Transcript

3.24.26 · Washington Post

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Speaker 1: Welcome to the reading of The Washington Post for Tuesday,
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March twenty fourth, twenty twenty six. As a reminder, Radio
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I is a reading service intended for people who are
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blind or have other disabilities that make it difficult to
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read printed material. Your reader for to day is Cindy Fraser.
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To day's front page headlines from The Washington Post are
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negotiations offer paths to end war with Iran. Trump US
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will postpone some strikes. High level talks will continue throughout
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this week. Next border wall expansion raises alarms on all sides.
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Massive and rapid build up draws big pushback that crosses
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party lines and border lines. The next headline, Supreme Court
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looks set to limit mail in balloting. Decision could transform
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state's election processes ahead of mid terms. Next audio readings
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tense moments surrounding crash I messed up, an air traffic
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controller said following the collision, which killed two pilots and
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hospitalized dozens at New York's LaGuardia Airport. And the final
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headline from to Day's front page, Preservationists seek to halt
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Kennedy Center renovation. Lawsuit aims to require approval from Congress
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compliance with laws. Now, let's turn to our first article
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from to day's front page, which is entitled Negotiations offer
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path to end war with Iran. Trump US will postpone
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some strikes. High level talks will continue throughout this week.
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By Michael Birnbaum. President Donald Trump said Monday the United
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States is negotiating with Iran to end the three week
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old war, declaring that the two sides had two days
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of very good and productive conversations that will continue throughout
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this week. It was a president's first acknowledgment of high
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level talks between the two sides since the United States
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and Israel began bombarding Iran on February twenty eighth, hammering
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the country's military and leadership, and leading to a global
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energy shortage that has brought widespread economic pain. The announcement
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of talks offered a pathway for the Trump administration to
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find a way to open the Strait of Hormuz, which
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Iran has closed by threatening strikes on shipping traffic. Tehran's
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attacks on ships have paralyzed the thirty percent of global
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crude oil that goes through the waterway, giving Ran significant leverage.
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We have had very very strong talks. We'll see where
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they lead. We have major points of agreement, Trump told
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reporters on Monday, they went, I would say perfectly. I
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would say that if they carry through with that, it'll
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end that problem, that conflict. Conversations will continue by phone Monday,
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True said, Iran and the United States have been negotiating
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a complete and total resolution of our hostilities in the
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Middle East, the president said. Earlier, in a post to
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truth social he said that he had told the U. S.
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Military to postpone strikes against Iranian energy infrastructure for five days,
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subject to the success of the ongoing meetings and discussions.
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Trump's announcements sent markets up and energy prices diving as
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investors bet Iran's blockade of a key shipping choke point
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could soon end. The S and P five hundred and
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the Dow Jones Industrial Average were each up more than
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one percent on Monday afternoon. Trump on Saturday issued a
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forty eight hour warning to Tehran to open the Strait
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of Hormuz or face strikes on its power plants. That
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deadline was set to hit Monday evening before the president's postponement.
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The U. S. Military has been trying to avoid hits
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on Iranian energy infrastructure to avoid further pressuring global markets,
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and because strikes on power plants are a violation of
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the Geneva Conventions because of their effect on civilians. Israel
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struck Iran South Pars gasfield on Wednesday, the five day window.
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Trump announced Monday will buy markets another week without U
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S strikes on Iranian energy infrastructure. The Iranian Foreign Ministry
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rejected Trump's characterization of talks. The U S. President's statements
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are within the framework of efforts to reduce energy prices
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and gained time to implement his military plans. The Semi
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official Mayor News agency reported the ministry saying in a statement,
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there are initiatives by regional countries to de escalate tensions,
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and our response to all of them is clear. We
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are not the party that started this war and all
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these requests should be referred to Washington. Iranian Foreign Ministry
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spokesman as Smaieobasquay said Monday that the country maintains the
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same prerequisites for ending the war as before. According to
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a report carried on state media, Iranian officials have previously
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demanded that the United States and Israel cease their attacks
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before the start of negotiations. The officials have also asked
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that the United States commit to never attacking Iran again
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and agree to pay iron compensation for war related damages
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and loss of life. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who
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has engaged in an intensive military campaign of his own,
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said Monday that he had spoken to Trump earlier in
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the day. President Trump believes there is an opportunity to
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leverage the tremendous achievements we have achieved alongside the US
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military to realize the goals of the war through an agreement,
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an agreement that will safeguard our vital interests, he said
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in a statement, without saying that he shared Trump's belief.
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He said that Israel would continue to strike a w
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and Lebanon, where the Israeli military has been pushing into
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the southern part of the country. We will safeguard our
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vital interests under all circumstances, he added. Oil prices fell
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immediately after Trump's morning announcement, with the international benchmark Brent
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crude oil tumbling about ten percent to hover near one
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hundred dollars a barrel, the lowest it has been since Wednesday.
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Prices remain about thirty percent higher than they were a
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month ago. US consumers have seen the most direct impact
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at the gas pump, where the national average was three
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point nine five six dollars a gallon Monday. According to
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Triple A. That's the highest gasoline price in nearly four years.
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But reopening the Strait of Hormuz alone would not address
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another key US security concern, the fate of Iran's nuclear
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program and the estimated four hundred and forty kilograms about
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nine hundred seventy pounds of highly enriched uranium that could
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eventually be used to fuel a nuclear bomb. The uranium
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is believed to be buried in canisters deep underneath the
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ground following US strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities last June.
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Nor would leaving a place the current Iranian leadership answer
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the calls of the widespread protests across Iran in January
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demanding an end to the regime. Tehran's brutal crackdown on
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those demonstrations helped spur Trump to act last month. Trump
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didn't specify which Iranian leaders the administration was speaking to.
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He told reporters on Monday that it wasn't the new
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Supreme Leader Moushtaba Khamenei, with whom he said the United
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States has had no contact. We're dealing with a man
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who I believe is the most respected and the leader.
