Transcript

3.14.26 · Washington Post

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Speaker 1: Welcome to the reading of Today's Washington Post for Saturday,
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March the fourteenth of twenty twenty six. Your reader is
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Alis Stana. With reminder the radio eyes for those blinder
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have difficulties in holding a reading printed material. So we
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start with the front page of today's paper, and the
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very top of the paper, except for the column on
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the right, is taken of a picture entitled A Scorched
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Country and is a picture of rescue workers searching for survivors.
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Friday in southern Tehran, bombs are shaking the city day
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and night, leaving residents in a state of shock. And
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you see these workers in red suits with the stripes
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across the top that are visible. One has on a
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jacket or two, the others are just the red suits
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in just a pile of rubble, absolute pile of rubble.
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To the right of that, six killed in crash of
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Air Force refueler operating in Iraq and support of Iran
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war an apparent midair accident. Other aircraft landed safely below
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the picture. Economy was shakier than fought before outset of
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war in the Middle East. Benchmarks which predate offensive against
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Iran point to weaker growth pesky inflation and the next
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article full inquiry launched into school strike that Trump blamed
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on Iran. The move appears to tacitly acknowledge growing body
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of evidence of US responsibility. And then below the fold
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on the far left, you will confirm secret meetings with
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US amid Trump's threats. President has warned that the island
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nation is next in line after Venezuela and Iran. Far
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right Grinnell leaves Kennedy's Center after tumultuous dint as president.
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Ticket sales plummeted during his tenure as he oversaw sweeping
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leadership changes, and in between the article on Cuba and
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the iconic Kennedy Center is a whole picture. Whole picture
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of taken in Pennsylvania of snow geese and is entitled
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Flocking Together And you just see I see one, two,
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three full full bodies of snow geese and then just
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billion around them Flocking together. Snow geese takeoff last week
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from sixty three hundred acre Middle Creek property in Klinefeaersville, Pennsylvania,
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to resume their migration to the Arctic. The birds have
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been arriving in growing numbers here since the late nineteen nineties.
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For a few short weeks, they are the main attraction,
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drawing about one hundred and fifty thousand visitors annually to
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see the huge group of snow geese. My first article,
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economy was shake here than it appeared heading into Iran conflict.
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Inflation remained elevated in January, and economic growth from October
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through December was sharply lower than initially reported. And there's
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a picture of a gas price is on display at
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a filling station on March six in Plano, Texas, and
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you see an intersection with stop lights showing a bus
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eight three free fail with a yellow top and the
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bus and trucks coming underneath overhead lights. One way to
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the right. It's a railroad crossing on Central Central Central
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Avenue in Plano, Texas, and the gas station is a raceway.
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Regular gas three dollars and nineteen point nine cents and
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diesel is four dollars and thirty nine point nine cents,
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so almost three twenty and almost four forty for gas.
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Andrew Ackerman wrote the article the US economy was in
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worship in the weeks before the United States and Israel
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launched strikes against Iran, than earlier government estimates had suggested.
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According to two closely watched economic benchmarks released Friday, painting
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a picture of slowing growth and stubborn inflation, The Commerce
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Department downwardly revised its estimate of economic growth in the
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fourth quarter of last year, saying that gross domestic product
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expanded at just zero point seven percent annual rate in
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the final three months of twenty twenty five, much small
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than the one point four percent pace the Department had
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reported in an advanced estimate last month. A separate Commerce
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Department report showed that underlying inflation remained stubbornly elevated. In January,
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the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge, the Personal Consumption Expenditure's
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Price to Index, rose two point eight percent over the
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prior year, a slight decline from December, but still well
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above the Fed's two percent target. More concerning the sun economists,
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the so called core PCEE inflation, which strips out volatile
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food and energy prices and is closely watched as a
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measure of underlying price trends, ticked up to three point
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one percent in January from three percent in December. Both
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reports pre date the conflict with Iran, which is sent
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to oil prices sharply higher, threatening to push up inflation
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over the coming months. Meanwhile, the downward growth revision suggested
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that the economy was losing momentum even before the outbreak
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of hostilities in the Middle East introduced a new source
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of uncertainty into an already flagile outlook. The reports complicate
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the already difficult task for the Federal Reserve as it
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tries to cool inflation without tipping the economy into recession.
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Economists warn that rising energy costs could add to inflationary
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pressures at precisely the moment when growth appears to be flagging.
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A whiff of the stagflationary period of the nineteen seventies.
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The tone antenna of this morning's daughter delude, scream stagflation,
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said Job Brusuelas, chief economist at RSM. Markets climbed in
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early Friday trading after the release of the weaker than
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expected growth figures as investors bet that a slowing economy
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would push the thread toward cutting interest rates over the
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coming months. The revision to the fourth quarter GDP, which
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reflected a pullback in consumer spending since stocks hire as
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traders recalculated the odds of a rate cut later this year,
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a counterintuitive dynamic in which bad news for the economy
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translated into good news for Wall Street. After lowering its
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short term benchmark rates three times last year, the Fed
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hit pause on additional cuts in January and is widely
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expected to hold rate study at its meeting next week,
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as policy makers weigh a sluggish economy against inflation that
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has remained above their two percent target for five consecutive years.
