Transcript

2.20.25 · Washington Post

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Speaker 1: Welcome to the reading of the Washington Post for today, Thursday,
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February twenty, twenty twenty five. As a reminder, radioized or
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reading service intended for people who are blind or have
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other disabilities that make it difficult to read printed material.
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Your reader today is Mark Webster. We'll begin with the
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first page of Today's Washington Post. There are six articles.
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Along the left hand column, there are two articles Pentagon
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told to plan for budget cuts of eight percent. Pentagon
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told to plan for major budget cuts. Then under that
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is former agents booted by FBI provide Patel a support circle.
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In the middle is after committing money, GOP senators plead
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for it to be spent. The fifth article is our
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fourth articles Towards the bottom after collision, the hardest day
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for first responders. To the right of that and the
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far right column, worker firings quickly lead to disruptions at
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national parks, and at the top in the lower right
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hand corner, allies fear US may realign its Russian policy.
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I'll begin with that. There's a photograph of President Trump
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at his resolute desk. Here's the article President Donald Trump
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and Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky traded insults Wendy, with Zelensky
1:26
accusing Trump of spouting lies about him and the war
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with Russia, and Trump calling Zelensky a dictator who started
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the war and has been ripping off the United States
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to pay for it. Beneath the war of words is
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rising concern here and in Europe that what has seemed
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a head spinning move away from decades of US policy
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toward Russia and three years of stalwarts support for Ukraine
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may lead to the most significant geo political realignment since
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World War Two. While Trump was sympathetic toward Russian Russian
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President Vladimir Putin during his first term, he now appears
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to be upending generations of US caution toward the Kremlin
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that has spanned both Republican and Democratic administrations. Zelensky's Wednesday
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pushback seemed to boost his popularity at home, but this
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week's escalating exchange led some of the United states closest
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out European allies who've expressed subdued concern over Trump's move
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towards Moscow to go public with remarks ranging from dismay
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to outrage. Quote, we do not understand the American logic
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very well. French government spokeswoman Sophie Primus said, calling Trump's
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comments quote diverse, varied, and often incomprehensible unquote. German Chancellor
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Oloff Schultz and Trump said Trump's remarks were quote wrong
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and dangerous unquote, while his foreign minister and Alina Berbach
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called on Trump to quote look at the real world
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instead of just tweeting close unquote. British Prime Minister caer Stalmmer,
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who is due to visit Trump in Washington next week
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as his French president Emmanuel Macron, called Zelensky on Wednesday
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evening to express his support. A British spokesman said. In Congress,
3:17
even lawmakers who support Trump's attempts to stop the war
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begged to differ with his version of events.
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Speaker 2: Quote.
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Speaker 1: I mean Russia is the aggressor here. There's no question
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about that, unquote, said Senate Majority Leader John Thunne, Republican
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of South Dakota, said, while urging critics to quote give
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Trump some space. Quote quote dictator unquote, said Senator Tom Tillis,
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Republican of North Carolina, was quote not a word I
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would use.
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Speaker 2: Unquote.
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Speaker 1: Senator Tim Kaine, Democrat of Virginia, urged more Republicans to
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quote speak out unquote saying of Trump's quote dictator unquote
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comment that quote no one believes that other than Donald
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Trump and Vladimir putin close the quote US and Russian
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experts on the region, even those who believe US outreached
4:07
Russia is the right approach for ending both the war
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and the estrangement between the world's two largest nuclear powers,
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were perplexed by the tac Trump is taking and what
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it means for the broader relationship with the Kremlin. Quote
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Where's he going with this? Said Thomas Graham, in charge
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of US Russia relations at the National Security Council during
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the George W. Bush administration and now at the Council
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of Foreign Relations.
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Speaker 2: Quote.
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Speaker 1: I think he's misrepresenting the situation in Ukraine, and I
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don't know what he hopes to get by that. Is
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this a way to sort of prepare the ground for
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the American public to accept basically a capitulation to putin
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close the quote quote I don't know how this advances
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American interestuote Graham, said Andrea Kendall Taylor, a senior intelligence
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official focused on Russia during the Obama and first trumpministrations,
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who is now at the Center for New American Security set.
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Her views on what Trump is doing have changed in
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the past week, from thinking he simply did not want
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to look weak by striking a bad deal with Putin
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to thinking he just aims to end the war.
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Speaker 2: Quote.
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Speaker 1: I think he doesn't care if we get an outcome
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that raises the risk of fighting in the future. Unquote,
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she said.
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Speaker 2: Quote.
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Speaker 1: I think he just wants to be able to say
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that he ended the war, and if that weakens Ukraine's
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position and it creates conditions conducive to Russia re arming
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and retrying, so long as it's not on his watch,
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he doesn't care.
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Speaker 2: Close the quote.
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Speaker 1: One analyst, speaking on the condition of anonymity for fear
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of retaliation by the new administration, caution that deeds will
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be more important than words. Quote I think it's early
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yet to draw big conclusions about what is exactly we're
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seeing here unquote, the analyst said, noting that Trump could
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cut off all assistance to Ukraine, including intelligence support as
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well as weaponapens aid for the Ukrainian military. Celeste Wellender
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Celeste Wallander, who has who as Assistant Secretary of Defense
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for International Security Affairs, was a top Pentagon official handling
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Ukraine's strategy until last month, agreed that a complete cutoff
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would quote make it harder for Ukraine to continue to
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defend itself.
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Speaker 2: But Ukraine has a.
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Speaker 1: Lot of capability, and if the European countries that have
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been supporting Ukraine chose to continue that support, it wouldn't
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be so obvious or so immediate that the conflict would
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be over close the quote she said. The outburst from
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Kiev came after Zelensky's government spent months carefully cultivating ties
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with Trump since his election victory in hopes that his
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campaign promised to bring a quick end to the war
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would not mean an end to US military aid and
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attempts to force capitulation on Russian terms. Quote We indeed
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tried some form of engagement strategy visa e. Trump hope
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to sway him, but it seems that such strategy has
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its limits close quote, said Mikola Bjelezikov, a political analyst
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with close ties to Zelensky's presidential office.
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Speaker 2: Quote.
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Speaker 1: Now, engagement strategy conflicts with core Ukrainian interest and the
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Ukrainian president has chosen to speak his mind instead of
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pleasing Trump, as Ukraine is sideline in the negotiations process.
