Transcript

10.20.25 · Washington Post

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Speaker 1: Welcome to today's reading of the Washington Post for Thursday,
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October the thirtieth of twenty twenty five. Goodness gracious, Tomorrow
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is Halloween and the end of October. All RADIOI is
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an organization for those blind with disabilities in holding a
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reading printed material. And your reader today is Alice Dayer,
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and I will describe the front page. On the far left,
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red carpet gold chron for Trump and South Korea. President
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secures a trade deal and is showered with gifts and pageantry.
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Michelle ye here Lee and kat Zuruzuski and Natalie Allison
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out of South Korea.
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Speaker 2: In the middle.
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Speaker 1: And a picture of incredible destruction looking and water all
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over everywhere. Flooding from Hurricane Melissa is seen in Saint Elizabeth,
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Jamaica on Wednesday. Officials are working to assess the damage
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in the hardest hit area of the country, the western
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parishes of Manchester, Saint Elizabeth, Westmoreland, Saint James, and Hannover.
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And you just see the tops of roofs and water,
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dirty water all the way up which still see green
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at the top of trees and bushes. This reminds you
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of the flooding that we saw in Florida and elsewhere,
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But underneath the picture, Melissa leaves a trail of destruction.
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Flooding kills at least twenty in eighty hurricane makes landfall
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in and the article is out of Kingston, Jamaica. And
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on the far right, Dead Again cuts rates by zero
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point two five points. Policymakers are split on next move.
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View of economy clouded by federal dot of blackout by
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Andrew Ackerman, and then below the fold only two five
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articles on the front page, not the normal six, a
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maddening ordeal for Carlos to Social Security. The agency says
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it's improving customer service, but many still report hours long
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wait lines, and there is an article inside the paper
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about the music that is played while you wait. With
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Trump's favor in video, becomes the first five trillion dollar firm.
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President heaps praise as Chip make a purchase for a
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key role in his AI agenda. By Evadell and kat Zerzuski.
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I'll start with the Fed trims rates again, but future
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cuts uncertain. The Central Bank moved to steady the economy
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I mean a weakening job market even as inflation stays elevated.
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And Key Dota goes dark, and there is a picture
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of a determined looking Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell leaving
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a board meeting in Washington Friday, and he has on
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a blue suit with a lighter blue tie white shirt,
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and behind him people walking at it, and a big
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sign says board meeting on to the right of him.
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Speaker 2: By Andrew Ackerman.
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Speaker 1: The Federal Reserve cut interest rates by a quote of
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a percentage point on Wednesday for its second consecutive meeting,
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seeking to study the economy amid a weakening labor market
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as a month long government shutdown has clouded its view.
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Wednesday's widely expected move lowers the fed's benchmark interest rate
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to a range of three point seven five percent to
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four percent, the lowest level in about three years. Fed
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policies influence what households and businesses paid for mortgages, credit cards,
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and other loans. Risks to employment rose in recent months,
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the FED said in a statement. The decision, however, exposed
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divisions among policymakers over how much further the Central Bank
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should go in supporting growth, underscoring uncertainty about the path ahead.
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Chair Jeroma H. Powell said in a news conference that
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the pressure of stubborn inflation and the weakening labor market
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stirred tension and disagreement among the nineteen policymakers about what
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to do about interest rates in the months to come.
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At this meeting, there is strongly different views about how
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to proceed. A further reduction in the policy rate at
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the December meeting is not a foregone conclusion.
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Speaker 2: Far from it.
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Speaker 1: Policy is not on a preset course, and the takeaway
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from that is that we haven't made a decision about decemble,
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Palell said, describing conversations about future interest rates cuts. After
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keeping steady rate steadies since January to assess the impact
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of President Donald Trump's trade and immigration policies, the FED
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cut rates in September and signaled cautiously that more reductions
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could be cut even as inflation remains persistently high. However,
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FED officials are increasingly worried about the state of the
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labor market. Major companies such as Amazon and Ups are
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among those that announced mass layoffs this week, and the
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federal shutdown continues to weigh on the labor market, with
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trickle down effects for federal contractors. Trump has pushed for
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dramatically lower rates to juice the economy and to help
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finance cheaper borrowing costs for the United States.
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Speaker 2: He has repeatedly.
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Speaker 1: Attacked Powell and is trying to find others sitting another
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sitting FED governor. Speaking in South Korea on Wednesday, Trump
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again derided Powell for perceived delays in cutting rates, referring
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to the FED chief as too late. Two Fed officials
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dissented from Wednesday's decision, but for different reasons. Stephen Moran,
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an economic advisor to Trump who was added to the
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FED board last month, wanted a larger cut. Kansas City
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FED President Jeffrey Schmidt preferred no change to rates. In
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addition to Wednesday's cut, the Fed also said it would
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soon end a three year effort to reduce the size
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of its six point six triviion dollar balance sheet abid
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the ease strains in short term funding markets. Headed into
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Winsday's decision, investors anticipated a third straight cut in December,
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but significantly lowered their expectations after Powell's remarks. More futures
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markets investors now believe Fed policy makers will opt for
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a more cautious approach as they confront an economy showing
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signs of mildstead plation, stubbornly elevated inflation paired with a
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weakened job market. What do you do if you're driving
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in the fog, You slow down, Powell said at the
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news conference, adding I'm not committing to that. I'm just
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saying it's certainly a possibility that you would say, we
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really can't see, so let's slow down. The Fed has
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appeared increasingly divided on the path forward. In September, some
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officials questions whether a rate cut was necessary and could
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have supported keeping rates steady instead. According to the meeting minutes,
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just one official, Moran, favored a series of steep cuts.
