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8.27.26 · Washington Post

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  Speaker 1: Welcome to the reading of the Washington Post for August 27, 2026.
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  Speaker 1: As a reminder, Radio Eye is a reading service intended
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  Speaker 1: for people who are blind or have other disabilities that
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  Speaker 1: make it difficult to read printed material. Your reader today
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  Speaker 1: is Teresa. First article on the front page is U.S.
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  Speaker 1: Weapons Shortage from Iran War Alarms Allies Confronting China. This
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  Speaker 1: is written by Kate Cadill, Noah Robertson, and John Hudson.
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  Speaker 1: Concerns are growing in Asia and within the Pentagon that
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  Speaker 1: dwindling stockpiles will embolden China and North Korea. The massive
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  Speaker 1: expenditure of U.S. munitions in the Middle East is increasingly
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  Speaker 1: worrying Asian allies and frustrating Pentagon officials overseeing the Indo-Pacific
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  Speaker 1: who fear that the prolonged war with Iran could undermine U.S.
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  Speaker 1: readiness for a conflict with China and as it continues
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  Speaker 1: to step up military pressure across the region. Concerns about
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  Speaker 1: the depleted stockpile come as the United States canceled an
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  Speaker 1: amphibious landing exercise with South Korea scheduled for September, citing
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  Speaker 1: demands on U.S. forces from the war in Iran a
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  Speaker 1: week after President Donald Trump announced that he was scaling
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  Speaker 1: back joint military exercises with the key ally. South Korea
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  Speaker 1: and other U.S. partners in Asia, including Japan and Taiwan,
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  Speaker 1: rely on Washington as the dominant supplier of major conventional
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  Speaker 1: weapons and are reckoning with years-long backlogs. The Middle East
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  Speaker 1: conflict has intensified those strains, consuming and reallocating munitions that
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  Speaker 1: could be critical in a war with China. One Taiwanese
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  Speaker 1: official said they expect significant delays of PAK-3 Patriot missiles
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  Speaker 1: due to the drain on supplies as the Pentagon has
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  Speaker 1: depleted most of its interceptor stockpile in the Middle East,
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  Speaker 1: describing the shift in focus from the Indo-Pacific as troubling.
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  Speaker 1: In December, Beijing staged its largest-ever military drill around Taiwan,
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  Speaker 1: encircling the democratically governed island with ships and aircraft. Nearly
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  Speaker 1: $ 30 billion in U.S. arms approved for sale to Taiwan
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  Speaker 1: have yet to be delivered, including 882 million worth of
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  Speaker 1: Patriot missiles, according to Taiwan's security monitor. Japan has similarly
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  Speaker 1: been warned by the Pentagon of possible delays in defense shipments,
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  Speaker 1: including Tomahawk cruise missiles, according to an Asian diplomat familiar
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  Speaker 1: with the matter. Current and former officials and diplomats spoke
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  Speaker 1: to the Washington Post on the condition of anonymity, citing
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  Speaker 1: the sensitivity of arms sales discussions and U.S. military supplies.
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  Speaker 1: Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Kusumi said in May that delays
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  Speaker 1: were possible, but there had been no change in Tokyo's
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  Speaker 1: plans to acquire Tomahawk missiles. Taiwanese defense officials told Taiwan's
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  Speaker 1: parliament in March that they still expect 102 Patriots to
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  Speaker 1: be delivered this year. The Financial Times reported in May
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  Speaker 1: that deliveries of 400 Tomahawks to Japan could be delayed
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  Speaker 1: as much as two years. Japan's embassy in Washington and
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  Speaker 1: Taipei's representative office in Washington did not respond to requests
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  Speaker 1: for comment. A Defense Department official said, the joint force
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  Speaker 1: remains postured, ready, and capable of deterring aggression. In the Indo-Pacific,
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  Speaker 1: adding that U.S. military resources, including naval forces, routinely move
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  Speaker 1: between combatant commands. It seems to me that the likelihood
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  Speaker 1: that Taiwan is going to get a whole 100% is
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  Speaker 1: pretty low. think the number one priority for the United States, rightly,
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  Speaker 1: will be refilling its own stockpiles, said Jennifer Kavanaugh, director
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  Speaker 1: of military analysis at the Washington think tank Defense Priorities.
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  Speaker 1: The United States probably also feels like it owes Gulf
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  Speaker 1: state allies some replenishment. The war on Iran is not over,
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  Speaker 1: she said. The drain on weapons in Iran has become
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  Speaker 1: a source of tension between President Donald Trump and Defense
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  Speaker 1: Secretary Pete Hegsa, The Post has reported, though the president
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  Speaker 1: has repeatedly denied, that U.S. weapons stockpiles are running low.
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  Speaker 1: One U.S. official borrowed radars, diverted ships. Officials at the
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  Speaker 1: Pacific Command, which oversees U.S. military operations in Asia, have
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  Speaker 1: also expressed frustration over the shifting focus and dwindling resources
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  Speaker 1: available to deter Beijing, according to three people familiar with
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  Speaker 1: the matter. One U.S. official said that more than 30
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  Speaker 1: ships that were supposed to be in the Pacific had
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  Speaker 1: been sent to the Middle East during the war. It's
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  Speaker 1: clear that they're paying a big price, especially on the
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  Speaker 1: Navy side of things, the official said. This month, the
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  Speaker 1: Japan-based USS George Washington was diverted to the Middle East,
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  Speaker 1: relieving pressure on the USS Abraham Lincoln after concerns about
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  Speaker 1: its extended deployment and conditions for sailors aboard the ship.
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  Speaker 1: The departure of the region's last aircraft carrier underscores a
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  Speaker 1: broader diversion of U.S. forces from the Indo-Pacific, where China
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  Speaker 1: fields the world's largest navy by number of vessels. Since
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  Speaker 1: the Iran war began, the Pentagon has drawn down several
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  Speaker 1: advanced missile defense systems, including Patriot interceptors. In April, General
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  Speaker 1: Xavier Brunson, commander of the U.S. Forces Korea, confirmed during
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  Speaker 1: testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee that that radars
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  Speaker 1: used in missile defense systems were taken from the Korean
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  Speaker 1: Peninsula ahead of the U.S. strikes on Iran nuclear facilities
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  Speaker 1: in June 2025, and that additional munitions were moved this year.
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  Speaker 1: He said the THAAD interceptor system, the centerpiece of U.S.
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  Speaker 1: missile defense on the peninsula, remains in place. A One-Way
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  Speaker 1: Warning with China Questions about U.S. military readiness in the
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  Speaker 1: region come as Trump is sending warmer overtures to U.S.
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  Speaker 1: top adversaries there, China leader Xi Jinping and North Korea's
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  Speaker 1: Kim Jong-un. Trump has repeatedly said that Xi won't invade
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  Speaker 1: Taiwan while Trump is president, though Beijing has never publicly
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  Speaker 1: stated as much. Trump recently described Kim as unthreatening and
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  Speaker 1: respectful and said he expects to meet with the North
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  Speaker 1: Korean leader this year. A roughly $ 14 billion U.S. arms
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  Speaker 1: package for Taiwan was shelved ahead of Trump's May summit
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  Speaker 1: in Beijing, Wuxi. The two leaders are expected to meet
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  Speaker 1: in Washington on September 24. One Chinese official said any
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  Speaker 1: signals at the White House will prove the package would
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  Speaker 1: severely undermine further potential visits this year. Beijing has brushed
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  Speaker 1: off requests from the Pentagon's policy chief to visit China
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  Speaker 1: for discussions on the military relationship. For months, the Undersecretary
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  Speaker 1: of Defense for Policy, Elbridge Colby, has in vain pushed
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  Speaker 1: for a meeting with Chinese defense policy planners, according to
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  Speaker 1: two diplomats familiar with the matter. China's lack of interest
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  Speaker 1: was first reported by Politico. Colby, alongside others in the
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  Speaker 1: White House and the Pentagon, has prodded Asian allies to
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  Speaker 1: shoulder more of their own defense costs at a forum
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  Speaker 1: in the Philippines this month. He pushed back against any suggestion.
