Transcript

9.13.25 · Washington Post

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Speaker 1: Welcome to the reading of Today's Washington Post. It is Saturday,
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September the thirteenth of twenty twenty five. You reader resales
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Dana with the reminder that RADIOI is a service for
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those blind with other disabilities making it difficult to hold
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or read printed material. And I'll start with the front
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page of Today's Washington Post. On the far left a
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column Israeli intelligence bulked at guttas strike. Massad declined ground
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mission out of concern over ties with Golf Nation. And
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I'll read the names when I do the article. It's
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the print too small, and then I get myself mixed up.
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Over the next two articles is a broad headline suspect
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held charged in Kurve slaying. And there is a picture
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of a gentleman speaking to reporters on Friday morning. It
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is Utah Governor Spencer Cox, Republican, detailing other evidence. He said,
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excuse me, he said, led this that tied the suspect
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to the shooting. And there are one, two, three, four, five,
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six people with the Utah state flag in the background
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US flag and one in a or two are in
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servant police service uniforms. UH. The article on the far
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right Underneath that suspect he had recently criticized. Victim father
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recognizes his photo and persuades him to give up. And
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below the photo parents real as violent video reaches children online.
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Below the fold on the left, below the Gutta strike
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in Israel, healthcare costs likely to saw for millions. And
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next to that is a birthday girls Big Day. It
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is a picture of a big number four. King Boo
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inspects her special birthday cake Friday, as the National Zoo
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celebrated the giant panda's fourth birthday and her first in
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Washington with two hundred pend of fans watching it. To
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the right of that picture of Queen Bow National Guard
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to be sent to Memphis, GOP governor supports moved for
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a city that Trump calls deeply troubled. And below that
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officials to link COVID shots to child deaths. And I
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will say that I went and got my COVID shot
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and a flu shot yesterday when I was in Maya
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for something else. And I'm pretty glad I did, because
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I want to be able to travel at Christmas, and
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I want to be able to be safe not only
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for myself but others. So first article, the Charlie Kirk
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shooting suspect went from a quiet upbringing to a murder charge.
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Twenty two year old was charged with killing the conservative
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activists and could face the death penalty if convicted. By
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Mark Berman, Laura Meckler, Hannah Knowles, and Aaron Shaffa. Tyler
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Robinson grew up on a quiet street and a quiet
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corner of Utah. He played video games, and some neighbors
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that his family had previously attended services at the Church
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of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints. Entering his senior
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year of high school, his mother posted a photo of
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him on social media along with his strong college admission
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test scores, and wrote, this boy is a genius and
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I'm hoping he'll pick a Utah college and stay close.
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On Friday, more than five years after her post, Robinson
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was arrested and charged with murdering Charlie Kirk, the conservative
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activist gunned down this week during an appearance at a
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Utah college. Authorities say Robinson, twenty two, fired a single
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shot at Kirk from a nearby rooftop before fleeing the area.
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Robinson turned himself in amid a sweeping man hunt that
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stretched out for more than a day. He could face
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the death penalty if convicted. Robinson had recently criticized Kirk,
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a prominent right wing figure closely tied to President Donald Trump,
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according to officials. In a court affidavit Authority set, a
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family friend reported that after Kirk was shot, Robinson confessed
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to them or implied that he had committed the incident.
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The affidated also said investigators recovered a rifle along with
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bullet casings with phrases engraved on them, one allegedly read, hey,
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fascist catch. People who knew Robinson during his Upgreening described
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them one time straight A student, as reserved, smart, funny,
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and fond of video games. They struggled to square their
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memories with the person accused of shooting Kirk in the neck.
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A family member said Robinson became more political in recent years,
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according to a court affidavit. The relatives said that during
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a dinner before Kirk's visit to Utah Valley University this week,
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Robinson brought up the appearance with another family member. They
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talked about why they didn't like him and the viewpoints
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that he had. Governor Utah Governor Spencer Cox Republicans said
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Friday about the discussion. Attempts to reach Robinson's relatives were
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unsuccessful Friday, and it was not immediately clear if he
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had an attorney. He's being held with Oatvale and is
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set to make his first court appearance on Tuesday. The
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gruesome moments of Kirk's shooting and its aftermath, captured in
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graphic videos that quickly circulated online, set off a desperate
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scrambled to identify and find the attacker. Investigators pleaded with
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the public for help and dug through thousands of tips submitted.
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In response. On Thursday night, they circulated video footage in
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new photos of someone they said was a potential shooter.
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That evening, the Washington County Sheriff's office in southwestern Utah
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heard from a Robinson family friend. According to talks and
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the court affidavit, the person told authorities that the twenty
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two year old had effectively confessed. FBI Director Cash Betel
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said Robinson was taken into custody by ten pm the
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same night. Sergeant Lucas Alfred, a spokesman for the Washington
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County Sheriff's Office, said Robinson turned himself into that agency.
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Records shared with The Washington Post showed that he was
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arrested at four a m. Friday morning. Trump, appearing on
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Fox News on Friday morning, said during the interview that
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Robinson was in Cunsteady. Somebody that was very close to
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him said, m that's him. Trump said. He added later
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and the father convinced his son, this is it. Robinson's
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father recognized his son as the man in the photos
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released by investigators and urged his son to turn himself in,
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According to a law enforcement officer familiar with the matter,
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who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were
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not authorized to speak publicly, the father relayed that information
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to a family friend, a person with connections to local
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law enforcement, who then arranged for Robinson to turn himself in,
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the official said. Speaking to reporters on Friday morning, Cox
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detailed other evidence he said linked Robinson to the shooting.