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Close the quote. Trump, speaking Tuesday in the wake of
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bilateral talks with Russia earlier that day, from which Ukraine
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was excluded, said that Ukraine actually had started the war
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that began with Russia's February twenty twenty two invasion, appearing
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to legitimize Putin's version of events and questions Zelensky's legitimacy
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in office. Zelensky on Wednesday called reporter to his presidential
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office to respond. The US President, he said, was living
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in a quote web of disinformation. I wish Trump's team
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had more truth closed quote. Trump shot back with withering
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with a withering personal attack on social media, replete with
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exaggeration and falsehoods. Quote think of it. A modestly successful comedian,
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Vladimir Zelensky talked to the United States of America into
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spending three hundred and fifty billion dollars to go into
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a war that couldn't be won but never had to start.
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Closed the quote, he said, giving a figure that is
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nearly double the actual amount of money the United States
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has spent in military and other a to Ukraine. Quote
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a dictator without elections Zelensky's better Zelensky better move fast,
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or he's not going to have a country left. Zelensky
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probably wants to keep the gravy train going closed the quote.
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Trump wrote earlier, he had put Zelensky's domestic popularity rating
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at four percent. According to a February poll from the
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Kiev International Institute of Sociology, fifty seven percent of Ukrainian's
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trust Zelensky, the firm's standard measure of political support. Trump's
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job approval rating stand at about forty eight percent in
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recent US polls. Quote, it sounds like there was a
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handout prepared by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov given to
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Secretary of State Margot Rubio, and now they're just reading
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an unquote former Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielis lens burgess referring
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to the Tuesday meeting in Saudi Arabia that Laverrov held
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with Rubio, White House National Security Advisor Michael Waltz, and
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us on boy Steve Whitkoff said of Trump's assertion that
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Trump that Ukraine started the war. Late Wednesday, Vice President j. D.
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Vance doubled down on Trump's comments, wanting Zelensky to stop
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quote badmouthing him unquote quote. The idea that Zelensky is
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going to change the President's mind by badmouthing him in
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public media. Everyone who knows the president will tell you
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that is an atrocious way to deal with this administration.
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Speaker 2: Close the quote.
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Speaker 1: Vance said in an interview with The Daily mill Mail,
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a right wing Britage tabloid. The push for a speedy
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resolution of the war quote is the policy of the
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President of the United States. Unquote, he said. Quote it
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is not based on Russian disinformation. It's based on the
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fact that Donald Trump, I think knows a lot about
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geopolitics and has had very strong views, and has a
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strong view and has had a strong view for a
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very long time.
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Speaker 2: Close the quote.
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Speaker 1: Other signs of approval came from Putin, who quipped during
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a tour of a drone factory in Saint Petersburg that
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Trump's approach to the war in Ukraine had changed after
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he began getting quote objective information unquote about the state
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of the conflict. The States were far lower during Trump's
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first term, when he sided with Putin against US intelligence
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assessments that Russia had interfered in the twenty sixteen election.
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This time, Trump's siding with Russia comes after Putin has
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waged the largest land war in Europe in eighty years,
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killing hundreds of thousands of people, committed being what the
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International Criminal Court has said are war crimes and seeking
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to wipe an entire nation off the map. The United
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States team with the Soviet Union during World War iiO
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to beat the Nazis, but peace in Europe quickly led
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to superpower rivalry and the Cold War. Through it all,
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Washington was a firm backer of democratic Western Europe and
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a beacon for the aspirations of communist nations in the East.
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The United States never recognized the nineteen forty Soviet occupation
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of the Baltic states of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia, for example,
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stubbornly printing their countries on official government maps until their
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independence was restored in the early nineteen nineties. This time,
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Trump has flipped the script, blaming Ukraine for starting the
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war with Russia despite Putin's unprovoked invasion and denouncing Zelensky.
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He has stayed silent on Putin, who has reigned over
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Russia for a quarter century, killing and imprisoning his most
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formidable rivals. All Trump appears to be asking from Putin
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is that the Kremlin halt of fighting, which would effectively
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hand Russia a major victory, leaving it with about a
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fifth of Ukraine's territory and an historic reward for Putin's
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effort to reshape borders by force. The swift turnabout over
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the past week has left Europe scrambling, as NATO's eastern
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flank worries that the United States could pull back troops
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from the continent, where they have been significantly increased since
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the Ukraine War began to provide a deterrent against an
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effort by Putin to bite off fresh pieces of territory.
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Quote Trump doesn't see any of the global dimensions of
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this and doesn't even care. And he's leaning into all
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of Putin's talking points because he also thinks the same way.
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Unquote set a former official from Trump's first term who
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spoke on the condition of anonymity to provide a candid assessment.
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Speaker 2: Quote.
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Speaker 1: Ukraine is like Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, some other idiots war,
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not his, and he wants it out of the way
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so he can get the deal with Putin. He has
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always fantasized about close the quote. The former official said,
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quote it's sad but very simple, and now Zelensky has
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criticized him, he will try to get rid of him.
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Close the quote and that's the end of the article.
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Will now go to the second article, which is former
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agents booted BYBI provide Patel a support circle. FBI director
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nominee Cash Patel has ties to a group of ex
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agents who call themselves quote the suspendables unquote and have
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long called for firings and change. Here's the article. Cash Patel,
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a fierce critic of the FBI, is on the verge
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of being confirmed as the bureau's next director, with a
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full Senate vote expected Thursday. If approved, he would take
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over the agency amid turmoil unlike anything in its one
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hundred and sixteen year history, while facing allegations that he
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played a role in purges of at least eight top
14:05
officials while his nomination was pending. Some of those forced
14:10
out had been vilified for years by a group of
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former agents who have previously been accused of misconduct and suspended.
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A Washington Post examination has found the ex agents who
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deny wrongdoing have forged bonds with Patel, in some cases,
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accepted financial help from his nonprofit foundation, and have been
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in contact with him since his nomination. One member of
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the group said in an interview. They testified on Capitol
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Hill about the need to clean house at the FBI,
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including out a hearing organized by Representative Jim Jordan, Republican
14:44
of Howe in twenty twenty three. Jordan's senior staff at
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the time included a different former agent named Tom Ferguson.
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He was hired by the Trump administration last month to
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work at the FBI on a newly created quote director's
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advisory team unquote. Senator Dick Urban of Illinois, the top
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Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, invoked that advisory team
15:08
last week when he accused Patel of quote personally directing
15:11
unquote purchased at the FBI while awaiting confirmation, citing information
15:16
from quote credible whistleblowers unquote. Durbin told the Justice Department's
15:21
Inspector General that members of the team had been in
15:24
touch with Patel. He alleged that Patel had perjured himself
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during his confirmation hearing by declaring that he had no
15:31
knowledge of plans for dismissals.