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  Speaker 1: that the region is being deprioritized. We are not leaving.
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  Speaker 1: In fact, we are digging in, he said. Allies have
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  Speaker 1: struggled with the contradiction of that pressure to spend more
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  Speaker 1: on U.S. arms while facing delays in delivery. The situation
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  Speaker 1: is very challenging, the Taiwanese official said. Trump and May
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  Speaker 1: raised concerns in Taipei about his commitment to Taiwan when
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  Speaker 1: he described arms sales to the island as a good
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  Speaker 1: negotiating chip with China. though an $ 11 billion arms package
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  Speaker 1: approved by the President late last year represents the largest-ever
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  Speaker 1: single U.S. arms commitment to Taiwan. Beijing has continued to
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  Speaker 1: ramp up military activity this year, following its record-breaking military
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  Speaker 1: drills around Taiwan in December. China has expanded military infrastructure
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  Speaker 1: on disputed reefs in the South China Sea and squeezed
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  Speaker 1: Taipei with the spate of new Coast Guard drills near
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  Speaker 1: the island. In July, Beijing also celebrated its first known
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  Speaker 1: test of a sea-based nuclear-capable missile, rattling the United States
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  Speaker 1: and its Asian allies. Beijing continues to manufacture its own
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  Speaker 1: reasons for increased drills and military pressure around the island,
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  Speaker 1: said Craig Singleton, senior fellow at the Washington-based Foundation for
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  Speaker 1: Defense of Democracies, which tracks the frequency of Chinese incursions
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  Speaker 1: near Taiwan. WINDOW OF VULNERABILITY Questions about the state of
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  Speaker 1: the U.S. munitions in the Indo-Pacific has sharpened during the
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  Speaker 1: war in Ukraine. The U.S. has sent billions of dollars
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  Speaker 1: worth of weapons to support Kyiv, but of different types
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  Speaker 1: than what would be needed in a long-range maritime heavy
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  Speaker 1: conflict in the Pacific. The Iran war, however, has more
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  Speaker 1: directly affected the Pentagon's Asia deterrence posture, experts say. Between
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  Speaker 1: Iran and the Western Pacific, there's a lot of overlap,
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  Speaker 1: said Mark Kansian, a retired Marine colonel and a senior
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  Speaker 1: advisor at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies,
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  Speaker 1: which has run dozens of war games since 2023, examining
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  Speaker 1: how quickly U.S. munitions could be depleted. Those war games
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  Speaker 1: found that defending against an invasion of Taiwan would probably
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  Speaker 1: exceed current Pentagon supply plans and that many critical weapons
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  Speaker 1: would be exhausted within weeks. Even at the beginning of
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  Speaker 1: the war against Iran, we were likely inadequate for a
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  Speaker 1: conflict with China in the Western Pacific, said Kansian. Xi
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  Speaker 1: has instructed China's military to be capable of invading Taiwan
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  Speaker 1: by 2027, according to U.S. intelligence officials, though recent assessments
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  Speaker 1: say Chinese leaders do not currently have imminent plans to
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  Speaker 1: do so. The theoretical deadline, however, underscores what analysts and
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  Speaker 1: officials say is a window of vulnerability in the U.S.
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  Speaker 1: munitions store. The Pentagon has pressed defense contractors to dramatically
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  Speaker 1: accelerate weapons production and awarded Lockheed Martin a $ 58. 6 billion
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  Speaker 1: contract to triple Patriot interceptor production by 2030. Beijing has
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  Speaker 1: not fought in a hot war since its 1979 conflict
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  Speaker 1: with Vietnam, but in the decades since, it has built
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  Speaker 1: a rapidly expanding arsenal of sophisticated ballistic, hypersonic, and anti-ship missiles.
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  Speaker 1: China's defenses are far more advanced than Iran's, making close-in
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  Speaker 1: attacks far riskier and increasing reliance on long-range missiles that
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  Speaker 1: can strike from safer distances. Across simulations run by CSIS,
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  Speaker 1: the U.S. generally expended 5,000 long-range missiles in just four
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  Speaker 1: weeks of conflict with China. The Post reported that more
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  Speaker 1: than 850 Tomahawks were fired in the first four weeks
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  Speaker 1: of the Iran war. CSIS estimates that figure since has
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  Speaker 1: exceeded 1,000 from a pre-war stockpile of between 3,100 and 4,500 missiles.
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  Speaker 1: The Pentagon has depleted other key long-range munitions, including roughly
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  Speaker 1: a quarter of its pre-war stock of joint air-to-surface standoff
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  Speaker 1: missiles and strike missiles, according to April CSIS figures. Most critical,
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  Speaker 1: analysts say, is the rapid depletion of defense munitions. including
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  Speaker 1: THAAD and Patriot missiles, which have been deployed extensively in
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  Speaker 1: both Ukraine and the Middle East. They are the most
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  Speaker 1: critical because there are no good substitutes. When you run
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  Speaker 1: out of Patriots, when you're out of THAADs, there's no
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  Speaker 1: way you can stop missiles coming in, said Kansian. In
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  Speaker 1: an Indo-Pacific conflict, missile defense interceptors would shield the roughly
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  Speaker 1: two dozen U.S. bases in Asia and tens of thousands
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  Speaker 1: of American troops in Japan and South Korea. Analysts estimate
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  Speaker 1: that the U.S. has already expended most of its pre-Iran
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  Speaker 1: war inventory of Patriots and THAAD interceptors, leaving only around 1,000,
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  Speaker 1: according to CSIS figures published in late July. China has 3,000
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  Speaker 1: ballistic missiles or more, so that's just bad math, said Kavanaugh.
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  Speaker 1: Next article is titled, A Rift Over a Weed Killer
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  Speaker 1: is Dividing a Pro-Trump Alliance by Rachel Rubin and Dan Diamond.
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  Speaker 1: The MAGA-MAHA alliance helped carry Donald Trump back to the
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  Speaker 1: White House. It handed Robert F. Kennedy Jr. control of
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  Speaker 1: the nation's health agencies. Now, it may fracture over a
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  Speaker 1: widely used herbicide. President Donald Trump's decision that expanded domestic
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  Speaker 1: production of glyphosate earlier this year was a national security
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  Speaker 1: priority and not an endorsement of the use of the
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  Speaker 1: weed killer, White House officials have said. Part of his
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  Speaker 1: Make America Great Again platform. Some advocates of Kennedy's Make
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: America Healthy Again movement, particularly those angry over pesticides, have
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  Speaker 1: countered that boosting the active ingredient in the herbicide roundup
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  Speaker 1: was unforgivable and part of a pattern of the administration
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  Speaker 1: siding with the industry over public health concerns. Now, some
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  Speaker 1: influential MAHA activists are channeling their anger at Heidi Overton,
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  Speaker 1: a top Trump aide who the president has selected to
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  Speaker 1: lead the Food and Drug Administration. saying they fear she
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  Speaker 1: will not fiercely challenge corporate interest and disrupt the status quo.