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It's a little tough. We've wiped out everybody, he said,
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saying that a Special envoy, Steve Whitkoff, and son in
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law Jared Kushner were again in the lead of talking
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to Iranians. The pair were negotiating with top Iranian leadership
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before Trump's attack last month. Trump said that the talks
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extended beyond reopening the strait, and that they were also
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discussing Iran's nuclear stockpile and program. We want to see
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no nuclear bomb, no nuclear weapon, not even close to it,
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Trump told reporters. We want the nuclear dust. I think
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we're going to get that. Iran's semi official Tazanium News
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agency cast his truth social announcement as a retreat. Writing
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on x Trump backs down a report in Iran's Fars News,
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a state run media company, said there were no direct
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talks or any mediated communication between Iran and the US
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in the lead up to Trump's announcement Monday. Neither the
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White House nor the Iranian Foreign Ministry immediately replied to
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a request for comment. Asked by reporters why the Foreign
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Ministry was denying that the talks were taking place, Trump
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said that because of the intense strikes, the Uranian government
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might be having difficulty with internal communications. The president has
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said that the war has killed the first, second, and
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third ranks of Iranian leadership. The new Supreme Leader, the
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son of the previous leader, Ali Komenee, who was killed
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in the initial strikes of the war, is affiliated with
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hard line elements of the Iranian establishment. Iran has been
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striking at its Arab neighbors in the region as well
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as Israel, seeking to punish countries for their affiliation with
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the United States, as well as to increase pressure to
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stop the war. Last week, both sides traded strikes on
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oil and gas infrastructure, adding pressure on already squeezed global supplies.
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The Trump administration has been scrambling to address the mounting issue,
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first dropping sanctions on Russian oil and then on Iranian oil,
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a decision that will channel energy revenue directly to Tehran
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and fund its war effort. Regional leaders have been and
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increasingly vocal about their desire to reach a truce. Whatever
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your view of Iran. This war is not of their making,
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Omani Foreign Minister Badar Abusaidi wrote on Acts minutes before
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Trump posted his announcement. Abusadi had been working to broker
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a deal between Washington and Tehran ahead of the war.
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This is already causing widespread economic problems, and I fear
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they promise to get much worse if the war continues.
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Oman is working intensively to put in place safe passage
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arrangements for the Strait of Hormus, he wrote. Leaders of
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European countries that have long partnered with Washington to address
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Iran's nuclear ambitions also welcome the talks. We are working
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with others to see how we can develop that to
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a point of the escalation. It's very important that we
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get to that. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told the
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House of Commons on Monday, saying that he was aware
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they were under way and that I welcome them. It
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remains to be seen whether the market optimism that an
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end to the wars in sight will stick. There have
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been several points since the US attacked Iran that comments
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by Trump or other administration officials suggesting a resolution of
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the conflict is imminent set energy prices plunging, only to
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bounce back after more attacks on energy infrastructure by Iran
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and thows that it will keep the Strait of Hormuz
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closed indefinitely. Anlass continued to warn of price increases if
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the strait does not quickly reopen. Goldman Sachs warned in
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a report to investors Monday morning that rent prices could
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exceed their record two thousand eight level one hundred forty
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seven dollars per barrel if oil does not resume flowing
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through the strait within ten weeks. Volatility is likely to
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remain high. Patrick to Hahn, head of petroleum analysis for
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the pricing app Gas Buddy, wrote in his newsletter Monday morning,
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traders will be weighed not only the credibility and duration
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of the pause, but also the risk the tensions could
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quickly re escalate if negotiations falter. He wrote that the
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average prize for a gallon of regular gas nationwide could
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exceed four dollars this week. Evan Hopper and Houston, Todzy
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Frankel and Susannah George in Washington, Susanne Haydamus in Beirut,
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Leor Soroca in Tel Aviv, and Greg Miller in London
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contributed to this report. This article is accompanied by a
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photo caption Iranian Red Crescent emergency workers use a bulldozer
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Monday to clear rubble from a residential building that was
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hit in an earlier US Israeli strike in Tehran Fahiz
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Alemi a p. The photo shows a bulldozer in front
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of a seven story building that is partially destroyed. Next
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is an item entitled border Wall Expansion raises alarms on
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all sides. Massive and rapid build up draws big pushback
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that crosses party lines and borderlines. Yarelis Ahernandez, Jake Spring,
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John Muskins, and Thomas Simonetti. Arelis Landez and Thomas Simonetti
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hiked and canoed roughly fifteen miles along the Rio Grande
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in West Texas to report this story. Jake Spring and
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John Muskins investigated the border walls potential impacts from Washington,
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d C. And Boston, respectively. From Erlingua, Texas. The Trump
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administration is building hundreds of miles of border wall through
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iconic national parks, public lands, and ecologically sensitive wilderness, empowered
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by provisions in the One Big Beautiful Bill that provided
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forty six point five billion dollars in funding and a
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two thousand and five law that waived dozens of environmental
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rules for border security projects. The Smartwall project calls for
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a wall in parts of Ruggard, Texas Desert that are
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experiencing historically low border crossings, and a second wall across
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parts of California, Arizona, and New Mexico that already have
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barriers from the first Trump administration. According to US Customs
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and Border Protection documents recently posted online, the aggressive pace
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three new miles of will a week has alarmed advocates
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and National Park staff, who say the construction will destroy
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Christine Country, threaten endangered species, and cut off access to
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sacred indigenous and archaeological sites. And it has sparked an
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unusual degree of bipartisan pushback, with sheriffs, conservative county judges, environmentalists,
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and Texas state lawmakers lobbying Trump officials to change course.
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This is one of the largest public works projects in
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recent history for the US, said Emon Heridy, wildlife program
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manager for Sky Island Alliance, a conservation nonprofit based in
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two It's fairly scary to think about the lack of oversight,
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the complete authority to build these walls without considering the
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environmental impacts. The Department of Homeland Security has issued waivers
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under the two thousand five Real Idea Act allowing the
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Department to disregard the wall's impact on plants and animals
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normally protected by the Endangered Species Act. The project is
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exempted from the National Environmental Policy Act, a sweeping law
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that mandates an extensive review of a federal action's potential
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impacts and public consultation that can take years. Sorting through
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the complicated legal and property ownership issues slowed down border
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wall construction in Texas during the first Trump administration, but
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the federal government is now skipping meetings with local officials
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and landowners and awarding contracts to out of state firms.
