Transcript

5.1.25 · Washington Post

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Speaker 1: Welcome to the reading of today's Washington Post. It is hooray, hooray.
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It's the first of May of twenty twenty five. I
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can't believe in the beginning of the fifth month already
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of twenty twenty five, and the headlines Oh, your reader
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is Alice Dainer with the reminder that Radio I is
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an organization for those blinder with difficulties in holding and
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reading printed material. And now I will do the front
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page of Today's Washington Post on the far left High
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Court receptive to tax funded faith school case could allow
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the first public religious charter and reshape education by Justin
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juvenal Ann E. Merrima and Laura Meckler. That is on
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the left. In the center of the paper is the
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trucks lining up to enter a shipping berth at the
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Port of Oakland in California this week, as freight containers
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tower in the background. So this is the shipping yards
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in Port of Oakland, and there are one, two, three, four,
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five trucks in the background in foreground and in the
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background those huge cranes that can lift and pick up
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the cargo freight containers. That's huge. It takes up the
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whole practically the whole of the front page to the
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right of that picture. Oh, that article is Trump urges
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patients shifts blame after week report. This is the part
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of the tariff's sapping economy already, and the patient's part
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is by Matt Viisner and Theodoric mayer Meyer. I guess maam.
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And then the other part is us GDP declines in
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first quarter inports surge as firms move up their purchases,
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and this is by Asia by Tari by Tari. Below
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the fold on the left US Ukraine sign draft of
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long debated minerals deal by Stobhan O'Grady and Jeff Stein.
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And in the center, hunger grips Gaza once again as
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siege nears two months. People are scraping by on one
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meal a day if they eat it all after brief
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truce crumbled in March by Miriam Berger and Tim Carmen.
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And there is a picture of Palestinians receiving donated food
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Wednesday at a distribution center in neuserat central Gaza Strip.
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The United Nations warn that the situation in the besieged
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enclave is likely the worst it has been and is
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likely the worst it has been. Is in big quotes.
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And there's a picture of a huge vat and two
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women with bowls, one carrying a child receiving food put
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into the two bowls. And on the far right, Kennedy
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plans requirement for placebo use in vaccine tests. By Lauren Weber,
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Rachel Rubin, Lena HSN, and Carolyn Y. Johnson. And those
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are the headlines for today. And I am going to
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start with the first article. US economy shrank in early
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twenty twenty five as Tariff's sept growth imports surged. GDP
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contracted at an annual rate of zero point three percent.
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A new report shows as panic purchases ahead of Tariff's
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fueled imports. And there's a picture of washing machine and
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dryers at a home deep post store in Boston with
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two customers at a counter. This is by Abba Batari.
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The US economy shrank in the first three months of
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twenty twenty five, contracting by an annualized rate of zero
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point three percent, a stark reversal to nearly three years
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of solid growth as terraff related uncertainty up ended spending
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patterns and raised fears of an impending recession. The new
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report on gross Domestic Product released by the Bureau of
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Economic Analysis on Wednesday morning showed the first deceleration of
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the US economy since the pandemic fueled supply chain wos
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of early twenty twenty two. This economic slowdown came primarily
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from a dramatic increase in imports, which count against GDP,
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as businesses rushed to purchase foreign goods ahead of President
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Donald Trump's promised tariffs. A drop in government spending also
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weighed on growth, and separately, consumer spending slowed, especially compared
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with recent months as Americans hit the brakes on large purposes,
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growth has simply vanished. Maybe some of this negativity is
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due to a rush to bring in imports before the
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tariffs go up, but there is simply no way for
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policy advisors to sugarcoat this, Chris Rupkey, chief economist at
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FWB Bonds of Financial Research firm, wrote in a note
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to clients after the report's release. Financial markets initially recoiled
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at the news, with all three major indexes trading lower
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for much of Wednesday, before pairing back those losses later
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in the day. Still, it was a tough month for
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the stock market, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average losing
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more than three percent of its value, and the S
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and P five hundred down about one percent. Trump dismissed
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the negative GDP reading, calling it an overhang from the
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previous administration. This is Biden's stock market, not Trump's, he
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posted on his social media site troth Social Social, adding
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tariffs will soon start kicking in and companies are starting
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to move into the USA in record numbers. This will
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take a while, has nothing to do with tariffs, only
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that he left us with bad numbers. But when the
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boom begins, it will be like no other. Still, economists
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attribute recent economic shifts to tariff related anxiety. Earlier in
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the year, families and businesses ramped up purchases of foreign
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made goods, including industrial equipment, cars, electronics, clothing, and furniture,
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ahead of the Trump administration's tariffs, which largely went into
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effect this month. As a result, the United States imported
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nearly twice as many goods as it exported in March.
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The trade deficit, the difference between incoming and outgoing goods,
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is the widest it has ever been, which is expected
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to be a significant drag on economic growth. Sales of
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American made goods to other countries helped boast GDP, while
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purchases of foreign made products count against it. GDP, the
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sum of all goods and services produced in the country,
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is the broadest measure of the economy. In the latest quota,
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a surge of imports subtracted a record five percentage points
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from the reading. That drop was largely offset by consumers
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spending and business investments, though economists warned that those gains
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were probably the result of terror related front loading and
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likely to lead to less spending later in the year.