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  Speaker 1: Although the FDA isn't charged with evaluating the safety of pesticides,
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  Speaker 1: Overton's nomination has become emblematic of the broader frustrations from
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  Speaker 1: some MAHA activists and turned into a proxy war over
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  Speaker 1: the kinds of nominees they are seeking to lead the
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  Speaker 1: nation's health agencies. It's not clear whether the resistance from
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  Speaker 1: some MAHA supporters will dampen her confirmation prospects in the Senate,
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  Speaker 1: but she's already facing a difficult path. Senator Bill Cassidy, Republican, Louisiana,
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  Speaker 1: the chair of the Senate Health Panel, who said he
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  Speaker 1: has strong concerns due to her role in announcing a
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  Speaker 1: recent executive order seeking a reduction in the childhood vaccine schedule.
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  Speaker 1: I want the administration to be in good favor with
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  Speaker 1: these Maha voters and these mothers, said Alex Clark, a
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  Speaker 1: prominent conservative wellness influencer and podcaster aligned with the Maha movement.
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  Speaker 1: And this is the type of behavior that they see,
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  Speaker 1: and they see it as this administration is not weeding
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  Speaker 1: out compromised individuals from our three-letter agencies like we were promised,
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  Speaker 1: and so they're losing enthusiasm. The disagreements between some in
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  Speaker 1: MAHA and MAGA spilled into public view last week as
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  Speaker 1: Clark and the White House spokesman, Kush Desai, sparred over
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  Speaker 1: Overton and her involvement in a February executive order to
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  Speaker 1: spur production of glyphosate, a move that had infuriated the
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  Speaker 1: movement's activists. Clark instructed her more than 166,000 followers on
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  Speaker 1: X to rise up on social media as well as
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  Speaker 1: call their senators to express opposition to Overton's nomination. She
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  Speaker 1: accused Overton of writing the executive order to boost glyphosate
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  Speaker 1: and later argued she should have stopped it. This is
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  Speaker 1: not true, Desai wrote in a lengthy response on X.
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  Speaker 1: The executive order originated with the national security team, Desai said,
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  Speaker 1: adding that Overton was looped into the process at the
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  Speaker 1: end and pushed as many maha-minded edits as possible to
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  Speaker 1: mostly baked EO that, again, was written with national security
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  Speaker 1: considerations in mind. The public attacks from Clark and others
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  Speaker 1: have frustrated White House officials who say that Overton has
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  Speaker 1: been a major advocate for Maha's priorities in Trump's second term.
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  Speaker 1: Earlier this month, she stood near Trump as he signed
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  Speaker 1: an executive order aimed at cutting the number of recommended
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  Speaker 1: childhood vaccines, praising the move decried by the medical establishment
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  Speaker 1: as historic. Administration officials point to ways that they have
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  Speaker 1: delivered for the movement, pushing food companies to eliminate artificial dyes,
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  Speaker 1: boosting regenerative agriculture, and updating the dietary guidelines roughly 70
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  Speaker 1: days out from midterm elections. As Deputy Assistant to the
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  Speaker 1: President for Domestic Policy, Dr. Heidi Overton has spent the
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  Speaker 1: last year and a half coordinating interagency policymaking processes with
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  Speaker 1: senior officials across HHS, FDA, CDC, USDA, and other agencies
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  Speaker 1: to help deliver on almost every single MAHA victory that
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  Speaker 1: the Trump administration has secured for the American people, Desai
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  Speaker 1: said in the statement. Overton helped write and push for
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  Speaker 1: a June executive order aimed at spurring research and boosting
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  Speaker 1: regenerative agriculture, Desai said. He added that the earlier executive
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  Speaker 1: order that included glyphosate was meant to strengthen our national
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  Speaker 1: security by ensuring domestic supply of the elemental phosphorus that
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  Speaker 1: is critical for the production of key military and other
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  Speaker 1: technological hardware. White House officials also said that some criticism
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  Speaker 1: of Overton is based on a misunderstanding of her role.
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  Speaker 1: As a domestic policy aide, her job is to vet
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  Speaker 1: policy proposals to be sure they are legally sound, and
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  Speaker 1: when she says no to some ideas, it is not
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  Speaker 1: based on her personal preferences. She has been integral to
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  Speaker 1: ensuring that the administration's policies are correct, consistent, and grounded
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  Speaker 1: in gold standard science, Desai said. The MAHA movement was
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  Speaker 1: born out of the 2024 political union between Trump and
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: Kennedy and consists of various factions such as those pushing
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  Speaker 1: for tighter regulations over pesticides, the elimination of vaccine mandates,
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  Speaker 1: and healthier foods. It merges Kennedy's penchant for bashing corporate
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: interests with MAGA branding and some Republican operatives have credited
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: it with helping woo some left-leaning and independent votes for Trump.
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  Speaker 1: The rapidly assembled MahaMaga partnership, hammered out by slain conservative
• 18:15
  Speaker 1: activist Charlie Kirk and other influential figures in the late
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  Speaker 1: stages of Trump's 2024 presidential campaign, has defied some predictions
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  Speaker 1: that the Kennedy-Trump bond would quickly fizzle out. At the time,
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  Speaker 1: Trump's support for environmental backs and Kennedy's longtime environmental advocacy
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  Speaker 1: appeared destined for a collision. Now some high-profile MAHA supporters
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: say the GOP is on the precipice of losing critical
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: votes in November, warning that some MAHA moms, a key
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  Speaker 1: part of the coalition, are planning to sit the midterm
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  Speaker 1: elections out. They want to see White House officials more
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  Speaker 1: rapidly achieve some of the movement's goals, particularly around cracking
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  Speaker 1: down on pesticides they argue are harmful to children's health.
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  Speaker 1: That clock is really ticking, and it's very surprising to
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: me that a lot of these wins that would have
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  Speaker 1: been very easy to get by now haven't happened, especially
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  Speaker 1: on the pesticide front, said Kelly Ryerson, a prominent activist
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  Speaker 1: against pesticide known online as the glyphosate girl. In a statement,
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  Speaker 1: Desai said the administration has made historic progress on the
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: MAHA agenda. Make America Healthy Again was not just a
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: campaign slogan. It was President Trump's pledge to tackle America's
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  Speaker 1: chronic disease epidemic, he said. Delivering on this pledge has
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  Speaker 1: been a whole-of-government effort led by Secretary Kennedy and other
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  Speaker 1: key administration officials. Kennedy, who in 2024 called glyphosate one
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  Speaker 1: of the likely culprits in America's chronic disease epidemic. has
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  Speaker 1: sought to walk a tightrope on pesticides while in the administration.
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  Speaker 1: Kennedy told Joe Rogan that the move boosting production of
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  Speaker 1: glyphosate was not something I was particularly happy with, to
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  Speaker 1: put it mildly, but that he understood the president's point
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  Speaker 1: of view. The MAHA movement was built on the idea
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  Speaker 1: of ushering in a new era of health department leaders
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  Speaker 1: who were skeptical of or fiercely resisted the medical establishment.
