Transcript

6.30.25 · Washington Post

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Speaker 1: Good morning, everybody, and welcome to the reading of the
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Washington Post for this Monday, June thirtieth. As a reminder,
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Radio I is a reading service intended for people who
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are blind or have other disabilities that make it difficult
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to read printed material. Your reader for today is Rod Brotherton,
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and by listener request. On Mondays, we usually begin by
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reading Paul Prather's weekly column from the Lexington Herald Leer.
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Speaker 2: But it's summer.
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Speaker 1: I guess Paul's on vacation this week, so let's head
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right to the news. Today's top story as Senate Republicans
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seek to vote on Trump's massive tax built today, Senate
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Republicans spent Sunday marshaling support for the centerpiece of President
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Trump's second term agenda, a sprawling tax and immigration package,
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working to prevent defections. After a near revolt over the weekend,
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the GOP is racing to push the mammoth budget proposal
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across Trump's desk by a self imposed joy fourth deadline,
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but Fissier's remained within the party over the cuts to
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social benefit and anti poverty programs and the bill's growing
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price tag. Lawmakers were debating the measure on the Senate
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floor through the evening before an onslaught of Democratic amendments
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was expected. Starting Monday morning. The legislation's vulnerabilities began to
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appear throughout the day. Senator Tom Tillis, Republican of North
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Carolina announced he would not seek reelection after he could
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not win changes to the bill to spare his state's
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rural hospitals from funding cuts, and in the House, a
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key block of conservatives signaled opposition to the bill because
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it did not reduce federal spending enough. Still, leaders in
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the GOP were optimistic about getting the bill done and
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dusted soon. It's moving forward, said Senator Steve Danes, Republican
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of Montana, a member of the Tax Writing Finance Committee.
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It's never easy. Trump's One Big, Beautiful Bill would extend
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tax cuts passed in twenty seventeen, enact campaign promises such
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as no tax on tips, and spend hundreds of billions
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of dollars on the White House's massive deportation drive and
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national defense priorities. To offset the cost, it would make
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steep cuts to Medicaid, the state and federal health insurance
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program for low income individuals and disabled people, and snap
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the supplemental nutrition assistance program formerly known as food stamps.
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The legislation would add roughly three point three trillion dollars
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to the national debt over ten years, according to projections
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from the Congressional Budget Office, the lawmaker's non partisan bookkeeper.
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That estimate does not include increased borrowing costs, which would
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be substantial because the measure, even with spending cuts, is
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largely deficit financed. Concerns over its deficit impact and budget
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cuts have dramatically affected voters' opinion of the bill. The
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Washington Post IPSOS poll conducted this month found that Americans
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opposed the bill by an almost two to one margin,
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and that sixty three percent said the measure's debt impact
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was unacceptable. It shows you the risks Republican majority has
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because the bill is so unpopular, not only in North
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Carolina but in the country. Senate Democratic Leader Charles E.
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Schumer of New York told the Washington Post, this.
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Speaker 2: Is bad for the majority.
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Speaker 1: Democrats have been determined to make any passage as painful
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as possible. Schumer demanded that the entire nine hundred and
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forty page bill be reatle out on the Senate floor,
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a process that took nearly sixteen hours. Only after that
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did debate begin in earnest on the Senate floor Sunday afternoon.
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Democrats are also planning to introduce a host of amendments
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before the final vote that are sure to lose but
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will put candidates on notice in future elections. The bill
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would extend expiring tax cuts from Trump's first term and
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includes deductions the White House hopes will spur economic growth.
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It includes a trio of Trump's populist campaign promises no
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tax on tips, overtime wages, or auto loan interest, and
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add six thousand dollars to the standard deduction for seniors.
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During the twenty twenty four campaign, Trump pitched ending taxes
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on Social Security benefits, but the idea was not of
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the bill. For the private sector, the legislation would give
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corporations larger deductions for research and development, depreciating assets, and
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interest on large purchases. The bill would cut one point
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one trillion dollars from health care benefit programs, according to
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the CBO, and by twenty thirty four, nearly twelve million
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people would lose health insurance coverage. We don't pay people
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in this country to be lazy, Senator Mark Wayne Mullen,
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Republican of Oklahoma, said Sunday on NBC's Meet the Press.
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We want to give them an opportunity, and when they're
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going through a hard time, we want to give them
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a helping hand. That's what Medicaid was designed for, and
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it's unfortunately been abused. The largest budget cuts would come
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from provider taxes, which are duties that states charge medical
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health providers as a roundabout way of collecting more federal
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tax Medicaid dollars. That policy led Tillis to excoriate the
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bill on the Senate floor Sunday evening. What do I
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tell six hundred and sixty three thousand people in two
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or three years when President Trump breaks his promise by
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pushing them off Medicaid because the funding's not there anymore,
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he said, referencing the number of people in North Carolina
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who would be at risk.
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Speaker 2: Of losing healthcare coverage.
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Speaker 1: Some in the GOP wished to use that policy to
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force states to jettison some immigrants from benefit rolls, leaving
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other lawmakers concerned about the finances of rural hospitals, which
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heavily rely on Medicaid patients. This program was created to
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help pregnant women, children and seniors in America, and those
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with disabilities. Finance Committee Chair Mike Crappo, Republican of Idaho,
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said Sunday on the Senate floor, we are continuing to
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protect them. They will not lose benefits, and the politics
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of fear that you here constantly are simply false. Still,
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the cuts to Medicaid had become a sticking point among
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Republicans both within the Senate and between Senators and House members.
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The House's version of the bill was far less expensive
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and had fewer cuts to Medicaid. The Senate overhauled that
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legislation in ways that some House members now find unrecognizable,
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and the measure could have trouble securing support when it
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returns to the lower chamber. The arch conservative House Freedom
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Caucus said the Senate's proposal violates the fiscal framework the
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two chambers agreed to earlier in the spring. In the Senate,
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lawmakers who represent states that use provider taxes or have
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a large number of rural health care facilities have warned
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that the provisions on Medicaid cuts the largest source of
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cost savings in the upper chambers bill risked going too far.