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Last month, the Army Corps of Engineers send packets to
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Texas landowners along the wall's path containing maps showing lands
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a plan to take. The proposed construction could include anything
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from ground sensors and infrared cameras to thirty foot steel
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ballards affixed with floodlights and gravel roads for border patrol vehicles,
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and often all of the above. Big Bed National Park
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has emerged as a political flashpoint in the new expansion,
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with many landowners and conservationists describing a border wall as
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an unnecessary encroachment from big government, seizing one of the
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last vestiges of unspoiled freedom and frontier. On a recent afternoon,
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Charlie Engel fifty nine, who runs ecotourism canoe trips, pointed
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to the expanse of dinosaur aged limestone canyons carved by
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the jade colored waters of the Rio Grande, stretching beyond
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his home near Redford, Texas. This was where I planned
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on finishing my life, uncle said. Now I may lose
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my business and my way of life. I guess I
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have to start over. Border lands. Building a physical wall
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along the one thousand, nine hundred and fifty four miles
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of land that divides the United States in Mexico has
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long been a pillar of President Donald Trump's border security agenda,
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but during his first term, federal officials devoted most of
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their time and resources to replacing close to five hundred
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miles of existing infrastructure, largely on federal land that attracted
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a large number of border crossers. In all, only about
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eighty miles of new barrier were installed. Federal officials raised
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smaller barriers in environmentally sensitive locations like Arizona's Organ Pipe
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Cactus National Monument and Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge, and
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put in thirty foot tall steel border wall. Instead, human
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smugglers and migrants sawed through it, climbed over it, or
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on occasion, fell from it. President Joe Biden said he
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would not build another foot of wall, even as illegal
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border crossings surged to record levels, but his administration said
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it was legally obligated to use the appropriated funds to
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finish work on twenty miles of wall in South Texas,
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fill in gaps elsewhere, and repair concrete levees supporting the slats. Now,
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despite illegal crossings dropping to historic loves, DHS and the
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Defense Department planned to construct more than one thousand, three
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hundred fifty miles of new border wall in the Southwest,
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according to a post analysis of CBP data. In addition
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to more than seven hundred fifty miles a primary wall
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and roughly six hundred miles of secondary wall, CBP is
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planning for more than five hundred miles of water barriers
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such as buoys. The data shows cameras, lights and other
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surveillance technology would complement the physical barriers in many places,
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with some areas without walls covered by sensors. The Trump
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administration has issued at least twenty two billion dollars in
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contracts to construction crews. The border wall actually makes every
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single agent more effective, said CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott during
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a February news conference. Every investment we make in infrastructure
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and technology across all of CBP, let's the actual agent,
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the human being, do things that only the human being
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can do. The new wall would include physical barriers along
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sixty two miles of Arizona tribal lands and up to
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one hundred seventy five miles in Texas Big Band Region.
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Critics say the secondary wall would create a no man's
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land between the two segments that will exacerbate dangers. Border
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residents say that in regions as remote as a Big Bend,
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maintaining roads for agents, greater broadband access and other technology
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can enhance border security better than a wall. We're killing
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a gnat with a sledge hammer and wasting a colossal
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amount of money, said Republican Brewster County Judge Greg Hennington.
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Outgoing DHS Secretary Christy al Naum has said that when
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Americans elected Trump, they voted for a border wall that
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will continued to protect us for generations to come. Senator
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Mark Wayne Mullen, Republican from Oklahoma, whom Trump has tapped
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to succeed her, also supports the construction. Texas leaders and
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those living in the Big Bend region said they always
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thought they would be exempt. Trump himself has described their
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rugged terrain as being gifted with natural boundaries. The arid
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landscape with its sheer cliffs, punishing heat, water scarcity, predators,
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and rugged mountains saw significant increases eighty nine thousand encounters
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in unauthorized migration during Biden's term, but that number was
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a small fraction of the millions of illegal crossings overall.
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Do people cross here, yes, said Terrell County Sheriff Thadius Cleeland,
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a former Border Patrol agent who joined four other regional
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sheriffs last week in opposing a border wall through the
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Big Bend National and State Parks, which at eight hundred
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thousand and three hundred thousand acres, respectively, span a territory
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nearly the size of the state of Delaware. But they
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have a three to four to five day walk often
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to get to the Highway to get picked up. Rowster
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County Sheriff Running Dotson, whose jurisdiction includes Big Bend National Park,
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said exhausted border crosses often hail his truck in need
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of rescue after getting lost or running out of water.
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Dotson said GPS enabled drones, surveillance beakons, or improved broadband
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could help secure the border better than any wall ever could.
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Since Trump entered office, he said, encounters are near zero
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in the Big Bend. Whatever he did to shut the
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border down, he said, Trump shut it down pretty good
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on the brink. US Customs and Border Protection published an
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interactive map late last year indicating where construction had begun
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and where crews would soon begin work. But it wasn't
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until the local newspaper, the Big Ben Sentinel publicized the
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news in February that the wall would be built through
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the national park there that local officials started calling state
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lawmakers in an effort to lobby the White House. Residents
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panicked on social media, and soon the alarm was reverberating
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among Southwest nonprofits, businesses, and environmentalists. Tourism generates more than
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fifty four million dollars for the local economy, largely from
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hotel occupancy taxes, recreation and food sales. More than a
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half million visitors flocked to the state and national parks
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annually to connoe the Rio grade, hike the canyons, and
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indulge in the delightful oddities of a place one hundred
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miles from any big city. That isolation has fostered a
23:00
sense of community between the US and Mexican towns on
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either river bank, which a wall could sever for five dollars,
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park tourists are ferried by boat across the Rio ground
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to a peta burros waiting to carry them into Bochias
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for another fifteen dollars to eat tacos, buy souvenirs, and
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drink Mexican beer. At Big Bed National Park's hot springs,
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sun bathers can swim forty feet to the Mexican shore
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and buy ten dollar tomales from a family that prepares
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them beneath a thatched hut. Nosotrosujimos dejesto, said Juan Armunus,
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a Bochias resident selling hands sown tortilla warmers and beerkusies
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that say no wall in blue and red thread. We
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survive on this. Billybardco, who offers jeep tours and river trips,
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said that if the wall is constructed, it could cut
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his sails by seventy five percent and to turn many
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workers who cross over from Mexico via the river. Barco
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is among several locals pushing to designate the region a
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dark sky destigination, which would protect stargazing views from light
24:10
pollution to draw more people to the region for epic
24:13
stargazing and astronomical research. Any installation of bright lights for
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border security would also sink those aspirations. Any wall construction,
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local leaders said, could also interfere with the hydrology of
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the Rio Grande. Contractors would bring in equipment, stage material,
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tear up local roads, and stress a local infrastructure already
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burdened by hundreds of active duty soldiers deployed on border
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security mission. We are standing on the brink of oblivion,
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said John Kennedy, who serves as the economic development chief
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for the majority Hispanic city of Prosidio and has sought
24:52
to discuss the border wall plan with state and federal leaders.