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What we see is a series of one time factors
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propping up the economy in the guise of one hundred
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and forty billion dollar inventory accumulation and a twenty two
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percent increase in equipment spending, said Joe Brusuelas, principal and
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chief economist for rsm US. Those are capital letters, rsm US.
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Those are going to completely reverse and then some which
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tells me we're ripe for the onset of a recession.
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Mid year. Democrats were quick to pounce on the president's
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handling of the economy, with Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumann,
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Democrat of New York, saying Trump must admit his failure
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and reverse courts and immediately fire his economic team. Economists
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say emerging economic weakness is not just a sign of
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current trepidation, but more pointedly a warning that the situation
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may continue to worsen as the full effect of tariffs
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comes into view. The fact that many families and businesses
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have already stocked up on cars, appliances, and other big
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ticket items, for instance, means they won't have to make
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those purchases again anytime soon, further denting consumer spending, and
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businesses which have largely held off on investments and hiring
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are unlikely to reverse courts right away. The weakness this
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quarter is also a preview of weakness in future quarters,
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said Tarik a, director of the Center for Economic Research
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at George Washington University. She also said, we are seeing
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a dramatic change in people's behavior similar to what we
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saw during the shock of the pandemic. Their front loading
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purchases they might have made later in the year, and
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that's very concerning for future quarters. Although economists generally agreed
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that growth has petered eight this year, their predictions ahead
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of the GDP report varied widely. The Federal Reserve Bank
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of Atlanta's economic growth model was forecasting a one point
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five percent contraction in the first quarter, while the New
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York Fans version was predicting two point six percent growth.
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Most economists forecasts fell somewhere in between. The large swings
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in trade, business inventories, and consumer spending have made it
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particularly tough to gauge the state of the economy. Some
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economists said the GDP report is likely to have overstated
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weakness in the economy. They pointed to a three percent
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increase in final sales to private domestic purchasers, a measure
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of the economy that excludes trade in inventories, as a
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sign that consumers and businesses are still on solid footing.
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Peter Navarro, Trump's senior trade advisa double down on that argument,
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saying GDP has been skewed by terraf related stockpiling. Navarro
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said while speaking with the reporters at the White House,
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when you strip out all of that, and you strip
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out the vitality viatility of inventories in the equation, we
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actually had about a three percent GDP growth, which is very,
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very good and quite encouraging for employment. A separate government
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report Wednesday showed some progress on the Federal Reserve's fight
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against inflation, but lingering uncertainty of a Trump's trade policies,
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which could drive prices higher in the months ahead, are
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likely to keep the Fed in a holding pattern for now.
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Although the Central Bank cut interest rates three times late
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last year as inflation started to ease, it is held
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off on further reduction despite pressure from the President, as
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officials wait to see what trade was due to the economy.
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The level of the tariff increases announce so far is
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significantly larger than expected. The same is likely to be
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true of the economic effects, which will include higher inflation
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and slower growth, Federal Chairman Jerome H. Powell said this
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month at the Economic Club of Chicago. Still, the latest
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personal consumption Expenditures report shows cooling inflation. The price index
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rows two point three percent in March from a year earlier,
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down from two point five percent the previous month. That metric,
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not the consumer Price Index, is the BEDS preferred inflation gauge. Notably,
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the report showed a sharp monthly increase in consumer spending
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on motor vehicles and departs, another sign that buyas hurry
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to make purchases ahead of expected tariffs. Those large spending
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shifts are further muddling the economic picture at a time
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when there's already little clarity on what comes next. The
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Trump administration sweeping new tariffs, which included ten percent tax
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on all inputs and up to one hundred and forty
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five percent on Chinese goods, have raised concerns that inflation
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may worsen. Perhaps the most significant wild card, economists say
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is how Americans will respond in the months to come.
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Consumer spending, which makes up nearly seventy percent of GDP,
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has been driving much of the economy's recent growth, but
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surveys show many are worried about worsening inflation and unemployment,
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and consumer confidence has dropped to its lowest level since
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May twenty twenty, according to data release by the Conference
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Board this week. There are also signs that Americans starting
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to pull back on non essentials. Consumer spending growth slowed
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to one point eight percent in the first quarter from
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a four percent pace at the end of last year.
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The GDP report says everything is lining up for much weaker,
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perhaps recessionary economy ahead. Perhaps the most worrisome aspect of
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the report is the downshift in consumer spending growth, and
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that's despite the forward biring because of tariffs. The consumer
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is the key to the outlook, and if the consumer
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starts to pack it in, we're going into recession, said
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Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's. Atolytics, Carmen's, a chain
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of family style Italian restaurants with locations in New York,
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d C. And Las Vegas, is seeing an increase in
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customers as cash strapped families and businesses is due price
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your options, said Jeffrey Banks, CEO of parent company Ali
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Carte Restaurant Group. Even though they are booking parties, it's
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clear they're feeling jittery, he said. For the first time,
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many are asking about the company's cancer elation policies before
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signing contracts. People a nervous bank said, will there be
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a recession? Will I lose my job? Is my four
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oh one k up down our sideways. They're trading down
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from their expensive steakhose and coming to us. We saw
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it during the financial crisis, and we're seeing it now,
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Bank said. The second part of that article, Trump urges patience,
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blames Biden after weak economic news. The latest news crystallize
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several economic forecasts that have warned of a possible recession
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and have been one of Trump's biggest vulnerabilities. There is
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a picture of Marco Rubio and Pete Hegseth on either
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side of President Trump, and on the table is a
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red hat with white writing Gulf of America, sitting between
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Marco Rubio and President Trump, Bamatt Vaza and Theodoric Mayo.