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Speaker 2: Quote.
15:35
Speaker 1: This is a private citizen with no role in government,
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allegedly directing baseless firings of career politicians and then misleading
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this committee about his actions unquote, Durbin said before the
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committee voted last week to send Patel's nomination to the
15:50
full Senate. Patel's spokeswoman, Erica Knight, dismissed the allegations that
15:56
he helped orchestrate the firings as quote second hand gossip.
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She maintained, Patel quote has been fully transparent with the
16:04
American people throughout this process and has demonstrated the integrity
16:08
and leadership needed.
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Speaker 2: For this role. Closed the quote.
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Speaker 1: Ferguson did not respond to an interview request. Conservative critics
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of the FBI see President Donald Trump's decision to nominate Patel,
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an ex federal prosecutor, former assistant public defender, and conservative commentator,
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as a welcome development for a law enforcement agency, they argued,
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has become politicized and out of control, and perhaps no
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group is happier than the coterie of suspended or former
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agents Patel has connected with in recent years. They call
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themselves quote the suspendables quote, victims of what they'd deride
16:46
as the FBI's weaponization against conservatives, and say they were
16:51
punished for political differences in whistleblowing. They built an online
16:55
following through broadcast appearances, social media, and served in news
17:00
outlets where they trumpeted their complaints. Critics dismissed them as
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discuntled ex employees peddling unsu unsubstantiated claims of political bias.
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Patel's ties to them have only stoked the deep up
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unease of Democrats have expressed about his nomination. No Democrats
17:21
on the Judiciary Committee voted to advance Patel's nomination to
17:24
the full Senate. Several noted that they had voted for
17:27
every previous Republican nominated candidate for FBI director that had
17:31
come before them, but did not feel they could do
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so this time. Before the vote, Senator Chuck Grassley, Republican
17:38
of Iowa, the committee's chairman, read nearly a dozen letters
17:42
from suspended or former agents condemning the FBI's pass leadership
17:46
decisions and expressing hope for Patel's turned at the HELM.
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Two were quote suspendables unquote. Garrett O'Boyle and Stephen Frind
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both had testified before Jordan's House subcommittee on the quote
17:59
weaponization of the federal government unquote in twenty twenty three.
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Quote It's long past time for the whistleblowers who've been
18:07
affected by FBI misconduct to be given a voice, unquote,
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Grassley said, quote the suspendables unquote cheered the officers of
18:15
senior FBI leaders on social media last month. They mentioned
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two of those fired by name dozens of times between
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late twenty twenty two and Trump's inauguration, according to a
18:27
post analyst of their social media postings and podcast appearances.
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Knight declined to comment on Patel's ties to those former agents,
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but Patel has maintained a relationship with him, reaching out
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even after his nomination, said Kyle Sarafin, a member of
18:45
the group and former agent URN podcaster. He described his
18:48
recent conversation with Patel as quote appropriately distanced unquote. Quote
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A lot of it has been passing along encouragement unquote,
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he said. Quote there's been no policy suggestion at this point.
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There's really no reason for it. A lot of our
19:02
positions have been shared prior to close the quote. Patel
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has made no secret of his belief that the FBI
19:08
needs to undergo significant changes. In his twenty twenty three
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book Quote Government Gangsters, he said the FBI's authority needs
19:18
to be quote dramatically limited and refocused unquote, and called
19:21
for the quote top ranks of the FBI unquote to
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be fired. Patel has also faced other questions, including a
19:27
twenty five thousand dollars payment last year from a film
19:30
company owned by a Russian national who promotes anti Western
19:35
views and quote deep state unquote conspiracy theories. Democrats and
19:39
some national security veterans have expressed alarm over his history
19:43
of incendiary rhetoric, calls for retribution, and scamp management experience.
19:49
After working in the House and Pentagon during Trump's first term,
19:53
Patel created a brand for himself as a conservative warrior.
19:57
He mixed lucrative consulting work with media appearances. Patel also
20:02
set up a nonprofit to help fund legal defenses for whistleblowers.
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Sarafin said that was how he and the other Suspendables
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first connected with Patel in Fall twenty twenty two. At
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the time, Serafin was on lead from the FBI after
20:19
contesting coronavirus vaccine mandates and had not been paid in months.
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Patel reached out after Sarafin appeared on the quote Dan
20:28
Bongino's Show, unquote, a podcast hosted by the former Secret
20:32
Service agent and Trump booster. Patel quote basically said, I've
20:37
got a check, I've got a foundation. I'd like to
20:39
help your family out and get you through a month,
20:41
or help you pay some bills.
20:42
Speaker 2: Unquote.
20:43
Speaker 1: Serafin recalled in an interview, within days Patel's foundation had
20:48
sent him ten thousand dollars.
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Speaker 2: Quote.
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Speaker 1: He's a very forthright and regular person unquote, Sarafin said,
20:54
quote he's the opposite of what I see in a
20:56
lot of political figures that have run the Bureau recently.
20:59
Speaker 2: Unquote.
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Speaker 1: Saraphin said he has kept in touch with Patel, occasionally
21:04
meeting up with him and other suspendables, including Friend and O'Boyle,
21:09
both of whom have also acknowledged accepting money from Patel's nonprofit,
21:13
and in the twenty twenty three report, House Democrats said
21:16
Patel set a boil up with a lawyer and got
21:19
Friend a job. Seraphin, Friend, and O'Boyle have all said
21:24
they were wrongly forced out of their job by senior
21:26
FBI leaders who disagreed with their political views, Bureau officials
21:30
and congressional Democrats. However, site of the factors in Seraphin's case,
21:35
the Bureau told him his security clearance was suspended over
21:38
numerous rule violations, including quote routine use of derogatory, racist, sexist,
21:43
and our homophobic homophobic language unquote, as well as his
21:49
unauthorized release of quote sensitive government information unquote, according to
21:53
disciplinary records he shared on social media and disputed. Seraphin
21:59
maintained he's never been provided with any examples of the
22:02
derogatory or discriminatory statements he allegedly made. Friend, a former
22:07
agent in Florida, told Congress he'd refused to participate in
22:10
the arrest of a suspect wanted in connection with the
22:13
January sixth, twenty twenty one attack on the US Capitol,
22:17
citing his belief that the investigation deviated from standard practices. O'Boyle,
22:22
formally assigned to the FBI's wichitaal Field office, contends he
22:26
was suspended after he reported what he has described as
22:29
FBI mishandling of investigations. Bureau officials have accused him of
22:33
leaking sensitive information to Project Veritas, a right wing group.
