Latest / Washington Post / 5.28.26
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: Welcome to the reading of Today's Washington Post. It is Thursday,
- 0:07May twenty eighth of twenty twenty six, and your reader
- 0:11is Alice Stainer, with the reminder that radioizz for those
- 0:15blind with different abilities, making it difficult to hold a
- 0:19read printed material. And I'll start with today's front page.
- 0:25At the far left, falsehoods run wild in deadly Embola crisis,
- 0:33Distrust and violence flare as rumors spread that Outbreak is
- 0:38a hoax by Raoul Ambough, Rachel Chassen, and Lauren Webber
- 0:45out of naw Robi. Taking up four collins is a
- 0:49picture of President Donald Trump hosting a cabinet meeting Wednesday
- 0:54at the White House where he said he will not
- 0:57accept a crummy agreement. And that is with the article
- 1:03Trump is firm on Iran terms. He's holding to maximum demands.
- 1:10Mid term pressure won't make him bend, he says, by
- 1:14Natalie Allison, and that is on the far right column
- 1:19in bold letters. Below the picture inside a University's quest
- 1:26to purge woke classes read States are fostering a Conservative
- 1:32vision for the humanities by Laura Meckla out of Gainesville, Florida,
- 1:38and below the fold on the left for ESPN's Mina
- 1:43Keems spelling Bee is a homecoming NFL analyst and winner
- 1:49of Celebrity Jeopardy will co host the competition that Shaped
- 1:53her youth by Rick Mays. And then a picture of
- 1:58the Feast of Sacrifice begins, and there's a picture of Muslims,
- 2:03mostly all women in unusual hajibs. There's colorful scarves, one
- 2:12colorful dress, printed ones, one all win a white color
- 2:18and Mauvlims in Hafa Israel attend id l Ada morning
- 2:25prayers Wednesday along the coast near the Mediterranean Sea. Muslims
- 2:30around the world celebrated the start of the holiday or
- 2:33the Feast of Sacrifice, marking Ibrahim's willingness to sacrifice his
- 2:39son in a submission to God. And then on the
- 2:43very far right, acute dislike for both main parties Main
- 2:48US Parties survey shows by Scott Klement. I'll start with
- 2:55US and Iran trade fresh strikes as trumpoles to mac
- 3:00maximum demands. Strikes on an Iranian launch site and a
- 3:04US base in the region followed a warning from Trump
- 3:07that if Iran didn't start acceding to demands, the US
- 3:11would finish them off by Natalie Allison. The United States
- 3:17in Iran traded strikes overnight after President Donald Trump insisted
- 3:22he would not agree to a crummy agreement in the
- 3:25negotiations to end the nearly three month old war. Iran's
- 3:30Islamic Revolutionary Guard CALLS said Thursday morning that it had
- 3:34retaliated against a US attack outside the airport in bandar Abbas,
- 3:40a city on the Strait of Homuz, by targeting the
- 3:43US airbase from which the strike originated. Further US attacks
- 3:48would receive a more decisive response, it said. According to
- 3:53state media, military forces in Kuwait, which hosts several US bases,
- 3:58said they were responding to hostile missile and drone threats
- 4:03early Thursday. Hours earlier, US forces struck an Iranian launch
- 4:09site in boundar Abbas after shooting down for Iranian one
- 4:13Way attacked drones, according to a US official who spoke
- 4:18on the condition of anonymity to discuss military operations. The
- 4:23US official said that the drones posed a threat around
- 4:27the strait and that Iranian launch site was about to
- 4:30launch a fifth The official described the US action, first
- 4:35reported by Reuters, as measured purely defensive and intended to
- 4:40maintain the ceasefire. It follows similar strikes on Monday during
- 4:45a ceasefire between the two sides that has looked increasingly shaky.
- 4:50The President used a cabinet meeting Wednesday to insist he
- 4:53had maximum negotiating power with Iran and was not under
- 4:57pressure to make a deal. We've been doing this for
- 5:01a few months. Vietnam lasted nineteen years, Career lasted eight years,
- 5:06Afghanistan lasted many years, Trump said. When asked what the
- 5:12time frame is for the war ending earlier in the meeting,
- 5:15he said, they were all many, many years, and we're
- 5:19into it for a few months. Iran, he said, was
- 5:23negotiating on fumes and had made a mistake by thinking
- 5:27they were going to outwhit me or outweait me because
- 5:31he would be under political pressure from this year's midterm elections.
- 5:36I don't care about the midterms. Trump also highlighted the
- 5:41number of US's deaths in the war thirteen, cutting that
- 5:45the number has remained lower than in past US was
- 5:49Trump said he believed that Iran is starting to give
- 5:53us the things that they have to give us without elaborating,
- 5:57and if they do, that's great, and if they won't,
- 5:59then the man on my left is going to finish
- 6:01them off, he said, referring to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
- 6:07Even as he reiterated maximum US negotiating positions, Trump pushed
- 6:13up the pressure on his ostensible allies among Arab states
- 6:17in the Persian Gulf region, saying that he might refuse
- 6:20a deal with Iran if Saudi Arabia, Guitar and Kuwait
- 6:24did not sign on to the Abraham Accords, an agreement
- 6:28reached in his first term that aimed to normalize the
- 6:31relations between Israel and longtime adversaries in the Middle East.
- 6:37I think they owe that to us, to be honest,
- 6:40Trump said. Although the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain joined
- 6:45the Accords during Trump's first term, the prospect for other
- 6:49Arab states joining has been significantly dimmed by Israel's war
- 6:53and Gaza. The president also appeared to criticize Oman's negotiations
- 6:58with Iran over possible fees on ship traffic in the
- 7:02Strait of Homus, saying that nobody is going to control
- 7:07the strait and that it would be open to everybody.
- 7:11Under the deal he is pushing, Oman will behave just
- 7:15like everybody else, or the United States would have to
- 7:18blow them up, he said at one point. The effective
- 7:23closure of the strait in recent months has caused a
- 7:25global spike in the price of oil and has driven
- 7:28up gas prices significantly in the US. While calling for
- 7:33the strait to be reopened, Trump also declared Wednesday that
- 7:36the US has so much of its own oil that
- 7:40we don't dot dot dot need the Strait. We don't
- 7:43need anything. He also said he would not be comfortable
- 7:48allowing Russia or China to take control of Aron's high
- 7:51enriched uranium, another proposal that has been floated as Trump
- 7:55has called for the country to give up its nuclear stockpile.
