Transcript

4.25.26 · Washington Post

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Speaker 1: Welcome to the reading of Today's Washington Post. It is Saturday,
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April the twenty fifth of twenty twenty six. Your reader
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is Alice Stainer, with a reminder that RADIOI is an
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organization for those blind with other disabilities making it difficult
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to hold or read printed material. And the front page
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on the far left, fight rages in Lebanon even amid
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cease fire. Hezbalai is defiant on right to resist as
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Israel carries out fresh strikes. The article is by Mohammad
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al Chama, Victoria kraw Leora Soroka, Susannah George and terror
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cop out of Beirut four columns. On the front page.
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Right in the middle is a picture taken from the
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Lincoln Memorials straight down to the Washington Monument. And you
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see one, two, three, four, five, six seven people on
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a few cars standing on what you would think is
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standing on the reflecting pool, and that it is in
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and they have a blue surface, but all around them
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is a dark brown surface. President Donald Trump is having
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the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool coated in a swimming pool
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surface hewed in American flag blue, covering a granite surface
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that he said was leaking like a sieve and would
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take years to replace, and that takes up the four
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columns in the middle of the front page. Dark Sky
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criminal robe of fed chair dropped, No crime found in
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two point five billion dollar renovations.
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Speaker 2: Unclear whether the move will clear.
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Speaker 1: Way for Walsh by Salvadorizo and Andrew Ackerman. And that
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is about the criminal prode of Jerome Powell. Below the
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picture of the reflecting pool. Musk's fixation on race is
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turning off some fans. Billionaire posted on the topic eight
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hundred and fifty times in recent months, triple the usual
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rate by Fayez Sidiqui and Jeremy B.
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Speaker 2: Merrill.
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Speaker 1: And next to that for the other two columns, super
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Ai spurs scramble over its hacking prowess. Anthropic says mithos
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can rapidly find exploit cracks in digital security by Eon
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Duncan and below the fold on the far left, Iran
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talks to resume in Pakistan without vance.
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Speaker 2: Neither side will.
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Speaker 1: Send its top negotiator to this weekend's meeting by Natalie Allison,
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John Hudson and Karen de Young and taking up four columns,
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a small picture of blazes in Georgia destroying ae hundred
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and twenty homes smoke lingers in the air Friday in Atkinson, Georgia.
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An unusually large number of wildfires are burning this spring
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across the southeast. The Associated Press reported where scientists say
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the threat has been amplified by drought, gusty winds, climate
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change in trees toppled by Hurricane Helene two years ago.
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And then on the far right below the fold, Appeals
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Court clears way to resume asylumn cases. Trump administration could
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appeal ruling rejecting invasion claim by Maria Chachetti. And let's
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go to the Jerome Powell situation. D o J drops
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Powell probe, but success as confirmation remains in limbo. It
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is unclear whether the move demanded by a key senadel
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will clear the way for Kevin Worsh's confirmation to have
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the Central Bank. And there is a picture of both
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Donald Trump and Federal Reserve chair drome H. Powell looking
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over cost figures during a visit to the FED building
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in July by Salvadorrizzo and Andrew Ackerman. The Justice Department
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has dropped a criminal investigation into the Federal Reserve after
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months of probing. The Independent Central Banks two point five
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billion dollar building renovations and failing to turn up evidence
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of a crime. US Attorney Janine Piro, the top federal
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prosecutor in DC, said in a social media post Friday
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that she had closed the probe, though she added that
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it could resume later if the FEDS Inspector General finds
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evidence of wrongdoing in its own review of the construction
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project's cost overruns. I will not hesitate to restart a
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criminal investigation should the facts weren't doing so, Piero said
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in a post on x A bipartisan group of lawmakers
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and a federal judge in d C had criticized the
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criminal investigation into FED Chair Jerome Powell as an abuse
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of power by the Justice Department, which has pursued President
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Donald Trump's perceived foes with often shaky allegations of criminal
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conduct since last year.
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Speaker 2: Pierrot's inquiry also.
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Speaker 1: Became a political obstacle for the Trump administration's planned succession
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at the FED. Powell's term as chair expires May fifteenth,
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and Trump has nominated Kevin Walsh, a former FED governor,
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to be the Central Bank's next leader, but a key
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Republican Senator Tom Tillis of North Carolina has been blocking
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that nomination until Pierro ended her bogus investigation. Pierro's emphasis
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on the potential to reopen the case may dampen the
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impact of her announcement on Capitol Hill. Neither till Us
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nor the FED commented Friday, and the GOP led Banking
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Committee has yet to schedule a vote to advance Worsh's
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nomination to the full Senate. White House Press Secretary Caroline
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Levitt told reporters that if the case is not necessarily dropped,
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it's just being moved over to the inspector General. Still,
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a review by the Inspector General does not carry the
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consequences of a criminal investigation. Trump had threatened to fire
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Powell if he did not step down to make way
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for Walsh, but FED officials said the law called for
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Powell to remain as acting chair until the Senate confirmed
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a successor. Separately, Powell's term as one of seven members
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of the fed's Board of Governors.
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Speaker 2: Runs until twenty twenty eight.