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The longer the shutdown goes on, the heart of the
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Feb's jar will get with an increasing risk of misjudging
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and a charny that is flashing mixed signals. The Central
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Bank could be operating without official data on jobs, inflation,
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and growth when it meets for the last time this
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year in December. Earlier this month, the Trump administration recalled
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a small team of furloughed workers to complete the latest
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consumer price index, but said a continued shutdown probably would
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prevent the government from releasing an inflation report for October
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that could leave Powell and the FED with a delicate
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task of relaying of relying more heavily on private sector data,
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as well as reports from the twelve regional FED banks,
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which maintained contacts across the country to help determine the
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health of the economy. Trump's repeated calls for steep rate
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cuts are unlikely to gain traction unless new data shows
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a sharp weakening in the job market, the kind of
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evidence that is now out of reach. Normally, a softening
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labor market would trigger the FED to cut rates to
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support hiring and the overall economy. Unemployment rose to four
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point three percent in August, the highest rate since October
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twenty twenty one, while job growth is dulled, with just
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twenty two thousand positions added in August, far below expectations.
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But inflation remains at an annualized rate of about three percent,
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above the Fed's two percent target, fueled partly by Trump's
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tariffs on imported goods that have raised costs for manufacturers
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and consumers. Elevated inflation could limit the ability of the
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FED to cut, or make officials reluctant to cut by
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much beyond Wednesday's rate reduction. For fear of reducing the
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economy in a way that spurs more inflation. A key
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question revolves around whether firmer inflation stemming from tariffs will
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prove temporary, or whether cost increases will become more entrenched.
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When households and businesses expect inflation to persist, those expectations
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can become self fulfilling as workers demand raises and companies
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raise prices accordingly. So far, there's little evidence of that happening.
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Even his power insists on independence. The FED has quietly
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adjusted to the new political climate as it seeks to
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align its policies with the rest of the government. The
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FED has shelved diversity and climate related initiatives announced during
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the Biden administration, ordered a ten percent cut in staff,
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and required employees to return to the office full time.
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In return, it has received little reprieve. Trump has installed Moran,
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his own Counsel of Economic Advisors chairman, as a FED
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government albeit on leave from the White House, and continues
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to press for deeper rate cuts. In South Korea, Trump
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secures a trade deal and a glittering crown. The trade
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agreement will lower US tariffs on Korean cars and parts
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to fifteen percent in exchange for three hundred and fifty
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billion dollars in investment. A Korean official said, there's a
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picture of President Trump and who is shaking hands with
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South Korean President Lee Jmoung at the National Museum in
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South Korea on Wednesday, where Trump received a Sella era
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crown replica and medal medal, representing South Korea's highest civilian honor.
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The crown is sitting on a red platform draped down
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and it is about maybe eight inches tall, maybe a foot.
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It is in glass and it is gold with green
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leaf around the edges. In the Young South Korea. The
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article is written by Michelle Yehi, Lee kat Zuzuski, and
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Natalie Allison. South Korea presented President Donald Trump with a
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replica of an enormous ancient crown on Wednesday, as he
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made his last stop of a swing through Asia, where
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leaders have sought to smooth overtrade and defense tensions by
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appealing to the American president's appreciation of glittering gifts. The
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two countries also worked out the details of a trade
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agreement to lower US auto tariffs fifteen percent in exchange
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for three hundred and fifty billion dollars in career and
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investment in the US. In an elaborately arranged ceremony at
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the gyoung Zu National Museum, Trump stared at the golden
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crown as a South Korean official explained that it symbolizes
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the divided connection between the authority of the heavens and
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the sovereignty on earth, as well as the strong leadership
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and authority of a leader. Lee, wearing a gold tie,
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also presented Trump with a laurel leaf metal that hung
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from a golden column, conferring upon him the granddaughter of Muguongha,
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south Korea's highest civil honor, making Trump the first US
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president to receive the decoration. Trump responded that he would
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like to wear it right now, seated next to Lee's
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Several hours later, at had Dinnah held in Trump's honor,
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the President raved about the gifts giving me the honor
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of that magnificent piece of art, because it really was
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a piece of art that you presented to me today.
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To be the first president of the United States that
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got that was really something very special, he said. South
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Korea is the latest country to shower Trump with gifts
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as global leaders use a combination of flattery and pageantry
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decated to a president who has displayed a willingness to
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torpedo long standing alliances. Trump arrived to a twenty one
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gun salute in South Korea as the countries remained locked
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in complicated trade negotiations triggered by Trump's tariffs. The two
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sides agreed on the investment fund under a framework deal
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reached in July, but they had been deadlocked on almost
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all of the key details on how to implement the fund.
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On Wednesday, the two sides agreed on details of the
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trade agreement, including a cash investment of two hundred billion
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dollars capped at twenty billion dollars per year, as a
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part of the total three hundred and fifty billion dollar
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investment planned, said Kim young Boehm, Lee's policy chief. The
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rest will consist of shipbuilding cooperation. He said auto tariffs
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would also be reduced to fifteen percent from twenty five percent.
