Transcript

1.16.25 · Washington Post

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Speaker 1: Welcome to the reading of the Washington Post for Thursday,
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January sixteenth of twenty twenty five. And your readers are
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very Dana and Alis Daina with the reminders that radioized
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reading service for those blind with other difficulties holding or
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reading printed material. And we will start with the headlines
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on the front page of the Washington Post. The biggest
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is Israel Hamas agree to cease fire a deal, and
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under that there is a picture of relatives and friends
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of people killed and abducted by Hamas who reacted the
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ceasefire announcement Wednesday in Tel Aviv. The truce would begin
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Sunday and cover an initial period of forty two days.
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Mediator hope it will then evolve into a three stage
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process for lasting peace. And they are holding torches with
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Hebrew in saying stop the war. And it's mostly women
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in this particular picture with pictures of their children or
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deceased lovers on children. On the left side, underneath the
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headline Biden and Trump compete for credit after teams cooperation,
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and it is by Hannah Knowles, Toloose Olorunipia, and Karen Deyong.
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And on the right of that side of the big
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picture is hopes for reprieve in fifteen month War first
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phase cause for release of thirty three hostages. This article
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is by Claire Parker, Karen de Young, Jerry Shiah, Hazim Bakushka,
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and Haba Pharoh faruk Ma Fuz. And then right at
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the fold on the left side, Trump Way's executive action
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to save TikTok delayed enforcement of ban or sale may
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by time to hammer out a deal. That is by
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Drew Harwell and Elizabeth Dalskin. And next to that Biden
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warns an oligarchy in assemble Farewell, And there's a picture
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of Biden at the Resolute Desk delivering his farewell address
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to the nation last night in which he decried ah
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Tech industrial complex and Biden's Oval Office speech. Caps of
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fifty year career that saw tragedy and triumph by Toulouse
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Oloepia and Cleve R. Woodson Junior. And at the very
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bottom of the front page, among LA's service workers, dreams
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turned to ashes, And there is a picture of an area.
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It's a red Cross area. It looks well, it's a
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red cross symbol with people sitting in chairs or standing
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around and they are volunteers gathering at the Pasadena Community
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Job Center, usually a spot for day workers or day
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labors to find work. And that article is by Dan
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Rosenwigg's beef and then to the far right ex clergyman's
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career thrived despite claims of sexual abuse in the nineteen nineties.
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If we get that will be like a so Gary
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will start off with the reprieve in a fifteen month war.
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Speaker 2: All us boo edline reads Israel and Hamas agreed to
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gozen ceasefire, raising hopes of a reprieve. The deal, mediated
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by the United States, offered a glimmer of hope in
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the conflict that has taken an immense human toll. The
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head story was written by Clara Parker, Karen de Young,
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Jerry Sish, Hasim Belusha, Herbal Faruk Maffus. After more than
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a year of painstaking negotiations, Israel and hamasigreed Wednesday to
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ceasefire in the Gaza strip that if implemented the seeniorly
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three dozens really hostages reunited with their families and give
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Hungary and displaced Palestinians a reprieve for months of violence.
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Israel's government still to formally approve the deal, and a
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vote Office will say will take place Thursday morning. What
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the agreement could make could mark a first step toward
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ending a fifteen month war that has destroyed Gaza and
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divided Israelis. The truce, mediated by the United States, Egypt
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and the car would begin on Sunday and covered an
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initial period of forty five to forty two days. This
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is one of the toughest negotiations that I've ever experienced,
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President Joe Biden said Wednesday and remarks from the White House,
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and I'm deeply satisfied that this day has come for
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the sake of the people of Israel and the families
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waiting in agony, and for the sake of the innocent
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people in Gaza who suffered unimaginable devastation because of the war.
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Use of the first six weeks phase of what the
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theators hope will evolve into a three stage process for peace,
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thirty three of the ninety eight remaining Israeli hostages in Gaza,
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mainly women and children and the elderly wounded, will be
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released from Hamas captivity in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians
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in Israeli attention and a carefully quoreographed sequence that will
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involve humanitarian groups and coordination between Hamas, Egypt, and Israel.
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Among the thirty three captives slated for release are Americans
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Keith Seingal and Segou Deka Chen, said a senior administration
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official who spoke on the condition of anonymity under the
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rules set by the White House. Dickl Chen was wounded
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in the Hamas attack on October the seventh of twenty
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twenty three, and single sixty five, will be free because
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of his age. A third US citizen, Eden Alexander, was
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abducted near gosen Or serving in the Israeli military and
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won't be released until the second phase of the ceasefire.
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Hamas agreed to release five female Israeli soldiers in the
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first phase. The remains of at least four more Americans
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are also still Gaza. We are committed to getting the
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remains out of the official set. Israel will withdraw troops
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from some parts of Gossam and allow US surge of
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humanitarian aid into the enclay, where ninety percent of the
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population or one point nine million people, are displaced. These
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qualic conditions of little food, water, or shelter from the cold.
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During the first phase, the volume of aid entering Gaza
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is supposed to reach more than five hundred trucks per
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day in the State Department spokesman that Few bill Up
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said on Wednesday, a more than six fold increase over
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the average number in December. But even once a bomb
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stopped falling, steep challenges remade and getting life saving assistance
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to citizens, to civilians who needed including abiding all this
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Gaza destroyed roads owners Israeli on inspection process for cargoes
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entering the territory. Aid worker see this is a moment
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of hope, an opportunity, but we should be able to
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under no illusion how tough it will be to still
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get support to survivors. Yuan Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs
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Thom Fletcher said in statement. As states could not be hired,
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Israeli forces will remain in a buffer zone along Gaza's borders.
