Transcript

8.9.25 · Washington Post

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Speaker 1: Welcome to the reading of today's Washington Post. It is Saturday,
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the ninth of August of twenty twenty five. Your reader
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is Alice Dainer, with the reminder that radioizes a service
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for those blind or with other disabilities making it difficult
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to read or hold printed material. And I start with
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the description of the front page of the Washington Post
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across the top in fairly bold print. Trump Putin will
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meet next week in Alaska by Jonathan Edwards, Schaubin O'Grady,
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John Hudson and Catherine Belton. Leaders are to talk on
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terms on Ukraine truce and Kiev may need to seede territory.
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US President says on the far right play on table
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to use military in cartel fight. Naval and drone strikes
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are weighed, officials say, but no boots on ground. By
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Dan Lemouth, tear Our cop Mary Beth Sheridan, and Warren P.
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Speaker 2: Strouble.
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Speaker 1: Beneath the article on Trump and Putin, there's a picture
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of a woman standing in a mangrove field and it
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is underwater, and this woman has planted her mangroves to
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help protect the shoreline sea levels rise in Fiji, and
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this is the article entitled Faced with rising seas and
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falling aid, Fijian villages Move Uphill by Michael E.
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Speaker 2: Miller.
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Speaker 1: Below the art article on the military use in Cartel
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is an article entitled new tariffs likely to make cars, clothes,
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coffee price ier by Aara Vatroni and Jocelyn Paiser or Pieaser.
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Below the Fiji article is for MLB's first female umpire
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It's the call of a lifetime Chelsea James and then
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to the right and obit for James A.
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Speaker 2: Lovell Jr.
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Speaker 1: Nineteen twenty eight to twenty twenty five. Resourceful Astronaut palloted
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Treacherous Apollo thirteen mission by Rachel Beltman and first article
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Trump putin Meetings set for next week in Alaska. Trump
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said Friday a deal between Russia and Ukraine would include
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some swapping of territories to the betterment of both countries.
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By Jonathan Edwards, Shamohan O'Grady, John Houston, and Katherine Belton.
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President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin we'll meet
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next week in the United States as Trump pushes for
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a peace agreement that could require Ukraine to make major
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territorial concessions. The two leaders will meet August fifteenth in Alaska.
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Trump and a Putin aide say to try to forge
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a truce and end the war in Ukraine that Russia
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started three and a half years ago by invading the country.
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Trump did not say whether Ukrainian President Volodomir Zulensky would
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be attending. Earlier in the afternoon, Trump told reporters the
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terms of a peace agreement may require Ukraine to see
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territory to Russia, a concession that would be difficult to
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accept for the country and its European supporters. You're looking
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at territory that's been fought over for three and a
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half years with you know, a lot of Russians have died,
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a lot of Ukrainians have died. There'll be some swapping
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of territories to the betterment of both, Trump said. Zelensky
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appeared to express opposition to such ideas in a statement
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posted on social media early Saturday, saying Ukrainians would not
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give to their land to the occupier. He did not
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say whether he was invited to the meeting, but said
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peace deals reached without Ukraine were still born and unworkable.
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Uri Kof, a Kremlin official, confirmed that a summit would
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take place in Alaska. It seems quite logical that our
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delegation should simply fire across the bearing straight, Yushakov said,
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in a statement reported by TAAs, the Russian state run
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news agency. Yushakov also said a potential second summit would
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be held in Russian territory. The invitation for such a
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meeting had been conveyed to Trump, he said. According to TAS,
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movement taught a summit between Trump and Putin has accelerated
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rapidly since Wednesday, when Trump's and voy Steve Whitkof met
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with Putin for three hours in Moscow. Witkof left the
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meeting with a proposal from Putin, which Secretary of State
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Marco Rubio said, for the first time, provided a concrete
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example of the kinds of things that Russia would ask
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for in order to end the war. What Trump meant
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by swapping territory is unclear. Ukraine controls only around four
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square miles of Russian land in the Western Kursed region.
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Russia meanwhile, controls around a fifth of Ukraine's sovereign territory.
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In August twenty twenty four, Ukraine seized around five hundred
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square miles of Russia, but after a year long retreat,
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most of that bargaining chip is gone and talk of
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territorial exchange has dwindled. Russia has long insisted that it
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wants any deal to recognize its control over Crimea, which
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illegally annexed in twenty fourteen, and four other regions of
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Eastern Ukraine, Luhansk, Danask, Kirsten and Japorozia. Russia controls all
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of Luhansk, but has not managed to take full control
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of Dansk region, where it has still not captured key cities.
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Russian forces were pushed out of Kirsen City and a
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Ukrainian counter offensive in twenty twenty two, but still control
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part of the region. Moscow also holds parts of a
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Zaphorazia region, but has never reached the regional capitol by
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the same name, the population of which includes many Ukrainians
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who fled cities and towns near the front line. Ukraine
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has made clear any deed seating uncaptured territory to Russia
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would be unacceptable. Zalynsky faces constitutional limits in Ukraine over
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any concession of territory. Trump also noted, you know he's
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not authorized to do certain things. Trump said referring to Zlynsky,
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I said, well, you're going to have to get it fast,
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because you know, we're getting very close to a deal,
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and he's doing that. Several locations around the world have
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been discussed as potential locales for the Trump Putin meeting.
