Transcript

12.11.25 · Washington Post

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Speaker 1: Welcome to the reading of Today's Washington Post. But Thursday,
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December the eleventh of twenty twenty five, we are almost
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at the end of the year. Your reader is Alistainer
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with the reminder that RADIOI is a program for those
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that are born to have other disabilities in being able
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to hold or read printed material. So I'll start with
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today's front page, and most of the front page is
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taken up with the Venezuelan Nobel Peace Laureate Morchardo, who
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missed this ceremony, and there is a picture of Anna
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Corina Sosa Machado, who is the daughter of Venezuelan opposition
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politician and Nobel Priest Pie's recipient Maria Corina Machado and
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her daughter is attending the Nobel Priest prize ceremony at
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Oslo City Hall on Wednesday on her mother's behalf. Sosa
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said Machado had left Venezuela after nearly a year in
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hiding and she later arrived in Oslo and her daughter
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is a lovely full length gray dress with buttons down
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the front and long sleeves just a regular round collar.
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The stage is decorated with it looks like Lily's yellow
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and sort of orange sparkly lilies. There is a big
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portrait of her mother in the middle of the stage,
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and then the two presenters on the right hand side
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steps leading up to the stage to the right of
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that is boasting pressure on boosting pressure in Venezuela us
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Caesar's oil tanker new tactic in campaign against Maduro Vessel
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was defying American Sanctus Bondi, says by Samantha Schmidt, Matt Weissner,
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Karen de Young, and Meg Kelly. Below that article, an
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inside review of the order to kill two survivors between
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first and second hit Admiral Faced, Most faithful Choice of
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Korea by Noah Robertson, Alex Horton, and Ellen Nakashima. Underneath
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the picture of Machado and her daughter, A divided Federal
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Reserve cuts interest rates again by Andrew Ackerman. Central Banker's
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debate on economy's mixed signals on inflation and a market
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Below the fold on the left, migrants blocked from bond
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are fighting back. Immigration attorneys have been winning cases challenging
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detentions by RL R. Hernandez. There is a small picture
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sort of in the middle of below the fold, a
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treat for gozens of Vendorea Gazas City sells cotton candy Wednesday.
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UN agencies have reported an increase in aid since the
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Sea Skire came into effect, but say the levels are
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still far below what is needed. And there is a
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picture of a man with lots of pink cotton candy
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in his arm. And then to the right of that
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visa banned bars US surgeons from critical work in Chad.
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Country's mutual travel restrictions leave two doctors unable to operate
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by Rachel Chasin. And then below the picture of the
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Gosen cotton candy DCA crash. Families voice concerns over bill
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by Lauri Aratani and Tara Koff. I'll start with the
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Venezuelan US sees is very large oil tanka off Venezuelan coast.
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Trump says the seizure was a significant escalation in the
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US pressure campaign against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his
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country's oil dependent economy. And there's a picture of a
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satellite image showing the oil tanker skipper on the right
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doctor at the Jose Term in Barcelona, Venezuela, weeks before
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the US seized the ship by Samantha Schmidt, Matt Weiser,
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Karen de Young, and Meg Kelly. US forces seized in
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oil tanker near the Venezuelan coastline. Wednesday, President Donald Trump
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said a significant escalation in the US pressure campaign against
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President Nicholas Maduro and his country's oil dependent economy. Attorney
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General Pambondi said the US Coast Guard, the FBI, and
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Homeland Security Investigations executed a seizure warrant for a crude
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oil tanker used to transport oil from Venezuela and Iran
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in defiance of sanctions. The oil tanker had been sanctioned
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by the US due to its involvement in an illicit
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oil shipping network supporting foreign terrorist organizations, Bondy wrote on
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X Wednesday evening. She also shared a video that shows
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US forces jumping out of helicopters and searching the large
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vessel on foot. Earlier Wednesday, Trump described the vessel as
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very large and the largest one ever seized. Actually, and
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other things are happening, Trump said, speaking at a roundtable
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meeting of business leaders at the White House, adding, so
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you'll be seeing that later, and you'll be talking about
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that later with some other people. The ship is named Skipper,
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according to a US official who spoke on the condition
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of anonymity under rule set by the White House. It
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was sanctioned in twenty twenty two under an earlier name,
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the Panamanian flagged Adiza. The Treasury Department Office of Foreign
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Assets Control referred to the ownership at the time as
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tried to navigate in the Marshall Islands. Triton was sanctioned
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with OFAC documents referencing a Swiss based Ukrainian citizen, Richtor
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sergorovoyych Artamov, who was also sanctioned at the time. OFAC
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described him as the leader of a network of ships
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and illegal companies used to export Iranian oil for the
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benefit of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard at Corps and Hasbalah.
