Transcript

5.13.25 · Washington Post

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Speaker 1: Welcome to the reading of the Washington Post for Thursday,
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May thirteenth, twenty twenty five. As a reminder, RADIOI is
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a reading service intended for people who are blind or
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have other disabilities that make it difficult to read printed material.
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Your reader for today is Cindy Fraser. Today's front page
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headlines from the Washington Post are first. Comb's trial opens
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with sordid testimony, sex worker describes violence threat in rap
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Mogul's trafficking trial. Our next headline in Israel, U s
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snubs provoke panic as Trump repeatedly sidelines net. In Yahoo,
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anxious leaders perceive cracks in relationship. Our next headline, US
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and China to slash terrace as recession fears ease, stocks surge.
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Long term uncertainty linkers with ninety day deal. Our next headline,
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gifted Kudar Plaine would need extensive security upgrades. Next States
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of Viye to snag a piece of one hundred billion
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dollar AI mega project. And the final headline from today's
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front page, Order on drug costs offers plenty of threats,
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few deals. Now let's turn to our first item, entitled
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Comb's trial opens with sordid testimony. Sex worker describes violence
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threat in rap moguls trafficking trial by Anne Grannigan, Janey Kingsbury,
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Shana Jacobs, and Sabby Robinson from New York. Seawn Diddy.
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Combe's federal sex trafficking trial began Monday with opening statements
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and searing testimony from witnesses who described alleged violence, paid
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sex acts, and coercion by the music mogul. Combs was
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pleaded not guilty to five criminal counts of bracketeering, conspiracy,
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sex tracking, and transportation to engage in prostitution. Entered the
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court room at the Daniel Patrick Monaghan u S Court House,
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embraced his attorneys and greeted his family seated in the
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row behind him, with a smile. He faces fifteen years
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to life in prison if convicted on all accounts. After
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jurors were selected and sworn in by Judge A. Rune Subramanian,
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proceedings continued with witness testimony from former hotel security guard
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Israel Flores and sex worker Daniel Philip, who detailed their
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interactions with Colmbs. The jury was also shown surveillance footage
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of Combe's dragging and beating his then girl friend, Cassie,
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whose legal name is Cassadra Ventura at a hotel in
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twenty sixteen. Prosecution and defense give opening statements. During opening statements,
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prosecutors described Combe's alleged quote freak offs, drug and sex,
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fuel parties, and the high ranking employees tied to his
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alleged crimes. They also outlined how victims, including Ventura and
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another former romantic partner identified only as Jane, were forced
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or coerced into sex acts at these events. They will
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describe freakos for you in painstaking detail, Assistant US Attorney
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Emily Johnson told the jury, along with some of the
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most painful and personal experiences of their lives. Johnson told
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the jury that some of the evidence would be disturbing
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and described how enablers among Combe's employees facilitated his crimes
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and helped to control his victims. The prosecutor conceded that
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Comb's and Ventura had a rocky relationship ridden with jealousy
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and infidelity, but only one of them had power, only
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one had controlled, Johnson said. Combe's defense attorney Tini Garagos
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told jurors that Shawn Combs is a complicated man, but
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this is not a complicated case. She described him as
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extremely jealous and said violence did take place, but said
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that it was unrelated to the charges he is facing.
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Combs has denied all of the allegations against him. Garagos
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also brought up Ventura, who was expected to take the
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stand this week. What Combs did to Cassie on this
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videotape is indefensible, she said. It is not evidence of
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sex trafficking. It is evidence of domestic violence. Garago's remarks
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underscored the defense's central position. The evidence is going to
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show you a very flawed individual, she said, but not
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someone guilty of racketeering, sex trafficking, or prostitution. The lawyer
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also argued that Combe's accusers chose to remain in his orbit,
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saying the case was about voluntary adult choices and involved capable,
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strong adult women. They made free choices every single day
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for years. Garagos argued. Former hotel security guard accuses Combs
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of bribery. Among the first witnesses the prosecution called Monday
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Afternoon was Flores, a former security guard at the Intercontinental
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Hotel in Los Angeles, where Combs was caught on camera
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assaulting Ventura in twenty sixteen. On this dand Flores, who
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was now an officer with the Los Angeles Police Department
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testified that he was offered a bribe by Combs after
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intervening in the rapper's attack on Ventura. According to Flores,
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Combs presented a quote stack of money and told the
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officer not to tell any one about what he saw.
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I don't want your money, Flores said he told Colmes.
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In court, jurors were shown a phone recording Flores said
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he took of the hotel surveillance footage. A second video
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shown to jurors depicted Flores trying to calm down Combs
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while the rapper can be seen shouting at Ventura from
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down the hallway. The officer said he saw Ventura with
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a brute and first arrived to the floor where the
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pair fought to see her cowering in a corner and
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covering her face. The videos, which are now part of evidence,
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were shown to jurors after supermanni And ruled last month
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that some footage of the assault could be admitted, rejecting
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combsbid to exclude it. CNN first obtained and published video
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of the incident last year. At the Times. Colms released
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an apology video and called his attack on Ventura as
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his rock Bottom. Combe's lawyer, Bryan Steele, conducted a lengthy
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cross examination of Flores, repeatedly asking the officer why he
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didn't include certain details in his report. Steele also seemed
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to suggest that Colmbs was not offering money as a bride,
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but to pay for property damage. Sex worker details encounters
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with Combs and Ventura. The government's second witness, Philip, testified
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that Ventura paid him multiple times to have sex with
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her in the presence of Combs. During one encounter, Philip
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said he witnessed Combs's physically assault Venturer as she screamed
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and got dragged into a bedroom. I'm sorry, I'm sorry,
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Ventura wailed. According to the witness, she was screaming and
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I could hear what sounded like him slapping her. Philip testified.
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According to Philip, Colms filmed a couple of sexual encounters
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between Philip and Ventura on a cell phone and a camcorder.
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He told jurors that these sessions with the couple between
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twenty twelve and twenty fourteen could last anywhere from an
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hour to ten hours. He also recalled an instance when
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Colmes took down Philip's driver's license information just for insurance
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just in case, he said Colmmes told him. Philip said
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he understood that to be a threat. The payments ranged
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from seven hundred dollars to five thousand dollars or six
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thousand dollars, Philip said, but I didn't care if I
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got paid one way or the other. They gave that
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to me every time I went to see them. Philip
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about it that if he couldn't perform sexually sometimes he
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wouldn't get paid, but that he would have been involved
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with them without compensation because it was exciting to be
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in this world and be involved with the famous pair.