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Putin publicly floated the United Arab Emirates. Some of the
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possible menus, such as Rome, could have proved tricky because
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the International Criminal Court in twenty twenty three issued a
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warrant for Putin's arrest or allegations of involvement in the
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abduction of children from Ukraine during the war. The US
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is not a party to the court, so a meeting
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in Alaska avoids that problem. The more substantive issue, however,
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would be whether the US can find a way to
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bridge the gap between what Putin is demanding and what
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Ukraine and its European allies can accept. Russia proposed to
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Whitkoff that Kiv relinquished the entire Danbas region of eastern Ukraine,
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which includes Luhansk and Dansk, in exchange for a seat
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file set. A person familiar with the talks, who spoke
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on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive negotiations. The
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person said it was not clear that Russia was willing
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to give up land in the contested regions of Kirsen
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and Zapporazov. Russia's territorial planes in those regions have resulted
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in Russia gaining its prized land bridge to Crimea, a
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key route for sending military and economic supplies to the
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highly strategic peninsula. Russia also controls the Zaraparisa Nuclear Plant
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nuclear power plant in end Hardar, the largest nuclear generating
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station in Europe. The plant, which had been inactive since
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Russia seized it in twenty twenty two, could pose disastrous risks.
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Control over it has repeatedly been raised in negotiationations. Under
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the Russian proposal, Moscow's seizure of Crimea would be formally
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recognized as Russian sovereign territory. It is unlikely Russia has
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changed its position on its ultimate war aims, which involved
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a demilitarization of Ukraine, removal of what it views as
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Lensky's anti Russian regime, as well as ensuring Ukraine's neutrality,
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said Titanya Xanatavaya, senior fella at the Karnani Russian Eurasia Center,
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Just days ago, in a carefully staged visit to an
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island monastery on Valam in northeastern Russia, the Russian leader
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asserted that his conditions to end the war had not changed.
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Russia by seizing land in Ukraine was merely taking back
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its own territory. Ukraine was illegitimate, and Ukraine soaring casualty
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and Russias soaring casualty numbers in the war were not in.
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Speaker 2: Vain, he said.
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Speaker 1: Territory is not so important. Senavayas said, judging by the
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fact that Moscow is signaling the Witkock proposal may be acceptable.
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It means the US is demonstrating readiness to discuss those
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issues which Russia describes as the root causes of the conflict.
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In April, Europe and Ukraine had opposed a Witcock proposal
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that included a full lifting of US economic sanctions on Russia,
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neutrality for Ukraine, and recognition of the territory Russia had
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already ceased in return for a freezing of the conflict at.
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Speaker 2: The current front line.
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Speaker 1: Those terms failed to provide Ukraine with any adequate security
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guarantees and would allow Russia to return in take more
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territory later the Ukrainians and Europeans said at the time.
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The Kremlin believes Zelensky is now much weaker in a
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much weaker military situation now and politically than in the
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spring because of Russia's gains on the battlefield. Stanobaia said
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European leaders have been distressed at the prospect that a
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summit could lead to Trump and Putin ganging up to
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impose terms on Ukraine. For all the bluster, Trump has
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not put a single ioda of pressure on Putin yet
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ZIP zero, as senior European officials said after a talk
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of a summit began, Russian analyst said, Putin is convinced
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he is winning the war and can achieve his goal
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of subjugating Ukraine, stripping it of its military and its
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capacity to defend itself, and blocking it from joining NATO.
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Ukrainian officials had hoped that the US would insist that
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Putin agreed to a three way meeting with Zelensky on Thursday.
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The Ukrainian officials said that discussions between US, European and
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Ukrainian officials at first envisioned two bilateral meetings between Trump
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and Putin and Trump and Zelensky, and then a meeting
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with all three. Putin, however, has resisted any talk of
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a direct meeting with Zelensky, which would imply recognition of
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the Ukrainian leader as an equal. On Thursday, Putin, dismissing
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the idea of a meeting with Zelensky, said for this
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to happen, certain conditions must be created. Unfortunately, were still
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far from creating such conditions. Yoshikov on Thursday said that
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Witkov had raised the idea of a three way summit
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when he met with Putin on Wednesday, but the Russian
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side left this option completely completely without comment. We propose,
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first of all, to focus on a bilateral meeting with Trump,
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and we consider it most important that this meeting be
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successful and productive, Yushikov said. Trump administration weighs military actions
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against drug cartels. The Pentagon has been deliberating since early
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this year about naval and drone strikes against Mexican criminal organizations,
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but US boots on the ground are not being considered.
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Speaker 2: Officials say.
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Speaker 1: There's a picture of a US Army Striker armored vehicle
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guarding the US Mexico border in al Paso, as seen
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from Cio do Juarez, Mexico, in last July.
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Speaker 2: There's American flag flying and you.
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Speaker 1: Can see the circular bob wire around the fence and
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the flag is on top of that. By Dan Mamouth
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Terror cop Marybeth Sheridan and Warren P.
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Speaker 2: Strobel.
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Speaker 1: The Trump administration is evaluating plans for using military force
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against Mexican drug cartels. Current and former US officials said
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a potentially dramatic exhalation for the United States in Latin America.