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South Korea faces blanket fifteen percent tariffs on exports as
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part of the deal reached in July. Trump later confirmed
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the agreement on truth social saying he had also given
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South career approval to build a nuclear powered submarine. Since
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the two countries military a line is stronger than ever before.
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In an initial post, Trump referred to Lee as the
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country's Prime Minister before correcting his title to president. Earlier Wednesday,
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Trump arrived in South Korea to attend the Asia Pacific
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Economic Cooperation Summit, receiving a red carpet welcome as a
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band played Ymca, the song that typically closes at his
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political rallies. You really rolled out a red carpet. That
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was a very good red carpet, a beautiful red carpet,
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Trump said, as South Korean official explained this significance of
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the gifts, saying the medal was presented in anticipation of
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the peace and prosperity that he would bring to the
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Korean Peninsula. The crown is a replica of those excavated
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from the Scilla Kingdom, which ruled much of the Korean
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Pensinsula for nearly a thousand years until the tenth century
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and had Guyangxi as its capital. The crowns were believed
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to have been warned by royals and other high ranking
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officials of Scillah, which was known as the Golden Kingdom
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because of its use of gold and vibrant trade on
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the Silk Road. The official said the crown represents a
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period of peace and unity as the first dynasty to
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unify the three kingdoms on the Peninsula. Trump received the
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gilded gifts less than two weeks after crowds flooded No
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King's protest in cities throughout the United States, dancing and
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wielding puty signs that derided the president's mass deportations and
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domestic National Guard deployments. No King's movement is rooted in
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protesters accusations that Trump is governing like a marlark, almost
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two hundred and fifty years after the United States was founded,
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in protest of single sovereign rule. I think dancing and
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wielding punny signs, not puny punny signs, pu n n
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y puney signs that have derided the president's mass deportations
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and domestic National Guards deployments. Speaking at the APEC CEO summit,
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Trump called South Korea a cherished American friend and toted
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efforts between the two nations to modernize the US shipbuilding
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industry a priority of his administration to try to close
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the gap with the dominant China. South Korea is the
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world's second largest shipbuilder behind China. We're going to have
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a very thriving, very thriving ship building industry, and we're
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working it with South Korea very much so, Trump said
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in his speech at the event. He also emphasized the
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new country's cooperation on semiconductor production, as his administration seeks
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to boost domestic manufacturing chips essential to maintaining a competitive
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edge over China in the artificial intelligence revolution. In addition
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to the golden gifts, South Korean government officials leaned into
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peace as a central theme of Trump's visit, appealing to
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his efforts to cast himself as a global peacemaker. Lean
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Trump held a lunch meeting with peace Lily's on display
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to discuss trade, South Korean investments in the US, cooperation
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on economic security matters, and security issues. The lunch featured
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a Peacemakers dessert with the gold and Daring brownie and
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seasonal fruits served with buckwheat tea. South Korea's government, following
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in the footsteps of Japan and Malaysia, the first two
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stops on Trump's Asia tour, is pulling at all the
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stops to impress Trump. But beneath the pomp and glitz,
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other issues loom over the relationship, particularly on security issues,
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South Korean government officials are weary of Trump's desire for
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Soul to pay more to host US troops and of
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the Trump administration's efforts to make security allies like South
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Korea take on more responsibility for defending themselves from security
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threats that could put South Korea in a vulnerable position
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given North Korea's advancements in its nuclear and missile program.
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And while the initial shock over the immigration raid at
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the Hyundai LG plant in Georgia has some lawmakers and
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civic groups remain frustrated with the incident, A coalition of
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more than two dozen civic groups and political parties held
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anti US protests in Yanji, accusing Trump of exploiting the
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long time security ally. But most closely watched event of
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Trump's Asia tool will be his meeting with Chinese Leadershijin Ping,
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scheduled for Thursday morning local time on the sidelines of
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the APEC Summit. It will be the first time the
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two have met face to face since Trump returned to
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the White House in January and sparked another global trade
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war with China as its biggest target. There has been
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much speculation on whether Trump will also meet with North
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Korea and leader Kim Jong un during his stay in
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South Korea. Despite Trump's overtures, it appeared unlikely such a
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meeting would occur before Trump is scheduled to depart Asia
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on Thursday. Instead, North Korea showed off its military arsenal
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by firing seed to surface strategic cruise missiles off its
23:15
west coast on Tuesday, the day before Trump's arrival in
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South Korea. The low flying cruise missiles flew for more
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than two hours, according to North Korea's official state media outlet,
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the Korean Central News Agency. Trump appeared unfazed by the
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missile launches during a briefing with reporters aboard Air Force
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one traveling to South Korea from Japan. Oh I don't know,
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He's been launching missiles for decades, right, Trump said. When
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asked about the tests, Trump said he planned to return
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to Asia and meet with Kim in the not so
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distant future. He added he would like to meet with
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the North Korean leader on this trip, but the schedule
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was tight and his focus has to be on China.
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Trump this week floated the idea of relaxing sanctions on
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North Korea to persuade Kim to meet, and there is
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a picture taken in twenty nineteen of Trump meeting with
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North Korean leader Kim Jung ung at the border village
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of Panmunjum in the demilitarized zone between the two careers,
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and I remember seeing that meeting taking place where Trump
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stepped across the border into North Korea and Kim Jong
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yung into South Korea. Going into the paper report, government
24:49
shut down will cost the economy up to fourteen billion dollars.
