Transcript

5.16.26 · Washington Post

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Speaker 1: Welcome to the reading of today's Washington Post of for Saturday,
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May the sixteenth of twenty twenty six. Your reader is
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Alastainer with the reminder that radioizes service for those blind
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with other disabilities making it difficult to hold or.
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Speaker 2: Read printed material.
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Speaker 1: And today happens to be the fifteenth birthday of my
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next youngest grandchild and a few other dear friends as well,
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So happy birthday to them.
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Speaker 2: I wish I could give each a hug.
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Speaker 1: And here we go with the front page of Today's
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Washington Post. On the very far left blood shed roarers
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back in Ukraine and Russia. After a brief respite, dozens
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are killed in a Kiev strike, suggesting no end in sight.
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By Mary Ilushina and Anastacia Galuchi in the middle and
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underneath boldlines China Summit achieves cheese gold equal footing, and
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there is a picture picture of President Donald Trump walking
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with Chinese luicesimping on Thursday in Beijing. I call it
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the G two, Trump said of their meetings. And they
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are in front of a very interesting tiered round building
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with a huge stairway leading to the top, sort of
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in blues and reds, and what looks like a very
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big golden frame on the very top tier with blue inside,
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but I can't tell what the frame picture is. To
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the right, the article is by Isaac Arnsdorf, Michael Berenbaum
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and Michelle Ye Harlee and it's pure dynamic long sought
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by Beijing and Trump. Brustle's that notion that US is
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in decline. Below the picture of the two world leaders
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doj to charge parents.
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Speaker 2: Of curfew scofflaws in d C.
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Speaker 1: Pierry Stein, Jenny Gathwright and Megan Flynn teen takeovers causing
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mayhem ahead of the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary events,
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And below the fold three articles EEOC aims to end
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data collection on sex and race, a proposed departure from
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practice that began in the nineteen sixties civil rights era
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by Meryl Cornfield. And then there's a picture of a
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prelude to the Preakness, which is today has his workout
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at sunrise Friday ahead of the Black Eyed Susan raised
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at Laurel Park in Laurel, Maryland, which will host today's
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Preakness Stakes, the second leg of the Triple Crown.
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Speaker 2: And this is.
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Speaker 1: Looking through the legs of one horse going to the left,
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and all you see is the legs and the tail
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and the underbelly.
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Speaker 2: But you see blue.
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Speaker 1: Guy dawn in the morning with another horse and the
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rider going to the right. So it's opposing directions of
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the horses. California Probe styres payments to influences gubernatorial candidate
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campaign is seeking to frame democratic financial as a likable
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vignon nail by Drew Harwell and the very last article
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at the very end of the front page bottom Emerging
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wildfire threat puts US South at risk of dire future
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by Brady Dennis and Ben Knowl, their first article in
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Pageantry and Politics, China Summit yields She's goal equal footing
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with us. The image of peer's superpowers during President Donald
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Trump's visit displayed a dynamic that analysis said the Chinese
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have long sought and Americans had resisted. By Isaac Arnsdorf,
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Michael Berenbaum, and Michel ye he Lee. Out of Beijing,
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President Donald Trump embraced a name for this week summit
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with his Chinese counterpart, Shijing Ping, riffing on the Group
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of Seven meeting of the world's largest economies. It's the
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two great countries. I call it the g two. This
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is the G two, he said in an interview with
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Fox News Jean Hennedy that aired Friday and was taped
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after Thursday's bilateral meeting with She. I think it'll go
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down as a very important moment in history, though Trump
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was the one who said it. The image of two
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superpowers on similar footing was exactly what she aimed to
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achieve with the visit. Analysis say, over two days of
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meetings here, the Catholic choreographed pageantry and the reciprocal gestures
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of friendship and respect between the world's two most powerful
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men displayed a geopolitical dynamic that the Chinese have long
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craved and Americans had resisted. She has done something Chinese
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leaders have been working toward for decades, bringing an American
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president to Beijing as an undisputed peer, said Julian Gerwitz,
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who served as China Director on the National Security Council
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under President Joe Biden. Gerwitz added she used the opulent
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optics of the visit to make clear to the world
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that China and the United States are the two dominant,
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equally matched superpowers. There is no going back. Trump on
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Friday scoffed at the suggestion that the US was an
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empire in decline, appearing to be reacting to something She
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had said, perhaps his reference on Thursday to the Thucidides trap,
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Harvard University historian Graham Allison's term for a rising power challenging.
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Speaker 2: A dominant one. Trump said he sided with She as
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far as criticizing his predecessor, but had already turned things around.
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Speaker 1: Two years ago. We were, in fact the nation in decline.
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On that, I fully agree with President She. But now
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the United States is the hottest nation anywhere in the world,
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and hopefully our relationship with China will be stronger and
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better than ever before, Trump said on social media on Friday,
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before departing Beijing. Trump came into the summit without clearly
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defining his strategy or goals.
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Speaker 2: He indicated he would.
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Speaker 1: Discuss his standoff with around over oil traffic through the
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Strait of Homus, but rejected needing China's help, and he
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left without announcing firm commitments or developments on that and
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several other issues. We feel very similar about what we
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want it to end, Trump said Friday, and a second
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meeting with She, referring to the war on Iran. It's
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a crazy thing there, a little bit crazy. He brought
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executives from top American country companies with the promise of
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new trade deals and investments, and brought them into talk
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during Thursday's meeting with she The main deal that his
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men announced was in agreement for China to buy what
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Trump said would be two hundred Boeing jets. His statement
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led the company's shares to fall because it was less
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than investors expected. The administration also expects the summit to
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produce an agreement for China to buy US agricultural products
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worth double digit billions annually for the next three years.