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Trump did not provide further details about the seizure the
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tanker or where it was headed. I assume we're going
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to keep the oil, he said. No opposing forces or
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crew were visible on the video of the takeover BONDI released,
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and neither she nor Trump mentioned anything about who was
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aboard the bustle. The Navy and Coast Guard referred questions
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to the White House. One person familiar with a seiza
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said the tanker appeared to be carrying Venozo whalen oil
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to Cuba. The person spoke of the condition of anonymity
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to discuss sensitive details. The claim cannot be immediately corroborated.
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The legal authority under which the vessel and its contents
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were seized was not specified by the administration. Washington has
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imposed sanctions on Venezuela and its state owned oil company,
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as well as Iran. Several administrations, including Trumps, have also
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sanctioned tankers alleged to be transporting illegal oil exports from
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countries under sanctions. Depending on what legal justification they used
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to seize the vessel, it could create a lot of
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problems for the regime, a person familiar with the seizure said.
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The person who spoke on the condition of anonymity to
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discuss sensitive details, said the seizure could have a big
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financial impact. Hours after Trump confirmed the seizure, Venezuelan Foreign
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Minister Yvonne Guil, in a statement posted on Instagram, said
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Caracas strongly denounces and rejects what constitutes a blatant theft
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and an act of international parrecy. The true reasons for
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the prolonged aggression against Venezuela have finally been revealed. It's
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not migration, it's not drug trafficking, it's not democracy. It
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has always been about a natural resources, Gill said. Trump's subjective,
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he said, has always been to take Venezuelan oil without
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paying anything in return. The seizure adds a new tactic
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to the Trump administration's months long military campaign in waters
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near Venezuela. Since September, US forces have launched strikes against
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more than twenty boats in alleges were carrying drugs to
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the United States. The strikes have killed at least eighty
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seven people. The Pentagon has dispatched eleven warships, scores of
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aircraft in thousands of personnel to the Caribbean Sea and
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Pacific Ocean in what it has described as an anti
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drug trafficking mission. The build up appears to also be
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a pressure campaign to unseat Maduro, whom Trump is alleged
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directs traffickers and criminals to assault the United States. Trump
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told Politico this week the Maduros days are numbered and
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declined to rule out sending US troops into Venezuela. Venezuela
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boasts the world's largest proven oil reserves, but mismanagement, decrepit equipment,
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and US led sanctions have sharply limited output. The country
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is exporting a daily average of about nine one hundred
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thousand barrels. Bruders has reported, up from last year, but
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far below the two point four million barrels it exported
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daily in two thousand and eight. Its largest customers are
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China and the US, which in July reissued a license
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to the US energy giant Chevron to resume operations in Venezuela.
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In twenty twenty, during the first Trump administration, the United
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States seized one point one million barrels of Iranian fuel
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from four vessels that were headed to Venezuela. The Justice
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Department said the action disrupted a multimillion dollars shipment by
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the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, designated by the State Department
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as a foreign terrorist organization, in the largest ever seizure
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of fuel from Iran. The ships, however, were not seized.
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This Skippa appeared to be anchored around one hundred miles
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from the coast of Ghana for more than a month,
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remaining there as recently as Monday, according to its transponder data,
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but Images compiled and seized by independent oil tracking firm
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tankatrackers dot com and shared with The Washington Post show
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that Tanka had spoofed its location from late October through
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early December, it was actually off the coast of Venezuela.
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A satellite image taken on November eighteenth shows the Tanka
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at Puerto Jose or Jose Terminal in Venezuela. Another image
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shared with the Post shows the skippa Leyden on November twentieth,
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suggesting it was carrying a significant amount of cargo. By
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December seventh, when spoofed tracking had the tank of position
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off the coast of Guyana, it was actually conducting a
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ship to ship transfer roughly fifteen miles south of Kurasow.
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Tankertrackers dot Com found the tankers stopped transmitting any transponder
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data from Monday until just before five pm Eastern Time Wednesday,
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when it resurfaced about twenty five miles southeast of Granada.
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According to data from the ship tracking service Marine Traffic,
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the twenty year old vessel docked in Iran at least
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twice in July. Tracking records show it now sales as
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the Skipper under a false guy in Flag and remains
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owned by Triedeon Navigation. According to the Shipping database Equus,
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Venezuelan oil provides a lifeline for Cuba, which, like Venezuela,
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is subject to heavy US sanctions. The single party communist
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island nation has suffered extensive blackouts this year because of
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limited fuel and aging infrastructure, but only a tiny percentage
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of Venezuelan oil goes to Cuba, said Francisco Jay Manaldi,
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director of the Latin American Energy Program at Rice University
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in Houston. If the Trump administration continues seizing oil tankers
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in a systemic way, targeting those destined for China, that
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could significantly limit the willingness of black market fleets to
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go to Venezuela, detailing a major economic blow to Maduro.