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Let's watch and be careful. We don't cut into the bone.
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We don't hurt our rural hospitals, said Senator Jim Justice,
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the Republican of West Virginia, said last week, if we
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do that, it's going to be a bad day. Senator's
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Lisa Murkowski, Republican of Alaska, and Susan Collins, Republican of
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Maine have expressed such concerns, though they voted to clear
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the bill's procedural hurdle. Murkowski is now under pressure from
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lawmakers in her state to reject the bill because of
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how many Alaskans could be kicked off Medicaid under the bill,
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while Collins said she has worried about the effects on
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rural hospitals. Neither of them has said whether she would
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vote for the final passage of the measure. Senator Ran Paul,
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Republican of Kentucky is steadfastly opposed to the bill over
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deficit concerns, meaning the GEO can lose only two more
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votes to keep the measure afloat. If that happens, Vice
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President JD. Vance would be forced to break the Senate tie.
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The next story is intercepted call of Iranian officials downplays
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damage of US attack the United States obtained intercept communications
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between senior Iranian officials discussing this month's US military strikes
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on Iran's nuclear program and remarking that the attack was
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less devastating than they had expected, said four people familiar
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with the classified intelligence circulating within the US government. The communication,
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intended to be private, included Iranian government officials speculating as
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to why the strikes directed by President Trump were not
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as destructive extensive as they had anticipated. These people said,
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like some others, they spoke on the condition of anonymity
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to discuss sensitive intelligence. The intercepted signals intelligence is the
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latest preliminary information, offering a more complicated picture than the
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one conveyed by the President, who has said the operation
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completely and totally obliterated Around's nuclear program. The Trump administration
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did not dispute the existence of the intercepted communication, which
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has not been previously reported, but strenuously disagreed with the
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Iranian's conclusions and cast doubt on their ability to assess
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the damage at the three nuclear facilities targeted in the
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US operation. It's shameful that the Washington Post is helping
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people commit felonies by publishing out of context leaks, said
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White House Press Secretary Carolyn Levitt. The notion that unnamed
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Iranian officials know what happened hundreds of feet of rubble
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underground is nonsense. Their nuclear weapons program is over. Analysts
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broadly agreed that the strikes involved immense US firepower, including
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thirty thousand pound bunk or buster bombs and Tomahawk cruise
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missiles that severely damaged the nuclear facilities at Ford, oh
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the Tants, and Isfahan, but the extent of the destruction
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and how long it may take Iran to rebuild have
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been hotly debated, amid reports that Iran moved its stockpiles
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of highly enriched uranium before the strike and that the
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explosions sealed off the entrance of to the facilities but
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did not collapse their underground buildings. When asked about the
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intercepted communication, a Trump administration official said, the Iranians were wrong,
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because we've destroyed their metal conversion facility. We know that
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our weapons were delivered precisely where we wanted them to
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be delivered, and that they had the effect that we wanted.
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During classified congressional briefings last week, CIA Director John Ratcliffe
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told lawmakers that several key nuclear sites were completely destroyed,
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including Iran's metal conversion operations. A US official sid the facility,
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which is key to building a bomb's explosive corps, would
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take years to rebuild.
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Speaker 2: The official set.
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Speaker 1: Ratcliffe also said the US Intelligence Committee assesses that the
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vast majority of Iran's enriched uranium is likely buried at
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Isfahan and Fordou. After the Post sought comment from the
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Office of the Director of the National Intelligence, a senior
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US intelligence official said that one slice of signals intelligence
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on its own does not reflect the full intelligence picture.
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A single phone call between unnamed Iranians is not the
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same as an intelligence assessment, which takes into account a
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body of evidence with multiple sources.
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Speaker 2: And methods, this official said.
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Speaker 1: Intercepted phone calls, emails, and other electronic communications, known as
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signals intelligence, are among the most powerful tools in US
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spy agency's arsenal and often make up the majority of
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intelligence in Trump's daily intelligence briefing, but signals intelligence also
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has limitations. Has overheard snippets of conversations sometimes lack context
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and must be paired with other information for a fuller
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picture of events. Trump has been furious about news coverage
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that has deviated from his claims about the bombing mission,
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which preceded a cease fire between Iran and Israel ending
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twelve days of hostilities. The Democrats are the ones who
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lick the information, he wrote on truth Social referring to
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a preliminary assessment from the Pentagon's Defense Intelligence Agency that
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Trump's intervention likely set back nuclear Iran's program by months,
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not years. They should be prosecuted. Trump also cast out
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on reports that the uranium stockpile was moved, saying during
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a pre recorded interview with Fox News that was scheduled
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to air on Sunday, I.
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Speaker 2: Don't think they did.
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Speaker 1: No. It's very hard to do, it's very dangerous to do.
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They didn't know we were coming until just then. The
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Defense Intelligence Agencies finding was based on information available roughly
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twenty four hours after the strike, and concluded that some
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of Iran's centrifuges used to enrich uranium that could be
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used in a nuclear weapon remain intact. The Trump administration
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has criticized some media outlets for failing to note that
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the DIA report, which it deems low confidence, cautions that
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a full battle damage assessment requires day to weeks to
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accumulate the necessary data to assess effects on the targeted system. However,
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the administration has not waited to assert its own sweeping
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conclusions that the strikes have set back Iron's program by years.
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Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who briefed reporters on the operation
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Thursday alongside the Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Dan Caine,
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said Trump directed the most complex and secret of military
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operation in history, and it was a resounding success. On
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Capitol Hill, disagreements about the effectiveness of the strikes remained
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after the Trump administration's classified briefings to lawmakers last week.
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I walk away from that briefing still under the belief
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that we have not obliterated the program. Senator Chris Murphy,
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Democrat of Connecticut, told reporters the President was deliberately misleading
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the public when he said the program was obliterated. It
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is certainly that is still of a significant capability and
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significant equipment that remain. You cannot bomb knowledge out of existence,
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no matter how many scientists you kill. Murphy added, there
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are still people in Iran who know how to work centrifuges,
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and if they still have enriched uranium and they still
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have the ability.