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Xavier Donaldson led the defense's cross examination of Philip, with
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questions ranging from the search optimization practices of the mail
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stripper business Philip used to work for as a manager
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to why he was chosen to meet Venturer for the
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first time at the Gramercy Park Hotel. Ventura, who was
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pregnant with her third child with husband Alex Fine, is
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expected to take the stand Tuesday. The singer's testimony is
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a key fixture in the government's case following her explosive
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lawsuit against Combs in twenty twenty three that ignited the
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rapper's legal troubles. The case was settled for an undisclosed amount,
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but it has since triggered nearly eighty sexual assault lawsuits
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against the rap mogul. In September, Colmbs was arrested on
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charges of breakacketeering, conspiracy, and sex trafficking for alleged crimes
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dating back to two thousand eight. He has been detained
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in a Brooklyn jail. The scene in and outside the
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court house ahead of proceedings Monday, long time Comb supporters, attorneys,
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onlookers and reporters were packed outside the court house early
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morning to attend the trial, which will not be publicly broadcast.
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To Noel Lawrenson, fifty three lined up at two a m.
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For spot inside. I really want to see at firsthand
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as much as I can, said lawrenceon who noted she
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was a little anxious about Ventura testifying because she's looking
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real pregnant. It's surreal. Lawrenson added, I have a love
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hate relationship with Comb's I was there for the whole
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bad boy era, but he has a reputation for other
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things too that weren't really so great throughout the years.
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Combe's mother and all six of his adult children appeared
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in court Monday. With the exception of his daughter Chance,
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who was dressed in white, they were all wearing black
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as a family presented a united front amid intense public scrutiny.
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Also seated in the court room was music producer Rodney
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Lilrod Jones, who alleges in a lawsuit filed earlier this
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year that he was forced to solicit sex workers and
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perform sex acts to the pleasure of mister Combs from
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twenty twenty two to twenty twenty three. Combs's legal team
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denied the allegations and called them pure fiction. What to
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expect ahead in the trial. Last week, potential jurors were
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shown a long list of possible witnesses and people whose
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names may come up at the trial. It included Kid Coody,
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who was named in Ventura's lawsuit as a target of
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an alleged arson incident orchestrated by Colms. Among other testimony
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expected during the trial, prosecutors told jurors they would hear
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from another girlfriend of Colms, refer to as Jane. They
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said Combs force her to perform in freak offs, videotaping
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the events and then blackmailing her with the videos. Jurors
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will also hear from a former employee of Combs who
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will testify that her boss forced himself on to her
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sexually on more than one occasion, Johnson said. Janey Kingsbury
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reported from Washington. The next article from to Day's front
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page is entitled In Israel, U s snubs provoke panic
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as Trump repeatedly sidelines net Yahoo, Anxious leaders perceive crack
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and relationship by Jerry she from Jerusalem. During his first
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major overseas trip this week, President Donald Trump is set
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to visit three countries in the Middle East, Saudi Arabia, Kutar,
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and the United Arab Emirates without stopping in Jerusalem. It's
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not the first time he has bypassed Israel or Prime
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Minister Benjamin Netan Yahoo, from embarking on nuclear talks with
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Iran to attempting hostage talks with Hamas without Israel's knowledge.
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Trump has increasingly sidelined at Yahoo, stoking anxieties in a
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country long accustomed to being consulted by successive US administrations.
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Last week, Israelis thought they saw more cracks emerge between
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the America first president and Israel after Trump said he
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had struck a truce with Yemen's Houthy rebels that curbed
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the group's attacks on US ships but did not cover Israel.
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Days later, reports emerged that Trump was considering offering Saudi
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Arabia access to civil nuclear technology without demanding that the
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Kingdom normalized relations with Israel, a precondition that had been
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set by President Joe Biden. On Sunday, senior Hamas leader
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Khalil al Haya said the group would release Israeli American
12:51
hostage Eden Alexander following direct talks with US officials. Now
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many Israelis are wondering whether Israel is a next U
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s Ally to be left behind by a president they
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considered just months ago to be the most pro Israel
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in history. It's disconcerting, said Michael Oran, a former Israeli
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ambassador to Washington. It's total panic, said Shaloon Lifner, a
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former Netann Yahoo aid and a fellow at the Atlantic Council,
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describing the mood in Jerusalem. Is rated. Concerns about Trump's
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negotiations with Ran and other threats to Israel are not
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being taken into account, or if they are, they're dismissed,
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said Denis Ross, a former senior State Department official, who
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served as Middle East envoy under both Democratic and Republican presidents.
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Voices in the Trump administration who advocate for fewer U
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S military entanglements in the Middle East are in the ascendancy.
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Ross noted, while Trump is likely to put top priority
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during his trip on bringing billions of dollars of investments
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from wealthy Persian Gulf monarchies to the United States, what
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you're seeing is that President Trump has an idea of
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what is in our interests, and that comes first. Ros said.
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He defines the nature of our interests abroad not through
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a geopolitical or security context, but an economic, financial, and
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trade frame. I think President Trump might have the view
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that we give them four billion a year in military assistance.
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I do plenty to support the Israelis. In an interview
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that aired Thursday, the new U s Ambassador to Israel,
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Mike Huckabee, pushed back on the assertion that the administration
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was overlooking Israeli concerns and told an Israeli television channel
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that the United States isn't required to get permission from
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Israel to reach a cease fire with the Hoothys. A
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day later, Huckabee took to his ex account to denounce
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what he described as reckless and irresponsible media reports that
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suggested Trump and net Nyahoo were not getting along in Israel.
