Latest / 5 minute updates on the latest Trump actions by Prof Christina Pagel / ICE under the radar, plus attacks on Canada, environment & health

Transcript

ICE under the radar, plus attacks on Canada, environment & health · 5 minute updates on the latest Trump actions by Prof Christina Pagel

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Hi.
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  SPEAKER_00: So ice has been all over the news this week,
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  SPEAKER_00: but there are some important aspects
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  SPEAKER_00: that I think have been less well covered that really matter.
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  SPEAKER_00: And then I'm also going to go through how Trump has targeted
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  SPEAKER_00: Canada recently,
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  SPEAKER_00: and then some more concerted attacks on the environment and health.
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  SPEAKER_00: So firstly on ice and surveillance.
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  SPEAKER_00: So while the ice surge in Minnesota was supposed to be focused on serious
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  SPEAKER_00: offenders, there are various sources of evidence
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  SPEAKER_00: from photographs, videos and internal documents
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  SPEAKER_00: that actually paint a really different picture.
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  SPEAKER_00: And what it shows is that Ice agents have been leaning
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  SPEAKER_00: really heavily on things like biometric surveillance
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  SPEAKER_00: and these kind of interconnected databases
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  SPEAKER_00: that they've built over the previous year or years.
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  SPEAKER_00: And the Associated Press basically said that this highlighted
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  SPEAKER_00: how ICE has built this sprawling digital surveillance system,
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  SPEAKER_00: and that's how it's kind of tackling its immigration crackdown.
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  SPEAKER_00: And then on the same day,
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  SPEAKER_00: The New York Times reported how Ice is using facial recognition,
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  SPEAKER_00: social media monitoring and other kind of technical tools
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  SPEAKER_00: to track protesters as well as undocumented immigrants.
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  SPEAKER_00: So, for instance,
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  SPEAKER_00: they highlighted the case of one American citizen
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  SPEAKER_00: who was stopped in her car by an Ice agent.
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  SPEAKER_00: And he then kind of greeted her by name
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  SPEAKER_00: and then told her that she had been
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  SPEAKER_00: identified through facial recognition.
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  SPEAKER_00: And then three days later,
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  SPEAKER_00: she received an email from Homeland Security,
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  SPEAKER_00: basically saying that her Global Entry
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  SPEAKER_00: and TSA travel privileges had been revoked
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  SPEAKER_00: and they didn't offer any kind of explanation.
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  SPEAKER_00: But at the time, it seems a little bit more than coincidental.
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  SPEAKER_00: wired then reported that Ice has formally asked various companies
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  SPEAKER_00: to provide information
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  SPEAKER_00: about their kind of commercial big data and adtech products,
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  SPEAKER_00: that they wanted to know
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  SPEAKER_00: whether they would directly support investigation activity.
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  SPEAKER_00: So essentially, what they're trying to do is expand
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  SPEAKER_00: the kind of technical tools that they have available
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  SPEAKER_00: to use for either law enforcement and surveillance.
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  SPEAKER_00: And then even as this kind of surveillance expansion has happened,
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  SPEAKER_00: the administration has sought to cut funding for body cams.
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  SPEAKER_00: So when body cams are worn by agents in some ways,
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  SPEAKER_00: that they are protective of people, that they arrest or detain
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  SPEAKER_00: because they provide evidence of what happened.
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  SPEAKER_00: And there's been a lot of kind of increased urgency
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  SPEAKER_00: to increase the amount of body cams worn by Ice agents, given what's been
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  SPEAKER_00: going on, in Minnesota, particularly the death of two American citizens.
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  SPEAKER_00: But the Department for Homeland Security has proposed reducing
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  SPEAKER_00: spending on body cams in its initial budget proposal.
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  SPEAKER_00: Then there's Ice under the rule of law.
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  SPEAKER_00: So last week, 16 people were charged in Minnesota
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  SPEAKER_00: with assaulting immigration agents during a protest.
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  SPEAKER_00: The US attorney general, Pam Bondi, basically posted
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  SPEAKER_00: their photos on social media,
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  SPEAKER_00: and the judge in the case said she was deeply disturbed by this
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  SPEAKER_00: and that basically, images of people who are presumed innocent
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  SPEAKER_00: until proven guilty should not be shared on social media.
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  SPEAKER_00: And the judge went on to say,
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  SPEAKER_00: this conduct is not something that the court condones.
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  SPEAKER_00: And then on the same day, another federal judge in Minnesota,
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  SPEAKER_00: said that Ice was flouting the law by ignoring dozens
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  SPEAKER_00: of federal court orders just during January 2026.