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Trade representative Jamison Greer told Bloomberg TV on Friday, We've
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made some fantastic deals, really for both parties, Trump said Friday,
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shortly after two pm local time. Trump was on Air
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Force one ready to depart. Treasury Secretary Scott Percent said
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in an interview with CNBC that the two countries would
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also move toward future talks on artificial intelligence, another topic
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on which the summit did not lead to any immediate agreement.
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The two AI superpowers are going to start talking about
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potential joint steps on large language models, Percent said, emphasizing
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a desire to make sure non state actors don't get
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a hold of those models. Trump has frequently drawn on
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suspense and unpredictability to get results in past summits. This time,
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he's stuck to his scripted remarks at the public portions
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of Thursday's formal meeting and banquet. Other than the friendly
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interview with Fox News, he did not make or take
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any questions from reporters while in China, and the White
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House offered only one hundred and fifty eight words summary
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of Thursday's meeting. The Chinese side, by contrast, released a longer,
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more detailed official account, as well as multiple reports in
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state media, leading She's warning to Trump on Taiwan to
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become the dominant theme in global coverage for most of
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the summit's first day and a half. Trump told reporters
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on Air Force One that he declined to answer She's
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questioned about whether the United States would defend Taiwan.
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Speaker 2: Trump said he would.
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Speaker 1: Decide about selling weapons to Taiwan. I made no commitment
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either way. The last thing we need right now is
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a war that's fifty ninety five hundred miles away, he said.
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US officials set ahead of the meeting that they did
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not expect any change to the administration's Taiwan policy, and
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there is no indication of one, but the Iran war
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has redeployed US equipment to the Middle East and depleted
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munition stockpiles, while China studies and learns from the US
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military conduct. According to an intelligence assessment reported by The
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Washington Post, the G two concept predates Trump and was
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first floated in Washington during President Barack Obama's term as
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the US increasingly recognized the importance of its economic relationship
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with China. The construct failed to gain traction, however, and
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Trump has revived it as he seeks to improve relations
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with China. Despite chese ambitions to project China as a
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rising superpower, Beijing officially refrains from endorsing terms like G two,
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preferring to speak of stability and to portray a multipolar
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world with the US as one pole rather than a
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globe divided into spheres of influence between China and the
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United States. Overly embracing a G two could be awkward
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for the Chinese now, as she is scheduled to host
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is Ala Russian President Volidimir Putin later this month. Still,
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state affiliated scholars have pointed to a tacit recognition that
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China and the US are a de facto G two,
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with China now viewing itself as a peered to the
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US in managing global affairs. Xing yung Yuan, a Shazin
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based political scientist who has been advising the Chinese government
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on reform and development, said in his speech in February
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that China and the United States are not only the
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two most significant powers in international politics and the core
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pillars propping up the international order, but also the crucial
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builders of the international order of the future. During his
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public remarks, she more directly posed China as a rising
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challenger to US dominance, describing international affairs as undergoing a
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transformation not seen in a century that is accelerating across
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the globe. Availed reference to a decline in US influence
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and arise in Chinese power. According to state media and
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state affiliated scholars, China has long emphasized non interference as
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a core tenet of its foreign policy, and its leaders
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prefer to focus on its economy and seeking stability in
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relations with the US, experts saying they're pretty uncomfortable with
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the notion of G two bringing them responsible abilities that
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they don't really want to take on, said a former
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US official involved in Asia, speaking on the condition of
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anonimnity to discuss diplomatic issues. Trump said Friday that he
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had raised at least one human rights issue in his
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closed door meetings with She, that of wrongful detentions. The
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imprisonment of Hong Kong businessman and pro democracy supporter Jimmy
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Lay has been a bipartisan focus of Congress in US
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human rights activists, Lay is a tough one for She,
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Trump said, but he said that Chinese leader promised to
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consider the case of a detained pastor, Ezra Tin. U
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S China hawks had questioned whether Trump would ignore a
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Lay's case to sweeten relations with She. The framing of
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the U S and China as equals has grabbed attention
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among US allies and partners in Asia, who are nowavigating
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delicate relationships with both nations. Japan, a usl and a
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diplomatic tiff with China over Taiwan, is watching the summit
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closely to see how to manage its relationship with both countries.
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Japanese commentators wrote on Thursday that Tokyo needs to navigate
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its foreign affairs cautiously. A risk being isolated in the
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region and in its relationship with the US. Prime Minister
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Sani Takachi spoke by phone with Trump after he left Beijing,
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she said in a post on social media. Trump called
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from Air Force one and provided a detailed explanation of
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his recent visit to China, and we exchanged views centering
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on various issues around China, including the economy, encompassing economic
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security and security matters, Takachi wrote. On Friday, she told
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Trump that he had decided to host him for tea
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in Jiong, Nanghai, the former Imperial Garden that is, the
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cloistered headquarters and residents compound of Chinese leaders, to repay
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the US leader for hosting him at Mara Alago in
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twenty seventeen. Trump was heard saying on his way into
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the tea room that she was giving him roses for
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the White House Rose Garden. He announced plans for she
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to visit on September twenty fourth. So we're going to
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lay it on the line and you're going to walk
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away hopefully very impressed, Like I am very impressed with China,
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Trump said Friday. Tumultuous, bloody weak unfolds in Ukraine and
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Russia after brief cease fire, a Russian air striker the
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Keep apartment complex that killed it le twenty four people,
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and a Ukrainian strike on residential buildings and an oil
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refinery in Ryazan, Russia suggests no end is in sight
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to the war by mir Ilushaina and Anastasia Galuchuk, days
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after Russian President Vladimir Putin said cryptically that he believed
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the war in Ukraine was coming to a close. Bloodshed
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and tumult unfolded in each country, suggesting there is no
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end in sight.