- 8:00He further added that the US is not talking about
- 8:04any easing of sanctions against Iran or releasing frozen assets
- 8:09before Ron meets US demands to relinquish its enriched uranium.
- 8:14Trump also spoke extensively about his plans for construction projects
- 8:18in Washington, including his effort to resurface the reflecting pool
- 8:23between the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial on the
- 8:26National Ball Love construction. It's very exciting, Trump said, as
- 8:34they have in other Trump Cabinet meetings, department heads lavish
- 8:37flattery on the president after Trump had talked about the
- 8:40reflecting pool. Hag Seth compared the president to George Washington
- 8:45and Abraham Lincoln for his willingness to tackle major problems.
- 8:50The night before, Trump had canceled a trip with his
- 8:53cabinet to Camp David sept for Wednesday, citing forecast to
- 8:57bad weather as the reason he would not make well.
- 9:00Would have been a rare visit to the rural president
- 9:02to a retreat. The compound in Thermont, Maryland, the site
- 9:07of historic diplomatic summits and the huddles by passed administrations
- 9:11ahead of major military action, has not been a frequent
- 9:15destination for Trump compared with other presidents of recent decades.
- 9:20The president convened his national security team at Camp David
- 9:24in June twenty twenty five, two weeks before the US
- 9:27launched attacks on Iran's nuclear sites. Recent public polls have
- 9:32shown Trump's approval hitting a second term low, as Vedis
- 9:37have soured on his handling of the economy, an issue
- 9:41that had been a strength for him during his twenty
- 9:43twenty four campaign, and say they disagree with his decision
- 9:47to go to war with Iran. Although Trump and the
- 9:50other administration officials claimed over the weekend that the US
- 9:54and Iran were on the verge of an agreement to
- 9:57end the war. There were few signs in recent days
- 10:00that a deal was imminent. A recent Washington Post U
- 10:05ABC h ipso's poll found that the war with the
- 10:09run remains deeply unpopular with Americans. The war received approval
- 10:14ratings as low as those found during peak periods of
- 10:17military deaths during the Vietnam and Iraq wars. The poll
- 10:24found independent voters disapproval of the Iran war coincides with
- 10:29Trump's worsening popularity. Over All, Americans don't like either political party.
- 10:39We asked them why. The wide ranging criticisms that the
- 10:44parties are corrupt, subservient, rishiwahi are unable to handle the
- 10:49president signal major challenges for both sides. By Scott Klemen,
- 10:56the symptoms have piled up in poll after poll. Americans
- 11:00rate them unfavorably, say they are out of touch, and
- 11:05disapprove of their leaders. Record numbers avoid associating with them
- 11:09at all. The diagnosis is clear, America's political parties are
- 11:15afflicted with chronic unpopularity. But what exactly do Americans dislike?
- 11:21About the Democratic and Republican parties to find out, and
- 11:26Washington Post, ABC News and ipso's poll last month asked
- 11:30more than twelve hundred Americans to describe in their own
- 11:33words what they dislike most about each political party. Open
- 11:38ended survey questions are useful in tapping top of mind
- 11:42opinions people have a better topic, which can be useful
- 11:46in understanding the ingredients baked into each party's image. This
- 11:54is by Scott Clemmons. The symptoms have piled up in
- 11:57poll after poll. Americans rate them unfavorably, say they're out
- 12:02of touch, and disapprove of their leaders. Record numbers avoid
- 12:06associating with them at all. The diagnosis is clear, American
- 12:11political parties are afflicted with chronic unpopularity. But what exactly
- 12:15do Americans dislike about the Democratic and Republican parties? To
- 12:20find out? A Washington Post, ABC News in IPSOS poll
- 12:24last month asked more than twelve hundred Americans to describe
- 12:28in their own words what they dislike most about each
- 12:31political party. Open ended survey questions are useful in tapping
- 12:36the top of mind opinions people have about a topic,
- 12:39which can be useful in understanding the ingredients baked into
- 12:42each party's image. What Americans dislike most about the Democratic Party.
- 12:50Americans offer wide ranging complaints about the Democratic Party, but
- 12:55the two most common responses criticize their positions as to
- 12:59liberal and general or on a range of issues twelve percent,
- 13:03or that they were weak and don't stand up enough
- 13:05to President Donald Trump ten percent. What Americans dislike most
- 13:10abate the Democratic Party open ended responses categorized into groups
- 13:16two liberal, socialism, race, gender, abortion, crime positions twelve percent,
- 13:21weak spinalists, don't stand up against Trump ten percent, corrupt,
- 13:25self serving, favoring corporations, powerful five percent, no dislike or
- 13:31pro democratic views five percent, dislike everything general dislike five percent,
- 13:38loose immigration and borhis dance four percent, out of touch
- 13:43with everyday americans, working class four percent, anti Trump obsession
- 13:48four percent, poor old leadership three percent, no clear policy agenda,
- 13:54no principles, pandering three percent, higher taxes and excess spending
- 13:59three dishonesty three percent, morally wrong, evil, violent, ignorant three percent,
- 14:08unkept promises and flip flopping three percent, Big government benefits
- 14:13for undeserving three percent. Here are some respondents in their
- 14:19own words, edited for clarity and style to woke focus
- 14:24on issues not central to Americans, like economy and jobs.
- 14:28California women fifties Independent, that they allow LGBTQ confusion and abortion.
- 14:35New Mexico man thirties Independent, gone too far to the left.
- 14:40They are more in line with the Communists and socialist parties.
- 14:43New York woman fifties Independent, spineless and mixed messaging to moderates,
- 14:49no Zesti candidates. New Hampshire man thirties Independent. The Democratic
- 14:55Party needs to hit back harder at the Republicans in Congress.