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Friday's twin reports also landed at an uncomfortable moment for
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the White House, which has made lowering and restoring affordability
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a central promise of President Donald Trump's second term. Oil
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prices have already served sharply since the onset of the conflict,
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driving up costs for gasoline and transportation, and potentially adding
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to price pressures that the administration's tariffs have already introduced
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across a broad swath of consumer goods. Next article. Cuba
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acknowledges secret meetings with US as Trump dials up threats.
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Trump has warned that Cuba is next in land after
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Venezuela and Iran, saying that the Havana regime is in
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its last moments of life. There's a picture of people
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inside a convenience door watching Cuban President Miguel Diez Khaneil
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speaking on Friday in Havana, and they are at the counter,
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and you see the TV screen with the president next
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to the Cuban flag making an announcement of some sort
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by Karen De Young, Samantha Schmidt, and Adam Taylor. Amid
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crippling US sanctions an oil blockade in threats of a takeover,
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Cuban President Miguel Diaz Canal on Friday said his government
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has held direct talks with the United States aimed at
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finding solutions through dialogue to the biolateral differences between the
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two nations. The acknowledgement came in a publicly broadcast speech
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during a meeting in Havana of the top levels of
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the government and Cuban Communist Party. It confirmed widespread reports
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of recent secret meetings between senior Trump administration officials and
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Cubans close toward our Castro, the still influential former president
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and party head. We want to avoid manipulation and speculation,
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diaz Canil said in a news conference following his speech.
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The talks, he said, were still in their first phase
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DA DA DAT to establish an agenda that high level
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groups of officials on both sides would address. We have
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to construct the space that lets us move forward, Kanil said.
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Just hours before diaz Canil spoke, the government said it
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would release fifty one prisoners the latest and a gradual
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granting of pardons following mas arrest during the twenty twenty
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one attack government protest. The names of the prisoners were
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not released, and it was unclear whether they were technic
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political detainees. President Donald Trump has made clear that Cuba
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is next on his agenda of states to topple, following
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the January capture of Venezuelan strongman Nuclas Maduro and the
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launching of a war against Iran the US. Trump said
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late last week is looking forward to the great change
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that will be coming to Cuba, a country that is
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at the end of the line and in its last
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moments of life. They're down to fumes. Trump said Monday.
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It may be a friendly takeover, it might not be
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a friendly takeover. It wouldn't matter. We're talking to Cuba,
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whose leaders should make a deal, a White House official
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said Friday, in response to questions about the talks. Cuba
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is a failing nation whose rulers have had a made
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you sit back, with the loss of support from Venezuela
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and with Mexico ceasing to send them oil. The official
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spoke on the condition of anonymity under the rules set
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by the White House. Cuba has been a central issue
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through both of Trump's administrations, during which he has rolled
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back previous democratic openings in imposed news sanctions charging the
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communist regime with supporting terrorism. The current administration is stocked
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at the highest levels with Florida politicians, including Attorney General
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Pam Bondi, Uman Ambassador Mike Walls, and Secretary of State
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Marco Rubio, the son of Cuban exiles whose career is
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rooted in the antichastro cauldron of South Florida. Asked by
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lawmakers in testimony earlier this year, whether the administration was
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seeking regime change in Cuba, Rubio said, I think we
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would love to see the regime change there. That doesn't
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mean that we're going to make a change, that we
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would love to see it change. On Thursday, a group
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of Democratic senators introduced a measure intended to block military
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action against Cuba, legislation that could receive a vote by
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the end of March, but the administration's strategy appears to
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be tilted far more toward economic strangulation than military intervention,
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with the goal of bloodless takeover of Cuban institutions that
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would at least temporarily leave the current governance structure intact,
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similar to what it has affected in Venezuela. Talks between
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the two governments in the past have been mediated by
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the Vatican. Diez Canal and his remarks to the government
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and party leadership said that exchanges with the United States
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have been facilitated by unnamed international actors. While Trump has
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said that the administration was having high level talks with Cuba,
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it was not commented. It has not commented on widespread
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reports that Rivio advisers, during the Secretary's visit to a
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gathering of Caribbean nations on the island of Saint KITT's
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last month, met with Castro's grandson, Raoul Guidiermo Rodriguez Castro.
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Some Cuba experts have dismissed the idea that Rolito, as
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he is known in Cuba, would be the government's choice
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as a negotiator. Others have speculated that his influential grandfather,
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the ninety four year old brother of the late revolutionary
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leader Fidel Castro, is making an end run around the
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somewhat colorless and state leadership of Diez Canil, in conjunction
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with the powerful military brass. The talks held by high
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functionaries in the government, Diez Kneil said in his speech
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to leaders have been directed by Raul Castro, a historical
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leader of our revolution dot dot dot, and bymy Cuba's
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tenuous situation has worsened abruptly since the administration cut off
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oil supplies from Venezuela that had long provided a lifeline
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to the island. Trump then threatened to impose high tariffs
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on any country that supplied energy to Cuba. A tank
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of fully loaded with Russian fuel reportedly destined to reach
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Cuba the first week in March, never arrived. In his
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remarks Friday, Caneil indicated that the US precious strategy was working.