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President Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday morning at increasingly dim
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economic forecast that have cast his policies in a harsh
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light and clouded what he had hoped would be a
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valedictory marker of his hundred days in office. He has
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blamed the Federal Reserve. He has expressed anger at what
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he has described as unfair trade policies of the past,
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and bluntly said that Americans may have to stomach paying
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more and getting less and more than anything, he has
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blamed his predecessor. You probably saw some numbers today, and
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I have to start off by saying That'spiden, That's not Trump,
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he said at the start of our cabinet meeting at
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the White House. It was an echo of a social
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media post a few hours earlier. This is Biden's stock market,
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not Trump's, he wrote. Even though the financial fall off
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has occurred since he took office, and Trump, on the
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eve of his inauguration had put in to a stock
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market that had surged and called it the Trump effect.
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I'm not taking credit or discredit for the stock market.
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I'm just saying that we inherited a mess, he said
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when asked about the hypocrisy of claiming credit for good
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news and casting blame for bad His social media post
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concluded with a message to Americans about the economic policies
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he has implemented that have rocked the domestic and global economies.
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In all caps, be patient, and during a cabinet meeting,
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he suggested that American consumers may have to adopt or adapt.
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Somebody said, oh, the shelves are going to be open. Well,
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maybe the children will have two dolls instead of thirty dollars,
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and maybe the two dolls will cost a couple of
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bucks more than they would normally. Trump said he was
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reacting after new datas showed that the US economy shrank
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in the first three months of twenty twenty five. The
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contraction marked a stark reversal after nearly three years of
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solid growth and represented the reaction to many of Trump's policies.
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His promised tariffs have compelled companies and consumers to rush
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to purchase foreign goods, leading to an increase in imports.
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A drop in government spending has also caused growth to slow.
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Economic analysis on Wednesday morning showed that the economy contracted
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in the first quartera by an annualized rate of zero
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point three percent. It was the first deceleration of the
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US economy since the pandemic fuel supply chains of early
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twenty twenty two. We have a lot of things going.
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These are quarterly reports. We took over on January twentieth.
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The tariffs haven't kicked in yet, Trump said during the
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cabinet meeting. The figures are in part based on the
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threat of the tariffs, and economists worry that they could
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get worse once the new duties are in place. But
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as cabinet officials went around the room to tote their
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first one hundred days, several focused on the tariffs as
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a fundamental shift that will be seen as an accomplishment.
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They said, you wouldn't be able to do global tariffs.
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We did it. They said everyone would retaliate. No one
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retaliated outside of China. They said no one would come
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to negotiate. We're talking to dozens of countries. They said
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no one would have office. We have dozens of written offers.
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We have lots of countries in this week, said Jamieson Greer,
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the US trade representative. The latest news crystallized several economic
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forecasts that have warned of a possible recession and have
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been of one of Trump's biggest vulnerabilities on a topic
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that won him the presidency for a second time. As president,
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Joe Biden long struggled to gain credit for positive economic indicators,
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which Trump exploited with promises of lower prices and a
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fairer trade system. Financial markets all dropped Wednesday morning, reversing
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some earlier gains after Trump's tariffs caused to sell off,
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and for one of the first times since Trump took office,
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Democrats began to rally around a consistent message. This is
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not Joe Biden's economy, Donald, it is your economy. It
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is the Trump economy. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffreys, Democrat
23:09
of New York said. FORMA Vice President Kamala Harris was
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scheduled to deliver a critique in California of the Republican
23:18
who defeated her in the presidential election in November, the
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Senate rejected a resolution Wednesday evening to scrap Trump's Liberation
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Day tariffs from most countries by undoing the national emergency
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he declared to impose them. The vote was forty nine
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forty nine. Three Republicans Senators Lisa Rakowski of Alaska, Susan
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Collins of Maine, and Rand Paul of Kentucky voted with
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Democrats for the measure, but Senators Mitch McConnell, Republican of
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Kentucky and Sheldon Whitehouse, Democrat of Rhode Island, both of
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whom back to similar resolution this month to undo Trump's
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tariffs on Cannucta, did not vote. Paul, a leading critic
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of Trump's tariffs, argued that many Republican senators privately dislike
24:12
them and will start to speak out if the economy
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continues to weaken. Paul Trold reporters, I think if we
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went through another quarter of negative growth and or another
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scare in the marketplace, I think there will be more
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visible voices against the tariffs. But other Republicans largely defended Trump,
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arguing that Biden bore at least some of the responsibility
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for the economy's contraction. I don't see this as any
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reflection on this president's economic policies. Most of his economic
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policies weren't even in place until the second quarter. Senator
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Josh Hawley, Republican of Missouri said. Senator Minority Leader John Thune,
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Republican of South Dakota Total reporters that tariffs could take
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time to bear food. He also suggested that the massive
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bills Republicans are drafting to cut taxes and increase spending
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on defense and border security would help the economy if
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it passes. They're playing the long game, toune total reporters,
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referring to the White House tariff strategy. Overall, the things
25:28
we're going to be doing to support help the economy
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on taxes and regulations and energy are going to have
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a positive impact long term. The tariff issue is something,
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like I said, it's an open question. Senator Tom Tillis,
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Republican of North Carolina, cautioned that while Trump can blame
25:52
Biden for today's economic numbers, the same strategy won't work
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in six months. The White House Senior traded by Rezipetera Navarro,
26:01
put a positive spin on the numbers, saying that most
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of the dip in the GDP was related to temporary
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impacts of Trump's tariff policy. We had a fairly extraordinary
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surge of imports that was totally driven by the rest
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of the world trying to get their products in here
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before the tariffs took full hold. So the great news
26:23
about that is that it's a one shot deal. So
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next time we get the data, that won't be the
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case at all, and in fact it'll reverse, and that'll
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contribute to growth, Navarro said. He also pointed toward pledges
26:40
from several prominent companies to expand manufacturing in America and
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a possible congressional bill that would lower taxes. He suggested
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that inclines in consumer and business sentiments were related not
26:55
to Trump's policies, but to negative media coverage of them.