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  Speaker 1: But Trump officials have since swapped out some of Kennedy's
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  Speaker 1: deputies and allies in a bid to tamp down on
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  Speaker 1: controversies at the nation's health department, while others have resigned
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  Speaker 1: or been ousted. The changes have tested the power of
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  Speaker 1: the movement and led to questions over Kennedy's influence. Overton
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  Speaker 1: is a physician who is board certified in public health
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  Speaker 1: and general preventive medicine. She previously served as a White
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  Speaker 1: House fellow during the first Trump administration and then worked
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  Speaker 1: at the America First Policy Institute, a conservative think tank.
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  Speaker 1: During Trump's second term, she has been intricately involved in
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  Speaker 1: his health agenda as a top White House aide at
• 20:53
  Speaker 1: the Domestic Policy Council, playing a largely behind-the-scenes role in
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: many of the administration's health policy announcements. Her selection to
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: lead the FDA, if confirmed, would give her one of
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  Speaker 1: the most powerful health care approaches in America, overseeing the
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  Speaker 1: safety of drugs, vaccine, tobacco, and the bulk of the
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  Speaker 1: nation's food supply. MAHA advocates say the sprawling agency is
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  Speaker 1: crucial to help curbing the nation's high rates of chronic
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  Speaker 1: disease and childhood illness, an overarching goal of the movement.
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  Speaker 1: Her allies say that Overton is a hard worker with
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  Speaker 1: deep interest in health policy and who has integrated herself
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  Speaker 1: with the president and other senior leaders and does not
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: seek the spotlight. She does the homework, said one official
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: who works with Overton, and spoke on the condition of
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly comment. Two
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: people familiar with Overton's work in the White House described
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: her as having a more incremental approach to policy changes.
• 21:52
  Speaker 1: She was initially resistant to some of the efforts aimed
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: at expanding access to psychedelics for mental health conditions this spring,
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: raising questions about the expansive scope of the plan, according
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: to four people familiar with the matter, who spoke on
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: the condition of anonymity to detail internal matters, but eventually
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: blessed the directive. The move won cheers from MAHA supporters, veterans,
• 22:17
  Speaker 1: and some lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. At
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: a signing ceremony for the executive order to accelerate research
• 22:23
  Speaker 1: into psychedelics and fast-track reviews of the drugs, Kennedy turned
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: to Overton. Thank you, Heidi, for your leadership, he said,
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: and for your attention to detail, which is often frustrating,
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: but always right. The next article, Before Hegseth Fired Him,
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: Top General Was Advised to Drop Kid Rock Probe, by
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: Dan Lamothe and Noah Robertson. General Randy George appeared troubled
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: by the encounter with General Chris Leneve, the Army's number
• 22:53
  Speaker 1: two officer now favored for the service Top job. People
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: familiar with the matter told the Post. Days before the
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: Army's top officer was abruptly fired earlier this year, he
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: was advised by a fellow general, now vying to replace him,
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: to stop the military's investigation and do an unauthorized helicopter
• 23:11
  Speaker 1: flyby of musician Kid Rock's Tennessee estate. People familiar with
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: the matter said, General Randy George, whom Defense Secretary Pete
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: Hegseth removed as the Army Chief of Staff without explanation,
• 23:25
  Speaker 1: thought it was important to follow typical protocol and determine
• 23:29
  Speaker 1: whether any safety regulations had been violated. During the March
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: 28th flyby, these people said, like some others, they spoke
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: on the condition of anonymity to discuss the episode. General
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: Chris Leneve, the Army's number two officer, told George that
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: Hegseth did not want the investigation to proceed, one person said.
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: The two others said that George later confided in colleagues
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: about the encounter with Leneve and seemed troubled by it.
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: George told them that Laniv suggested it would be best
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: if the review was scuttled, these people said. The revelation,
• 24:03
  Speaker 1: which has not previously been reported, adds a new layer
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: of understanding to Hegseth's potential motivations for firing George on
• 24:11
  Speaker 1: April 2nd. Kid Rock, whose legal name is Robert Ritchie,
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: is a vocal supporter of President Donald Trump and a
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: vowed critic of many Democratic politicians and causes. Through a spokesman, George,
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: who is now retired, declined to comment. Army officials did
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: not respond to questions about Leneve, whose candidacy for the
• 24:29
  Speaker 1: chief of staff job faces resistance in Congress. Hegzeth, in
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: a statement provided to the Washington Post, did not directly
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: address the discussion between the two generals and described Leneve
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: as precisely the kind of leader the U.S. Army needs
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: right now, interested in strengthening the Army and not interested
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: in playing politics in Washington. He is a back-to-basics, no-politics,
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: no-nonsense general, exactly what President Trump expects, Hegs' statement said.
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: The critics coming after him are the same out-of-touch so-called
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: insiders who've spent years undermining our military with woke policies
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: and endless wars. They hold deep grudges against any commander
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: willing to put America and our troops first, but their
• 25:11
  Speaker 1: days of influence are over. Sean Parnell, a spokesman for Hegseth,
• 25:15
  Speaker 1: said that the new reporting about George's departure amounted to
• 25:19
  Speaker 1: a regurgitating of a tired, old story simply to manufacture drama.
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: Hegseth and his advisors have for months declined to say
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: what precipitated George's ouster, even when asked directly by Republican
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: and Democrat lawmakers who objected to the firing. He has
• 25:35
  Speaker 1: long been at odds with the service's senior leadership, including
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, a fellow Trump appointee, who at
• 25:42
  Speaker 1: one time was viewed as a potential replacement for Hegseth.
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: Driscoll is now expected to leave the administration soon, perhaps
• 25:49
  Speaker 1: within weeks, officials said. Others familiar with George's firing have
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: said that the multiple factors were probably at play, including
• 25:57
  Speaker 1: his close working relationship with Driscoll. Since taking charge of
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: the Pentagon in January 2025, Hegseth, a former Fox News
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: personality who spent years in the Army National Guard, has
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: overseen the dismissal of more than two dozen top officers.
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: The firings typically occur without cause, though he has complained
• 26:17
  Speaker 1: broadly that the military's upper ranks are insufficiently loyal to
• 26:20
  Speaker 1: the president or caught in old ways of thinking. Many
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: of those removed have been women and minorities. Laniv's actions
• 26:28
  Speaker 1: in the Kid Rock investigation could further complicate his ascension
• 26:31
  Speaker 1: to the Army's top post. While he has filled the
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: role on an acting basis since George's ouster nearly five
• 26:37
  Speaker 1: months ago, Trump administration officials have not yet formally nominated
• 26:42
  Speaker 1: him to become the chief of staff amid concerns that
• 26:44
  Speaker 1: he lacks support within the Republican-led Senate Armed Services Committee,
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: said three separate people familiar with the views on Capitol Hill.
• 26:53
  Speaker 1: Senator Joni Ernst, an Iowa Republican and retired Army National
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: Guard officer initially skeptical of Hegs' nomination to lead the Pentagon,
• 27:02
  Speaker 1: opposes Leneve, these people said. Both Georgian General James Mingus,
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: another top Army official forced out by Hegseth, are from Iowa.
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: Without votes from Democrats, nominees require unanimous Republican support on
• 27:16
  Speaker 1: the committee to advance. Ernst's office did not respond to
• 27:21
  Speaker 1: a request for comment. The Wall Street Journal first reported
• 27:24
  Speaker 1: her opposition to Leneve. Parnell, Hegseth's spokesman, downplayed the situation,
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: saying in his statement that Pentagon officials are actively coordinating
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: with our Senate partners to lock in the optimal moment
• 27:38
  Speaker 1: to formally submit his nomination, and we intend to do so.