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Discussions have ranged from using Navy destroyers to launch missiles
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at cartail leaders or infrastructure, to partnering more closely with
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Mexican authorities to target the criminal organizations. A US official
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familiar with the issue said military strikes would be audacious
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and potentially unlikely to get approval from the president, said
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the official, who like others, spoke on the condition of
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an inn because of the sensitivity of the issue. A
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second US official said that there is no consideration for
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putting US troops on the ground in Mexico, with administration
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officials instead favoring drone or naval strikes if action is approved.
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The liberations overstepped up military options go back to near
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the beginning of the administration, with the working group established
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that involves officials from the Defense Department, the Department of
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Homeland Security, and other agencies, the first US official said.
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A third person family with discussions said that Defense Secretary
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peak Headseth was briefed weeks ago on military options, and
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it appears that no action is imminent. The planning follows
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the administration's designation of eight cartels as foreign terrorist organizations
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early this year. On Day one of his presidency, President
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Donald Trump issued an executive order declaring a national emergency,
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saying that cartels present an unusual and extraordinary threat to
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the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States.
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The New York Times reported Friday that Trump has signed
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a directive to begin using military force against cartels. The
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Pentagon referred questions to the White House, which declined to
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say whether a new authorization has been approved. White House
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spokeswoman Anna Kelly said President Trump's top priority is protecting
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the homeland, which is why he took the bold step
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to designate several cartels and gangs as foreign terrorist organizations.
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Trump has already stepped up surveillance drone flights of Mexico
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and around the Southern Borough, where the US military has
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deployed thousands of troops. The US Navy has also sent
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warships to conduct additional patrols in coastal waters near Mexico.
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Mexican President Claudia Schinbaum on Friday said her government opposed
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any unilateral military action in her country. This has nothing
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to do with Mexican territory, she said of the reported
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presidential directive, adding that it only involved domestic US military actions.
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The United States is not sending its military to Mexico,
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she told a news conference. We cooperate, we collaborate, but
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there will be no invasion. We're ruling this out absolutely.
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She noted that she had turned down Trump's office to
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send US soldiers to help her government fight drug cartels.
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US Ambassador to Mexico, Ronald Johnson, later issued his statement
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emphasizing the collaboration. This is not about the United States
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acting alone. It is about building a joint, unshakable front
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with Mexico to defend a citizens, dismantle the cartel's networks,
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and ensure that the only people who need to fear
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for their future are those who profit from murder, addiction,
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and chaos. A former US intelligence official with extensive experience
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in the region, said Trump's deliberations appear to be part
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public diplomacy, signaling his intent to keep up pressure on
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the fentanyl issue. This seems to be about messaging and telegraphing,
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he said. Trump has made fighting Western Hemisphere cartels that
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traffic fentanyl and other narcotics a touchdown of his national
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security policy. Designating cartels as terrorist organizations allows us to
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now target with their operating and to use other elements
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of American power intelligence agencies.
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Speaker 2: The Department of.
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Speaker 1: Defense Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in an interview
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Thursday with a Catholic cable television network, we have to
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start treating them as armed terrorist organizations, not simply drug
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dealing organizations. The Trump administration has been examining how to
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use the US military to countercartel activity for months in
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the Pentagon. That is included establishing the Joint Service Interagency
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Advisory Group, a team in Hagseth's front office that includes
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US Special Operations troops and liisons from other agencies such
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as the FACE. The group is run by Eric Jerresei,
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a retired US soldier who previously served as the top
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enlisted service member in US Southern Command, which oversees operations
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in Central and South America. Defense officials have said previously
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that a core focus of the group had been to
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count on Mexican drug cartels. Two people familiar with the
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matter said the group's work has been coordinated with the
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Mexican government. A US official told the Post in April.
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Military deliberations have included the staffs of both General Gregory M. Gilot,
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who oversees US operations in North America as head of
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Northern Command, and Admiral Alvin Holsey, who oversees US forces
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in Central and South America as head of Southern Command.
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The first official said. Some former US officials who served
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in Latin American have warned that an overly muscular approach
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involving US troops and weapons could backfire in Mexico, the
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number one US trading partner, alienating a country that is
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bruising bruised from a long history of intervention by its
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northern maybor. It is also unclear whether stepped up US
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military operations would have much long term effect on Mexican
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criminal organizations. That's because they are no longer a handful
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of disciplined, vertically structured cartels sending drugs to the United States. Today,
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there are more than five hundred cartels, gangs, and mafia
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style groups all over the country, cooperating in a variety
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of ways. According to the consulting firm Latia Intelligence, the
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crime groups have become an important part of the Mexican economy,
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diversifying into extortion, oiled theft, illegal logging, mining, and even
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call centers. They are so powerful that they name mayors
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and enjoy alliances with senior officials in a number of states.
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Trump has blasted Mexico for its failure to control the
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flow of fentanyl. Narcotics of all kinds are pouring across
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air borders, said a White Housed statement in March, announcing
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tariffs on Mexico and Canada. In response, Shinbaum's government has
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deployed thousands of troops to its northern border, transferred dozens
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of top traffickers to the United States, and increased cooperation
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with US anti drug agencies. Seizures of fentanyl and the
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United States have actually been falling, a decline that began
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before Trump took office. In June, the latest data available,
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agents confiscated seven hundred and four pounds of the deadly
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opioid at the US border half the amount in the
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same month in twenty twenty four, according to US Customs
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and Border Protection. U S security officials and private analysts
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say a number of factors could be behind the drop,
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including a civilian war within the Sinala cartel, a crackdown
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by China on exports of persecutor chemicals excuse me of
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precursor chemicals, and an apparent decline in fentonally used in
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the United States. Trump's deployment of US troops to the
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border could also be prompting some traffickers to hold off
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on shipment's. Officials say Trump has ordered other US national
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security agencies to ramp up their focus on narcotics. At
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the CIA, resources have been diverted to the Counter Narcotics Mission,
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and the Supply Agency has expanded the program begun under
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the Fire Administration, in which predator drones fly over Mexican
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territory in search of fentanyl labs and other cartel operations.