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The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office says the longer the government
25:00
staged closed, the more costly the pause will be. By
25:06
Riley Began, the US economy will lose between seven billion
25:11
and fourteen billion dollars because of the federal government shutdown,
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according to a new report released Wednesday by Congress's nonpartisan bookkeeper,
25:23
Federal workers missing paychecks and the interruption of food benefits
25:28
for low income Americans are expected to temporarily lower gross
25:33
domestic product by one to two percentage points in the
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fourth quarter of twenty twenty five. The Congressional Budget Office
25:42
reported output is expected to spring back once the government
25:47
reopens and services resumed, reversing most of the economic slow down.
25:54
But the hours lost by furloughed federal workers would permanently
25:58
offfact real GDP, an effect that would get worse the
26:04
longer the slow shutdown drags on. In CBO's assessment, the
26:13
shutdown will delay federal spending and have a negative effect
26:17
on the economy that will mostly but not entirely reverse
26:22
once the shutdown ends, CBO Director Philip Swagel wrote in
26:27
a letter to Host Budget Committee Chairman Jody Arrington, Republican
26:32
of Texas, who requested the analysis. If Congress agreed to
26:37
reopen the government this week, the economy would lose seven
26:42
billion dollars by the end of twenty twenty six, compared
26:45
to if there had not been a shutdown. According to
26:49
the CBO, if the shutdown ends after six weeks, which
26:54
would be around November twelfth, the economy would permanently lose
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a eleven billion dollars in gross domestic product by the
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end of twenty twenty six. That loss would grow to
27:07
fourteen billion dollars if the shutdown last until the end
27:11
of November. Democrats are playing politics and the American people
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are paying the price, Rrington said in a statement, adding
27:23
for hard working families that means higher unemployment, lower wages,
27:27
and less money in their pockets. The federal government shut
27:31
down on October first when Congress failed to pass a
27:35
temporary funding measure. Democrats have insisted that Republicans agreed to
27:40
extend Affordable Care Act subsidies that expire at the end
27:45
of the year in exchange for their votes to fund
27:48
the government. Republicans have said they won't negotiate on the
27:52
ACA until the government is reopened. This CBO report makes
27:58
clear the daich Republicans are causing by shutting down the
28:02
government instead of working with Democrats to help families afford
28:06
their health care. Representative Brandon Boyle Pennsylvania, the ranking Democrat
28:13
on the host Budget Committee, said in a statement, adding
28:18
Speaker Johnson should bring his members back from their extended
28:21
vacation and work with Democrats on a bipartisan build that
28:25
reopens the government and protects americans health care. Around seven
28:31
hundred and fifty thousand federal workers have been temporarily furloughed
28:35
as a result of the funding impasse. Others are working
28:38
without pay. President Donald Trump's administration has moved to insure
28:43
some workers, including active duty military personnel, law enforcement agents,
28:49
and Immigrations and Customs Enforcement deportation officers received their most
28:55
recent paycheck, but the shutdown will soon be become more
29:00
painful for those who aren't federal employees. SNAP, the Supplemental
29:06
Nutrition Assistance program commonly known as food stamps, is set
29:12
to run out of funding on Saturday. The Agriculture Department
29:17
has said it cannot use five point five billion dollars
29:20
in contingency funds to keep the program running, which means
29:25
SNAP benefits will temporarily halt in states that cannot make
29:29
up the difference. Another Interior article, Trump directs Pentagon to
29:37
test nuclear weapons for the first time since nineteen ninety two.
29:45
The president said he wanted testing to occur on an
29:49
equal basis with Russia and China. The Kremlin condemned the move,
29:55
and there was no indication on when tests might take place.
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By Natalie Allison Katzuzuski, Katrina Northrop, and Adam Taylor out
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of Giang Jeu, South Korea. President Donald Trump on Thursday
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morning said he directed the Pentagon to begin testing nuclear
30:16
weapons on an equal basis with Russia and China, an
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apparent attempt to flex the United States military might ahead
30:26
of a high stakes trade meeting here with his Chinese
30:30
counterpart Gi Jinping. Trump's announcement on truth social signal a
30:37
reversal of decades of the United States nuclear policy that
30:42
could have far reaching consequences for relations with US adversaries
30:47
through his post, though his post included very few details
30:52
about what the test would entail. The last nuclear weapon
30:57
test in the United States was held in nineteen two,
31:01
before President George H. W. Bush implemented a moratorium on
31:06
such exercises at the conclusion of the Cold War. Trump
31:12
wrote that the process would begin immediately and was in
31:15
response to other countries testing programs. Quillan spokesman Dmitri Peskoff
31:23
expressed shock at Trump's statements, noting the worldwide moratorium or
31:27
nuclear testing. President Trump mentioned that other countries are allegedly
31:33
conducting nuclear webspn's tests, but we were not aware that
31:37
anyone was conducting tests until now, he said. The President
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posted about resuming nuclear weapons testing as his helicopter Marine
31:48
one was in the air on the way to meet
31:51
g at Gimai Airbase. White House officials did not respond
31:57
to requests for comments about what the United States knew
32:00
cular weapons testings would involve. And Trump told reporters after
32:04
his meeting with she that details would be forthcoming. It'll
32:08
be announced. We have test sites, Trump said, it'll be announced.