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Speaker 2: To use infuses.
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Speaker 1: Then you're not sitting the program back by years, you're
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setting the program back by months. Senator Lindsay Graham, Republican
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of South Carolina and a close ally of Trump, said
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obliteration was a good word to describe the strikes, which
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he said set the program back by years, but he
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acknowledged that Iran's capabilities could be restored. The real question
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is have we obliterated their desire to have a nuclear weapon?
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Graham told reporters. I don't want people to think that
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the site wasn't severely damaged or obliterated.
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Speaker 2: It was.
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Speaker 1: But having said that, I don't want to think have
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people think that the problem is over, because it's not.
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The US official familiar with the administration's closed briefing for
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lawmakers said that Ratliffe, the CIA director, highlighted the Israelis
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destruction of Iran's air defenses ahead of the US operation
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to assert that the idea that they can easily rebuild
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anything is ludicrous. The Director General of the International Atomic
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Energy Agency, Rafael Mariano Grossi, offered a mixed assessment during
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an interview with CBS News that was broadcast on Sunday,
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There is agreement that a very serious level of damage
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was done to Iran's nuclear program.
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Speaker 2: He said.
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Speaker 1: Iran used to have, and still has to some degree,
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capabilities in terms of treatment, conversion, and enrichment of uranium.
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The facilities have been destroyed to an important degree. Some
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is still standing, he said. Critics of Trump's decision to
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use military force argue that he scuttled the chance of
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a diplomatic resolution, which is the only way of establishing
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an intrusive inspection regime to restrict and monitor Iran's nuclear program.
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To Iran may also be more inclined to race toward
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a bomb as an insurance policy against any future regime
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change efforts by Washington or Israel. Before the US attack,
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the US intelligence community concluded that Iran had not yet
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decided to build a bomb, but was working on pathways
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to speed up the process if it.
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Speaker 2: Chose to do so, US officials have said.
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Speaker 1: The US officials counter that Trump's strikes don't preclude a
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diplomatic agreement and could improve the chances AVOE. On Wednesday,
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Trump pronounced that US and Aranian officials would meet this
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week to discuss a potential nuclear deal, but Iran's Foreign minister,
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Abboss Gachi quickly denied that any meeting would occur. Ragachi
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said the impacts of US strike were not little, and
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that Iranian authorities were determining the new realities of the
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country's nuclear program, which would inform Tehran's diplomatic outlook. Ietola
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Ali Kamene, Oran's Supreme leader, has said Trump exaggerated for
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results of his strikes. They attack our nuclear facilities, he said,
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but they were unable to do anything important and now
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back domestically. Senate GOP tax bill includes the largest cut
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to US safety net in decades. The Senate Republican tax bill,
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speeding the passage, includes the biggest reduction of federal funding
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for the federal safety nets at least the nineteen nineties,
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targeting more than one trillion dollars in social spending, although
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the legislation is still estimated to cost more than three
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trillion dollars over the next decade. The Senate GOP tax
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bill partially pays for its large price tag by slashing
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spending on Medicaid and food stamps, which Congressional Republicans maintain
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our rife with fraud. The tax bill centers on making
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permanent large cuts for individual taxpayers, extending the cuts that
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Republicans first enacted under President Trump's first term. The bill
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includes an increase to the standard deduction claimed by most taxpayers,
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rate reductions for most US households, and a partial version
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of Trump's plan to end taxes on tipped wages, among
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many other provisions. But it offsets these expensive tax cuts
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in part through what several experts said may prove to
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be the most dramatic reductions in safety net spending.
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Speaker 2: In nad modern US history.
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Speaker 1: While last minute changes to the bill text make precise
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estimates impossible, the legislation appears on track to cut Medicaid
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by about eighteen percent and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance program
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by roughly twenty percent, according to estimates based on projections
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from the non partisan Congressional Budget Office. Previously, the biggest
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recent cut to food stamps was roughly fourteen percent cut
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approved by Congress during President Clinton's administration in the nineties.
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According to Bobby Cogan, a senior policy analyst at the
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Center for American Progress, a left center think tank, food
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stamp benefits also sharply increased and then fell after the
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expiration of COVID benefits. The biggest prior cut to Medicaid
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was during President Reagan's term in the nineteen eighties, when
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Congress and the White House approved of roughly five percent
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reduction to the federal health insurance program it primarily benefits
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low income households. During his first two years in office,
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Cogan said, the Congressional Budget Office has estimated that the
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Senate tax bill will lead to roughly twelve million fewer
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people receiving Medicaid and more than two million people fewer
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receiving food stamps. This is not only the biggest ever,
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it's by a mile the biggest ever, Cogan said, you
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can very safely say this is the biggest cut to
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programs for low income Americans ever. The legislation achieves these
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steep reductions by imposing a slew of new requirements and
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restrictions on low income Americans who rely on government assistance,
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although it includes some revision sought by non partisan experts
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as well. On Medicaid, the bill institutes new federal work
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reporting requirements for the first time in the program's history,
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forcing millions of people to regularly prove they are working
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at least eighty hours a month. To keep their health insurance.
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The bill provides exemptions for certain.
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Speaker 2: Groups of people, including those who.
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Speaker 1: Are pregnant, some caretakers, and those with disabilities, but it
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also imposes burdens and paperwork requirements that experts say states
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are ill equipped to take on, and they warn that
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both those who are meeting their requirements and who qualify
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for exemptions could lose coverage because they will struggle to
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submit proper documentation. The bill also mandates that people just
23:34
above the federal poverty line begin paying out a pocket
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for Medicare services, such as some doctor's visits or lab tests.
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States would be allowed to charge these enrollees up to
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five percent of their income and cost sharing, a fee
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that could amount to hundreds of dollars annually. While Democratic
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led states might opt for modest copays, Republican led states
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could impose substantially higher fees, potentially pricing out many low
24:03
income residents, experts said, although it's unclear if this measure
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will survive final passage, the legislation has also sought to
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crack down on loopholes that raise what the federal government
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is reimbursing hospitals for Medicaid services, said Mark Goldnean, senior
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vice president for the Committee for a Responsible.