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Speaker 2: A limited truce.
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Speaker 1: That appeared to halt large scale aerial attacks but failed
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to stop ground fighting, expired on Tuesday. In the early
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hours of Thursday, Kiv was struck by what officials in
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the Ukrainian capital said was one of the largest combined
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drone and missile attacks since Russia's full scale invasion began
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in February of twenty twenty two, killing at least twenty
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four people. Kiev Maya Vitali Kilchako called the attack the
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largest enemy attack on the capitol and declared May fifteenth
18:18
a day of mourning. Russia has used more than fifteen
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hundred and sixty drones against their cities and communities. These
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are definitely not the action of those who believe the
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war is coming to an end. Ukrainian President volodimir's Lensky
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posted on social media Friday morning. Officials said that at
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least three of the dead in Kiev were children. In
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the Karkiv Region region, officials reported that thirty nine people
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were injured as a result of strikes, including nine children.
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Ukraine hit back Fridays, striking and oil refinery and an
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apartment complex in Razin, a Russian city roughly one hundred
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and thirty miles south of Moscow, sparking a large fire.
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At least four people were killed, Rayazen governor Pavlol Malkhkov
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said and twelve were injured. The oil facility, owned by
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energy giant Rasniff, supplies the entire Moscow region. Local news
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outlets reported that primary oil refining units on which all
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subsequent processing at the Philis facility.
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Speaker 2: Depends, had been damaged.
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Speaker 1: Drones also stuck two residential buildings in Rayazen, including the
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Tricolor high rise, painted in the colors of the Russian flag.
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Authorities in four other western Russian cities also reported drone
19:54
strikes in Ukraine. The upheaval was not limited to the
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of airstrikes. Also on Thursday, Ukraine's High Anti Corruption Court
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ordered the two month detention of Zelensky's former chief of
20:10
staff Andreya Yermak, after he was formally accused of being
20:15
part of a multimillion dollar corruption scheme. Investigators alleged he
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was a member of a group that laundered about ten
20:24
point four million dollars through a luxury construction project near Kiev.
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The court ruled that Yurmak could be released on bail
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of approximately three point two million dollars. Yurmak, who for
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years was viewed as the most powerful man in the
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country after Zelenski, has turned to friends and acquaintances to
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try to come up with the funds to secure his release.
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I do not have that kind of money, Yarmak said
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in court, adding that he has plenty of friends and
20:56
acquaintances and expressed hope that they will be able to
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help should he eventually reach the target. He would be
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barred from leaving Kiev, required to surrender his international passports,
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and prohibited from contacting a number of individuals implicated in
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the case, among them Zelensky's former business partner to mur Mindich,
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who has fled Ukraine, and former deputy Prime Minister Olsky
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Tchernovshkov and Forma teala Veronica Anakivich and fortune teller Annaikievich.
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One of the more peculiar details to emerge from the
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court proceedings was an allegation that Yermak consultant Anikivich listed
21:47
in his contacts as Varonika Feisheng feng Shui office, recording
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appointments to state positions, sending her the birth dates of
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candidates for government jobs, and seeking her advice. Yermak denied
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consulting the fortune Tella and comments to journalists after the hearing.
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Yermak has denied all charges and city plans to appeal.
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Yrmac was Ukraine's lead negotiator in talks with United States,
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and the scoundal around him has posed the biggest political
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threat to Zelensky's government since Russia's invasion. Yermak's formal indictment
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earlier this week marked a new chapter in a scandal
22:30
that began last fall, when anti corruption agencies alleged that
22:34
government officials had embezzled millions from Ukraine's state owned nuclear
22:39
power giant. The fall I triggered a political crisis around Zelensky,
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prompted calls to clean up corruption, and led the resignations
22:50
of Ukraine's Energy and justice ministers. So far as Zolensky
22:55
has not been implicated, Putin had floated this ces fire
23:00
proposal ahead of the Victory Day parade in Moscow last weekend,
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which was notably subdued amid fears that long range Ukrainian strikes,
23:10
which have reached hundreds of miles into Russian territory, could
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disrupt the holiday, an annual tribute to Putin's vision of
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a militaristic Russia. Ukraine, which had proposed an indefinite ceasefire
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the previous week, eventually agreed to a three day pause,
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broken by President Donald Trump. Russia's parade when ahead as planned,
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though in a more muted form. Speaking at a news
23:37
conference after the parade, Putin made the unusual remark about
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the war that he believed the matter is coming to
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a close. Analysis said the comment likely was intended to
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proclaate a war weary domestic audience and did not signal
23:55
any real move to stop the war. Zelensky said the
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attack on Thursday involved in X one oh one missile
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that was produced in the early twenty twenty six, which
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he said should remind Western supporters of Ukraine to keep
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up sanctions pressure to hinder the Russian military complex.