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A delicate balance construction of physical barriers in the fragile
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ecosystems of remote Arizona, New Mexico and Texas could deplete
25:06
scarce groundwater resources and disturb animal migration patterns and other
25:11
plants in wildlife. According to wildlife experts and other scientists.
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In Texas, a small but growing black bear population in
25:20
the Chiesau Mountains of Big Bend depends on the annual
25:24
influx of mail bears from Mexico to sustain the population,
25:28
according to retired National Park Service wildlife biologists Raymond Skiles. Likewise,
25:34
smaller groups of jaguars, antelope, and big horned sheep that
25:37
live on one side of the border would be unable
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to pass through the border wall to find food and
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water to survive and link up with the main populations
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to reproduce, said Erin Flesh, Are research scientists at the
25:49
University of Arizona. A jaguar is not going to climb
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a nine meter border wall, Flesh said. Cutting off two
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or three isolated individuals that are in the US from
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the many thousands to the south is going to basically
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end any potential for that population to recover without human intervention.
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Crews have already drilled wells with capacity to pump more
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than a million gallons of water per day to support
26:16
construction of one section of wall. Near Tucson. Led lights,
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which are described in CBP project documents for a two
26:24
hundred twenty two miles section of the border, could disorient
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animals like bats, birds, and insects, said Heredy. The Arizona conservationists.
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The DHS waivers allow the wall to be built without
26:37
first studying and minimizing these environmental harms as is normally required.
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The Secretary's waiver minimizes the risk of project delays and
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in turn puts DHS in a better position to continue
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to progress towards a secure southern border. The CBP website
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says the double wall in Arizona is expected to be
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built one hundred fifty to two hundred feet north of
27:02
the existing wall. It could run through the Quinto Baikuito
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Springs in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument and would probably
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trap animals, said three Interior Department staffers, who spoke on
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the condition of anonymity because they fear being fired. The
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site contains the only surface water within hundreds of miles
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on the U. S side of the border, making it
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critically important to local wildlife and Native Americans, said Lorrain
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marquees Eiler, an elder that he has said Odam indigenous people.
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Native Americans have used the springs for thousands of years,
27:39
living there intermittently. The springs are also home to the
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only US populations of endangered Sonoita, maud tootals and the
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quintobiquito pup fish. The water level there fell as ground
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water was pumped to build the first border wall. Heavy
27:55
machinery reshaping the landscape could also disrupt their only remainsating habitat,
28:01
leading their populations to dwindle further toward extinction. Three interior
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employees said they fear the second wall will make it
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even more difficult to fight stinknet, a foul smelling invasive
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plant with yellow ball shaped flowers in the neighboring Cabesa
28:18
Prieta National Wildlife Refuge. The structure would also run through
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an indigenous grave site and an intaglio, a ground eatching
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thought to look like a fish that was probably used
28:29
for ceremonies more than one thousand years ago. When we
28:33
were approaching America's two hundred fiftieth birthday this year, said
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Carrie Dupy, Texas regional director for the National Park's Conservation Association.
28:42
What does it mean to take care of the places
28:44
that we said we were going to protect fighting for
28:48
Big Bend. The bipartisan pushback in Texas may be prompting
28:53
Trump officials to change their plans when it comes to
28:55
Big Bend National Park. At least one hundred thirty two
28:59
local businesses and organizations sent a letter to Congress asking
29:04
the Appropriations Committee to stop the use of federal funds
29:08
for a project that would cause irreversible damage to the
29:11
integrity of our natural heritage. Texas oilman Rush Warren, a Republican,
29:17
said he understands the need for a wall elsewhere, but
29:21
not in the National Park. It seems to me that
29:24
whatever we're doing is working, so why do we need
29:27
a wall here? In Tilingua, residents packed the Cinebar theater
29:32
on a recent evening, ready to mobilize. They have written lawmakers,
29:36
formed committees to contact people who have come as tourists,
29:40
and posted on social media. Archaeologist David Keller, who has
29:44
surveyed the region's artifacts, burial sites, and cultural significance, encourage
29:50
the community to be disciplined but firm. If construction crews
29:54
come to town, we can be civil, he said, but
29:57
we don't have to be nice. In early March, the
30:01
CBP released a new map that seemed to indicate a
30:04
physical barrier would no longer be constructed in the national park. Instead,
30:09
only detection technology would be used. Some in the community
30:14
declared victory after seeing the change. This month, CBP solicited
30:19
public comment on the plan, with the window closing in April.
30:23
Andrew Malaris, a spokesman for Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott,
30:28
said in a statement that Abbot would prefer that the
30:31
Trump administration deploy technology to aid in securing the border
30:35
in isolated areas like Big Bend instead of a new wall,
30:39
but Malarius added that Texas will support and assist the
30:43
Trump administration in deterring, arresting, detaining, and deporting illegal immigrants.