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That would have a tremendous impact, Manaldi said, But Maduro
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has maintained his gript on power through far worse economic circumstances,
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including during the twenty twenty coronavirus pandemic, when Venezuelan oil
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production plummeted to less than half of what it is
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today with much lower oil prices. This is going to
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be the worst economic pressure Maduro has felt. Oh No
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let me go back. I'm sorry. Is this going to
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be the worst economic pressure Maduro has felt. No, it
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will not be. That would require a massive blockade of
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Venezuela exports. The economic pressure the Maduro felt in that
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period is unlikely to ever be felt, and he survived that,
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Manaldi said. The seizure of the oil tanker was announced
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hours after opposition vider Maria Corina Machado missed the Oslo
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ceremony to collect her Nobel Peace Prize. Machado had been
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in hiding in Venezuela since January and borrowed by the
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government from leaving the country. Her daughter accepted the honor
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in her place. Machado has dedicated the prize in part
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to Trump for his decisive support of our cause. She
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arrived in Oslo early Thursday morning local time. And more
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on the boat strikes that killed the two survived. How
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a US admiral decided to kill two boat strike survivors.
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The controversial order given by Adamir Frank Bradley is undiscrutiny
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from Congress inside the most consequential deliberation of his career,
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and there's a picture of him framed behind the shoulders
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of a blurred set of shoulders with a picture of
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simply his head. Adma Frank Bradley is escorted to a
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classified meeting on Capitol Hill, December the fourth. He does
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not have a uniform on. It doesn't look like a uniform.
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By Noah Robertson, Alex Horton, and Ellen Nakashima. In the
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minutes after US forces attacked a suspected drug smuggling boat
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near Trinidad, Adamir Frank M. Bradley, the commander overseeing the operation,
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faced a choice. A laser guided bomb had killed nine
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of them the eleven people on board, sunk the boat's
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motor and capsized the vessel's front end, According to people
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who had viewed or been briefed on a classified video
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of operation. As smoke from the blast cleared, a live
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surveillance feed provided by a US aircraft high overhead showed
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two men had survived and were attempting to flip the wreckage.
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Ahead of the September second mission, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth
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had given an order to US forces to kill the passengers,
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sink the boat, and destroy the drugs. Three people familiar
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with the operation said it appeared to Bradley that none
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of those objectives had been achieved. The would later recount
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for lawmakers. The video feed showed that the two men
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were struggling to stay atop the flotsam, which people who've
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seen the footage described as roughly the size of a
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dining room table. Bradley turned the military lawyer, turned to
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the military at lawyer advising him, and requested input. According
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to members of Congress who spoke with him privately last week,
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and people laid a briefed on those conversations, under the
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law of armed conflict, were the men now shipwrecked and
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therefore uted the fight, rendering them unlawful targets? The Emerald
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decided that definition did not apply, these people said. Instead,
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what Bradly explained to normakers left some with the impression
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that there was a prevailing lack of certainty about the
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existence of any drugs beneath the wreckage, and whether the
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survivors had a means to call for help or intended
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to surrender. When he concluded that further action was warranted,
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he ordered a second strike, killing both men. Moments earlier,
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the video feed had shown them waving their arms and
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looking skyward. People who saw the footage, said it was
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unclear they added why they were doing so. The thirty
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plus minutes that elapse between the first strike and the
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second has become the most consequential moment in Bradley's three
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decade military career, one that includes direct involvement in more
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than a thousand lethal strikes governed by the law of
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armed conflict. Central to understanding the events of September second
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and whether the strike survivors were lawful targets. The episode
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has put the admiral and his advisers under a spotlight,
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alongside Hegseth, who has expressed support for Bradley while attempting
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to distance himself from the following Bradley defended his actions
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when summoned to Capitol Hill last week, telling lawmakers he
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weighed the fate of the survivors with the understanding that
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the Trump administration has argued illicit drugs or weapons responsible
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for killing Americans and that those who traffick them were
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not criminals but enemy combatants. US intelligence, he said, showed
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that everyone on the boat was a narco terrorist, consistent
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with the administration's definition, which allowed for deadly force. His
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testimony provided lawmakers with the fullest account of the operation.
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Since the publication of a Washington Post report on November
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twenty eighth revealing Hegseth's authorization ahead of the first attack
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to kill the entire crew and Bradley's order of a
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second strike that killed the two survivors. Law of war
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experts and some lawmakers have challenged the admiral's reasoning and
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cast out on the lawfulness of using the military to
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kill alleged criminals. The military lawyer who advised the admiral,
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whom the Post is not identifying because they serve in
20:53
a secret secretive unit, explained to Bradley how the law
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of armed conflict defines shipwrecked. These people said international law
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defines shipwrecked persons as those who are in peril at
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sea as a result of a mishap affecting their vessel,
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and who refrained from any act of hostility. Combatants who
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are shipwrecked received special protection because, unlike military troops on land,
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they cannot take refuge. Experts note Bradley spent about eight
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hours meeting with more than a dozen lawmakers December the fourth.