- 14:59They cannot continntinue to be nice when the opposition party
- 15:03is behaving in such a non ethical manner. Ohio woman
- 15:07seventies Democrat weak. Kansas man thirties Independent. A slew of
- 15:13other criticisms were mentioned by four to five percent of Americans,
- 15:17including corruption, disliking everything about the party, Democrats' immigration positions,
- 15:24being out of touch with everyday Americans, and being too
- 15:27anti Trump. They're just as corrupt as the Republicans, just
- 15:31in different ways. Virginia man thirties Independent. They were very
- 15:36irresponsible in the handling of immigration. Arizona woman fifties Independent,
- 15:42too focused on Trump is bad West Virginia woman sixties Republican.
- 15:47They're too wishy washy. They need to take a unified
- 15:51stance on major issues and stick to the stances no
- 15:55matter what. New Jersey Man seventies Democrat. Comparing answers across
- 16:01partisan groups show Democrats the most critical of their party
- 16:05for not standing up to Trump. Twenty four percent say this,
- 16:09compared with nine percent of Independence. Only three percent of
- 16:13Democrats complained that the Democratic Party is too liberal or quoke,
- 16:17compared with eleven percent of Independence and twenty percent of Republicans.
- 16:24What Americans dislike most about the Republican Party. Trump tops
- 16:29the list of complaints about the Republican Party, but not
- 16:33by an overwhelming margin. Twelve percent of adults specifically cited
- 16:37Trump a loyalty to Trump when asked about they dislike
- 16:41most about the GOP, although another four percent criticized the
- 16:45Republican Party for not supporting Trump enough. What Americans dislike
- 16:51most about the Republican Party open ended responses categorized into groups. Trump,
- 16:57loyalty to Trump twelve percent, No dislike of the Republican
- 17:02Party seven percent, dishonesty, hypocrisy, immorality, including Epstein files six
- 17:10percent lack of concern for ordinary people, cruelty six percent,
- 17:17corruption and self enrichment five percent, ineffective, weak and unqualified
- 17:23leadership four percent, need to support Trump and stand up
- 17:27to Democrats small four percent, authoritarianism, disregard for the rule
- 17:32of law, anti democracy four percent, hostile and bullying rhetoric
- 17:37four percent, racists or anti diversity politics four percent, everything
- 17:44three percent pro rich economic agenda three percent irresponsible foreign
- 17:50policy iran three percent, lack of unity and cohesive messaging
- 17:55three percent, categories lower than three percent and no comment
- 18:00thirty eight percent are not shown. Don't think for themselves,
- 18:05only follow whatever the lying arrogant Donald Trump says. New
- 18:11Jersey man seventies independent Donald Trump's hold on the party,
- 18:16Tennessee woman eighties independent. The week members who do not
- 18:21go along with President Trump, Texas Woman nineteen republican. Six
- 18:27percent of peace mentioned a lack of concern for ordinary
- 18:32people and or mentioned dishonesty, hypocrisy, and immorality, including some
- 18:37who mentioned files from the federal investigation of the late
- 18:40convicted sex offender and financier Gepsy Jeffrey Epstein. Five percent
- 18:46mentioned corruption or self enrichment identical to the share who
- 18:49mentioned this for Democrats, while four percent each mentioned ineffective leadership,
- 18:55concerns about authoritarianism or the rule of law, hostile and
- 18:59booterally rhetoric, or concerns about race cists or anti diversity policies.
- 19:07They never cut spending enough to bring us closer to
- 19:10a balanced budget. All talk and no action on that subject.
- 19:13California Man sixties Independent its lack of concern for the
- 19:18poor and needy. George Woman, eighties Independent, lack of getting
- 19:23the job done. California Woman thirties Republican, corruption, lies and
- 19:28lack of accountability. Massachusetts Man fifties Independent, conspiracy theories, racist
- 19:35behaviors towards Spanish and Black people. Illinois Man twenties Republican.
- 19:41Donald Trump needs to speak less and keep belittling comments
- 19:45out of his Updatesfornia Man sixties Independent. What did these
- 19:52results mean for the paths forward for both parties? The
- 19:56scouted criticism of both parties in the polls suggests there's
- 19:59no civil bullet to rebuilding their popularity. Democrats face a
- 20:04vexing challenge of overcoming criticisms that they are too liberal
- 20:08on race, social issues, and immigration, while also being faulted
- 20:12for not fighting hard enough against Trump, particularly among fellow partisans.
- 20:17Taking stronger stances against Trump on certain issues could reinforce
- 20:22perceptions that they are ideologically out of step. Republicans also
- 20:28have major challenges, many related to Trump's actions and personality.
- 20:34Their brand is probably tied closely to Trump as long
- 20:37as he is president, and the poll reveals this includes
- 20:41a wide range of concerns about both policy, abuse of
- 20:46power and rhetoric going inside the paper, Host Democrats announced
- 20:53bill to block construction of Trump's arch. The legislation would
- 20:57explicitly bar a new construction on the small island on
- 21:01the edge of Washington where Trump seeks to put the arch.
- 21:07Badin Dan Diamond Host Democrats on Wednesday a Narnst legislation
- 21:12intended to block the construction of President Donald Trump's plan
- 21:16two hundred and fifty foot triumphal Arch, which would be
- 21:19built on Park Line just inside Washington's boundaries and tower
- 21:24over nearby Arlington National Cemetery. The legislation, which was previewed
- 21:29with The Washington Post, would explicitly bar construction of an
- 21:34arch on the small island where Trump seeks to build
- 21:36his project, as well as prohibit the use of federal
- 21:40lands for the project. It would also prohibit construction of
- 21:44a larger arch or similar construction on other Washington area
- 21:47parkland unless the project received congressional approval the Trump administration.
- 21:56My computer's acting nuts. The Trump administration is I'm not
- 22:00planning to seek congressional authorisation to build the arch, arguing
- 22:04that Congress more than a century ago authorized the construction
- 22:08of somewhat similar project at the site. The Post reported
- 22:12last week. The Democrats bill faces long odds in Congress,
- 22:19where Republican leaders have hesitated to publicly oppose Trump's construction projects,
- 22:27but some Republicans have begun to signal concerns about Trump's
- 22:30swift remaking of Washington and have bolked at committeing hundreds
- 22:35of millions of taxpayers dollars to security related costs praise
- 22:39planned White House ballroom. Democrats have also said they will
- 22:43prioritize investigating and halting Trump's planned construction projects if they
- 22:48retake one or both chambers of Congress after November's midterm elections.
