Transcript

9.18.25 · Washington Post

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Speaker 1: Welcome to the reading of Today's Washington Post for the
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eighteenth of September of twenty twenty five. Your reader is Alistaina.
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With reminder that RADIOI is an organization for those with
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blind or with other difficulties in holding reading materials. So
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we will start with today's front page to the Washington Post.
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On the far left, DC's deal for stadium wins final approval.
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The three point seven billion dollar project will turn return
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commanders to the city as our FK site is transformed
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by Jenny Gathwright. In the center is fired chief, details
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vaccine pressure, and there's a picture of Susan Minaris arriving
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to testify Wednesday before a Senate committee about her firing
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as CDC director after twenty nine days on the job.
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She is in a gray suit with a white camousol underneath,
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carrying a folder. There is a person in a purple
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hat MHA Make America Healthy Again, looking up at her
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and other people around, a gentleman with a gray blue shirt,
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orange tie on, and then a TV cameraman in the
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background to the far right fed Trim's rate for the
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first time this year. Below the picture of Manaris crush
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of flights routinely strained National Airport, and then to the
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left underneath the Commander's bid sixty violations in fifty days
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inside an ice tent facility by Douglas McMillan, Samuel Oakford,
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In Kirkpatrick and Aaron Shaeffe, and then below a picture
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of the Royals hosting Trump in pageant state packed, State
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visit packed with pageantry, and Donald Trump and First Lady
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Milania Trump walked with britten Kings, Charles and Queen Camilla
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on Wednesday to attend a state banquet in Saint George's
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Hall at Windsor Castle. The first article Fed cuts interest
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rates by a quarter point, signaling more could be coming.
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The Central Bank has faced White House pressure while trying
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to balance a softer job market with stubborn inflation. By
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Andrew Ackerman, The Federal Reserve cut interest rates by a
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quarter point Wednesday, its first reduction this year, as officials
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signaled they are more concerned about a softening labor market
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than the risks of inflation triggered by President Donald Trump's tariffs.
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A narrow majority of FED officials penciled in at least
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two more rate cuts this year, but in a sign
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that the Fed is increasingly divided on the path forward.
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Several policymakers signaled doubts about whether additional cuts are warranted
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at all. This year, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell
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acknowledged that there is no risk free path for the
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Central Bank. It's not a bad economy or anything like that,
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Pell said during a news conference, but from a policy standpoint,
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it's challenging to know what to do. Lewist appointee to
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the FED Board Stephen Moran, a top economic advisor to
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President Donald Trump, was the only FED official to dissent,
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favoring a larger rate to cut. Wednesday's well telegraphed cut,
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which lowers the Central Bank's benchmark rate to a range
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of four percent to four point two five percent, is
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unlikely to bring much relief tomorrowers. Markets initially cheered the
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news of a rate cut, but the major financial indexes
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ended the day mixed. Investors watching for clues on how
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far and fast the Fed plans to go in lower
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ring weights could point to the latest economic projections from
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the Central Bank. Nine officials signal they favored two additional
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cuts during the last two policy meetings of the year
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in October and December Perenn. Another official, presumably Moran, signaled
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he would back a succession of jumbo size cuts at
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each meeting to lower rates to just under three percent
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end Perenn, but Powell stressed that the projections were not
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a commitment and that the Central Bank would be making
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its decisions meeting by meeting. The Fed's rate setting policies
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trickled through the financial sector to influence what millions of
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consumers and businesses pay for mortgages and other types of loans.
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Policymakers last cut rates in December, followed by a pause
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for five consecutive meetings to gauge the fallout from Trump's
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trade and immigration policies. Though Trump has pushed for dramatically
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lower rates, saying it would reduce the economy, what comes
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next may not be cleared. Markets have been anticipating a
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string of cuts in the coming MutS months and into
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twenty twenty six, but policymakers could opt for a more
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cautious approach as they confront an economy showing stagflation light
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signs stubbornly inflated inflation, paired with the weakened job market.
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Pal signaled that he was less concerned about inflation becoming
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a consistent problem than with cracks forming in the labor market.
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While companies have been passing higher tariff costs on to consumers,
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the effect on inflation has been muted so far, he said.
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To the consumer, the pass through has been pretty small,
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he said, adding that it's been slower and smaller than
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earlier FED estimates. Some former FRED officials warn that caution
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is warranted on future cuts. Pat Harker, who stepped down
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this summer as president of the Philadelphia FED, said earlier
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this week that a single quarter point cut makes sense
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given a cooling labor market, but he argued that there
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is little justification for launching a full rate cutting cycle
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at this time since inflation remains above the fed's two
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percent target and is not coming down any time soon.
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There's some expectation out there that they're going to keep moving,
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and I don't see any justification for doing that, said Harker,
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now of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
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The meeting was one of the most unusual in years,
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as the FED grappled with tensions on both sides of
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its mandate for maxim employment and low in stable inflation.
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The Board has also had to navigate months of attacks
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from Trump and administration officials over the Fed's reluctance to
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cut rates, as well as legal questions that left the
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lineup of participants in flux until practically the last minute.