32:15
But Trump gave no indication that he had spoken with
32:17
Shi about China's growing nuclear program during a meeting he
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described as amazing, which he said resulted in a one
32:25
year trade agreement amid the month's long terrorfa with China.
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When asked, Trump did not explain why he posted the
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announcement when he did. Trump's announcement came after Russia said
32:38
it had successfully tested a nuclear powered cruise missile, the Bruzrishnik,
32:44
and large torpedo, the Poseidon, which are nuclear capable weapons systems.
32:51
So far, however, Putin has abstained from testing a nuclear
32:55
weapon or carrying out a nuclear detonation. If he is
33:01
referring to the Abrizhnikoff tests, then these are not nuclear tests,
33:07
Peshkov told reporters, adding absolutely not. All countries are developing
33:13
their defense systems, but this is not a nuclear test.
33:17
I would like to remind you of President Putin's statement,
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which has been repeated many times. If anyone deviates from
33:24
the moratorium, Russia will act accordingly. Peskov added, while Trump
33:32
said he would direct the Department of War to conduct
33:36
the test, that the Department of Energy is the entity
33:39
responsible for nuclear testing. The first Trump administration discussed conducting
33:45
a nuclear test explosion in twenty twenty, and a senior
33:49
administration official told The Washington Post at that time that
33:53
demonstrating the United States could conduct a test would be
33:58
a useful negotiation tool with Beijing and Moscow, but such
34:04
an escalation could undermine Trump's recent moves to cement himself
34:08
as the Peace President as he campaigns globally for the
34:13
Nobel Peace Prize and to soothe tensions with the United
34:16
States main geopolitical rival. Trump nevertheless suggested after his meeting
34:23
with she that his ultimate goal was for nuclear powers
34:26
to lay down their arms. I think de escalation they
34:31
would call it denuclearization would be a tremendous thing. Trump
34:36
told reporters on Air Force One. We are actually talking
34:40
to Russia about that, and China would be added to
34:43
that if we do something. There's a picture of a
34:47
mushroom cloud rising above the Bikini Atoll during the United
34:51
States Operation Crossroads nuclear test in July of nineteen forty six. Huh,
34:58
that was the year I was born anyway. Trump's nuclear
35:03
testing announcement alarmed arms controlled experts, who said it was
35:08
unnecessary and escalatory. Darryl Kemble, Executive director of the Arms
35:15
Control Association, said the United States has no technical, military,
35:21
or political reason to resume nuclear explosive testing. Kimball added
35:26
that the NU National Nuclear Security Administration, the federal agency
35:32
that overseas testing, was not equipped to immediately restart testing,
35:36
and that it would need at least thirty six months
35:41
to resume contained nuclear test underground at the Forma test
35:45
site in Nevada. The vast majority of the agency's employees
35:50
are furloughed due to the government shutdown, in contrast to
35:54
past government funding lapses when these workers redeemed essential to
35:58
government operations. Trump zeroed on China's growing nuclear capabilities as
36:06
an independent analysts say Beijing is among the largest and
36:11
most rapid modernization campaigns of the nine countries known to
36:16
have nuclear weapons. In his truth Social post, Trump said
36:21
that Beijing is currently a distant third in its number
36:25
of nuclear weapons to Russia and the United States, but
36:29
that it will be even within five years. The Department
36:35
of Defense estimated last year that China will surpass one
36:40
thousand warheads by twenty thirty, a number still considerably behind
36:45
both the US and Russia, which have been estimated to
36:49
have three thousand, seven hundred and forty three hundred, respectively,
36:54
despite Pentagon data showing Russia has more, Trump on Thursday
36:59
repeatedly claimed that the United States had the world's largest
37:03
stockpile of nuclear weapons. There have been more than two
37:08
thousand nuclear test explosions around the world since nineteen forty five,
37:13
but most countries stopped nuclear testing in the nineteen hundreds
37:17
of the nineteen nineties. Most countries stopped nuclear testing in
37:23
the nineteen nineties. China's last nuclear explosion occurred in nineteen
37:28
ninety six, and Moscow's was in nineteen ninety during the
37:33
dying days of the Soviet Union. The rare exception was
37:37
the most recent nuclear tests conducted by North Korea, a
37:41
pariah state, in twenty seventeen. Ninny State nations, including the
37:48
United States, Russia, and China are signatories to the nineteen
37:52
ninety six Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, which prohibits anti
37:58
nuclear weapon testing SSI explosion or any other nuclear explosion. However,
38:05
the treaty never went into effect because several key countries,
38:09
including the United States, did not ratify it. There have
38:14
also been allegations of significant breaches, with one senior US
38:19
official stating during the first Trump administration that Russia had
38:24
probably conducted secret tests of low yield nuclear weapons. Trump's
38:30
announcement was likely in response to Russia's recent testing of
38:35
new nuclear delivery systems, including the Poseidon and a nuclear
38:40
powered cruise missile, and could prompt Beijing to accelerate nuclear research,
38:46
said Tanzhao, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for
38:50
International Peace and an expert on the UST China nuclear relationship.
38:57
If the United States indeed began developing similar nuclear delivery technologies,
39:04
there is a significant chance that Beijing would follow suit.
39:09
Continued Russian progress and parallel US development could further incentivey
39:17
China to accelerate its own research programs to avoid being
39:22
left behind. Tog Xiao said. It may also have influenced
39:28
the tenor of the high stakes meeting between g and Trump.