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Four people familiar with those sessions said that he affirmed
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having sought real time legal advice, but that he did
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not say whether his military lawyer considered the survivors shipwrecked
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and out of the fight. There was dissent in the
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operations room of whether the survivors reviable targets after the
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first strike. According to two people, what the lawyer advised, though,
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and whether they rendered a definitive opinion remains unclear. A
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spokesperson for the US Special Operation's Command, where Bradley is
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the top commander, declined to comment. The military attorney did
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not respond to requests for comment. Former military leaders said
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that in such situations, a commander's top legal adviser we'd
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be expected to offer an assessment, but their role is
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only to advise, not to approve a strike. This report
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is based on accounts of ten people who either spoke
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directly with Bradley on Capitol Hill last week, were briefed
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on his conversation afterward, or were otherwise familiar with the operation.
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Most spoke on the condition of anonymity because the matter
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is highly sensitive and Bradley's communication with lawmakers occurred in
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classified settings the chain of command. Two Republican led committees
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in Congress have opened to inquiries into the September second operation,
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though on Tuesday, Representative Mike D. Rogers, Republican of Alabama,
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who heads the host Armed Services Committee, said that he
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was satisfied with the information he had received and planned
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to end his probe once other members of the panel
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are given an opportunity to see unedited video of the operation,
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as he has a separate Senate inequery continues. President Donald
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Trump appeared to support releasing video footage of the operation
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before abruptly backtracking this week and deferring to Hegseeth on
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whether to do so. Heg Seth has been noncommittal, saying
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the Pentagon is reviewing the footage to ensure it would
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not expose military secrets. Democrats have demanded full investigations and
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called on the administration to share more evidence with lawmakers.
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Senator Mark R. Warner of Virginia, the Senate Intelligence Committee's
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senior democrat, said after meeting with Headseth and other officials
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Tuesday that he was seeking written documentation of the opinion
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rendered by Bradley's military lawyer. The first strike September second,
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was carried out with the laser guided g b U
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DASH sixty nine. According to people familiar with Bradley's briefing,
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the munition exploded just above the crew, a setting design
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to maximize the blast and the spread of shrapnel fragments.
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The follow on strike was taken with a smaller AGM
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DASH one seventy six Griffin missile, which killed the two
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men on impact. People familiar with the video footage said
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US forces then fired two additional Griffins at the wreckage
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to sink it. What Bradley made the decision to conduct
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the follow on strike that killed the two survivors. Hegseth
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was the operation's target engagement authority, meaning he authorized the
25:14
use of force and ultimately was responsible for the strikes ordered,
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people familiar with the matter said. Hegsath has said that
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he watched live video of the initial attack but left
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for other meetings minutes later and was unaware initially that
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the first strike had left two men alive. It was
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a couple of hours, heg Seth has said before he
25:37
learned that Bradley ordered the second strike. Sean Purnell, a
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spokesman for Hegseth, said, in his statement, we are not
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going to second guess a commander who did the right
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thing and was operating well within his legal Authority. General
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Dame Kane, who was Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of
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Staff as the military's top officer, saw the full vilio
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on the September second strike for the first time to
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some of the fourth when he joined Bradley's meetings with lawmakers,
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two US officials said in a statement for this report.
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A spokesman for Caine said, the Chairman has trust and
26:16
confidence in Bradley and military commanders at every echelon the
26:22
admiral's defense. The September second operation was the first in
26:28
what has become an extended campaign to target suspected drug
26:32
runners in the waters around Latin America. In strikes on
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more than twenty boats, US forces have killed nearly ninety
26:40
people to date, according to public notices from the Trump administration.
26:46
At the core of Bradley's defense of the second strike,
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according to several people familiar with his conversations on Capitol Hill,
26:54
was his assertion that the attack was not directed at
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the two survivors, but the boat record and any cocaine
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it may have sheltered. The laws of war stipulate the
27:05
military commanders must consider the collaboral damage of a strike
27:10
only if the action could pose a threat to civilians,
27:14
said Jeffrey Korn, a retired military lawyer. By labeling suspected
27:19
drugs mugglers as combatants and an armed conflict against Americans,
27:25
as the Trump administration has done, the Defense Department can
27:29
argue that the military did not need to consider the
27:32
harm to survivors when striking again, Corn said, But many experts,
27:38
Corn among them, dispute that the US is in an
27:43
armed conflict with cartel groups. Corn also noted that even
27:48
if they are combatants, once shipwrecked, feasible measures must be
27:52
taken to try to rescue them before attacking the target again.
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He said that, to me is the most trouble aspect
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of the attack. Corn said. Bradley's contention that he was
28:06
targelyking the boat rather than the people, Corn said, fails
28:11
to explain whether Admiral deemed it necessary to launch the
28:14
second strike rather than first trying to rescue the survivors.
28:19
The admiral told lawmakers that intelligence gathered ahead of the
28:23
operation indicated that the boat being targeted was expected to
28:27
transfer its cargo to another vessel while both were at sea.