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The idea that there's a recession coming should be heavily discounted,
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Navarus said, because when we take into effect the tax
27:10
cuts coming and the underlying strength of the economy, then
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I think all things, all things are good. The White
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House in recent days has focused on promoting Trump's first
27:22
one hundred days in office, with a barrage of briefings, interviews,
27:27
and events. Trump held a rally Tuesday night in Michigan
27:31
in which he railed against the news media and repeatedly
27:35
said poles were biased against him. He claimed his approval
27:39
rating was in the sixties or seventies, rather than what
27:42
most surveys have shown around forty percent, as he has
27:48
throughout his presidency. He blamed Biden for the economy, for emigration,
27:52
and not for looking better in a bathing suit. Over
27:55
the course of his ninety minute speech, he mentioned his
27:59
predecessor two dozen times, at one point pulling the crowd
28:03
on whether they would prefer to Biden as Sleepy Joe
28:07
or Crooked Joe. Trump also returned to a theme of
28:11
blaming Jerome H. Powell, the head of the Federal Reserve,
28:15
for not lowering interest rates. I have a FED person
28:20
who's not really doing a good job, but I won't
28:24
say that. I want to be very nice. I want
28:27
to be very nice and respectful to the FRED. You're
28:30
not supposed to criticize the Fed. You're supposed to let
28:34
him do his own thing. But I know much more
28:36
than he does about interest rates, Believe me, Trump said.
28:41
In an exclusive interview with ABC News on Tuesday, Trump
28:45
was also confronted with the volatility he has injected into
28:48
the economy, causing concern among analysis and consumers. Well, they
28:55
did sign up for it, actually, and this is what
28:58
I campaigned on, Trump said. He said he would continue
29:03
to make the global economy, adding to remake the global economy,
29:09
adding that there could be some short term pain, but
29:12
that he was attempting to make long term structural fixes
29:16
that would go beyond the tariffs on China he imposed
29:19
in his first term. He said, you know, I had
29:24
the best economy during my first term. We had a
29:27
tremendous economy, tremendous success. We were given credit for a
29:32
great economy. But I said, we have to fix this
29:35
otherwise it's not just self sustaining. Trump adam rejected any
29:42
notion that there would be major consequences from his tariffs,
29:45
and he maintained that China would eat those tariffs rather
29:50
than significantly escalate cost. Everybody's going to be just fine.
29:56
He said, it wouldn't have been if I didn't do this.
30:00
I had a choice. I could leave it, have a
30:04
nice easy time, but I think ultimately you would have
30:08
had an implosion. Our country had inflation that was worse
30:12
than they've ever had it before. Trump is also increasingly
30:17
pointed towards the costs of average goods, including gas and groceries.
30:22
There are plenty of eggs for Easter, he said. They
30:26
were saying you won't have enough eggs for Easter. We ended.
30:30
My secretary did a fantastic jobs on eggs. Groceries are down.
30:35
Everything is down. In the last article on the top
30:41
of the Washington Post front page, Supreme Court majority seems
30:47
to open to religious public charter schools. Liberal justices were
30:53
opposed to government sponsorship of religious schools, but there were
30:57
support among conservatives by justin juvenile, Annie Merrima and Laura Mecklam.
31:06
And there are signs in yellow and white and blue
31:14
free to Learn, and women with pocketbooks across their body's
31:20
traps free to Learn. And these Oklahoma student group Free
31:25
to Learn demonstrates that the Supreme Court ahead of oral
31:29
arguments in a religious charter school case in Washington, d C.