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Speaker 2: This means that.
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Speaker 1: Russia is still importing the missile production components, necessary resources
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and equipment by passing global sanctions. This must become the
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genuine objective of all our partners to put a stop
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to Russia's sanctions evasion schemes.
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Speaker 2: Zelensky said.
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Speaker 1: Federal civil rights watchdog wants to stop tracking data.
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Speaker 2: On race and sex.
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Speaker 1: The EEOC Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has proposed to ending
24:59
a Civil rights era program collecting demographic information from private
25:05
companies by Meryll Cornfield, the top federal agency for promoting
25:11
diversity across society, is proposing pulling back on its primary
25:16
initiative to collect demographic data, one that it is conducted
25:21
for decades.
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Speaker 2: The US Equal.
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Speaker 1: Employment Opportunity Commission is considering no longer collecting demographic information,
25:30
including race, sex, and national origin, from major American companies,
25:36
departing from a practice that began during the Civil Rights
25:39
era of the nineteen sixties and was critical to the
25:42
agency's efforts to redout workplace discrimination.
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Speaker 2: The EEOC also wants to.
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Speaker 1: Acts data reporting rules for apprenticeship programs, unions, state and
25:54
local governments, and schools, as well as reporting requirements and
25:58
other civil rights law that protect workers, including those who
26:03
are pregnant or have disabilities. The EEOC notified the White
26:08
House on Thursday of its proposal, which will be published
26:12
publicly after a review. It's not clear what impact the
26:17
proposal could have on this year's dection data collection. The
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move would align with the administration's efforts to end diversity
26:25
programs and deprioritize a key subset of discrimination cases. The
26:32
data collection has taken place for sixty years under a
26:36
plank of the Civil Rights Act called Title seven. The
26:40
federal EEO dash I report provides demographic and job category
26:46
data collected from companies with one hundred or more employees
26:50
and certain federal contractors. The collection typically begins in May.
26:57
Under the administration of President Joe Biden, THEEEOZ sued employers
27:03
that had allegedly not complied with the federal reporting requirements.
27:08
The move to reconsider the data collection was not a
27:11
surprise to those who followed the eeoc's work.
27:15
Speaker 2: A five year.
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Speaker 1: Contract for the collection expired last year was not renewed,
27:20
according to federal contracting data. Some attorneys representing employers have
27:27
advised their clients that they should collect the data as
27:30
soon as they usually do to.
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Speaker 2: Comply with the law.
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Speaker 1: Employers should continue to collect the information as a best
27:39
practice because Titled seven obligations are not going away, and
27:44
disparate impact is not going away, said Christy Keeley, a
27:48
partner at the Sea Farthshaw law firm, adding it's been deprioritized,
27:55
but it's still in the statute. The move follows the
28:00
administration's prioritization of cases under a legal concept called disparate impact,
28:07
which is based on the assumption that racial imbalances in
28:10
the workplace are a result of discrimination. The elimination of
28:15
data collection would fulfill one of the goals listed in
28:18
the Heritage Foundation's Project twenty twenty five, the blueprint of
28:23
the second Trump administration, which outlined how the data could
28:27
be used to support discrimination allegations. Crudely categorizing employees by
28:36
race or ethnicity fails to recognize the diversity of the
28:40
American workforce and forces individuals into categories that do not
28:45
fully reflect their racial and Ethnic Heritage, wrote Project twenty
28:50
twenty five author Jonathan Barry, who is now solicitor for
28:54
the Department of Labor. Barry appeared alongside Trump appointed e
29:00
EOC chair Andrea Lucas in a webinar in early April
29:05
where the two laid out the administration's priorities in.
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Speaker 2: Employment law cases.
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Speaker 1: Lucas, who issued a viral public appeal in December for
29:15
white men who think they have experienced discrimination to contact
29:20
her agency, told in the audience of employment lawyers the
29:24
desperate impact cases made up a minority of the agency's workload,
29:29
and the EEOC would continue to focus on intentional discrimination.
29:35
Speaker 2: The President wants his.
29:37
Speaker 1: Enforcement agencies to be focused on I think the most
29:41
morally offensive type of discrimination, which is intentional discrimination, not
29:47
inadvertent discrimination, or at least as defined by a desperate impact.
29:52
In titled seven, Lucas said, Lucas highlighted the case her
29:57
EEOC has brought against a company These Woman's Retreat that
30:02
excluded a man from participating. Jenny Yang, a former EEOC chair,
30:09
said that data has previously helped show the enforcement agency
30:13
where patterns of discrimination might exist, such as instances where
30:18
qualified individuals in the labor pool are not fully represented
30:22
in companies workforces.
30:25
Speaker 2: Yang and other previous.
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Speaker 1: EEOC leaders issued a statement Friday opposing the proposed change
30:32
and arguing that it would weaken the federal government's ability
30:36
to enforce anti discrimination laws. The EEO Dashuan data was
30:43
incredibly valuable, particularly in hiring and promotion investigations. Its eliminating
30:49
important evidence in facts to understand where problems exist, Yang said.