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No fuel has ended the country, he said for the
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past three months. While blackouts were already occurring in January
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and February, the level has now become unsustainable. He said.
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The deficit at this moment is different from what we
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were dealing with before the impact is tremendous. The US
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Embassy in Havana assesses that energy deficiency in Cuba hovers
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around sixty percent, according to an internal cable from this
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week reviewed by The Washington Post, While Cuba domestically produces
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as much as a quarter of its oil needs and
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should have enough to keep power on at critical services
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such as hospitals, the Embassy suggested in the cable that
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the island could reach a zero hour moment where water, sewerage,
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and electricity stop. That moment, notably, could produce a decision
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point for the US Embassy with little warning. The cable
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also said if communications networks fail or other essential services stop,
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potentially disrupting diplomatic operations and putting staff at risk. The
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US Embassy was already affected by energy shortages. The mission
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was running at half staff and had placed restrictions on
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generator usage at some residences, limiting their use to four
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hours a day. Residences have been supplied with battery packs,
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solar panels, and satellite telephones, the cable added. The embassy
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noted that wallet assessed that the threat level remained unchanged.
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Anti regime protest had spread to the University of Avala
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and wealthier neighborhoods in the capitol, such as Miramar, a
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sign of going discontent. The State Department did not immediately
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respond to a request for comment. At his news conference,
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Diaz Knil explained in detail the impact of the energy
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crisis on the island, where some communities have had to
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go more than thirty hours hours without power, provoking anguish
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among families. In this moment in the country, there are
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dozens of thousands of people waiting for a surgical operation
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they count gut because of the lack of electricity. There
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are solutions, but the magnitude of the problem is so
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huge that you can't see them, he said. We will
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identify areas of cooperation to address threats and guarantee the
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security and peace of both nations. Diaz Kneil said of
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the ongoing conversations with Washington. At least a million people
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more than ten percent of the population, have fled Cuba
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in recent years, many of them to the United States.
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Despite escalating tensions, cooperation between the US Coast Guard and
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its Cuban counterpart has continued, with Coastguard patrols picking up
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fleeing Cubans at sea and returning them to the island.
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Last month, the administration sent two planeloads of Cuban deportees
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back home. Diz canils of the government is also cooperating
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with US authorities to investigate the case of the ten
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armed Cuban expatriots, at least two of them US citizens,
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who were intercepted off the Cuban coast late last month
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in what authorities there have said was an attempt to
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infiltrate the island. At least five were killed in an
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exchange of fire with Cuban coastal security. They are awaiting
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a possible visit from FBI experts investigating the incident. He said.
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Six dead after US Air Force refueler crashes in Iraq
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while supporting around more. The KC one thirty five tank
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was involved in an apparent accident with another KC one five.
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The other aircraft landed safely, officials said. And you see
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a picture of the Air Force refueler with its long
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refueling tail behind it flying and the article is by
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Tera kopp Alex Horton and Evan Hill. All six service
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members aboard a US Air Force refueling aircraft that crashed
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in Iraq while supporting operations in Iran are dead, military
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officials said Friday. The KC one thirty five refueling aircraft
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was lost while flying over friendly airspace Thursday in western Iraq.
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US Central Command said in an apparent mid air accident
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with another aircraft. Sentcom's announcement brought the death coal of
21:54
the crash from four to six, after earlier saying that
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rescue efforts were underway for the last two crew members.
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The circumstances of the incident are under investigation, the Sentcom
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statement said, adding that the identities of the deceased personnel
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would be withheld for twenty four hours until next of
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ken were notified. The incident occurred as US forces have
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intensified island strikes on the launch and storage sites that
22:24
Aron uses for its arsenal of missiles and drums. Speaking
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alongside Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth at the Pentagon on Friday morning,
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the Joint Chiefs Chairman General Dan Kine says that casey
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one th five crashed happened during a combat mission, but
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was not the result of hostile or friendly fire. Please
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keep these brave airmen, their families, friends, and units in
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your thoughts in the coming hours and days. Those are very, very,
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very tough days when that comes on the door, Cain said,
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reading from his prepared remarks. Hexeth acknowledged the loss of
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life approximately ten minutes into his opening statement, after making
23:13
disparaging remarks about the news medium war is hell, He said,
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war is chaos, and as we saw yesterday with the
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tragic crasher at CAC one thirty five, TANKA, bad things
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can happen. Hag Seth called the tanker crew American heroes.
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Syintcom disclosed the incident in a brief statement on Thursday,
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saying the second aircraft landed safely. Three officials, speaking on
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the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive situation, said
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the second aircraft was also a KC one thirty five.
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The KC one five strato tanker carries a minimum crew
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of three a pilot, co pilot, and boom operator, the
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person responsible for overseeing the aircraft refueling other planes. It
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can also carry a navigator or other additional crew numbers,
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depending on the mission. Refueling aircraft have been in high
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demand since the start of the Trump Administration's wore with
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a run on February twenty eighth over the past two weeks,
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US forces have carried at relentless air strikes against more
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than six thousand targets, including ballistic missile sites, Iran air defense,
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Iranian air defenses, and weapons productions facilities. Aerial refueling is
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one of the most complex military emissions, but also one
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of the most critical due to the limited amount of
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fuel that fighter jets can carry and how quickly they
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run through their tanks. When fighters are tasked with conducting strikes,
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tankers are often in the air as support. Once a
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refueling mission begins, tanker pilots have to maintain the massive
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refueler in steady flight and hold a close distance as
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the operator in the back of the plane controls the
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boom with a joystick, slowly lowering it toward an approaching plane.