- 22:55The legislation is being proposed by Democratic representatives on Baia
- 23:00of Virginia, whose district includes Arlington National Cemetery and Nina
- 23:07o'dina Titus of Nevada, who co chairs Congressional Humanities Caucus.
- 23:13They said they would formerly introduce the bill on Friday.
- 23:20About two dozen host Democrats have joined the bill, with
- 23:24some were calling the arch which would alter views from
- 23:27the cemetery and affront to the veterans who visit and
- 23:31are buried there. Arlington National Cemetery is sacred ground, the
- 23:36resting place with some of our nation's greatest heroes. Buyers
- 23:39said in a statement, it is unthinkable that we would
- 23:43desecrate this hallowed space to build a monument to Donald
- 23:46Trump's ego bias. Parents and grandparents and sister are buried
- 23:52at the cemetery. The president's project has also been opposed
- 23:56by some military veterans and an architectural historian, who have
- 24:01sued to prevent the building of the arch. Congress not
- 24:05the president has the constitutional power to initiate building projects
- 24:10on federal land in Washington, d c. And Congress has
- 24:14not authorized the President to build the arch. Lawyers for
- 24:18Public Citizen The Deligation Group, a nonprofit law firm representing
- 24:23the veterans and historian, wrote in a court filing Wednesday night,
- 24:28The Trump administration has said it will provide at least
- 24:36fourteen days notice before beginning construction. Poles have found that
- 24:41the public opposes the planned arch. Fifty two percent of
- 24:45Americans are against the project, compared with twenty one percent
- 24:49who favored according to a Washington Post abc ipso's compole
- 24:54conducted last month. Trump is iron Memorial Circle, a traffic
- 24:59ROUNDABAK located between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery,
- 25:03as the planned site for the arch. The circle is
- 25:06located in Lady Bird Johnson Park, formerly known as Columbia Island,
- 25:11a partially man made island on the edge of the city.
- 25:15A Fine Arts commission blocked with Trump allies stopped with
- 25:19Trump allies approved the planned arch last week, and another
- 25:23federal panel led by Trump deputies will consider it on
- 25:27June fourth. Under federal law, certain parts of this city,
- 25:31including Memorial Circle, which is managed by the National Park Service,
- 25:36are considered protected land, and monuments built there require congressional authorization.
- 25:43The administration has said its new proposal is building on
- 25:47a project authorized by Congress the century ago, which would
- 25:51have constructed one hundred and sixty six foot tall columns
- 25:54on the Island. Trump officials have noted that the columns
- 25:58for the president's plant are would also be one hundred
- 26:01and sixty six feet tall. There is thus nothing unfaithful
- 26:07about implementing a project that Congress has authorized. The Justice
- 26:11Department on Tuesday told US District Judge Tanya s. Chutkin,
- 26:16who is weighing whether to block the project on Trump's
- 26:20planned arch, the columns would be topped by an additional
- 26:23eighty four feet of pededestal and statuary to bring the
- 26:27total height to two hundred and eighty two hundred and
- 26:29fifty feet. The Justice Department has also argued that efforts
- 26:34to block the arch's construction are premature since the plans
- 26:38are not final, calling for the judge to dismiss the lawsuit.
- 26:43Despite Trump's declarations that the project is moving forward. This
- 26:47will be a wonderful addition to the Washington, DC area
- 26:51for all Americans to enjoy for many decades to come,
- 26:55the president wrote on his truth social platform last month,
- 27:01continuing a deadly heat wave hits Europe, with decades old
- 27:06temperature records falling. France called seven deaths where they are
- 27:12possibly heat related, while the UK issued a water safety
- 27:16warning after nine deaths there during high temperatures by Matthew
- 27:21Kepecci and Daniel Roux. A deadly heat wave has gripped
- 27:27Western Europe in recent days, with temperature spiking to fifteen
- 27:31to twenty degrees above average and residents struggling to stay cool.
- 27:36At least seven people have died so far in France
- 27:39in what officials are calling potentially heat related deaths, after
- 27:43parts of the region saw their hottest May day on
- 27:46record this week. A reading of ninety eight point eight
- 27:49degrees fahrenheit was recorded Monday in Hessegoor, France, in the
- 27:54southwestern department of Lands. That's the country's hottest made temperature
- 27:59on red. England and Wales also broke monthly records. Q
- 28:04Gardens in London reached ninety four point six degrees on Monday,
- 28:08smashing the previous record of ninety one degrees set in
- 28:12Regent's Park in nineteen forty four. One day later, Q
- 28:17Garden's spiked to ninety five point two, surpassing its own record.
- 28:22In Wales, Harwarden Airport reached ninety on Monday, beating a
- 28:27record that had stood since World War II. French government
- 28:31spokesperson Maud Bregon told the French television network TFI that
- 28:38the seven deaths in France linked to the heat wave
- 28:41included five people who drowned and others who died in
- 28:45sporting events. The fifty three year old runner died of
- 28:49a heart attack. Around ten more across several races in
- 28:52Paris were hospitalized Sunday, according to La Prezienne. The French
- 28:58Ministry of Sports, Youth and k Community Life issued a
- 29:01warning after the death to limit sporting activity amid the
- 29:04heat wave. In Britain, nine people have died in recent
- 29:08days in water related incidents and meant the heat wave,
- 29:13prompting a water safety warning to BBC reported. A spokesperson
- 29:17for the UK Health Security Agency said it had not
- 29:20determined whether the deaths are heat related. The heat wave
- 29:24hasn't meant only hot days. The nights have been stifling
- 29:29and at times dangerous. In Britain, Kenley did not dip
- 29:33below seventy three point six degrees Sunday night, marking the
- 29:37UK's warmest overnight low on record for the month of May.
- 29:43Only twenty percent of European homes have some type of
- 29:46air conditioning, according to some estimates, which makes Europe more
- 29:51susceptible to warm overnight lows. The region depends on nocturnal cooling.