30:49
Asked whether the updated map indicates the CBP is reconsidering
30:53
whether to build a physical barrier in Big Bend or
30:57
a neighboring state park, the agency said is it is
31:00
still developing and finalizing its plan. Local guide Mike Davidson,
31:05
who fell in love with the Big Bend area as
31:07
a visitor more than fifty years ago, said he doesn't
31:11
trust the federal government to be transparent about his plans
31:14
and fears it is setting a dangerous precedent for protected lands.
31:19
It's like putting a giant billboard in Yellowstone or Ysemite.
31:23
The seventy three year old said, they're going to violate
31:26
everything that a national park stands for and for a
31:29
very small reward. This article is accompanied by several photos.
31:34
The first is captioned canoeists travel down the dark Canyon
31:38
portion of the Rio Grande in Big Band Ranch State
31:41
Park this month in Tarlinga, Texas. The photo shows two
31:45
individuals in a canoe with rock outcroppings in the background. Next,
31:51
there's a graphic entitled Trump's forty six point five billion
31:54
dollars smart Wall plant. Hundreds of miles of new border
31:58
barriers will be built through public and protected lands. The
32:02
graphic shows a map with a diagram of where the
32:06
map will be, with some areas showing new floating barriers,
32:10
some areas showing new sensors, new wall, existing wall, and
32:15
a new secondary wall. Also, replacement projects and some short
32:19
segments were omitted from the graphic source US Customs and
32:24
Border Protection data accessed March nineteenth. The next photo is
32:28
captioned park visitors take in the sunset from an overlook
32:32
on the Rio Grande Village nature trail in Texas's Big
32:36
Ben National Park on March first. The next photo is
32:39
captioned A man on horseback crosses the Rio Grand back
32:43
to Mexico in Big Bend National Park. The next photo
32:47
is captioned a desert cardinal in Big Bend National Park.
32:53
Next is a graphic also a map which shows a
32:55
detail of the previous map showing details of the new
33:00
projects in Big Bed National Park. The next photo is
33:04
captioned Charlie Engel drags his canoe past a new barbed
33:08
wire barrier as he prepares to paddle down the Rio
33:11
Grand in Presidio County, Texas on February twenty eighth. The
33:16
next photo is captioned Angle Runs Eco tourism canoe trips
33:20
on the Rio Grand. The photo appears to be taken
33:23
from inside the canoe and chows Angle paddling the canoe.
33:27
The next photo is captioned A van drives through Big
33:30
Bend National Park on March first. The photo is taken
33:33
from a distance and shows the van in the foreground
33:36
with large cliffs in the background. Next photo is captained
33:41
Billy Barcoe hangs up posters opposing the border wall outside
33:44
his far flung outdoor Center gift shop in te Lingua, Texas,
33:48
on March second. The signs say no border wall. Next
33:53
photo is captioned Brewster County Sheriff Ron Dotson Wright judges
33:57
an ugly Feet contest as part of a tech Independence
34:00
Day parade in ghost Town, Texas in tei Lingua on
34:04
March second. The photo shows the sheriff in front of
34:08
a group of people sitting displaying their feet. The next
34:12
photo is captured a procession of cars takes part in
34:16
a Texas Independence Day parade in ghost Town, Texas. Next
34:21
a photo caption a participant in the parade displays opposition
34:25
to the border wall. The photo shows the rear of
34:28
a jeep with an American flag and a Texas flag
34:32
protruding from the back of the jeep and a large
34:34
sign on the back saying no wall. The next photo
34:38
is captioned Burros await people wanting a ride in the
34:41
village of Bokias, Mexico from Big Bend National Park on
34:45
March first. Next photo is Captain Javiro Gomez and Jackie
34:50
Castro of Houston take a selfie in front of the
34:53
Rio Grande outside Josie Falcon's restaurant and bar in Bokias, Mexico,
34:58
on March first. The photo shows the couple standing in
35:02
front of an open shape covered with flowers shaped like
35:05
a heart, taking a photo of the landscape behind them.
35:10
The next photo is captioned Ben der Juani Ramirez holds
35:14
up handmade beer coosies for sale Mochias on March first.
35:18
The kozi she is holding say no wall and she
35:21
is standing in front of a display of other wares.
35:24
Next is another detail of the previous map showing where
35:27
new sensors would be installed near Langford Hot Springs. The
35:32
next photo is captioned Caroline Pierre and Desmond West enjoy
35:36
the hot springs on the Rio Grande at Big ben
35:38
National Park. The United States is on the left and
35:41
Mexico is on the right. It shows the couple standing
35:44
in shallow water. The next photto is captioned Visitors relax
35:49
on the hot springs along the Rio Grande in Big
35:52
Bend National Park on March first. The photo shows several
35:55
people in shallow water. The next photto is caption and
36:00
sunrise paints the walls of the Santa Elena Canyon in
36:03
Big Band National Park on March second. Next is another
36:07
detail of the previous map, showing a location of proposed
36:11
new second day wall near Quito Balquito Springs. Next is
36:15
another detail the map, entitled where a new wall could
36:19
cut through an ancient etching source Aerial imagery via USDA.