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To day, the soaring anxieties mark a sharp re bursa
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from November, when many celebrated Trump's selection net nyahou hailed
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it as history's greatest comeback. Ministers in his far right
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cabinets saw a green light for expansionism and immediately called
15:13
for the annexation of the occupied West Bank, along with
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unfettered warfare and new Jewish settlements in Gaza. But the
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mood began to shift even before Trump's inauguration. Privately, some
15:27
netan Yahoo allies groused about Trump's Special Envoy to the
15:30
Middle East, Steve Whitcock, pressuring net Yahoo into a ceasefire
15:34
agreement with Homas, and claimed that Wickkof was influenced by
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personal business ties with Qatar. Others began to fear that
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Trump's preference for deal making would preclude a military strike
15:45
on Iran or result in a nuclear cord that would
15:49
allow Aoran to keep some uranium and Richmond capabilities in
15:53
the Oval Office. In April, Trump announced in front of
15:56
net Yahoo and the assembled press that the US would
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hold direct talks with Iran over its nuclear program. The
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Israeli Prime Minister, who has pushed US leaders for more
16:07
than a decade to use military force to dismantle Iran's
16:11
nuclear facilities, glanced away, appearing visibly surprised. One Trump adviser,
16:18
who described Trump's treatment of Netanyahu as one notch above
16:22
his fractious White House meaning with Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelenski
16:26
three months ago, said influential MAGA voices have worked throughout
16:30
the spring to resist efforts by pro Israel lobbying groups
16:34
and neo conservative Republicans to install Iran hawks and others
16:38
seen as overly sympathetic to net Yahou in key national
16:42
security posts. Former National Security Advisor Mike Waltz was removed
16:48
from his position after he appeared to have engaged in
16:51
intense coordination with Netanyahu about military options against Iran, which
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anger Trump. The Washington Post reported this month. In Maga
17:00
were not bebe fans, said the Trump adviser, using Netnyahu's nickname,
17:06
Trump is adamant he wants people to put the guns down.
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The adviser, like several others cited in this article, spoke
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on the condition of anonymity to talk frankly about relations
17:17
between the two leaders. The rise of an Israel skeptic
17:20
wing in Washington, particularly within a Republican party that is
17:24
traditionally seen as close to Israel, poses a new challenge.
17:29
Israeli officials and analysts say. For decades, when American presidents,
17:34
from Republican George H. W. Bush to Democrat Barack Obama
17:38
have clashed with Israel on matters ranging from West Bank
17:42
settlement policy to strategy toward Iran, Israel has depended on
17:46
its supporters in Congress to push back. And yet, even
17:50
after net Nyahu and some of Israel's supporters threw their
17:54
weight behind Trump, a number of Republican lawmakers allied with
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the President, such as represented of Marjorie Taylor Green Republican
18:02
from Georgia, are increasingly turning away from Israel, leaving it
18:06
without recourse. In Congress. There is more and more criticism,
18:11
with people saying we put all our eggs in one
18:13
basket and now we are empty handed, said Amid Sigel,
18:17
a prominent Israeli political analyst. Well will Israel do now,
18:22
call Representative Alexandria Ocassio Cortez it's a problem. For their part,
18:29
Net Nyahu allies have downplayed any rifted between the US
18:33
and Israeli leaders. One member of net naho'se Lecud party
18:37
said the anxieties in Israel were simply due to mismatched expectations.
18:42
Many people were so happy it wasn't Kamala Harris that
18:46
they thought Trump would be an American president from the
18:48
Leaikud party who would do whatever Israel wanted. Said that ally,
18:53
but those expectations were never realistic, and I think the
18:56
Prime Minister has always understood that. Another Israeli official praise
19:01
Trump for providing heavy munitions to the Israeli military and
19:05
said that while Biden administration officials had frequently pressured Israel
19:10
to allow more humanitarian aid in Nagaza, Trump made no
19:14
such requests during the first few months of his term. Still,
19:18
even the perception of net Yahoo losing favor with Trump
19:22
could dent a veteran Israeli premier who has staked his
19:25
public image on being able to navigate and influence American
19:29
politics better than any of his domestic rivals. During hard
19:34
fought parliamentary elections in twenty nineteen, net Yahou unfurled a
19:39
massive billboard along tel Aviv's main highway showing him shaking
19:43
hands with Trump above the tagline net Yahoo in a
19:47
different league. A campaign video released by Laikoud showed net
19:51
Yahoo pledging to move the US embassy from tel Aviv
19:55
to historically contested Jerusalem, and then jump cut to Trump
19:59
announcing precisely that. But a year later, net Nyahu angered
20:04
Trump by announcing that he would annex parts of the
20:07
occupied West Bank, contributing to the collapse of a Middle
20:10
East peace plan that Trump had touted as the deal
20:14
of the century. Net Naho infuriated Trump further by congratulating
20:19
Biden on his election victory while Trump was disputing the results,
20:23
the president recounted in interviews with Axios in twenty twenty one.
20:28
In recent days, net Nyahu's opponents seized on the moment
20:31
to question his handling of U S relations. Yere Lapede,
20:35
the centrist opposition leader, called the direct negotiations between the
20:39
United States and Hamas over hostages a disgraceful diplomatic failure
20:45
by net Yahoo and said the responsibility for their return
20:49
lies with the government. Air Galan, the leader of the
20:53
left leaning party, said the Americans are moving forward on
20:56
a deal with Assadi's moving forward on a deal with Iran,
21:00
moving forward on a new multi billion dollar regional plan,
21:04
but ignoring net Yahoo and Israel Orn, the former Israeli ambassador, said,
21:10
many in Israel forget that Trump is not a fan
21:12
of settlements. He was against annexation of the West Bank
21:16
and espoused a two state plan during his first term.
21:20
Some very influential pro Israel voices are no longer in
21:24
the White House, or An added, Let's be realistic. Azim
21:28
Belusha in Toronto contributed to this report. Next from to
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Day's front page. U S and China to slash tariffs
21:37
as recession fears ease, stock surge, long term uncertainty lingers.
21:43
With ninety day deal by David J. Lynch and Apa Pattarai,
21:48
the United States and China agreed to lower their triple
21:51
digit tariffs for ninety days in a diplomatic breakthrough that
21:54
sends stock's soaring and jump started stall Transpacific trade flows.
21:59
Even asked questions linger over hopes for a lasting settlement.
22:04
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessant, speaking Monday in Geneva after two
22:08
day talks with Chinese officials said both governments had agreed
22:12
to drop their import taxes by one hundred fifteen percentage points.