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A divided federal appeals court on Monday ruled that FED
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Governor Lisa Cook can keep her job, turning aside and
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appeal by the Trump administration that sought to fire her
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ahead of the Central Banks meeting this week. Trump has
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accused Cook of mortgage fraud, a charge she denies, and
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has sought her dismissal, but the three judge panels said
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the President violated Cook's rights by not giving her a
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chance to defend herself against the accusations. As of late Twinstea,
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the White House has yet to appeal the decision to
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the Supreme Court. Powell was asked about whether the White
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House's case against Cook threatened FED independence, and he declined
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to answer or to comment. Also, right before the FED
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meeting began, Miran, the Trump economic adviser, was sworn in
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to fill an open seat on the seven member Federal
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Reserve Board of Governors. Moran was confirmed largely along party lines.
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And joins the FED under unusual circumstances. He is taking
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a leave of absence from the White House Council of
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Economic Advisors rather than resigning from the role. The move
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allows him to return to the White House next year
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without another Senate confirmation, but it has raised concerns among
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Democrats and some Republicans that he would be carrying water
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for a president who has demanded dramatically lower rates on
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total lawmakers he would act independently. Moran's participation in the
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meeting was apparent through his loan descent and his projections
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for dramatically lower interest rates than the months to come.
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Powell said that they did not seriously consider a bigger
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interest rate cut like the one Miran called for in
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his descent. In the labor market, fresh revisions to government
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data show US employers added far fewer jobs over the
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summer than initially reported, underscoring a loss of momentum in hiring. Indeed,
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Powell highlighted the growing risk that the labor market is
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deteriorating during the news conference multiple times, but he also
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flagged the need to keep inflation from surging. It's a
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difficult situation because we have risks that are both affecting
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the labor market and Powell and inflation. Pal said, those
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are our two goals, and so we have to balance
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those two. When they're both at risk, we have to
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balance them, and that's really what we're trying to do.
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Takeaways from fired CDC director's Senate testimony. Susan Minaris told
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the Senate Health Committee that Health and Human Services Secretary
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Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Pressured her to back changes to
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the childhood vaccine schedule. Rachel Reuben, Dan Diamond, and Marianna Alfaro.
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Susan Manaries, who was fired last month as director of
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the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told senators Wednesday
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that Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy pressured
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her to support changes to the childhood vaccine schedule, subverting
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the agency's scientific expertise and endangering public health. The former
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CDC chief, who served in the position for only twenty
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nine days, told the Senate Senate's Health Committee that Kennedy
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told her that he spoke to the President every day
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about changing the childhood vaccine schedule and that she needed
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to be on board with coming changes. In September, the
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recommendations from the CDC, call for administering multiple vaccines at
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key milestones and potential changes to the schedule have alarmed
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major medical associations who worry the nation's vaccine infrastructure may crack.
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Menars' testimony on Capitol Hill marks her first public appearance
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since the White House fired her in late August. She
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told the panel she was fired for holding the land
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on scientific integrity, citing concerns about her bid to continue
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leading the agency while preserving evidence based decision making. Throughout
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the hearings, some senators critical of Kennedy, who has had
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an extensive history of anti vaccine advocacy, sought to highlight
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what they believe is at stake, the potential for infectious
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diseases to re emerge, and erosion of trust in public health.
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Some Republican senators allied with Kennedy pressed Manaris on the
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details of her meeting with Kennedy, casting her as out
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of step with the Trump administration and suggesting she was
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not trustworthy. Manars and her lawyers have accused Kennedy of
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pressuring her to rubber stamp his vaccine policies and fire
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vaccine scientists. In a Senate hearing earlier this month, Kennedy
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told lawmakers he asked Manars to resign because she admitted
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she was not trustworthy, while conceding that he asked her
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to fire. Senior's taff Andrew Nixon, an AHHS spokesman, pushed
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back against Manaras' testimony, alleging her remarks have factual inaccuracies
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and leave out important details on X. The official AHHS
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account highlighted testimony from Republican senators who were critical of
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Manaras during the hearing. Here's the reality. Susan Manaris was
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tasked with returning the CDC to its core mission after
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decades of bureaucratic in ersia, politicized science, and mission creep
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corroded his purpose and squandered public trust, Nixon said in
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a statement, adding instead, she acted maliciously to undermine the
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President's agenda and was fired as a result. Here are
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takeaways from the hearing Manara's alleged political interference. Manaras told
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senators that Kennedy demanded on August twenty five that she
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commit in advance to approving every recommendation from an influential
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vaccine advisory panel. Kennedy recently purged the panel and replaced
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it with his hand picked members, many of whom have
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criticized coronavirus vaccine policy. Kennedy also directed her to dismiss
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career officials responsible for vaccine policy, she said, and to
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work with political appointees he had put in place at
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CDC instead of career scientists. I had refused to commit
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to approving vaccine recommendations without evidence fire career officials, whether
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it cause or resign and I had shared my concerns
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with this committee. I told the Secretary that if he
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believed he could not trust me, he could fire me,
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Manaris said. Manars also alleged that Kennedy said that agency
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employees were killing children and they don't care. Before Manars's ooster,
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a top aide to Kennedy had informed her that all
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major CDC policy decisions needed prior political approval. I wanted
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to elevate the absolute need for political review of major
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policy decisions at CDC, HHS Chief of Staff Matthew Buckham
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wrote in an August nineteenth email, which was obtained and
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first reported by the Washington Post and is highlighted by
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senators in the hearing. He added that Kennedy's office in CDC,
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political leadership should have eyes on the decisions for approval
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slash changes before they go into effect. Nixon, the HHS spokesman,
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said the process Buckham described is nothing new. As with
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all federal agencies, major policy and staffing decisions must go
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through established clearance channels. Nixon said in a statement, Susan
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Manaris bypassed this established process, which is unacceptable sceptible childhood
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vaccine schedule in the spotlight. Senator Bill Cassidy, Republican of Louisiana,
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the Health Committee's chair, asked Manaris whether Kennedy ever discussed
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the childhood vaccine schedule during her testimony. Manara said that
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Kennedy told her the schedule would be changing as of
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September and that she needed to be on board with it.