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Speaker 1: I have no no intention of leaving the board until
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the investigation is well and truly over, with transparency and finality,
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Poll said last month. Piero opened the criminal investigation last
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year over brief congressional testimony that Poll gave about a
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large scale renovation of the FAD's historic headquarters overlooking the
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National Mall, and the project's cost overruns of more than
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one billion dollars. She said she was investigating whether Poll
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made false statements to Congress and whether the cost overruns
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were driven by fraud, but a prosecutor from Pierro's office
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admitted at a court hearing that the Justice Department did
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not have evidence of a crime. The Washington Post reported
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a Trump ally, who was seen as a contender to
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become the next Attorney General. Piero had dismissed concerns that
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the criminal probe could delay Warship's Senate confirmation.
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Speaker 2: For his part, Trump.
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Speaker 1: Had repeatedly expressed support for the investigation, rushing off concerns
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that it could stall his succession plans for the FED.
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Speaker 2: I can't imagine.
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Speaker 1: That Powell is taking money on construction. I can't, but
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it's possible, but we have to find out, Trump said
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in a CNBC interview this week, providing no evidence for
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such a suspicion. Powell has denied wrongdoing and call the
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investigation an attempt to erode the Central Bank's independence.
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Speaker 2: Trump's push for the criminal.
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Speaker 1: Investigation of Powell has resulted in occasional theatrics. In July,
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Trump visited headquarters, a rarity for any president, to spotlight
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the cost overruns, with Powell standing beside him. It looks
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like it's about three point one billion. It went up
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a little bit or a lot, Trump said, with news
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cameras rolling. Trump pulled out a piece of paper from
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his pocket and handed it to Powell as if to
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prove his point. Powell, glancing at it, said the number
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was significantly inflated because it included the cost of a
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third building, reopened in twenty twenty one. This month, prosecutors
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from Pierrot's office appeared without warning at FED headquarters seeking
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a tour of the construction site as part of their probe,
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but they were told they would need prior clearance before
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getting access. Trump has long waged an aggressive campaign against Powell,
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whom he installed as FED chair during his first term.
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President Joe Biden then extended Powell's term as chail. Trump
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for months has demanded that the FED approved steep interest
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rates cuts, while hurling public insults at Powell and at
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times threatening to oast him. Those threats and insults led
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Chief US District Judge James E. Bosberg of d C
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to conclude that the Justice Department had issued two subpoenas
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to the FED and Powell as a pressure tactic to
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lower force, lower interest rates or Powell's resignation. In a
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March ruling, Bosberg said the government has offered no evidence
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whatsoever that Powell committed any crime other than displeasing the president.
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Pirout's office faced a May third deadline to file an
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appeal of Osburg's ruling, which could have taken months to resolve.
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Top administration officials, including Hosing.
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Speaker 2: Finance Regulator Bill.
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Speaker 1: Poulti, repeatedly pressed to the president last year to invest
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to gate power, and Trump liked the idea. The Post
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previously reported. Past administrations have also pressured the Central Bank,
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whose independence rests both on federal law and norms that
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most recent presidents, weary of rattling financial markets, have been
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reluctant to test.
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Speaker 2: President Richard M.
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Speaker 1: Nixon pushed then faedchair Ofuthur Burns to cut rates before
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the nineteen seventy two election. Top aids to President George H. W.
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Bush publicly pushed faedchair Alan Greenspan to cut rates before
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the nineteen ninety two election, but no modern president has
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gone as far as Trump, and the extraordinary investigation of
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a sitting FED chairman marked the most significant confrontration yet
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between Trump and Powell. Perrot said in her a Nurnsman
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Friday that she had asked the Fed's Inspector General to
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review the cost overruns connected to the renovation, which the
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Inspected General had already been doing since last summer at
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Powell's request. A previous investigation of the construction product, conducted
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five years ago by the Inspected General did not find
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evidence of a crime. The Trump administration also has accused
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of FED Governor Lisa Cook of mortgage fraud and attempted
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to remove her from the Central Bank's board. The Supreme
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Court appeared likely to bock block that firing during oral
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arguments this year, and is expected to issue a ruling
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in the case by this summer. Cook has denied wrongdoing.
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Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, the top Democrat on the
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Senate Banking Committee, showed that Trump administration was not done
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pursuing baseless criminal allegations against the Central Bank. She made
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it clear the move would not persuade her to back
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Warsh's nomination. This is just in an attempt to clear
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the path for Senate Republicans to install President Trump's sock
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puppet Kevin Walsh as FED Chair, Orn said in a statement, adding,
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let's be clear what the Justice Department announced today. They
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threatened to restart the bogus criminal investigation into FED chair
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power any time while failing to drop their ridiculous criminal
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probe against Governor Lisa Cook. Elon Musk's near daily online
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post about race are turning off some fans. The billionaire
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posted eight hundred and fifty times on the topic in
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recent months, almost trip the rate for the previous years
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Bavais Sidiqui and Jeremy B.
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Speaker 2: Merrill.
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Speaker 1: Elon Musk, the world's richest person, is on the cusp
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of a record setting initial public offering that could soon
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make him a trillionaire, but in recent months he's been
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increasingly vocal about something else, rallying white people to stand
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up for their race. Whites are rapidly dying minority, Musk
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wrote in January, and a post on his social media
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site X that has garnered more than seventeen million views
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and one hundred and fifty thousand likes, and a February
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post liked by more than three hundred and sixty five
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thousand accounts must declare that there has been unrelenting hate
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and poisonous propaganda in the West against anyone white, straight,
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or male over the past decade or more, adding no
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more guilt trips enough. Musque's X feed has for years
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served as a megaphone for his conservative views, especially since
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he emerged as one of the most prominent backers of
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Donald Trump in the twenty twenty four presidential campaign, But
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a Washington Post analysis found that Musk had recently increased
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his online rate of post about race.