22:39
O'Boyle did not respond to requests for comment. Reached by email,
22:43
friend declined to discuss any quote private conversations unquote. He
22:48
may have had with the FBI's new or incoming leadership.
22:51
Since Patel was nominated. All three former agents have singled
22:55
out two senior FBI officials, in particular, Dena Perkins, Perkins
23:00
and Jeffrey Veltrie, accusing them of using their oversight of
23:05
aspects of the security clearance process to punish political conservatives.
23:10
Jordan as staunched, Trump ally and FBI critic amplified their
23:14
concerns by inviting Friend and o'balla to testify before his
23:17
subcommittee in twenty twenty three. Veltri and Perkins were among
23:23
the eight high level officials all promoted under former FBI
23:27
Director Christopher A. Ray, forced out of the bureau shortly
23:30
after Trump's inauguration at the request of Acting Deputy Attorney
23:33
General Emil Beauvais.
23:35
Speaker 2: Quote.
23:36
Speaker 1: Where there has been some transition in leadership, the FBI
23:39
maintains a deep bench of strong subject matter experts and
23:43
leaders that have stepped up to carry on the mission unquote,
23:46
an FBI spokesperson said in a statement, quote their expertise
23:50
and professionalism has ensured zero disruption to the continuity of
23:54
the operations of the FBI.
23:56
Speaker 2: Closed the quote.
23:57
Speaker 1: Still morale at the bureau is extremely low, people familiar
24:02
with the workforce said, and the threat of broader staff
24:05
shakeups staffing shakeups Lingers. Bovet has ordered a review of
24:09
any FBI employee who worked on cases related to the
24:12
January sixth attack. Earlier this month, Acting FBI Director Brian J.
24:16
Driscoll handed over that list of personnel identified by employee
24:21
numbers rather than names. Driscoll acknowledged concerns that employees quote
24:25
may be targeted for doxing, swatting, and other threats unquote.
24:30
Anonymous groups of FBI agents sued the Justice Department, eventually
24:34
securing an agreement that the names would not be released
24:37
without further court review. Trump meanwhile, has said he intends
24:41
to fire some agents involved in the January sixth probes.
24:44
Speaker 2: Quote.
24:45
Speaker 1: Every employee is in some state of uncertainty end quote.
24:48
Set a former senior FBI officials who spoke on the
24:51
condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal or harassment. The
24:55
ouster of top veterans was particularly alarming, the officials said,
24:59
quote there were senior leaders that ran big divisions. Employees
25:02
across the organization are wondering who's safe unquote. In a
25:06
video statement earlier this month, Driscoll tithed the FBI's efforts
25:10
on a variety of fronts. His underlying message its work
25:15
continues unimpeded. Quote at the bureau, We're focused on the
25:20
work unquote, Drisco said. Quote and people. We do the
25:24
work with our partners and the people. We do the
25:27
work for the American people. Close the quote. That's the
25:31
end of that article. And that's the end. Well, I've
25:33
got a couple of minutes. I'm going to go back
25:35
and try to read part of the third article. The
25:40
next article Pentagon told to plan for budget cuts of
25:43
eight percent. I will only be able to read a
25:45
couple maybe a minute of this. A senior Pentagon official
25:48
said that money saved through the cuts could be realigned
25:52
to other defense priorities that President Donald Trump has. Defense
25:56
Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered senior leaders at the Pentagon
26:00
and throughout the US military to develop plans for cutting
26:03
eight percent from the defense budget. Throughout the US military
26:08
to develop plans for cutting eight percent from the defense
26:12
budget in each of the next five years. According to
26:14
a memo obtained by The Washington Post and officials familiar
26:17
with the matter, a striking proposal certain to face internal
26:21
resistance and strident by partisan opposition in Congress. Hepseth ordered
26:27
the proposed cuts to be drawn up by Monday. According
26:30
to the memo, which is dated Tuesday, it includes a
26:33
list of seventeen categories that the Trump administration once exempted,
26:37
among them operations at the southern US border, modernization of
26:42
nuclear weapons and missile defense, an acquisition of submarines, one
26:46
way attack drones, and other munitions. Robert J. Celesies, a
26:51
senior Pentagon official, said in a statement that the money
26:54
saved could be quote realigned unquote to pay for new
26:58
priorities in the Trump administration, including the quote Iron Dome
27:01
for America un quote President Donald Trump catchphrase for an
27:05
expense and expansive missile defense system. The sum could amount
27:09
to fifty bigion dollars in next year's budget, he said.
27:13
The Pentagon budget for twenty twenty five is about eight
27:16
hundred and fifty billion dollars, with broad consensus on Capitol
27:19
Hill that extensive spending is necessary to deter threats posed
27:23
by China and Russia in particular. If adopted in full,
27:27
the cuts would include tens of billions of dollars in
27:30
each of the next five years, the Budget Director. The
27:34
Budget Directive follows a separate order from the Trump administration
27:38
seeking lists of thousands of proprobationary Defense Department employees expected
27:43
to be fired this week. That effort is being overseen
27:46
by billionaire Elon musk Usdalge Service as part of his
27:51
broader dismantling federal bureaucracy. We'll stop there and go to
27:55
our second part now by welcome back to the reading
27:59
of the Washington Post for today, Thursday, February twenty, twenty
28:03
twenty five. This is the second part. We were in
28:05
the middle of an article about Trump administration ordering the
28:09
Pentagon to plan for sweeping budget cuts. There's just a
28:12
little bit left I'm going to finish that. Combine, the
28:17
two efforts amount to a striking assault on the government's
28:20
largest department, which is more than nine hundred thousand civilian employees,
28:24
many of them military veterans. Probationary employment in the Defense
28:28
Department can last from one to three years, depending on
28:31
the position, and can include employees who have shifted from
28:34
one job to the other. John Elliott, a Pentagon spokesman,
28:39
said in a statement that Hegseth has directed Defense officials
28:43
to evaluate the probationary workforce, with the determination already made
28:47
that quote some civilian probationary employees will be separated from
28:51
service in the near future closed to quote. On Wednesday,
28:54
people familiar with dog's activities said the National Security Agency
29:00
had furnished to the Pentagon a list containing roughly four
29:03
thousand identification numbers of employees on probation, accounting for roughly
29:08
ten percent of the spy Service's civilian workforce. Though managers
29:13
are expected to have leeway to consider people's roles and
29:16
performance in determining who should be dismissed. DOGE stands for
29:21
a Department of Government Efficiency, though it is not a
29:24
cabinet level agency. The Pentagon also oversees about one point
29:29
three million active duties service members and nearly eight hundred
29:33
thousand others who are in the National Guard and reserves,
29:37
but the Trump administration has exempted service members from its
29:41
sweeping budget cuts for now. Hegseth and its two D
29:44
MEMBO sought to cast the proposed cuts as an extension
29:48
of Trump's quote peace through Strength unquote policies. Despite a
29:52
reversal from the president's past practice of expanding military spending
29:56
and touting those efforts. Republicans, including Hegseth, have spent years
30:01
criticizing Democrats as not spending enough on national defense.