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As far as is known, the drones, which can carry
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hell fire missiles, have not been authorized to conduct lethal strikes.
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The CIA also is increasing intelligent sharing with Mexican law
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enforcement authorities to battle the cartels. Officials with familiar with
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the plan said the Trump administration has ordered spy agencies
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such as the National counter Terrorism Center and the National
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Security Agency, which conducts electronic eavesdropping, to increase their focus
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on foreign cartels. Republicans in Congress offered no immediate reaction
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to reports of the Pentagon's planning. Spokespeople for the GOP
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led committees charged with providing oversight of the Defense Department
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and the US Foreign Policy did not respond to requests
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for comment or decline to provide one. Senator Tim Kane,
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Democrat of Virginia, in a statement, noted the importance of
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bipartisan efforts to counter drug cartels, but sounded a note
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of caution about the use of military force. Signing a
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secret directive to potentially send US service members into harm's
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way without consulting Congress, notifying the American people, or any
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legal authority to launch strikes within the sovereign territory of
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our neighbors is shortsighted and lawless, and will destroy the
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critical relationships we need to effectively address this challenge. Caine said, cars, coffee,
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and clothing are poised to get priceier with new tariffs.
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Everyday items are likely to cost more as the average
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US teriff right drums jumps to a high not seen
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since the Great Depression. And there is a picture of
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a Walmart in Rochester, New York with a huge sign
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thirty nine forty four above. Well, it's a Black Friday
27:21
deal at a Walmart on November ninth, twenty ninth. That
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had to have been some time ago. It is above
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vacuum cleaning. It's a Eureka vacuum cleaner. Ab Ha Batarai
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and Jocelyn Paisa. Americans are paying more for appliances, home furnishings, toys,
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and shoes than they were a few months ago, and
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they could soon face higher prices on more goods as
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the Trump Administration's latest round of sharper tariffs kicks in.
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The newest round of duties took effect Thursday, lifting the
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average US tariff rate to its largest level, highest level
28:09
since the Great Depression. The move solidifies the President's trade
28:14
policy after months of negotiations, meaning more manufacturers and retailers
28:20
are expecting to begin raising prices in short order. Tariffs
28:26
have moved from being tentative to permanent, and that changes
28:30
how American businesses are going to respond. You're going to
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start seeing higher prices as soon as businesses become convinced
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this will stick around and that clock starts today, said
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Justin Wolfer's, a professor of public policy and economics at
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the University of Michigan. The higher tariffs, which businesses not
28:58
countries pay to the federal government to import goods, are
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as high as fifty percent for Brazil and India, but
29:06
just fifteen percent for the European Union and Japan. For consumers,
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that escalation is expected to result in higher prices costing
29:18
households and average of twenty four hundred dollars per year.
29:22
According to estimates from the Budget Lab at Yale University,
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Americans are likely to face large markups on clothing in
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the coming months, including a thirty nine percent increase in
29:35
prices for leather shoes and bags and a thirty seven
29:39
percent jump in clothing costs. The research center phoned. Even
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after long run supply chain's adjustments and buying ships, those
29:50
prices could remain elevated by nearly twenty percent. Food prices meanwhile,
29:56
could rise more than three percent, while fresh could become
30:01
seven percent more expensive. As a result of the Trump's
30:05
administration's tariffs, the Budget Lab found. The center also expects cars,
30:13
which often rely on components from several countries, to get
30:17
twelve percent more expensive, adding six thousand to the price
30:21
of an average new vehicle. Although businesses have so far
30:26
absorbed the brunt of new tariffs by covering higher costs
30:31
themselves or relying on earlier stockpiles of inventory to keep
30:36
them going, that is quickly changing. Major retailers, including Costco, Williams, Sonoma,
30:43
and Target that loaded up on products earlier in the
30:47
year beginning to deplete those reserves. Analysts say consumers are
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going to pay starting with their morning coffee, said Robert
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Blecker and Economics at American University, referring to the fifty
31:03
percent tariff on coffee from Brazil. Although it does seem
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a lot of firms have been eating some of the
31:10
tariffs by shaving their profit margins and holding the land
31:14
on prices that can't go on forever. Walmart, the country's
31:21
largest retailer, has begun marking up baby gear, kitchenwar and toys.
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Nike is raising prices on some of its shoes, and
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many others are beginning to warn consumers that price increases
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are around the Corna, Proctor and Gamble, the makeup of
31:38
tide laundry, detergent, papers, diapers, and oralb toothbrushes, said it
31:45
would start raising prices in August on some products via
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about two point five percent to help offset one billion
31:52
dollars in tariff costs this year. Sharon Azulu, who owns
31:57
a company that sells plush toys books, had enough inventory
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to fill orders through much of this year, but now
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she's preparing to stock up for the holidays, which means
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she will have to pay an extra thirty percent on
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merchandise from China, translating to markovs for customers, adding to
32:17
the uncertainty ongoing trade talks between the US and China.