22:16
The decision lowered u S tariffs on many Chinese goods
22:20
from at least one hundred forty five percent to a
22:23
still high range of around forty percent to sixty percent,
22:27
including levies imposed by President Donald Trump this year and
22:30
during his first term. Wall Street welcomed the move. The
22:35
S and P five hundred index rose Monday by more
22:38
than three percent, and the tech heavy Nasdaq jumped four percent,
22:42
officially entering a bull market. Economists grew optimistic that the
22:47
United States may dodge a recession this year, while embattled
22:51
US importers moved to capitalize on the terra pause. J Foreman,
22:56
chief executive of Basic Fund, called his Chinese suppliers at
23:00
four thirty a m Monday, right after learning of the
23:03
tariff deal and ordered them to resume shipments of Tonka trucks,
23:07
care Bears, Life Rights, and other classic toys. The reprieve
23:11
helped a bird a planned furlough of forty percent of
23:14
his workforce, but even the lower terraffs will force foremen
23:18
to raise retail prices and accept shrunken profits. It's like
23:23
they tried to feed us a rotten egg sandwich and
23:25
hope we're happy to drink spoiled milk instead. He said.
23:29
We are going from possibly losing our company and going
23:32
out of business to just losing our profits for the year.
23:37
The trade war ceasefire eases concerns about the slowing US economy.
23:42
Kathy Postianchik, chief economists for Nationwide, said growth in the
23:46
final three months of the year could reach an annual
23:49
rate of one percent, up from her previous estimate of zero.
23:53
Thanks to the administration's tariff climb down, Inflation will peak
23:57
at a three point four percent rate, down from a
24:00
previous forecast of four percent. She said the rush by
24:04
US businesses to import Chinese goods over the next ninety
24:07
days is likely to strain supply chains that had begun
24:11
adjusting to a dramatic decline in US China trade caused
24:15
by the ultra high terrace. Trump composed in early April,
24:19
even as cargo volumes dipped during the US China standoff,
24:22
Though logistics companies were preparing for an eventual resumption of
24:26
trade in March, importers at the Port of Los Angeles
24:30
sent two hundred sixty nine thousand, eight hundred ninety eight
24:34
empty shipping containers back to Asia, up twenty three percent
24:38
from the same month last year, so they could fill
24:41
them with Chinese goods once tariffs dropped. Still, it will
24:46
take time for the normal flow of goods to resume
24:50
at the LA port. The nation's busiest officials do not
24:53
expect an immediate surge of arriving cargo. In recent days.
24:58
Ocean carriers came anseled seventeen of eighty scheduled stops this
25:03
month at the principal gateway for Asian goods to enter
25:06
the United States. Some carriers serving the port moved their
25:10
larger vessels to other trade routes and replace them with
25:13
smaller ships. It is still a four to six week
25:17
turnaround before those vessels get repositioned into place. Manufacturing kicks,
25:22
back up orders are placed, so you're not looking at
25:26
cargo arriving for another month and a half two months,
25:29
said Robert Loyer, chief operating officer of CHIGS Logistics in Fresno,
25:34
speaking before the tariff deal was announced. Shipping rates from
25:38
China to the West Coast are likely to rise as
25:41
the rush to move stockpiled products from Chinese factories collides
25:45
with reduced space on contenter ships, said Brianborg, Global chief
25:50
commercial officer for Saco Logistics in Chicago. One's vessels are
25:54
brought back to trans Pacific cargo routes, Freight costs could
25:58
ease once the equipment is repositioned. We very well could
26:03
see a seesaw affect, he said. The Trump administration's rapid
26:07
rep approachment with Beijing, which came amid signs of a
26:11
growing trade war toll, represents a striking turnaround. The President
26:16
has been fiercely critical of China, accusing it of ripping
26:21
us off on trade for decades. But in Geneva, the
26:25
Cent and Jamison Greer, the U S Trade representative, spoke
26:29
warmly of Chinese diplomats and said the two sides had
26:32
quickly found common ground. Both sides represented their national interests well,
26:38
but we also concluded that we had shared interests and
26:42
that neither side was interested in decoupling. The Scent said,
26:46
we leave to day with a process that will move
26:48
forward and again great mutual respect for our Chinese counterparts.
26:53
I believe they showed us the same. The plan began
26:57
a new round of bilateral discussions, however, recalled earlier US
27:01
China talks that disappointed under several presidents of both parties.
27:06
During Trump's first term, his AIDS openly disparaged such dialogues
27:10
as pointless talking shops that the Chinese exploited to delay
27:14
addressing US concerns. Scott Kennedy, a China specialist at the
27:18
Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the administration has
27:23
been unclear about his primary objective with China. Officials have
27:27
spoken of reducing the bilateral trade deficit, constraining Chinese industrial
27:32
policies that favor exporters, or decoupling the two intertwined economies.
27:38
The administration is still not very clear which of these
27:41
three goals is what they're actually pursuing. Kennedy said, each
27:45
requires a different Chinese response, and the administration needs to
27:50
clarify exactly what they want and what they're willing to
27:53
give to get that. The unexpected negotiating breakthrough in Geneva
27:59
exceeded a less expectations for potential tariff reduction. As we
28:03
Send and Greer headed to Switzerland last week, the president
28:07
posted on truth social that reducing tariffs on Chinese goods
28:11
to eighty percent quote sounds right. Businesses applauded the larger
28:16
than expected reduction that emerged from the weekend talks, but
28:19
complained that Trump's frequent contradictory tariff pronouncements have saddled them
28:24
with higher costs and confusion. The federal government collected fifteen
28:29
point six billion dollars in net customs duties in April,
28:32
almost twice at previous month's total, the Treasury Department said Monday.
28:37
During the current fiscal year, which began October first, importers
28:41
have paid Washington nearly sixty billion dollars in tariffs, up
28:45
from forty four billion dollars during the same period last year.
28:49
Even after Monday's administration retreat, tariffs remain historically high. The
28:55
effect of U S tariff on Chinese goods will be
28:57
forty one percent as of Wednesday, up from eleven percent
29:01
when Trump was sworn in for his second term. According
29:04
to the consultancy Tenniel, China's terrify on U S goods
29:08
will be twenty eight percent, twice its level at the
29:11
beginning of twenty twenty five. Overall, US taxes on imports
29:15
from all countries stand at the highest mark since the
29:18
nineteen thirties, according to the Budget Lab at Yale University.
29:23
Drew Kleaver, who owns a company that makes clothing hangers
29:26
in China, has been paying twenty eight point four percent
29:30
duties on his products since Trump's first term. Recent escalations, though,
29:35
had made tariff calculations so confusing that Cleaver resorted to
29:40
asking chat g p T to determine how much he owes.