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Theatari Prime Minister of Muhammadan abdulran Alfani said in a
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news comforts in Goa, where negotiators spent the last few
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days hammering out the deal. After a week at the
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truce hold, Palestinian civilians sheltering southern and central Gaza will
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be allowed to return to the north, which in recent
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months has been decimated by a tents Israeli bombardment and
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clashes with Homas militants. Since October, Israeli forces have besieged
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the northernmost part of the enclave, locking most aid and
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forcing thousands of residents to evacuate. Israel divided the country
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into a north and south, with a line of forty
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five checkpoints known as the Nazarene Corridor.
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Speaker 3: Just outside Gaza City, only occasionally allowing humanitarians to cross
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into the northern areas. Negotiations for phase two of the deal,
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during which the remaining living hostages would be released and
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Israel would completely withdrawal from the Gaza, are supposed to
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begin in coming weeks.
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Speaker 2: During Phase three, the Humas would return the bodies of
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hostages who were killed, and the reconstruction of Gaza would
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get under way. The deal has offered a glimmer of
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hope in a conflict that has taken an immense human toll.
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Israeli attacks have killed more than forty six thousand, seven
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hundred people in Gaza and injured more than one hundred
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and ten thousan two hundred. According to the Gaza health industry,
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which is not distinguished between civilians and combatants. That says
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that the more majority of the dead are women and children.
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Israel estimates that about twelve hundred people were killed in
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Hamas's October the seventh, twenty twenty three attack, including more
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than three hundred soldiers. It says four one hundred and
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five soldiers have been killed with its military operation in Godza.
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A war that began with hamsclet attacks in southern Israel
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spiraled into a regional conflagration marked by more than a
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year of exchanges of fire between Israel and its allies
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and Iraan and aligned groups in Lebanon, Yemen, a Rocke,
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and Syria. There is still there still was much that
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could go wrong during the deal's implementation. The Israeli officials
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have emphasized it so far it is a temporary pause.
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The thorniest questions, including who will govern and secure Gaza,
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remain unresolved, and negotiations over these and other issues are
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expected to begin later in the process. Israel's bombardment of
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Gaza has it led out. At least nineteen people were
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killed in Israeli airristrax across the territory on Wednesday night,
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after the seasfire was announced. Still even before Mediator Cucutter
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Guitar declared that the deal was reached, celebrations broke out
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in Gaza and among hostage families and supporters in Tel Aviv,
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin met Yahoo's office issued a statement
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shortly after the announcement, insisting that some details still needed
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to be worked out. The President elect, Donald Trump had
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already blasted out the news of the world, writing on
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his social media platform through social we have a deal
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for the hostages in the Middle East. They will be
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released shortly. Thank you. Late Wednesday night, the parties were
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still arguing over the names of the high profile prisoners
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to be released under the agreement, According to an official
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familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of
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anonymity to discussed in sative talks. Net Yahu's Cambinet and
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members of his coalition government US vote on Thursday wanting
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to approve the deal. His far right allies and government
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and political financements serve the Zello. Schmutchet and National Security
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Minister Imar ben Geev both slam the agreement is a
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bad deal and spares a Moss and threaten to withdraw
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from the net Yahu's government. Still, the Prime Minister is
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widely expected to have enough votes to push through the agreement,
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and israel Supreme Court is expected to dismiss possible legal
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challenges to the deal. This is an important move, This
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is a necessary move, this, Israeli President Isaac Hertzog said
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in televised remarks on Wednesday night, urging the government to
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make the cease far official. There is no greater war
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human Jewy source Raeli obligation than to bring our sons
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and daughters back to us to recover at home or
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to be laid to rest. Leaders from mediating countries appeared
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to dismiss the procedural steps in Israel as mere formalities
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because cutters from Muhammadan Biden and Egyptian President a Baha
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Alsisi each declared victory after months of stopping the negotiations
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that repeatedly saw negotiators and intelligence chiefs huddle in Middle
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Eastern capitals only to return only to return home empty handed.
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There was no other way for this war to end
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that a hostage deal, Biden said on Wednesday. Too many
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innocent people have died, too many communities have been destroyed
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the mediators, at least for now. Overcame the herculean task
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of reconciling the diametrically opposed positions of Israel and Hamas.
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Israel wanted to continue the fighting after a temporary pause
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and a hostage for prisoner exchange. Hamas insisted on a
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promos to the war before it was surrender any captains,
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but pressure on both parties pushed them to close the gap.
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Net Yahoo was under fire from hostage families and those
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who lost loved ones in the war. He was also
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in potential legal peril of raw after the International Criminal
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Court issued and arrest warned accusing him of war crimes
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and crimes against humanity in Gaza. Hamas was severely weakened
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after Israel killed as Stop leaders and decapped regional allies.
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Residents grew increasingly angry as they struggled to survive the
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punishing campaign Israel launched in response to Hamas's attacks. In
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the end, the deal agreed to Wednesday aligns to a
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large extent with the phase approach Biden proposed in May,
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and initial pause and hostilities and release of hostages intended
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to lead to quote sustainable calm. According to a joint
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statement by Guitar, Egypt, and the United States. Those three
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countries are meant to serve as parenturs of the deal,
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and Mohammed said a monitoring body would be established in Cairo.