30:06
Speaker 2: Quote.
30:06
Speaker 1: The time for preparation is over. We must act urgently
30:10
to review the warrior ethos, rebuild our military, and re
30:14
establish deturns un quote, Hegseth wrote in the memo. Quote,
30:18
our budget will resource the fighting force we need, cease
30:23
unnecessary defense spending, reject excess of bureaucracy, and drive actionable reform,
30:29
including progress on the audit close the quote. The proposed cuts,
30:32
if adopted, would mark the largest effort to reign in
30:35
Pentagon spending since twenty thirteen, when congressionally mandated budget reductions
30:41
known as sequestration took effect. Those cuts were perceived as
30:47
a crisis in the Pentagon at the time, and grew
30:50
increasingly unpopular with Republicans and Democrats alike as their effects
30:55
on the military's ability to train and be ready for
30:58
war became clear. The memo, first reported on by The Post,
31:04
was labeled quote CUI quote controlled unclassified information. It was
31:09
sent to senior Pentagon officials, top military commanders, and the
31:13
directors of numerous defense agencies. Bloomberg News reported Friday about
31:18
hexcess intended cuts before the memo was distributed to Pentagon officials.
31:24
In his memo, Hexas said the request for proposed cuts
31:28
constitutes a quote relook quote at the Pentagon budget. The
31:33
branches of service, he wrote, should fund what they need
31:36
for a quote wartime tempo unquote, and offset that financially
31:40
by cutting quote low impact items unquote, such as diversity,
31:45
equity and Inclusion DEI programs, and climate change studies. Among
31:49
the seventeen categories that may not be effected are operations
31:53
to combat transnational criminal organizations in the Western Hemisphere, the
31:57
Pentagon's audit, and the quote Elaborative Combat Aircraft Program, which
32:02
seeks to pair unmanned aircraft with those that still carried pilots.
32:07
The building of quote executable unquote warships is a priority,
32:11
the memo says, although it does not specify what kind
32:14
of vessels the administration favors. Hexa's directives also prioritizes military
32:20
construction projects in the Pacific, where the Trump administration, as
32:25
the Biden administration did, sees China as the United States
32:28
chief rival. The list is notable too, for what it omits.
32:32
While it explicitly endorses quote support agency funding unquote for
32:37
Indo Pacific Command and Northern Command, which oversees homeland defense,
32:41
it does not extend similar significance to several other major
32:45
geographic commands. Those include European Command, which has had a
32:50
major role in overseeing US support for Ukraine during its
32:53
three year war with Russia, Central Command, which manages operations
32:57
across the Middle East, and Africa Command, which directs a
33:01
force of several thousand US troops spread out across the continent.
33:05
The snubbing of European Command is sure to capture attention overseas,
33:09
where Hegseth last week repeatedly called for NATO allies to
33:13
do more to maintain their own defense. Echoing Trump, he
33:18
said European countries should be spending five percent of their
33:21
gross domestic product on defense. During the trip, he declined
33:25
to answer directly when asked whether the United States should
33:27
do the same. Quote At a minimum, we should not
33:31
go below three percent unquote, Hegseth said, speaking at Stuttgart, Germany,
33:35
on February twelve. Quote that's a view I know the
33:38
President's shares unquote. He adds that quote, any defense secretary
33:42
would be lying if they said they didn't want more
33:44
close the quote. Hegseth added that quote we live in
33:48
physically constrained times quote, citing the US national debt of
33:52
more than thirty six trillion dollars. He pledged to work
33:55
with lawmakers and said Trump will quote lead the way
33:58
on making sure of the troops have the resources they
34:01
need and that we truly rebuild our military, just like
34:04
President Trump did in the first term.
34:05
Speaker 2: Close the quote.
34:07
Speaker 1: Initial reaction to the budget cut proposal included both caution
34:11
and alarm on Wall Street. Stocks for Pallanteer, Lockheed Martin
34:16
and several other major defense contracts tumbled after the Post
34:20
published news about Heccess directive. Senator Jack Reid from Rhode Island,
34:25
the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said
34:29
such budget cuts would be quote hasty, quote indiscriminate, unquote
34:33
and quote betray our military forces and their families, and
34:37
make America less safe.
34:38
Speaker 2: Close the quote.
34:39
Speaker 1: Quote I'm all for cutting programs that don't work, but
34:42
this proposal was deeply misguided unquote, Reid said, quote Secretary
34:46
of Hexcess rushed arbitrary strategy would have negative impacts. On
34:50
our security, economy and industrial base.
34:52
Speaker 2: Close the quote.
34:53
Speaker 1: A spokesman for the Armed Services Committee Chairman Senator Roger Wicker,
34:58
Republican Missus Zippy did not respond to a request for
35:02
a comment. All right, that's the end of the third article.
35:06
We will now go to the fourth article. This next
35:11
article working firings at national parks, long lines and canceled rentals.
35:17
Firings bring chaos to national parks. Trump's purge of federal
35:20
employees is already harming the visitor experience at national parks
35:24
across the country. Now, because of time constraints, I'm going
35:27
to cut this article almost and a half. I'll begin
35:29
it and then stop at a logical point. At California's
35:32
Yosemite National Park, the Trump administration fired the only locksmith
35:37
on staff on Friday. He was the sole employee with
35:41
the keys and the institutional knowledge needed to rescue visitors
35:45
from locked restrooms. The way to enter Arizona's Grand Canyon
35:49
National Park this past weekend was twice as long as usual.