- 29:57When that doesn't happen, houses have a head start on
- 30:00heating up the next day. In Spain, on Sunday night,
- 30:04temperatures didn't dip below seventy point nine degrees in series
- 30:09or sixty nine point sinks in Baliboa, which are both
- 30:13monthly records. Daytime his in Spain and Portugal, meanwhile, have
- 30:18been flirting with one hundred and four Just across the
- 30:22Strait of Gibraltar from Spain, Morocco also saw its hottest
- 30:26May night on record, Taza bottom note, at eighty four
- 30:29point seven fahrenheit. The United Nations estimates that one hundred
- 30:34and seventy five thousand Europeans die from heat stress or
- 30:37heatstroke annually. Those deaths are often underreported because they are
- 30:42tied to comorbidities or additional health risk factors. The soaring
- 30:49temperatures are caused by a heat dome or a ridge
- 30:52of high pressure that's parked over the Iberian Peninsula and
- 30:56western Europe. It brings hot, sinking air. That sinking causes
- 31:01the air to dry out and heat up even more
- 31:05that erodes clouds cover, allowing the sun to bake the landscape,
- 31:10and like a force field in the atmosphere, the heat
- 31:13dome reflects the jet stream and any inclement weather to
- 31:17the north. This heat dome is in the top zero
- 31:22point thirteen percent of high pressure heat domes, meaning that
- 31:25only twelve out of every one thousand high pressure heat
- 31:28domes are more intense. Natural variability of weather randomness gives
- 31:35rise to dozens of heat domes per year, but as
- 31:38the background climate continues to warm, it's easier to push
- 31:42already upper echelne events intorected territory. The heat dome will
- 31:48break down later this week, allowing for some moderation of
- 31:51temperatures into the weekend, continuing months after feud with Barry Weeks,
- 32:00Sharon Alfonsi is out at sixty minutes. The veteran CBS
- 32:06News correspondent slammed her boss after a segment on migrants
- 32:10detained at a prison in El Salvadore was pulled from
- 32:14a December broadcast by Scott Nova. CBS News journalist Sharon
- 32:21Alfonsi is departing sixty minutes, months after a high profile
- 32:25clash with CBS News editor Chief Barry Weese. While Alfonsi
- 32:32is still technically employed at CBS News, She said in
- 32:36his statement that her contract expired Sunday, ending a decade
- 32:40long tenure at the network's flagship program. This was not
- 32:45a routine corporate transition. It was a deliberate choice to
- 32:49penalize a journalist for refusing to sanitize actually accurate reporting.
- 32:55It sends a chilling message to the entire newsroom, Alfonsi
- 33:00said in a statement. Alfonsi, who joined sixty Minutes in
- 33:04twenty fifteen, became the center of a newsroom firestorm in
- 33:08December when we intervened to delay her segment on Venezuelan
- 33:13migrants detained at Al Sabado's notorious Seacock Prison, citing the
- 33:18need for an on camera interview with a Trump administration official,
- 33:23even though the administration declined to participate. In an email
- 33:27to produces, Alfonsi accused Twis of handling the administration a
- 33:33kill switch over the network's reporting. The segment eventually aired
- 33:38in January with minimal changes and without the administration interview
- 33:43we said sought. Instead, Alfonsi narrated a short addendum to
- 33:48the report, which included additional details disclosures and written statements
- 33:53from the government. In a statement, Alfonsi said that she
- 33:57and her representation were met with absolute silence from network
- 34:02executives since the editorial dispute over the Seacott story. Alfonsi added,
- 34:09in the coming days, network leadership may attempt to hide
- 34:12behind corporate euphanisms like modernization and restructuring to explain away
- 34:18my departure. Don't be misled. Alfonsi said that CBS management
- 34:25had abandoned its mission of fearless and independent reporting, choosing
- 34:30access journalism over accountability and protecting power rather than scrutinizing it.
- 34:36The New York Times first reported the news of Alfonsi's
- 34:40departure Wednesday. CBS News did not immediately respond to her
- 34:44request for comment. This isn't the first time Alfonsi has
- 34:49spoken about tumult at the network. Speaking at an award
- 34:53ceremony in April, al Fansi acknowledged that her job was
- 34:58on the line. My hope recently has been that I
- 35:02still have a job, and every morning I wake up
- 35:04to another headline that says I've been fired, she said.
- 35:09She also said she refused to change the Seacut report
- 35:13when asked not because I'm a pain in the ass,
- 35:16which I am, but because the story was factually correct
- 35:20and I argue that any change to it might reflect
- 35:22poorly on CBS and sixty Minutes, she said. We's joined
- 35:27the CBS News as top editor in October after Paramount
- 35:31sky Dance, the network's paramount parent company, bought her website,
- 35:38The Free Press, for one hundred and fifty million dollars.
- 35:42Since joining, she's overseen an internal culture clash, staff cuts,
- 35:47the closure of CBS News Radio, and flagging readings for
- 35:51her point in CBS Evening News Ankle Tony de Copoul. Meanwhile,
- 35:58Paramount sky Dance awaiting regulatory approval to buy a rival,
- 36:03Warner Brothers Discovery, which would mean putting CBS News and
- 36:07CNN under the same roof. In her statement, Alfonsi said
- 36:12that the wall between journalism and business at CBS has
- 36:16been methodically torn down, something that could threaten the future
- 36:20of sixty Minutes. Journalists willing to challenge authority of being
- 36:25pushed aside in favor of those who will not. She said,
- 36:29if this continues, the result would be broadcast that looks
- 36:32like sixty Minutes but lacks the courage and character to
- 36:36produce journalism that matters. I will say that I have
- 36:41a little interest in sixty minutes because when I lived
- 36:43in the District of Columbia in the nineteen seventies, my
- 36:49landlord was part of a part of sixty Minutes that
- 36:52was called Point Counterpart, Point Counterpart for years, and I
- 36:57met Shana, Alexander and Carl Own for a long time. Well,
- 37:05here's a medical one. Many people skip colmosteromies. Experts just
- 37:11added a blood test to the options. Blood tests miss
- 37:16early cancers and should be limited to people who decline
- 37:19other methods. New guidelines, said by Carolyn Y Johnson. The
- 37:25American Cancer Society updated it screening guidelines for coorectal cancer Wednesday,
- 37:31expanding the number of methods to include a simple blood test.