31:33
On Wednesday, A divided Supreme Court on Wednesday appeared to
31:38
open to allowing the creation of the nation's first public
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religious charter school in Oklahoma, a block must bust or
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move that could reshape American education and redraw the boundary
31:52
between church and state. A ruling for Saint Isideal of
31:57
Seville Catholic Virtual School and for the first time, allowed
32:01
direct and complete taxpayer funding to establish a faith based school,
32:06
sanctioning government sponsorship of a curriculum that calls for students
32:11
to adhere to Catholic beliefs and the church's religious mission.
32:16
It would be a giant new step for the Court's
32:19
conservative majority in boosting the role of religion in public life,
32:25
building on a series of rulings over the last decade
32:28
affecting schools, the workplace, and the display of faith based
32:33
symbols on public property. The chain could have vast and
32:39
unpredictable implications for parochial, charter and traditional public schools. It
32:44
would almost certainly spark efforts to create similar schools and
32:48
other states, or convert existing religious private schools into public charters.
32:55
But a ruling for Saint Isidare also could prompt states
32:59
that don't want to fund religious education to tighten their
33:03
public charter popolicies. Sharp ideological differences emerged among the justices
33:10
during the lengthy oral argument, with questioning ranging across First
33:15
Amendment issues and culture war targets. Like the sixteen to
33:20
nineteen project and the reading of story books with gay
33:23
a transgender characters being read in elementary schools. While all
33:28
three liberals expressed deep skepticism about a religious charter school,
33:33
there was no clear indication that any conservative members of
33:36
the Court would join them in voting against the proposal.
33:41
Justice Brett M. Kavanagh signaled his support, saying that excluding
33:45
religious schools from the charter school program seems like rank discrimination.
33:52
Our cases have been very clear, Kavanagh said, referring to
33:56
recent rulings that have permitted public spending for religious as
34:00
well as secular schools. I think those are some of
34:04
the most important cases we've had of saying you can't
34:08
treat religious people and religious institutions and religious speech as
34:13
second class. In the United States, Chief Justice John G.
34:17
Roberts Junior, who is almost always in the majority in
34:21
the Court's most significant cases, asked probing questions of both science,
34:26
but Roberts has consistently cited religious parties to expand the
34:31
role of faith in public life. Because Justice Amy Coney
34:37
Barrett accused herself, only eight justices will vote on whether
34:41
to overturn an Oklahoma State Supreme Court ruling that the
34:45
school is unlawful. A four to four tie would keep
34:49
that ruling in place. A decision is expected by someone.
34:54
The court's liberals made clear they view religious public schools
34:58
in a far different light than government funding for private
35:01
school vouchers or playgrounds. Justice Sonia Sotomayor said, the essence
35:07
of the First Amendments prohibition on government establishment of religion
35:11
is we're not going to pay religious leaders to teach
35:16
their religion. Conservatives presented both sides of the case. Attorneys
35:21
for Saint Isidare and Oklahoma charter board that approved it
35:25
and the Trump administration argued in favor of the school,
35:29
while an attorney for Oklahoma Attorney General Jenna Drummond, REPUBLICA,
35:34
who soon to stop the school, spoke against it. James A. Campbell,
35:39
an attorney for the charter board, told the justices that
35:42
denying Saint Isidare amounts to anti religious discrimination because states
35:48
allow public money to flow to other types of charter schools.
35:52
He also said the schools would give parents greater educational
35:55
choices under Oklahoma's current system. This one type of education
36:02
that's off limits, and that's religion, Campbell said, and that
36:07
can't be consistent with this court's precedent. Detractors say public
36:13
religious charter schools could sap dollars from the traditional public schools,
36:18
undermine support for the charter school movement, and lead to
36:21
discrimination against religious minorities, non believers, and LGBTQ students LBG
36:29
two plus students. Gregory Gahre, representing Drummond, said the state
36:35
already has means to support religious education. Oklahoma respects and
36:41
promotes through votes and other means, the abilities of families
36:45
to secure such an education in private school. He said.
36:50
The Archdiocese of Oklahoma City and the Diocese of Tulsa
36:54
are seeking to establish Saint Isidore's as an online school
36:59
only that initially would educate up to five hundred students
37:03
in kindergarten through twelfth grade. The school would serve students
37:07
with special needs and those in rural Oklahoma who do
37:11
not have access to brick and mortar religious schools. Saint
37:16
Isidoor's would be open to students of all faiths in
37:18
the bad by state anti discrimination rules, but school materials
37:23
say administration assumes the student and family willingness to adhere
37:29
with respect to the beliefs, expectations, and policies and procedures
37:33
of the school. Students are also required to astend Catholic mass.