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Speaker 2: Federal Government, a non partisan group.
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Speaker 1: The changes to medicate could also force already struggling rural
24:30
hospitals to close or significantly pair back their services. Hospital
24:34
groups have said between a raise and rise and uncompensated
24:39
care and smaller federal reimbursements through states. Because of changes
24:43
to what it called the provider tax, hospitals are expected
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to take a significant hit. No question, this is definitely
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the biggest cut. It's the biggest rollback in federal support
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for health care ever, said Larry Levitt, Executive vice president
24:59
for health care policy at KFF. On food stamps, the
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bill rolls backs decades of long standing policy by tightening
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work requirements. Parents of children have generally been exempt from
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work rules, but under the new proposal, single mothers of
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teenagers as young as fourteen would be required to work
25:20
or lose benefits. The bill also rages the upper ages
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for able bodied adults without dependents who are subject to
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work requirements from forty nine to sixty four, sweeping in
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millions of older Americans previously shielded from the rules. Additionally,
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it would make it harder for states to waive work
25:40
requirements during times of high unemployment, effectively limiting assistance unless
25:45
a generationally severe recession hits. The legislation also changes how
25:51
poverty and household budgets are calculated for the purposes of
25:55
food stamp eligibility, potentially reducing benefits from million Unlike under
26:01
President Biden, internet access was recognized as a basic necessity
26:06
for modern life and factored in the cost of living
26:08
calculations that helped determine eligibility and benefit levels.
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Speaker 2: The new bill reverses.
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Speaker 1: That Conservatives and Republicans have defended these changes as necessary
26:20
to arrest the raising cost of safety net programs. Robert Rector,
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research fellow at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank,
26:30
said US food stamps are rife with fraud, saying the
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federal government spending on welfare programs has arisen from about
26:38
one trillion dollars per year before COVID pandemic to one
26:43
point sixty nine trillion now. Richter said stricter limits in
26:47
particular made sense for the food stamp program. Welfare spending
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is out of control, Fraud is out of control. Rector said,
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there's excessive, massive fraud. There's massive fraud in foodstamps. In particular,
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Senator Mark Wayne Mullens, Republican of Oklahoma, on Sunday argued
27:07
on Meet the Press that the legislation was only getting
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out the ones that should never have been in on
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Medicaid and was focused on able bodied individuals. We don't
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pay people in this country to be lazy. We want
27:21
to give them an opportunity, and when they're going through
27:24
a hard time, we want to give them a helping hand.
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Mullen said, that's what Medicaid was designed for, and it's
27:31
unfortunately it's been abused. But Republicans may face political blowback
27:39
if the changes to the safety net programs result in
27:42
significant reductions and benefits. The cults also fly in the
27:46
face of prior promises made by party leaders. Vice President
27:50
j d Vance has long been a critical of cuts
27:53
to Medicaid, and Trump has repeatedly promised not to reduce
27:56
benefits in the program, even as the bill moves toward passage.
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Some congressional Republicans from rural states have also expressed concerns
28:06
about the political impacts of cuts to Medicaid. Let's watch
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and be careful that we don't cut to the bone
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and don't hurt our rural hospital. Senator Jim Justice, Republican
28:17
of West Virginia, said late last week, if we do that,
28:20
it's going to be a bad day. Others had hoped
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large spending cuts would be least be used to reduce
28:28
the nation's thirty six trillion dollar deficit of the federal government.
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Speaker 2: Gold Wine of the Committee.
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Speaker 1: For the Responsible Federal Budget said that it's a shame
28:36
that Republicans are using funding from spending cuts only to
28:40
partially mitigate the more than three trillion dollar cost of
28:43
the tax bill. What bothers me is there are really
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hard savings to find in here, but all the money
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is being used not for deficit reduction, not to fully
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pay for tax cuts, but to reduce the amount of
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money we're barwing. Gold Wine said, we're going in the
29:05
wrong direction. The next story GOP Senator Tom Tillis won't
29:12
seek reelection after opposing Trump tax bill. Republican Senator Tom
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Tillis said Sunday that he will not seek reelection next year,
29:24
less than twenty four hours after President Trump threatened him
29:28
with a primary challenge for opposing Trump's massive tax and
29:31
immigration bill. Tillis's decision not to run for a third
29:36
term scrambles the Senate race in North Carolina. It injects
29:41
fresh uncertainty into Republicans push to pass the proposed One
29:45
Big Beautiful Bill Act, Trump's top legislative priority for their
29:50
July fourth deadline, and it underscores the perils for Republicans
29:54
of defying Trump in a second term in which his
29:57
grip on the party is stronger than ever. Tillis, sixty four,
30:03
was one of two Republican senators who voted Saturday evening
30:07
against starting debate on the bill, which he said could
30:10
cause hundreds of thousands of his constituents to lose Medicaid coverage.
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Trump savage Tillis hours later, calling him a talker and
30:19
complainer who's even worse than Senator Ran Paul Kentucky, the
30:24
other Republican who voted against starting debate. Numerous people have
30:29
come forward wanting to run in the premier against Senator
30:32
Tom Tillis. Trump wrote on truth Social on Saturday night,
30:36
I will be meeting with him over the coming weeks,
30:39
looking for someone who will properly represent the great people
30:42
of North Carolina and so importantly, the United States of America.
30:48
Speaker 2: In two fiery speeches.
30:50
Speaker 1: On the Senate floor hours Sunday after his announcement, Tillis
30:54
accused Republicans of rushing to pass a flawed bill by
30:58
an arbitrary deadline. He faulted Trump's advisors for not telling
31:03
Trump that the bill would break his pledge not to
31:06
cut Medicaid benefits. What do I tell six hundred and
31:10
sixty three thousand people in two years or three years
31:14
when President Trump breaks his promise by pushing them off
31:17
Medicaid because the funding's not there anymore?