- 37:36The updated guidelines reflect the hope that offering more options
- 37:39will increase screening among adults forty five and odo. Co
- 37:44erector cancer is usually preventable and treatable when caught early,
- 37:49but about a third of adults who are eligible for
- 37:51coorectal cancer screenings are not up to date. According to
- 37:55the American Cancer Society, coorectal cancer is the third most
- 38:01common cancer diagnosis in the US, estimated to cause nearly
- 38:05one hundred and sixty thousand new cancer diagnoses and fifty
- 38:09five thousand deaths each year. It is the leading cause
- 38:13of cancer death in adults under the age of fifty.
- 38:17The simplicity of a blood test comes with major caveat
- 38:21that will require nuanced discussions between doctors and patients. SHIELD,
- 38:27a blood based coorectal cancer test that detects fragments of
- 38:32tomor DNA, was approved by regulators in twenty twenty four,
- 38:37but the test developed by Guardian Health misses more precancerous
- 38:42polyps and early stage cancers than other methods. The new guidelines,
- 38:47published in CAA, a cancer journal foricinditions, recommends it only
- 38:52for people who won't otherwise get screened. A cholinostomy is
- 38:56this gold standard for screening and is recommended every ten
- 38:59years beginning at age forty five until age seventy five.
- 39:03The guidelines also recommend at home stool testing, which detects
- 39:08blood or genetic markers of colorectal cancer. A blood test
- 39:12is now a third option, though oncologists stressed it is
- 39:16not the preferred option. The guidelines from the American Cancer
- 39:21Society are influential, but do not determine insurance coverage under
- 39:26the Affordable Care Act. The recommendations of the US Preventive
- 39:29Services Task Force shape coverage requirements, and they do not
- 39:33currently recommend blood based test for colorectal cancer screenings. The
- 39:39most effective screening test is the one that patients completes,
- 39:43said William Dott, Chief Scientific Officer of the American Cancer Society,
- 39:49adding if the patient knows that it's not as good
- 39:52at picking up stage one cancers in pre cancer, but
- 39:55they are not going to do those other tests, they
- 39:58should go for it and do it. In a large
- 40:02clinical trial published in the New England Journal of Medicine,
- 40:07the SHIELD tests made by Guardian Health detected eighty three
- 40:11percent case of colon cancer, but only thirteen percent of
- 40:15advanced pre cancer as lesions. Matt Kaladi, director of the
- 40:20James Colorectal Cancer Center at Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center,
- 40:26said in an email that adding a blood based green
- 40:29testing is fantastic, but he added that because they are
- 40:33not as sensitive or effective as a colonostomy or stool
- 40:36based test, they should only be used for individuals who
- 40:40decline or cannot do the standard screening test. Ronald Riggers,
- 40:46an sixty eight year old retired crane operator from Hepi Zeba, Georgia,
- 40:53is one of those who could not be persuaded. Griggers
- 40:56described himself as a procrastinator when it comes to my healthcare.
- 41:01His doctor had been gugging him for years to get
- 41:04a colonostomy because of his age, but Driggers declined. He
- 41:09was offered the stool based test and three were sent
- 41:12to his home. He threw them out, disgusted by the
- 41:16idea of the sample collection and preparation. Finally, in Nate
- 41:21late twenty twenty four, as doctor mentioned the blood test
- 41:24and Driggers said okay, the test came back positive, which
- 41:28was the push he needed to finally get a colonostomy.
- 41:31Driggers had straged three chorectal cancer, which had spread to
- 41:35his lymph nodes. I would have gone on and on
- 41:38until I developed symptoms, Drigger said in an interview. I
- 41:42would have just rolled along with my stupid self until
- 41:46it did move to an organ. And cancer is like rust,
- 41:49It continues to spread until it just to eat you up.
- 41:53Driggers underwent twenty eight rounds of chemotherapy and radiation treatments,
- 41:57and still has numbness in his feet and hands. He
- 42:00plans still of a long time and goes back for
- 42:02follow up colonostomies every three months now, Drigger said is
- 42:07a paid spokesperson for Guardian Health. Scott Ramsey, a physician
- 42:13and cancer researcher at the Fred Hutch Kansas Center in Seattle,
- 42:17said he agreed the most important thing is people get screened,
- 42:21but he said he does worry about the test inferior
- 42:24performance in finding advanced a denamos precancerous polyps. Now we
- 42:31have three different options we can talk patients through, and
- 42:34it's getting pretty complicated. Ramsey said. On one hand, I'm
- 42:38glad there's another option to present to patients, and on
- 42:41the other hand, the conversation is even more complicated. He said.
- 42:47He is also worried that people who opted for either
- 42:49a stool based test or a blood test and get
- 42:52a positive result may not do the essential follow up
- 42:56of colonostomy. Here's an article about the Ebola scare. US
- 43:03to send Americans exposed to abola to makeshift hospital in Kenya.
- 43:08Trump officials have instructed the US military to stand up
- 43:11a quarantine facility within a week, according to two people
- 43:15familiar with the matter, but Lena h Soon, Alex Horton,
- 43:22real Ambo, and Adam Taylor, the Trump administration is planning
- 43:27to send Americans exposed to Abola to a quarantine facility
- 43:31in central Kenya that the US military has been directed
- 43:35to stand up within a week. According to two people
- 43:38familiar with the matter, who, like others in this article,
- 43:42spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive deliberations,
- 43:47the planned field hospital was hoe's americans exposed to the
- 43:51virus in the grow in the growing outbreak in the
- 43:55Democratic Republic of Congo to keep them safely isolated in
- 43:59bio containment units that the government would transport from the
- 44:03United States. The people said there is an active discussion
- 44:07about what happens to people who test positive. They said
- 44:11the initial plan is to have a fifty bed unit
- 44:14within a week, and the potential to expand to two
- 44:16hundred and fifty beds later. One of the people said
- 44:20US personnel are expected to receive prefabricated medical facilities that
- 44:25are easily transported by truck and airplane. The facility in
- 44:29Kenya is being set up through a coordinated effort with
- 44:33the Departments of State, Health and Human Service and Defense.