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Speaker 2: And his concerns about conceived threats.
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Speaker 1: To whiteness, would he views as calls for a genocide
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against white people. Over the past seven months, six percent
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of Musk's post on X, a total of about eight
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hundred and fifty have been about race, nearly tripled the
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rate for the previous two years. More than half of
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those posts have used the word white. The Baby Naire
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has posted on X about race nearly daily, one hundred
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and sixty six out of one hundred and ninety seven
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days from last October to mid April. The post analysis found,
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in addition to claiming that white people are subjected to
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unrelenting vitriol, Mosk has suggested that race plays a detrimental.
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Speaker 2: Role in hiring.
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Speaker 1: Touted the role of white people in eliminating slavery and
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accused public figures and even an AI tool that competes
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against his own checkbox rock of racism against white and
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Asian people. He has plunged into political debates about his
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native South Africa, which he claims has widely discriminated against
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white people in the post apartheid era. The billionaire has
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increased his use of racial rhetoric at a time he
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has also faced new business pressures. His rocket makerspace x
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filed to go public earlier this year, and he merged
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the space company with his article Official Intelligence Venture x AI,
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whose AI tools are less popular than those of rivals
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such as Google and Anthropic. He has also steered Tuessla,
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where auto sales have struggled over the past year, to
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an unpreceded and ambitious transformation into a robotics company. Mosque
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has long dispatched unfiltered thoughts to his followers, an audience
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now numbering more than two hundred and thirty eight million
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on x. Some of the views he has recently esposed
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about race have ventured into more extreme territory, according to
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people who have studied the politics of race.
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Speaker 2: As far as I can tell, Musk at this.
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Speaker 1: Point agrees with standard talking points of white supremacy, said
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Haidi Beireich, co founder of the Global Project against Hate
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and Extremism, citing musques claim that white people are are
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a dying minority. You just don't get more white supremacist,
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and that the stuff Musk is signing on to a.
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Speaker 2: Pushing Burrich said Musque.
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Speaker 1: Tesla and SpaceX did not respond to requests for comment.
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The billionaire's pronouncements about race have caught the attention of
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one time Musk comporters, who, in comments to the post
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and in their own online post, have argued that his
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obsessions are a distraction from his business demands and harmful
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to his ambitions. Rivian focused on autonomy and their next vehicle,
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a popular Tesla fan account on Acts that has become
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critical of Musk, wrote in December, citing a competing electric
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vehicle makeup Elon focused on the percentage of white people
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in New Zealand. Musk recent post about race constrengthened his
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reputaation as a divisive political figure, an association that harmed
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Tuesla last year with must actions in the second Trump
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administration triggered protest its doorfronts and contributed to a drop
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in sales and its stock price. Many of Musk's posts
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owned race cut against public opinion. Just twelve percent of
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Americans believe white people face a lot of discrimination, according
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to a Pew Research Center report from last year, the
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lowest percentage among any of the racial or ethnic groups
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reflected in the survey. A Gallup survey last year found
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that fifty nine percent of Americans do not believe racial
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minorities have the same job opportunities as white people. A
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proportioned Gallup has recorded as rising steadily since two thousand
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and one. Tusla's shareholders have attempted to turn Musk away
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from political concerns. In November, they agreed to pay to
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a pay package potentially worth one trillion dollars to the CEO,
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an effort to motivate him to renew his focus on
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the business after the year of upheaval that followed his
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endorsement of Trump and time overseeing the US Doege Service
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and its drive to reduce the size of government. Mosculata
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fell out with Trump and his political work became untenable
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with investors.
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Speaker 2: He departed the White House in May twenty twenty five.
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Speaker 1: SpaceX's IPO, which financial and analysts expect to attract record
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investment later this year, would become a new test of
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whether Mosk's political views constrict his business opportunities. Some market
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analysts suspect they may impose little drag on the rocket makeup.
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Speaker 2: I think there's always been.
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Speaker 1: An Elon tax to own an Elon business, said Shay Below,
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chief market strategist at the group Futureom, which provides market
22:07
research and advisory services, referring to the way investors must
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accept trunks or Musk's controversial public.
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Speaker 2: Statements to get the potential upside from his business.
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Speaker 1: I think that the spectrum of that Elon tax is widening,
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Belaw said, because Must comments have become more divisive, but
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many investors have focused on the value Must commands with
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his companies rather than his public rhetoric. Belaw added, It's
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bad to say, but I just think for some reason,
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society under indexes polarizing statements like that he said capitalism
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is surpassing all ethics. Some investors have decided that musk.
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Speaker 2: Statements about race have crossed the line.
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Speaker 1: In September, Musk posted on x to agree with the
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screenshot posted by another user that said white people faced
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a choice between being conquered, enslaved, raped, and genocided while
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being called racist, or reclaiming our nations and air dignity
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while being called racist.
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Speaker 2: Yes, Musk replied.
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Speaker 1: Fred Lambert, editor in chief of pro electric vehicle site Electric,
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later called that the moment when Musk's mask was fully
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off in a post on X. The Tesla investors sold
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off his stake in twenty twenty four, citing the company's
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efforts decatered to Musk rather than its mission.
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Speaker 2: The entire situation baffles me. Dot dot dot.