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  SPEAKER_00: So he cited at least 96 federal court orders that he said
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  SPEAKER_00: ICE has violated across 74 cases.
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  SPEAKER_00: And he wrote in his ruling,
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  this list
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  SPEAKER_00: should give pause to anyone, no matter
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  SPEAKER_00: his or her political beliefs, who cares about the rule of law
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  SPEAKER_00: and that Ice has likely violated more court orders in January 2026
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  SPEAKER_00: than some federal agencies have violated in their entire existence.
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  SPEAKER_00: And then just finally,
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  SPEAKER_00: Bloomberg's been reporting about some Ice commercial activity.
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  SPEAKER_00: So basically, Ice are definitely planning
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  SPEAKER_00: to continue expanding their activities this year.
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  SPEAKER_00: And they've been buying mega warehouse detention centers
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  SPEAKER_00: across the US.
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  SPEAKER_00: So the cost of requiring just two warehouses alone was 172 million.
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  SPEAKER_00: And a third in El Paso, Texas, would be among the largest
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  SPEAKER_00: jails of its kind with well over 8000 beds.
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  SPEAKER_00: And then on to Canada, so this week Trump turned his attention
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  back to Canada.
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  SPEAKER_00: So first
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  SPEAKER_00: he was upset that Canada's been exploring trade deals with China,
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  SPEAKER_00: and he threatened
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  SPEAKER_00: to impose a 100% tariffs on Canada if it makes a trade deal with China,
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  even though
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  SPEAKER_00: literally a week earlier, Trump said he thought it would be a good thing
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  SPEAKER_00: And then not done with tariffs.
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  SPEAKER_00: A few days later, Trump
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  SPEAKER_00: threatened to slap 50% tariffs on all aircraft made in Canada
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  SPEAKER_00: until Canadian regulators certify several American produced aircraft.
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  SPEAKER_00: And Trump also threatened to decertify Canadian
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  SPEAKER_00: produced Bombardier Global Express business jets, and that itself
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  SPEAKER_00: would have quite severe implications, for many U.S.
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  SPEAKER_00: airlines.
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  SPEAKER_00: And then finally, the Financial Times reported that the Trump
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  SPEAKER_00: administration has held covert meetings with French separatists
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  SPEAKER_00: in Canada's province of Alberta, which has a lot of oil.
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  SPEAKER_00: So leaders of the Alberta Prosperity Project,
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  SPEAKER_00: which is a group of far right separatists
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  SPEAKER_00: who want the Western Province to become independent,
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  SPEAKER_00: met US State Department officials in Washington
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  SPEAKER_00: at least three times since April last year.
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  SPEAKER_00: So this is really another attempt to kind of undermine
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  SPEAKER_00: Canadian internal stability and cohesion.
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  SPEAKER_00: So lots of quite worrying
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  SPEAKER_00: things have happened to undermine public health this week.
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  SPEAKER_00: So NBC news reported that dozens of Centers
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  SPEAKER_00: for Disease Control databases, so CDC databases, are not being updated.
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  SPEAKER_00: So most of these out out of date ones are related to public health.
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  SPEAKER_00: So for instance, databases tracking uptake of annual vaccines
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  SPEAKER_00: or databases tracking hospitalization for various illnesses.
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  SPEAKER_00: And because they're not being up to
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  SPEAKER_00: date, it really does reduce the ability of public health
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  SPEAKER_00: officials to take action to protect the health of Americans, because
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  SPEAKER_00: the current situation is less well known.
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  SPEAKER_00: And then Health Secretary RFK junior,
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  SPEAKER_00: has continued to weaken American expert
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  SPEAKER_00: health advice to align with his own on evidenced beliefs.
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  SPEAKER_00: So there's a panel that helps the federal government set priorities
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  SPEAKER_00: for autism research and social services.
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  SPEAKER_00: And that has been overhauled.
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  SPEAKER_00: And basically what he's done
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  SPEAKER_00: is he's installed several members who have said that
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  SPEAKER_00: vaccines can cause autism, despite decades of research saying
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  SPEAKER_00: there is no link between vaccines and autism
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  SPEAKER_00: And staying on vaccines.
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  SPEAKER_00: Last summer, RFK junior targeted the preservative, thimerosal
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  SPEAKER_00: in vaccines and basically banned it from vaccines available in the US.
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  SPEAKER_00: And that was done without a rigorous scientific process.
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  SPEAKER_00: So there is no evidence linking, thimerosal to harm.
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  SPEAKER_00: So there's no scientific reason to ban it.
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  SPEAKER_00: So in fact, there are research studies involving millions of people
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  SPEAKER_00: showing that thimerosal is not linked to autism.