30:56
Christrine Rebber, the civil rights and employment lawyer, said in
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a decision to rescind reporting requirements for companies would run
31:05
counter to the eeoc's of the efforts to collect data
31:08
from law firms that the administration has targeted. The EEOC
31:14
has also recently won a court battle over requesting information
31:19
about Jewish people at the University of Pennsylvania as part
31:22
of an investigation into anti Semitism. They know perfectly well
31:27
that the EEOC needs data like that to do what
31:30
its job of enforcing anti discrimination laws, Weber said, adding
31:36
because if you want to show a pattern of conduct,
31:39
a pattern of decision making, data is an essential ingredient.
31:46
The emerging weather threat facing the South and why the
31:51
risk remains a big problem in the region by Brady
31:56
Dennis and Ben Knowle. Picture of firefighters helping the Max
32:02
Road mir Mah fire in Pombroke Pines, Florida, on May eleventh.
32:10
You see the fire rescue truck with somebody on the
32:12
back of it and a lot of smoke in the
32:15
background and lines laid out on the ground waterlines. Thomas
32:21
Barrett has already seen more wildflyers across Georgia this spring
32:26
than he cares to recall to Massive blazers in the
32:30
southern part of the state were finally under control several
32:34
weeks after they began, but not until they had devoured
32:38
more than fifty thousand acres and destroyed more than one
32:42
hundred homes.
32:44
Speaker 2: Then there were the.
32:45
Speaker 1: Thousands of other conflagrations the state's firefighters have had to
32:50
confront this season. Forty eight hundred and thirteen as of Thursday,
32:55
not that Barrett was counting. That's almost two thousand wildfires
33:01
above an annual average, and still a month and a
33:05
half to go in fire season, said Barrett, Forest Protection
33:10
chief for the Georgia Forestry Commission. Georgia is hardly alone.
33:16
South Carolina has already eclipsed its recent annual average number
33:20
of fires. Multiple states have put in place statewide burn
33:25
bands during parts of this spring. Even as Barrett spoke,
33:29
more than a dozen fires were raging to the south
33:32
in Florida, including one that scorched more than eleven thousand
33:36
acres along the Everglades and led local officials to issue
33:40
air quality warnings. The near constant recent wildfires have underscored
33:46
that while massive and destructive blazes in the West tend
33:50
to capture attention, the southeast is among the nation's most
33:54
active wildfire hotspots. Its reality likely to intensify as changing
34:02
climate leads to more extreme heat and longer lasting roats,
34:08
conditions that have fueled the current fire season and hindered
34:12
preventive measures meant to manage forest and lessen the likelihood
34:16
of intense fires. The region spanning Texas to Virginia a
34:23
kind of for nearly half of US wildfires last year,
34:27
according to the National Interagency Fire Center. In IFC, there's
34:34
a huge map with red spots showing fires and huge
34:41
ones in Nebraska and the Kansas and Oklahoma areas the
34:45
big red wands, and then dotted in the southern part
34:49
of Florida, southern part of Georgia, Western Kentucky, and western Virginia,
34:57
a lot in the eastern part of Oklahoma, and of
35:00
course more in southern California, some in Montana.
35:06
Speaker 2: All all over the country.
35:10
Speaker 1: Much of the South remains covered by deep droat, which,
35:14
despite recent rains, as far from abating. Precipitation has been
35:18
more than a foot below average in some areas over
35:21
the past six months. Particularly hard hit have been Georgia
35:26
and Florida, where there is more extreme and exceptional droat
35:31
the most intense levels as classified by the U S
35:34
Drope Monitor, than anywhere else in the country, with more
35:38
than eighty percent coverage. That means there is more potential
35:42
for fires to ignite, more vegetation to burn, and a
35:46
likelihood for hotter and faster moving blazes. The prolonged droat
35:51
in much of the southeast began creating the conditions for
35:55
daunting fire season months ago. For starters, it prevented firefighters
36:01
in some places from doing the amount of prescribed burns
36:05
that might otherwise have undertaken to reduce fuel loads.
36:10
Speaker 2: We had half of April under a fire.
36:13
Speaker 1: Ban, said Darrell Jones, Forest Protection chief of the South
36:17
Carolina Forestry Commission, adding and even before the burn ban
36:22
there were a lot of land managers that decided it
36:25
was too risky to burn. Officials in multiple states say
36:29
the millions of trees downed by Hurricane Helene in twenty
36:34
twenty four also remain a threat because so much of
36:38
that debris has dried out, and because the tangle of
36:42
fallen timber can hamper access to areas firefighters need to reach.
36:48
Jones said, as long as that debris is out there
36:51
on the landscape, it's going to be a component of
36:54
our decision making. The swathe of Helene debris that it
37:00
reaches for hundreds of miles north from parts of Florida
37:04
was not a major factor in the recent fires that
37:07
scorched South Georgia, but Barrett said it has played an
37:12
undeniable role in many of the smaller fires that have
37:15
cropped up in the state this season. There's still a
37:20
lot of fuel on the ground, he said. When you
37:23
do have wildfires, it takes longer to put them out,
37:27
it takes more resources, and generally they are bigger than normal.
37:32
The unfolding of another busy fire season in the South
37:35
as a reminder of the growing risks of wildfires pose
37:39
around the region. It regularly sees more wildfires than any
37:44
part of the country. The Southeast also has a high
37:48
percentage of people living in fire prone areas and a
37:51
growing population. That means ever more people, homes, and other
37:56
structures in the path of potential fires. That expansive wild
38:03
wildland urban interface, said Victoria Donovan, a professor of forest
38:08
management at the University of Florida, creates more challenges for
38:12
firefighters and raises the possibility of costly devastating fires.