35:53
After the administration let go four employees who worked at
35:56
the South Interest were rough entrants. We're roughly ninety percent
35:59
of the parks, nearly five million annual visitors passed through
36:04
and at Gettysburg National Military Park in Pennsylvania. Last week's
36:07
widespread layoffs gutted the team that managed reservations for renting
36:12
historic farmhouses. Visitors received notifications that their reservations had been
36:17
canceled indefinitely. President Donald Trump's purge of federal employees is
36:22
not only up ending the lives of National Park Service workers,
36:26
but also threatening the harm the visitor experience at national
36:28
parks across the country. The problems are expected to escalate
36:33
during the summer season, when more than one hundred million
36:36
Americans and international tourists typically visit the sixty three national
36:40
parks in the United States. As part of a directive
36:45
to fire most trial and probationary staff across the federal government,
36:49
the Park Service on Friday terminated roughly one thousand probationary
36:53
employees in what some are calling a quote Valentine's Day
36:57
massacre end quote. This account of how the firing are
37:00
disrupting national parks is based on interviews and messages with
37:04
more than a dozen current and former Park Service workers,
37:08
as well as park advocates. As for a comment, a
37:11
Park Service spokesperson said an email quote The National Park
37:14
Service is working closely with the Office of Personnel Management
37:18
to ensure we are prioritizing physical responsibility for the American people.
37:22
As always, NPS will continue to provide critical services and
37:27
deliver excellent customer service.
37:28
Speaker 2: Closed to quote.
37:29
Speaker 1: The layoffs have rippled across the government, affecting the federal
37:33
response to everything from natural disasters to infectious disease outbreaks,
37:37
but some of their most tangible impacts could be felt
37:40
in national parks, popular travel destinations that solved more than
37:44
three hundred and twenty five million visits in twenty twenty three.
37:48
Now I apologize, I'm going to cut the article right
37:50
there to go to the fifth of the six articles
37:52
that we mentioned. The next one. After committing money GOP,
37:57
senators plead for it to be spent. Republican senators are
38:01
asking Cabinet secretaries and other Trump officials to let money
38:04
flow back into their states. Here's the article. Republican senators
38:09
find themselves in an unusual position these days, begging Trump
38:13
officials to release funds they themselves appropriated. Senators have in
38:18
recent days made the case to Cabinet secretaries and other
38:21
Trump officials to let money flow back into their states
38:25
they are trying to finagle. Exceptions to President Donald Trump's
38:28
sweeping executive order are cuts made by b and air
38:32
Elon Musk's US DOGE service that freeze hundreds of billions
38:37
of dollars, including money for farmers and infrastructure projects. That
38:41
push comes as the administration has also sought to fire
38:45
a wide swath of federal employees, some of whom live
38:48
in red states. Even as many Republicans praised the ultimate
38:53
goal of streamlining the federal government, some GOP senators spanning
38:57
the ideological spectrum, from Katie Boyd Brint of Alabama to
39:01
Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, have lobbied the Trump administration to
39:05
reconsider its cuts or pauses to federal grants that support
39:09
biomedical research and labs or for programs supporting Native American tribes.
39:15
It's a humbling turn of events for a body that
39:17
has traditionally prized its power of the purse. The aggressive
39:21
move to cut spending unilaterally quote negates Congress's hard won
39:25
power over appropriations unquote, said Jessica Riedle, a budget expert
39:31
with the conservative Manhattan Institute think tank, who predicted lawmakers
39:35
were quote afraid unquote to more forcefully grab back their
39:38
appropriation's power given Trump's popularity with the GOP base. But
39:44
Senator Tommy Tuberville, Republican of Alabama, a close Trump allaw
39:48
who supports the cuts, said last week that begging for
39:51
funds may be the new normal, suggesting that lawmakers could
39:54
lobby Musk to save spending they've allocated for their states
39:58
as he slashes and cancels cut contracts at agencies. Trump
40:04
campaigned on overturning traditional limits on his ability to cancel
40:09
funding appropriated by Congress, saying he should be able to
40:12
use a technique called quote impoundment unquote to reduce or
40:16
eliminate spending. He and his allies have been laying the
40:20
groundwork for challenging restrictions on that power in court, and
40:23
have aggressively flouted Congress's power with potentially illegal freezes on spending.
40:29
The use of empowerment could create a situation where lawmakers
40:32
who are in good standing with the Trump administration have
40:35
a better shot at restoring their funds, posing a potential
40:39
conflict of interests. Experts said many Republicans have a direct
40:43
line to Trump, who is known for texting and calling
40:45
a wide swath of GOP lawmakers, but Republican lawmakers eager
40:50
to unfreeze funds have aimed much of their lobbying at
40:54
Cabinet secretaries in recent weeks instead of directly petitioning Trump.
40:59
Murkowski said she's been lobbying quote pretty much all the
41:02
departments unquote to restore frozen funding that's affecting her state,
41:06
including the Environmental Protection Agency, Interior Department, and Agricultural Department.
41:11
She has also asked the Trump administration to exempt Native
41:15
American tribes from freezes affected by Executive action targeting programs
41:19
that promote diversity. Over the weekend, she slammed the administration's
41:24
response responses to her on terminations of federal workers as
41:28
quote evasive and inadequate unquote. Britt said she talked to
41:32
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Junior about
41:35
the administration's drastic cuts to funding provided by the National
41:39
Institutes of Health to universities for indirect cost related to
41:42
scientific research. Senator Susan Collins, Republican Domaine, said that after
41:47
talking to Kennedy about the cuts, he told her that
41:50
quote he will lead a re examination of this initiative unquote.
41:54
The cuts are the subject of litigation and have been
41:57
temporarily pauished by a federal judge. Senator Shelley Moore Capito,
42:02
Republic Republican of West Virginia, said she's been quote aggressively
42:06
unquote working the EPA and its administrator, Leads Zelden to
42:10
unfreeze grants for green school buses that are manufactured in
42:14
her state. Capito said she has been bombarded by questions
42:18
about the freezes, but as faith overall that quote good
42:21
programs unquote will personally be unfrozen. Senator Jerry Moran, Republican
42:26
of Kansas, used the social media platform x Asktariat to
42:31
ask Secretary of State Marco Rubio to help unfreeze food
42:35
aid that was stalled in US ports after the administration
42:38
dismantled the agency in charge of foreign aid. The White
42:44
House has defended these spending freezes as a popular and
42:47
necessary check on out of control federal spending.
42:50
Speaker 2: Quote.