39:33
Chinese officials were likely shocked by Trump's announcement, said Lyle Morris,
39:39
an expert on China's military at the Agent Society Policy Institute.
39:46
Speaker 2: It came out of nowhere. He added, she in.
39:49
Speaker 1: China doesn't like surprises where a major summit meeting before
39:54
a major's sun meeting. It adds a distraction that the
39:58
Chinese certainly didn't seek. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman and Gao
40:05
Jakunin responded to the announcement Thursdays, saying that Beijing hopes
40:10
the United States will earnestly abide by its obligations under
40:14
the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty and take concrete actions
40:20
to uphold the international Nuclear disarmament and non proliferation regime.
40:27
Speaker 2: But according to.
40:28
Speaker 1: Trump, the very friendly meeting went so well that Trump
40:33
agreed to visit China in April and she to visit
40:36
the United States later next year. Trump said it remains undetermined, however,
40:43
whether that will include a visit to Washington or to
40:46
Trump's mar Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida. This will
40:51
be a two part section, and I'm not going to
40:54
be able to read all of the first one or
40:56
the second one most likely, but callos to Social Security
41:01
wait for hours to get help, and some of their
41:05
statements are that's incredibly frustrating, and I think it's going
41:10
to get worse being on the phone, wasting all my
41:13
time when a person should be able to call and
41:16
get to speak to somebody. I was thinking, is this
41:21
like some kind of torture that they do in prison
41:23
to make people crazy? The article by Merrill Cornfield and
41:28
Hannah Madison hours long waits, times, endless, looping music, useless,
41:36
robot messages.
41:37
Speaker 2: Millions of seniors.
41:39
Speaker 1: And disabled people called social securities one eight hundred number
41:43
every month. What they experience is often maddening. When Rhon
41:49
Dinzion's twenty five called in July, the California resident had
41:54
a common issue. They needed to report income from a
41:58
part time job or else they would be at risk
42:01
of losing disability benefits. The call didn't start, well, I
42:06
need to report income, thezuns responded. The bot directed Dizzunce
42:12
to go to the Social Security website and said they
42:15
could hang up. Denzon's tried again. Welcome to the Social
42:20
Security Administration. How can I help you today? This is
42:23
the AI Dinzon Report Income AI. We are here to
42:29
help you by providing the critical services you need. We want,
42:33
oh my God, to help as quickly and safely as possible.
42:38
How can I help you today? Denzon's connect me to
42:41
a human representative one moment while I transfer your call
42:46
to an agent. Here we go, and then came the
42:50
better message. The estimated whole time is ninety minutes. I
42:56
wanted to bang my head against the wall. The Trump
43:01
administration has said it is improving Social Security customer service
43:06
and dramatically cutting wait times to build on a phone
43:09
experience that callers have complained about even before President Donald
43:15
Trump took office, But the agency's public reporting doesn't cope
43:19
the time people wait for callbacks from humans, and nearly
43:22
three dozen callers who spoke with The Washington Post or
43:26
let a reporter join their calls said their experiences have
43:30
not matched the agency's claims. The waight average time for
43:35
a callback peaked at about two and a half hours
43:38
from January to March.
43:42
Speaker 2: Oh sorry.
43:44
Speaker 1: According to internal agency data obtained by the Post, the
43:48
average time dropped to about an hour since July, when
43:52
the agency added more field office workers to the one
43:56
eight hundred number, even as the agency has sought to
43:59
re douce its workforce by thousands. In response to this story,
44:04
as finding, Social Security Administration spokesman Barton McKay said that
44:10
there have been significant advancements in customer service over the
44:14
past five months. Cherry picked instances may meet the goal
44:17
of a preconceived negative narrative, but they do not accurately
44:21
reflect the experiences of as majority of Americans have when
44:26
interacting with the Social Security Administration, he said in his statement.
44:33
Most SSA phone services have been unaffected by the government shutdown.
44:39
And now I'm going to pause and go to the
44:41
article about the telephone waight music. The story behind that
44:49
surprisingly catchy social Security hold music. This musician wrote a
44:56
song nearly twenty years ago about not way.
45:01
Speaker 2: Hundreds of millions have heard.
45:03
Speaker 1: It while on hold waiting by Bishop sand Brace yourself
45:10
before you call the Social Security Administration, As several million
45:15
people do each month, The average raittime is sixty eight point.
45:21
Speaker 2: Nine minutes on the line.
45:25
Speaker 1: Your experience will consist of a repeated five minute segment
45:30
of announcements and better than usual hold music. And I
45:35
am going to play that for a second.
45:38
Speaker 2: At the conclusion of your call, we would like you
45:40
to participate in a short survey and tell us about
45:42
your experience. If you would like to participate in the survey,
45:46
please stay on the line after the agent hangs up.
46:13
Speaker 1: Callers stew annoyed they will never get this hour of
46:18
their life back. But some embrace this situation and listen
46:22
closely to the looping melody because the Internet can still
46:27
be a place that connects you to your curiosity. Some
46:31
people go in search of the full song, and it's
46:34
lyrics that float over the melody. If you can't wait
46:38
for a few more scrolls, you can hear the full
46:40
song here. It turns out to be a lovely, even
46:44
stirring song. These people connect with others on hold, thank
46:49
the musician, and learn the chords. And one president says,
46:54
I was on hold for four hours and found to
46:57
this instrument instrumental. I was so relaxed and annoyed when
47:02
the voice came on to interrupt and say, we are
47:04
currently helping others. I was upset that the instrumental was
47:07
being interrumpted. Wonderful song. It was the first time he'd
47:12
heard his song, his life's credo used as off the
47:16
shelf hold music. He felt trapped imagining himself as a caller.