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Biden and Trump each claimed credit for the diplomatic achievement,
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for a diplomatic achievement closed through rare foreign policy collaboration
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between the outgoing and incoming administrations, as Widen officials carried
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out the former diplomacy Stephen Whitcoll, Trump's Special owner to
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the Middle East, met with Net and Yahoo over the
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weekend to pressure the Israeli Prime Minister to agree to
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a deal before Trump's inauguration. This epics each to my
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agreement could only have happened as a result of our
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historic victory in November, as it signals for the entire
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world that my administration would seek peace and negotiate deals
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to ensure the safety of all Americans that are allies,
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Trump wrote on True Social Biden said this deal was
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developed the negotiation of the administration that his officials had
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been speaking as one team with or soon to be
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successful in recent days. Hamas leader Khalil Ahaia hailed the
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ceasefire as a triumph in the military group. Today we
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proved that the occupation will never defeare people and their resistance,
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he said in a statement. Hospitals in Israel are preparing
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to receive hostages who may benourished, injured, or ill, and
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will certainly be traumatized. Israeli Via reported in Tel Aviv,
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where thousands of gathered for months each Saturday night to
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protest the government's failure to bring all the hostages home sooner.
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Crowds beat drums, enchanted. I hope it will not just
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be a ceasefire, but a stop to the war, said
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Benjamin Terrem, sixty five, from Tel Aviv. We cannot stay
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in this situation. In Gaza, twenty year old Fora Hathut
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said that she was displaced nine times throughout the war.
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Look up where she is sheltering in Israel a refugee
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camp in central Gouze to check the news. Is it real?
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Have they signed? She said? She asked herself. I pray
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it goes through, she said, who was in tears, and
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God compensate us for what we have experienced. Als backing
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you well.
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Speaker 1: Along One of the sentences in what Gary read, Biden
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and Trump jockey for credit in Israel Hamas hostage deal.
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Their deal making cooperation represents an unusual moment in the
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polarized world of US politics, but it did not stop
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both Trump and Biden from toutting their respective roles. And
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there's a picture of President elect Donald Trump with his
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thumbs up finger claiming credit for the breakthrough in negotiations.
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The article is by Hannah Knowles Toulouse opee Pa and
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Karen De Young Oloun nepah Olo RUNIPA. President Joe Biden
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and President Elect Donald Trump jockeyed Wednesday for credit for
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our ceasefire and hostage release deal between Hamas and Israel
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that Biden had long pursued and that came together days
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before Trump is to retake the White House. The Biden
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and Trump teams worked closely in the days leading up
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to the deal, talking daily and holding meetings in Katah
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and Israel. Biden official set a meeting Wednesday, excuse me
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a meeting Saturday between Trump's incoming Middle East Envoy Steve
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Whitkoff and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Nettna, who was crucial
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to closing the deal, and Witkof has called the Biden
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administration the tip of the spear in talks. Their cooperation
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represents a highly unusual moment in the polarized world of
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US politics, especially given the contentious history between the president
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and President elect, but it did not stop both Trump
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and Biden from toting their respective roles. Trump declared on
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social media that the epic ceasefire agreement could have only
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happened as a result of a historic victory in November.
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The President elect, who often boasts of his deal making prowess,
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has pushed for an agreement before his inauguration, and threatened
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last week that all hell will break out in the
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Middle East if Israeli hostages were not returned by inauguration day,
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which is Monday. Biden, speaking later from the White House,
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repeatedly noted that the agreement was very similar to the
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one he proposed in May. Biden said, we got the
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world to endorse it. Secondly, it's America's support for Israel
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that helped them badly weaken hum US and its backers
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and to create the conditions for this deal, he said.
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He told his team to make sure that he and
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Trump were speaking with the same voice, because that's what
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American presidents do. Asked Wednesday, whom he expected to get
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the most credit for the deal. You are Trump, one
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reporter queried. The president demurred, Is that a joke, he said,
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before turning to walk away. The issue of who gets
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credit for bokering a break in the fifteen month conflict
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is a particularly personal one for Biden, who has been
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speaking to the history books as he prepares to end
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his fifty year career in public service on Monday. During
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the negotiations, Biden often grew frustrated with Natanyahu, who rebuffed
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US admit admissions, admonitions about billion casualties, and at times
21:36
seem reluctant to approve a ceasefire. The timing of the
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deal is unusual, coming less than a week before US
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presidential transition of power. It echoes the nineteen eighty one
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release of American hostages in Iran, who were held in
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Tehran for four hundred and forty four days and whose
21:56
flight hung over the failed reelection campaign a Democrat, Jimmy Carter.
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The hostages were freed on January twentieth, nineteen eighty one,
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just as Republican Ronald Reagan took office. Some in Biden's
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orbit felt that Natiyahoo, who had cozied up to Trump
22:21
during his first term, was aiming to give the Republicans
22:25
a leg up in the campaign by rejecting US cease
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by a deal before the November election, Trump aids and
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allies argued that it's evident that Trump's approach an imminent
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return made the difference. He made it clear and unambiguous
22:45
that if the hostages were not released prior to his
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taking office, they would be held to pay, said Matt Brooks,
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the CEO of the Republican Jewish Coalition. Had Some Democrats
23:00
also gave Trump credit. This was Biden's deal, but as
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much as I hate to say it, he couldn't have
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done it without Trump. Not so much Trump's performative threats
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to Hamas, but his willingness to tell b b bluntly
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that the.
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Speaker 2: War had to end.