• 27:42
  Speaker 1: On March 31, three days after two AH-64 Apache helicopters
• 27:47
  Speaker 1: flying outside Nashville buzzed the home of Kid Rock, Army
• 27:51
  Speaker 1: officials with the 101st Airborne Division at nearby Fort Campbell
• 27:55
  Speaker 1: announced they were grounding the pilots and launching an administrative investigation.
• 28:00
  Speaker 1: Video shared on social media by the musician showed the
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: aircraft at low altitudes. In his post, he also criticized
• 28:07
  Speaker 1: California Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat who is a frequent
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: critic of the Trump administration. This is a level of respect,
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: Kid Rock wrote, that Newsom will never know. At the time,
• 28:19
  Speaker 1: the Army said it also was reviewing the flight path
• 28:22
  Speaker 1: of the helicopter that flew the same day over a
• 28:24
  Speaker 1: No Kings protest against Trump in nearby Clarksville, Tennessee. Flight
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: tracker data showed that the aircraft dipped to as low
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: as 625 feet at one point, circling over where protesters
• 28:35
  Speaker 1: were gathered. When the incidents attracted unflattering news coverage, Hegseth
• 28:41
  Speaker 1: promptly intervened. He terminated the Army's investigation and and exonerated
• 28:45
  Speaker 1: the air crews involved, encouraging them to carry on Patriots.
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: A few weeks later, Hegseth and Kidrock flew in Apache
• 28:53
  Speaker 1: helicopters from Fort Belvoir in Virginia, located in suburban D.C.,
• 28:58
  Speaker 1: Parnell said, then, now that it is part of a
• 29:01
  Speaker 1: broader community relations event. Leneve, 59, was not viewed by
• 29:06
  Speaker 1: his Army peers as a likely future chief of staff
• 29:08
  Speaker 1: before the Trump administration came into office, but he caught
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: the president's attention with a congratulatory call during the Commander-in-Chief
• 29:17
  Speaker 1: Inaugural Ball. People familiar with the matter said. At the time,
• 29:21
  Speaker 1: Leneve was commanding the U.S. soldiers in South Korea and
• 29:24
  Speaker 1: called the president from there. Leneve was moved into a
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: more influential position as HEGSUS senior military aide after the
• 29:31
  Speaker 1: Defense Secretary's team ousted Lieutenant General Jennifer Short from the
• 29:36
  Speaker 1: role the following month. Due to time constraints, we will
• 29:39
  Speaker 1: need to end that item at this time. The next article,
• 29:43
  Speaker 1: Metta agrees to sweeping changes, $ 18 billion payout in landmark
• 29:47
  Speaker 1: state settlement by Ian Duncan, Garrett DeVink, and Miriam Waldvogel.
• 29:55
  Speaker 1: The Facebook and Instagram owner agreed to block its apps
• 29:58
  Speaker 1: for children during the night. The deal puts pressure on
• 30:01
  Speaker 1: YouTube and TikTok to do the same. Social media giant
• 30:05
  Speaker 1: Meta agreed to pay as much as $ 18 billion and
• 30:08
  Speaker 1: institute sweeping changes to how children can use its apps
• 30:12
  Speaker 1: in the landmark nationwide settlement that aims to broadly shift
• 30:16
  Speaker 1: how young people use social media across a range of
• 30:19
  Speaker 1: companies and apps. The settlement comes more than a week
• 30:22
  Speaker 1: into a major trial in Oakland, California that where a
• 30:25
  Speaker 1: jury and a judge were in the midst of hearing
• 30:27
  Speaker 1: arguments from four state plaintiffs that alleged Meta's Facebook and
• 30:31
  Speaker 1: Instagram apps purposely addicted children and teens, leading to anxiety
• 30:36
  Speaker 1: and depression across a generation of youth. This is a
• 30:40
  Speaker 1: major breakthrough, a milestone moment, a watershed moment, California Attorney
• 30:44
  Speaker 1: General Rob Bonta, Democrat, told reporters Wednesday. Instead of getting
• 30:49
  Speaker 1: tied up in years of trials and appeals, we have
• 30:51
  Speaker 1: secured the changes we were after. The payout would be
• 30:55
  Speaker 1: among the largest of its kind since the 1990s big
• 30:58
  Speaker 1: tobacco cases. It includes unusual terms designed to convince other
• 31:03
  Speaker 1: tech firms to agree to sharp limits on teens' use
• 31:05
  Speaker 1: of their platforms, opening the door for the first time
• 31:09
  Speaker 1: to a broad set of national rules governing children's use
• 31:11
  Speaker 1: of social media. The Oakland trial was part of a
• 31:15
  Speaker 1: wave of litigation from state governments, school districts, and teen-centered
• 31:20
  Speaker 1: on-meta and other social media companies, including Google's YouTube, TikTok,
• 31:25
  Speaker 1: and Snap. The other companies have already reached some settlements.
• 31:29
  Speaker 1: Wednesday's far larger settlement, which must still be approved by
• 31:33
  Speaker 1: a judge, came after jury verdicts earlier this year revealed
• 31:37
  Speaker 1: the first cracks in the industry's legal defenses. 2026 will
• 31:41
  Speaker 1: go down as the year in which social media platforms
• 31:44
  Speaker 1: faced a reckoning in how they deliver content to minors,
• 31:47
  Speaker 1: said Clay Calvert, a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute,
• 31:51
  Speaker 1: a Washington think tank. The settlement covers every state in
• 31:55
  Speaker 1: the District of Columbia except for New Mexico, which won
• 31:59
  Speaker 1: a similar case in the state court, and Florida, where
• 32:02
  Speaker 1: the Attorney General rejected the deal. Parents, child advocacy organizations,
• 32:08
  Speaker 1: and politicians from both sides of the political spectrum have
• 32:11
  Speaker 1: for years accused Meta and the other social media companies
• 32:14
  Speaker 1: of contributing to phone addiction, cyberbullying, and a host of
• 32:18
  Speaker 1: mental health issues. The companies have generally pushed back, saying
• 32:22
  Speaker 1: that they provide parental control features and that ultimately it's
• 32:26
  Speaker 1: up to parents themselves to police their children's phone use.
• 32:30
  Speaker 1: The agreement announced Wednesday forces Meta to institute much stricter
• 32:34
  Speaker 1: limits on how children can use its apps. Facebook and
• 32:37
  Speaker 1: Instagram will be blocked from midnight to 6 a.m. Notifications
• 32:42
  Speaker 1: will be turned off by default during school hours. and
• 32:45
  Speaker 1: teens will only be able to use the apps for
• 32:47
  Speaker 1: two hours a day unless a verified parent turns off
• 32:50
  Speaker 1: the control. Like counts on teen posts will be turned
• 32:54
  Speaker 1: off by default. Meta agreed to use age assurance technology
• 32:59
  Speaker 1: to determine which of its users should be subject to
• 33:02
  Speaker 1: the restrictions or are under 13 and too young to
• 33:06
  Speaker 1: be on its platforms at all. The four states— Colorado, New Jersey, California,
• 33:11
  Speaker 1: and Kentucky— began the trial by demanding payments as high
• 33:15
  Speaker 1: as $ 1. 4 trillion, about the same as META's entire market value.