37:40
Much of the argument winds deterned on the question of
37:43
whether religious charter schools are public or private schools. The
37:47
answer is significant because the government can require public schools
37:51
to be non sectarian, but it can't restrict private schools
37:55
from teaching religion. Campbell said Saint Isidare shouldn't be considered
38:00
a public school because the Oklahoma government was not responsible
38:04
for its creation and control. He said it was created
38:09
by Catholic dioceses and would be operated by a privately
38:13
selected board. Gere counted that charter schools are defined as
38:18
public and state law, and the government must approve them
38:21
and regulate their curriculum, and can shut them down. Some
38:25
states allow vouchers to pay for religious as well as
38:28
secular private schools, but gear said the creation of Saint
38:32
Isidau would be vastly different. He said a ruling that
38:36
Saint Isidau as a private school would render the federal
38:39
charter school program unconstitutional, as well as the laws of
38:43
dozens of state and the District of Columbia, all of
38:47
which require charter schools to be non sectarian. Charter schools
38:52
have traditionally been considered public schools. It would result of
38:58
the astounding rule that ates not only may, but must
39:03
fund and create public religious schools, an astounding reversal from
39:09
this Court's time honored Presidents, Gerre said. But several of
39:17
the Conservative justices seemed more persuaded by arguments that a
39:22
decision against Saint Isidel would impende on religious liberty. They
39:27
repeatedly turned to a key ruling in which the Court
39:30
said a state's agency refusal to contract with a religiously
39:36
run foster care service amounted to impermissible discrimination. In that case,
39:43
known as Fulton versus City of Philadelphia, the Court said
39:47
Philadelphia had violated the Constitution by not extending a Falter
39:51
care services contract to Catholic Social Services. How is that
39:58
different from what we have here, Roberts asked, you have
40:01
an education program and you want to not allow them
40:04
to participate with a religious entity. Justice Samuel A. Alito
40:10
Junior said he understood the point of charter schools was
40:13
to confer flexibility on school curriculums. He made an oblique
40:19
reference to a case that Justicees heard last week on
40:22
school curriculum in Montgomery County, Maryland, and suggested that religious
40:26
charters would create an educational diversity similar to a charter
40:31
that based its curriculum on the sixteen nineteen project or
40:35
taught American history like the way it was taught in
40:39
nineteen fifty five. Could a school say, we're going to
40:43
be an lgt LGBTQ plus friendly school, so that the
40:49
books that elementary school children are going to read are
40:53
going to have lots of LGBTQ plus characters, same sex couples,
40:58
and they're going to send the message. But this is
41:00
perfectly legitimate lifestyle. Alito asked proponements of Saint Isidore say.
41:07
The High Court opened the door to religious public charter
41:10
schools with a Fulton ruling and others that broke down
41:14
the church state wall that existed in recent decades. In
41:18
twenty seventeen, the Court found that Missouri could not exclude
41:23
a religious preschool from a playground reservicing program. In a
41:27
twenty twenty Montana case, the Court required states that aid
41:31
public schools to include some faith based ones in that funding.
41:36
In twenty twenty two, the Court required Maine to let
41:39
parents use votes for religious schools the same year it
41:44
let a high school football coach prey on a school field.
41:49
Roberts concluded in the Montana case, a state need not
41:54
subsidize private education, but once the state decides to do so,
41:58
it cannot disqualify by some private schools solely because they
42:02
are religious. Justin Driver, a Yale law professor and an
42:07
expert on education law, said, the jurisprudence has recliberated the
42:13
First Amendments traditional balance between religion and secularism. The free
42:18
exercise clause prohibits the government from interfering with the right
42:22
of individuals to practice religion, while the establishment clause prevents
42:27
the government from establishing an official religion or favoring faith
42:32
over non belief. This Oklahoma case is the potential culmination
42:37
of the Roberts Court effort to cast the free exercise
42:41
clause in the starring role in our constitutional order and
42:45
to offer the establishment clause only a cameo. Driver said.
42:52
The case arrived at the Supreme Court after a long
42:56
and sometimes bid a fight that divided Republicans in Oklahoma,
43:01
one of the nation's most conservative states. Catholic officials first
43:06
floated the idea for a school in twenty twenty one,
43:09
it was narrowly approved by the state's Virtual Charter Board.
43:14
In twenty twenty three, the ACLU, Americans United for Separation,
43:20
Church in State and others sued on behalf of a
43:23
group of Oklahoma residents, saying their tax dollars should not
43:28
go to a school that might discriminate against Day's students
43:31
and those of other faiths. Drummond, the Oklahoma Attorney General,
43:37
then filed his own suit, arguing the charter's board contract
43:41
with Saint Isidare violated the state's constitution. The Oklahoma Supreme
43:47
Court sided with Drummond, and the contract was rescinded. None
43:52
of the five conservatives on the bench Wednesday demonstrated clear
43:56
support for the lower court rulings that Bard sing Isadel. Instead,
44:01
they seemed poised to go in a different direction. This
44:06
is going to create uncertainty, confusion, and disruption for you know,
44:12
potentially millions of school children and families across the country.
44:17
Gear said, RFK genial will require a shift in how
44:24
new vaccines are tested. HS says the potential change outlined
44:31
in a statement would require all new vaccines to undergo
44:34
placebo testing, sparking concerns among medical experts by Lauren Weber,
44:41
Rachel Rubyn, Lana Lena HSN, and Carolyn Y. Johnson. Health
44:48
and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Intends to
44:53
shift the way vaccines are tested, a move that the
44:56
agency said will increase transparency that medical expert sphere could
45:02
limit access to vaccines and undermine the public's trust and
45:06
the ammusation depending on its implementation. The potential chain, outlined
45:13
in a statement, says all new vaccines will be required
45:17
to undergo placebo testing, a procedure in which some people
45:22
receive the vaccine and others receive an inurged substance, such
45:26
as a saline shot, before the results are compared. All
45:32
new vaccines will undergo safety testing in placebo controlled trials
45:37
prior to licensure, a radical departure from past practices, an
45:42
HHS spokesperson told The Washington Post in response to questions
45:47
about Kennedy's comments on the measle vaccines and general vaccine policy.