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Speaker 1: By January twentieth, former Democratic Congressman Tom Malankoski wrote on
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x Other groups such as the American Israel Public Affairs
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Committee APAC and the families of several American hostages in Gaza,
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thanked both Biden and Trump and the instatements on the deal.
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Biden officials have emphasized the importance of working with the
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incoming administration, with one senior administration official calling the level
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of coordination with Witkoff unprecedented. But Biden officials pushed back
23:59
on the idea that Trump drove the deal. Asked at
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a Wednesday briefing, if he agreed that Trump deserves the credit,
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State Department smokesman Matthew Miller pushed back, Not only do
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I not buy it, it's not what we've seen in
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the negotiations, he said. Biden and his team have agonized
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over the situation in Gaza for over a year, struggling
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to balance a desire to show support for Israel with
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concerns over the blight of Palestinians, more than forty six thousand,
24:37
seven hundred, of whom have been killed since the war started,
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according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish
24:45
between civilians and combatants, but says the majority of the
24:50
dead are women and children. Israel estimates that about twelve
24:55
hundred people were killed in Hamas's October seventh, twenty t
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twenty three attack, including more than three hundred soldiers. The
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conflict was await on Biden's re election campaign, dividing Democrats.
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Activists branded him genocide Joe and brotest As sympathetic to Gaza,
25:17
regularly interrupted his rallies and White House events. At the
25:22
same time, pro Israel groups and family members of hostages
25:26
called on Biden to be more resolute in supporting a
25:29
hy Allah and securing the release of American hostages held
25:34
by Hamas. Biden often responded to both groups by pointing
25:40
to the efforts his administration was making to reach a
25:43
cease fire deal that would end the bombing of Gaza
25:47
and allow for the release of several hostages, but negotiations
25:51
repeatedly broke down until recently. A diplomat briefed on the
25:56
negotiations said Hamas's diminished physician aided negotiations in addition to
26:03
Trump's influence, saying this was the first time there has
26:09
been real pressure on the Israeli side to accept a deal.
26:14
The diplomat, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to
26:18
discuss closed door talks, said the contours of the agreement
26:22
suggest that Israeli negotiators offered concessions on issues that had
26:27
previously impeded a breakthrough. But as senior Biden administration official
26:34
contested the idea that Trump's inauguration day ultimatum secured a
26:39
conclusion to talks. The official said that while deadlines can
26:43
be helpful, the catalyst for success was the defeat of
26:48
Hesbellah and I ran back to militia, a ceasefire deal
26:53
in Lebanon, and Hamas's massive isolation. Trump's seized on Democrats'
27:01
divisions on the campaign trail, often criticizing Biden not as
27:06
backing Israel forcefully enough. At the same time, Trump quoted
27:12
Arab American voters who were angry at US support for Israel,
27:16
a remarkable pivot for a candidate who once called for
27:21
a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States.
27:28
In remarks Wednesday, Biden referred to the ceasefire ideal as
27:33
the combination of hundreds of days of diplomacy, calling it
27:39
one of the toughest negotiations have ever experienced, and listing
27:44
the efforts his administration is made over the past year
27:47
to support Israel and degrade degrade its regional foes internationally.
27:54
Dis bestowed credit on both sides for reaching a deal.
27:59
Both Brett, the Middle East director for Biden's National Security Council,
28:05
and Whitkoff were in the room Wednesday, when Katari Prime
28:09
Minister Mohammad bin Abdul Rahman al Thani announced that an
28:14
agreement had been reached. Mohammad gave them both credit for
28:18
the historic milestone. I really would like to thank both
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the envoys who are here with us in the last
28:26
couple of days, and they played a vital role in
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reaching this moment, Mohammad said. Witkoff, Trump's Middle East envoy,
28:36
emphasized the collaborative nature of the negotiations to reporters last week,
28:41
as he said officials were on the verge of a deal.
28:46
No one has private authorship. We are totally outcome driven,
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Witkoff said shortly before traveling to Doha. But he made
28:57
sure to cast Trump as the player. Is the president,
29:02
his reputation, the things that he has said that that
29:06
are driving this negotiation, Ritkoff said, standing next to Trump
29:11
at the President alexmar Alago Club. Biden is correct that
29:17
the agreement named Swinstea was identical in most respects to
29:20
the proposal put on the table in May. That draft
29:24
was built on the outlines of the US proposed deal
29:27
reached in November of twenty twenty three that led to
29:31
the release of about one hundred hostages before collapsing in
29:35
accusations of violations from both sides over nearly fourteen months
29:40
of talks. McGirk, who was a near constant presence in
29:44
the region. CIA Director William J. Burns, a big gun
29:50
who was brought in for moments from the deal. Sing
29:52
Neil traveled nineteen times to the region in Europe for
29:56
negotiation Section sessions. State Anthony Blincoln has made a dozen
30:02
visits to the Middle East since the Hamas attacks that
30:05
launched the Wall Whitehouse seed, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan
30:12
and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin have visited at crucial moments
30:16
as well. Biden can claim credit for a ceasefire and
30:21
Lebanon between Hasbla and Israel negotiated by his Special envoy
30:26
Amos Hashtein, that played a major role in leading to
30:31
the Gaza seasfire. That agreement reached in late November removed
30:36
any hopes by Hamas that Hesbella would come to its rescue.
