the records
52:04
of dozens of boys who died at the facility, but
52:07
child welfare advocates would eventually question the integrity of the
52:11
institution's cause of death determinations, including Blow, who House of
52:15
Reformation officials said died of spida meningitis. Just before he died,
52:20
a sickly Blow told a cook and a steward at
52:23
the hospital that his teacher had struck him in the
52:25
back with a hatchet. According to Baltimore Sun's story at
52:29
the time, the teacher admitted to quote playing with a
52:32
boy and was fired from the facility, but no corner
52:36
examined Blow's body before it was buried, according to the Sun,
52:40
and a post mortem report said no injuries were found.
52:43
Charles Alisbury sixteen and John Hall seventeen, suffered from severe
52:48
frostbite in their feet after working without shoes in the
52:52
winter of eighteen ninety three, according to an account given
52:55
by Hall to local newspapers. Instead of being treated, the
53:00
the boys were locked in the cell for days with
53:02
no bed and only a thin blanket to guard against
53:05
the cold. As a pain in their feet worsened, Hall
53:08
said both were hospitalized and had their legs amputated. Hall survived,
53:13
but Southbury died. A grand jury concluded that neglect by
53:18
House of Reformation officials led to his death, but the
53:21
death certificate reduced the cost with single phrase blood poisoning.
53:26
He was buried in a potter's field in Baltimore, records show,
53:29
but many others who became ill of the House of
53:31
Reformation never left the grounds, and the majority of those
53:35
who died there ended up in the woods. The earliest
53:39
published mention of the graveyard that the Post could identify
53:42
came in eighteen eighty five, and a short death notice
53:45
for Samuel Folkes published in the Evening Capital newspaper. A
53:49
tombstone bearing his name and date of death was placed
53:52
over his grave by the inmates of the institution. The
53:55
notice reads as a mark of respect and esteem for
53:58
their deceased friend. In the early nineteen hundreds, negative reports
54:03
about the facility's condition began to draw scrutiny. In nineteen
54:07
twenty nine, Baltimore State Delegate Melvin L. Fine warned in
54:11
the Baltimore Sun that instead of fulfilling its mission to
54:15
reform and instruct boys committed to its care, the institution
54:19
relied on a pernicious system of forced labor. In the
54:23
years had followed, news reports documented an escalating pattern of mistreatment,
54:28
overcrowded rooms with no ventilation, boys under fed and left
54:32
in disease breeding conditions, and abuse by facility staff. In
54:37
nineteen thirty four, Aubrey Brunson, twenty one, was shot and
54:41
wounded by a white guard after he refused to get
54:44
in line for food. According to a report in the
54:47
Afro American. Weeks later, Harry Brown, another boy there, told
54:52
the newspaper in an article headlined Maryland's hell Hole, that
54:56
officials were hiding some deaths they weren't in loming bodies,
55:00
he said, or notifying parents when boys died. On one occasion,
55:05
Brown said, a child's parents were told that their son
55:09
had run away. Record show something that House of Reformation
55:12
staff commonly reported about missing boys, But Brown told the newspaper,
55:17
the truth is that I had helped bury that boy
55:20
just the night before. Soon, a grand jury would condemn
55:24
the institution as deplorable and unsanitary, urging the state to
55:28
shut it down. The Sun would report Governor Harry Knights
55:32
called the House of Reformation a blot on the good
55:35
name of the state. In nineteen thirty seven, Maryland took
55:39
full control of the institution, a failure to act. As
55:44
Brayley walked through the graveyard in nineteen seventy two, a
55:47
local farmer who had been working the land for many
55:50
years told him that it was nothing to plow up
55:53
human remains, arms, legs, and skulls, the farmer said, and
55:57
the Afro American superintendant for the facility, by then renamed
56:02
the Boy's Village of Maryland told Brayley that the graveyard
56:06
had not been used since nineteen thirty six, though death
56:09
records show at least one team died and was buried
56:12
there in nineteen thirty nine, it does not appear that
56:15
state officials followed up after Brayley's visit, according to an
56:18
analysis of newspaper archives and other documents. A search of
56:22
State House records did not locate any related legislative proposals. Soon, though,
56:28
state officials would return to the woods not to restore
56:31
the Boy's Graveyard, but for the new Veterans Cemetery right
56:34
next door. In nineteen seventy four, the States selected land
56:38
owned by the Juvenile Facility to build the Cheltenham Veterans Cemetery,
56:43
adjacent to a parcel containing the neglected graveyard. The Boy's
56:47
Barrel ground is noted in a nineteen seventy five pre
56:50
construction survey and landy transfer signed by then Governor Marvin Mandel.
56:56
Officials with a Department of Veterans and Military Families, which
56:59
owns the land say the state has not touched the
57:02
Boy's Graveyard in the fifty years since. Separate initiatives over
57:06
several decades to nominate the Old House of Reformation. Grants
57:09
to the National Register of Historic Places were unsuccessful. One
57:14
application in nineteen seventy four included a photograph of a
57:18
weathered headstone from eighteen eighty five. A two thousand nine
57:22
nomination form was more comprehensive. A surveyor hired by the
57:26
Maryland National Capital Park and Planning Commission photographed headstones encounted
57:31
approximately one hundred cinder blocks. Upon the Commission's recommendation, the
57:36
Prince George's County Council designated the graveyard as a historic
57:40
site a year later, and state officials notified the Secretary
57:44
of the Maryland Department of Veterans and Military Families of
57:47
the designation, but no efforts were launched to investigate the debts,
57:51
and no action was taken to restore the site. The
57:54
headstones kept crumbling. Due to the constraints of time, we
57:58
will be unable to complete this o ITAM. This concludes
58:01
the reading of the Washington Post for today, Tuesday, September
58:05
twenty third, twenty twenty five. Your reader for to day
58:08
has been Cindy Fraser. If you have any questions, comments,
58:11
or suggestions concerning this program, please feel free to call
58:15
us at eight five nine, four two two six three
58:18
nine zero. Thank you for listening, and now please stay
58:22
tuned for continued programming on Radio I