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Cox said video footage that showed Robinson arriving at the
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Utah Valley University campus in a gray Dodge Challenger, the
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same type of vehicle Relative confirmed he drove. Cox also
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said Robinson was seen on the footage wearing clothes that
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matched what he wore when encountering officials in Washington County
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late Thursday. According to Cox and the court, Affidavid Robinson's
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roommates showed investigators' messages Robinson allegedly posted on the social
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platform Discord, which included references to leaving a rifle in
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a bush and to engraved bullets. Discord confirmed Robinson had
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an account, but said there was no evidence he used
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it to plan the shooting or promote violence. The platform
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also said in his statement that messages ra for instant
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recent reporting about planning details do not appear to be
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Discord messages, describing them instead as communications between the suspects
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roommate and a friend after the shooting, where the roommate
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was recounting the contents of a note the suspect had
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left elsewhere. Cox declined to say whether Robinson was speaking
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with authorities after his arrest. The governor pointed to the
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shellcasing bearing the word fascist and told reporters that speaks
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for itself. In addition to that casing, which included arrow symbols,
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that affidated said, another unfired casing read, if you read this,
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you are a gay lamo, and the word gay and
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L are capitalized GAYL. The writing uses the flippant sarcastic
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life language of online and gaming culture adopted by other
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people accused of recent bloodshed, said Amy Kudo, a counter
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terrorism expert and deputy director of the Institute for Countering
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Digital Extremism. Kudu said the phrases may sound like gibberish
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to the uninitiated, but suggests someone steeped in the code
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of the Internet in video game forms. The k fired
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casing had the phrase notices bulge owo, what's this? According
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to the appidavit, the phrase appears to misspelled the word
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bulge bulge that is online speak suggesting sexual excitement resulting
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from a win or success. Kudu said the reference to
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being gay echoes common language online. Kudah said the arrows
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on the casing reading hey fascist, are consistent with the
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button secretces used to drop bombs in the game Held
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Overs two, a popular satirical game in which super soldiers
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battle aliens. Multiple people who knew Robinson from growing up
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were called his fondness video games. During high school, he
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was part of a group of students who would play
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Nintendo Switch games together at lunch, said Dane Stocking twenty two.
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Robinson was introverted but funny, Stocking said from what I remember,
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he was a jokester, Stocking said. The two were not
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personally close, according to Stocking, and he did not recall
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Robinson discussing violence, guns or politics. The group drifted to
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part since high school, but they periodically check in with
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one another. Once this started coming out, we were really shocked,
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Stocking said Xander Luther, another high school classmate, said he
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remembers Robinson being smart, funny, and active online trafficking in
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silly means and jokes. They would talk politics, Luke said,
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and discussed their frustration with the system, particularly feeling let
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down by the two major political parties. Robinson did not
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appear to like hateful people and people who would talk
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down to others, said Luke. Twenty two. Robinson's family lived
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in a low key residential area in Washington, Utah, more
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than two hundred miles away from the school where Kirk
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was killed. The normally quiet street where he grew up
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was swarmed with television cameras on Friday. Robinson had long
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standing routes in the community, attending schools in the Washington
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County School District since kindergarten and graduating from high school
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in May twenty twenty one. Utah State University said Robinson
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had studied there for a semester. That same year, the
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Utah Board of Higher Education said Robinson was a thirty
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year student in the electrical Apprentice program at Dixie Technical
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College in Saint George, Utah. He did not attend Utah
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Valley University, according to officials. Kristin Schwerman, sixty six, who
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lives a few doors down from the Robinson home, said
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he was one of three boys in his family. She
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recalled him as a good kid who was respectful, did
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not get into trouble, and played with friends. The kid
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was quiet, smart, had friends, close knit family in a
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close knit neighborhood. Who does that, she wondered aloud from
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her porch while police and reporters swung the block. Schwerman
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said her grandson had been at the event where Kirk
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was killed, and she was done to learn Robinson had
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been named the alleged shooter. No way, she said, that's
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not who he is. Robinson's mother periodically posted about her
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son on Facebook, praising him as a loving son and
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bright student. Her post documented family visits to Puerto Rico, Alaska, Hawaii,
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and on multiple occasions, Disneyland. His mother was eager to
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share her son's accomplishments, praising him for a four point
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zero grade average in middle school and highlighting his high
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ACT test score. In contrast to the rhetoric officials of
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Trivijid to Robinson, his mother's Facebook feed had a notable
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lack of politics. It was more focused on positive commentary
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about her children and husband. Cox on Friday described the
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shooting as a political assassination that is much bigger than
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an attack on an individual. He also said there is
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one person responsible for what happened here and that person
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is now in custody. In a related article, my kid
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has seen this? Now what parents real as Charlie Kirk
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video goes viral? Gory social videos of Charlie Kirk shooting
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have inundated children, leaving parents feeling powerless and disturbed by
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Tatum Hunter and will Ormos. Alyssa writes, thirteen year old
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daughter arrived home from her Los Angeles school Wednesday with
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an announcement Charlie Kirk was dead and she had watched
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a video of it happening. Right's stomach dropped, she said.