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An influential vaccine advisory panel is set to meet Thursday
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and Friday to potentially vote on recommendations for hepatitis B
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administered to infants after birth and coronavirus vaccines. Manaris also
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said Kennedy asked her to speak to Aaron Seery, a
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lawyer for the top anti vaccine organization, and an ally
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to Kennedy Siri previously petitioned the government to reconsider its
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approval of one of the polio vaccines. In his confirmation hearings,
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Kennedy told senators I support the childhood schedule, but since
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he had assumed the top health post, he has taken
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steps to revisit it. Public health experts have credited that
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schedule for reducing the spread of vaccine preventable diseases and
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saving lives, while Kennedy and his allies have counted that
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it imposes too many shots on young children. Some of
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Kennedy's allies on the panel, such as Senators Rand Paul
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Republican Kentucky and Roger Marshall, Republican Kansas, pressmans on where
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the children received too many shots. She said she was
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open to discussing the science, but also defended the evidence
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around the schedule. The data associated with those recommendations has
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been validated and vetted, and that is the current schedule,
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Manaras said. In a response to questioning for Marshall Nixon,
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the AHHS spokesman said the agency will not restrict access
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to vaccines. We are simply restoring the doctor patient relationship.
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Anyone can get a vaccine in consultation with their healthcare
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providuc Nixon said. The White House defended the administration's vaccine plans,
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citing its recent MAAHA Strategy report that called for developing
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the best childhood vaccine recommendations in the world. No one,
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including Secretary Kennedy and President Trump, is calling to throw
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out the entire childhood vaccine schedule or eliminate access to
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life saving vaccines. Anyone suggesting that such actions are even
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on the table does not know what they're talking about,
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Whitehouse spokesman Cush Desigh said in a statement ahead of
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a key vaccine meeting, Hepatitis B vaccine gets airtime. Senators
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of both parties repeatedly brought up the hepatitis B vaccine
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ahead of a Thursday meeting of the Advisory Committee on
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Immunization Practices to reconsider the long standing recommendation to provide
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the vaccine at birth. Such a move would mark the
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first major shift on a routine childhood immunization under Kennedy.
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Democrats in Cassidy blasted the effort, arguing it would reverse
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progress to girtail a serious LIBA infection. Paul pressed Menars
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on why newborns received the shot skepticism that Kennedy and
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his allies have echoed, arguing most children are not at risk.
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I was open to the science. I just would not
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prove pre commit to approving all the ACIP recommendations without
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the science, Menaris responded. Cassidy, a gastro entrologist and deliver
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a specialist, gave a forceful defense of the hepatitis B vaccine.
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In his closing remarks. He said, the number of babies
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who get infected with hepatitis B has been substantially reduced
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since they began receiving the shot. That is an accomplishment
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to make America healthy again, Cassidy said, in reference to
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Kennedy's MAHA movement to address chronic disease in childhood illnesses,
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adding and we should stand up and salute the people
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that made that decision, because there's people who would otherwise
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be dead if those mothers were not given that option
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to have that child vaccinated. Fullma, top CDC career scientist,
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said Kennedy bypassed scientific process. Earlier this year, Kenny directed
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Kennedy directed the CDC to no longer recommend the coronavirus
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vaccine for healthy pregnant women and healthy children. Deborah Hurry,
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the CDC's former chief medical officer who resigned after Manara's ooster,
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said she learned of this from Kennedy's ex post announcing
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the move after the tweet came out. We asked for
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a written memo from HHS because I couldn't implement guidance
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off of a tweet, Hurry said. Cassidy frames approaches radical transparency. Cassidy,
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who openly wrestled with whether to support Kennedy's confirmation before
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voting for the nominee, said he invited Manars to testify
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as a direct response to President Donald Trump's call for
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radical transparency into how the government functions. Menari said she
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was instructed not to speak directly to senators. Cassidy is
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up for reelection next year and has had to weigh
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flexing his oversight power against the desire to remain in
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Trump's good graces. He said he was inviting HHS officials,
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including Kennedy, to speak with a panel who rebutiny remarks
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at Wednesday's hearing. I don't prejudge. I don't know if
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you're telling the truth or not, and when Secretary Kennedy comes,
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I'm keeping an open mind. Let me just say that,
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Cassidy said in his closing remarks. Republican senators allied with
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Kennedy rushed to his defense. Ma'am, all we're looking for
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is you to be honest, and you haven't been. Senator
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Mark Wayne Mullen, Republican of Oklahoma said GEOP, and that
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is also focused on Manara's decision to retain legal counsel,
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including an extended exchange with Senator Ashley Moody, Republican of Flora,
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when Manara is bulked at naming her lawyer, Mark S.