28:32
After the first strike, Bradley explained he and his team
28:36
were unable to rule out whether the men who were
28:38
shirtless had a communications device, either on their person or
28:43
somewhere under the vessel's wreckage that could have been used
28:46
to call for help. US forces did not intercept any
28:51
communications from the two survivors after the first strike, Badly
28:55
told lawmakers. The admiral also theorized people said that the
29:02
two survivors could have drifted to shore a founder way
29:05
to sail the wreckage to their intended rendezvous point. When
29:09
the US aircraft provided the live video feed scanned the
29:12
surrounding area, it did not find another vessel coming to
29:16
the vote's aid, and the admiral conceded to some lawmakers
29:20
that the survivors probably would not have been able to
29:23
flip the wreckage, said one lawmaker and a US official
29:27
familiar with Bradley's conversations the doubts that have emerged. Todd Huntley,
29:35
a former director of the Navy's International Law Office, which
29:39
handles law of the sea matters, said in an interview
29:42
with the Post that the legal definition for being shipwrecked
29:47
does not require that people are drowning or wounded. They
29:53
just have to be in distress in wack, said Huntley,
29:57
a former military lawyer who special Operation forces. Huntley also
30:03
said that the potential presence of communications device should have
30:07
been irrelevant. You can't kill somebody in the water merely
30:12
because they have a radio. He said. The prospect of
30:16
a rendezvous with another vessel does not indicate an intent
30:20
to engage in hostilities or prove the survivors posed a threat.
30:24
He added that is such a far out theory. Huntley said,
30:31
Trump and other Republicans have framed the administration's Counting Narcotics
30:35
campaign as a necessary measure to defend Americans from fentanyl,
30:40
the leading cause of drug overdoses in the United States,
30:44
but the September second strike and most of those that
30:47
have followed targeted a boat believed to be fair and
30:50
cocaine ventinyl smuggled in the US mostly comes through broader crossings.
30:57
People familiar with Bradley's at Count Tolome has said that
31:00
the cargo in this case was heading next to Surinam,
31:05
a small country east of Venezuela, not the United States,
31:10
as the Post and others have reported. Most of the
31:12
narcotics that moved through the Caribbean are headed toward Europe
31:17
and Western Africa rather than the US that further underscore
31:22
is that this boat was not a threat to the
31:25
United States and not a lawful target, Huntley said. While
31:30
speaking with lawmakers, Huntley said he looked for signs the
31:34
men were surrendering, such as waving a cloth or holding
31:37
up their arms. The armill noted that he saw no
31:40
such justice and did not interpret their wave as surrender.
31:44
People familiar with his interviews said to legal experts, Bradley's
31:50
assertion that he scanned for a sign of surrender reflected
31:53
a foundational flaw with the Trump administration's at lethal false campaign.
31:59
The laws of war weren't written to address the behavior
32:02
of criminal drug traffickers, they said. On September second, the
32:07
eleven passengers on board the targeted boat were almost certainly
32:12
unaware that Trump administration had declared war on them, people
32:17
with the operation said. Familiar with the operation said it
32:21
is unclear whether the strike survivors even realized a US
32:25
military aircraft was responsible for the explosion that occurred, these
32:30
people familiar said, or whether they knew how to indicate surrender,
32:35
or that surrender was even an option. In the weeks
32:39
leading up to the attack, the Defense Apartment ran simulations
32:43
that showed there were the potential for people to survive
32:47
at first strike. Three familiar people familiar with the matter
32:51
said that did not appear to affect military planning for
32:55
this operation. On the day of the attack, the US
32:59
military harry had no personnel or equipment on hand to
33:03
rescue anyone. And now to the Federal Bank, fedlower's interest
33:11
rates again amid debate over inflation jobs. Central banker's signal
33:18
divided opinions over how to respond to stubborn inflation and
33:23
the softening labor market. Bat Andrew Ackerman, The Federal Reserve
33:29
cut interest rates by a quarter of a percent point
33:33
on Wednesday for the third time this year, seeking to
33:37
shore up a softening labor market even as inflation bills
33:42
and leaving the prospect of more cuts next year unclear.