38:18
Speaker 2: Donovan said, we have more.
38:20
Speaker 1: Potential for ignitions because we have more people in those
38:25
burnable locations. As spring wears on, there is hope the
38:30
worst of this season will soon pass and that relief
38:33
is coming.
38:35
Speaker 2: In Florida.
38:36
Speaker 1: The rainy season begins on May fifteenth, That was yesterday,
38:40
followed soon after by the start of the Atlantic hurricane season.
38:44
But there's not much wet weather on the horizon in
38:48
the Sunshine State or anywhere across the southeast. We just
38:53
can't seem to shape this, said Zachary Handloss, director of
38:58
atmospheric and ocean excises at Georgia Tech. Until the current
39:03
pattern shift, he said, the risk is going to remain high.
39:08
High pressure forming near the southeast coast will bring spells
39:13
of summer like heat into late May, conditions that would
39:16
be amplified by the drug as dry grounds heat up
39:21
more efficiently. Florida's state climatologist, David Zirden drew comparisons to
39:29
the drought of nineteen ninety eight, when very low rainfall
39:35
and record breaking temperatures from April to June contributed to
39:38
wildfires that burned more than fifty five hundred thousand acres.
39:44
Florida typically receives twenty to thirty percent of its late
39:48
summer and fall rainfall from tropical weather systems, making it
39:52
a critical component of its climate, but this year, harsh
39:57
winds from a brewing super El Nino could stemy the
40:01
Atlantic hurricane season, causing fewer storms and reducing but not
40:06
eliminating the threat for these important rain bearing systems. Even so,
40:12
warm ocean waters in the Gulf of Mexico and western
40:15
Atlantic could act as forces that promote low pressure and
40:19
thunderstorm activity across the Southeast this summer, gradually dampening down
40:25
in tense droat. But those improvements will take time. It's
40:30
going to take something significant to erase or mitigate the
40:33
droat we are in, said Jones. To the South Carolina
40:37
fire official, adding, it took a long time for this
40:41
droat to build, and it's going to take a long
40:44
time and a lot of rain to get back to
40:47
where we need to be. The latest throat outlook from
40:52
NOAA suggests ROT will continue across swaths of the Southeast
40:58
through at least July. As the Alnino weather pattern intensifies
41:04
later this year, it may supercharge the subtropical jet's dream,
41:09
which could flip the dry pattern and bring storm after
41:13
storm into the region. So that happened, the concern could
41:17
shift from droughts to floods and severe thunderstorms. Jones is
41:23
egot for the rain to arrive and for long awaited
41:26
changes to the landscape that followed.
41:29
Speaker 2: We wait for what we call the green up.
41:33
Speaker 1: Fires don't burn as well in new growth, Jones said.
41:39
Going inside, let's read something a little more uplifting. Five
41:44
graduation speeches with truly helpful tips for living your life.
41:51
Every spring, commencement speakers offer their wisdom.
41:56
Speaker 2: We combed through dozens.
41:57
Speaker 1: Of speeches from over the years and pulled out some
42:00
of the best advice. And there's a picture at Northwestern
42:05
University's graduation of Actor Steve Carroll, who encouraged the students
42:11
to see the best in others and fight the urge
42:14
to be cynical. By Maggie Penman. Donovan Livingston knew the
42:21
stakes were high this year when he was asked to
42:24
deliver a commencement address at the University of North Carolina
42:28
at Chapel Hill, where he teaches. Ten years ago, he
42:33
was the student speaker at his graduation from Harvard's Graduate
42:37
School of Education. The speech went viral, inspiring millions of
42:41
people around the world and changed his life. He told
42:46
the audience a decade ago that he once was the
42:49
kid who never sat still in class. I was in
42:53
the seventh grade when Missus Parker told me, Donovan, we
42:57
can put all of your energy, excess energy to good use,
43:02
he said. He delivered that speech as an impassioned spoken
43:07
word poem about the promise of education as an equalizer
43:12
and how it falls short for many students. Injustice is
43:17
telling them education is the key while you continue to
43:21
change the locks.
43:22
Speaker 2: He told his graduating class.
43:25
Speaker 1: Livingstone said the speech was about finding and embracing individual strengths.
43:31
Speaker 2: I have been the black.
43:33
Speaker 1: Hole in the classroom for for too long, absorbing everything
43:37
without allowing my light escape, he said in this poem.
43:42
But those days are done. I belong among the stars,
43:46
and so do you. The success of that speech led
43:50
to a book, media coverage, and international acclaim. I had
43:55
no idea it would blow up the way it did,
43:58
but I'm grateful that folks were paying attention, Livingstone's told
44:03
the Washington Post this week. And you see Donovan Livingston's
44:10
I could read the whole thing. But he's a very
44:13
good looking African American with his African stole over him.
44:22
Speaker 2: Like Libyan's speech.
44:24
Speaker 1: Every year, graduation speeches circulate on social media, offering wisdom, advice,
44:30
and inspiration. We spend a week watching graduation speeches and
44:35
pulling out some of the best ideas they have to offer.
44:39
Here are some of our favorite pieces of advice. Shonda
44:44
Reems don't let your dreams derail you. In a speech
44:49
at her alma matera Dartmouth College producs Shonda Rhems told
44:54
graduates to ignore the oft repeated advice to dream big.