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The forty seven year old stay at home mom had
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seen the gory video of the conservative commentators killing out
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of Utah's speaking event earlier that day as it spread
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on TikTok and read it. Her daughter said that a
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boy in her class had sneaked around the school's phone
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band and discovered the video on TikTok. Then Wright asked
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how it made her daughter feel. The middle schooler said
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the image of blood spurting from Kirk's neck was crazy.
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These are kids who have been doing school shooter drills
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their whole lives, and I hate that she's so desensitized
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to it. It just makes me think, what else has
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she seen? Wright said. While violent videos live in many
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corners of the Internet, children and teens encountered the videos
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of Kirk's killing a mainstream social platforms, often in their
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primary feeds. It was a perfect storm, said Titania Jordan,
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chief marketing opposite at the parental controls app Bark, leaving
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kids across the country encountering the c before parents could
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talk to them about it. Just days after video of
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a stabbing of a Ukrainian woman on a North Carolina
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train made waves online, Some parents said they feel overwhelmed
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by the frequency and intensity of violent images. You cannot
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go online now and not see something related to this,
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said Jordan, a parent herself. Cable news channels and mainstream
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media outlets aired edited videos that omitted the shooting itself,
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but on social platforms, uncensored videos filmed at the scene
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from long distance and up close. Quickly surfaced apps like
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you Too, TikTok, and Instagram are designed to play one
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video after another as people scroll, prioritizing the posts that
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draw the most attention. Experts said it was impossible to
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quantify just how many people and how many kids the
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videos ultimately reached, especially since many were taken down. This
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one move at a page you can't keep up with,
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said Jill Murphy, chief content officer at the family advocacy
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group common Sense Media. Murphy said travel to the organization's
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web page titled Explaining the News to Our Kids was
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twenty times higher Wednesday than the day before. Common Sense
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used to wait for schools to request educational materials to
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help kids process violence in the news, but now the
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group starts prepping once major events occur. Murphy spoke to
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the omnipresence of news coverage and cell phone footage and
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the speed at which information can travel. This footage was
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available online to a generation who is used to watching, commenting, sharing,
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and posting their only actions to events, whatever that event
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might be, and long before they may realize the impact
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of what they've just consumed, she said. About Thursday, the
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most graphic videos were less prevalent on most major platforms
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as companies worked to remove them, though they still turned
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up through search or algorithmic feeds, especially on x. Still,
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parents said the children reported the videos being discussed and
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shared as schools, sometimes Vida group chats or private messaging apps.
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Most major platforms told the Washington Posts they are proactively
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identifying and either removing or placing age restrictions on posts
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that show Kirk's killing. I am heartbroken. People who encountered
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the video expressed outrage, sadness, and resignation. Thursday, how The
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Reynolds of Salt Lake City said she found out during
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their car ride for school drop off that her fifteen
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year old daughter had watched the video at school. She
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said she felt bad about not finding out earlier. I
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am heartbroken that she watched something I have protected myself from.
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But Reynolds said that while her daughter found the video horrible,
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the teen also thought it was important to have seen
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it and felt it shouldn't be censored. Alicia Perry, a
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thirty seven year old tech worker in Texas, opened Facebook
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on Wednesday and immediately saw the clip when it auto
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played in a post from one of her friends. She
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couldn't sleep that night, she said, and ended up booking
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an emergency session with her therapist. One user reported that
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multiple videos of the shooting still surface Thursday, and I
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searched for Charlie Kirk on Snapchat's Spotlight video feed, which
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often caters to a younger audience. I searched for Charlie
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Kirk on TikTok on Thursday morning, brought up suggestions for
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other searches that misspelled his names, such as Charlie el
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Ee and Charles Kurrik ki r Ik. Clicking on those
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misspelled search terms brought up videos that included gory close
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ups of his shooting. Snapchat smokeswoman Monique Belmy told the
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Post via email that the company worked to remove graphic
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photos of the shooting and ensured that they didn't pop
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up in user feeds. In the wake of these tragedies,
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our safety teams immediately took actions, she said. Even Instagram's
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teena signed with additional safety features for users thirteen to seventeen,
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designed with additional safety features for users thirteen to seventeen,
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could readily find videos of the shooting, according to test
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conducted Thursday by Katie Paul, director of the Tech Transparency Project,
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a nonprofit watchdog organization. Using a test Instagram teen account
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created for research purposes with the birth date set to
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two thousand and nine and settings activated to limit graphic content,
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Paul's search for terms such as Charlie Kirk, Charlie Kirk video,
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and Charlie Kirk shot and was stunned by what she found.
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She said, each turned up dozens of Instagram reels or
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short videos from the event at which he was killed,
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and some returned videos of the killing itself, including a
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bloody close up that had more than ten thousand views
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and remained live on the site as of midday Thursday.
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A spokeswoman for Instagram parent company Meta said Paul's findings
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stemmed from the challenges of tracking and rapidly moderating all
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the different versions of a given video and was not
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related to Instagram teen accounts. We are removing content that
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glorifies her support this tragic incident. Or the perpetrator while
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applying warning screens over videos of the incident and restricting
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their viewing to people eighteen in Oval spokesperson Francis Brennan
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said in an email statement, adding there can be a
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lag at times in applying those warning screens when individuals
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upload slightly different versions of known videos, and it appears
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that's what happened here. Many parents said they struggled to
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limit all the ways their children could encounter the video.