• 33:20
  Speaker 1: The $ 18 billion settlement figure is one of the largest
• 33:23
  Speaker 1: in U.S. history, similar to more than $ 20 billion paid
• 33:27
  Speaker 1: by the oil giant BP following the Deepwater Horizon disaster
• 33:32
  Speaker 1: in 2010. The settlement includes an initial $ 12. 7 billion payment
• 33:36
  Speaker 1: from META to fund youth online safety initiatives including an
• 33:41
  Speaker 1: independent organization that will have access to company data to
• 33:44
  Speaker 1: study trends in app use, something child advocates have long
• 33:49
  Speaker 1: asked for. This is a historic settlement that will have
• 33:53
  Speaker 1: a lasting impact, but we cannot truly protect all children
• 33:57
  Speaker 1: and teens until these protections are required on every platform
• 34:01
  Speaker 1: and are permanent, said Sacha Hayworth, executive director of the
• 34:06
  Speaker 1: Tech Oversight Project, which advocates for stricter guardrails for kids online.
• 34:11
  Speaker 1: The settlement is designed in a way that becomes stricter
• 34:14
  Speaker 1: if meta-competitors YouTube and TikTok agree to its terms. The
• 34:19
  Speaker 1: oversight blackout would extend from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m.,
• 34:23
  Speaker 1: and usage would be capped at an hour a day
• 34:26
  Speaker 1: per app. Meta would pay an additional $ 5. 3 billion if
• 34:30
  Speaker 1: the other two companies adopt the same new policies and
• 34:33
  Speaker 1: make payouts of the same size. Meta for years has
• 34:37
  Speaker 1: argued that even if it instituted stricter child controls, children
• 34:41
  Speaker 1: would simply leave its app and go to others. The
• 34:44
  Speaker 1: company issued an open letter to YouTube and TikTok calling
• 34:47
  Speaker 1: on them to sign up for the rules. The framework
• 34:50
  Speaker 1: we've negotiated will empower parents to easily manage how their
• 34:54
  Speaker 1: children access our platforms. C.J. Mahoney, Meta's chief legal officer,
• 34:59
  Speaker 1: said in a statement. But its success depends on all
• 35:02
  Speaker 1: other social media platforms following Meta's lead. Spokespeople for YouTube
• 35:07
  Speaker 1: and TikTok did not immediately return requests for comment. Despite
• 35:11
  Speaker 1: the massive settlement, Meta's legal odyssey is not over. Meta
• 35:15
  Speaker 1: and the other social media companies still face numerous lawsuits
• 35:19
  Speaker 1: from individuals and school districts. The company said Wednesday it
• 35:23
  Speaker 1: planned to continue fighting those cases, saying it views them
• 35:26
  Speaker 1: as weaker than those brought by states. Meanwhile, the Attorney
• 35:30
  Speaker 1: General of Florida, who did not sign on to the
• 35:32
  Speaker 1: deal and has sued the company separately, said he would
• 35:36
  Speaker 1: press on. The payouts are peanuts compared to the profound
• 35:40
  Speaker 1: harm met as profit-driven addictive features inflicted on kids and
• 35:44
  Speaker 1: a slap on the wrist for a trillion-dollar corporation that
• 35:48
  Speaker 1: That'll pay more to lawyers than to the states, James Utmeyer,
• 35:52
  Speaker 1: the Florida Attorney General, said in a post on X.
• 35:55
  Speaker 1: Bonta said the previous verdicts against Metta this year and
• 35:58
  Speaker 1: the ongoing federal trial in Oakland gave momentum to the
• 36:02
  Speaker 1: settlement talks. From where I sit, you can't ignore the
• 36:05
  Speaker 1: major defeats that occurred in a short period of time,
• 36:08
  Speaker 1: Bonta told reporters. Bonta, who is also suing TikTok, said
• 36:13
  Speaker 1: his focus will now turn to the rest of the industry.
• 36:16
  Speaker 1: Meta is a major player, and this is an incredible result,
• 36:19
  Speaker 1: but there's others that will need to follow suit, he said.
• 36:22
  Speaker 1: We're happy to talk in the boardroom to get those results,
• 36:25
  Speaker 1: or we can see folks in the courtroom. The next
• 36:29
  Speaker 1: article in the Post, Fastest Growing Ebola Outbreak on Record
• 36:32
  Speaker 1: Threatens to Become Worst in History. The response to Congo's
• 36:36
  Speaker 1: raging Ebola epidemic has been hampered by a severe lack
• 36:40
  Speaker 1: of funding and pervasive misinformation, according to people in the
• 36:44
  Speaker 1: front lines. This article is by Rail Ombur and Rachel Chason.
• 36:50
  Speaker 1: The Ebola epidemic raging in the Democratic Republic of Congo
• 36:54
  Speaker 1: is on track to become the worst in history amid
• 36:57
  Speaker 1: a response hobbled by a severe lack of funding and
• 37:00
  Speaker 1: rampant misinformation, according to doctors, relief organizations, and global health authorities.
• 37:06
  Speaker 1: At least 5,605 people have been infected since the first
• 37:10
  Speaker 1: case of the outbreak was identified May 15, of whom 2,683
• 37:14
  Speaker 1: had died as of Tuesday, according to the Centers for
• 37:19
  Speaker 1: Disease Control and Prevention. Congo's government records similar figures. That
• 37:26
  Speaker 1: means the outbreak is already bigger than the one that
• 37:29
  Speaker 1: lasted from 2018 to 2022, which killed 2,200 people, and
• 37:35
  Speaker 1: is spreading faster in its initial months than the West
• 37:38
  Speaker 1: Africa epidemic that began in 2014 and caused more than 11,000 deaths.
• 37:44
  Speaker 1: At the same point in that outbreak, about 100 days
• 37:47
  Speaker 1: after the first case had been reported, there were only
• 37:50
  Speaker 1: 759 recorded cases, according to the CDC, less than 15%
• 37:56
  Speaker 1: of what has been recorded so far in Congo's outbreak.
• 38:00
  Speaker 1: Interviews with more than a dozen doctors, relief workers, and
• 38:03
  Speaker 1: patients operating in Ituri and North Kivu, the provinces at
• 38:09
  Speaker 1: the heart of the outbreak, suggests that the confirmed figures
• 38:12
  Speaker 1: are likely to represent only a fraction of the total
• 38:15
  Speaker 1: current toll. The situation looks bad and it's worsening, said
• 38:19
  Speaker 1: Alice Reeves, the Congo-based Ebola lead for the International Rescue Committee,
• 38:24
  Speaker 1: a humanitarian group. It's spreading very, very fast. In Bunia,
• 38:29
  Speaker 1: a city at the center of the heartbreak, there is
• 38:32
  Speaker 1: a frightening dual reality. While the virus is quietly spreading,
• 38:36
  Speaker 1: Reeves said, life is continuing as if nothing is happening.