45:00
Speaker 2: I think a lot of.
45:01
Speaker 1: People dream, and while they are busy dreaming, the really
45:05
happy people, the really successful people, the really interesting, engaged,
45:10
powerful people are busy doing, Reims said to the graduating
45:15
class of twenty fourteen. The creator of the hit TV
45:20
shows Gray's Anatomy and Bridgington said, hard work, not dreaming,
45:26
is what makes things happen and creates change. Reims told
45:31
a story about how an undergraduate. As an undergraduate, she
45:35
dreamed of growing up to be like Nobel Prize winning
45:38
apa Tony Morrison. While she dreamed, she was living in
45:42
her sister's basement and in in parenthesis, dreamers often end
45:47
up living in the basement of relatives f y I,
45:51
she added as an aside into parenthesis. Eventually she went
45:56
to film school and learned a new way to tell stories.
46:00
Reems met Tony Morrison and had dinner with her, and
46:05
she said that all Morrison wanted to talk about was
46:08
Gray's Anatomy. That never would have happened if Rihems hadn't
46:12
given up on dreaming of becoming Morrison and focused on
46:16
becoming herself. Be a doer, not a dreamer, Riems said.
46:24
Author Brooks, the question is not what you will do,
46:28
but why. Social scientist and author Brooks studies happiness, and
46:35
in his speech at Vanderbilt University's graduation this year, he
46:39
spoke about what he's found in his research to be
46:41
the key to a happy life, a sense of meaning.
46:46
In college, you'r yardely concerned with a couple of questions,
46:51
how do things and what you want to do after
46:55
you finish college, Brooks said, But the truth of the
46:59
matter is that there's a more important question lurking behind
47:03
your education and the way that you want to live,
47:06
which is the why of your life, the meaning of
47:09
your life, your mission, your purpose, your calling. Brooks talked
47:14
about his son Carlos, who found himself adrift at eighteen,
47:18
thinking maybe he should go to college, but with no
47:20
sense as to what. Brooks told his son to rethink
47:24
his plans.
47:25
Speaker 2: His son ended up working on a.
47:27
Speaker 1: Farm, joining the Marines, getting married, and having two children. Now,
47:33
at twenty six, he's ready to get a college degree.
47:38
He found the meaning of his life. Brooks said, his
47:41
path is not your path. His beliefs, his values are
47:45
not your beliefs and not your values. You have to
47:49
find your own and that's the thrill. That's where it begins.
47:54
That's the fun in life, that's the journey that awaits.
47:59
Steve jobs that calligraphy class could change your life when
48:05
Steve Jobs dropped out of Reid College. He stopped taking
48:09
the required classes that didn't interest him and started dropping
48:14
in on classes that looked fun, including a calligraphy class.
48:20
I learned about seraph and science, Ferris typefaces, about varying
48:25
the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what
48:29
makes great topography great. Jobs told Stamford's graduating class in
48:35
two thousand and fives. It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle
48:40
in a way that science can't capture, and I found
48:43
it fascinating. None of these things seemed relevant to his life,
48:48
but a decade later, when designing the first Macintosh computer,
48:52
it all came back to him.
48:55
Speaker 2: It was the first computer with beautiful typography.
49:00
Speaker 1: Job said he didn't connect the dots at the time,
49:04
but by following his genuine curiosity and interest, he learned
49:08
what he would need to know. Steve Carroll Fight the
49:14
urge to be cynical and dance actor Steve Carroll spoke
49:19
about kindness in his speech at Northwestern last year. He
49:24
encouraged graduates to see the best in others and fight
49:27
the urge to be cynical.
49:30
Speaker 2: Carol said, remember the little things like being kind and
49:35
that you're not alone.
49:37
Speaker 1: Take care of one another. Remember to laugh when you
49:40
have the opportunity. Carroll's son and daughter are around the
49:45
same age as the group he was speaking to, and
49:48
he told the graduate that this was the advice he
49:51
gives his own children. Carol also made time for a
49:55
dance break, and while visibly perspiring afterward, he rem minded
50:00
the students to make time to just dance sometimes. Remember
50:05
that kindness isn't a weakness, It's a very potent strength,
50:10
Carol said, and back to Donovan Livingston, peeling back a
50:16
veneer of success. As Livingston thought about what he wanted
50:21
to say at UNC Chapel Hill Grads this year, he
50:25
thought about his own path. He knew when students hurt
50:29
his accomplishment, it might sound as though he never struggled
50:33
to find his way, So he built his graduation speech
50:37
around his failures. He put his first semester transcript up
50:42
with a one point six GPA he earned, and he
50:47
talked about his struggles to adapt a college life. He
50:51
talked about how he accepted a job as a college
50:54
adviser soon after graduation, only to learn he didn't hadn't
50:59
actually graduated, He had failed to complete a necessary class,
51:04
and the job offer was rescinded. He talked about how
51:08
all of those speed bumps helped him become the educator
51:12
and adviser he is today. A catastrophe is an opportunity.
51:19
Your purpose doesn't often reveal itself in a moment of
51:23
comfort or convenience. Your purpose shows up when the sky
51:28
is falling down, Livingstone said my final article, A golden
51:35
statue of Trump draws mixed reactions at his golf course online.
51:40
The glittering statue has become a flashpoint in real life.