31:20
Speaker 2: Tillis sit on the Senate floor.
31:23
Speaker 1: Tillis was actively running for reelection to keep his seat
31:26
ahead of his abrupt announcement on sad and Sunday. He
31:29
raised two point three million dollars in the first quarter
31:32
of the year, and his team sent out notices last
31:35
week about a July tenth meeting on his reelection, according
31:40
to a person who spoke on the condition of anonymity
31:42
to discuss internal campaign plans. But Tillis told reporters after
31:48
his speech Sunday night that he had been unsure for
31:51
months whether he would run. He had set himself a
31:54
deadline of August or September to decide whether to withdraw.
31:58
According to a person close to the Senator who spoke
32:01
on the condition of anonymity to speak candidly, Tillis said
32:06
his frustration with the bill was not the only reason
32:09
he decided against running again, but it accelerated his decision.
32:15
While Tillis could have accepted the Medicaid funding cuts included
32:18
in the White House, the Senate bill deepened the cuts.
32:23
Tillis implored Senate Republican leadership scaled back those changes without success.
32:29
According to the person close to Tillis, he realized he
32:33
would not have the adequate support from Republican leadership in
32:37
an incredibly tough race. Trump on Sunday hail Tillis's decision
32:44
on truth Social as great news. Trump had been itching
32:48
to go after Tillos even before the Senator voted against
32:51
advancing Trump's bill, and was talked out of it multiple
32:54
times before he went off on Tilla's Saturday, according to
32:58
two people familiar with the matter who spoke on the
33:01
condition of anonymity to describe private conversations, Democrats also cheered
33:07
Tillis's decision, arguing it would make it easier for them
33:11
to win his seat next year. Even Tillis admits the
33:14
GOP planned to slash medicaid and spike costs for families
33:18
is toxic and in twenty twenty six, Democrats will flip
33:23
North Carolina Senate seat. May V Coyle, a spokesperson for
33:27
the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, said in a statement Tillis's
33:32
seat is the only one held by Republicans on the
33:35
ballot next year in a state that Trump carried by
33:37
less than ten points, making it a crucial Democratic pickup opportunity.
33:43
Democrats are also seeking to defeat Senator Susan Collins of Maine,
33:47
the only Republican who represents the state that Kamala Harris won.
33:52
Speaker 2: Democrats have been.
33:53
Speaker 1: Working for months to persuade former North Carolina Governor Roy
33:57
Cooper to challenge Tillis. Former Democratic Congressman Wileye Nickel, who
34:02
was running against Tillis, said Sunday in a statement that
34:05
he was ready to run against whatever magloyist Donald Trump
34:10
hand picksed run in North Carolina. Winning an open seat
34:14
is typically easier than taking out an incumbent, but Democrats
34:19
have not won a Senate race in North Carolina since
34:22
twenty eight and Trump won the state narrowly in each
34:26
of his campaigns that streak will continue in twenty twenty six.
34:31
North Carolinians elected conservative leader committed to advancing an agenda
34:36
of opportunity, prosperity, and security, said Senator Tim Scott, Republican
34:41
of South Carolina, the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee,
34:47
said in a statement, it's not clear how Tillis's denunciation
34:52
of the bill will affect other Republicans who have expressed
34:55
similar concerns about the impact of its Medicaid funding cuts
34:59
on their states, including Collins and Senator Lisa Murkowski, Republican
35:04
of Alaska. Both of them voted to start debate on
35:07
the bill Saturday, but have not commented or committed.
35:12
Speaker 2: To voting for it.
35:14
Speaker 1: Tillis's decision shows you the risks the Republican majority has
35:19
because the bill is so unpopular, not only in North
35:22
Carolina but in the country. Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer,
35:27
Democrat of New York, said this is bad news for
35:31
the majority. Trump himself cautioned Senate Republicans that pushing to
35:37
add more spending cuts to the bill could backfire for
35:41
all cost cutting Republicans, of which I am one. Remember,
35:47
you still have to get re elected. Trump wrote on
35:50
truth Social don't go too crazy. Trump has targeted another
35:56
critic of the bill for potential political annihilation. He has
36:00
bashed Representative Thomas Massey of Kentucky, one of the two
36:04
Republicans who voted against the bill in the House, and
36:07
has encouraged his followers this month to drop him like
36:10
the plague. Unlike Tillis, Massey has criticized Trump's decision to
36:16
strike Iran without seeking authorization from Congress. Trump had discussed
36:22
reuniting and recruiting a primary challenger against Tillis in January,
36:28
while Tillis was considering voting against Pete Hegseth, Trump's nominee
36:32
for Defense Secretary. Tillis ultimately voted for Hegseth. In an
36:38
interview the last month, Tillis said he thought his relationship
36:42
with Trump would protect him from primary challenge. As long
36:46
as I continue to maintain a good relationship with the President,
36:49
we're not going to see a serious opposition from the right.
36:52
Tillis said, I enjoyed his endorsement back in twenty twenty,
36:57
and if anything, I think our relationship has gotten stronger. Tillis,
37:02
a former State House speaker, does not have as moderate
37:05
a voting record as Mkowski or Collins, but he built
37:09
a reputation for himself as a bipartisan deal maker, working
37:14
with Democrats on legislation to address gun violence and codify
37:19
the right to same sex marriage. He also worked on
37:22
a failed effort last year to bypass a bipartisan immigration
37:26
and border bill. Till has helped fill de void left
37:30
by the retirements of other Republican senators who helped forge
37:34
compromises with Democrats. He was particularly close to Kirsten Sienma,
37:40
the Democratic turned independent senator from Arizona who decided not
37:44
to run for reelection last year met opposition.
37:48
Speaker 2: From within the party.
37:50
Speaker 1: Tillis praised Sienma and Joe mansion Iid, the moderate Democrat
37:55
senator from West Virginia who also left his party and
37:59
declined mind to run for a re election last year,
38:03
in a statement Sunday announcing he would not run for
38:05
a reelection, saying such senators were becoming an endangered species.