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We know we're going to have to raise our prices
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at some point. If air sixteen dollars plus suddenly costs
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more than twenty are consumers still going to buy it?
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We can't pay for the increase ourselves, but we also
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don't know if we can keep moving forward with our business,
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said Azula, who founded the Tooth Brigade with her husband
32:48
in twenty nineteen. The toy industry, which imports more than
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seventy five percent of its products from China has been
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among the first to pass on higher costs from the
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President's trade wall. Toy prices rose about three point two
33:04
percent between April and June, far outpacing overall inflation of
33:09
zero point four percent in that period. Federal data shows.
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The president says higher tariffs are needed to combat other
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countries' unfair trade practices, which of holiday at American manufacturing
33:25
and cost millions of factory workers their jobs. By directing
33:29
new areas to foreign products, Trump aims to promote domestic
33:34
manufacturing while ushering in what he calls a new golden age. Yet,
33:40
for products like toys, moving manufacturing out of China is
33:44
not realistic, said Greg Ahern, president and chief executive of
33:49
the Toy Association, a trade group. Not only is labored
33:54
cheaper in China, but for decades the country has also
33:58
built up an infrastructure of manufacturing expertise and the ethical
34:03
manufacturing process at the factories. He said, everything from final
34:08
packaging to materials such as springs, motors, and plastic parts
34:13
copy replicated here in the US. An analysis of recent
34:18
prices from the country's fourth largest retailer shows that goods
34:22
from China have gotten roughly four percent costlier since the
34:25
Trump administration's first tariffs took hold this year. According to
34:30
Alberto Cavallo, a professor at Amor Harvard Business School and
34:36
co director of its Pricing Lab, he expects those costs
34:41
to be up about ten percent by the end of
34:43
the year. Americans now face an overall average effective tiff
34:50
rate of eighteen point six percent, the highest since nineteen
34:54
thirty three. According to calculations from the Budget Lab, we
34:59
had two to three percent average tariffs at the beginning
35:02
of the year. It is foolish to think there isn't
35:06
going to be any economic impact, or that this is
35:09
going to be all pink and rosy for the American people,
35:13
said Symnim Khalimali Ozi Khan, an economics professor at Brown University.
35:22
Economists are just beginning to understand how new trade policies
35:26
are affecting prices, consumer demand, and business decisions across the country.
35:32
Speaker 2: The latest data.
35:33
Speaker 1: Points to slowing economic growth in the first half of
35:36
the year, as well as pullbacks in business spending, hiring,
35:40
and investment. Households too, are holding tight as they wait
35:45
to see how things unfold. Still, INFLATIONAI effects have so
35:51
far been limited to specific categories and have yet to
35:55
translate to higher across the board prices for many families.
36:00
Some of the administration's most dramatic proposals include tariffs of
36:05
one hundred percent on chips and semiconductors and up to
36:10
one hundred and forty five percent on Chinese imports, are
36:14
still up in the air. Car makers have so far
36:17
shouldered much of the import costs themselves instead of passing
36:21
them on to consumers. General Motors last month said tariffs
36:27
had cost the company more than a billion dollars in
36:29
the latest quarter, cutting into its profit margins and prompting
36:34
the company to move some operations to the United States.
36:38
The cost of a new vehicle in June rose one
36:41
point two percent year over year to forty eight thousand,
36:44
nine hundred and seven dollars, below the average ten year
36:48
increase of three point nine percent. According to Kelly Blue Book,
36:54
the new round of tariffs is expected to make cars
36:58
price ier, especially on those assembled in Mexico and Japan.
37:03
Consumers will pay an extra nine percent are three ten
37:07
dollars for cars assembled in Japan, including some Toyota models
37:13
such as the Prius and the four Runner, said Jonathan
37:17
Smoke chief economist at Cox Automotive, cars assembled in Mexico
37:23
will see the highest price Reichs hikes about ten percent,
37:27
or thirty five one hundred and fifty dollars well three thousand,
37:32
five hundred and fifty dollars.
37:34
Speaker 2: Cox said.
37:35
Speaker 1: Those include the shovel at Equinox and the Ford Maverick
37:40
in upstate New York. The gear manufacturer and Gear Motions
37:43
began rising prices to offset pariffs earlier this year. Although
37:49
imports make up just five percent of the company's business,
37:52
trade uncertainty has complicated just about every part of the
37:56
firm's operations. President Dean Burrough said the company's gears are
38:02
used in air compressius, superchargers, and car transmissions. Anxious consumers
38:09
are buying less, and it has gotten harder to sell
38:12
his US made products overseas. International inquiries have dried up
38:17
by about fifty percent, he said, as buyers in other
38:21
countries look for ways to bypass American manufacturers. Burrows said,
38:28
we are one hundred and forty year old company and
38:31
have survived many ups and downs, but the uncertainty right
38:35
now is what's unprecedented. We have precision gears on the
38:41
ocean coming from Italy, and I still don't know whether
38:44
I'll have to pay a fifteen percent tariff or twenty
38:48
seven point five percent, but either way we have no choice.