29:44
On Monday, the artificial intelligence chatbot's latest estimate suggested that
29:49
Kleaver faced an import tax between forty eight point four
29:53
and fifty eight point four percent. At those rates, Cleaver
29:57
said he can't afford to replenish his stock, which quickly dwindling.
30:01
He stopped advertising and wonders if he should move production
30:04
to Mexico. The administration's deal with China left him unimpressed.
30:10
We created a fake problem, and now we have a
30:12
fake solution, he said, But everyone's still worse off. The
30:17
administration's ninety day clock also leaves open the possibility that
30:21
tariffs could rise again later this summer. As Trump prepared
30:25
to leave on a four day Middle Eastern trip, he
30:28
told reporters that tariffs could go substantially higher if no
30:32
deal is reached by the deadline. At the same time,
30:36
the President said he expects that a deal will be reached,
30:39
and Besin suggested in Geneva that so long as the
30:43
Chinese engaged in good faith, the pause could be extended.
30:47
Our next article from today's front page is entitled gifted
30:51
Katar plane would need extensive security updates by Natalie Allenson,
30:57
Ellen Nakashima, Dan Mamoeuf, Derreck Hawkins, and Warren P. Strubble.
31:03
President Donald Trump on Monday praised Gutar for offering his
31:07
administration a free luxury jet, but current and former U.
31:11
S Military, defense, and Secret Service officials said he will
31:16
likely have to waive existing security specifications to be able
31:20
to use the plane. Trump said he would be a
31:23
stupid person not to accept the gift of a four
31:26
hundred million dollar Bowing seven forty seven eight and called
31:30
it a great gesture by Qatar. The President said that
31:34
he intended to use the plane for a couple of
31:36
years while his administration waits for pair Boeing planes to
31:40
be completed to the strict military standards befitting Air Force one.
31:45
A White House official said it was premature to say
31:48
how long upgrades to the Katari plane could take The official,
31:53
who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and
31:56
spoke on the condition of anonymity, like others interviewed, also
32:00
declined to say when the Trump administration expects to take possession.
32:05
Flight records show that the Katari jet was moved five
32:08
weeks ago to San Antonio International Airport, suggesting that preparations
32:12
for improvements might already be under way. The Wall Street
32:16
Journal first reported this month that Trump had commissioned defense
32:20
contractor L three Harris to retrofit the Katari plane in Texas.
32:25
ABC News reported Sunday that the plane would be transferred
32:29
to the Trump administration as a gift. The lavishly appointed
32:33
double decker jet, originally purchased for use by the Katari
32:37
royal family, left Doha on March thirty, making and stop
32:41
at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris and then at
32:45
Bangor International Airport in Maine on April second, according to
32:48
Ian Petchinik, a spokesman for the fly tracking service flight
32:52
Radar twenty four. The plane then flew to San Antonio
32:56
the next day. Trump emphasized Monday that the Katar Jet
33:00
is a significantly newer plane than the ones currently available
33:03
for the president's use, which, although fitted with state of
33:07
the art defensive countermeasures, in flight refueling capability, and secure
33:12
communications equipment, date to the George H. W. Bush administration
33:16
in the nineteen nineties. You know, we have an Air
33:20
Force one that's forty years old, and if you take
33:22
a look at that compared to the new plane, it's
33:25
not even the same ballgame, Trump told reporters. You look
33:28
at some of the Arab countries and the planes they
33:30
have parked alongside of the United States of America plane,
33:34
It's like from a different planet. The Katari jet boasts
33:38
two full bathrooms, nine laboratories, a main bedroom and a
33:41
guest bedroom, multiple lounges, a private office, and cream and
33:46
tan colored leather seating on both decks, according to photos
33:49
of the interior provided by the Swiss aviation company AMAC Aerospace,
33:55
but retrofitting the thirteen year old aircraft to current Air
33:59
Force one requirements would take years of work and billions
34:02
of dollars. Current and former US official say such a
34:06
task would be impossible to complete before Trump leaves office.
34:11
The Air Force referred comment to the White House and
34:14
the Secret Service. Declined to comment. Al three Harris also
34:18
declined to comment. Securing a new modern Air Force One
34:23
is such a priority for the President that he has
34:26
on display in the Oval Office a model of one
34:29
of the planes Boeing was contracted to deliver, finished with
34:32
his preferred dark blue paint trim. After debuting the model
34:36
during his first term, Trump displayed it at Mara a
34:39
Lago after leaving office, before returning it to a coffee
34:42
table in the White House. At his Commander in chief
34:46
inaugural ball in January, Trump cut a saber into a cake,
34:50
a top which rested the model playing The White House
34:54
official said Qatar offered to donate a plane to the
34:57
Department of Defense, but that the gift would not be
35:00
accepted by Trump this week during his visit to the country.
35:03
Trump departed Monday on his first major foreign trip, which
35:07
will include stops in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United
35:11
Arab Emirates. The President's jet has a raft of security,
35:16
communications and support requirements that are highly classified and have
35:20
proven costly and cumbersome. This is a flying nuclear hardened
35:25
command post, said a former US official with knowledge of
35:29
Air Force One operations. It has to have secure capability
35:33
at multiple levels. The Air Force would have to rip
35:37
open and rebuild the Katari plane, which has been flown
35:40
for years in service of other countries and individuals, to
35:44
bring it up to standard, said the official. Counterintelligence is
35:48
also a concern, said former Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall.
35:52
We would have to be sure nobody had planted bugs
35:55
on the airplane. He said. High end communications have to
35:59
be protected from jamming, cyber attacks, and nuclear blasts. Current
36:03
and former official said, you'd pretty much have to take
36:07
that plane back down to the skeleton and put it
36:10
back together. Said Mac Plichik, a retired Secret Service agent
36:14
who worked on President Barack Obama's detail, the security of
36:18
every individual component is a big deal. Paul Eckloff, a
36:23
former Secret Service agent who was a supervisor in Trump's
36:26
first administration, said rigorous inspections are performed after all presidential
36:31
transport vehicles leave the production line. The gifting of a
36:35
plane from a foreign government would probably warrant an even
36:38
harder look. Eckloff said, They're going to walk that thing
36:42
inch to inch and say does this not belong here?