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It is inherently dangerous, and there have been multiple incidents
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over the years in which an incorrect approach resulted in
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damage or deaths, including a US Marine Corps incident in
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Japan in twenty eighteen wherein f Slash A eighteen aircraft
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collided with the C one thirty Tanka during a refueling mission,
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killing six. Open source flight tracking DOTA reviewed by The
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Post indicates that USKC one thirty five refueling ones on
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Thursday left refueling runs. On Thursday left from Israel's Beingurian Airport.
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Only one did not return, according to the records. A
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different KC one thirty five that had taken off from
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King Gurian returned to Israeli airspace around seven to fifteen
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pm local time, transmitting a four digit code also known
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as squawking, that indicated it was experiencing an emergency. It
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circled off the coast for around an hour before landing
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at Ben Gurion at eight thirty five PM. A photo
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posted on Facebook Thursday evening by flight tracking enthusiast purported
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to show the KC one thirty five that had landed
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safely with part of its vertical stabiliza or tail fin missing.
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Several features of the aircraft match publicly available photographs of
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the same military tanka that had landed at Ben Gurion Airport,
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broadcasting the emergency code. The post could independently verified the
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photo or identified the individual who took it. The KC
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one five crash was the second adverse incident reported by
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US military officials Thursday. Earlier in the day, the Navy
27:15
said that another kaias set in the ongoing war against Iran,
27:20
the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R Ford experienced an onboard
27:25
fire in its main laundry area, resulting in non life
27:29
threatening injuries to two sailors. Seven American service members have
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died due to hostile fire since the Iran war began.
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Last month. Six fatalities resulted from an attack at a
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port in Kuwait on March first. An Iranian drone struck
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an operations center, the officials said, killing and wounding troops
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who did not have overhead protection from aerial threats. Another
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US service member, who was wounded in a separate attack
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in Saudi Arabia on March first, died a week later
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from his injuries. The three Air Force F fifteen E
28:07
Strike Eagles were shot down mistakenly by Kuwaiti forces in
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an apparent friendly fire incident that occurred during the war's
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opening stages. The crews involved all ejected safely and were
28:22
later recovered. More than fifty thousand American troops were deployed
28:27
in support of US and Israeli operations against Iran, including
28:32
almost every type of warplane in the Air Force Fleet.
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My son was a pilot in the Navy, a helicopter pilot,
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and in his early days as a member, we got
28:46
a phone call for him saying, I cannot talk, but
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I want you to know I'm okay. His name is
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Christian and he had been part of two helicopters flying
28:58
in Guam, of which one helicopter crashed and the only
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person that died was named Christian. And he wanted Eric.
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Christian wanted us to know he was okay. But my
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heart went to the mother of the Christian that is
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no longer with us. That was about nineteen eighteen, nineteen
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years ago. Okay. Next article. After thirty years of waiting,
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a father and son's birthday wish comes true. Winsow Oysters
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has a sound that reads free oysters to any man
29:37
eighty years old accompanied by his father. And there's a
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picture of jim Rush and his son Jimmy Rush, at
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Winso's Oyster House on February twenty third in Mobile, Alabama.
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Jimmy Rush turned eighty that day and got free oysters
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with his nineteen nine nine year old father. Oh what
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a neat story. Eighty and ninety nine, Jimmy Rush began
30:08
planning his eightieth birthday celebration of about three decades ago.
30:14
Oh Sidney Page wrote this wonderful story. He got the
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idea when he spotted his sign at a restaurant in Mobile,
30:22
Alabama that read free oysters to any man, eighty years old,
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accompanied by his father, Rush, then around fifty, decided that's
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how he would mark the milestone. My dad is in
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good health and I thought he could make it, which
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he did. Rush said, And there is a picture of
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the sign free oysters to any man. This is in blue,
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eighty years old and accompanied by his father. Indeed, on
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Russia's eightieth birthday February twenty third, he walked into Winstl's
30:58
Oyster House with his the Jim Rush, to claim their
31:02
free oysters. Jim Rush is ninety nine. We were delighted,
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said Jim Rush, who has been frequenting Wintel's Oyster House
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since it opened in nineteen thirty eight as a sixdoor
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oyster bar downtown. He would often go with his own father.