38:53
We'll pay it and we'll pass it on. Well, the
38:58
barrier has been broken. MLB's first female umpire just received
39:05
the call of a lifetime. Jen Powol will become the
39:10
first woman to umpire regular season MLB games this weekend.
39:16
I'm aware of the magnitude, she said, and there's a
39:19
picture of her in her black uniform with her face
39:23
mask on. Said to umpire three games this weekend between
39:27
the Miami Maryland's and the Atlanta Braves, including Sunday's game
39:32
behind home plate Chelsea James. For the first time in
39:39
nearly one hundred and fifty years of Major League Baseball,
39:43
a female umpire will work a regular season game. Jean Powol,
39:48
a forty eight year old former college softball player from
39:52
New Jersey. We'll call outs on the basis for two
39:55
games of a doublehead of Saturday between the Miami Marlins
39:59
in Atlanta of Braves on Sunday. She will stand behind
40:03
home plate and call balls and strikes. She isn't shying
40:08
from the moment, paw Wall said, I'm really aware of it.
40:14
I am aware of the gravity, I'm aware of the magnitude.
40:18
I believe I'm going to be a really good steward
40:21
and representative for young girls and women and boys and
40:25
men that this is possible. While celebration is only natural,
40:31
It's worth pointing out that EMILB only narrowly avoided having
40:36
robots called balls and strikes before a woman. The NBA
40:40
introduced its first female referee almost three decades ago. The
40:46
NFL has trusted women to officiate for ten years. The
40:50
men's FIFA FIFA World Cup used its first all female
40:55
crew in guitar in twenty twenty two. Pawal and I'm
41:00
in the minor leagues for nearly a decade is the
41:03
closest MLB has come. But most glass ceilings are overdue
41:08
for shattering. Better shards fly late than Neville. This historic
41:14
accomplishment in baseball as a reflection of Jen's hard work, dedication,
41:19
and love of the game. She has earned this opportunity,
41:23
and we are proud of the strong example she has set,
41:26
particularly for all the women and young girls who aspire
41:30
the roles on the field. On behalf of Major League Baseball,
41:35
I extend my congratulations to Jen and her family on
41:39
this milestone, Commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement. Even
41:45
in her system she has described as fair and pleasantly inclusive,
41:49
Pawall had to wait her turn. All up and coming
41:53
umpires do. As with most jobs in the big leagues,
41:58
even those that draw scrutiny and ride, no one wants
42:01
to give them up. Breaking into the majors can take
42:04
a lifetime. So when Poall, weary of umpirwering high school
42:09
and college softball games in Upstate New York, bought a
42:13
ticket to Ted Barrett's Georgia umpiring clinic in twenty fifteen,
42:18
she was about as far from the big leagues as
42:20
any person condemn. But Barrett, who umpired in the majors
42:25
from nineteen ninety four to twenty twenty two, helped her
42:29
find some of MLB's open clinics. She earned a scholarship
42:35
to umpiring school. By twenty sixteen, she had earned a
42:38
job in the low level Golf Coast League. By twenty
42:43
twenty three, she had performed so well she was selected
42:46
to umpire the Class TRIPLEA Championship and get a run
42:51
in the prestigious Arizona Fall League. Last year, she umpired
42:56
major league spring training games for the first time. In
43:01
other words, ten years and a steady rise through the
43:04
minor leagues later, she is a member of an umpiring
43:08
generation that is well vetted by modern dada as well
43:12
as ever been, and she has performed so well that
43:16
she was named to a list of seventeen Class Triple
43:21
A umpires. MLB felt it could trust as substitutes for
43:25
major league games this year, so she knew it was
43:29
possible that she would get a call such as this.
43:33
She did not know it would come Wednesday morning, as
43:36
she sat in a Nashville hotel room sipping coffee before
43:40
a working Class Triple A game that night. When MLB
43:45
officials Rick Riker and Mac McKendree joined her on a
43:48
conference call.
43:50
Speaker 2: She was not stoic.
43:52
Speaker 1: It was super emotional to finally be living that phone
43:56
call that had been hoping for and working towards for
44:00
quite a while. I just felt super full, like a
44:04
fully charged battery ready to go. I'm super excited, Powall said.
44:11
After she got the news, she had to share it.
44:14
She called big, longtime big league umpire Chris gug Choon,
44:20
whom she had worked with in the past, to tell
44:22
him she would be joining his crew this weekend. He
44:26
was yelling with the excitement on the phone, just screaming
44:28
on the phone. Paul said, I was screaming. We were
44:31
both yelling, We're doing it. This is awesome. Let's go
44:35
just at the top of our lums. Powol also had
44:39
another person to reach, former minor league umpire Pam postem Up,
44:45
who made it to Class Triple A in the late
44:47
nineteen eighties, only to find Major League Baseball had no
44:51
place for her. The last time Powall saw her was
44:54
after she was promoted to Class Triple A, and posting
44:58
On took her to dinner that evening. The woman who
45:01
had come closest to breaking this barrier before had one message, Poold,
45:06
get it done. I texted her, I'm getting it done,
45:11
Pool said, I'm sure she's going to be watching support
45:15
like that. Keeping the fire burning and passion burning has
45:18
been huge for me and I'm so grateful. Her gratitude
45:22
manifests itself in a constant stream of allusions to other
45:26
women in the profession. There are six women umpiring in
45:29
the miners these days, all working to follow the same
45:33
track as Pool. Next on her agenda is a full
45:36
time major league empowering role, one that would require the
45:40
departure of current umpires to clear the way for up
45:45
and comers. Clearly, given her call up this weekend, she
45:50
is on the short list for our promotion when the
45:52
opportunity de presents itself. But that moment is not here yet.