36:26
Next to photo caption. A model of the border wall
36:29
is displayed in Terlingua, Texas, on March second, twenty twenty six,
36:33
during a meeting to discuss fighting a proposed border wall
36:36
through the region. Thomasy Minetti for The Washington Post. Next
36:40
to photo caption. Residents of Terlingua, Texas and the surrounding
36:44
areas participate in a meeting to discuss resisting a proposed
36:48
border wall through the region on March second. The next
36:52
photo is captioned in Terlingua, residents packed the Cinebar theater
36:56
on a recent evening, ready to mobilize. The next item
37:02
from to day's front page is entitled Supreme Court looks
37:06
set to limit mail in balloting. Decision could transform state's
37:10
election processes ahead of mid terms. By Justin Juvenal, the
37:15
Supreme Court on Monday appeared likely to embrace a conservative
37:19
challenge to it tallying mail in ballots that arrive after
37:22
election day, a move that could up end election procedures
37:26
in states across the country as voters prepare to cast
37:29
ballots in the midterm elections. A majority of the justices
37:33
seemed ready to side with arguments by Republicans and libertarians,
37:38
who told the court that federal election law preempts Mississippi
37:42
from counting ballots that arrive up to five days after
37:45
poll's close, as long as the air post marked by
37:47
election day. Most states require mail in ballots to arrive
37:51
by election day, but Mississippi is one of fourteen states
37:55
that allow a grace period of days or weeks. A
37:58
ruling against Mississips could open the door to challenges to
38:02
similar provisions in other states. President Donald Trump and some
38:07
conservatives have attacked mail in balloty, asserting without evidence that
38:11
it is riddled with fraud. Trump and his supporters called
38:15
for halting the count of mail in ballots after the
38:18
twenty twenty presidential election. Trump blamed the votes for his
38:22
loss in the contest. Conservative Justice Samuel A. Alito Junior
38:27
on Monday told Mississippi Solicitor General Scott G. Stewart that
38:31
allowing officials to receive ballots that arrive after election day
38:35
raises a host of thorny policy questions. How do you
38:39
consider a ballot officially submitted? How long after election day
38:43
can a ballot be received? Does it have to be
38:46
postmarked to count? He and other conservative justices suggested it
38:51
would be easier and cleaner to set election day as
38:54
a deadline for ballots to be received. Your position requires
38:58
some difficult line drawing problems, Alito said. At least five
39:03
of the six conservative justices on the Court asked skeptical
39:07
questions of Stuart, while the three liberals directed their sharpest
39:11
queries at Paul the Clement, an attorney for conservative groups.
39:15
Supreme Court Chief Justice John G. Roberts Junior was more
39:19
difficult to read, while Justice Amy Cony Barrett also posed
39:23
difficult questions of both sides. Liberal Justice Keitanji Brown Jackson
39:28
said there was nothing to limit states from counting ballots
39:31
postmarked by election day that arrived later. The Constitution gives
39:35
states and local officials authority to determine the time, place,
39:39
and manner of elections, while Congress is allowed to amend
39:43
those rules. Congress has not indicated, at least thus far,
39:48
that it intended ever to preempt this, Jackson said, the
39:52
Republican National Committee, the Mississippi Republican Party, a Mississippi voter,
39:58
and a county election commissioner filed a lawsuit against Mississippi
40:02
in twenty twenty four, contending that it was illegal to
40:06
count mail in ballots that arrived after poll's close because
40:10
federal law sets a particular day for the election. The
40:13
Libertarian Party in Mississippi later filed a similar suit. A
40:18
federal judge consolidated the cases and allowed groups made up
40:22
of veterans and retirees to intervene in the case. On
40:25
behalf of Mississippi. The judge dismissed the case before the
40:29
Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed that ruling. Mississippi then
40:34
appealed to the Supreme Court. Clement told the justices that
40:38
the idea of casting and counting ballots at the same
40:41
time has long been intertwined, and that federal law clearly
40:45
sets elections on a particular day. He also argued that
40:50
receiving ballots after election day could increase the prospect of
40:54
voter fraud and undermine faith in elections, especially if the
40:59
candidate who ultimately wins is not the one who was
41:02
ahead on election day. The losers are going to doubt
41:06
the result full stop. Clement said that is bad for
41:10
our system. Stuart kennter that existing law simply requires voters
41:15
to fill out their ballots and put them in the
41:17
mail by election day, even if the ballot arrives at
41:21
a later time. He also told the justices that the
41:25
practice has deep roots in American history, pointing to field
41:29
voting that occurred during the Civil War and other laws
41:32
in the early nineteen hundreds. States have allowed it for
41:36
over a century, and Congress has respected it, Stuart said.
41:41
The Conservative justices peppered Stewart with hypotheticals. Justice Neil M.
41:46
Gorsuch asked whether voters could ask a postal service to
41:50
recall their ballots after election day to change a vote
41:53
if a late breaking scandal about a candidate emerged. Alido
41:58
asked whether Republican or Democratic Party officials or notaries could
42:02
be designated by states to collect ballots instead of the
42:05
postal service. The Supreme Court is expected to issue a
42:09
ruling by June or July, months before voters head to
42:13
the polls to vote in the November elections. Just as
42:17
Brett M. Cavanaugh asked Clement whether a June ruling might
42:20
violate the Percel principle, a doctrine that federal court should
42:24
not change election procedures too close to elections because it
42:28
could create confusion among voters and complicate election planning by states.
42:33
Clement replied that a summer decision would not implicate Percell
42:37
because states would still have months to change election procedures
42:41
and update voters before ballots are cast in November. Several
42:45
of the justices also express concerns that requiring votes to
42:50
be received and tallied on election day might also bar
42:53
states from conducting early voting that is popular with voters.
42:58
Is there any limit to how early people can vote?
43:01
Roberts asked Clements said early voting was less problematic than
43:05
accepting ballots after election day and operated under different rules,
43:10
so would not be prohibited. The arguments came after Republicans
43:15
introduce a bill that would require all mail in ballots
43:18
to be received by election day, along with other voting restrictions.
43:23
The Supreme Court term features a number of cases dealing
43:26
with elections and voting. Last month, the justices allowed an
43:31
effort to redraw California's voting maps to give Democrats up
43:35
to five additional seats in the House of Representatives, months
43:38
after approving a similar push in Texas that could net
43:42
Republicans a similar number of seats. In January, the Supreme
43:47
Court allowed a Republican congressman from Illinois and other officials
43:52
to move forward with a lawsuit challenging the state's mail
43:55
in balloting law. The Court ruled seven to two that
43:59
candidates had standing to sue over rules governing voting. The
44:03
Court appeared ready to limit or strike down the last
44:06
remaining pillar of the landmark Voting Rights Act last October
44:10
during arguments in another case. Section two of the Act
44:14
requires states to craft voting districts under certain circumstances to
44:19
ensure minority voters have the chance to elect candidates of
44:22
their choice. A ruling undermining section two could touch off
44:27
a scramble by Republican led states to draw new districts
44:31
ahead of this year's mid terms that could result in
44:34
a number of black Democrats losing their seats, particularly in
44:37
Southern states. Republican leaders have also asked a high court
44:42
to strike down limits on how much political parties can
44:45
spend in coordination with candidates, a case that could shift
44:48
the balance of power between the parties and super packs.