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The restaurant has covered wall to wall in signs with
31:26
wisecracks and one liners, including I don't like gossip, but
31:30
what also you're supposed to do with it? And home
31:34
where you can scratch any place that itches. The signs
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have just become part of the restaurant's personality, said Clay Omanski,
31:46
whose family took over the restaurant in two thousand. They
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opened two other locations in Mobile County. Omansky said that
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the signs were already up when his family brought the business,
31:58
and they were part of the previous owner's vision. There
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are about twelve thousand signs, and most are replicated in
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the other two restaurants. And here is the original restaurant
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with a tile orange redish floor with four top tables
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of red and you see the iconic ketchup jar on
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the top of the table. There are wainscotting in green,
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and then rows of signs and pictures outlined in black
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and red. I mean, it's just multiicolor red, green, orange, yellows,
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different shades of yellows, different shades of blue, and eat
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three quarters. We both start reader's choice partial signs that
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are there. All the sayings on the wall, things he
32:53
either coined himself or that he heard from other people
32:56
and thought were funny sayings, Aminski said, adding that the
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original owner rogan memoir and said the signs were a
33:04
worthwhile investment. Ominski said, people love reading the signs and
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they forget that their food is taking too long. There
33:13
is no place like this must be the right place.
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Oysters a dozen eighty five cents, a half dozen fifty cents,
33:27
oysters fried, stewed and nude. And there is a picture
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taken in the late nineteen forties of the original owner
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of Windsor's Oysters. His name was Jay Oliver Winsl. He
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doesn't know exactly when the father's son free Oyster sign
33:46
was put up, but said it would have been nearly
33:49
ninety years ago, when the average life expectancy was about
33:54
sixty one. It looks like one of the older ones
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dot that not probably one of the initial signs that
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he displayed, Ominsky said. Omainsky said he believes the Russias
34:05
of the first pair to claim the free oysters at
34:08
the original location. A different father and son cashed in
34:12
on the AFA at the Westmobile Restaurant about ten years ago.
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It's very rare, Emainsky said. Jimmy Rush's younger brother, Karl,
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planned the eightieth birthday at the rest birthday party at
34:27
the restaurant, knowing that his older brother had long dreamed
34:30
of the free oysters. About sixty people attended, and there's
34:35
a picture of them of the brothers Carl, Jim and
34:41
Jimmy sitting at a wooden table enjoying. It looks like
34:45
cornbread a birthday It's birthday cake. We've been talking about
34:50
it for thirty years, said Karl Rush, seventy seven, referring
34:55
to the sign. Some of the friends at the party
34:57
were just there to make sure it happened. Family in
35:01
France watched. Is Jim and Jimmy Rush, who lived together
35:05
in Pensacola, Florida, enjoyed their dozen free oysters. The Rush
35:10
family paid for the rest of the food for guests,
35:13
including shrimp and grits, gumbo, fried chicken, and plenty of oysters.
35:18
And here's a picture, Oh my god, that looks so
35:20
good of the oysters. Oysters sauce on ice with a beer,
35:26
a Corona beer and a Chorus beer, and the crackers
35:30
that go along with them, little lemon on the sides squeezed.
35:36
We just said keep them coming, said Carl Rush, who
35:40
lives in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida. Jim Rush and his
35:45
late wife raised their three children, Jimmy, Carl, and their
35:48
younger sister Dorothy in Mobile. After serving in World War
35:53
Two and the Korean War, Jim Rush worked thirty one
35:56
years at the local post office. In retirement, he moved
36:00
to a waterfront home in Gulf Shores, Alabama, and he
36:04
lived there for about thirty five years. He would often
36:07
catch seafood right in front of his home within five
36:12
minutes of closing the door. I could be down there shrimping, oystering, crabbing,
36:16
or fishing, Jim Rush said. Oysters have always been the
36:21
family favorite. I'd rather have oysters than anything else, Jim
36:25
Rush said. For many years, the Russis had an annual
36:29
tradition of eating at Winsol's oyster House before riding in
36:33
the local Marty Grars parade. We did that for about
36:37
twenty years, Carl Rush said. Jim Rush, who has five
36:43
grandchildren and two great grandchildren, said he has maintained his health.
36:48
He isn't on any medication and has been seriously sick
36:52
only twice in his life. When he was five he
36:55
had scarlet fever, and when he was ninety seven he
36:58
had his appendix removed and caught COVID in the hospital.
37:02
Despite having macula degeneration, Jim Rush still walks four to
37:06
five miles a day. I can't see much, but I
37:10
can see enough to walk around. I feel good all
37:13
the time, he said. While Jim Rush said there's no
37:17
secret to his long life, he believes eating copious quantities
37:21
of oysters, which are rich in vitamins and minerals, has
37:24
contributed to his health. I like them just raw, right
37:29
on the shelf, said Jim Rush, adding that he takes
37:32
them with a splash of hot sauce. Although Winstle's Oyster
37:36
doesn't require patrons to show ID when claiming free oysters,
37:41
the Rushes were proud to display theirs. It was like,
37:46
this is real, this is happening, Aminski said. In a
37:50
world where everything changes and there's not a lot you
37:53
can rely on, it's nice to know that promises still
37:57
get kept, even if it takes eighty years. Emyski said
38:01
the afternoon was even more joyful than he anticipated. It
38:06
wasn't the free oysters, dot it was the fact that
38:09
there was an eighty year old man who walked in
38:12
the door with his father and to hear that this
38:15
is something that they'd actually aspired to achieve, that's pretty cool,
38:20
he said. After Fox ten News covered the story, Amiski
38:25
got a call from a woman asking if she could
38:28
come for free oysters with her mom when she turns eighty.