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  SPEAKER_00: So the Trump administration has now told
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  SPEAKER_00: global vaccine group Gavi that it has to phase out vaccines
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  SPEAKER_00: containing thimerosal as a condition for the US giving funding to Gavi.
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  SPEAKER_00: And that is a significant amount of money.
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  SPEAKER_00: Now, thimerosal-containing vaccines is still used in over 120 countries,
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  SPEAKER_00: and the World Health Organization have estimated that immunization
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  SPEAKER_00: with these vaccines currently protect almost two thirds
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  SPEAKER_00: of all infants and children against four potential deadly diseases.
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  SPEAKER_00: So you can see how either Gavi is going to end up
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  SPEAKER_00: with a lot less money to carry out its lifesaving programs,
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  SPEAKER_00: or many of the vaccines that are
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  SPEAKER_00: currently used are going to have to be withdrawn.
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  SPEAKER_00: And who knows if these children will still get vaccinated
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  SPEAKER_00: against these diseases.
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  SPEAKER_00: So it has massive consequences.
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  SPEAKER_00: And then in more international news, the State Department
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  SPEAKER_00: has ordered U.S.
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  SPEAKER_00: missions to review all aid programs to ensure
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  SPEAKER_00: that they're not funding groups working on family planning, diversity
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  SPEAKER_00: or what the Trump administration calls gender ideology.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_00: So the policy
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  SPEAKER_00: has existed for a while,
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  SPEAKER_00: but it was previously focused purely on abortion.
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  SPEAKER_00: And now it's also barring funding of groups
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  SPEAKER_00: that work on DEI, gender and transgender rights.
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  SPEAKER_00: So kind of thinking now about the environment.
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  SPEAKER_00: So last week I was saying that, the US has finally,
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  SPEAKER_00: now exited, officially exited the World Health Organization.
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  SPEAKER_00: And this time what's happened is that they've now officially exited
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  SPEAKER_00: the Paris climate agreement for the second time.
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  SPEAKER_00: And now, basically, that means that the US
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  SPEAKER_00: is the only country to withdraw from the pact,
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  SPEAKER_00: and the only other countries
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  SPEAKER_00: that never signed it to begin with are Iran, Libya and Yemen.
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  SPEAKER_00: So it's not going to stop global climate efforts.
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  SPEAKER_00: Of course it isn't, but it is going to make it harder to achieve them
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  SPEAKER_00: Staying on climate change, a federal judge ruled
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  SPEAKER_00: that the Energy Department violated the law when Energy Secretary Chris
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  SPEAKER_00: Wright handpicked five researchers who reject the scientific consensus
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  SPEAKER_00: on climate change to work in secret on a sweeping
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  SPEAKER_00: government report on global warming that was released last summer.
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  SPEAKER_00: So not only was that unlawful, but it's also important to note
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  SPEAKER_00: that exactly the same five researchers
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  SPEAKER_00: have just been picked in December
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  SPEAKER_00: to write the next installment of the US National Climate Assessment,
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  SPEAKER_00: and that is America's preeminent report on global warming.
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  SPEAKER_00: And then the Department of Energy also overhauled a set of nuclear
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  SPEAKER_00: safety directives.
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  SPEAKER_00: And basically they shared them with the companies that it regulates.
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  SPEAKER_00: But they didn't make those new rules available to the public.
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  SPEAKER_00: And the changes affect, various aspects of reactor operations,
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  SPEAKER_00: including safety systems, environmental protection, site
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  SPEAKER_00: security, accident investigations, and so on.
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  SPEAKER_00: And the idea was that they wanted to accelerate development
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  SPEAKER_00: of a new generation of nuclear reactor designs.
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  SPEAKER_00: So have safety directives been significantly weakened?
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  SPEAKER_00: I mean, who knows because they've not made it public.
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  SPEAKER_00: But one way that we can see that Americans have become less
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  SPEAKER_00: safe was from a court filing, against the Trump administration
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  SPEAKER_00: last month about FEMA, which is the federal Emergency Management Agency.
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  SPEAKER_00: So that's the agency that warns the American public
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  SPEAKER_00: about coming disasters such as storms, fires and floods,
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  SPEAKER_00: and then also helps communities recover afterwards.
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  SPEAKER_00: And really, what the lawsuit said was that FEMA management had been told
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  SPEAKER_00: to plan for 50% staffing cut, which would obviously
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  SPEAKER_00: significantly impact its ability to keep Americans safe.
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  SPEAKER_00: So for details on all these actions
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  SPEAKER_00: and more, visit the Trump Action tracker.info.