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Zaid and Abe Lowell. Zaid is a critic of Trump,
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while Lowell has counted members of Trump's orbits such as
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Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump among his high profile Washington clients.
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I'm going to the inside of the paper now. The
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GOP cuts parts of Obamacare. Now it's at the center
24:37
of a funding fight. Democrats are asking for restored health
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care subsidies and funding in exchange for their support, but
24:47
Republicans are daring them to risk a shutdown over the issue.
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By Yasmin Abtalab and Theodoric Mayo, little noticed in the
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Republican effort to pass President Donald Trump's sweeping tax and
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spending planned this summer was the accomplishment of a long
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held party goal rolling back significant portions of the Affordable
25:13
Care Act. But now the battle of Obamacare is back.
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Democrats are demanding that at least some of the cuts
25:23
to form a President Barack Obama's signature law be reversed
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in exchange for their support of a funding bill, while
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Republicans are daring Democrats to risk shutting down the government
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over the issue. Looming Above it all is growing nervousness
25:39
among some Republicans about the political consequences of millions of
25:44
people losing health insurance as soon as January and in
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the months ahead of next year's midterm elections. The host
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Republican only spending bill fails to meet the needs of
25:57
the American people and does nothing to stop the looming
26:00
health care crisis. Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schuma, Democrat
26:06
of New York and House Minority Leader Hakim Jeffreys, Democrat
26:10
of New York said in a joint statement Tuesday, at
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a time when families are already being squeezed by higher costs,
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Republicans refused to stop Americans from facing double digit hikes
26:24
in their health insurance premiums. Schuma and Jeffrey said voters
26:30
across the country are already beginning to feel the impact
26:33
of the recent ACA rollbacks. They could also see their
26:37
premiums rise when enhance tax subsidies to purchase ACA marketplace
26:43
insurance plans, which Democrats passed under President Joe Biden, expire
26:50
at the end of the year. Insurers have already started
26:54
sending notices to consumers that their premiums will rise significantly
26:59
in twenty six. Without the enhanced tax credits in place,
27:05
ACA marketplace consumers, out of pocket premium payments will rise
27:10
more than seventy five percent on average, according to an
27:16
analyst from KFF, a health policy research organization. A separate
27:23
KFF analysis found that insures medium proposed to increase for
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twenty twenty six is eighteen percent more than double last
27:31
year's seven percent medium proposed increase. About four million people
27:37
are expected to lose insurance over the next decade if
27:42
Congress does not extend the subsidies, according to the nonpartisan
27:46
Congressional Budget Office, Host Speaker Mike Johnson, Republican of Louisiana,
27:54
and Senate Majority Leader John Thune Republican of South Dakota
27:58
acknowledged that some of their members are worried about the
28:01
subsidies expiring, but said that Congress had until the end
28:05
of the year to address the issue, indicating that they
28:08
were willing to work on a separate, bipart of solution
28:12
once Congress passes a government funding bill. Schuma has demanded
28:18
Republicans make health care concessions, such as extending the enhanced subsidies,
28:24
part of any government funding bill. I can tell you
28:29
that there's a real concern. I have concern. Republicans have
28:35
concern about those policies, Johnson told reporters Tuesday. There's a
28:41
relatively small number of people that are affected by it,
28:44
but that policy has real problems, and subsidizing that and
28:48
making it a finance issue instead of health care issue
28:51
is a problem. So we have time to have that debate.
28:56
There are other early impacts from Trump's One Big, Beautiful Bill,
29:00
which Republicans passed in July, that Democrats have sived upon
29:05
on the campaign trail. Several hospitals have already announced they
29:09
will cease providing certain services or close altogether because of
29:14
the Medicaid cuts in the bill and issues several Republicans
29:18
raised during negotiations this summer. The law extended tax cuts
29:24
from Trump's first term that were set to expire, and
29:29
added hundreds of billions of dollars in funding for immigration
29:32
enforcement and national defense offset some of those costs. The
29:38
bill cut nearly one trillion dollars in Medicaid spending over
29:42
a decade, largely targeting the programme's expansion under the ACA.