30:40
It brought an intensification of negotiations throughout December, mediated by US,
30:47
Katari and Egyptian mediators. Both Sullivan and Blincoln made trips
30:53
to the region in decemble. By the end of the month,
30:57
as Hamas finally responded to demands to produce a full
31:01
list of hostages, it was holding. The talks as celebrated
31:05
into a final phase. But there is a little doubt
31:08
that Trump's election and his threats that there would be
31:13
held to pay unless the deal was reached before his inauguration,
31:18
helped focus attention in Doha, the Katari capital where the
31:22
talks were held. Biden administration officials have said they quickly
31:27
began briefing Witkough on the daily status of the negotiations,
31:32
aware that they would be out of office when a deal,
31:35
if reached, was implemented and would need buy in from
31:38
the incoming administration. Whitkoff traveled several times to Doha, and,
31:44
in a session that administration officials described as crucial, met
31:49
Saturday in Israel with ret Yahoo kat Kadzuriski. Susannah George
31:57
and Meryll Cornfield contributed. Did this report Gary.
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Speaker 2: Continuing now a piece headline, Biden warns of the rise
32:09
of new American oligarchy from the White House. He will
32:12
soon see the Trump. Biden likens the current crop of
32:15
tech mobiles to the robber barons of the late nineteenth
32:19
of the nineteenth century. Now my watch stopped keeping time,
32:26
so you have to watch our time. Okay, Okay, here
32:29
we go, Biden. President Joe Biden used his final address
32:33
from the Oval Office to deliver a somber warning about
32:36
the threat posed by a dangerous concentration of power in
32:40
the hands of wealthy and well connected individuals, a thinly
32:43
veiled reference to billionaire technology executives who have been increasingly
32:48
signaling their desire to work closely with President elect Donald Trump. Today,
32:54
an oligarchy is taking shape in America, of extreme wealth,
32:57
power and influence that threatens our entire democracy, our basic
33:02
rights and freedoms, and a fair shot for everyone to
33:06
get ahead, Biden sent in his farewell speech days before
33:09
he steps down from a whole year presidency and a
33:12
lifetime in public office. We see the consequences all across
33:16
to America, and we've seen it before. Biden liken the
33:20
current crop of tech moguls to the Robert Barns of
33:23
the nineteenth century, men like JJ Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie.
33:27
Recalling President Dwight D. Eisenhower's farewell address warning about the
33:32
military industrial complex, Biden described. He cried a tech industrial
33:38
complex that could pose real dangers to our country. The
33:42
stark comparisons underscored how a president who has often heralded
33:46
the possibilities afforded by America and proclaimed himself an enduring
33:52
optimist is ending a fifty year career in public service
33:56
with deep concerns that the nation's promise is being eroded
33:59
by wealthy as citizens. Biden spoke from a storied location
34:05
that in five days is to be occupied by Biden's
34:08
major political adversary, a man he has described as a
34:13
threat to democracy and unfit for the presidency. Tech executives
34:19
had been visiting and dining with Trump at his bar
34:21
A Lago estate and donating millions of his inaugural to
34:25
his inaugural committee. Tech moguls Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, and
34:30
Mark Zuckerberg are planning to attend Trump's inauguration on Monday
34:35
with prime seating on the diets, and illustrates the deepening
34:39
ties between the nation's top technology leaders and the incoming administration. Bezos,
34:46
the founder of Amazon, also owns The Washington Post. Biden's
34:51
speech capped the career which he experienced tragedy and triumph
34:56
while scaling the heights of political power. His dark tongue
35:00
aligned with a humbling note on which Biden's career is
35:04
ending as his political nemesis surges back into power and
35:08
pledges to take a wrecking ball to much of Biden's legacy.
35:13
The president had originally planned to deliver this address in
35:17
twenty twenty nine, at the end of a second term
35:19
in office, but at age eighty two, he faced persistent
35:23
questions about his physical strength and mental mental acuity concerns
35:28
and ultimately prompted fellow Democrats to force him to end
35:32
his re election bid, only to see his chosen successor,
35:36
Vice President Kama Harris, lose decisively Trump. Biden delivered the
35:41
speech with images of his family, including as to see
35:44
sun bow behind him. His voice at time sounded raspy
35:49
and he stumbled over a few words, but he largely
35:52
delivered a forceful farewell with stern warnings for the future.
35:57
He suggested that artificial intelligence spawn new threats to our
36:01
rights or way of life, to our privacy. He lamented
36:05
the crumbling of the free press. He warned that social
36:08
media companies have given up on trying to verify the
36:11
information they distribute a reference to Zuckerberg's recent decision and
36:16
fact checking on Facebook and Instagram. The truth is smothered
36:21
bylines told for power and for profit, he said. The
36:26
Senate has begun holding confirmation hearing for officials Trump has
36:31
selected to fill his cabinet, which is slated to be
36:33
the wealthiest group of presidential advisors in modern history. Still,
36:38
Biden aimed to balance the warning with a sense of optimism.
36:42
He recalled how he went from being a child with
36:45
starter to become the country's youngest senator and then eventually
36:49
vice president of the nation's first black president. Biden has
36:53
cast his assent to the presidency, an office he spent
36:57
decades pursuing as a unique American tale of opportunity and resilience.
37:03
That's the magic of America, he said. While several presidents
37:07
have delivered parting speeches from the White House, the setting
37:10
was more staid than the arena like atmosphere of the
37:14
former President of Black Obama's farewell speech in twenty seventeen.