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Cara Carloan, forty one, said she assumed the parental controls
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on her fourteen year old daughter's social media accounts would
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prevent the team from seeing it. Cologne was still reeling
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from watching the close up on TikTok, the image replaying
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again and again in her mind, she said, when her
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daughter came to her saying a friend had sent the
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clip in a text message. TikTok spokesperson Jamie Faiabaza said
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in the email that the company has implemented additional safeguards
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to prevent people from unexpected deviewing footage that violates our rules.
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And Disha No Rayi, a communications professional in the Atlanta area,
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said he saw the video on Blue Sky on Wednesday
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and warned his kids, fifteen and twelve, to avoid watching
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it because they'd probably regret doing so. He said his
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kids and their friends were already familiar with Kirk from
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social media eclips and had heard about his death at school.
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The fifteen year old told Noarayi later that she had
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been texting with a friend who searched for the video online,
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found it readily, and then exclaimed how graphic it was.
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Blue Sky spokesperson Elizabeth Diana said in an email statement
25:50
that the platform is taking down close up videos of
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the event and suspending accounts that encourage violence. Google's YouTube
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is closely monitoring our platform and balancing public interests with
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protecting its users by removing some graphic videos while restricting
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to others to users over the age of eighteen, spokesperson
26:12
Jack Mallin said in an email statement. The struggle to
26:17
curb the spread bark The Parental Controls, the app that
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helps family monitor kid's phone use, said Outreach from parents
26:26
spiked Wednesday evening as they turned the apps, email support
26:30
or Facebook group to ask how to stop kids from
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seeing the video. For many, it was already too late,
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Jordan said. Hundreds of parents wrote in about the clips
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of Kirk saying my kid has seen this. Now what
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Jordan recommended families temporarily paused social media use when clips
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graphic clips go viral, But the more realistic course may
26:54
be to help kids practice saying no to friends who
26:57
try to share the clips. Ultimately, parents alone can't to
27:01
protect kids from gruesome content if social platforms don't invest
27:06
in curbing it spread, Jordan said, citing changes to content
27:10
moderation teams and systems at major social media companies that
27:15
have shifted the responsibility for flagging Dander's content onto users.
27:21
Moderating videos at scale, however, as harder than it might seem,
27:26
particularly during a major breaking news event such as the
27:29
Kirk shooting, said Katie Harbough, a former Facebook executive and
27:34
CEO of anka Change, a tech consulting firm. Most major
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social media platforms use machine learning software to identify and
27:43
remove posts that violate their policies against goal and graphic violence.
27:48
You said, but that's harder with videos than with text
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or still images, she said. It takes time for companies
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to train their systems to identify videos they've never encountered before,
28:00
particularly when users make small tweaks or edits that result
28:04
in countless versions of the same footage. It's not an
28:09
instantaneous thing where you can hit a button and have
28:12
it disappear from the Internet completely, Harbeth said, when the
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video is newsworthy, she added, the companies must also make
28:20
judgment calls on how to balance public interest with the
28:24
interest of users and respect for the victim. Harbeth said
28:28
she believes most of the major social media companies have
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gotten better overall at responding quickly to viral shooting videos
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since the twenty nineteen massacre at two mosques in christ Church,
28:41
New Zealand, which the shooter's live streamed on Facebook. She
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said Elon Musk's X, which is cut back on content
28:49
moderation and using speech restrictions, is an exception. X rules
28:55
allow users to post graphic imagery if it is laid
29:00
properly labeled, not prominently displayed, and does not accessibly gory
29:05
or depicting sexual violence, though threatening or glorifying violence is
29:11
not allowed. The company declined to explain how it was
29:14
applying that rule to posts about the Kirk shooting, but
29:18
said in a post on X that we will continue
29:21
to end against violence and censorship, ensuring this platform amplifies
29:27
truth and open dialogue for everyone. Some lawmakers on Thursday
29:32
urged X and other tech companies to take stronger action.
29:38
The impact of pushing videos detailing the graphic murder of
29:42
Charlie Kirk from every different angle cannot be anything but
29:46
detrimental to kids, said Senator Marshall Blackburn, Republican of Tennessee. Blackburn,
29:54
let us send it hearing. Earlier this week, with X
29:56
metal whistleblowers criticizing the companies to child's safety, Representative Anna
30:04
Paulina Luna, Republican of Florida, posted that she is calling
30:08
on Musk Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and TikTok to remove
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the horrifying videos of Charlie Kirk's murder, adding no one
30:19
should be forced to relive this tragedy online. While the
30:23
clip of Kirk's shooting was distinct for its close up
30:27
detailed social media, USUS have also been confronted with viral
30:31
images from numerous other violent events in recent years. Those
30:35
include the war and Gosim, the stabbing of Ukrainian immigrant
30:40
Irana Zarutska, the assassination attempt on President Donald Trump, the
30:46
mass shooting in Buffalo, the murder of George Floyd in
30:49
the aftermath of the Sandy Hook School shooting. Right the
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California mom who said she's angry that her daughter has
30:57
to witness this dream of violence. Her one hope is
31:01
that upsetting images for some sort of change, she said, God,
31:07
if people could see this happening to children like if
31:10
people actually saw the footage of children dying like this,
31:14
maybe something would actually happen, she said Front Page. While
31:21
your health insurance may soon cost a lot more, insurers
31:27
blame the popularity of obesity drugs and the possibility of
31:31
tariffs for rising prices. And there is a picture awaiting
31:38
with their daughter for her prescription at a pharmacy in
31:42
Connecticut to be filled and after losing insurance coverage for
31:47
her weight loss medication by Peter Worsiski and Page windfilled Cunningham.