29:49
The accumulative effect of the health care measures in the
29:52
bill and the expiration of the enhanced tax credits is
29:57
that more than half of the insurance gain made under
30:00
the ACA will be wiped out, said Larry Levitt, executive
30:05
vice president for health policy at KFF. More than twenty
30:09
million people gained insurance under the Obama law, and record
30:14
members signed up for ACA marketplace plans in the last
30:18
five years with the enhanced subsidies in place. The Republican
30:23
Tax and Spending law was not framed as a partial
30:27
repeal of the ACA. It wasn't even framed as a
30:31
healthcare reform effort of it, said, adding the effect in
30:37
terms of loss of health coverage would be comparable to
30:41
the earlier effort to repeal and replace the ACA. The
30:46
biggest health coverage losses come from imposing federal work requirements
30:50
for adults between nineteen and sixty four years old. Those
30:54
requirements are targeted only at the Obama Medicaid expansion population,
31:00
which includes the earning up to one hundred and thirty
31:03
eight percent of the federal poverty level. There are exemptions
31:08
for certain groups, including pregnant women, disabled people, and caregivers
31:12
of children under thirteen. Republicans have been attempting to curtail
31:17
or under mind the ACA for years, including a twenty
31:22
seventeen attempt to repeal the law in its entirety, but
31:26
the sweeping healthcare changes Republicans passed the summer retucked inside
31:31
a behemoth bill, helping the GOP avoid much of the
31:34
drama that plagued its earlier repeal effort. There are distinct
31:40
differences between the twenty seventeen repeal effort and the bill
31:43
that passed the summer. The new law keeps core tenants
31:47
of the ACA intact, including mandating that health insurers cover
31:52
those with pre existing conditions, allowing children to stay on
31:57
their parents' plans until age twenty six, and requiring that
32:01
certain businesses provide health insurance all among the most popular
32:06
provisions of the law, but it also takes steps to
32:10
penalize the forty states and the district of Columbia that
32:14
adopted the Medicaid expansion. The ten states that have not
32:19
taken the expansion are almost all led by Republicans, including Florida, Texas, Georgia,
32:27
and South Carolina. For instance, one precision of the law
32:33
most opposed by hospital groups applies only to expansion states.
32:38
That is the reduction in the provide a tax which
32:41
states collect from hospitals to boost to medicate payments and
32:45
receive higher matching funds from the federal government, as well
32:50
as another mechanism called state directed payments. Trump's budget bill
32:56
is one of the most unpopular pieces of legislation passed
32:59
by Congress in recent years, with nearly two thirds of
33:03
Americans holding unfavorable views of the legislation, according to a
33:09
KFF poll conducted in July, shortly after the President signed
33:14
the bill into law. Republicans have been struggling to sell
33:18
the bill to a weary public, prompting key White House
33:22
officials to meet with GOP members last month to urge
33:27
them to overhaul their messaging, and Democrats plan to make
33:31
it a central part of their effort to retake the
33:33
House in the next year's elections. Trump has not traveled
33:37
across the country to sell the bill to voters. Democrats
33:42
are united in lowering the cost of health care for
33:45
all Americans. When voters go to the polls next year,
33:49
they will remember which party caused their premiums to increase,
33:53
and it will cost Republicans their host majority. Courtney Rice,
33:58
communications directly for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committees, said in
34:03
a statement, Republican states rely most heavily on the tax credits,
34:09
especially those that did not take the Medicaid expansion. Texas, Florida,
34:14
and Georgia alone, for instance, accounted for more than forty
34:17
percent of enrollees on Obamacare market place plans at the
34:22
end of twenty twenty four. According to Capstone, a global
34:26
strategy firm, more than sixty five percent of enrollees are
34:31
in Republican led states. Tony Fabrizio, Trump's polster during the
34:38
twenty twenty four campaign, published a memo in July that
34:42
said Republicans could overcome a deficit with voters by extending
34:46
the subsidies. The memo stated that a generic Republican was
34:51
down seven percentage points against a generic Democrat among those
34:56
most motivated to vote. Deficit would grow to fifteen points
35:02
that the subsidies expire. For Brizio wrote, noting that voters
35:06
on the individual marketplace voted for Trump by four points.
35:11
If Republicans extend the tax credits, the memo stated, then
35:16
a generic Republican would leave by four points among those
35:19
most motivated to vote. The incentive is to act on
35:23
extending the tax credit soon, for Brizio wrote. The center
35:30
left think tank Third Way published a memo last week
35:35
urging Democrats to refuse to participate in a bipartisan effort
35:40
to fund the government unless the GOP solves a health
35:43
care cost crisis they alone caused. The memo argues that
35:48
Democrats should demand that Republicans permanently extend the enhanced subsidies
35:53
and reverse cuts to Medicaid. This is the rare shutdown
35:59
fight in which the politics and leverage all alione, the
36:03
memo stated. It added, while there are many targets and outrages,
36:09
Democrats must train via on the ones most pertinent to
36:13
Americans and most sensitive to swing state and swing district
36:18
Republicans that battleground is clear health care costs. Obama condemns
36:27
horrific Kirk shooting, urges country to unite. Former President Barack
36:33
Obama called the killing of Kirka tragedy and said that
36:36
Trump administration was wrong to try and sew division after
36:40
the shooting by Andrew Young and Leo Sans. Former President
36:46
Barack Obama mourned this slaying of conservative activist Charlie Kirk
36:51
on Tuesday, urging the nation not to resort to political
36:55
violence to resolve its differences. Speaking at an annual event
37:00
hosted by the nonprofit Jefferson Educational Society in Erie, Pennsylvania,
37:06
Obama said the shooting of Kirk last week, as well
37:09
as the June attacks on Minnesota lawmakers, including the killings
37:14
of state Representative Melissa Hortman, Democrat, and her husband, were
37:18
horrific and a tragedy. There are no ifs andd or
37:22
butts about it. The central premise of a democratic system
37:26
is that we have to be able to disagree and
37:29
have sometimes really contentious debates without resort to violence, Obama
37:35
said in a wide ranging interview that also touched on
37:39
themes including Israel's war in Gaza and the politization of
37:43
government institutions. The forty fourth president said he disagreed with
37:49
many of Kirk's views, including on the subjects of race
37:52
and immigration. I didn't know Charlie Kirk. I was generally
37:58
aware of some of his ideas. I think those ideas
38:01
were wrong, but that doesn't negate the fact that what
38:05
happened was the tragedy and that I mourned for him
38:08
and his family. Obama said Kirk had frequently generated a
38:13
cry with provocative statements, calling the passing of the nineteen
38:17
sixty four Civil Rights Act a huge mistake and suggesting
38:22
that beneficiaries of affirmative action did not have the brain
38:26
processing power to be taken seriously and had to go
38:32
steal a white person's slot. Obama also admonished President Donald
38:38
Trump's administration and others in positions of authority for trying
38:42
to fault an enemy for kirk shooting. Even before we
38:47
had determined who the perpetrator of this civil evil act was.