37:18
Obama spoke to some eighteen thousand supporters that Chicago's McCormick
37:22
placed convention Center or encouraging them against despair. Days before
37:28
Trump was to be sworn in and reminding allies of
37:31
what they had accomplished together. Obama, too, warned against what
37:35
he said, with the dangers posed by an incoming Trump administration,
37:39
in some ways pre fingering Biden's address on Wednesday, if
37:44
every economic issue is framed as a struggle between hard
37:47
working white middle class and an undeserving minority, than workers
37:52
of all shades, and we left fighting for scraps while
37:55
the wealthy withdrawal further into the private enclaves, while Obama
38:00
said at the time, Biden also used his speech to
38:05
list some of his accomplishments, reminding viewers about the pandemic
38:09
ravaged economy had inherited and his efforts to pull the
38:13
country out of an economic and moral will rass in
38:15
twenty twenty one. In addition to the one point nine
38:19
trillion American Rescue Plan, Biden tality the one point two
38:23
trillion infrastructure law, a signature climate bill, and bisartisan wins
38:28
on issues such as semiconductor manufacturing, veterans, healthcare, and garden safety.
38:34
As Biden and his age have done repeatedly in the
38:36
week since Trump's victory, the president argued that the full
38:40
benefits of agenda will only be felt in the years
38:43
and decades ahead, as new roads are paid, factories are built.
38:48
In some ways, the speech was designed to address to
38:51
Borrow's historians as much as today's electorate. It will take
38:56
time to feel the full impact of all we're done together,
38:59
he said. But the seeds are planted, and they'll grow,
39:03
and they'll bloom for decades to come. Biden listed safeguards
39:07
he said should be enacted against abuse of power by
39:10
leaders of technology and government. He called for revisiting the
39:14
tax code to make billionaires pay their fair share, getting
39:18
dark money out of politics, instituting term limits and ethical
39:22
guard rare for the Supreme Court, and banning members of
39:26
Congress from trading stocks. His most direct critique of Trump,
39:31
who he did not name, Biden suggested that the company
39:34
needed a constitutional amendment to reverse the Supreme Court ruling
39:38
that guaranteed broad immunity for official acts by a president.
39:43
Trump has sought the immunity after being indicted in two
39:46
federal cases, one for his alleged efforts to overturn the
39:49
twenty twenty election and another for allegisly mishammed and classified documents.
39:55
We need to amend the Constitution to make clear that
39:58
no president, no, he said, is immune from crimes that
40:02
he or she commits while in office, adding that a
40:07
president's power is not absolute and it shouldn't be. It's
40:11
not clear how Biden's warnings will register with the electorate.
40:14
That Salmon rejected his party in November, leaving office with
40:18
low approval ratings. Biden has had to grapple with the
40:21
reality that, despite his accomplishments, many Americans have chosen the
40:25
sharply different direction. In recent weeks, Biden has delivered legacy
40:30
focused speeches, praising his administration's record on the economy and
40:34
foreign policy, and suggesting that time will prove his doubted fraud.
40:39
Biden is the first president since Lyndon B. Johnson to
40:42
step aside rather than seek a second full term, Although
40:46
the widespread dissatisfaction with fellow leaders left him little choice,
40:51
his remarks Wednesday in some ways echoed the party words
40:55
of Johnson, who had an ambious domestic agenda but struck
41:00
with low approval ratings. Johnson, in his nineteen sixty nine
41:04
for Well address, sought the page portrait of progress during
41:08
his time in office, citing a strong economy, major legislative
41:12
wins on social programs and advancements for people of color.
41:17
Biden spoke hours after his administration has held broke a
41:21
cease fire deal between Israel and a Moss, ending months
41:25
of painstaking negotiations. He began his remarks by hailing the agreement, which,
41:30
if fully implemented, would reunite nearly three dozen Israeli hostages
41:35
with their families and provide war war weary Palestinians or
41:40
reprieve from Vesi violence in the Gozda stream. This plant
41:45
was developed and negotiated by my team and will be
41:48
largely implemented by the incoming administration. Biden said, That's why
41:52
I told my team to keep the incoming administration fully informed,
41:57
because that's how it should be working together as Americans.
42:01
Biden's message offered a sharp contrast to the dystopian view
42:05
that Trump presented of the country under Biden Stewart's ship. Trump,
42:09
who is set to deliver his inaugural dress on Monday,
42:12
has said Biden's preendency had been among the worst in history.
42:16
He has strayed from the factors. He has described the
42:18
nation overrun with criminal immigrants, crumbling under runaway inflation, and
42:23
governed by vindictive bureaucrats. Trump, who famously used his first
42:28
inaugural speech to rail against American carneage, has suggested his
42:33
mission of the second term will be to undo many
42:36
of the policies and programs that Biden put in place.
42:40
While presidents have often used farewell remarks to speak to
42:43
the challenges ahead, Biden was in the unique position of
42:47
speaking days before the inauguration of a man he has
42:50
long described as an existential threat to democracy. Trump looms
42:55
heavily over this because November completely flipped the switch on
43:00
how Biden is going to be viewed, said Teddy Troy,
43:03
a presidential historian. He was the dragon slayer, the guy
43:07
who defeated Trump. Now he is the guy who let
43:10
the dragon come back. For all the warnings, Biden entered
43:14
his speech on an optimistic note, suggesting he still had
43:18
faith that America would have lived up through its promise.
43:21
I still believe in the idea for which this nation stands.
43:24
A nation with the strength of our institutions and the
43:27
character of our people matter and must dure, he said.
43:31
Now it's your turn to stadguard Alice.