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Speaker 1: There is no doubt he is a white nationalist based
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on his recent statements about white people reclaiming their nations bump,
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Lambert said in new comments to the post, adding as
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for the massive institutions backing him and investing in his adventures,
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it's money before morals. Ashley Jardina, Associate professor of public
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policy and politics at the University of Virginia and author
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of the book White Identity Politics, said Musk's positions constitute
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standard white supremacy. It's just becoming more socially acceptable to
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express more overt and explicit racist attitudes. Jardina said President
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Trump in particular, has helped shift the norms around access
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acceptable speech. Jardina also said views that in the past
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would invite public scrutiny and calls to step down as
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CEO of a major company for a figure of musque stature,
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She said her now being pushed into the mainstream that
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in turn makes it more likely for others to adopt
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or promote similar positions.
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Speaker 2: Chardina said.
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Speaker 1: She said, I think any time you have a major
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political figure or celebrity with this kind of microphone, using
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this sort of language without being sanctioned for it does
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help make it more socially acceptable. I think having another
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influential dot dot dot figures condemning this is effective.
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Speaker 2: You don't see a lot of that directed at Musk.
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She added.
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Speaker 1: The investment community's tolerance of Musk's views is part of
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a deepening pattern. Bloria said, but has become a recognized
25:47
cost of doing business. Capitalism beats feelings unfortunately, he said.
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In one of Musk's recent posts on X about the
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Race About Race, the billionaire appeared to suggest that white
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people should be considered indigenous to the United States. It
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certainly makes no sense that everyone except Europeans can have
26:13
a homeland. It's absolutely ridiculous when you think about it.
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Where did white people come from?
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Speaker 2: He wrote.
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Speaker 1: Asked how long one's ancestors must have been somewhere for
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them to be considered indigenous, Musk replied, two hundred and
26:32
fifty years.
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Speaker 2: Hands like plenty to me.
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Speaker 1: And now I'm going inside the paper and the first
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article is White House loosens rules for preserving presidential records.
26:46
After the Justice Department set a post to Watergate records
26:50
law is unconstitutional, white House lawyers established a new policy
26:56
that experts say weakens safeguards. And there is a picture
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of boxes and I cannot count the number of boxes
27:05
Await loading onto a truck at the White House in
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January of twenty twenty one by Megan Vasquez. The White
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House quickly embraced a new records preservation policy after the
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Justice Department deemed a presidential records law unconstitutional, dismissing decades
27:27
old requirements in favor of discretionary guidelines. The Justice Department's
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Office of Legal Counsel issued its opinion April first, declaring
27:39
that the law, known as the Presidential Records Act exceeded
27:44
Congress's powers. Within days, staff is at the Executive Office
27:49
of the President received an e mail from the White
27:52
House Council instructing them to follow a new records preservation
27:57
policy in line with the OL's opinion and attend a training.
28:04
White House Council David Allen Warrington wrote to the staffers
28:09
that the Presidential Records Act was a significant departure from
28:14
historical practice. Warrenton's memo was included in a lawsuit over
28:19
the OLC opinion. The OLC is a unit of the
28:24
Justice Department that provides legal advice to the Executive Branch,
28:29
and its opinion sparked immediate concerns about how the day
28:33
to day records of presidential activity would be preserved. The
28:38
PRA says records from a presidency belong to the public
28:44
rather than to the president, and it requires the White
28:48
House to preserve all official materials. Ultimately, it is up
28:53
to the courts to determine whether the law is constitutional,
28:57
but In the meantime, the Trump administration has seized on
29:01
the OLC opinion to set its own record keeping policy.
29:06
Experts say that the new White House memo weakened safeguards
29:10
by making previously mandatory preservation rules discretionary, and that there
29:17
will be clear differences between how staffers are now asked
29:20
to preserve records compared with previous presidencies, including in President
29:27
Donald Trump's first term. The Trump administration's embrace of changes
29:33
to the PRIA comes four years after it was used
29:37
in part as the basis for an FBI raid at
29:41
Trump's Marlago home, where he had been keeping classified documents
29:46
from his first administration. The National Archives and Records Administration
29:52
had made several unsuccessful attempts to have the documents returned,
29:56
culminating in Trump's indictment on seven criminals, including charges of
30:02
wilful retention of national defense secrets. The charges were eventually
30:08
dismissed after Trump won a second term in the White House.
30:13
A February twenty seventeen memo from then White House lawyers
30:18
to all White House personnel, for example, strictly warned staff
30:23
against the use of personal devices for official business. It
30:27
said they were required to conduct all work related communications
30:32
on your official EOP email account, except in emergency circumstances PERENNE.
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EOP refers to the Executive Office of the President and Perenne.
30:47
The wording in the new memo, dated April second, is
30:51
less definitive, saying that EOP staff should conduct their work
30:56
related communications on the official work email accounts. It also
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says EOP staff should avoid using their personal devices for
31:06
official government business whenever possible. The memo does not outline
31:13
how Trump or Vice President J. D. Banch should preserve
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their records. A White House official, speaking on the background
31:21
to discuss internal processes, told of Washington Post that it
31:26
is impossible to view the memo and the mandatory training
31:30
as anything but a requirement that.
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Speaker 2: Staff preserve records. However, Jason R.
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Speaker 1: Baron, the University of Maryland professor who focuses on the
31:41
intersection of archives and the law, said the new White
31:45
House memo seriously undermines government accountability in making record keeping
31:50
at the White House largely discretionary.