38:52
We're going to suggest that somehow that enemy was at fault,
38:56
and we are then going to use that as a
38:58
rationale for trying to silence discussion around who we are
39:02
as a country and what direction we should go and
39:06
that's a mistake as well, Obama said, even as the
39:11
search for a suspect and motive unfolded. In the hours
39:14
after Kirk's killing, Trump blamed the radical left for political violence,
39:20
referring to several recent attacks against Republicans a law enforcement
39:25
he did not mention some other high profile incidents, such
39:29
as the killings of the Hortman's. Obama praised the response
39:33
of Utah Governor Spencer Cox, Republican, to the shooting, as
39:37
well as his history of how he engages with people
39:42
who are political adversaries. In a news conference hours after
39:47
Kirk's killing on September tenth, Cox, who has long argued
39:51
for kind to politics, appealed to the nation to unite
39:54
under its founding ideals and turn away from political violence.
40:00
Obama also highlighted President George W. Bush's remarks in the
40:04
wake of the nine to eleven attacks, in which he
40:06
voted to hunt down the attackers but also denounced Islamophobia.
40:12
He explicitly went out of his way to say we
40:15
are not at war against Islam, and systematically and repeatedly
40:20
talked about how we can't use this as a way
40:23
to divide and target fellow Americans, Obama said, and so
40:29
when I hear not just our current president but his
40:32
aides who have a history of calling political opponents berman
40:36
enemies who need to be targeted, that speaks to a
40:39
broader problem that we have right now and something that
40:42
we're going to have to grapple with all of us.
40:45
Obama said. We have to recognize that on both sides.
40:50
And undoubtedly there are people who are extremist. He added,
40:54
but I will say that those extreme views are not
40:57
in my White House. I wasn't embracing them. Got that dot.
41:01
When we have the weight of the United States government
41:03
behind extremist views, we've got a problem. In an email statement,
41:09
Weist House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said the former president was
41:14
behind americans modern political divisions. Obama used every opportunity to
41:20
sew division and pit Americans against each other. She said
41:25
his division has inspired generations of Democrats to slender their opponents,
41:29
that if he cares about unity in America, he would
41:33
tell his own party to stop their destructive behavior, Abigail
41:37
Jackson said. Obama also touched on the war in Gaza,
41:41
saying that the conflict was partly caused by dehumanizing attitudes
41:46
from both those who carried out Amasa's October seventh, twenty
41:50
twenty three attacks and those who called for food in
41:53
medicine to be withheld from civilians in Gaza. I want
41:57
to be clear, I am not drawing equivalences. What I'm
42:02
saying is that when we don't see people as people,
42:05
bad things happen. The former president also said that many
42:10
political norms are no longer being followed under the current administration,
42:14
pointing to the National Guard being deployed to work with
42:17
immigration enforcement in Washington as an example. Many of the
42:22
guardrails and norms that I thought I had to abide
42:25
by as President of the United States, that George Bush
42:29
thought he had to abide by as President of the
42:32
United States slight Suddenly those no longer apply, and that
42:36
makes this a dangerous moment. Obama said. Let's move on
42:41
to an interesting article. Searchers find ghost ship that sank
42:48
in Lake Michigan nearly one hundred and forty years ago.
42:53
The FJ. King Schooner sank in eighteen eighty six storm
42:58
and was long sought after among shipwreck enthusiasts. And you
43:02
see a picture of the wheel of the JF. King
43:06
schooner at the bottom of Lake Michigan last month and
43:09
you see the barnacles and everything on the wheel by
43:16
Grace Moon. A group of citizens scientists has discovered the
43:21
long sought schooner JF FJ King, more than a century
43:27
after it sank in an eighteen eighty six storm, solving
43:31
one of Lake Michigan's enduring maritime mysteries, the Wisconsin Underwater
43:37
Archaeology Association said Sunday. For decades, the quest for one
43:43
of Lake Michigan's most elusive lost ships captivated many, even
43:48
inspiring a dive club to offer a thousand dollars reward
43:52
for its discovery. Recreational divers, hopeful fishermen, and seasoned ship
43:58
wreck hunters all tried their luck, only to come up
44:02
empty handed. Brendan Bailoud, the principal investigator, knew that FJ.