• 38:40
  Speaker 1: You have massive crowds, she said, massive weddings, big parties,
• 38:44
  Speaker 1: churches that are completely full. Most people on the front
• 38:48
  Speaker 1: lines of the response believe that the current figures are underestimated,
• 38:52
  Speaker 1: she said. It's a rapid fire, said Grace Warima, the
• 38:57
  Speaker 1: senior African media and communications manager for Mercy Corps, an
• 39:01
  Speaker 1: aid group. The deadly viral disease spreads through direct contact
• 39:05
  Speaker 1: with bodily fluids or contaminated surfaces. Warima noted that many
• 39:10
  Speaker 1: people with confirmed Ebola diagnoses do not appear on contact
• 39:14
  Speaker 1: lists for others already in treatment. The virus has moved
• 39:19
  Speaker 1: through so many cracks, she said. Medical personnel and aid
• 39:23
  Speaker 1: organizations say their ability to respond has been hampered by
• 39:26
  Speaker 1: sweeping cuts in aid to Congo and the World Health
• 39:30
  Speaker 1: Organization by the United States and other Western nations. Especially
• 39:34
  Speaker 1: in the early days of the outbreak, aid groups and
• 39:37
  Speaker 1: medical personnel said they lacked the staff, surveillance systems, and
• 39:41
  Speaker 1: emergency supplies to quickly detect infections or contain the virus
• 39:45
  Speaker 1: as it surged. The U.S. Agency for International Development, or
• 39:50
  Speaker 1: UCEDD in particular, had operated in Congo for decades and
• 39:54
  Speaker 1: worked in previous Ebola outbreaks. This is the 17th. To
• 39:59
  Speaker 1: coordinate with Congo's Ministry of Health and aid organizations on
• 40:02
  Speaker 1: the international response. The State Department said in a statement
• 40:07
  Speaker 1: Tuesday that it had announced more than $ 512 million in
• 40:11
  Speaker 1: direct assistance to combat ongoing outbreak supported 8.6 million health
• 40:16
  Speaker 1: screenings across affected and at-risk countries, reached more than 1
• 40:20
  Speaker 1: million people with risk communication messaging, supported more than 180
• 40:24
  Speaker 1: health facilities in affected areas, contributed to the direct operations
• 40:29
  Speaker 1: of 12 special facilities in Congo, and procured and distributed
• 40:33
  Speaker 1: nearly 300 metric tons of supplies, among other efforts. The
• 40:37
  Speaker 1: WHO has said that the outbreak caused by the rare
• 40:42
  Speaker 1: Bundibugut bugovirus for which there is no vaccine or approved
• 40:47
  Speaker 1: treatment probably started as early as February, months before a
• 40:51
  Speaker 1: global emergency was declared. WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus
• 40:58
  Speaker 1: said in a speech last week that the disease was
• 41:01
  Speaker 1: moving with unprecedented speed. We must be frank, the epidemic
• 41:05
  Speaker 1: is far from being under control, he said. It had
• 41:09
  Speaker 1: a big head start and we were still playing catch-up.
• 41:12
  Speaker 1: Tedros added that what concerns him most is where people
• 41:15
  Speaker 1: are dying, at home, in their communities, outside treatment centers,
• 41:19
  Speaker 1: and outside known contact lists. Every death like that points
• 41:23
  Speaker 1: to a chain of transmission we have not yet found.
• 41:26
  Speaker 1: Maurice Kekli, the lead doctor on Ebola cases at the
• 41:31
  Speaker 1: General Reference Hospital in Ocha in North Kivu, said that
• 41:36
  Speaker 1: one of the biggest differences between this outbreak and the
• 41:39
  Speaker 1: two previous ones on which he worked is the level
• 41:42
  Speaker 1: of surveillance. Kekul, 42, said that because many international organizations
• 41:48
  Speaker 1: are stretched too thin to do surveillance this time around,
• 41:51
  Speaker 1: some health workers at his hospital have taken it upon
• 41:54
  Speaker 1: themselves to identify and track new cases. He said misinformation
• 41:58
  Speaker 1: is so intense that many people who suspect they have
• 42:01
  Speaker 1: Ebola choose to die at home instead of going to
• 42:04
  Speaker 1: the hospital, where they fear medical interventions. The true toll,
• 42:08
  Speaker 1: he said, and local medical personnel said, could be two
• 42:14
  Speaker 1: to three times as high as official statistics. It is
• 42:17
  Speaker 1: likely to be the worst the country has experienced given
• 42:20
  Speaker 1: the number of deaths we have recorded in a few months,
• 42:23
  Speaker 1: he said. Mahundi Sikwaya, 30, said he started feeling sick
• 42:28
  Speaker 1: while working his welding job in Kamanda, a town in Ituri.
• 42:32
  Speaker 1: He lost his appetite for food and was too weak
• 42:34
  Speaker 1: to work. He said he visited a hospital and was
• 42:37
  Speaker 1: told he had contracted malaria. But a week later, he
• 42:41
  Speaker 1: was only getting worse, with blood in his vomit and diarrhea.
• 42:45
  Speaker 1: His sister Kavuho Nyasa flagged down a person on a
• 42:48
  Speaker 1: motorbike for the two-hour ride back to the hospital. She
• 42:52
  Speaker 1: said she put her brother, by then mostly unconscious, on
• 42:55
  Speaker 1: the back of the bike, sandwiched between the driver and
• 42:58
  Speaker 1: another rider. It was only once he arrived at the
• 43:01
  Speaker 1: General Reference Hospital in Ocha that he was diagnosed with Ebola.
• 43:06
  Speaker 1: I thought I was a dead person, Sequoia told the
• 43:08
  Speaker 1: Post a week after he was discharged from the hospital
• 43:11
  Speaker 1: in early July. His sister said she worries about the driver,
• 43:15
  Speaker 1: hoping he did not catch the virus. Kakula had treated
• 43:19
  Speaker 1: Sequoia along with three other Ebola patients. The other three died,
• 43:23
  Speaker 1: Kakula said. Two more patients have since arrived. More than
• 43:28
  Speaker 1: a month after being discharged, Sequoia said his life changed. Mostly,
• 43:33
  Speaker 1: he said he stays home, indoors, if he is not
• 43:36
  Speaker 1: at work because people are too scared to interact with him.
• 43:39
  Speaker 1: There is a stigma, but nothing lasts forever, he said.
• 43:43
  Speaker 1: I am sure this disease will also come to an end.
• 43:47
  Speaker 1: The final front page article, United States of Dolly. Was
• 43:52
  Speaker 1: the country star our last bipartisan icon? Parton transcends politics
• 43:58
  Speaker 1: through her humble and often humorous message of acceptance. Articles
• 44:02
  Speaker 1: by Danielle Paquette, John Woodrow Cox, and Hannah Nettinson. In
• 44:08
  Speaker 1: a divided nation, Dolly Parton brought people together, such as
• 44:12
  Speaker 1: President Donald Trump and the Democratic Socialists of America. There
• 44:16
  Speaker 1: has never been anyone like her, and never will, Trump declared,
• 44:19
  Speaker 1: before lowering flags to half-staff in honor of the country
• 44:23
  Speaker 1: music superstar who died Tuesday at 80. Her legacy, the
• 44:27
  Speaker 1: DSA gushed with equal fervor, is a commitment to a
• 44:31
  Speaker 1: world of freedom and dignity for all, She was uniquely
• 44:34
  Speaker 1: astronomically likable. Her fans are young and old, working class
• 44:39
  Speaker 1: and wealthy. They live in tiny towns and big cities.
• 44:42
  Speaker 1: They vote across the political spectrum and routinely rated her
• 44:46
  Speaker 1: more highly than other mega-celebrities in entertainment, business, and politics.