45:58
What is here in this moment is the kind of
46:01
serendipity baseball always seems to deliver to those who willing
46:04
to survive its grind. It was ten years ago that
46:08
Powall attended Barrett's umpiring clinic, the date of what she
46:12
still remembers August the fifteenth of twenty fifteen. That clinic,
46:18
like the game she will umpire this weekend, was in Atlanta.
46:22
She did not know then that a woman could pursue
46:24
a career in umpiring. Women will not have to wonder
46:28
about that. Now, that's what we want young girls to believe.
46:33
Speaker 2: Now.
46:33
Speaker 1: So many of the minor leagues umpires and major league
46:37
umpires I'll work with have the idea of being a career.
46:42
Pool said Charlie Reelford, my supervisor. He sold his car
46:47
to go to Umpiring School back then, because he knew
46:49
it was a path he had a shot if he
46:52
went to Umpire School. No, I wouldn't have thought I
46:56
could do this, Jim Powell at fifteen. I really hope
47:01
we'll be able to update that mind worthy upfront page.
47:07
The obituary for Jim Lovell, astronaut who commanded Apollo thirteen,
47:14
dies at ninety seven. He guided the spacecraft on its
47:19
lunar voyage, including a perilous journey back to Earth.
47:24
Speaker 2: Houston.
47:25
Speaker 1: We have a problem, he told mission control. And there's
47:30
a picture of astronaut James A. Lovell Junior in nineteen seventy.
47:35
Try we're sixty now. It was fifty five years ago
47:42
while training for the Nope seventy three, thirty five years ago,
47:46
while training for the Apollo thirteen mission to the Moon.
47:50
And he's in his spacesuit and the launching pad is
47:54
behind him. He's got a wonderful smile. On by Rachel Feltman.
48:01
Speaker 2: James A.
48:01
Speaker 1: Lovell Junior, the American astronaut who commanded the Apollo thirteen
48:06
spacecraft on its lunar voyage in nineteen seventy and shepherded
48:11
it on a perilous four day journey back to Earth
48:14
after an oxygen tank exploded, an ordeal that transfixed the world.
48:20
Dot August seventh in Lake Forest, Illinois. He was ninety seven.
48:26
NASA announced his death in a statement which did not
48:30
cite a cause. Apollo thirteen, which became the subject of
48:34
a film starring Tom Hanks as mister Lovell, was one
48:38
of the US space missions most firmly etched in the
48:42
public consciences after John Glenn's orbit of the Earth in
48:47
nineteen sixty two and the moon landing of Apollo eleven
48:52
in nineteen sixty nine. Those earlier flights were resounding triumphs
48:58
for the space program, securing American pre eminence in the
49:02
Cold War space race with the Soviet Union. The legacy
49:06
of Apollo thirteen was more complicated, a terrifying episode that
49:11
spoke to the skill and level headedness of the crew
49:15
trying to stabilize their spacecraft and Michigan control managers back
49:19
in Houston. NASA's verdict was that it was a successful failure,
49:26
as the Space Agency gained invaluable experience in crew rescue.
49:32
The fate of the Apollo thirteen crew, Mister Lovell, Fred Hasey,
49:38
and John L. Swigert Junior captivated millions. Mister Lovell's years
49:44
as the Navy test pilot before joining the Astronaut Corps
49:47
in nineteen sixty two proved invaluable in reversing their desperate situation,
49:54
and after the heady moments hours and days immediately after
49:57
their splashdown in the South specific, he said NASA just
50:02
wanted to forget it and move on. Mister Lovell had
50:07
participated in three earlier missions, notably on the nineteen sixty
50:12
eight voyage aboard the Apollo eight mission, the first crewed
50:17
spacecraft to obit the Moon and returned safely to Earth.
50:21
That flight paved the way for Apollo eleven the next year,
50:26
commanded by Neil Armstrong And there's a picture of the
50:31
Apollo eight astronauts William Anders, mister Lovell, and Frank Boorman
50:37
during a training exercise in nineteen sixty eight.
50:41
Speaker 2: Lord, I remember all of this.
50:43
Speaker 1: Apollo thirteen, which took off on April eleventh of nineteen seventy,
50:48
was meant to be NASA's third Luna landing, a mission
50:52
that entailed visiting a new landing site and retrieving rock samples.
50:57
Nine years had passed since President John F. Kennedy declared
51:01
it a national priority to land an American on the
51:05
Moon and safely return him, and much of the general
51:09
public already perceived spaceflight as mundane. Viewer drop off was precipitous.