44:09
King was a long shot. Fishermen had said they brought
44:13
up parts of her in their nets, but when people
44:16
went out to the site there was nothing there. He said.
44:21
The shipwreck had become a local legend. Billard said he
44:26
saw the search as an opportunity to invite the public
44:30
into the world of underwater archaeology. We thought, what a
44:34
fun search. We're not going to probably find it, but
44:38
every rock you went over, it'll get your pulse going,
44:41
you know, he said. Billard and his longtime research partner
44:46
proposed the idea of the citizen Expedition to the state.
44:51
Participants would have the chance to pilot remotely operated vehicles
44:55
and probe the waters with sides sidescans. Billard poured over
45:02
old newspaper clippings, including an account from the lighthouse keeper
45:07
that became a vital clue, said Tamra Thompson, a maritime
45:11
archeologist at the Wisconsin Historical Society. The keeper reported seeing
45:17
the ship's mast breaking the surface. These are historic shipping
45:22
lanes and everyone sailed on them, Thompson said. The schooner
45:28
sank off Bailey's Harbor on September fifteenth, eighteen eighty six,
45:33
after taking on a load of iron ore bound for Chicago.
45:38
According to Thompson, when the storm came up, it developed
45:42
a leak that its pumps couldn't keep up with, she said,
45:46
noting that all board were rescued by a passing schooner.
45:51
The keeper's report provided an actual range and bearing for
45:55
where the ship's mast were sticking out of the world,
45:59
and on June Ballad used that information to scan the
46:03
surface with a group that included history enthusiast, local university students,
46:09
and scuba diving lobbyist, among others. Just two hours into
46:15
the search, a big object crawled across the screen. To
46:18
everyone's disbelief. The lod recounted the sonar revealed an image
46:24
of a ship. Its hatch is still gaping open, and
46:29
there is a picture of a diver taking images of
46:32
the wreck last month, and he looks like a huge,
46:34
gray big frog with his arms out and legs kicking
46:40
at the site of the wreck. We absolutely could tell
46:45
we found that f j King, Ballad said, and the
46:49
wreck itself was preserved like a time campusul. He added,
46:55
the vessel was a unique class of Great Lakes vessel, said,
47:00
noting such ships roll and carrying grain between the Upper
47:04
Lakes and Lake Ontario. To Ballad, the discovery was a
47:09
chance to tell the story of the state's port cities
47:12
and the engines that powered industrial America. Next year, they
47:18
planned to do it all over again. We've got a
47:21
good track record of finding them, you know. Ballad said.
47:25
He had also found the wreck of the Edmond Fitzgerald
47:28
in Lake Superior. The famous Ballad of the Edmond Fitzgerald
47:35
probably my final article. Senator's Way regulating AI chatbots to
47:41
protect kids. Parents told a Senate Judiciary committee that chatbots
47:47
had harmed their teens, even contributing to deaths by suicide
47:53
by Natasha Tikou. Parents who say their teens were harmed
47:58
by popular artificially intelligence apps testified before the Senate on
48:03
Tuesday debate the dangers associated with AI chatbox kurd urging
48:09
lawmakers to hold technology companies more accountable. After hearing parents
48:15
describe miners who faced mental health issues or died by suicide.
48:20
After intense hours spent with AI chatbox, lawmakers from both
48:25
parties seemed to support the idea of requiring AI companies
48:29
to add protections for young users, but no clear agreement
48:33
emerged on what action Congress should take. Senator Josh Harley,
48:38
Republican of Missouri, chair of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on
48:42
Crime and Counterterrorism, said that executives from Meta and other
48:47
tech companies had also been invited to testify, but were
48:50
not present. How about you come and take the oath
48:54
and sit where those grave parents are sitting. He said.
48:58
If your product is so safe and it's so great,
49:00
it's so wonderful, come testify of that. Tuesday hearing began
49:06
hours after a Colorado family filed the third high profile
49:10
lawsuit in the past year to allege that an AI
49:13
chatbot contributed to a teen's death by suicide. The parents
49:19
of thirteen year old Julianna Peralta said in their complaint
49:24
that chatbot app character dot Ai failed to react appropriately
49:30
when their daughter repeatedly told a chatbot called Hero that
49:35
she intended to end her life. The Washington Post reported
49:39
two of the parents who testified before the Senate on
49:42
Tuesday described the role of chatbots in the deaths by
49:47
suicide of their own teens. You cannot imagine what it's
49:52
like to read a conversation with a chatbot that groomed
49:56
your child to take his own life, said Matthew Rain,
50:00
a father in Orange County, California, whose sixteen year old
50:04
Adam died by suicide after repeatedly sharing his intentions with
50:09
open Ais chatbot g PD. What began as a homework
50:16
helper gradually turned itself into a confidant and then a
50:20
suicide coach. He said. The company said it would add
50:24
parental controls to chat GBT after the Rains filed that lawsuit.