38:10
They got things done, Tillis said in the statement, but
38:13
they were shunned after the courageously refused cave to their
38:17
party bosses to nuke the filibuster for the sake of
38:20
political expediency. They ultimately retired, and their presence in the
38:25
Senate Chamber has been sorely missed ever since that day. Still,
38:30
Tillis has decried bipartisanship for the sake of bipartisanship. I
38:34
don't believe in this Kumbai ya. Everybody be happy. Let's
38:38
all be a bipartisan thing, Tillis told The Washington Post
38:41
in twenty twenty three. I think your bipartisan on a
38:45
transactional basis. If you're always bipartisan, then you've lost your
38:50
mooring on your ideological worldview. One Democrat, Senator Brian Shatz
38:56
of Hawaii said Sunday that he would miss till He's
39:01
been a worthy adversary at times and an excellent coworker
39:05
at other times. Shatz wrote on X a loss for
39:09
the people and next to human interest story of hundreds
39:14
of neighbors rally to give a nine year old with
39:16
cancer one last Christmas. Kelly Zos doesn't usually go all
39:22
out for Christmas. She might bang some twinkly lights, maybe
39:26
put up a wreath on the red door of her home.
39:29
But on the last Saturday in June, following a week
39:33
of dangerously hot temperatures, in the DC region. Zox dotted
39:37
her walkway with glowing luminaria, set up a red inflatable
39:41
shop front, announcing cookies for Santa, propped open lawn chairs,
39:46
and put on a Missus Claws costume and wig, before
39:49
loading up a cooler with dozens of chocolate ice pops
39:52
frozen hot cocoa If you will, Hers was one of
39:56
hundreds of households but signed up to celebrate Christmas June
40:00
for a little girl with cancer who might not make
40:03
it to December. For miles thick heat and humidity, neighbors
40:08
dressed in holiday apparel gathered to watch the girl and
40:12
her family wind through the streets a light with end
40:15
glowing like a scene out of a Christmas card. At
40:19
a time when crisis, global and local feel constant and
40:22
far beyond anyone's personal control, several community members so they
40:28
felt grateful to be able to do something tangible to
40:31
help one family find a moment of happiness in the
40:34
face of certain tragedy. It all started with an email
40:39
to neighbors from Melissa Zachman, whose nine year old daughter
40:42
Casey was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer four years ago.
40:48
Casey loves Christmas, Zachman wrote last weekend, and we want
40:52
to give her a chance to experience some Christmas joy.
40:56
So we're hoping some houses in the neighborhood would be
40:59
willing to put up up Christmas.
41:00
Speaker 2: Lights next Saturday.
41:03
Speaker 1: Zachman knew this past week was going to be a scorcher.
41:07
She didn't expect anyone to go too far out of
41:09
their way. Maybe some lights here and there, a few
41:12
decorations on a front lawner two the houses nearby in
41:17
Brookdale and Westbrook neighborhoods would be more than enough to
41:20
make Casey feel like Christmas had come early.
41:23
Speaker 2: She thought.
41:24
Speaker 1: She made a spreadsheet to keep tracks so the family
41:27
could make sure to drive by each household that volunteered,
41:31
But as the days passed, the numbers of names multiplied.
41:37
A dozen people signed up, then a hundred. By Saturday afternoon,
41:44
the list had exceeded two hundred and seventy homes from
41:47
eleven neighborhoods up and down the DC Maryland border. In
41:52
twenty twenty one, Casey was just five years old. She
41:56
was diagnosed with medula blastoma, a type of brain cancer.
42:01
Casey underwent months of chemotherapy as she attended first grade.
42:06
At first, Alyssa Zachman said the family wasn't his public
42:10
about Casey's diagnosis. They held on to a quiet hope
42:14
that she could beat back the disease and become one
42:17
of the six in ten children who, according to the
42:20
National Institutes of Health, go on to survive a medulla
42:24
blastoma diagnosis. For a few months in twenty twenty two,
42:29
the cancer appeared to be in remission, but then Alyssa's
42:33
Zachman said it returned. When you feel helpless in the
42:38
face of something like this, people channel that into different ways.
42:44
We channeled it into advocacy and raising money for pediatric
42:47
brain cancer research, which means we had to start talking
42:51
about it, she said, noting their work with a nonprofit
42:55
Lillebine Foundation for Pediatric Brain Cancer Research. I think deep
43:00
down we thought, what if we can raise enough money
43:04
to find a cure for Casey before it's too late.
43:08
Over the past four years, Casey has endured ten surgeries,
43:13
dozens of rounds of radiation, an aggressive regiment of medication,
43:18
including two clinical trials, and that time, Zackman said, the
43:22
community has gotten to know Casey and her story.
43:26
Speaker 2: When the Zachman's announced.
43:27
Speaker 1: They would be participating in the Children's National an rule
43:31
race for every child. Dozens of neighbors signed up to
43:34
donate money or run in the five k. In the
43:37
past three years, Team k Z KVZ has been one
43:42
of the Children's National top fundraisers for the event. In
43:46
twenty twenty two, Casey's team had sixty four members and
43:50
raised more than fifty five thousand dollars. The next year,
43:55
Team k VZ had grown to ninety people and brought
43:59
in more than sixty thousand dollars in donations. Last year,
44:03
the biggest turnout yet, had one hundred and thirty seven
44:06
team members who helped raise nearly seventy thousand dollars in donations.
44:12
This family is so fantastic, just the grace they've shown
44:17
in sharing their story and being so open about everything
44:20
they've gone through over the course of this, said Dana Rice,
44:24
a neighbor who lives in the Brookdale community and worked
44:27
as the Zachman's finally real estate agent. It makes the
44:32
rest of us in the community feel like this family
44:35
belongs to all of us and this is our story too.
44:40
Speaker 2: This month, the Zachmans learned that.