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Speaker 2: Rather than mandatory.
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Speaker 1: Noting that the memo is framed as guidance rather than
32:00
legal mandate. Baron wrote in an email that nothing in
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the policy prevents the White House from directoring the transfer
32:08
or destruction of White House records, including tens of millions
32:12
of emails, either before or after the end of the
32:15
president's second term in office. Similarly, the new ep guidance
32:21
appears to be less strict than the twenty seventeen memo
32:24
on how to memorialize official materials that are sent to
32:28
personnel or personal accounts by accident. The twenty seventeen directives
32:34
set emails or texts that are sent to or from
32:37
personal accounts with material covered under the PRA must be
32:41
forwarded to an official White House platform within twenty days
32:46
via a screenshot or other means, adding that an e
32:50
employee who intentionally fails to take these actions may be
32:55
a subject to administrative or.
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Speaker 2: Even criminal penalties.
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Speaker 1: The new guidance says such texts must be preverbed only
33:04
when they are the sole record of artificial decision making,
33:09
government action, or certain unique information not available elsewhere. Staffers
33:15
are encouraged to memorialize the information in those exchanges in
33:20
a more accessible format, such as an email or memorandum,
33:25
it adds, rather than directly taking a screen shot or
33:29
otherwise sharing the relevant exchange in its entirety. Patrick Eddington,
33:36
a senior fellow at the Cato Institute, has argued that
33:39
the OLC opinion could make voter suppression efforts, for example,
33:44
harder to detect. He said in an interview that encouraging
33:49
eo P staffers to draft memorandums in lieu of sharing
33:52
screenshots is a great way to rewrite history. The White
33:57
House official maintained that staff had been in directed to
34:00
perform all work on their work device, and that an
34:03
approved signal app can be downloaded onto White House phones,
34:08
which also saves messages. Barn pointed to a section of
34:13
the memo that says EOP components are free to retain
34:18
previous record preservation policies, noting that this also means they
34:23
are free not to while paying lip service to the
34:28
need to preserve White House records, the memo actually gives
34:32
ep staff license to do the exact opposite, he said.
34:38
Congress passed the Presidential Records Act in nineteen seventy eight
34:43
to address fears that President Richard M. Nixon would destroy
34:47
documents from his presidency after the Watergate scandal. It established
34:52
that presidential records are public policy. Since then, its constitutionality
34:58
has gone largely unchallenged, and the Justice Department's unexpected declaration
35:04
to the contrary has already sparked legal action. American Oversight,
35:11
a nonprofit focused on enforcing access to government records, has
35:15
filed a lawsuit along the American Historical Association, arguing that
35:20
the OLC opinion effectively encourages the president to violate the
35:25
praa an existing federal statute that is fully in force.
35:31
Chioma Chekuu, executive director of American Oversight, said in his
35:37
statement that the Trump administration is inviting the selective preservation
35:43
of presidential records, which is inconsistent with the law. Two nonprofits,
35:50
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, Crew, Citizens Responsibility
35:58
Ethics in Way, Washington, and the Freedom of the Press
36:02
Foundation found a lawsuit on Friday in d C.
36:06
Speaker 2: Asking a federal.
36:07
Speaker 1: Judge to declare that the PRA is constitutional and order
36:12
federal officials to immediately comply with it. Among other requests,
36:18
the plaintiffs wrote that the government's actions, including those laid
36:22
out in Warrington's memo to staff, pose a real and
36:28
immediate threat that presidential records will irrevocably be destroyed and
36:34
forever lost.
36:35
Speaker 2: To History.
36:37
Speaker 1: John Mayer, Crewe's senior Litigation Council, said the new records
36:42
policy is inconsistent.
36:44
Speaker 2: With the pr A.
36:47
Speaker 1: The administration may have said doesn't get can choose which
36:51
parts of the law it wants to follow. The OLC
36:55
opinion came a little more than a year after the
36:58
Trump administration's effort to remove and replace leadership of the
37:02
National Archive and Records Administration. The federal government's independent record
37:08
keeping agency, the National Archives, known for housing many of
37:14
the country's founding documents and overseeing presidential libraries, is also
37:20
responsible for taking custody of records covered by the PRAA
37:24
when our President leaves office. The White House has also
37:29
not sad to whether Trump plans to give his presidential
37:32
records to the Archives once he leaves office. The National
37:36
Archives did not respond and were multiple requests for comment,
37:41
but former Archives officials say it is not clear how
37:44
the agency will operate In response to the OLC opinion.
37:49
Gary Stern, who served as General counsel for the National
37:53
Archives and Records Administration for twenty six years before retiring
37:58
at the end of Joe Biden's presidentency, wrote this month
38:02
in an op ad for The Post that the O
38:04
well c opinion has opened the door to uncertain and
38:09
potential KOs. The Archives has typically been seen as non political,
38:15
but the agency has been targeted by Trump since its
38:18
attempt to recover presidential documents from his Florida home after
38:23
his first term, culminating in the twenty twenty two raid
38:27
by the FBI. That raid found that Trump had taken
38:31
classified material upon leaving office. The National Archivist is appointed
38:36
by the president, but unlike most political appointees, he or
38:40
she does not typically leave office at the end of
38:43
a presidential administration. The National Archivist at the start of
38:47
Trump's second term, Colleen J. Shogun, was nominated by Biden
38:52
in twenty twenty two and confirmed by the Senate in
38:55
twenty twenty three. Shortly after Trump was sworn in for
39:00
a second presidential term. In twenty twenty five, Shoguin was
39:04
fired at Trump's direction. In a statement to The Post,
39:08
Shogun said she was never given a formal reason for
39:12
my removal, but it came during a period of significant
39:15
disagreement over the Presidential Records Act.