33:47
It's a labor market that seems to have significant downside risks,
33:52
FED chair Jerome H. Powell said at a news conference
33:56
after the meeting. Though FED officials tendedly penciled in at
34:01
least one more rate cut before the end of next year,
34:05
estimates about where the economy is heading varied significantly, and
34:10
Palell suggested the central bank might wait before returning to
34:14
any additional cuts, we are well positioned to wait and
34:20
see how the economy evolves from here, Palell said. Wednesday's
34:26
widely expected move lowers the Bank's Fed's benchmark rate to
34:31
a range of three point five to three point seventy
34:34
five percent, the lowest level in about three years, but
34:38
officials remained sharply divided over how to respond to an
34:42
economy sending mixed signals. Inflation remains above the Fed's target,
34:48
which would typically argue for holding rates steady, while slower
34:53
hiring and a modest uptick and unemployment suggest a case
34:58
for easing. Investors cheered the news, with major financial indexes
35:04
ending the day higher. On Wednesday afternoon, nine Federal Reserve
35:10
officials back to Wednesday's cut, while three dissented. Two officials,
35:16
Chicago FED President Austin Gouldsby and Fed City Kansas City
35:23
FED President Jeffrey Schmidt, favored no rate reduction, while FED
35:28
Governor Stephen Ryan preferred a larger half point cut. It
35:33
was the most descent since December September twenty nineteen, another
35:39
sign of division among top FED officials. The latest economic projections,
35:44
also released on Wednesday, showed seven officials penciled in no
35:50
additional cuts next year, while twelve favid one a more.
35:57
FED policies influence what households and businesses pay for mortgages,
36:02
credit cards, and other loans, and investors are watching closely
36:06
for guidance on the central Bank's next steps. The Fed's
36:13
job is to keep prices stable and to maximize employment,
36:19
but it is split on how to navigate what some
36:22
describe as a light version of stagflation elevated inflation alongside
36:29
a labor market that is slowing but far from collapsing.
36:35
Those divides were exposed at the fed's last gathering in October.
36:41
Those divides were exposed at the last in October, when
36:45
officials expressed strongly differing views about what policy decision would
36:52
most likely be appropriate, according to the meeting's minutes. Further
36:58
complicating the dis decision, the FED received far less official
37:03
data about the health of the economy because of the
37:06
government shut down that delayed or cancel the release of
37:10
reports on the job market and consumer prices. Some FED officials,
37:16
relying on alternative data or surveys of the business community,
37:21
argued that progress on an inflation had stalled, and warned
37:25
that cuts risked undermining hard won gains. Others counted that
37:30
rising unemployment and weakening consumer demand suggested a need for action.
37:37
Powell defended cutting rates now rather than waiting for the
37:41
fed's next meeting in late January, when officials will finally
37:46
have a better sense of this datus of the economy
37:49
thanks to a trove of upcoming official reports. Wednesday's call
37:54
reflected mining evidence of a cooling job market, he noted,
37:59
saying that after adjustments and revisions, job growth may have
38:03
been significantly negative since the spring. Powell said, I think
38:10
you can say that the labor market has continued to
38:13
cool gradually, maybe just a touch more gradually than we thought.
38:20
With unemployment rising to four point four percent in September,
38:26
the FED no longer characterized that rate as low. In
38:30
a statement announcing the rate cut, form of Philadelphia FED
38:35
President Patrick Harker said this week that Wednesday's move was
38:40
shaping up to be a hawkish cut, a rate reduction
38:44
paired with a signal that policymakers may soon pause further easing.
38:49
Hark has said that Fed's internal divergence reflects an unusual
38:54
degree of economic fog, with inflation not worsening as much
38:59
as feared. Unemployment claims relatively stable and labor market signals
39:05
increasingly difficult to interpret. He noted that monthly job games
39:10
below one hundred thousand would normally be a red flag.
39:15
The demographic trends and uncertain emigration patterns complicate the baseline.
39:23
Those disagreements are unfolding amid unprecedented political pressure from President
39:29
Donald Trump, who has repeatedly criticized the FED is not
39:33
moving quickly enough to lower rates and has threatened to
39:36
fire Powell. Trump renewed those attacks ahead of this week's meeting,
39:41
telling Politico that support for aggressive rate cuts is a
39:45
litmus test for whomever he taps to succeed Powell, whose
39:50
term as chair expires in May. The President plans to
39:55
nominate his successor early next year, though he has already
39:59
signaled he knows whom he is likely to pick. Patrick J. Toomey,
40:05
the former Senator from Pennsylvania who was the top Republican
40:09
on the Senate Banking Committee, said he is perplexed by
40:12
Trump's push for cuts because inflation remains above target and
40:17
the broader economy it continues to expand. The DIETI shows cooling,
40:23
not collapsing labor conditions, which would normally justify an urgent
40:29
push for easing rates to me, said to me, Warrens
40:33
that the President is taking a much bigger political gamble
40:37
than he appears to realize. If inflation were to spike again.