42:51
Speaker 1: The spending freeze is already uncovering waste, fraud and abuse
42:55
across federal agencies and ensuring better stewardship of taxpayer dollars,
43:00
including for American farmers and families. Close the quote. White
43:04
House spokesman Anna Kelly said in a written statement, quote, Ultimately,
43:10
President Trump will cut programs that do not serve the
43:12
interests of the American people and keep programs that put
43:15
America first, just as seventy seven million voters elected him
43:18
to do.
43:19
Speaker 2: Unquote.
43:20
Speaker 1: While some Republicans ask politically for their money, asked politely
43:24
for their money back, Democrats have decried the pauses as illegal.
43:29
Quote Once again, if Donald Trump or Elon Musk want
43:32
to cut funding that's creating good paying jobs all across America,
43:36
they can take their case to Congress and win the
43:38
votes they need to do it. Defying the Constitution to
43:41
unilaterally rip away from your rip away your tax dollars
43:46
is not how this works, unquote, said Senator Patty Murray,
43:50
Democrat of Washington, the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee,
43:54
said in the statement, Murray's staff has tracked nearly four
43:58
hundred billion dollars in frozen funds, including billions for forest
44:02
fire reduction, cleaning up super fund pollution sites, and grants
44:07
for scientific research. At least one Republican said last week
44:12
that he believes Congress will eventually need to vote on
44:15
cuts to federal agencies that the lawmakers themselves agreed to
44:18
fund in yearly appropriation negotiations. Quote. Doge is really doing
44:24
good stuff, but ultimately that money is going to be
44:27
sent back to us as a recision package. Unquote, said
44:31
Senator Ran Paul, Republican of Kentucky.
44:33
Speaker 2: Quote.
44:34
Speaker 1: If the money's sitting there, there's a question is it
44:36
impounded or is it going to be sent back as
44:39
a recision package. A recision package, that's ideally the way
44:43
it would be done. Close the quote, and that's the
44:45
end of the article. Now we'll go to the sixth
44:48
and last article. And this is a rather lengthy article.
44:52
There's no way that I can read it all in
44:54
the remaining eight minutes or so. After collision, the hardest
44:59
day for first responders. After American Eagle Flight fifty three
45:03
forty two and an Army helicopter collided, firefighters, boat operators,
45:08
divers and others from DC, Maryland and Virginia jumped into action.
45:13
This is what they experienced. Here's the article. As American
45:17
Eagle Flight fifty three forty two headed from wichital to
45:21
Reagan National Airport on January twenty nine, Azra Hussain texted
45:26
her husband Hamad Raza quote. We're landing in twenty end quote,
45:30
the twenty six year old wrote. At eight seventeen PM,
45:33
Raza left their apartment in the district to pick her
45:35
up at fire station two O four in Alexandria, two
45:39
and a half miles from the airport. The night had
45:42
been quiet. Crew members on duty washed dishes and swept
45:45
the kitchen after a pot roast dinner. The firehouse doors
45:49
were locked and most lights turned off. Captain Nathan Kraus,
45:53
aged forty three, finished up paperwork and got ready to
45:56
turn in for the night. As the plane near the airport,
46:00
the pilots were asked by an air traffic controller if
46:03
they would land on Runway thirty three, a maneuver that
46:07
requires the plane to head eastward then make a swooping
46:10
turn low across the Potomac River. It was a familiar request,
46:14
and the pilots adjusted the approach of the plane, carrying
46:17
sixty four people below. An Army black Hawk helicopter with
46:22
three soldiers aboard, flew over the Potomac near the airport
46:25
on a routine training mission. Everything everywhere appeared normal, but
46:31
in the next moments, Kraus said, hundreds of other emergency
46:34
responders would rush through the dark knight to a sliver
46:38
of the icy Potomac River, now the scene of the
46:41
nation deadliest aviation disaster in more than two decades. They
46:45
didn't know what they would find, or how they would
46:47
be tested, or whom, if anyone. They would say they
46:51
didn't know the plane was carrying young skaters and coaches
46:54
returning from a camp and competition in Wichita, or that
46:58
it was carrying friends from Marilyn who had been in
47:01
Kansas on a hunting trip, or that it was bringing
47:04
Osra Hussein back home to her husband. They only knew
47:07
they were needed for emergency responders. Few emergency responders had
47:12
spoken publicly about what they experienced that night and during
47:16
the days that followed. This account is based on dozens
47:19
of interviews, along with a review of air traffic control
47:22
and emergency radio communications. At eight forty six pm, an
47:27
air traffic controller asked the helicopter's pilots if they had
47:30
seen the plane. A crew member confirmed they had and
47:34
requested quote visual separation unquote, meaning the helicopter would maintain
47:38
a safe distance. Two minutes later, following an urgent alert
47:43
to the Blackhawk helicopter from the control tower that National
47:46
Transportation Safety Board investigators recently said the crew may not
47:50
have heard the two aircraft collided and plummeted into the
47:53
cold water below. The alarm from the control tower sounded
47:57
almost amily crash, crash, crash, This is alert three. Crash crash, crash,
48:04
broadcast directly to DC firefighters and police officers assigned to
48:08
the marine units. The urgent dispatch immediately triggered a region
48:12
wide alert that would eventually draw more than three hundred
48:15
first responders from the district It's Virginia and Maryland suburbs,
48:20
and as far away as Baltimore, the Eastern Shore, and
48:23
Garrett County in western Maryland. Seconds after the crash, radios
48:28
and fire station two o four monitoring river traffic crackled
48:31
as d C Harbor Patrol operators urgently directed their teams
48:36
and DC Fire Department boats to the crash scene. Quote
48:40
we heard the transmission and that it was all we
48:42
needed to hear, unquote. Cross recalled quote it was just
48:45
get up and go close the quote. Cross's five person
48:49
water rescue team sped to the Alexandria City Dock, where
48:53
fireboat two oh one is moored and leaped aboard the
48:55
fifty foot vessel. In two minutes, the boat was pulling
48:58
out and heading north at about forty miles prior toward
49:01
the crash scene two miles away. Fire Boat two oh
49:04
one slowed as it approached the crash site. The noxious
49:08
smell of jet fuel soaked the air. There was little
49:11
to illuminate the water other than blinking navigation lights on
49:15
a few other boats in the distance. It was difficult
49:18
to see, but as the boat nudged closer, the scale
49:21
of the crash quote was painfully evident. Unquote, Kraus said,
49:25
quote there is stuff floating in the water everywhere, suitcases, clothing,
49:29
insulation closed the quote. Surveying the grim scene, Kraus said
49:33
his team focused on trying to find survivors. That was
49:37
quote the sole drive and goal for the whole operation
49:40
end quote, he said, recalling the evening in an interview,
49:45
less than thirty minutes had passed since the aircraft collided.