36:46
Does this bolt belong here? Eckloft said, Trump can weigh
36:50
any of this due diligence. Kendall said, he's the commander
36:54
in chief. The only way he's going to be flying
36:56
on this airplane while he's in office is if he
36:59
waves a lot of these requirements. Trump has already stepped
37:03
inside the Katari jet less than a month after his inauguration.
37:08
The aircraft was brought to Palm Beach International from Doha
37:11
on the morning of February fifteen, when Trump toured the
37:14
plane for more than an hour on his way to
37:16
play a Saturday round of golf. At the time, White
37:20
House spokesman Stephen Chung said in a statement that Trump
37:24
was examining the new hardware technology, noting that Boeing was
37:28
running behind on delivering the new Air Force wines during
37:32
Trump's first term. Boeing agreed to a fixed price three
37:36
point nine billion dollar contract to deliver two modified Boeing
37:40
seven forty seven airliners that would take on the Air
37:43
Force one moniker when the President is on board, but
37:47
delivery for the first of the two jets isn't expected
37:50
until at least twenty twenty seven, and Boeing has incurred
37:53
billions of dollars in cost overruns that it has had
37:56
to absorb. Donald Trump is getting a plane that is
38:00
outfitted for an emir, said Garrett Graff, a historian who
38:04
has written about presidential security, referring to the Katari jet.
38:08
The President would likely balk at dismantling some of the
38:11
luxurious accommodations on board and replacing them with government issued equipment,
38:16
said Graff, who described the gift as a counter intelligence nightmare. Trump,
38:21
he noted, has signaled his interest in the plane since February,
38:25
giving adversary intelligence services months to figure out ways to
38:29
penetrate it. Trump's acceptance of the Katari plane comes after
38:33
years of Pentagon frustration and skepticism about Boeing's ability to
38:38
meet US government plans for the next Air Force one.
38:42
Last week, senior Air Force officials told lawmakers that Boeing
38:46
now projects the two planes originally scheduled to be delivered
38:50
last year, may now be available by twenty twenty seven,
38:54
as security parameters that originally were part of the project
38:57
have been eased. Darling customs, a senior Air Force official,
39:02
told a group of House Armed Services Committee members that
39:05
she would not necessarily guarantee that date, and trade offs
39:09
may be required to have the first aircraft available by then.
39:13
A former senior Defense official with direct insight into the
39:16
new Air Force one said Monday that failures at Boeing
39:20
and the Pentagon have combined to put the executive branch
39:23
in this position, with growing concerns about delays that were
39:27
once wished away coming back to kick there a The
39:32
contract for the new Air Force one jets signed with
39:35
Boeing during the first Trump administration included a number of
39:39
requirements that were quote gold plated, the former senior defense
39:43
official set, noting significant requirements for electrical power, refrigeration units,
39:49
and in flight medical capabilities. The program also calls for
39:53
four engine design to increase redundancy. If there are mechanical failures.
39:58
When you have all that stuff lined up, I just
40:01
think it's almost an impossible task to get it done
40:04
in time, the former senior defense officials said, questioning the
40:08
Air Force's wisdom to stick with its requirements when problems
40:12
first emerged. The official assess that from a technical standpoint,
40:17
refurbishing the Katari jet can be done, but with no
40:20
clear timeline and a limited supply of parts available for
40:23
playing that is no longer in production. Boeing ceased production
40:27
on the seven forty seven in January twenty twenty three.
40:32
While Democratic officials were quick to condemn the conflict of
40:35
interests presented by Trump accepting the plane from a foreign government,
40:39
even Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican from South Carolina, a Trump
40:43
ally told reporters on Monday that he wants to make
40:47
sure that this whole thing is kosher, adding that time
40:51
will tell. Whitehouse and administration officials maintained that the gift
40:56
is in compliance with relevant laws, despite concerns being raised
41:00
by Trump critics about a violating the Constitution's Emolument's clause.
41:06
As discussions about the transfer of the plane were under way,
41:09
the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel drafted a memo
41:13
explaining why it thought Trump's receipt of the jet would
41:16
be permissible. According to an official with knowledge of the memo,
41:20
Attorney General Pam Bondy, who was registered to lobby on
41:23
behalf of Qatar during Trump's first term, subsequently signed off
41:27
on that memo. Trump said Monday that once he leaves office,
41:31
he will not use the Katari check and that it
41:34
will be transferred to his future presidential library. He suggested
41:38
that the addition of a decommissioned Air Force one on
41:41
display at Ronald Reagan's Presidential Library, a plane that had
41:44
been in use by the government for nearly thirty years
41:47
when it was retired, actually made the library more successful.
41:52
Perry Stein, Ian Duncan, Aaron Schaeffer, and Jarrett Leigh contributed
41:57
to this report. Next is an aham entitled States by
42:01
the Snag a piece of one hundred billion dollar AI
42:05
mega project by Caroline O'Donovan. Linda Tiso could sell the
42:10
sixty three acre farm she grew up on in Kenosha,
42:13
Wisconsin to a residential developer, but wants her inheritance to
42:17
be part of an investment in the future. So when
42:21
chat gep tea maker open ai launched a nationwide search
42:25
for sites for Stargate, a one hundred billion dollar project
42:29
building data centers for artificial intelligence, she and her husband
42:33
offered to make a deal. We have some property for
42:36
sale in Wisconsin, Tiso's husband wrote to an open ai
42:39
staffer on LinkedIn. He highlighted the land's proximity to power
42:43
lines and included a cell phone number. It's a good
42:47
thing to be bringing here, Tiso told The Washington Post.