40:41
He said, Trump would completely own the fallout after pressuring
40:46
the Fed when there's no obvious need to ease. That
40:50
makes the campaign for faster rate cuts surprising to me, said,
40:57
though Powell appears to pit on hawkish coalition, the pal
41:05
secured enough Board support to approve Wednesday's cut, future easing
41:10
would depend on keeping that alliance. The split appears to
41:15
pit a hawkish coalition of regional FED presidents focused on
41:19
preventing inflation from resurging against a group of governors in
41:24
Washington who see the greater risk in softening economy. Officials
41:29
such as Cleveland President Beth Hammock, who said she would
41:34
have preferred not to cut rates in October, have argued
41:38
that inflation remained stubbornly above the bank's two percent target
41:43
and warned that reducing rates too soon could keep prices rising. Meanwhile,
41:50
other officials continued to emphasize that a cooling labor market
41:55
and softening consumer demand called for cuts to I'm sure
42:00
the economy does not slip further. I'm going to go
42:06
inside now. Lawmakers launch bipartisan last minute bids to force
42:13
vote on ACA subsidies. Either of the efforts would need
42:18
the support of nearly all Host Democrats to succeed. By
42:23
Riley began, two bipartisan groups of Host lawmakers launched last
42:30
minute bids Wednesday to force votes on extending the Enhanced
42:34
Affordable Care Act subsidies set to expire at the end
42:39
of the year. The efforts, both using a legislative tool
42:44
known as a discharge petition, face long shot odds. At
42:50
least two hundred and eighteen members of the House would
42:53
first have to agree to consider the bills, including most
42:57
Host Democrats. I succeeded in the House if we need
43:02
to get at least thirteen Republican votes in the Senate
43:06
if all of the chambers Democrats supported it, But the
43:10
attempts may present the best chance remaining for lawmakers to
43:14
push through an extension for the Enhanced ACA tax credits
43:19
that expired at the end of the year, increasing health
43:22
insurance costs for most of the twenty four million Americans
43:26
who get coverage from the Obamacare market place. Most Republicans
43:32
oppose extending the credits, which were put in place by
43:35
Democrats during the COVID nineteen pandemic. The GOP argues that
43:40
the subsidies are outdated, push up the price of health care,
43:45
and are vulnerable to fraud. Democrats have argued that the
43:49
credits are key to keeping health care affordable for people
43:53
on the ACA marketplace, and they insisted on an extension
43:57
through the recent government shutdown. The party is pushing legislation
44:02
to extend the credits for three years without other changes,
44:06
but that effort is expected to fail in a Senate
44:09
vote Thursday. One plan proposed Wednesday by Representative Brian Fitzpatrick,
44:17
Representative Republican of Pennsylvania would extend the tax credit for
44:22
two years, add new income caps, and implement minimum monthly
44:28
premiums for marketplace plans eligible for the tax credits. Another
44:33
petition from Representative Josh Gatthama, Democrat of New Jersey would
44:39
advance a plan by him and Representative Jen Keegan's Republican
44:45
of Virginia that has the support of at least thirty
44:48
eight lawmakers in both parties, which would also extend the
44:51
credits for two years with changes. House Republican leaders are
44:57
not interested in advancing the measures, but discharge petitions bypass
45:02
the traditional lawmaking process and allow legislation to be considered
45:07
on the floor without the speaker's approval if backed by
45:11
a majority of the hosts. It's a time sensitive matter,
45:16
and it's an existential matter for people back home that
45:20
we care about, where this is a very real problem,
45:24
Fitzpatrick told reporters after introducing the petition, adding that the
45:29
group tried to push the bill through additional avenues, traditional avenues.
45:34
All those remedies are exhausted. Then you got to this route. Unfortunately,
45:41
Godhamer said he hoped this manure would succeed. It's a
45:46
common sense proposal that will keep costs down and prevent
45:49
families premiums from skyrocketing. We must get this done now.
45:55
We must find common ground. Time is running out, Hamer said.
46:02
Republicans in both chambers have been working to come up
46:04
with a counterproposal to the Democrat's effort to extend the
46:08
enhanced ACA subsidies. In the Senate, they will consider a
46:13
GOP bill Thursday that would allow the premium ACA subsidies
46:17
to expire and replace them with the two year program
46:20
funding health savings accounts paired with certain plans on the
46:24
ACA marketplace. That proposal lacks democratic support and is expected
46:30
to fail because of the Senate filibuster. House Republicans met
46:35
Wednesday to discuss possible options and emerged with a laundry
46:39
list of ideas which did not include an extension of
46:43
the premium ACA tax credits, infuriating moderates who made the
46:48
demand of leadership. Host Speaker Mike Johnson, Republican of Louisiana,
46:54
said he hopes to propose a GOP plan by the
46:57
end of the week that could be voted on next week,
47:00
but it remains unclear to lawmakers whether the divided factions
47:05
could agree on compromise legislation. There also may not be
47:10
time to finish passing and extension before subsidies expire at
47:14
the end of the year, regardless, as lawmakers are set
47:18
to head home for a holiday break at the end
47:21
of next week. We have some low hanging fruit. We
47:26
have some things that every Republican agrees to, Johnson said Wednesday,
47:32
adding you're going to see a package come together that
47:35
will be on the floor next week. That will actually
47:37
reduce premiums for one hundred percent of Americans who are
47:41
on health insurance, not just the seven percent, reverencing the
47:46
share of Americans who received the enhanced premium tax credits.