49:48
The water temperature in the Potomac was about thirty six degrees.
49:52
Ice floated on the surface. If anyone survived the crash,
49:55
Krous and his crew knew they couldn't last long in
49:58
the frigid water. Maud Rasa. Rasa had received numerous texts
50:03
from his wife that day. He woke up to one
50:06
that filled his entire phone screens, telling him how much
50:09
he meant to her. He heard about her day at
50:12
work as a healthcare consultant on a business trip to Kansas.
50:16
When she got to Wichital Dwight d Eisnar's National Airport,
50:19
she called to tell him that telwinds meant her flight
50:22
may arrive early. Raza was waiting in his car outside
50:26
of the airport to pick up his wife when a
50:28
fleet of ambulances, lights flashing and sirens blaring, zoom past him.
50:34
He checked X and saw someone listening to the air
50:37
Traffic control scanner had posted that something had happened to
50:40
American Eagle flight fifty three forty two, his wife's flight.
50:45
He called his parents, then hers. He locked his car
50:49
and abandoned it in the pickup line, rushing inside to
50:52
question the American Airlines agents. It must be a mistake,
50:56
It must be some other flight, he thought. He made
50:58
his way to Terminal two in the airport and looked
51:01
out through the floor to ceiling windows. Quote you could
51:04
see out over the Potomac and that's when I saw
51:07
a wall of lights in the river unquote, he later recalled.
51:10
The first of the emergency responders had made their way
51:13
to the wreckage. Others were headed there. Roza sat near
51:17
the American Airlines check encounter and prayed one and prayed.
51:21
One of them was pulling his wife out of the water.
51:24
He stayed there for nearly two hours until a family
51:27
friend arrived and led him to a room filled with
51:29
people waiting for news of their loved ones. The room,
51:32
he remembered, was eerily silent. On the water, emergency responders
51:38
raced their boats to the scene within minutes of the crash.
51:41
The first request for divers was made at eight fifty
51:44
nine PM, according to a log of messages on the
51:48
Inner Agency Marine channel for the DC area. The crash's
51:52
first victim, according to a log of the airport's fire
51:55
department channel, was recovered at nine PM. At nine nine
51:59
two more bodies were recovered another at nine to eleven.
52:03
It was early in the rescue effort and so far
52:05
there were no survivors. More boats and divers were directed
52:08
to the wreckage. Quote are we doing like Jaws of life?
52:12
Victim extrication? Kind of stuff. Are just looking for the
52:15
victims we can get right now.
52:17
Speaker 2: Unquote.
52:17
Speaker 1: A DC police officer asked on the marine channel the
52:21
Command Center director responders to look for victims who were free,
52:24
and said it would work to get removal equipment out. Later,
52:27
at nine point thirty three, a somber transmission of the
52:30
Alexandria boat had made it to the Blackhawk quote FB
52:34
two oh one located helicopters. No viable victims will require
52:38
dive team close the quote. The section of the Potomac
52:42
where both aircraft fell was relatively shallow, not more than
52:46
five to seven feet deep. In most places. In warm months,
52:50
visibility in the river can be so bad that divers
52:53
struggle to see a catfish until it's about to hit them.
52:57
But when the water gets cold, the algae received and
53:00
the silt settled. That night, the river was about as
53:03
clear as it gets. With their flashlights, first responders could
53:06
easily see victims below the surface. Across the Potomac River
53:11
in d C, the National Elite, a one hundred and
53:14
seven foot charter tour boat owned by City City Cruises,
53:18
had returned to Peer four on the Southwest Waterfront after
53:21
a corporate cruise. The guests had all departed, and dining
53:25
room staff members were resetting tables for the next day
53:28
for the crew on board. The working was nearing its end.
53:31
The crash would change that. The ship sat next to
53:34
Peer five, where the d C Harbormaster, the MP the
53:37
Harbor Patrol, and the DC Fire and EMS boats are.
53:41
Soon after the crash, a police officer and a Fire
53:44
Department colleague, having seen the lights still on board the
53:48
National Elite, hurried over and began banging on the locked
53:51
metal gates. Given the scale of the calamity on the river,
53:55
they needed a big boat out there to help accommodate
53:58
the scores of emergency personnel who were on their way.
54:02
MPD and Fire EMS didn't have any boats available that
54:06
were nearly as large as City Crewis's vessels. The captain
54:10
quickly agreed, not even pausing to check with his company
54:13
losses company bosses before showing off. Before shoving off with
54:19
a crew of seven, the captain, three deckands, the front
54:22
of house director, and two cooks, the National Elite motored
54:26
south on the Washington Channel toward the Potomac. Ten minutes later,
54:30
the crew dropped anchor and about twenty feet of water
54:33
just off Haines's point. The boat could not safely get
54:36
any closer because the debris was scattered in water that
54:39
was too shallow for the ship on board, The crew
54:42
quickly cleared tables and chairs out of the enclosed dining
54:45
room and spread table limbs on the floor in case
54:49
any injured survivors had to be brought aboard. Eventually, as
54:53
Wednesday night wore on, a steady procession of police and
54:56
fireboats and other emergency vessels chugged up to the National Elite,
55:01
tying up on both sides of the yacht and at
55:03
its bow and stern bow and stern As incident commanders
55:07
from an array of agencies came aboard with staff members
55:10
carrying whiteboards, laptops and other equipment. They huddled together urgently
55:14
discussing the unfolding rescue and recovery recovery effort, prioritizing tasks
55:20
and deploying personnel. The cruise yacht was morphing into a
55:25
command center that late Wednesday night and into the early
55:30
hours the Thursday boats approached the nationally carrying exausted rescue
55:33
drivers covered in aviation fuel, along with other rescue and
55:37
recovery personnel also tired, wet and cold. The two cooks
55:41
prepared leftover food from the earlier corporate crews chicken, potatoes
55:45
and Brussels sprouts, plus fruit bars, cheesecake, and plenty of
55:48
fresh coffee. Well, unfortunately, I'm going to have to end
55:52
it there, and unfortunately we know, we know how this ended.
55:56
This concludes the reading of the Washington Post for today, Thursday,
56:00
February twenty, twenty twenty five. Your reader today has been
56:04
Mark Webster. If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions
56:08
concerning this program, please feel free to call us at
56:11
eight five nine four two two sixty three nine zero.
56:16
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