39:20
Speaker 2: While she did not.
39:21
Speaker 1: Explicitly charge that her firing was political, she added, it's
39:27
difficult not to consider that context as relevant. The larger
39:31
issue is what this means for transparency, congressional oversight, and
39:36
public access to presidential records going forward. When asked whether
39:42
the Shogun was tomissed from her role because she would
39:45
be perceived as resistant to potentially not complying with the
39:50
pra the White House official told the Post the President
39:54
of the United States possesses the authority to remove executive off.
40:02
Speaker 2: Interesting article on.
40:03
Speaker 1: The tricks teachers are trying to fix students shortening attention
40:10
spans in addition to limiting screen times. Some schools are
40:15
building in brain breaks, shorter lessons, and practicing meditation. And
40:22
there's a picture of kindergarten students practicing a guided meditation
40:27
visualization at the McKinley steam Acadeedy Academy in Toledo, Ohio,
40:34
on March the twelfth. And you see the children on
40:37
the floor, lying flat and they are apparently listening to
40:43
whatever that medi asian visualization is by Ariel Gilrith, Taledo, Ohio.
40:54
William Werner's first grade class was squirming. Some of his
40:58
students at McKinley Stam Academy. We're still completing reading worksheets.
41:04
One morning last month while others who had long finished
41:07
were building pyramids out of red cups, putting together puzzles,
41:11
and playing with legos.
41:13
Speaker 2: With each passing.
41:14
Speaker 1: Minute, the volume in the room grew louder. Werner has
41:18
a few tricks for moments like this, what teachers call
41:22
brain braks.
41:24
Speaker 2: Give me ten, he told the students.
41:27
Speaker 1: The first gradest rushed to do ten jumping decks, giggling
41:31
and jumping up and down. Brain banks, which usually involve
41:35
short burst of activity among the strategies Werner uses when
41:39
he notices a critical mass of students losing focus fast
41:45
their attention spans are short, Werner said, anyway to get
41:50
up and move reset their brains so they can sit
41:53
down and focus for a couple of minutes. In recent years,
41:58
educators say it is has grown more challenging to get
42:01
students to pay attention. Eighty eight percent of respondents in
42:05
an international survey from twenty twenty five of more than
42:09
three thousand teachers believed their student's attention spans were getting shorter.
42:15
In a study published last year by kindergarten through second
42:19
grade classrooms in the United States, seventy five percent of
42:23
teachers paid attention spans had dropped since the coronavirus pandemic,
42:29
when the use of laptops and other technology for schooling
42:32
spread rapidly. A growing body of research says that excessive
42:38
screen time and short form content such as TikTok videos
42:43
are part of the problem. At least thirty six dates,
42:47
including Ohio, have laws requiring schools to have some form
42:51
of a cell phone ban. There is debate of a
42:54
whether screen time reduces people's ability to focus or their
42:58
desire to Many developmental experts lean toward the latter, suggesting
43:04
that it is possible to help students regain larger attention spans,
43:09
longer attention spans to cope with and remedy shorter attention spans.
43:15
Educators are employing a list of new and old brain breaks,
43:19
including limiting screen time, cutting the time students spend on
43:23
one activity, adding more engaging hands on projects, and practicing meditation.
43:30
Some teachers say the efforts are helping at least a
43:34
little in that six and a half hours a day
43:37
that we see our babies here. We can't undo all
43:41
of the other distractions that are around, said Andrea Bennett,
43:45
an instructional coach at McKinley Steam a K through eight
43:49
public school Still, educators are noticing that, as a result
43:54
of strategies to improve intention spans, students aren't reaching for
43:59
their phones during class time and sometimes actually get drawn
44:03
into lessons. Bennett said. A key to fixing the attention
44:09
span problem is recognizing that the amount of time students
44:13
focus on our topic affects their ability to remember it,
44:16
said Emily Elliott, a Louisiana State University professor of psychology
44:21
who studies the development of memory and attention. Remembering information
44:26
long term requires repeated attention over time. It's why cramming
44:32
the night before a test might work to remember the
44:35
information the next morning, but not for remembering it weeks
44:40
or even days into the future. Our memories take time
44:46
to consolidate, Elliott said, adding the more times that you
44:50
are exposed to something, you learn it, you have to
44:53
try to remember it. You practice retrieving it, and then
44:57
you have a break, then you do something else, come
45:00
back and try again. That's strengthening your neural network. At McKinley, Steam,
45:07
one of the growing number of schools nationwide where students
45:10
are not allowed to have cell phones. Laurel Daniel's computer
45:15
science students start each class with a group discussion. Daniel
45:19
breaks her forty five minute sessions into smaller chunks called
45:23
micro lessons, which she says allows her students to stay
45:27
focused and if a lesson doesn't work the first time,
45:31
sometimes Daniel repeats it in a different format. Having such
45:37
easy access to technology is a detriment to as students,
45:41
she said. They don't have what I tell them is
45:44
the productive struggle, so we have to build that as teachers,
45:49
Daniel said, to engage students, teachers say they often feel
45:54
the need to deliver teaching not only in short burst
45:58
but also in more attaining ways. The new word is adjutainment,
46:05
said Curtis Finch, superintendent of Dear Valley Unified School District
46:10
in Arizona. How can you make your lesson applicable?