31:57
Health insurance costs in the United States are on track
32:00
for their biggest jump in at least five years, according
32:04
to multiple surveys, adding turbulence to an uncertain economy and
32:09
boosting expenses for millions of Americas already beset by inflation.
32:15
In twenty twenty six, businesses will be hit with an
32:18
increase of nine percent or more, and they are expected
32:22
to push some of the burden on to employees. According
32:25
to the research for the twenty four million enrollees of
32:30
Affordable Care Act insurance plans, however, the news is far worse.
32:36
The end of enhanced federal subsidies for that program means
32:40
their cost are expected to rise by more than seventy
32:43
five percent next year, according to KFF, the non partisan
32:48
health policy organization. Insurers and employeers point to two recent
32:54
factors to explain the rising prices, the tariffs on pharmaceutical
32:59
imports being considered by the Trump administration and the high
33:03
cost of new obesity treatments called glp I drugs. With
33:11
inflation top of mind for many Americans and broad discontent
33:17
with healthcare, the spiking prices in both government sponsored and
33:22
private health insurance can make the cost of coverage and
33:25
issue in the twenty twenty six mid term elections. A
33:30
gallop Poland December reported that Americans rating of the quality
33:36
of US healthcare has fallen to the lowest reading in
33:39
twenty four years, and views of healthcare coverage nationally remain
33:44
broadly negative now even among Republicans opposed to the government
33:50
insurance program the rapid rise and prices at the end
33:54
of the Obamacare subsidies have created orri Voters don't want
33:59
to see people losing their health insurance, according to the
34:03
posters of Fabrizio Ward, a Republican polling firm, which found
34:08
overwhelming by porous and support for extending the Affordable Care
34:12
Act subsidies in a recent poll of twenty eight competitive
34:16
congressional districts. Three recent research reports blamed the insurance price
34:23
hikes generally on rising prices and the more liberal use
34:27
of health care services. All three reports by aon a
34:32
global consultancy Mercer, a benefits company, and the Business Group
34:39
on Health and Industry Group cited the new obesity drugs
34:44
as a driver of cost. We are seeing a continued
34:49
surge in utilization of the gop one drugs, said deb
34:54
wi Ashford, a chief actuary at Annon and an author
34:59
of the report. She said the use of the drugs
35:02
rose ninety two percent in twenty twenty three and an
35:07
addition of fifty six percent in twenty twenty four, and
35:11
the growth has continued this year at a similar pace.
35:15
These drugs can cost as much as eight hundred dollars
35:19
a month, as employers seek to limit the bill for
35:23
golps ones. Ninety percent of them said they are paying
35:28
for the drugs only after prior authorization reviews, and nearly
35:32
half of requiring that patients be substantly overweight as determined
35:37
by BMI or body mass index. The Business Group survey said.
35:44
Additional cost drivers cited in the forecast include mental health,
35:48
chronic conditions, and cancer. The other new force behind the
35:52
price hikes is the expectation of import tariffs, which would
35:56
boost drug prices. Pharmaceuticals are currently exempt from the tariffs
36:02
imposed by the Trump administration, but the Commerce Department is
36:05
investigating the impact of drug imports on national security. The
36:10
President also has said planned tariffs on medicines could be
36:14
as much as two hundred and fifty percent. In a
36:18
May letter to the Commerce Department, the American Hospital Association
36:23
warned that the tariffs would significantly affect drug prices. The
36:28
US gets nearly thirty percent of its active pharmaceutical ingredients
36:32
from China, the letter said. It also cited a survey
36:36
indicating that many healthcare experts expect terraff related expenses to
36:42
increase hospital costs by at least fifteen percent. Some insurers
36:48
in legal filings with regulators have said explicitly that the
36:51
expected tariffs were raising insurance prices. A document from United
36:58
Healthcare of New York states that to account for uncertainty
37:03
regarding tariffs and or the ensuring of manufacturing and the
37:07
impact on total medical costs, most notably on pharmaceuticals, a
37:12
total price impact of three points six percent is built
37:16
into the initially submitted rate filing. While the obcd drugs
37:22
and tariffs are expected to raise health care costs generally,
37:26
the most urgent political matter is the fate of the
37:29
extra subsidies for the twenty four million people with Affordable
37:33
Care Act plans who could see their premium payments double
37:37
in January if the subsidies go away. About half of
37:42
adults with such coverage a small business owners or their employees,
37:47
or are self employed. According to KFF. The extra subsidies
37:53
were first provided during the coronavirus pandemic, intended to make
37:58
healthcare dot gov coverage more affordable, and had been in
38:01
place for the past five years. During that time, the
38:05
number of enrollees in Obamacare plans has doubled to more
38:09
than twenty four million. According to Reduce the number of
38:13
Americans without health insurance, helping to reduce the number of
38:18
Americans without health insurance. I'm going to read that sentence again.