51:45
Golfers seem less excited. And it's a twenty two foot
51:49
statue of President Donald Trump at Darryl has drawn some
51:53
raised eyebrows from golfers. It shows him with his fist
51:58
closed and raised. That's his right hand for his closed
52:01
and raige without showing disrespect. It looks kind of like
52:09
an older Elvis image, all in gold with a paunched stomach.
52:15
And I apologize for my sad description, but it's a
52:22
sad in my opinion. Statue by Natalie Allison Darryl, California
52:27
of Florida on the day it was dedicated to the
52:31
President's golf club. Here a crowd of Donald President Donald
52:35
Trump supporters gathered around the shiny, twenty two foot tall
52:39
golden statue of him, while Jewish and Christian clergy held
52:43
a ceremony in his honor. Everybody is taking pictures of it.
52:47
My people told me it's unbelievable, Trump told his friend,
52:51
pastor Mark Burns, who held up his phone up to
52:55
a microphone for the crowd assembled May sixth at Trump
52:58
National dorl All day on they're taking pictures. They stand
53:02
up next to it and have their picture taken. It
53:05
came out beautiful, the president said. It was then perhaps
53:11
the moment to Trump, depicting him with his ripe fist
53:15
raised to the sky, the pose he struck in the
53:18
moments after a bullet struck his ear during an assassination
53:21
attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, had gone up just days before
53:26
Trump's golf course hosted a PGA event. His course was
53:31
busier than usual on Thursday, the scene was hardly bustling.
53:36
Questions to regular golfers here about the statue drew knowing
53:40
laughs and some raised eyebrows. Out of town visitors said
53:44
they were amused by it, yet it wasn't quite the flashpoint.
53:48
It had become online, with critics of Trump's likening the
53:52
statue to the Biblical adulterous golden calf and the president
53:57
describing it as a heaving destiny nation for photographs. The
54:02
real deal gold Trump described the statue in Truth's social post,
54:08
Bronze covered with gold leaf is the reality, Hora. Garcia
54:15
used his phone to snap a photo of the statue
54:18
as he stood nearby. He hadn't even walked over the
54:21
gaze at it. The statue is situated directly across from
54:25
the golf course's concession stand. Garcia was waiting for the
54:29
attendant to return so he could buy a bottle of
54:32
water on a ninety four degree day. It's amazing, Garcia said,
54:37
somewhat sarcastically with a smirk. If he had his own
54:40
golf course, Garcia continued, I would do it myself, but bigger.
54:47
Speaker 2: I'm kidding.
54:48
Speaker 1: Garcia has been playing at Trump's course for the last
54:51
two years. He said he has heard chatter from fellow
54:55
players about Trump's ego having approved such an addition to
54:59
the course, but he said he can't blame the president
55:02
for doing so. He has power. If you have accomplished
55:05
a lot on your life. You're entitled to have it,
55:07
Garcia said of the statue, it is but the latest,
55:11
flashiest and largest of tributes to the president around the
55:14
many properties bearing his name. The golf shop here features
55:18
a large portrait of Trump pointing at the viewer, a
55:22
work by Marshall Parks covering other walls our old framed
55:26
magazine covers of Trump. Golf club head covers are for sale,
55:32
with Trump's face on them and blonde synthetic hair sticking out.
55:37
A pair of Trump's sneakers are on display in a
55:39
shadow box at the club's entrance.
55:42
Speaker 2: This week, the.
55:43
Speaker 1: Republican National Committee was meeting in the Donald Donald J.
55:48
Trump Grand of All Room of the Donald J. Trump
55:50
Building on the property. Early Friday morning, Trump posted a
55:55
picture of the statue on Truth Socials, saying the people
55:58
playing his course are absolutely in love with it and
56:02
thanking a group of supporters who commissioned it, who just
56:06
want a statue of yours. Truly, with time, it will
56:10
become a landmark. Trump wrote. In a rare shady spot
56:15
around the corner from the Trump statue, a woman practiced
56:18
after playing eighteen holes. It's his course, it's his property.
56:23
The woman said rather delicately, as she discussed the acquired
56:27
taste of the due course style around Trump National Doral.
56:32
Speaker 2: I wouldn't put one in my home.
56:34
Speaker 1: But it's not my thing, she added, agreeing to be
56:37
identified only by her first name, Andrea. If Trump wanted
56:42
to put up a statue with a piece of bacon
56:45
on his head.
56:46
Speaker 2: He could do that too.
56:47
Speaker 1: Andrea said, his courses are really nice down the course.
56:52
A group of men visiting from Michigan on an annual
56:55
golf trip their first time at Trump Durral had been
56:59
looking for to seeing it for themselves. It's harmless, said
57:03
zach Ge, who also did not want his full last
57:07
name used. He said he first saw the statue online
57:10
before their trip and left. He thought the location mostly
57:15
only seen if sought out or when someone is buzzing
57:18
by and a golf cart was right. It's not like
57:22
you're at the pool and staring at it, you know,
57:25
he thought. The event it was marking Trump's defiance after
57:29
surviving an ass attempted assassination is an important moment to remember.
57:36
Speaker 2: And at the end of the day, it's golf.
57:38
Speaker 1: It's meant to be casual and fun, zach Ge said,
57:44
and With that, A duke close today's reading of the
57:48
Washington Post for Saturday, the sixteenth of May of twenty
57:52
twenty six. Get outside, have a beautiful day, and please
57:57
continue listening to Radio AP programming.
58:02
Speaker 2: I'll be back Thursday. Bye.