42:51
The tisos who are still waiting for a call are
42:54
players and a pageant of real estate developers, landowners, economic
42:58
development agencies, and elected officials vying for a piece of Stargate,
43:03
which is being promoted as a historic project needed to
43:07
turbocharge American AI and fend off China. The project was
43:12
announced by President Donald Trump in January and will include
43:16
five to ten huge data centers stocked with powerful computer
43:20
chips to support AI development. OpenAI and two of its partners,
43:25
software maker Oracle and Japanese investment firm SoftBank Group, have
43:30
said they aim to invest five hundred billion dollars into
43:33
Stargate over the next four years. At the White House
43:37
event where Stargate was announced, Trump said the project would
43:41
create over one hundred thousand jobs almost immediately. OpenAI's global
43:46
policy director Chris Lahane compared the potential benefits to American
43:51
workers and the US economy as similar to the New
43:54
Deal or the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad. In interviews
43:58
with The Washington Post, state officials seeking to host the
44:02
data centers hope to win tax revenue and job creation,
44:06
and open ai has proposed side benefits such as free
44:10
computing for public universities and AI help for local governments,
44:16
but there are questions about how many data centers or
44:19
jobs will materialize, and whether the tax abatements that governments
44:23
offer companies to build such facilities are worth it. The
44:27
search for suitable sites comes as local officials and residents
44:31
have increasingly pushed back on data center projects, which involve
44:35
large scale construction and require access to fiber optic cables, water, land,
44:42
and power lines. States are divided over whether to court
44:47
more the facilities or pump the brakes as some utilities
44:51
struggle under data centers thirst for power and water, and
44:54
it becomes clear they create relatively few long term jobs
44:59
after construction is complete. Soft Bank CEO Masaoushi's son spoke
45:04
about Stargate at a White House event on the economy
45:07
last week, calling it the largest investment for infrastructure in
45:11
the United States and the AI systems it will potentially
45:15
power the future of mankind, but history shows that megascale
45:21
development projects hyped by politicians sometimes do not come to
45:25
fruition at all. In Trump's first term, he announced that
45:28
electronics manufacturer Fox Con would build a multi billion dollar
45:32
factory in Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin, but it never opened. In February,
45:38
open Ai said at least sixteen states had shown real
45:41
interest in Stargate. By April, the company said it had
45:45
received two hundred and fifty SI proposals in at least
45:48
twenty states. It will announce finalists as spring. When The
45:53
Washington Post contacted the sixteen states for comment, most including Arizona, Nevada, Maryland,
46:00
and West Virginia, declined to discuss their plans. Officials in Utah, Louisiana, Pennsylvania,
46:06
and Oregon have taken meetings with project representatives to discuss
46:10
the deal. According to documents obtained by the Post via
46:14
public records requests. Progress appears to have been rapid in Pennsylvania,
46:19
where in February, state officials discussed open AI's commitment to
46:24
and forthcoming Stargate investments in the Pittsburgh area. According to
46:28
emails between government staffers and open ai employees, no deal
46:33
has been publicly announced. Oregon officials were also keen to
46:38
be part of Stargate. Emails from February showed, but data
46:42
center's unique needs mean they cannot be located just anywhere.
46:47
In April, a spokesperson for Business Oregon told the Post
46:50
that conversations with open Ai are ongoing, but the search
46:55
for sites has not turned up any viable submissions. That's
46:59
why open ai is conducting a nationwide search, according to
47:03
spokesperson Liz Bourgeois, who said the company intentionally avoided structuring
47:08
the site selection process as some kind of competition because
47:12
we want Stargate to be a catalyst for reindustrialization throughout
47:16
the United States. Mark Mureau, a senior fellow at the
47:21
Brookings Institution, said regional governments joined their race for Stargate
47:25
should be wary of giving away too many tax incentives
47:29
as a compete for open AI's attention. Many of these
47:33
kinds of bidding wars leave business capturing most of the benefit,
47:36
he said overnight's success. Trump announced Stargate on the first
47:42
full day of his second term at an Oval Office
47:45
news conference with son of soft Bank, open Ai CEO
47:48
Sam Altman and Oracle executive chairman Larry Ellison, who revealed
47:53
in his remarks on the data center project that the
47:56
first of them are under construction in Texas. The news
48:00
of Trump's involvement reverberated in Abilene, the small West Texas
48:04
town where Oracle had been building a data centered campus
48:07
for some time. In a February town hall meeting, CEO
48:12
Misty Mail of the Development Corporation of Abilene joked that
48:16
the deal she had been working on for five years
48:19
apparently has been an overnight success. The new attention prompted
48:24
locals at city council meetings to ask pointed questions about
48:28
tax incentives and whether pressure on the energy grid could
48:32
produce fatal power outages like those caused by a twenty
48:36
twenty one winter storm. Around the same time, Open AI
48:40
and Oracle representatives started contacting state governments. E mails obtained
48:45
by the Post showed an official in Louisiana said the
48:49
state was very excited at the prospect of hosting Stargate.
48:53
Government staffers in Utah expressed interest in attracting AI investment
48:58
in the state. Cracle decline to comment on this story.
49:02
The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
49:06
Lhane said he and other staffers have also contended with
49:09
a torrent of offers from landowners pitching their property. The
49:14
company has encouraged some of them to reach out through
49:16
formal email channels. Among the interested parties is Steve Carabin,
49:21
a gas and oil engineer who owns land in Central Pennsylvania.
49:26
It sits on natural gas reserves that he said are
49:29
attractive to data center companies looking to buy the electricity
49:33
for the cheapest price they can get it. He said.
49:36
He believes a Stargate sized data center would bring tax
49:39
revenue and employment to an economically depressed area. I hope
49:44
Pennsylvania gets to participate, he said. Pennsylvania's government has been
49:50
especially welcoming to open AI piloting chat cheept for the
49:54
administrative work, and hosted La Hayne for a photo opportunity
49:58
in March. Johanna Dobin, CEO of Private Public Enterprise, called
50:04
the AI strike team that is trying to draw a
50:07
tech investment to the Stay said, communities and the rest
50:10
belt are eager for a project like Stargate. We have
50:14
these old industrial steel sites sitting vacant in poor communities.
50:19
These communities want data centers. They're not worried about pollution,
50:23
they want taxes, and they want jobs, she said. People
50:27
say it's not that many jobs, Well, there's nothing else
50:30
going on here. The coast to coast interest in Stargate
50:34
has similarities to Amazon's twenty eighteen search for a new headquarters.
50:39
The company solicited dozens of proposals that saw cities and
50:43
states compete to offer tax breaks and other incentives, but
50:47
ultimately it shows bids from New York and Virginia. Neither
50:51
office was fully built. Amazon foundered. Jeff Bezos owns a
50:56
Washington Post. Patrick Edler, and a system professor at the
51:00
University of Hong Kong who studied Amazon's competition, argues that
51:05
such contests encourage cities and states to award huge tax
51:09
and centers while simultaneously providing companies with development data that
51:14
could otherwise be a bargaining ship. OpenAI appears to be
51:18
angling for the same super useful information, he said. What's
51:23
valuable is this insider knowledge about what sites can be
51:26
packaged together to create a data center. He said, for example,
51:31
regional governments can use local connections to learn which property
51:34
owners are ready to sell tracts of land, information that
51:38
can be of huge health to a data center developer.