- 44:36According to an administration official in an email who spoke
- 44:41on the condition of anonymity because of ground rules set
- 44:44by the administration, the facility is designed to provide access
- 44:49to high quality care for Americans who would need to
- 44:52quickly get out of DRC and quarantine without the risks
- 44:56of a lengthy transport back to the US. The official said,
- 45:00time is of the efforts for Abila patients, and this
- 45:02facility will enable Americans in the region who contract ebola
- 45:07to receive life saving care as quickly as possible. With
- 45:10at twelve plus hours of metac fight climb, workers there
- 45:16would be able to fully care for someone with the
- 45:18deadly disease, including those needing critical care, the official said,
- 45:23but will evaluate whether a patient needs to be transplanted
- 45:26for more advanced care. The infectious disease. Physicians who have
- 45:31cared for Abelo patients say it is critical to assess
- 45:35patients and act quickly because an infection can progress within
- 45:39days to multi organ failure. There is no approved vaccine
- 45:44or therapeutic for this strain. The bundibugaio for Bugyo virus.
- 45:52Members of the US Public Health Service have already begun
- 45:55training a joint base and at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland
- 46:00to staff the Kenya facility, According to two people familiar
- 46:04with a response, one person express to concern that the
- 46:08training period was only three days, which experts say is
- 46:12not sufficient. During a White House Cabinet meeting Wednesday, Secretary
- 46:18of State Marco Rubio reiterated that the number one priority
- 46:21of US foreign policy is to protect American people. We
- 46:26cannot and will not allow any cases of abola to
- 46:30enter the United States, and so we're very The State
- 46:34Department and other agencies represented here, the Centers of Disease Control,
- 46:38HHS and others are working very, very hard to contain
- 46:42this crisis to the countries where it's currently located, particularly
- 46:46the Democratic Republic of Congo, he said. Infectious disease and
- 46:52public health experts and American officials involved in previous eight
- 46:57brex say the best way to protect Americans at home
- 47:00is to contain the outbreaks at their urgent. Ribio said,
- 47:04the United States has surged assistance to make sure that
- 47:09it is being contained there. Obviously, multiple agencies involved here
- 47:14are also very involved in tracking people just to make
- 47:18sure that nobody comes into this country that has ebola
- 47:22and creates a problem for us, he added, And we
- 47:26feel like we've got good efforts in place to do that,
- 47:29and Americans should feel sure that the President and his
- 47:33administration is doing everything we can to protect them on
- 47:36that front. The Kenyan government has approved the plan to
- 47:40construct a facility on their air base, but the US
- 47:44was still awaiting permission to bring patients as of Wednesday,
- 47:48according to the US officials familiar with the process. The
- 47:52US officials are also negotiating with the UK and Kenyan
- 47:56counterparts to potentially support their citizens, the official said. The
- 48:01Wall Street Journal first reported the plan to send Americans
- 48:04exposed to Ebola to Kenya. The American Foreign Services Association
- 48:09on Wednesday urged the State Department to authorize the departure
- 48:13of US diplomats and family members from Congo, Uganda, and
- 48:17Southern Sudan because of Ebola concerns. In a statement, the
- 48:23union said the move was justified by the opening of
- 48:26treatment facilities in Kenya, calling it a sharp departure from
- 48:30previous outbreak besieges. The union said americans exposed during earlier
- 48:35ebola outbreaks were evacuated to specialize treatment centers in the US.
- 48:41Those facilities were Maine available. It said. US Foreign Foreign
- 48:46Service officers were in the region because the US government
- 48:51sent them, the statement said, and they should have the
- 48:54right to come home. Nahed Badilia, who directs Boston Universities
- 49:00Center on Emerging Infectious Diseases and has cared for Obola
- 49:04patients and multiple deployments to outbreaks, said that establishing a
- 49:08makeshift quarantine hospital overseas carry some risks. My biggest concern
- 49:14would be that you cannot recreate the same quality of
- 49:17care or training among health care staff at an ad
- 49:20hoc center that you would at any of the well
- 49:23trained and established hospitals that the US has set up
- 49:26since twenty fourteen to take care of these types of patients.
- 49:31I'm also concerned what this does is effectively discourage Americans
- 49:36and American organizations from working in the area if they
- 49:40know it will be difficult for them to come back
- 49:42in case an evergen of an emergency, Badelia said. Delia
- 49:48also said that caring for those or these kinds of
- 49:51patients requires that healthcare workers are trained repeatedly to safely
- 49:56use personal protective equipment to make sure they don't contemp
- 50:00andate themselves as they remove their equipment, adding that if
- 50:04they become ill with the disease, staff we need to
- 50:07be able to provide ICU level care. The plans are
- 50:12emerging as Congo confronts a fast growing outbreak of the
- 50:15rare Bundebugo strain, which has also spread into Uganda. The
- 50:21World Health Organization has declared the outbreak of public health
- 50:25Emergency of International Concern. WHO and partner agencies reported that
- 50:31more than nine hundred suspected cases in more than two
- 50:34hundred and twenty suspected deaths in Congo and Uganda as
- 50:37of May twenty six. The administration's Kenya quarantine plan also
- 50:42reflects White House officials resistance to bringing Ebola exposed or
- 50:46America infected Americans back to the US, according to people
- 50:50familiar with the discussions. The Washington Post previously reported that
- 50:55White House officials did not allow an American doctor infectively
- 50:59the Ebola and Congo two returned to the United States
- 51:02or treatment, pushing instead for his evacuation to Germany. Another
- 51:07doctor working with the same missionary nonprofit was evacuated to Prague.
- 51:12The administration's plans come amid heightened concern over ebola exposure
- 51:17and preparedness. The US Field Hospital is in Apia County
- 51:23in central Kenya, an area known for its large ranches,
- 51:26wildlife conservancies, and significant ex expatriat population. The location has
- 51:35an airbase and barracks that could provide housing. The region
- 51:39also hosts the British Army Training Unit Kenya, one of
- 51:42the United Kingdom's largest military installations in Africa. Kenya's Minister
- 51:49for Health, Aiden Dwell, did not respond to the Post
- 51:53request for comment, but in a press release, he acknowledged
- 51:56ongoing discussions between the two governments in regard to a
- 52:00response in the region. He teded the country's health systems,
- 52:04citing the fact that between twenty fourteen and twenty sixteen,
- 52:07Kenya sent over one hundred volunteer health workers to contain
- 52:11it in Abola eighth grade that killed more than eleven
- 52:14thousand people in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia. Duell's statements
- 52:19said any arrangements regarding international health cooperation will be guided
- 52:24by Kenya's national laws, public health regulations, biosafety and biosecurity standards.