46:14
Speaker 2: Interactive? Teachers are going to have to be more engaging
46:18
for students.
46:20
Speaker 1: In a fifth grade science class at McKinley's steam, the
46:24
students cleared away their desks and walked in a big
46:28
circle in the middle of the classroom, spinning around the teacher.
46:32
McKinley's fifth grade students have had a hard time distinguishing
46:36
the difference between the Earth's rotation and revolution around the sun,
46:40
Bennett said moving around the room with her classmates made
46:45
the lessons stand out. In fifth grade nihilik Harta's mind.
46:49
The next day, rotation is light and night and it
46:54
takes twenty four hours. Carter recited, revolution is going on
47:00
around one year, three hundred and sixty five days and
47:04
a quarter. Entertaining physical activities can keep students' brains engaged,
47:11
said Elliot, the LSU psychology professor. There was this belief
47:17
for a long time that if you were a visual learner,
47:20
you could only learn visually, and that's.
47:23
Speaker 2: Not really accurate, Elliot said.
47:26
Speaker 1: What is accurate is eur brains are busy using all
47:30
of it, all of the time. In an eighth grade
47:33
science classroom at McKinley's Steam, students separated into groups to
47:38
use marshmallows and candy for a lesson on genetics. Depending
47:43
on the trade, students were given about hypothetical hypothecal parents.
47:50
They were supposed to determine what traits. The resulting marshmallow
47:54
babies had red twizzlers for hair, blue m and ms
47:59
as eyes. I noticed some people are.
48:03
Speaker 2: Eating their children without permission.
48:05
Speaker 1: The teacher, Colleen called the activity was a prive for
48:11
most of the students who had spent the previous day
48:14
taking test on computers for the National Assessment of Educational Progress,
48:20
a standardized exam given to a representative sample of eighth
48:24
graders across the country every two years. Working in a
48:29
group with classmates is the kind of lessons student Mia
48:32
Taylor said she enjoys most during lessons in which the
48:37
teacher is talking at the front of the class. Taylor
48:40
said she can probably pay attention for about twenty minutes
48:43
or so, and then I lose all interests. Taylor said,
48:48
I think it helps the students a lot if we
48:50
start doing an activity after Another strategy for getting students
48:55
on board is to be transparent with them. Elliot said,
48:59
tell them them out of time they will have to
49:01
spend doing something hard and where they're doing it, and
49:04
let them know when they can do something else. They
49:08
should know that they can focus on hard things and
49:11
that they will be better for it. And a kindergarten
49:14
classroom at McKinley Steam students start the day with the meditation.
49:19
The classroom of two dozen children is perhaps its quietest
49:23
during this short activity.
49:25
Speaker 2: Every morning. Imagine you're in the Arctic.
49:28
Speaker 1: A voice from a meditation video tells them, with snowflakes
49:32
melting on your skin. Silently, the children lay down on
49:36
the carpet and close their eyes for a moment. After
49:39
the meditation, the students gather in a circle and do
49:43
a deep a few deep breathing exercises before taking turns,
49:48
proclaiming what they are capable.
49:50
Speaker 2: Of each day.
49:52
Speaker 1: I can be a good student, one little boy said,
49:55
before the child next to him replied, I can listen
49:59
to the teacher. The goal is that these mantras will
50:03
stay with the children hours later when they have to
50:07
sit through the more tedious lessons of the day. Students
50:10
should be empowered, even at a young age, to know
50:13
they can and sometimes must, do things that are boring.
50:18
Elliot said, learning should be fun. You're getting new information
50:24
that is teaching you how to solve puzzles that you
50:27
can use for the rest of your life.
50:29
Speaker 2: And that's amazing. But is every second of it going
50:33
to be fun?
50:35
Speaker 1: No, And that's just the truth, Elliot said, Here is
50:41
something that will be of interest. Netinnaho says he here
50:46
to prostate cancer from public because of iron War. Israeli
50:52
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he delayed revealing his diagnosis
50:57
to prevent around from using it as properly. He said
51:01
treatment had left no trace of the cancer. Out of
51:05
Tel Aviv by Leoni Soroka and Victoria Krap, Israeli Prime
51:11
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday that he had been diagnosed
51:15
with and treated for early stage prostate cancer, but delayed
51:20
revealing his condition for two months to avoid it being
51:23
used against Israel and meet the war with Iran. In
51:27
a statement posted on x Netinyahu, who will be seventy
51:32
seven in October, said he requested publication of his annual
51:36
health report be delayed so it would not be released
51:40
at the height of the war to prevent the Iranian
51:43
terror regime from spreading it further false propaganda against Israel.
51:50
The Prime Minister's annual health report, leased on Friday. Released
51:53
on Friday, said Natanyahu underwent surgery on December twenty nine,
51:58
twenty twenty four enlarged prostate The surgery had been reported
52:03
publicly at the time. A few months ago, during a
52:07
routine follow up, doctors diagnosed early stage prostate cancel. Aaron popovser,
52:14
director of the oncology department at Hadassa Medical Center in
52:19
Jerusalem said in a video statement about Netanyahu's condition. The
52:24
Prime Minister was presented the option of active surveillance or
52:28
radiation therapy, and he chose to have targeted radiation therapy
52:33
at Hadasa two and a half months ago. US Israeli
52:37
strikes against Doran began February twenty eighth. Thank god, I
52:42
am healthy. I am in excellent physical shape. I had
52:46
a minor medical issue with my prostate that was fully treated,
52:50
Netanyahu said in his statement, adding that when he received
52:53
the medical diagnosis of a malignant growth, he decided to
52:57
undergo the treatment immediately. When I am given timely information
53:02
about a potential danger, I want to address it right away.