47:51
There are enough Republicans who have signed on to Fitzpatrick's
47:55
petition for it to pass if all Democrats joined with them,
48:00
but host Democrat leaders are unlikely to push their caucus
48:03
to join the petition. Leaders are concerned that some of
48:07
the provisions in the bill couldn't be implemented in time,
48:11
and that one the minimum monthly premium could push about
48:15
a million people off insurance, according to his senior Democratic
48:19
leadership Aid, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to
48:23
discuss private talks. Democratic leaders prefer the plan from Godheimer
48:29
and Kegans, though it is unclear about whether either can
48:33
get enough signatures to force a vote. I think this
48:38
is just an unusual story. Prison intercepts drone delivery of
48:44
crab boil supplies, including Old Bay. The drone carried crab legs, steak, marijuana,
48:53
and cigarettes to the South Carolina prison. The state Corrections
48:58
Department said Pravina Summa sunda rama, A drone drops supplies
49:07
that seemed destined for a crab boil at a South
49:10
Carolina prison this week. Staff said a delivery that suggested
49:14
inmates were planning a holiday feast. Among the items that
49:19
arrived at the Lead Correctional Institution in Bishopville on Sunday
49:23
morning were steak crab legs, two bags of marijuana, a
49:28
green pack of Marlborough cigarettes, and a small container of
49:32
Old Bay seasoning. Photos from the South Carolina Department of
49:36
Corrections show the food was wrapped in a bag from
49:39
the Pigley Wiggly grocery store chain. The department said Wednesday
49:44
law enforcement captured the delivery before it could reach prisoners.
49:49
No arrest have been made in connection with the incident,
49:52
as the department investigates seemed some folks were planning an
49:57
early holiday old Bay crab boil and staked in along
50:02
with their marijuana and cigarettes, all dropped by a drone
50:06
at Leave correction Institute, The department wrote Monday on social media,
50:12
alongside an emoji of a red crab and the hashtags
50:16
contraband Christmas and we are Corrections. Christy Shane, a spokeswoman
50:23
for the state Department of Corrections, said the prison experience's
50:28
nightly attacks of drones seeking to drop drugs into prison yards.
50:32
But this was a bit unusual even for us. I'm
50:36
guessing the inmates who were expecting this package are a
50:40
bit crabby. She added. Smugglers have used drones to try
50:45
to get contrabands such as drugs, weapons, and cell phones
50:49
over prison fences for years. A twenty twenty three report
50:53
published by the National Institute of Justice, the research arm
50:57
of the Justice Department, said the advantage seeing technology of
51:01
drones was a growing concern and prison staff would need
51:04
better detection strategies to address the illicit deliveries. Oklahoma's Department
51:11
of Corrections piloted a drone program in October to prevent
51:15
contraband smuggling. For a forty five day trial period. A
51:19
fleet of drones would help staff at one correctional facility
51:23
survey prison grounds and alert staff to suspected illegal activity.
51:28
The department said it wouldin evaluate whether to continue the
51:32
program and expand it to other prisons in the state.
51:36
Under South Carolina law, getting contraband to prisoners is a
51:40
felony punishable by up to ten years in prison. The
51:44
lead correctional institution had an incident that mirrored this week's
51:48
more than a decade ago, when officers found a drone
51:51
in the bushes outside the prison. It had been carrying
51:54
cell phones, marijuana, and tobacco. At least one person was
51:58
sentenced to fifteen years for attempting to smuggle contraman into
52:02
a prison. The technology is getting better and we have
52:06
to figure a different ways to fight back. Stephanie Gibbons,
52:10
a Corrections Department spokeswoman, told Reuters at the time, I'm
52:17
going to go off track right now because Gary and
52:20
I attended the Andrea Vitelli concert last Friday or Saturday night.
52:29
I didn't say anything, but I thought I might give
52:33
you a taste of that concert as opposed to the
52:36
dread news today, because it is just it was an
52:41
incredible concert. It was well attended, Rupperina was packed, the
52:47
whole program was absolutely fabulous, and I could also read
52:53
a review of it after I play this for you,
53:32
and that has to sadly probably in today's reading. But
53:38
I would like to just say that whoops, let's user era.
53:43
My apologies that the description shows or the event shows
53:49
that Lexington is really worthy of having quality h performers
53:56
like this come and play at roupp arena that have
54:00
to be simply sports or any type of athletic event.
54:06
This was top draw performance and a lot a lot
54:14
of people attended. I was so pleased to be able
54:18
to be there. Saw a lot of friends, Butchelly, I've
54:24
oted to here for a long long time, and Gary
54:27
and I went as a Christmas present to each other.
54:32
And I hope I didn't bother you with my recordings,
54:37
but it's different and I think that it is something
54:41
that if I can share that opportunity with you, I
54:44
am going to do so. So that concludes today's reading
54:48
of the Washington Post and a bit of the Butchelly concert.
54:53
Thank you for listening. Please continue to listen for programming
54:57
on RADIOI bye.