• 44:51
  Speaker 1: Parton was the only global figure that a majority of
• 44:54
  Speaker 1: conservatives and liberals both supported in one March poll and
• 44:58
  Speaker 1: by far leaving the likes of Taylor Swift in the
• 45:01
  Speaker 1: favorability dust. She never identified as a Republican or a Democrat,
• 45:07
  Speaker 1: only as a hypocrite, she joked. But her ability to
• 45:11
  Speaker 1: transcend politics didn't register as a cowardly dodge or a
• 45:15
  Speaker 1: calculated business move. To the masses who adored her, the
• 45:19
  Speaker 1: daughter of Appalachia glittered with authenticity and empathy. In one
• 45:24
  Speaker 1: of her most beloved songs, she sang about cherishing her
• 45:27
  Speaker 1: coat of many colors, the jacket her mother stitched for
• 45:31
  Speaker 1: her from rags. I don't criticize and condemn, Parton once said.
• 45:35
  Speaker 1: I love and accept. She might have been America's last
• 45:39
  Speaker 1: bipartisan idol, said Sarah D. Phillips, an anthropology professor at
• 45:43
  Speaker 1: Indiana University who teaches a class that examines Parton's life.
• 45:48
  Speaker 1: We can all see the good in Dolly, Phillips said.
• 45:50
  Speaker 1: She was a unifying force. The cheerful cultural critic behind
• 45:55
  Speaker 1: 9to5 bashed politicians as corrupt jerks without naming any. She
• 46:00
  Speaker 1: worshipped God proudly, she loved drag queens, she funded disaster relief,
• 46:05
  Speaker 1: the COVID vaccine, and millions of free books for children.
• 46:09
  Speaker 1: She led with humor and messaging that focused on love, love, love. Twice,
• 46:14
  Speaker 1: the Trump administration offered her the Presidential Medal of Freedom,
• 46:18
  Speaker 1: the government's highest civilian honor. Both times, she turned it down.
• 46:22
  Speaker 1: When President Joe Biden took office, Parton said, his administration
• 46:27
  Speaker 1: contacted her about it too, but she didn't accept. If
• 46:31
  Speaker 1: I take it, she explained, I'll be doing politics. Anyway,
• 46:35
  Speaker 1: Parton added, she didn't deserve it. Who could replace the
• 46:38
  Speaker 1: blonde force who managed to encapsulate both humility and ambition?
• 46:43
  Speaker 1: The icon whom House Speakers Nancy Pelosi and Mike Johnson
• 46:47
  Speaker 1: both praised with such passion. I hope that person will emerge,
• 46:51
  Speaker 1: Phillips said, but right now, I got nothing. Across the country,
• 46:56
  Speaker 1: fans shared their grief on the streets and online. Group
• 46:59
  Speaker 1: chats lit up. not Dolly. To David Scooch, a 65-year-old
• 47:05
  Speaker 1: Republican in Plainfield, Indiana, Parton was a great American who
• 47:10
  Speaker 1: clearly loved her country. She tried to do good when
• 47:14
  Speaker 1: there was a major catastrophe, the retired HVAC accountant manager recalled.
• 47:20
  Speaker 1: I remember always hearing her name as being the first
• 47:22
  Speaker 1: to donate. To Chelsea Reed, a 38-year-old Democrat from Louisville,
• 47:27
  Speaker 1: Parton gave everyone permission to be themselves. We've all had
• 47:30
  Speaker 1: to navigate a moment when we don't fit in, said
• 47:33
  Speaker 1: the public health worker, who named her terrier Mix Dolly.
• 47:38
  Speaker 1: For Will Bonfiglio, a lecturer in American Cultural Studies at
• 47:42
  Speaker 1: Washington University in St. Louis, Parton's strikingly broad appeal sparked
• 47:46
  Speaker 1: an academic mission. While visiting her namesake park years ago
• 47:51
  Speaker 1: in Pigeon Forge, an overwhelmingly white and conservative slice of Tennessee,
• 47:56
  Speaker 1: he was touched to see fans of all colors, classes,
• 47:59
  Speaker 1: and genders. What is it about her that brings all
• 48:02
  Speaker 1: of these people together, he asked himself. No single aspect
• 48:06
  Speaker 1: of Parton's personality or history shaped her singular stature, he
• 48:10
  Speaker 1: concluded over years of studying the songstress. She personified the
• 48:14
  Speaker 1: American dream, overcoming childhood poverty to achieve enormous success, but
• 48:20
  Speaker 1: so have lots of other people who are far less revered.
• 48:25
  Speaker 1: Parton's music, beauty, philanthropy, and business acumen don't explain her
• 48:29
  Speaker 1: charm either. Perhaps it was her extraordinary emotional intelligence, disarming
• 48:35
  Speaker 1: southern drawl, and a self-effacing wit that for decades bailed
• 48:39
  Speaker 1: her out of potential controversy. In 2017, she stood on
• 48:44
  Speaker 1: the Emmy Awards stage between her 9-to-5 co-stars Jane Fonda
• 48:48
  Speaker 1: and Lily Tomlin as the two women declared that on
• 48:51
  Speaker 1: that day, as in 1980, when the movie came out,
• 48:55
  Speaker 1: they wouldn't be controlled by a sexist, egotistical, lying, hypocritical
• 48:59
  Speaker 1: bigot An obvious reference to Trump. The Hollywood crowd roared.
• 49:04
  Speaker 1: Parton raised both eyebrows. Then she joked about her breasts
• 49:07
  Speaker 1: and the audience hollered again. She's always able to diffuse,
• 49:11
  Speaker 1: Bonfiglio said, though he noted that she didn't avoid taking
• 49:14
  Speaker 1: on divisive issues if she believed they mattered. In 1968,
• 49:18
  Speaker 1: at age 24... 22, she released Just Because I'm a Woman,
• 49:22
  Speaker 1: a song that condemned a hypocritical man who judged his
• 49:25
  Speaker 1: girlfriend for having premarital sex. She debuted a song in
• 49:30
  Speaker 1: 1991 about her family that included this lyric, Some are preaches,
• 49:34
  Speaker 1: some are gay, some are addicts, drunks and strays, but
• 49:38
  Speaker 1: not a one is turned away. More than a decade
• 49:41
  Speaker 1: after that, she wrote and performed a song about identity
• 49:44
  Speaker 1: for the movie Transamerica about a transgender woman. She later
• 49:49
  Speaker 1: removed Dixie from her dinner shows and, in response to
• 49:53
  Speaker 1: a question, asserted that black lives matter. Do we think
• 49:57
  Speaker 1: our little white asses are the only ones that matter,
• 50:00
  Speaker 1: she asked? No. None of it appeared to be too
• 50:04
  Speaker 1: meaningfully after the public's opinion of her. though Bonfiglio feared
• 50:09
  Speaker 1: that would finally change when Parton became one of the
• 50:12
  Speaker 1: country's most visible advocates for the COVID vaccine. He braced
• 50:16
  Speaker 1: for conservatives across the country to turn on her, but
• 50:19
  Speaker 1: it never happened. She had already built the reputation and
• 50:22
  Speaker 1: legacy and the love in the fandom, Bonfiglio said. Would
• 50:26
  Speaker 1: you cancel your grandma? This concludes the reading of the
• 50:31
  Speaker 1: Washington Post for today, August 27, 2026. Your reader for
• 50:37
  Speaker 1: today has been Teresa. If you have any questions, comments,
• 50:40
  Speaker 1: or suggestions concerning this program, please feel free to call
• 50:44
  Speaker 1: us at 859-422-6390. Thank you for listening, and now please
• 50:50
  Speaker 1: stay tuned for continued programming on Radio Eye.