44:53
This article is accompanied by a photo captioned a woman
44:57
fills out a ballot at a school in Jackson, Mississippi,
45:00
on November seventh, twenty twenty three. The photo shows a
45:04
woman wearing a mask, seated at a table in front
45:07
of a cardboard partition labeled vote with an American flag
45:11
on it. Our next gotem from today's front page is
45:15
entitled audio reveals tense moments surrounding crash. I messed up,
45:20
an air traffic controller said following the collision, which killed
45:24
two pilots and hospitalized dozens at New York's LaGuardia Airport
45:29
by Imogen Piper, Pravigna Somonsu Dharam and Leo Sans. An
45:34
air traffic controller pleaded with the driver of an emergency
45:38
vehicle to stop in the seconds before the deadly crash
45:41
on the runway of New York's LaGuardia Airport on Sunday,
45:45
and said afterward that he had been focused on an
45:47
unrelated crisis and messed up. A review of air traffic
45:51
control communication shows the Air Canada Express passenger jet crashed
45:57
into a fire fighting vehicle as it landed, killing the
46:00
planes's two pilots and injuring dozens, the first fatal incident
46:04
at the airport in more than three decades. The plane
46:08
struck an emergency vehicle on their runway that was responding
46:11
to an issue with a separate aircraft. Catherine Garcia, executive
46:15
director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey,
46:18
said at a news conference early Monday, forty one people
46:22
were taken to the hospital, some with serious injuries. She said.
46:26
Thirty two people have since been released from hospital. Garcia
46:29
added airport officials identified the two people killed as the
46:34
jets pilot and co pilot, but did not provide their names,
46:38
saying only that they were both young men at the
46:40
start of their aviation careers. At a news conference Monday,
46:44
federal aviation officials rebutted suggestions that the airport was not
46:48
properly equipped to navigate its air and ground movement, but
46:52
gave few details about what transpired, citing the ongoing investigation.
46:57
The National Transportation Safety Board, the federal agency that investigates
47:02
civil transportation accidents, also shared little new information at a
47:06
news conference Monday evening. NTSB investigators began their work around
47:11
three a m. And cut a hole through the plane's
47:14
roof to recover its cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder.
47:18
NTSB chair Jennifer Hamandy said those recorders will be analyzed,
47:24
and Hamadi said the agency would aim to share some
47:27
details that those devices may have captured this week. The
47:31
airport was closed until two p m. Monday to allow
47:34
investigators time to work at a scene. Shortly after two
47:38
p m. A flight departed the airport for the first
47:41
time since the crash. Officials said the fire fighting vehicle,
47:46
with two officers inside, was responding to an unrelated issue
47:50
involving a United air Lines jet when the collision happened
47:54
about eleven forty p m. Sunday. The two officers are
47:57
in stable condition. Garcia said the Jazz Aviation Bombadier cr
48:03
J jet was operating as an Air Canada Express flight
48:07
arriving from Montreal. Jazz Aviation said our preliminary passenger list
48:12
for flight eighty six forty six indicated the aircraft was
48:16
carrying seventy two passengers and four crew members. The airline
48:19
said in a brief statement. A recording of air traffic
48:23
control communications posted on liveatc dot com a website that
48:28
hosts live broadcasts from air traffic control towers appeared to
48:32
capture the moments leading up to and immediately after the crash.
48:37
Around eleven twenty p m, after an aborted takeoff, a
48:41
United Airlines plane reports an odor on board and requests
48:44
fire services. Hi, LaGuardia gram United twenty three eighty four,
48:50
we have an odor on the plane as well. Here
48:52
at this time we're going to be back to the gate,
48:54
request fire as well. The ground and tower controllers are
48:59
kept busy, try to handle the situation for ten minutes.
49:02
Then at eleven thirty one PM, Air traffic Control says
49:07
the United plane has declared an emergency, as air traffic
49:10
control continues to organize emergency vehicle support while coordinating other
49:15
airport traffic. Then, around eleven thirty five pm, personnel clear
49:20
an Air Canada plane to land at runway four. Two
49:24
minutes later, a person in an emergency vehicle en route
49:28
to the United plane requests permission across the same runway.
49:32
Truck one in company LaGuardia tower requesting across four at delta,
49:37
they say in the recordings, the air traffic controller grants permission.
49:42
Seconds later, a controller speaks to a plane taxiing in
49:45
the area Frontier forty one ninety five. Stop there, please, Then,
49:49
air traffic Control addresses the vehicle stop stop stop stop,
49:53
truck one stop. A loud beeping noise follows. Jazz six
49:58
four six, Jazz six for six. I see you collided
50:01
with a vehicle there, just whole position. I know you
50:04
can't move, Air Traffic Control says to the Air Canada plane.
50:08
Around eleven thirty eight p m, just over fifteen minutes
50:13
after the crash, a controller tells a pilot that he
50:16
tried to prevent the collision. I tried to reach out
50:19
to him, and we're dealing with an emergency earlier and
50:21
I messed up. The controller says, no, man, you did
50:25
the best you could. The pilot responds. Air safety consultant
50:30
and aviation professor Anthony Brickhouse reviewed the recording at the
50:34
Washington Post. Request. In a normal situation, if a fire
50:38
truck is cleared to cross the active runway, that means
50:41
that the controller would verify that there's a small window
50:44
for that fire truck to get across her runway before
50:47
anything takes off or lands, he said, based on the recording,
50:51
it appeared that one air traffic controller was solely responsible
50:55
for granting runway clearance to landing and departing planes and
50:59
visas on the ground, said Jeff Guzzetti, a former accident
51:03
investigator for the Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board.
51:09
During the Monday news conference, Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy
51:14
said there was more than one controller in the tower
51:16
Saturday night, though he did not clarify the exact number.