51:41
Lahanes at Stargate is not meant to pit states against
51:44
one another in the way Amazon did, but acknowledged that
51:47
the process provided open ai with a wealth of valuable
51:51
connections and information, and as of this month, he has
51:55
taken that search international, announcing an initiative called open AI
52:00
for countries that aims to launch versions of Stargate abroad,
52:04
which was first reported by The Financial Times. Pushback as
52:09
data centers have pushed into semi rule or exurban communities
52:13
in places like Missouri, Indiana, and Minnesota, some residents have
52:18
organized against them, even halting developments. In Virginia, home to
52:24
the greatest concentration of data centers in the country, residents
52:28
routinely protest new construction, raising concerns about noise, pollution, and
52:33
energy consumption. Some utilities and state officials are also trying
52:39
to slow data center construction. Ohio, a state on Stargate's
52:43
list whose officials declined to comment on this story, recently
52:47
triggered a rush of data center projects with tax incentives
52:51
such as a fifteen year break on sales tax, but
52:54
the local power utility has warned it can't keep pace
52:58
with demand. Lawmakers in California, where open AI is headquartered,
53:04
have proposed legislation aimed at protecting ratepayers from electricity price hikes,
53:09
while some municipalities in Arizona have banned new construction altogether.
53:14
Oregon and Washington, long attractive to data centers seeking cheap
53:18
hydroelectric power are likewise considering new rules for data center
53:23
electricity rates and scrutinizing their energy use. Tech companies have
53:28
said they believe technological solutions to these problems are on
53:32
the horizon. There's a lot of questions about data centers
53:36
as long term high quality development, said Murrow of the
53:39
Brookings Institution. States and regions need to ask for more.
53:44
In Abilene, stargate construction has contributed to a local shortage
53:48
of electricians for commercial jobs. According to Sam Garcia, an
53:52
insurance agent and the former president of Abilene's Hispanic Leadership Council,
53:57
he worries that local officials mistaken life think an industry
54:01
that thirst for efficiency gains will be a long term
54:04
economic engine. You're a sleepy, little rural town. You're not
54:08
going to become this big AI place. Garcia said, I
54:12
think it's a lot of pr Andrea Jmenez contributed to
54:16
this report and the final item on today's front page
54:20
is entitled Order on drug costs offers plenty of threats,
54:24
few details. Trump's directive unlikely to provide any relief in
54:29
near term. By Daniel Gilbert, President Donald Trump signed an
54:34
executive order Monday that aims to coax pharmaceutical companies into
54:39
offering lower prices in the United States, taking a historically
54:43
broad swipe at the cost of medicine, but without clear
54:46
mechanisms for providing fast relief to American patients. The order,
54:51
with little detail, targets drug pricing on a potentially broader
54:55
scale than Trump did in his first administration, but his
54:58
directive lacks tear that would compel lower prices in the
55:02
near term. In a telling signal, the stock prices of
55:06
numerous large pharmaceutical companies rose Monday, along with the rest
55:10
of the market as it reacted to news of lower
55:13
China teriffs. Experts said the plan lacks enough detail to
55:17
determine whether patients would realize any tangible benefits, and pointed
55:22
out it is likely to face core challenges. The order
55:25
did not state whether the administration would be seeking lower
55:29
prices in Medicare, Medicaid, or private insurance markets, or all
55:34
of the above. In his remarks, Trump indicated he had
55:38
an expansive vision. The cost for medicaid and Medicare, and
55:42
just basically pharmaceuticals and drugs is going down at a
55:45
level that nobody has ever seen before. Far from demonizing
55:50
pharmaceutical companies for high prices. Trump focused his fire on countries,
55:55
particularly in the European Union, for negotiating drug prices so
55:59
low that they leave the United States to subsidize the
56:02
global costs of innovation. He is directing his administration to
56:07
investigate countries that quote extort drug companies by blocking their
56:11
products unless they accept bottom line and very low dollar
56:15
amounts for their product, unfairly shifting the cost burden onto
56:19
American patients. In exchange for going to bat for pharmaceutical
56:23
companies to get better pricing abroad, Trump expects them to
56:27
offer most favored nations pricing, essentially the lowest cost of
56:31
drugs paid by the wealthiest countries in the United States.
56:35
The order directs the centers from Medicare and Medicaid services
56:39
to share price targets with companies within thirty days. The
56:43
President is demanding significant progress towards those targets, or he
56:47
will direct his administration to impose lower prices pegged through
56:51
the overseas rates. His order does not provide details or
56:55
indicate what Trump would consider significant progress. An attempt to
56:59
set prices in a pilot program during his first term
57:02
in twenty twenty was held up in the courts and
57:05
then abandoned by the Biden administration. While other countries directly
57:10
negotiate with drug makers to lower prices, the United States
57:14
generally has left it up to the companies to set
57:16
their own price, with complex and opaque negotiations with industry
57:21
middleman determining what Americans pay out of pocket. In targeting
57:25
this international price disparity, Trump has zered in on a
57:29
potent bipartisan political issue. So they're going to have to
57:33
pay more for health care, and we're going to have
57:35
to pay less, Trump said Monday. The order also calls
57:40
for the Secretary of Health and Human Services to quote
57:43
consider initiating a process to import more drugs from other countries,
57:48
which Trump said would put dramatic downward pressure on prices
57:52
by leaving room for companies to negotiate. The order was
57:56
more favorable for pharmaceutical firms than Wall Street analysts expect.
58:01
The order is out and overall is okay akshah Tawari,
58:05
an analyst at Jeffrey's Research, wrote in a note to
58:08
clients Monday, there's clearly no mechanism for implementing any m
58:13
f M model. He wrote, referring to most favored Nations pricing,
58:17
and due to the constraints of time, we will be
58:19
unable to complete this item. This concludes the reading of
58:23
the Washington Post for to Day, Tuesday, May thirteenth, twenty
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twenty five. Your reader for to day has been Cindy Fraser.
58:32
If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions concerning this program,
58:36
please feel free to call us at A five nine
58:38
four two two six three nine zero. Thank you for listening,
58:42
and now please stay tuned for continued programming on Radio
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