38:24
During that time, the number of enrollees in Obamacare plans
38:28
has doubled to more than twenty four million, helping to
38:32
reduce the number of Americans without health insurance. The subsidies
38:38
have come at a significant cost of taxpayers, however, and
38:42
extending them an additional ten years would cost three hundred
38:45
and thirty five billion dollars, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
38:51
Congress has approved the subsidies twice, but now the GOP
38:55
controlled House and Senate appeared likely to let them expire
38:58
after December. They previously declined to extend them in the
39:02
tax and spending bill they passed over the summer. About
39:07
four million people would drop out of Affordable Care Act
39:10
plans in the first year after the extra subsidies were discontinued,
39:15
according to estimates from the CBO. That would leave behind sticker,
39:21
more expensive patients in the marketplaces and could exempt or
39:26
prompt insurers to hype premiums even more in the future.
39:32
While some critics have predicted a death spiral for the marketplaces,
39:36
if such a trend occurred. Others have said the original
39:40
subsidies are enough to support the program. As long as
39:44
those original subsidies remain in place, there will be no
39:48
death spiral, said Cynthia Cox, a researcher at a KFF
39:54
who focuses on the Affordable Care Act, but some individuals
39:59
will face hardsh yep. There is growing unease among Republicans
40:04
about the possibility of making Obamacare premiums unaffordable, and they
40:09
are weary of attacks from Democrats who could accuse them
40:13
of leaving millions of people without health insurance. Eleven House Republicans,
40:19
many of them in vulnerable seats, have signed on to
40:24
a bipartisan bill to extend the subsidies for another year,
40:28
enough time to move the issue past the twenty twenty
40:31
six mid term elections. Representative Ken Kiggins, Republican of Virginia,
40:37
the bill's lead sponsor, warns that if the tax credit ends,
40:42
a Virginia family of four earning sixty four thousand dollars
40:45
a year could see their premiums jump by more than
40:48
twenty five hundred dollars a year. A sixty year old
40:52
couple earning eighty two eight hundred dollars could face nearly
40:56
twelve thousand dollars in higher annual premiums. This is the
41:01
last thing Virginians need, and it's unacceptable. Keegan said. Congress
41:07
could extend the subsidies in a bill to fund the
41:10
government after October first. There has also been talk of
41:15
extending them in a year end measure, possibly adding them
41:18
to budget negotiations, but insurance warmth that may be too late.
41:24
At that point, most healthcare dot gov customers will have
41:27
already selected plans. Host Conservatives, who have long railed against
41:32
the Affordable Care Act, are opposed to continuing the extra
41:36
federal assistance. House Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Harris, Republican of Maryland,
41:44
said that it's time to end COVID era policies and
41:49
predicted that so many Republicans would vote against it. But
41:54
Senator Josh Hawley, Republican of Missouri, known for his popular
42:00
overtures during the debate over cutting Medicaid, said that we
42:04
have to do something to prevent skyrocketing premiums. I think anybody,
42:11
or I think any time somebody's healthcare premiums go up
42:15
by two hundred percent when they are already unaffordable. That's
42:19
a problem. We cannot allow that to happen, Josh Holly said.
42:26
Trump announces National Guard will be deployed in Memphis to
42:30
fight crime. During a television interview, the president said that
42:35
the Tennessee city is deeply troubled. The move follows similar
42:40
use of the Guard in DC by Patrick Spittik, Amy B. Wang,
42:47
and Holly Bailey. President Donald Trump said Friday that Memphis
42:52
will be the next target of a National Guard deployment,
42:55
as his administration expands its use of the military to
42:59
fight crime to its third Democratic run city in recent months.
43:05
We're going to Memphis, Trump said during a Fox News interview,
43:09
calling into a deeply troubled city, national Guard and everybody
43:14
else we need, and by the way, we'll bring in
43:16
the military too if we need it. The move follows
43:21
similar National Guard deployments to Los Angeles and DC as
43:25
part of what Trump has said is a necessary federal
43:29
intervention in those cities to crack down on violent crime
43:32
and ramp up deportations of undocumented immigrants. The deployment to
43:37
Memphis will be the first time Trump has mobilized the
43:40
National Guard to a state he won In November Tennessee
43:45
Governor Bill Lee, Republican, said Friday that he supports the
43:48
move and the National Guard. We'll be working closely with
43:52
other law enforcement agencies in the state. For months, I
43:57
have been in constant communication with the Trump and mine
44:00
to develop a multi phased strategic plan to combat crime
44:04
and Memphis, leveraging the full extent of both federal and
44:08
state resources, Lee said in a statement, adding, as one
44:12
of America's world class cities, Memphis remains on a path
44:16
to greatness and we are not going to let anything
44:19
hold residents back. The timing of the National Guards deployment
44:25
was unclear. Lee said he planned to speak to Trump
44:28
later Friday to work out details. The White Hose did
44:31
not provide additional information. Memphis Mayor Paul Young, Democrat, disputed
44:38
Trump's claim that he was happy about the deployment of
44:42
the National Guard, saying he did not support sending troops
44:45
into his city. I want to be clear, I did
44:49
not ask for the National Guard, and I don't think
44:52
it's the way to drive down crime, Young said during
44:56
a news conference, writing adding, however, they are and it's
45:00
not the mayor's call. The mayor doesn't have us say
45:04
or the authority to stop them from coming, and so
45:07
my goal is to make sure that as they come,
45:10
that I have an opportunity to work with them to
45:13
strategize on how they engage in this community. And there's
45:18
a picture of the Memphis Mayor, Paul Young, taken in April.