53:05
This is true on a national level and also on
53:08
a personal level.
53:09
Speaker 2: That is what I did.
53:11
Speaker 1: I underwent a targeted treatment that removed the problem and
53:14
left no trace of it. I went in for a
53:17
few short treatments, read a book, and continued working. The
53:21
spot has completely disappeared. In July twenty twenty three, Netnaho
53:26
was hospitalized at Chiba Medical Center after fainting. Netta Yahu
53:31
and his doctors said that then it was a case
53:34
of dehydration, but it was revealed a week later that
53:37
they had fitted him with a subcutaneous heart monotupe. Later
53:41
that month, net Nahou underwent a procedure to implant a pacemakup.
53:48
Since then, journalists and members of the opposition have raised
53:51
doubts regarding the completeness of information provided to the public
53:55
concerning his medical details. The Prime Minister's health is a
54:00
matter of national security and the public is entitled to
54:04
know the truth, Opposition lawmaker Nama Lazimi wrote an a
54:10
post to x on Friday. She called on the Prime
54:14
Minister's office to clarify why the information was hidden in
54:18
real time. Pentagon fires ambudsman overseeing military newspaper after calling
54:28
it woke Stars and Stripes am Buzman Jacqueline Smith said
54:33
the Defense Department dismissed her without giving a reason. According
54:37
to an email reviewed by The Post Bus Liam Scott
54:42
and Scott Noble. Three months after the Pentagon decried the
54:46
US military newspaper Stars and Stripes as woke and announced
54:51
it would be overhauled, Defense Department official Sean Pennell said
54:56
the publication's mbudsman a road charged by co Congress with
55:00
safeguarding the paper's editorial independence. In a Thursday message to
55:05
Stars and Stripe staff reviewed by The Washington Post. The
55:09
papers on Budsman said the Defense Department fired her without
55:13
giving a reason.
55:15
Speaker 2: However, Jacqueline Smith.
55:17
Speaker 1: Said she believed she was fired for speaking out against
55:20
the decision to overhaul Stars and Stripes announced by Parnell
55:24
in January, a decision she said threatened the story paper's
55:29
long held independence. Parnell is also the chief Pentagon spokesman.
55:35
I knew it was risky to speak outen my responsibility
55:39
to Stripes and the first amendment was paramount, Smith wrote
55:44
in the message to staff Stars and Stripe staffers a
55:48
Defense Department employees, but half for decades operated without Pentagon
55:52
interference in editorial decisions. In March, a Department meno outlining
55:59
modernization drive for the publication included a requirement that all
56:03
content be consistent with good order and discipline, a phrase
56:08
used in military justice. The Defense Department confirmed to The
56:12
Washington Post that Smith had spend relieved of her duties
56:17
as Stars and Stripes. I'm much been effective immediately, but
56:20
did not respond to questions about the reason for her removal.
56:24
Smith learned Tuesday from the newspaper's publisher, Max D.
56:28
Speaker 2: Letterer Junior that she had been.
56:30
Speaker 1: Taken off the department's payroll, she told the Post. She
56:34
said Letterer told her he had received notice from Parnell
56:37
abate the decision. Smith has been vocally critical of the
56:42
Pentagon's recent interventions at the military newspaper, including her columns.
56:48
I have been spoken about my concern with increasing restrictions
56:51
on the press by the Pentagon, and in particular very
56:54
concerned about the editorial independence of Stars and Stripes.
56:59
Speaker 2: All of this was.
57:00
Speaker 1: Speaking out made me vulnerable, Smith said, it's a way
57:04
to quiet the criticism, she added. Letterer sent an email
57:09
to staff on Thursday about the news and included the
57:11
message from Smith to her former colleagues. The ombudsman roll
57:16
is unique in that it remains independent of Stripe's governance,
57:20
as directed by Congress to provide vital oversight of both
57:24
our journalism and the Department of War's regulatory management.
57:28
Speaker 2: Letterer wrote.
57:29
Speaker 1: The Department of War is the Trump administration's preferred name
57:34
for the Defense Department.
57:36
Speaker 2: Letterer called Smith.
57:38
Speaker 1: Exceptionally diligent and thoughtful, and praised her openness and directness
57:43
in his email. In addition to stating that Stars and
57:47
Stripe's content must be consistent with good order and discipline.
57:51
Speaker 2: Deputy Defense Secretary Stephen A.
57:53
Speaker 1: Feinberg's March memo about an overhaul of the publication said
57:57
it must modernize to remain irrelevant and viable in the
58:02
digital age. The memo outlined an interim policy governing the
58:07
newspaper that restricted the use of wire services. And with that,
58:11
I conclude today's reading of The Washington Post for the
58:14
twenty fifth of April of twenty twenty six. We did
58:18
not get any rain last night. We sure need it,
58:22
but I look forward to a day in the mountains
58:24
of Estoll County at the Cathedral domain.
58:28
Speaker 2: Thank you for listening.
58:29
Speaker 1: Please continue listening to radio programs during the day.
58:33
Speaker 2: Bye.