47:23
I feel I'm being punished, Delisio said, I've lost my
47:27
free will and now you're trying to give me a
47:30
Lollipop Lesio fifty four is an independent musician who put
47:36
out three albums during a career of over thirty years.
47:40
He values free will and exercised it liberally in his youth.
47:44
Here in a degree in mathematics, learned a classical guitar
47:48
and traveled around China teaching English. Back home in Tucson,
47:52
he became a licensed massage therapist and a substitute teacher
47:57
and jammed.
47:57
Speaker 2: With his friends.
47:59
Speaker 1: It was about embracing the moment. One of them, drummer
48:03
Paul Nosa, said, enjoy yourself. Nosa tricked out on a
48:07
new silver school bus to turn to any place with
48:10
outdoor power into a concert venue for Dolesso and himself.
48:15
This could be found into stuff you do in your twenties.
48:20
Did the less so dream he will one day could
48:22
say my music has reached hundreds of millions of listeners
48:27
through the Social Security administration. He did not dream that.
48:34
Over time, he fell into a routine and he fixated
48:38
on holding onto jobs. Music gave him a creative outlet,
48:42
but he hadn't considered himself a musician. You could make
48:45
a living from it. He was just a person who,
48:48
as he said, threw some paint at the wall. Then
48:51
one day in two thousand and six, the Alesia was
48:55
politely asked by his friends to move off their coach.
48:59
He was thirty five and had just had a bad breakup.
49:02
I was pretty dark about what I was doing, where
49:04
I was going, who I was, you know, the whole
49:08
nine yards. He was stuck. Diliso said, that's when throw
49:15
yourself in front of it emerged. First came the melody,
49:19
the same one piped through millions of phones now, Then
49:23
over more drafts came the words, don't ask the stars
49:27
to give you clues, because your time will come and
49:30
you can choose. What are we waiting for? Just throw
49:35
yourself in front of it. It was his call to
49:39
not only move forward, but also to sacrifice yourself. That's
49:44
where David was, said his friend and fellow songwriter Dona Valentine.
49:49
He had an old version of himself and he had
49:51
to let that go for the new version. When he
49:55
played the song in Phoenix coffee shops, the crowd would
49:58
stop mid latte and focus on him. And that he
50:04
cut a sparse demo, just him and his guitar and
50:07
tried to make something happen.
50:09
Speaker 2: He made a kids record.
50:10
Speaker 1: And collaborated with other songwriters and musicians to write teach, coach,
50:15
and produce TV commercials and movie.
50:18
Speaker 2: It was who I was back then.
50:21
Speaker 1: By nineteen twenty fourteen, he pigged it was time to
50:24
make money from throwing yourself in front of it, and
50:27
the Lesso recorded an instrumental version with drums, bass, and
50:31
layers of vocals that was posted online in a music
50:35
catalog for purchase as the company writes, by visionary music
50:40
supervisors in TV, film and advertising. As copyright lawyers would
50:45
put it, the use of Delesso's instrumental version was offered online,
50:50
non exclusively in perpetuity to anyone who would play an
50:54
upfront licensing fee. And with that I am a bout
51:00
Let me quickly go out. Around Thanksgiving twenty seventeen, more
51:04
than ten years after the Lesser wrote his song, he
51:07
got a royalty check from Amazon Web Services. It amounted
51:11
to a one time payment of about seven hundred and
51:14
fifty dollars. The cloud computing company had bought the rights
51:18
to use his instrumental version of the song and could
51:21
now distribute it in their customer service pipeline to any
51:25
company they supported. The song showed up in odd places.
51:30
It recognized the guitar riffed on a coworker's phone as
51:34
they were on hold with price Line. On the song's
51:37
YouTube videos, people started leaving comments of where they had
51:41
heard it. The original version of this song is absolutely amazing,
51:46
truly a great, great song. I can't believe I got
51:49
stuck on your song on hold for American home Shield.
51:53
Speaker 2: The music business is a failure.
51:54
Speaker 1: Your original version of this song should have a billion
51:57
views another one. This may seem weird, but I love
52:01
the instrumental version of this. Michelen used it for their
52:05
on call waiting music and this song's.
52:07
Speaker 2: Grown on me.
52:09
Speaker 1: H and r Block estimated three point three million people
52:12
heard the song last year, while roughly sixteen million listened
52:16
over the two years the Delta Airlines used it. Both
52:20
companies said in answers to question from The Washington Post.
52:25
In the world of hold music, even the most revered
52:28
tracks are not carefully considered by phone lined administrators. Selection
52:34
is a kind of accident, like when Cisco Systems default
52:38
music was set by an engineer who used a friend
52:41
song in one song. Or one study of hospital switchboards,
52:47
the choice of hold music was determined by the cheapest
52:49
or easiest music to set up, not the music's effect
52:53
on call emotions. Amazon Web Services did not reply to
52:59
emails from the post, and none of the companies could
53:02
explain why Delessio's instrumental track was their choice. This scattered
53:07
scholarly research on holds music suggests that faster tempo and
53:12
higher pitched are connected to more pleasant feelings. The Lesso
53:17
song has bright guitars and sits in the middle of
53:20
popular music tempos at eighty four beats per minute. This
53:27
is really something. The vibe, he said, is a blend
53:30
of fish and spa music and wow, people get caught
53:36
up in the success of their product, and I just don't.