45:23
He's wearing a nice gray suit, blue tie, and sort
45:30
of an off white pinkish colored shirt and nice glasses
45:36
and he's got his hand up to make a point.
45:41
Officials in Shelby County, which includes Memphis, expressed concern Friday
45:46
not only have a symbolism of sending soldiers into a
45:49
majority black city in the safe but also of an
45:52
impact it could have on already stretched county and city budgets.
45:57
A fresh influx of the Tennessee Highway Patrol officers arrived
46:01
in the city in recent days, prompting a surge of
46:05
tickets and arrest, adding further stress to the severely overcrowded
46:09
Shelby County jail, according to Tammy Soyer, the Shelby County
46:14
General Sessions Court. Clark Soyer told reporters FADI that hundreds
46:19
of people have been stuck in the jail's intake room
46:22
because there was no room for them, a condition sheehard
46:26
would only grow worse amid any surge in federal law enforcement.
46:31
We as a county don't have the funding to deal
46:34
with this. Our jail does not have the space. We
46:37
don't have a number of employees that we will need
46:39
to support a federal occupation, Soya, said Shelby County Mayor
46:45
Lee Harris said he's exploring legal options to determine whether
46:49
he can sue to stop the deployment, but he made
46:52
an emotion appeal to Trump and the government to call
46:55
off their plans. I'm scared, Harris said. Send folks in
47:00
military fatigues, don't send folks with semi automatic weapons to
47:05
patrol a streets. I want less crime, but I need America.
47:10
In South Memphis, an area that has struggled with deep
47:13
poverty and crime, many residents were already expressing a lot
47:18
of fear and anxiety and confusion and worry at what
47:22
a National Guard deployment could look or feel like. Since
47:25
State Representative Justin Pearson, Democrat, you cannot think what the
47:31
weaponization of the military against black communities and black people
47:35
has looked like before. Pearson said, Memphis is the second
47:41
most populous city in Tennessee, behind Nashville. It has historically
47:45
experienced a high crime rate, though like other major cities,
47:49
it is seen a dropping crime in recent years. Overall
47:54
crime is at at twenty five year low, with robbery, burglary,
47:57
and larceny also reaching twenty five year lows, the Memphis
48:01
Police Department said in a news release Tuesday. Tennessee Republicans
48:06
praised Trump's announcement. US Senator Marsha Blackburn applauded the President
48:11
for helping Memphis safe again, noting in the statement that
48:16
she voiced support last month for putting troops in Memphis.
48:20
US Representative David Kustaff, Republican Tennessee whose district includes part
48:27
of Memphis, that he supported the decision as well. It
48:31
is important for the long term success in Memphis to
48:34
have additional and permanent federal law enforcement officers and agents
48:38
who can work in conjunction with state and local officials,
48:42
Kustaf said in the statement. Trump spent recent weeks considering
48:47
where to deploy the National Guard next after sending troops
48:50
to d C last month. He most commonly flowed a Chicago,
48:55
making an inflammatory social media post last weekend suggesting his
48:59
administration was soon going to war with the city. However,
49:05
state and local Democratic officials they have voiced strong opposition
49:08
to the proposal. Illinois Governor JB. PRITZKERG Democrat, accused Trump
49:14
of having a nefarious plan to normalize the militarization of
49:18
cities to his benefit. Pritzker and Chicago City Council members
49:22
said they would have welcomed support from federal agencies to
49:26
track down drug traffickers and valient criminals, but not in
49:29
the shape of a National Guard deployment. Trump said Friday
49:34
that he would have preferred going to Chicago next, but
49:38
suggested he was put off at such a hostile setting.
49:43
Trump promised the National Guard with straightened Memphis like in Washington,
49:48
which he hailed as a crime free city. Now. He
49:52
made false and exaggerated claims about the recent reduction of
49:55
crime in the city, including it had been years since
49:59
DC a week without a reported homicide. During his interview
50:04
on Fox and Friends, Trump continued to toy with the
50:08
idea of bringing National Guard to more cities, including other
50:12
Democratic led wins rad states. He reiterated his interest in
50:17
New Orleans, saying that it is in really bad shape.
50:21
And that the Republican governor of Louisiana, Jeff Landry, wants
50:25
us to go in. Landry said this month that the
50:29
state would welcome federal law enforcement to help, from New
50:33
Orleans to Shreveport. Trump has hinted that the federal takeover
50:38
of policing in d C could serve as a test
50:41
case for other cities across the country. However, Washington is
50:46
unique in that it has no governor and the president
50:49
has direct control over troops there. A federal judge ruled
50:54
September two that Trump's deployment of the National Guard to
50:57
Los Angeles violated the law that prohibits the military from
51:01
carrying a domestic law enforcement. It was a narrow opinion
51:05
that did not apply to other states. The case is
51:09
now on appeal before the US Court of Appeals for
51:12
the Ninth Circuit. I probably won't be able to finish
51:17
this article, but it's the last one on the front page.