44:42
Speaker 1: The cancer in Casey's brain had spread to her lymph nodes,
44:47
a rare progression. Doctors told them that Casey didn't have
44:51
much time. Alyssa and Joe Zackman began to think what
44:55
they could do for their daughter to make whatever time
44:58
she had left as joy of as possible. One idea
45:03
rose to the top. What if we did Christmas? The
45:06
family posted in June. Casey's love of Christmas has never
45:11
been contained to the holiday season. She watches Christmas movies
45:16
devotedly McAuley, Culkin's Home Alone films or some of her favorites,
45:21
and sings along to Christmas carols.
45:23
Speaker 2: All year round.
45:24
Speaker 1: Her most loved album, Gwyn Stefani's You Make It Feel
45:28
Like Christmas, is on a near constant rotation in the
45:32
family's home these days. Casey gets tired quickly when she's awake.
45:38
Her small body is racked with pain. Medications help management,
45:43
but they make her lethargic and sleepy. To ensure Casey's
45:48
had a few good hours Saturday, the Zachman's plan to
45:51
manage her medications carefully and did what they could to
45:54
make sure Casey's best window lined up with a visit
45:57
from Santa I grew up Jewish, I didn't even celebrate
46:02
Christmas until I met my husband, Alyssa Zackman said days
46:05
before Saturday's event, as the list of participants continued to grow.
46:11
But Christmas magic is real and I'm hoping it's a
46:14
present from my family and whole neighborhood this weekend. On Saturday,
46:20
Santa didn't arrive in a sleigh. The Big Man in
46:24
the Red got driven this Casey's house and an antique
46:27
engine from the Rockville Volunteer Fire Department. Firefighters from several
46:32
departments across the state, from Bethesda Fire to Ocean City
46:36
Volunteer Fire Company rode through the neighborhood like they do
46:39
in December for the annual Christmas Parade, but first they
46:44
delivered cards and gifts directly to Casey. The Volunteer Fire
46:49
Service doesn't do anything small, said Lieutenant Meghan Quinn of
46:53
the Glen Echo Fire Department. They don't do anything halfway,
46:59
and neither does the Zachman's neighbors. Houses were draped with
47:03
banners that read Merry Christmas, Casey. One house on Jamestown
47:08
Road spelled out Casey's initials k v Z and lights.
47:14
Neighbors and local businesses propped up decorations and hung homemade
47:18
ornaments in the Zachman's front yard. Just after eight pm,
47:23
Santa arrived with a ho and a helper at his side.
47:28
It wasn't an elf, instead, the mascot Doctor Bear from
47:32
Children's National Hospital, where Casey.
47:34
Speaker 2: Goes for treatment.
47:36
Speaker 1: K C beamed and hugged the two before taking their
47:40
hands and leading them to sit on the porch. Children
47:43
in l fears, Christmas pajamas and Santa hats clambered around
47:49
the trio as Doctor Bear offered up tickles and high fives.
47:54
Casey read her cards, alowed, and then called her little
47:56
sister Zara over to share in one of the gifts,
48:00
stuffed animals of the sibling duo Bluie and Bengo from
48:03
the popular show Joe Zackman. Casey's dad wiped away tears.
48:10
Soon the parade set off, with the zachun family car
48:13
following close behind. As evening fell, the Christmas celebration began
48:18
to feel more like a summer block party. Alison Garadhia,
48:22
a former registered nurse at Children's National who also lives
48:25
in the neighborhood, was one of the first people to
48:28
call the Glen Echo Fire Department and asked they roll
48:31
out the usual Christmas pageantry. She also donned the Doctor
48:36
Bear costume Saturday night. This is such great modeling for
48:40
our kids. It's how to show up, how to actually
48:44
be present and put everything else aside and say this
48:48
moment matters more than anything.
48:50
Speaker 2: Else going on. She said, this moment matters.
48:55
Speaker 1: So much, not to this, not just to the sweet
48:58
little girl who's fighting for her life literally, but for
49:02
her family who will have this memory forever. As the
49:07
Zachmans drove past people stretched out on front porches and lawns,
49:12
several neighbors came up to the back seat and gave
49:15
Casey gifts and words of encouragement. At the house, with
49:19
a big inflatable display for missus Claus's cafe, Zox appeared
49:25
under her gray quaffed wig. Zos wore a white tank
49:29
top and a nineteen twenty style red and white striped
49:32
bathing suit bottom glasses, with a pearl chain, red lipstick,
49:38
and a watermelon float pool floating around her waist. She
49:43
offered Zara, Casey's sister a fruit popsicle out of a
49:47
metallic ice cream cart. It went on like this, and
49:51
on and on for miles. The Zachman family determined to
49:56
see every house that put in the effort to deliver
49:59
Christmas fe Casey drove around.
50:02
Speaker 2: For two hours.
50:04
Speaker 1: Neighbors who spotted them shouted Merry Christmas and cheered. Some
50:09
stayed outside to greet the family through squalls of rain.
50:13
Casey was quiet in the back seat, Her small face
50:17
looked out taking in the lights. Every so often as
50:21
the family passed another house, another neighbor, another display with
50:26
Casey's name draped across the front doors and parked cars,
50:30
and Casey let out a single breathless word, wow. And
50:37
next Democratics pick to replace Representative Connolly wants to carry
50:42
forward his legacy. In the crowded primary to replace Representative
50:47
Jerry Connolly, a Democratic Virginia in Congress, there was only
50:51
one Democrat who could claim much of a link to
50:53
the late longtime congressman, Fairfax County Supervisor James R. Walkinshaw,
51:00
as the popular lawmaker's chief of staff for a decade. Walkinshaw,
51:04
who is forty two, had long been seen as a
51:07
likely successor in Virginia's eleventh Congressional district, even well before
51:12
Connolly's death opened up his seat in the DC.
51:15
Speaker 2: Suburbs.
51:16
Speaker 1: With support from Connolly and the broad political coalition he
51:20
had built across Fairfax, Walkinshaw managed to win almost sixty
51:24
percent of the vote in Saturday's election against nine other candidates.