38:32
We'd give free oysters to any year eighty year old
38:36
woman with her mother. Emansky said, we would never be
38:39
discriminatory about that. The Russias said, finally getting the free
38:44
oysters was a thrill, and they're stunned by the attention
38:48
they've received. We were out for oysters and there were
38:51
two couples on either side of us who had seen
38:54
us on television. Jimmy Rush said, it seems like everywhere
38:58
we go they've already in back to the restaurant, which
39:01
is about an hour long drive from their home. Three
39:04
times since the celebration, they've been offered a dozen free oysters,
39:08
priced around nineteen ninety nine each time. The sign doesn't
39:13
say you only get him once. Jimmy Rush crypt Karl
39:18
Rush's eightieth birthday is October one, twenty twenty eight, and
39:22
he plans to celebrate at Winsle's Oyster House, sharing a
39:26
plate of freeoysters with his dad. I intend to be there,
39:31
Jim Rush said. White House Prepared poses a new visitor
39:37
screening center to access grounds the thirty three thousand square
39:43
foot screening center planned below Sherman Park would be the
39:48
Trump administration's latest effort to remake the White House Grounds.
39:53
My goodness, this is certainly not the Washington d C
39:56
I knew you see in this rendering, and I'm sure
40:01
it's wow. You see the proposed ballroom, east wing, massive building,
40:09
but next to it this incredibly huge area with a
40:14
huge building and statue in the middle and underground entrance
40:22
area into getting into the White House. Wow, it's a rendering,
40:28
but it's a new White House visitor centum. There is
40:32
one now at the Capitol. By Dan Diamond. The White
40:38
House on Friday unveiled plans for a thirty three thousand
40:41
square foot visitor screening center located below a park southeast
40:46
of the mansion, the latest step in President Donald Trump's
40:50
effort to remake the White House grounds. Visitors and tour
40:55
groups would access the White House Grounds by going into
40:58
a facility beneath Sherman Park, according to plans posted on
41:02
the website of the National Capitol Planning Commission, a committee
41:06
charged by Congress with overseeing federal construction. The new seven
41:11
Lanes Greening center would replace temporary trailers and tents that
41:17
have long been used as screen White House visitors, who
41:20
sometimes faced lengthy wait times during major events. The White
41:26
House aus proposed a new five thousand square foot resessed
41:29
plaza on the south side of Sherman Park, abutting the
41:33
screening center, which the White House savy be used to
41:38
enter the facility and prevent queueing on Fifteenth Street Northwest.
41:43
Visitors would exit the screening facility via a new four
41:46
thousand square foot building close to Trump's planned at Ballroom.
41:51
According to the plans, the monument to General Union General
41:57
William dacumsa Sherman at the center of the park would
42:00
remain untouched. The White House said the project is being
42:04
overseen by the Executive Office of the President, the Secret Service,
42:09
and the National Park Service. The White House said that
42:12
Trump was personally driving the project in an effort to
42:15
provide the best experience possible for White House guests. This
42:22
President took it upon himself to modernize the experience for
42:25
visitors touring the White People's House from the beginning to end.
42:30
White House spokesman Davis Ingalls said in a statement. The
42:34
White House did not respond to questions about how the
42:37
project will be funded. Administration officials are set to present
42:42
the plans at in April second meeting of the NCPC,
42:46
which is led by Trump allies who have indicated their
42:49
support for his past projects. The preliminary agenda list a
42:54
vote on comments related to the plan's concepts, not a
42:58
final vote to approve the project. The Commission is separately
43:02
expected to vote at that meeting on Trump's planned ballroom,
43:06
a project that officials have sometimes linked with their broader
43:10
plans for the campus. Jamashua Fisher, a senior White House official,
43:16
previewed the visitor screening plans in January na January meeting
43:19
as part of a presentation on Trump's ballroom. He cast
43:24
the project at the time as part of a broader
43:26
effort to enhance the experience of visiting the iconic grounds. Historically,
43:32
when you come to the White House, you go through
43:34
double wide trailers tents out in the cold. Fisher said,
43:39
we don't think that's befitting of what the White House
43:42
should be or could be. Frankly, Phil Mendelssohn, who sits
43:49
on the Commission by virtue of his position as DC
43:53
Council Chairman, responded by criticizing the Trump administration for not
43:58
waiting to present their proposals for the White House. Collectively,
44:02
we're looking at what appears to be an overall plan
44:05
and a very segmented approach, Mendelssohn said in January. Unpopular
44:13
war makes friendships with Trump reliability for European leaders. Italian
44:20
Prime Minister is Giorgia Maloney and a constellation of other
44:24
conservative leaders are the defensive over the ties to President
44:30
Donald Trump because of his war against Iran. And there
44:35
is a picture of Italian Prime Minister as Giorgia Maloney
44:39
meeting with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office on
44:42
April seventeenth of twenty twenty five. She is in a
44:46