51:20
Trump officials to link COVID shots to child's deaths alarming
51:25
career scientists. The move to link coronavirus vaccines to twenty
51:32
five child deaths has alarmed career scientists, who say the
51:37
shots have been extensively studied by Lena Hsn, Rachel Reuben,
51:45
and Dan Diamond. Trump held officials planned to link coronavirus
51:50
vaccines to the deaths of twenty five children as they
51:53
consider limiting which Americans should get the shots. According to
51:58
four people familiar with the situation who spoke on the
52:01
condition of anonymity to describe confidential information, the findings appear
52:07
to be based on information submitted to the Federal Vaccine
52:10
Adverse Event Reporting System via ERS, which contains unverified reports
52:18
of side effects or bad experiences with vaccines submitted by anyone,
52:24
including patients, doctors, pharmacist, or even someone who sees a
52:28
report on social media. The Centers for Disease Control and
52:33
Prevention emphasizes that the database is not designed to assess
52:37
whether a shot caused to death, a conclusion that requires
52:41
thorough investigations by scientists and public health professionals. Trump health
52:47
officials plan to include the pediatric deaths claim in a
52:51
presentation next week to an influential panel of advisers to
52:56
the CDC that is considering new Corona vaccine recommendations, which
53:01
affect access to the shots and whether they're free. The
53:06
plan has alarmed some career scientists who say that coronavirus
53:10
vaccines have been extensively studied, including in children, and that
53:15
the dangers of the virus itself are being underplayed while
53:19
Trump health officials are investigating deaths due to vaccines, CDC
53:27
staff in Gene presenting data to the same vaccine committee
53:31
showing that at least twenty five children died who had
53:34
had COVID associated hospitalization since July twenty twenty three. That number,
53:40
the staff said it was probably an undercount, and of
53:43
the sixteen children old enough for vaccine, none was up
53:47
to date on vaccines. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marity
53:53
Mackeri confirmed on CNN last week that officials were investigating
53:58
reports of possible child deaths from the vaccine, including reviewing
54:02
autopsy reports and interviewing families. Such a review could take months,
54:07
according to health officials, and it is unclear when those
54:11
investigations began. The pediatric death's presentation to the CDC's Advisory
54:17
Committee on Immunization Practices is not final, according to one
54:22
person familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition
54:25
of anonymity to describe ongoing policy discussions. The full methology
54:32
for analysis was not immediately clear. The FDA and CDC
54:39
staff routinely analyzed v aers and other safety monitoring data,
54:46
and those reviews are being shared publicly through the established
54:50
ACPP process, HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon said in an email,
54:56
adding any recommendations and updated COVID nineteen vaccines will be
55:01
based on gold standard science and deliberated transparently at ACIP
55:08
next week. The FDA in August to prove the latest
55:12
coronavirus vaccines for people ages sixty five and older or
55:17
who have risk factors for severe disease, but the CDC
55:21
Vaccine Panel can recommend the shots more narrowly or broadly.
55:25
The committee is weighing a plan to recommend the shot
55:28
for those seventy five and older, but to instruct people
55:32
who are younger to speak to a physician before they
55:34
get the vaccine, according to two people familiar with the matter,
55:38
who spoke on the condition of anonymity to share policy discussions.
55:44
Another option would not recommend the vaccine to people who
55:48
don't have pre existing conditions and who are under the
55:51
age of seventy five, the people said, but limiting access
55:55
for people ages sixty five to seventy four has raised
55:58
concerns about the political backlash, and one federal health official
56:02
who spoke on the condition of anonymity to share private conversations.
56:08
According to CDC estimates, nearly forty three percent of people
56:11
in that age group, as well as thirteen percent of children,
56:14
received the twenty twenty four to twenty five version of
56:17
the coronavirus vaccine. Many countries do not recommend annual coronavirus
56:23
vaccination for healthy children, because they rarely die of COVID
56:28
and most experienced mild symptoms. US officials had justified yearly
56:32
shots based on data showing that infants and titleists faced
56:36
elevated risk of hospitalization and that significant shares of those
56:40
who were hospitalized had no underlying conditions. They have also
56:45
said vaccines offer children protection against long COVID. Health and
56:51
Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Junior, a longtime critic
56:55
of coronavirus vaccines, in May, directed health officials to stop
57:00
recommending the shots for otherwise healthy children. The CDC later
57:05
instructive parents to consult a doctor before getting their children
57:09
coronavirus vaccines. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends annual coronavirus
57:15
vaccines for all children ages six months to twenty three months,
57:19
and for older children if their parents want them to
57:22
have protection. Next week's Vaccine Advisory Panel meeting is critical
57:27
because the recommendations to determine whether insurers must pay for
57:32
the immunizations, pharmacies can administer them, and doctors are willing
57:37
to offer them. Can a depurged membership of the panel
57:41
earlier this year and appointed his own picks, most of
57:44
whom have criticized coronavirus vaccine policy. He is considering adding
57:50
additional critics of COVID shots to the committee. And it
57:55
is exactly fifty eight minutes, So I will conclude today's
57:59
reading of The Washington Post with have a great weekend.
58:03
Gary and I are going to go to the balloon
58:05
Festival and for sales, which would be great fun. I
58:08
think this afternoon it's a gorgeous day. Stay comfortable and
58:13
I'll be back next Thursday. Have a good day, bye,
58:17
and of course stay tuned for continued programming on radio
58:20
app obviously, please thank you. Bye,