- 52:31News of the Quarantine Unit sparked intense debate on social
- 52:35media in Kenya, especially after the US imposed a temporary
- 52:40thirty day suspension on entry for all non US citizens
- 52:44who had been in Congo, including Kenyons. Magona Mcgonah, a
- 52:49Kenyan lawyer, wrote onn X that bringing Americans who were
- 52:52exposed to ibola constituted an active high treason and that
- 52:57the moves should be opposed, resisted, and overturned. He wrote
- 53:01no ifs or MutS Naduru Kinraja, another Kenyon responded the exposts,
- 53:07saying that the move was not diplomacy but risked exposing
- 53:11millions of citizens to potential catastrophe and the last article.
- 53:18Trump administration begins making new request of green card applicants.
- 53:23People who apply for permanent residency at immigration offices in
- 53:27the US are being asked why they did not return
- 53:30to their home countries first. Under new guidance by Lauren
- 53:35Kiori Gurley and David Nakamoro, immigration officers have begun making
- 53:41new request of green card applicants that lawyers believe will
- 53:44stress an already overwhelmed processing system and deter some people
- 53:50from seeking legal status. US Citizenship and Immigration Services and
- 53:55ains Fridi that most applicants will need to return to
- 53:58their countries of our ogin to apply for permanent residency,
- 54:03upending decades old the legal practice that allowed immigrants to
- 54:07apply for a green card from within the United States.
- 54:11USCIS has already started asking some applicants while they did
- 54:15not leave the United States and return home to apply
- 54:18for a green card, according to two lawyers with direct
- 54:22knowledge of the communications, some are also being asked why
- 54:25they didn't return home when their visas expired, or if
- 54:29there's anything preventing them from applying through a consulate. We're
- 54:33already seeing it filtered down to the field office, said
- 54:37Jeff Joseph, president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. He
- 54:41said his organization has fielded inquiries from several lawyers reporting
- 54:46the new questions. This is another method of putting cogs
- 54:50in the wheel to try and shut down legal immigration.
- 54:54The new policy guidance that most immigrants should apply outside
- 54:57the United States has parked spears that family members should
- 55:01be separated for years, while some tech leaders, including LinkedIn
- 55:05co founder Reid Hoffman, have condemned it as harmful to business. Meanwhile,
- 55:10President Donald Trump's administration has offered few detail about who
- 55:16would be affected, although a USCIS spokesman said late Friday
- 55:21that applicants who demonstrate an economic benefit or otherwise are
- 55:25in the national interest would still be allowed to apply
- 55:28for Green cards from inside the country. USCIS did not
- 55:33respond to requests for further information of the new questions
- 55:37green card applicants being asked. Lawyers with knowledge of the
- 55:40new increase said it was unclear how widely the questions
- 55:44were being exposed being posed, and whether they apply only
- 55:48to certain applicants. Joseph said that even before Friday's announcement,
- 55:53some immigrants applying for green cards were being subjected to
- 55:57an unusual level of scrutiny early on in the process,
- 56:00He said, there have been requests for applicants to submit
- 56:03additional evidence showing why they should be granted residency, such
- 56:08as proof of family ties to a U. S. Citizen,
- 56:11level of education and English fluency, tax records, service in
- 56:15the armed forces, and history of employment, among other requests.
- 56:19Such records have not been requested in the past, he said,
- 56:23except in cases where a person had a major red
- 56:26flag in their application, such as a criminal conviction, and
- 56:30needed to provide further information. Lacking guidance from the Trump administration,
- 56:36many attorneys have advised their clearence not to leave the
- 56:39United States and tell USCIS releases further information. People are
- 56:44generally freaking out, said Charles Cook, an immigration attorney in Atlanta,
- 56:49adding I have had multiple calls since Friday with people
- 56:52asking about when they have to leave the US. A
- 56:56Department of Homeland Security official told The Washington Post in
- 57:00statement that the new guidelines restate long standing law and
- 57:04policy NASH which was regarded by the Biden administration. Which
- 57:10was disregarded by the Biden administration. The official stress that
- 57:15the policy will have no noticeable impact on highly qualified
- 57:20applicants and skilled professionals who have followed the law, adding
- 57:24that Trump is prioritizing immigration that strengthens America culturally, socially,
- 57:30and financially, while preventing mass Third World migration which hurts
- 57:35our country. Immigration lawyers said the policy could affect workers, students, executives,
- 57:42and clergy, but probably poses the biggest risk to spaces
- 57:46and family members applying for permanent residents. For example, an
- 57:50immigrant who entered on a tourist visa and applied for
- 57:53a green card after a marrying an American citizen might
- 57:57come under greatest scrutiny than in the past. Such applicants
- 58:01generally have been allowed to adjust their statuses, even though
- 58:05they may have violated the terms their tourist visa if
- 58:08they stayed beyond the permitted dates. Tourist visas are also
- 58:13different from certain work visas that offer a path toward
- 58:16legal residency because they permit recipients to come only for
- 58:20non immigration related travel. Green card applicants who overstate their
- 58:25tourist visas could even be borrowed from re entering the
- 58:28United States for up to ten years. Asylumn seekers and refugees,
- 58:32who in most cases apply for green cards under a
- 58:35different federal statute than the one cited by the Trump
- 58:38administration would not necessarily be affected, the lawyer said. Neil Bradley,
- 58:44Executive vice president and chief policy officer in the US
- 58:47Chamber of Commerce, said the organization is reviewing the policy
- 58:51change is concerned that it will make it more difficult
- 58:54for individuals, including recent graduates, researchers, and those already working
- 58:58legally in the US toss to permanent legal residency. And
- 59:02with that, I conclude to day's reading, Bye