53:40
Speaker 2: I didn't make art like that. You know, I'd like to.
53:43
Speaker 1: I've tried, but it just doesn't fulfill me to make
53:47
me want to create, Dolesso said.
53:51
Speaker 2: And for now, the.
53:52
Speaker 1: Way he engages with his audiences through the online comments
53:56
from people who were stuck on the phone in a queue.
54:00
Sometimes he apologizes and see those strangers. Mostly he thanks them,
54:05
and he doesn't care about statistics, not because he receives
54:11
zero additional income or audience from the song, and not
54:16
because his song could boost the moods of people and
54:19
even create this sensation that they hadn't spent so much
54:22
time on hold. Delicio doesn't want to hear that so
54:26
many people are listening to his song on the SSA
54:29
line because they're stuck on the SSA line. It's just
54:34
like a grief where you've lost your freedom for a
54:37
period of time and you have to go through these
54:40
stages like anga, sadness, and frustration, He's said, and in
54:46
the last paragraph, soon the new place may have no
54:51
hold music at all. The Social Security Administration, like many
54:56
modern contact centers, has introduced call back technology, giving customers
55:03
the option to hang up while they wait.
55:08
Speaker 2: And a quick word of hope.
55:11
Speaker 3: She hiked the entire Appalachian Trail at eighty unaware she
55:17
just made history. We put all kinds of limitations on ourselves,
55:22
said Betty Kellenberger.
55:24
Speaker 1: Sometimes the biggest twin is we don't get up and
55:27
try it. And there is a picture of Betty Kellenberger,
55:31
age eighty, at the top of Mount Katodden in Maine.
55:35
On September the twelfth, kellen Berger became the oldest woman
55:39
to through hike the Appalachian Trail. She's got her hiking
55:44
poles in a cross section with the sign of Mount
55:47
Katodden behind her.
55:49
Speaker 2: I have been on the top of that mountain with
55:51
my family.
55:53
Speaker 1: I do not hike the Appalachian Trail, and Betty kellen
55:57
Berger hit a patch of freezing rain on Madison. Quitting
56:01
crossed her mind. She was hungry, cold and soret You're
56:06
eighty years old, she told herself in a peck talk
56:10
a Copper Mountain in New Hampshire.
56:12
Speaker 2: You can do it.
56:13
Speaker 1: A few months later, kellen Berger stood at the Massachusetts
56:17
Vermont Boria, having just finished hiking the entire twenty one
56:22
hundred ninety seven mile Appalachian Trail. She became, without realizing it,
56:28
the oldest woman ever to do it. We put all
56:32
kinds of limitations on ourselves, said kellen Berger, who lives
56:36
in Carson City, Michigan. Sometimes the biggest one is we
56:40
don't get up and try it. The Appalachian Trail had
56:44
interested kellen Berger since she was an elementary school student.
56:49
I was just fascinated by the idea that you could
56:51
walk from Georgia to Maine, said kellen Berger, who grew
56:54
up on a farm in Howell, Michigan. It was a
56:57
dream more than anything else, because I never had the time.
57:01
Kallenberger was a middle school teacher for more than four decades,
57:04
and she taught adult classes at night. In her spare time,
57:08
she was an avid cyclist, biking across every state in
57:12
the country and every province in Canada. She also rode
57:16
her bike along the underground railroad. I've done Australia and
57:20
New Zealand and China, she said. Then I switched to hiking.
57:25
When she retired in two thousand and nine, Callenberger started
57:28
checking off items on her bucket list, including hiking up
57:33
to Matthew Peachew. Next, she set her sights on completing
57:37
the Appalachian Trail. Only one in four people who attempted
57:41
through hike, meaning to hike the trail in twelve months
57:44
or less, ultimately completed, according to the Appalachian Trail Conservancy.
57:51
Callenberger's first attempt to hike the Appalachian Trail didn't go
57:54
as planned. She started training in twenty twenty two in
57:58
her small Michigan town. The closest thing to a mountain,
58:01
she said, was the staircase at the local hospital. I
58:04
did that over and over again, said kellen Berger, who
58:07
is not married and has no children. When she embarked
58:11
on the actual trail, kllen Berger suffered a series of setbacks,
58:16
lime disease, dehydration, and the concussion. Her hiking partner, Joe Cox,
58:22
also had a bad fall, and they both got off
58:25
the trail about halfway through. And she started to hike
58:29
again in twenty twenty three, and she fell and she
58:33
went home and her friend Cox couldn't join her. But
58:38
now he died from complications of stomach surgery in twenty
58:42
twenty three. But missus Kellenberger, Miss Kellenberger, has now completed
58:47
the Appalachian Trail at age eighty. And with that, thank
58:51
you for listening to The Washington Post for today, Thursday,
58:55
the thirtieth of October of twenty twenty five. Please keep
59:00
on listening to continued radio out programming throughout the day.
59:04
Speaker 2: I'll be back on Saturday. Stay dry by