43:37
Speaker 1: Trump considers executive order hoping to save TikTok from ban
43:46
or sale in US law. The self styled master deal
43:51
maker is exploring unconventional ways to rescue the Chinese owned
43:56
video app from a nationwide in arguing it will help
44:02
him reach an adoring audience throughout his second term president.
44:10
This is by Drew Harwell and Elizabeth Dawskin. President elect DONALDS.
44:17
Trump is considering an executive order once in office that
44:22
would suspend enforcement of the TikTok ban or sale law
44:26
for sixty to ninety days, buying the administration time to
44:31
negotiate a sale or alternative solution, a legally questionable effort
44:37
to win a brief reprieve for the Chinese owned app,
44:41
now scheduled to be dammed on Sunday nationwide. Trump has
44:46
been mulling ways to save the day for the wildly
44:50
popular video app, talking through unconventional deal making and legal maneuvers,
44:57
such as an executive order that would unravel the law
45:00
passed by Congress last year with my partisan support. According
45:06
two two people familiar with the deliberations who spoke on
45:12
the condition of anonymity to discuss private talks, Trump has
45:17
expressed and a keen interest in being seen as rescuing
45:20
a platform on which he's been told he's widely admired,
45:25
leading political aids and business allies to scramble for options
45:30
that would allow him to deliver on his campaign promise
45:34
to save TikTok, as he has said repeatedly on his
45:39
more than fourteen million follower TikTok account. I have a
45:46
warm spot in my heart for TikTok, Trump said last month.
45:51
The main question is how a law signed by President
45:56
Joe Biden last year cause for the apps owner, the
45:59
Beijing based tech giant Byte Dance, to sell the app
46:04
by January nineteenth or face in the immediate man The
46:09
Supreme Court, which considered TikTok's challenge of the law last week,
46:14
is expected to allow the law to proceed as planned,
46:17
but has not yet issued a ruling. The law is
46:21
aimed at addressing Justice Department concerns that the Chinese government
46:26
could covertly use the app to spy on Americans or
46:31
broadcast propaganda. Trump, one of the people said, is eager
46:37
to be seen as making a deal and signing an
46:41
executive order soon after the deadline's passing just one day
46:45
before his inauguration, would give the proceedings a cinematic flourish,
46:52
but the strategy of using an executive order, the kind
46:56
of presidential decree that Trump dashed off in rapid fashion
47:00
at the start of his first presidential term, has fueled
47:04
dotes among several some legal observers who argue the president's
47:10
word can't entirely overcome a law that Congress approved with
47:14
overwhelming bipartisan support. Executive orders are not magical documents, They're
47:23
just press releases with nicest stationery, said Alan Rosensheen, a
47:29
former national security advisor to the Justice Department now at
47:33
the University of Minnesota. TikTok will be banned, and it
47:38
will be illegal for Apple and Google to do business
47:41
with them, but it will make the president's intention not
47:45
to enforce the law that much more official. Trump's political
47:52
allies have worked to build him up as the lone
47:55
man qualified to rescue TikTok, saying in the filing to
47:59
the Supreme Court that he alone possesses the consummate dealmaking expertise,
48:06
the electoral mandate, and the political will to negotiate a
48:10
resolution to save the platform. Though he tried demand TikTok
48:16
during his first presidential term, Trump has in recent years
48:21
celebrated the app as a way to undercut tech companies
48:25
he despised, such as Meta, and reached young voters at
48:29
viral speed. He was shadowed during the campaign by a
48:33
young TikTok specialist who made videos for the app. TikTok
48:39
chief shoes z Chu, who lives in Singapore, flew to
48:44
Trump's Marlago Club in Palm Beage last month as part
48:47
of the company's last ditch attempt to save the app
48:50
in the US. Shortly after, Trump posted his social media
48:55
platform truth Social, a collection of showing that Trump is
49:01
a star on the platform, with TikTok videos from Trump
49:05
and his campaign having been viewed nearly four billion times
49:10
more than Kamala Harris, Fox News and Taylor Swift. Why
49:16
would I want to get rid of TikTok, Trump said
49:19
in a separate truth Social post this month. Trump's transition
49:24
officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment. To
49:30
undermine the law, Trump could push Congress to repeat it,
49:34
a tough proposal given it was one of Capitol Hill's
49:38
few biparison points of agreement last year. He could also
49:42
direct his Attorney General not to enforce it, effectively pretending
49:46
it doesn't exist. Pam Bondy, his pick for the job,
49:52
declined to say whether she would commit to enforce the
49:55
law during her confirmation here in Wednesday, but some Trump's
50:00
orbit have floated options that would involve carving off pieces
50:05
of the company for sale to satisfy the law, give
50:08
American companies a slice of the business, and let him
50:11
take credit for sealing the deal. The law says the
50:15
app will not be banned if its foreign owner executes
50:19
a qualified divestiture, a type of transaction that gives a
50:25
president broadly way to define. Some suitors have made the
50:30
case that Trump should help them take over the company
50:33
and run it as an American enterprise. During Trump's first term,
50:38
he pushed to force the sale of a large stake
50:40
in the company to corporate giants such as Oracle and Walmart,
50:45
as long as the US Treasury got a cut over
50:47
the postseeds, and one of the people involved in the
50:50
recent discussions suggested Trump may pursue a similar option during
50:55
his second term, but one of the people from with
51:00
the discussions said that such a sale is extremely unlikely
51:05
given the political risks and stratospheric price tag, which analyst
51:10
estimate around fifty billion dollars. Some have also questioned whether
51:16
TikTok remains as attractive as an asset as it did
51:19
four years ago, given the flory of short video copycats
51:23
from companies like Instagram and YouTube, and the fact that
51:27
the few buyers and investors who could afford the costs
51:31
may also face the anti trust scrutiny or legal risks.