white pansuit. She is leaning forward across her crossed legs
44:52
and her chin is resting on her left arm or
44:57
left hand. She has bracelets of multicolors on that hand,
45:03
and she's in the gold backed damask covered chair in
45:08
front of the fireplace and President Trump and his is
45:12
in his blue suit with red tied normal a fit
45:18
by Anthony Faola and Stefano Petrelli Rome. It was a
45:25
spotlight moment for Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Maloney to defend
45:29
her warm ties to President Donald Trump. On the floor
45:33
of the Italian Senate, she listened to an opposition lawmaker
45:37
challenged her links to an American leader who, in his words,
45:41
had brought destruction to the Middle East, aligned with the Russians,
45:46
and sought the unraveling of Europe and NATO. Maloney's answer
45:50
surprived even the questioner, Senator Carlos Calinda. Senator Kalinda, frankly,
45:57
I don't consider your assessments of President Donald Trump far fetched,
46:02
she said. Following Trump's initiation of an unpopular war in
46:07
the Middle East, leaders in Europe who had staked their
46:11
closer ties to the president are watching those links transform
46:15
from asset to liability. Perhaps nowhere is truer than Italy,
46:20
where Maloney, known as Europe's Trump whisperer, is doing political contortions,
46:25
condemning what she describes as a dangerous Iranian regime while
46:30
raising questions about the legality of the war. Maloney on
46:35
Wednesday condemned the strike on an Iranian school that killed
46:39
at least one hundred and seventy five people, mostly children,
46:43
demanding swift responsibility for what she called a massacre. At
46:49
a time when Italian outlets have widely reported suspicion of
46:53
US culpability. In the same appearance, Maloney, who belongs to
46:58
the populist right wing Brothers of Italy Party, warned of
47:03
unilateral interventions carried out outside the perimeter of international law.
47:10
In echoes of Canadian Prime Minister Mark Kearney, a target
47:14
of Trump who has spoken about a rupture in the
47:17
world order under the current US administration, she declared, the
47:22
collapse of a shared world order. This is a process
47:26
that has been underway for some time, but which has,
47:29
in my opinion, reached a very specific turning point. Maloney
47:34
said her framing, unlike Carney's, did not pass judgment and
47:40
was presented instead as an objective assessment of modern times.
47:45
She penned the erosion of international law to Russia's invasion
47:50
of the Ukraine and the Hamas attack on Israel on
47:53
October seventh of twenty twenty three. She also seemed to
47:57
back American gold, saying can I'd afford an iototal regime
48:02
in possession of nuclear weapons? But the senator who challenged her,
48:08
a former government minister with whom Maloney maintains a working relationship,
48:13
saw her comments on the war against Iran as the
48:16
Prime minister's own turning point on Trump. She was really
48:21
defending not just Trump but the MAGA movement values, Calinda
48:27
said in an interview with The Washington Post. And then
48:31
I think what changed everything was this war because also
48:35
in her own electoral base, they are very upset about
48:38
what is happening. The fact is Trump is becoming very,
48:43
very unpopular in Italy. This war is very unpopular, the
48:50
senator added. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, a center left socialist,
48:56
has made headlines by standing up to the Trump administration
49:00
on the war in Iran. Yet a more worrying sign
49:04
for the White House might be the reaction of its
49:07
closest European allies, a constellation of right wing and populist
49:12
leaders for whom the administration has voiced support, but who
49:16
are now on the defensive. Inside Germany's far right Alternative
49:21
for Germany a DF or a FD party, which the
49:26
Trump administration has defended and allied with in the past,
49:30
the US attack on Iran has triggered a war of words.
49:34
Tina Tirupala, an AfD CO leader, criticized Trump in a
49:39
radio interview, saying he would go from being remembered as
49:42
a president of peace to one of war. That sparked
49:47
pushback from Trump supporters within AfD ranks, particularly as Tirupala
49:53
sounded more critical of Trump than Germany's center right Chancellor
49:57
Friedrich merch Mertz. Last month, Secretary of State Marco Rivio
50:04
went out of his way to pay respects to Slavic
50:07
Prime Minister Robert Robert Fico, who is called Trumpet very
50:13
pragmatic and rational leader if Fico blasted the assault on
50:17
Iran in harsher terms than Sanchez did, saying in a
50:21
video address to his nation that we are witnessing further
50:26
proof of the total collapse of the international order and
50:29
the complete disregard for international law. The big and powerful
50:33
do as they please. That we can condemn these actions,
50:38
we will change absolutely nothing against a military Iraq in Iran.
50:45
Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Urban, who maintains close ties to
50:50
the White House and Trump's MAGA movement, has been banking
50:53
on the US leader's support to aid him in what
50:56
is shaping up to be the toughest election of his tenure.
50:59
This day April, he has sought nuance in his response
51:03
to the outbreak of war, backing Trump, while also suggesting
51:07
in a TV interview that he had advised the US
51:12
leader against it. Orbon has also starkly outlined the downsides.