51:21
Duffy added that the airport's target number of controllers is
51:24
thirty seven and that it currently has thirty three certified
51:27
controllers alongside seven who are in training. The number of
51:32
controllers during nighttime and early hours varies by airport, but
51:36
having only one is not out of the ordinary. Gauzetti
51:39
said sometimes airports add a second controller if their schedule
51:43
is busier. During those times, air traffic controllers communicate with
51:48
ground vehicle crews in the way they do with pilots
51:51
as they take requests for one way clearance. Generally, planes
51:55
have priority over ground vehicles, Gazzetti said. In the La
51:59
Guardia crash, air traffic control was clearly an issue. Cozetti said,
52:04
while noting that these types of accidents can rarely be
52:06
attributed to just one cause. The airplane was barreling down
52:11
on them, but the vehicle still began to cross the
52:13
runway anyway, he said, so there's a lot of open
52:16
questions there. Photos of the aftermath showed the jet position
52:21
at the edge of runway four, its nose and pieces,
52:24
with the bris piled on the tarmac. Others showed severe
52:28
damage to a nearby emergency vehicle, which appeared to have
52:31
overturned as a large team of responders surrounded the area.
52:36
LaGuardia Airport in Queens is the third busiest airport serving
52:40
the area, transporting more than thirty million passengers in twenty
52:44
twenty four, according to port authority statistics. According to the
52:48
fly tracking website flight Aware, over five hundred flights scheduled
52:52
to fly into or out of LaGuardia were canceled on Monday.
52:57
This item is accompanied by photos. The first is captioned
53:00
Debris hangs from a damaged Air Canada Express jet that
53:04
struck a firetruck at New York's LaGuardia Airport on Sunday
53:07
Adam Gray, Reuters. The photo shows the nose of the
53:11
airplane lifted up off the ground on debris, and the
53:15
foreground is a sign reading E four twenty two. The
53:19
final photo accompanying this article is captioned Investigators inspect the
53:24
wreckage of a firetruck that collided with an Air Canada
53:27
Express jet that was landing at La Guardia Airport Adam Gray, Reuters.
53:33
The photo is at night and shows wreckage surrounded by
53:36
emergency vehicles with their lights on. The final item from
53:40
today's from page is entitled Preservationists seek to halt Kennedy's
53:44
Center renovation. Lawsuit aims to require approval from Congress compliance
53:49
with laws by Kelsey Ables. A group of eight associations
53:54
representing preservationists and architects asked a federal district court to
53:59
halt the Try Administration's renovation of the John F. Kennedy
54:02
Center for the Performing Arts, which was announced suddenly last month,
54:06
sparking fears that the storied building could face radical changes
54:10
or even demolition. In the lawsuit, filed Monday morning, the
54:14
coalition requests that the court required the administration to comply
54:18
with historic preservation laws and obtain permission from Congress to
54:22
undertake the renovation, which is expected to close the arts
54:26
venue for about two years. The group is seeking a
54:29
preliminary injunction that would immediately stop any destruction of the
54:33
structure or significant redesign until requirements are met. The Kennedy
54:39
Center's modernist design, grand public spaces, and role as a
54:43
premier cultural institution to gather form an irreplaceable legacy of history, architecture,
54:50
and civic purpose. A copy of the lawsuit, which was
54:53
reviewed by The Post, says that legacy is in peril.
54:58
The lawsuit also advances claim for anticipatory demolition, which has
55:03
not been used in previous cases challenging the Trump administration's
55:06
treatment of historic sites. It alleges that the White House
55:10
has already altered essential elements of the Kennedy Center's design
55:15
by repainting the exterior columns white and adding President Donald
55:19
Trump's name to the facade without approval. In so doing,
55:23
it says, the administration has triggered a violation that can
55:27
bring about denial of permits, funding, and related authorizations for
55:31
the overarching project. The Kennedy Center is not a personal
55:36
project of any president. It is a national cultural monument
55:40
built to honor John F. Kennedy and to serve the
55:43
American people, said Rebecca Miller, executive director of the DC
55:47
Preservation League, one of the plaintiffs. Federal law requires transparency,
55:52
expert review, and public participation before it can be fundamentally altered.
55:58
The President's announcement on sis social media last month that
56:01
the venue would close starting July fourth shocked the performing
56:05
arts world, up ended scheduled programming, and said performers and
56:09
staff scrambling. Shortly after, Trump told reporters I'm not ribbing
56:15
it down. I'll be using the steel, a comment that
56:18
only exacerbated concern about the fate of the building, which
56:21
is eligible for the National Register of Historic Places. The
56:25
President said the project would cost about two hundred million dollars.
56:30
The outcome of the case could set a precedent for
56:33
how historic civic buildings across the country fair under an
56:37
administration that has repeatedly overlooked preservation norms, most notably in
56:42
tearing down the East wing of the White House in
56:44
the fall without notice. The new legal challenge follows Representative
56:49
Joyce Baty's motion this month asking a federal court to
56:53
block the venue shut down, halt any plans for demolition
56:56
or renovation, and stop employees from being termined and performances
57:01
from being canceled. The Ohio Democrat also requested that the
57:05
administration provide a number of documents related to the renovation,
57:10
an asked that was granted by the court on March fourteenth.
57:14
Renderings of the new Kennedy Center shared by Trump on
57:17
social media on March thirteenth seemed to suggest a less
57:21
invasive revamp, but some were skeptical such images could be trusted.
57:26
We are concerned that, as with a White House East Wing,
57:30
the potential scope of planned changes is understated and will
57:33
result in irreparable loss. Caroquillan, president and CEO of the
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National Trust for Historic Preservation, another group on the suit,
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said in a statement. Greg Workheiser, founding partner at Cultural
57:48
Heritage Partners, one of the legal firms representing the plaintiffs,
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echoed the concern when decisions about America's heritage are made
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behind closed doors, the rule of law is the only safeguard,
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he said. The Trump administration did not immediately respond to
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requests for comment. Due to the constraints of time, we
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will be unable to complete this item. This concludes the
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reading of the Washington Post for to day, Tuesday, March
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twenty fourth, twenty twenty sixth. Your reader for to day
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has been Cindy Fraser. If you have any questions, comments,
58:23
or suggestions concerning this program, please feel free to call
58:26
us at eight five nine four two two six three
58:29
nine zero. Thank you for listening, and now please stay
58:33
tuned for continued programming on Radio I