45:53
Vaccines for new pathogens are often tested this way, but
45:58
for well researched diseases, which as measles and polio, public
46:02
health experts say it makes little sense to do that
46:05
and can be unethical because the placebo group would not
46:09
receive a known effective intervention. HHS did not clarify how
46:14
the change would be implemented and for which vaccines the
46:18
testings would apply, nor did it define what the department
46:22
meant by new vaccine, but the government indicated it wouldn't
46:27
apply to the flu vaccine, which is updated yet EYO
46:31
and which HHS stated has been tried and tested for
46:35
more than eighty years. In response to questions about whether
46:39
other vaccines previously safety tested would be newly scrutinized, the
46:44
department focused on its concerns around the coronavirus vaccine, but
46:48
did not address other immunizations. Kennedy has long disparaged vaccines,
46:55
said they are not adequately safety tested, and previously called
46:58
for placebo tests. Listing for zaccines that are approved for use.
47:04
Secretary Kennedy is not anti vaccine. He is pro safety,
47:09
pro transparency, and pro accountability, HHS said in a statement.
47:14
The HHS statement raised concerns among medical and public health experts,
47:20
who said the move could be a significant shift in
47:23
how the country has ensured the safety of vaccines for decades,
47:27
as well as cost doubt on vaccines that are safe, effective,
47:31
and key to public health. The potential change comes as
47:35
public trust in vaccines continues to decline amid of growing
47:39
measles outbreak and worries over Kennedy's mixed messaging about immunizations.
47:45
Medical and public health experts also expressed dismay that the
47:50
test change could require coronavirus vaccines and potentially others to
47:56
undergo costly and in their view, unnecessary studies that would
48:00
probably limit vaccine production and access and leave more Americans
48:05
at risk of preventable disease. You are watching the gradual
48:11
dissolution of the vaccine infrastructure in this country. The goal
48:15
is to make vaccines less available and less affordable, said
48:19
Paul Offitt, director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children's
48:24
Hospital of Philadelphia. In recent weeks, the Trump administration has
48:29
injected uncertainty into the annual process for approving an updated
48:34
coronavirus shot traditionally offered in the fall, indicating there may
48:39
be a more than may need to be more data.
48:44
Except for the COVID vaccine, none of the vaccines on
48:47
the CDC's Childhood Recommended schedule was tested against an inert placebo,
48:53
meaning we know very little about the actual risk profiles
48:56
of these products, said in its statement. Vaccine in public
49:02
health experts said the statement from HHS is a combination
49:06
of misinformation and exaggeration or misrepresentation of scientific studies. To
49:13
make a blanket statement like that, I think that would
49:16
go against the science, said Sean O'Leary, a pediatric infectious
49:21
diseases physician and chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics
49:26
Committee on Infectious Diseases. The move came as Kennedy urged
49:31
parents this week to do young research and said that
49:36
making sure the vaccines are safe is one of his
49:40
top priorities during an interview with Phil McGraw, who is
49:44
known as Doctor Phil. Since Kennedy became s secretary, the
49:50
department has appointed a vaccine skeptic to investigate the debunked
49:55
link between the vaccination and autism. Peter Marx, the nation's
50:00
vaccine regulator, resigned under pressure, and Kennedy has not spoken
50:04
as forcefully for vaccination amid ongoing measle outbreak as the
50:09
first administration as the first Trump administration did. The HHS
50:15
statement and others from Kennedy casting data on vaccine safety
50:19
are part of his long running effort to decrease confidence
50:22
in immunisations, said David Gorsky, a Wayne Street University of
50:27
School of Medicine, Professor of Surgery and Oncology and managing
50:32
editor of Science Based Medicine, which debunks misinformation on medicine
50:39
or in medicine. Instead of just an anti vaccine activist
50:45
saying this stuff, now the federal government HHS and FDA
50:51
is now saying this stuff that matters, said Gorsky, in
51:00
undermines real transparency. Kennedy has previously claimed that vaccine testing
51:06
studies are not long enough to capture potential safety issues.