51:28
The Braddock District supervisor said he won so convincingly by
51:33
pitching himself as a pragmatic progressive who would protect the
51:36
district's federal employees from President Trump's cuts while advancing wonky
51:42
policy changes with broad support. It was an approach, he said,
51:47
imparted by his former boss, he really felt, and I
51:52
feel like the way that you build trust with the
51:54
people you represent is by being hyper responsive to them
51:59
and solving problems for them whenever possible. Walkinshaw said in
52:03
an interview Sunday afternoon. I want to make big change,
52:07
but I'm willing to accept incremental change if that's what
52:11
we can do today and come back and fight for
52:14
more tomorrow. The September ninth special election will pitt Walkinshaw
52:19
against Stuart Whitson, a lawyer at a conservative think tank,
52:23
whom Republicans picked.
52:24
Speaker 2: As their nominee.
52:25
Speaker 1: Saturday, about forty percent of people who voted in the
52:29
GOP primary cast their ballots for Whitson, an Army veteran
52:32
and former FBI staffer. Yet the starkly different vote totals
52:37
and the two nominating contests seem to signal an easy
52:41
road ahead for Walkinshaw. A record breaking thirty seven thousand
52:45
Democrats cast ballots in the primary special, compared with about
52:49
twenty six hundred Republicans. The deep blue district, which covers
52:54
all of Fairfax County and most of Fairfax County outside
52:57
the Beltway, went for Kamala Harris by about thirty four points.
53:02
And last fall's presidential election, amid rising frustration with the
53:06
party establishment, many of the other candidates criticized what they
53:11
saw as Walkinshaw's coronation as an heir apparent. They said
53:15
it was time for a fresh face in Congress as
53:17
Democrats struggled to push back.
53:20
Speaker 2: On the Trump administration.
53:22
Speaker 1: Walkinshaw won every polling location in all three days of
53:26
early voting, including in areas such as Herndon and Centreville,
53:31
which were bases of support for his best performing opponents.
53:35
Outside groups spent more than two million dollars to boost him,
53:38
more than all other candidates combined. His supporters pointed to
53:43
his win as a result of the name he had
53:45
built up in Connelly's office and then as an elected
53:48
official himself. James is the epitome of a workhorse, said
53:53
Jeff McKay, Democrat and chair of the Fairfax County Board
53:57
of Supervisors. He's not always fled, he's not always good
54:01
looking for all the attention, but he has the facts,
54:05
He makes good points and does his research and knows
54:08
how to build a coalition. At a time when winning
54:12
candidates and the Democratic Party have alternately been drawing headlines
54:15
for their moderate bias, partisan appeals are bold left leaning policies.
54:21
Some observers credit Walkinshaw's win to a style that closely
54:25
lines up with Fairfax County voters, the politics of competency.
54:31
He's been able to build up his own reputation as
54:34
an elected official and develop a reputation for showing up
54:37
for his constituents, said Matt Royer, a political consultant in
54:41
Fairfax and former president of the Young Virginia Democrats. It's
54:45
all fine and good to say catchphrases, but in this area,
54:49
if you're not pointing to actual policies that you're going
54:53
to work on, that's not going to connect with voters.
54:57
Royer said voters were hungry for someone who who can
55:00
actually get things done, a reality that kept Conley in
55:04
office and part of why the insurgent spirit that toppled
55:08
other Democratic insiders did not work in this mostly wealthy
55:12
community filled with government contractors, Fortune five hundred companies and
55:17
Washington insiders. Walkinshaw's rise through the political ranks in Fairfax
55:22
County is itself a manifestation of a maxim from Connolly himself,
55:28
a former county supervisor, that every member of Congress should
55:33
first be required to serve in local government. Jerry would
55:38
tell anyone that the best job he had was on
55:41
the Board of Supervisors. Walkinshaw recalled, you can have a
55:45
very tangible impact on the community, and you can build
55:48
very close relationships with the people you represent. Walkinshaw, who
55:54
grew up in Gainesville, Virginia, as the son of a
55:57
nurse and a plumber, often invoked the working class roots
56:01
on the campaign trail as he spoke about helping his
56:04
dad on construction sites in the summer. When talking about
56:08
federal workers, he would point to his grandfather, a foreign
56:11
service worker. In twenty oh seven, Conley, then the chair
56:15
of the Fairfax Board of supervisors running for reelection, tapped
56:19
Walkinshaw to serve as his campaign manager and again the
56:23
following year, and amid to flip a competitive seat in
56:26
Congress being vacated by former Representative Tom Davis. When Conley
56:32
arrived on Capitol Hill in twenty oh nine, the newly
56:35
mined congressman made Walkinshaw his chief of staff. He was
56:39
just twenty six years old. It was in that role
56:43
that Walkinshaw said he learned the suburban cul de sacs
56:46
of the eleventh District and the halls of Congress alike.
56:50
They passed the Affordable Care Act, narrowly won re election
56:53
during the Republican takeover in twenty ten, and pushed to
56:56
modernize federal IT systems and projects the tens of thousands
57:01
of federal employees in his district. McKay, who met and
57:05
befriended Walkinshaw while making his first bid for local office
57:08
in twenty oh seven, recalled meeting with him to get
57:11
support and advised from kindly on political operations.
57:15
Speaker 2: I knew my.
57:15
Speaker 1: District very well. I'd lived there my whole life. James,
57:19
I thought wouldn't know anything about the district, he recalled,
57:22
and he knew almost as much as I did. He's
57:25
a master researcher, a master tactician, and a master statistician.
57:30
As Walkinshaw was leaving a voting site and resting after
57:33
the polls closed on Saturday evening, a woman rushed up
57:35
to England the parking lot. She'd been trying to find him,
57:38
she said, so she could thank him for helping her
57:41
family tackle bureaucratic obstacles and obtaining a death certificate for
57:45
a family member, that, she added, is what had won
57:49
her over. And this concludes the reading of the Washington
57:52
Post for today, Monday, June thirtieth. Your reader for today
57:55
has been Rod Brotherton. If you have any questions or
57:57
comments concerning the program, please you'll fur to call. Thanks
58:00
for listening, and now please stay tuned for continued programming
58:03
right here on Radio I