51:16
Two days into the flight, mister Lovell and his crewmates
51:20
conducted a cheery video tour of life and zero gravity
51:25
that next to no one watched. The networks declined to
51:28
show the event alive. Not I love to show the
51:33
event live. Even the controllers in Michigan Control were waiting
51:38
for us to stop the program because they wanted to
51:40
get back to the ballgame, mister Lovell later joked. Minutes later,
51:45
a single, thunderous bang rippled through Apollo thirteen. At first,
51:50
mister Lovell thought the noise, which was similar to several
51:54
harmless sounds heard routinely on the craft, was the result
51:59
of a prank by but he turned and saw surprise
52:02
in the other man's eyes. That's when the old lad
52:06
weight went down to the bottom of my stomach, he
52:10
once told an interviewer, and I thought that we were
52:13
really in deep trouble. That he's prompted unease prompted one
52:18
of the most horring moments in spaceflight history, and surely
52:22
one of its greatest understatements. Over the radio, Schwikert, the
52:29
command module pilot initially relayed to Michigan Control. I believe
52:34
we have a problem here. This is Houston, came the reply.
52:40
Say again, please. Mister Lovell then said, Houston, we have
52:46
a problem. The line was slightly misquoted in the film
52:51
Apollo thirteen, based on mister Lovell's memoir Lost Moon, but
52:57
the film is otherwise true to the events of the
53:01
stunted mission. The explosion, which had an investigation later revealed
53:08
to be the result of a damaged oxygen tank, cost
53:12
the vessel two of its three fuel cells, the spacecraft's
53:16
only source of electricity. The oxygen tank responsible for the
53:21
explosion was emptied, and mister Lovell could only watch as
53:25
his crew's precious air the contents of the second and
53:29
final tank spewed out into space. The crew, stranded two
53:35
hundred and forty thousand miles away from Earth, was going
53:39
to run out of oxygen. While their momentum kept them
53:42
hurling into space. Their fuel cells would cease to function,
53:46
punging them into frigid darkness. With plans for the lunar
53:51
landing quickly abandoned. NASA directed the crew to switch off
53:55
the ship's damaged service module and turned the lunar land,
54:00
which had its own air supply, into a jery rigged lifeboat.
54:05
The three men crowded into a spacecraft meant to carry
54:09
two and settled in for a ninety hour flight twice
54:13
as long as the Aquarius lunar module was built to operate.
54:18
Even with barely enough resources to ration their way through
54:22
a slingshot around the Moon and a journey home, there
54:26
was the problem of trajectory. The ship was now on
54:29
course to miss Earth by thousands of miles, using only
54:34
the Earth in the window as an indication of their position.
54:38
The computer systems had all been turned off to conserve
54:41
the ship's scant electricity for re entry. Mist Level had
54:46
to steer the ship back into place for a gjectory
54:51
back to Earth. The task was made onerous by the
54:55
ship's newfound center of gravity. Aquarius was only meant to
54:59
be Polotine once it had disconnected from the bulky command
55:03
and service modules. When mister Lovell pushed the controls, they
55:08
didn't move this ship in the direction his training had
55:10
instilled in his muscle memory. We were really flying by
55:15
the seat of our pants, he said during an interview
55:18
for Apollo thirteen NASA mission reports published in twenty ten.
55:24
I literally had to learn to fly all over again.
55:28
We've got it, he said at the moment he confirmed
55:31
their position, pumping his fist in the air in a
55:34
moment of exuberance that contrasted with NASA's use your deadpan
55:39
style of communication. If he raised their voices, he immediately
55:44
added to mission control, I submitted it was justified the commission.
55:49
The mission was plagued with a host of other problems.
55:52
Engineers on the ground had to design a way to
55:55
fit a square air filter into a round hole as
55:58
the crew grew and destoring it because of rising concentrations
56:03
of carbon monoxide. One of the heroes of that project,
56:09
NASA engineer Ed Smiley, died in April at ninety five.
56:14
Speaker 2: Then the crew.
56:15
Speaker 1: Endured four days of dehydration, sleep deprivation, and near freezing
56:20
temperatures so demoralizing that they ripped the heart of rat
56:23
senses from their bodies in defiance of NASA's medical team.
56:28
Speaker 2: But mister Lovell's.
56:29
Speaker 1: Expert piloting at that critical moment turned an impossible mission
56:33
into one that was merely improbable, he said.
56:38
Speaker 2: My feeling was that it.
56:39
Speaker 1: Was like playing a game of solitaire, said science and
56:43
technology journalist Jeffrey Kluger, who wrote Lost Moon in nineteen
56:48
ninety four and became an etica at Time magazine. As
56:53
long as you have one more card to turn over.
56:56
Speaker 2: On the way home, you're alive.
56:57
Speaker 1: He told me that his whole goal was to keep
57:00
turning cards over until he got them home. In one interview,
57:05
mister Lovell speculated that he and the crew might have
57:08
eventually taken their own laps had the ship careened into
57:12
an endless orbit around the Sun. He said they would
57:15
have waited, however, until they had sent down a home.
57:18
We probably would have been further out than anybody, he mused.
57:24
Even once Apollo thirteen was on the course back to Earth,
57:27
the mission was far from routine, and the hours before splashdown,
57:31
the crew had to move back into Odyssey, the ship's
57:35
command module, and turned on commuters that had been covered
57:39
in icy condensation for days. When the systems powered up
57:44
back up without sorting out, the men jettison their landed
57:47
lifeboat and prepared for re entry. I hate to not
57:51
finish this article. I hate not to finish it. It
57:55
is fascinating, but as we know, Apollo thirteen did land
57:59
back back onto the Earth's or into the Earth orbit
58:04
and was successful and it made it and oh my god,
58:08
thank you for listening. Please continue listening to programming on
58:12
RADIOI for the rest of the week.
58:14
Speaker 2: Bye.