51:11
Although vaccines are continuously and rigorously monitored, a lot of
51:16
the injuries that come from edication are autoimmune injuries and
51:20
allergic injuries and neurodevelopment injuries that have long diagnostic horizons
51:27
or long incubation periods. So you can do the study
51:30
and you will not see the injury for five years,
51:33
Kennedy said in a twenty twenty one interview. Waiting to
51:37
conduct a multi year study as per Kennedy's suggestion, would
51:41
slow the development of vaccines and their release. Now, as
51:45
head of AHHS, Kennedy a city wants to restore gold
51:48
standard science to the federal health agencies and look at
51:52
the data. HHS is now building surveillance systems that will
51:57
accurately measure vaccine risks as well as benefits, because real
52:02
science demands both transparency and accountability, an HHS spokesperson told
52:07
the Post. Medical experts dismissed the idea that a new
52:12
system is needed, saying the current system demands adequately tracks
52:19
adverse events associated with vaccines. Senator Bill Cassidy, Republican of Louisiana,
52:27
received a list of commitments from Kennedy before voting to
52:30
confirm the Secretary. That included a commitment to work within
52:34
the current vaccine approval and safety monitoring systems and giving
52:39
a thirty day notice to the Senate Health Committee if
52:44
the agency seeks to make changes to any federal vaccine
52:47
safety monitoring programs. Cassidy said in a February fourth speech
52:52
on the Senate floor, claiming vaccines have risks the data
52:57
doesn't show, or trying to overstate vaccine risk is not transparency,
53:03
said dorrit Rees, a professor of the University of California
53:07
College of Law at San Francisco who tracks public health
53:11
vaccine law it's misinformation and it undermines real transparency and
53:17
informed consent. Additionally, many vaccines have been tested against placebos,
53:23
the experts said, and while HHS said the trials would
53:27
be for new vaccines, if Kennedy tries to test vaccines
53:32
that have already been approved, such as the measles vaccine,
53:35
against the placebo, that would mean, in practice, some children
53:38
would not get vaccinated against the infectious disease while their
53:42
neighbors did, a quandary that physicians say leaves them susceptible
53:47
to diseases when there is a vaccine that works. Stanley Popkin,
53:53
a pioneer in the field who developed the rubella vaccine,
53:57
said that when scientists test vaccines against a new disease,
54:01
they typically look for evidence that the vaccinated individuals do
54:05
not get a disease compared with those who received a placebo.
54:10
This is how the coronavirus vaccines were tested in thirty
54:13
thousand person trials in which half of the participants received
54:18
saline shots. But when a disease is already well understood,
54:23
scientists can look for evidence that vaccines induce a biological
54:27
response that has been scientifically shown to protect against the disease,
54:32
what scientists call a correlate of protection. In the case
54:38
of diseases that cause serious illness and can even be
54:42
fatal if they are existing inner visions, the use of
54:46
placebos is often not considered ethical. Ethics must be taken
54:53
into account when you set up a study, Plotkin said,
54:57
Can I ethically agree to having people acquire to a
55:00
place to the disease because they receive a placebo coronavirus
55:07
vaccine in play. The administration has taken aim at re
55:11
examining the Corona vaccine. When asked by CBS News on
55:15
Tuesday whether the Food and Direct Administration plans to green
55:19
light updates to the coronavirus shots, FDA Commissioner Marty mccarrey
55:25
said the agency was taking a look. We have a
55:29
bit of public a public trust problem. I think there's
55:33
a void of data, and I think rather than allow
55:36
that void to be filled with opinions, I'd like to
55:38
see some good title, McCarry said. In a statement. Hhs
55:44
A firm McCarry's comments. Using the COVID pandemic as an
55:48
eternal justification for blanket approvals of new products will not
55:53
happen under the leadership of Commissioner Mackery. Additionally, the Trump
55:58
administration is seeking for the drug manufacturer Novawvox to commit
56:04
to conducting a new clinical trial on its Corona coronavirus
56:08
vaccine after it gets approved. The company's shot has been
56:13
available under emergency Youth authorization and is the only vaccine
56:17
that uses a more traditional protein base instead of messenger RNA,
56:22
an appealing option to some who reactions to m RNA shots.
56:27
The FDA was on track to grant full approval to
56:31
the vaccine April first, according to two people familiar with
56:34
the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to
56:37
share internal deliberations. Top Trump FDA officials told agency regulators
56:45
to pause the approval, these sources said, which some vaccine
56:50
experts say amount to political interference into decisions typically made
56:54
by career staff tasked with reviewing the data. To be clear,
56:59
this is a new product the Nova box is trying
57:02
to introduce to the market. With a study of a
57:05
different product from twenty twenty one, New products require new
57:09
chemical studies, Mackery wrote Saturday, and a post on x
57:15
Several vaccine experts dismiss the notion that the vaccine constitutes
57:19
a new product. Such a move would be costly and
57:23
suggest a potential shift in how the agency may approach
57:27
coronavirus vaccines going forward. Typically, Pfizer and Maderna get instructions
57:32
from the FDA on how to update their vaccines in June.
57:36
It's unclear whether they will need to run new clinical
57:39
trials for their vaccines, which be unlikely to occur before
57:43
the annual coronavirus shot in the fall. While we cannot
57:48
comment on this specifically, we look forward to continued collaboration
57:52
with the administration and teams across HHS, said Chris Ridley,
57:57
a spokesman for Madernam. Medical experts the Post spoke to
58:02
predicted that the change by Kennedy could limit new vaccines
58:06
approved under his watch, as well as slow investment by
58:09
pharmaceutical companies. Ultimately, that would result in fewer vaccines available.
58:17
It's just not correct. They obviously don't understand how vaccines
58:21
are approved in how one obtained safety data, said Michael Osterholm,
58:27
a University of Minnesota's infectious disease expert who advised President
58:31
Joe Biden's transition team, adding that the change threatened the
58:36
existence of coronavirus vaccines, and with this I close for today,
58:42
the first of May twenty twenty five. Please continue listening
58:47
to RADIOI programming and have a good day.