50:29
The post has a content partnership with Open Ai. Meghan Garcia,
50:35
mother of Sewell Seltzer Third, a fourteen year old boy
50:40
who died by suicide after talking obsessively with character dot
50:44
ai chatbox, also testified on Tuesday. Garcia filed a lawsuit
50:51
against the company last year, alleging warmful death and product liability.
50:57
The hearing follows the surge of public concern about the
51:01
potential harms AI chatedbox composed to the mental health of
51:05
their users, especially those who were young or vulnerable. News reports,
51:11
viral social media post and a handful of prominent lawsuits
51:16
have spotlighted incidences of people developing and acting on potentially
51:21
dangerous thoughts after spending time with the AI tools. Many
51:26
of the senators present drew comparisons to previous unsuccessful attempts
51:31
in Congress to introduce new regulation on social media. They
51:36
varued to push for more accountability with this wave of technology.
51:41
Senator Richard Blumenthal, Democrat of Connecticut, said that he was
51:46
working with Hawley on a framework for oversight and safeguards
51:50
for AI that might cover some of the concerns raised
51:54
by parents who testified Tuesday. It could also be possible
51:58
to include measures on AI chat box in a Kid's
52:02
Online Safety Act, currently making its way through the Senate,
52:06
he added. Blumenthal also took aim at some arguments noted
52:12
by AI companies to defend their products, including that chatbox
52:16
outputs are protected by the First Amendment. They say, if
52:21
you were just better parents, it wouldn't have happened, which
52:24
is bunk, Blumenthal said, addressing the parents at the hearing.
52:30
A Florida judge in May ruled against a claim by
52:34
Character that its chatbox output was protected by the First Amendment.
52:39
Hally said his first priority was to open clear legal
52:43
pathways for parents or victims of harm for chatbots to
52:46
sue AI developers. It is my firm belief that until
52:51
they are subject to a jury, they are not going
52:54
to change their ways, Holly said of tech firms. Family
53:00
to See group Common Sense Media recently called on Meta
53:03
to place its AI chatbox off limits for children under
53:07
eighteen after it found they would coach Tina charts on suicide,
53:12
self harm in eating disorders. The company previously said it
53:16
was working to improve controls on chatbots. Meta spokesperson Danny
53:22
Lever said the company is the process is the process
53:27
of making interim changes to provide teens with safe, age
53:31
appropriate AI experiences, including training metas ai models not to
53:37
respond to teens on topics like suicide, self harm, and
53:41
potentially inappropriate romantic conversations. When The Post reported on the
53:48
lawsuit from Juliana Peralta's parents, Characters said that it made
53:53
substantial investments in safety. Character spokesperson Cassie Lawrence said that
54:00
the company provided senators on the Judiciary Committee with information
54:04
they had requested earlier this year. The company does not
54:09
have a record of receiving an invitation to the hearing,
54:12
Lawrence said. Open Ai said Tuesday that it was developing
54:18
a system that predicts whether a user is over under
54:21
eighteen to serve minus a safer experience on chat GBT.
54:26
We prioritize safety ahead of privacy and freedom for teens.
54:31
This is a new and powerful technology and we believe
54:34
minors need significant protection, CEO Sam Altman wrote in a
54:40
blog prost OpenAI spokesperson Kate Waters, in the statement, said,
54:46
when we are unsure of a user's age, will automatically
54:50
default that user to the teen experience. We are also
54:54
rolling at new parental controls, guided by expert input the
54:59
end of the month, so families can decide what works
55:03
best in their homes. A mom identified as Jane Doe
55:07
also spoke at Tuesday's hearing describing a product liability lawsuit
55:12
she filed against Character dot Ail last year after the
55:16
apps chatbots encouraged her teenage son to self harm and
55:21
suggested he killed his parents. Character dot Ai and Google
55:27
could have designed these products differently, she said, like Jillian
55:31
and Peralta's family. Her lawsuit named also named Google as
55:37
a defendant after the search company licensed Characters technology and
55:42
hired its co founders in a two point seven billion
55:48
dollar deal. Instead a reckless race for profit and market share,
55:55
they treated my son's life as collateral damage, though said
56:00
in a statement, Google spokesperson jose Castanetta said Google has
56:07
never had a role in designing or managing Characters technology users.
56:13
Safety is a top concern for us, he said. We've
56:18
taken a cautious and responsible approach to developing and rolling
56:23
out of their AI products with rigorous testing and safety processes.
56:32
Here's a bit of exchange. At the state dinner in
56:36
Britain for President Trump and Millenia Trump, it's a little
56:42
toast before the dinner. King Charles the Third spoke at
56:46
length of the shared ties between the two countries and
56:49
referred several times to the special relationship between them as
56:53
he mixed a bit a flattery missed the President. You
56:58
have spoken of your pride in your British roots, he said,
57:02
In fact, not only have you set foot on British
57:05
soil twice in the last two months alone, but I
57:09
understand that British soil makes for rather splendid golf courses.
57:14
And the King also briefly alluded to his own efforts
57:17
on climate change, in the area where he and Trump
57:21
often differ. And with that, I conclude the reading of
57:26
Today's Washington Post. For Radio I please continue listening to
57:32
extended material throughout the day. I'll be back on Saturday.