51:36
Bloomberg reported this week the Chinese government officials had discussed
51:41
Elon Musk buying TikTok's US operations, but TikTok has rejected
51:46
the report as pure fiction. The multi business billionaire already
51:52
faces heavy debts from his last purchase of the social
51:55
network now called X. One person familiar with Byte dan
52:00
is Thinking dismissed the Musk proposal, but said that the
52:03
idea TikTok could be part of a big bargain or
52:08
big negotiation between the US and China was legitimate. Kevin O'Leary,
52:15
the Canadian business man known from ABC's Shark Tank who
52:20
posted as selfie Sunday with trumpet, mar A Lago, and
52:23
the former Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt have said
52:28
they've crafted what they call the people's bid to take
52:32
over the app without his underlying recommendation algorithm, which China
52:38
has blocked from being sold. Both O'Leary and McCourt have
52:44
tried to reach President or Elect Tromp through media interviews,
52:49
praising his dear making progress of prowess, and O'Leary recently
52:54
said the President elect could use TikTok as a negotiating
52:59
tool for his discussions over broader trade issues with China,
53:05
but in the end, TikTok is Trump's deal, O'Leary told
53:10
Fox News on Monday, he's not giving it to anybody else.
53:15
A person familiar with TikTok's thinking said O'Leary's proposal was
53:18
a non starter and a fairy tale to resolve lingering
53:25
security concerns. Trump allies have also floated the idea of
53:30
reviving Project Texas, the one point five billion dollar corporate
53:35
reform package that TikTok unsuccessfully offered to the Biden administration
53:40
in exchange for staying afloat. One of the people said
53:44
the proposal would have given the US government insight in
53:48
veto power over TikTok's hires and programming decisions, as well
53:53
as a kill switch if federal officials determined the app
53:57
had crossed the land, but Biden's his Justice Department declined
54:01
the offer, saying it would not address the app's serious
54:06
national security risks. Several of the high profile China Hawks
54:12
Trump named to his cabinet and the administration at large
54:16
have a long history of painting TikTok as a threat
54:19
to national security, but some of them have more recently
54:23
recast their views to match Trump's friendliest dance. His Secretary
54:29
of State pick. Senator Marco Rubio, Republican of Florida, who
54:34
introduced the law on twenty twenty two to ban the
54:38
Chinese Communist Party puppet app that is collecting that on
54:44
tens of millions of American children and adults every day,
54:48
deferred to Trump when asked last week about his efforts
54:51
to save the app. If I'm confirmed, I'll work for
54:55
the president. Trump's pro TikTok allies have worked to frame
55:00
the issue as one in which he can further undermine
55:04
Biden's regulatory legacy and take credit for eradicating an increasingly
55:09
unpopular band effort. The share of Americans who supported TikTok
55:14
band plunged from fifty percent in twenty twenty three to
55:17
thirty two percent last summer, a few research surveys said.
55:23
Kelley Anne Conway, who served in the first Trump White
55:27
House and now advocates for TikTok, told The Washington Post.
55:31
Speaker 2: In November that.
55:34
Speaker 1: Trump recognized early on the Democrats are the Party of
55:38
bands and to let them own that draconian anti personal
55:43
choice space. Further complicating matters is that byte Edance has
55:49
said TikTok is not for sale, with some officials inside
55:53
the company dismissing such talks as hot aup the uncertainty
55:58
he has demoralized inmployees inside TikTok's US headquarters in Culver City, California,
56:04
where company executives have shared little firm details about the
56:08
coming days, except that they are planning for various scenarios.
56:14
In an email obtained by the Post, the company said
56:17
offices will remain open even if this situation hasn't been resolved.
56:23
One employee, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because
56:28
they were not authorized to talk publicly, said most colleagues
56:32
expected they'd continue working even if the app dropped off
56:35
the app stores, but that no one really knew for sure.
56:41
After Trump pushed to force TikTok sale. In twenty twenty,
56:46
China added TikTok's core recommendation algorithm to its export control list,
56:51
effectively blocking any sale of the app's technical backbone. But
56:56
some of bursas suspect the United States and China could
57:00
use the app as a bargaining chip to extract concessions
57:04
from other big issues such as tariffs or international trade.
57:09
Locked in a competition with Washington over cutting edge technology,
57:13
Beijing has little initiative to open doors to the transfer
57:18
of TikTok's core algorithms to the US side unless higher
57:23
level officials from both sides come to an agreement as
57:27
part of a broader thaw and bilateral relations, said Doug Yaisi,
57:32
a finance and compliance lawyer of Shanghai Joint When Law firm.
57:38
If senior officials from China can get the talk started
57:42
after Trump's inaugurations, then maybe there's a chance. But that's
57:46
a big if, he added. And Lyric Lee contributed this
57:52
report and with that, Gary, anything you need to say, no,
57:58
I guess.
57:59
Speaker 2: We have threead of time. Right.
58:03
Speaker 1: Well, it's going to be a warmer day than it
58:07
has been at least in the upper thirties, so get
58:10
outside and feel the sunshine. It also stay warm and
58:15
I hope you've had no problems. Thank you for listening,
58:19
and keep on listening. To continue programming on radio app