51:18
War in the Middle East brings rising risks, he said
51:23
in social media post, adding a prolonged conflict may trigger
51:29
new waves of mass migration flowing from Iran to Turkey,
51:33
through the Balkans to Alboro. At the same time, L
51:37
and G deliveries from guitar a halted and energy prices
51:41
are rising. These are testing times. Hungry must prepare and
51:46
make sure the damn holds. Orbon has tried to distance
51:52
himself from the war without alienating Trump, said Zusana Vey,
51:58
of political analysts at the German Marshall Fund, even as
52:03
he tries to leverage the rise in oil prices for
52:06
an election campaign focused on criticizing Ukraine and clashing with
52:10
the European Union. Orbon cannot say much else because he's
52:16
been positioning himself as a force for peace. But from
52:20
the Hungarian government perspective, this war is bad. It can
52:24
increase energy prices, it can restart migration flows, they said.
52:30
Maloney's alliance with Trump is weighing on her at precisely
52:33
the wrong time, as she is expending enormous political capital
52:38
on a high stakes referendum for judicial reform this month
52:43
that some also see as a test of confidence in
52:45
her government. Pressed on her ties to Trump after the
52:49
intervention in Venezuela in January, Maloney said, I agreed with
52:55
Trump on Venezuela and I didn't agree on Greenland. Doctor.
52:59
It's called the ending one's national interest because the interest
53:02
of nations don't always perfectly overlap. Maloney's balancing act with
53:09
Trump finally broke down with the war in Iran, said
53:13
Ferruccio di Botoli, a former editor in chief of Coria
53:18
de la Sera, an Italian newspaper. Her great concern today is,
53:23
of course, losing support because of a war that isn't
53:27
her own. Nicola Pchercini, a close Maloney alla who was
53:34
a member of the European Parliament, pushed back at any
53:37
suggestion that the Prime Minister is disingcing herself from Trump.
53:43
Nothing has changed in the relationship between Italy and the
53:46
US Maloney and Trump. Patriccini said, we hope that the
53:52
Ranian threat is canceled. He warned against a rush to
53:56
judgment on US intervention, saying we should wait for the
53:59
end of the war in Iran. Look at Venezuela. The
54:04
operation was perfect, he said. The American leader was never
54:09
truly popular in Italy. The Poles routinely showed Italian somewhat
54:14
less sour on Trump than the British, Germans or Spanish.
54:18
He felt less alien to a country. Similar with Silvio Berusconi,
54:23
a late playboy billionaire who became the most influential modern
54:28
Italian statesman. The optics of a Maloney Trump friendship played
54:34
mostly well. Here an example of how Italy's first female
54:38
prime minister and its most stable sins Bera Lusconi, was
54:43
elevating Italy's statue and importance. The two saw out eye
54:49
on migrant crackdowns and that anti woke agenda. They both
54:55
took aims at judges who didn't rule in their favor.
54:58
Maloney was one of the few European leaders to defend
55:02
Vice President J. D. Bants after his controversial speech in
55:06
Unich in which he chided Europe for isolating far right parties.
55:11
Their friendship became a running story. During an encounter in
55:16
October in Egypt, Trump called her a beautiful young woman,
55:21
as recently as this week, he made a point of
55:23
telling Correa de della Sera that Maloney always tries to help.
55:29
She's an excellent leader, and she's a friend of mine.
55:32
Do I love Italy. I think she's a great leader.
55:36
But amid his threats of seizing Greenland, his foreign interventions,
55:41
and his administration's verbal attacks on the European Union, Trump's
55:45
popularity in Italy has fallen in recent months, with the
55:49
UGOV poll in January showing that seventy seven percent of
55:53
Italians held an unfavorable view of him. Now, gas prices
56:00
at Italian pumps are jumping during a war that many
56:02
here see as having no pure objective or cause, putting
56:06
Maloney's friendship with Trump on trial. The Italian press, meanwhile,
56:11
is drawing attention to the religious overtones of and warborough
56:15
style of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, dubbing him the ex
56:20
soldier who wants to kill everyone and Ayatola Hegseth. Maloney's
56:27
hobnobbing at Mara a Lago and the white hosh, her
56:30
opponents pointed out, also didn't help when American bombs fell
56:34
and triggered a regional war. The Italians received no advanced
56:38
notice from the Americans, leaving Maloney's own defense minister caught
56:42
off guard, stranded with his family in Dubai as airspace closed.
56:49
Verbal blows to Maloney by l. A. Schleen, the head
56:53
of the opposition Democratic Party, have tended not to land
56:58
very hard in the past. They have begun to stem.
57:02
The Italian government cannot remain subservient to the US administration,
57:07
or it will preparably harm the diplomatic role that Italy
57:11
has always played dot dot in the regime, she Lean
57:14
declared shortly after the US assault. She added, the friendship
57:19
Maloney claims to have a Trump didn't prevent him from
57:22
failing to warn her of the attack, so much so
57:25
that our defense minister was stuck in Dubai. And with that,
57:32
I end today's reading of the Washington Post from March
57:35
the fourteenth of twenty twenty six, and I'll just add
57:39
that last Saturday, after I read the Washington Post, I
57:44
went to fix a dessert for dinner that night and
57:47
sliced my finger, just gently slice my finger. But I
57:52
have three stitches in my left index finger to which
57:57
I will go after I read this morning to get
57:59
those three stitches out. I will be back Thursday. Have
58:04
a good weekend. I don't know whether we'll have snow
58:08
Monday or not, but stay warm, get outside if you can,
58:13
have a good weekend. Bye,