10.23.26

WEBVTT
1
00:00:00.780 --> 00:00:03.620
Welcome to the reading of the New York Times for Friday,
2
00:00:03.859 --> 00:00:09.279
October 23rd, 2026. As a reminder, Radio Eye is a
3
00:00:09.339 --> 00:00:12.900
reading service intended for people who are blind or have
4
00:00:13.119 --> 00:00:17.019
other disabilities that make it difficult to read printed material.
5
00:00:17.519 --> 00:00:21.640
Your reader for today is Blanca Michael Ward. We begin
6
00:00:21.719 --> 00:00:28.329
with Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day. Asunder, asunder. an adverb
7
00:00:28.570 --> 00:00:37.130
or adjective spelled A-S-U-N-D-E-R. What it means. Asunder is most
8
00:00:37.329 --> 00:00:41.229
often used as an adverb, often with a verb such
9
00:00:41.369 --> 00:00:46.159
as tear or rip, to mean apart or into pieces.
10
00:00:46.840 --> 00:00:50.439
It is more rarely used as an adjective meaning apart
11
00:00:50.500 --> 00:00:56.280
from each other, as in standing with legs wide asunder. Example.
12
00:00:57.700 --> 00:01:02.579
The park was torn asunder by yesterday's microburst, and many
13
00:01:02.640 --> 00:01:07.219
of its trails have been blocked by fallen trees. Merriam-Webster's
14
00:01:07.340 --> 00:01:12.870
word of the day, asunder. We continue with the New
15
00:01:12.909 --> 00:01:18.409
York Times bestsellers in combined print and e-book nonfiction. In
16
00:01:18.510 --> 00:01:22.370
first place, New This Week, In the Shadow of Eight,
17
00:01:22.890 --> 00:01:28.340
by Colin Gosselin with Allie Kingsley Baker. a dark tell-all
18
00:01:28.420 --> 00:01:32.219
by one of the sextuplets from the reality TV series
19
00:01:32.620 --> 00:01:37.719
John and Kate Plus Eight. In second place, new this week,
20
00:01:38.319 --> 00:01:43.069
Out of the Shadows by Jay Stratton, a former senior U.S.
21
00:01:43.129 --> 00:01:49.989
intelligence official gives his account of investigations into unidentified anomalous
22
00:01:50.090 --> 00:01:55.930
phenomena and non-human intelligent life. In third place, also new
23
00:01:55.989 --> 00:02:01.400
this week, Vibe by Adam Grant. The author of Think
24
00:02:01.459 --> 00:02:06.480
Again delves into what might reinforce the strengths or exacerbate
25
00:02:06.640 --> 00:02:12.539
the weaknesses of bonds within relationships. In fourth place, two
26
00:02:12.599 --> 00:02:15.419
weeks on the list, One Hell of a Ride by
27
00:02:15.500 --> 00:02:21.080
Michael Douglas with Shane Salerno and Michael Fleming Jr. The
28
00:02:21.120 --> 00:02:27.189
Hollywood icon shares stories about his career and relationships. And
29
00:02:27.250 --> 00:02:30.909
in fifth place, two weeks on the list, Blockers by
30
00:02:31.009 --> 00:02:36.120
Michael Lewis. The author of The Fifth Risk tells the
31
00:02:36.199 --> 00:02:41.180
story of President Trump's Department of Government Efficiency through the
32
00:02:41.219 --> 00:02:46.180
lens of six public servants. We continue with the New
33
00:02:46.240 --> 00:02:51.080
York Times bestsellers in combined print and e-book fiction. In
34
00:02:51.180 --> 00:02:55.050
first place, three weeks on the list, Threshing Day by
35
00:02:55.129 --> 00:03:00.939
Rebecca Yaros. 13 short stories set in the Empyrean world
36
00:03:01.020 --> 00:03:04.860
in which cadets compete to earn the bond of a dragon.
37
00:03:06.259 --> 00:03:09.460
In second place, two weeks on the list, The Witch
38
00:03:09.900 --> 00:03:15.750
by Freda McFadden. Circumstances force Julia Barlow to retreat to
39
00:03:15.810 --> 00:03:21.250
her family's estate, which contains the dark energy of a
40
00:03:21.250 --> 00:03:26.370
1692 witchcraft execution. In third place, three weeks on the list,
41
00:03:27.030 --> 00:03:31.409
The French Illusion by John Grisham. When a couple is
42
00:03:31.530 --> 00:03:35.870
kidnapped during a honeymoon trip in the French countryside, a
43
00:03:35.930 --> 00:03:40.180
young lawyer is used as part of a CIA operation.
44
00:03:41.219 --> 00:03:45.740
In fourth place, 46 weeks on the list, Theo of
45
00:03:45.819 --> 00:03:50.189
Golden by Alan Levy. A man travels to a small
46
00:03:50.289 --> 00:03:54.949
southern town where he purchases pencil drawings of local residents
47
00:03:55.110 --> 00:04:00.189
and exchanges them for stories. And in fifth place, 24
48
00:04:00.189 --> 00:04:04.610
weeks on the list, The Calamity Club by Catherine Stockett.
49
00:04:05.349 --> 00:04:09.610
As things get tougher during the Depression, several women look
50
00:04:09.629 --> 00:04:15.889
for ways to improve their circumstances. We continue with today's
51
00:04:15.930 --> 00:04:18.769
headlines from the front page of the New York Times.
52
00:04:24.839 --> 00:04:30.449
Putin nearing revived links with the U.S., big goal, conceding
53
00:04:30.750 --> 00:04:36.430
nothing on Ukraine. U.S. and Israelis drawing up plan for
54
00:04:36.449 --> 00:04:42.189
Iran attacks after the midterms, awaiting Trump's OK. U.S. hopes
55
00:04:42.250 --> 00:04:48.800
Tehran is forced to give in. Overseas Israelis could swing
56
00:04:48.899 --> 00:04:55.069
votes away from Netanyahu. traveling back home for a tight election.
57
00:04:56.870 --> 00:05:02.060
El-Sayed confronts attacks on faith and family, spotlight on identity
58
00:05:02.149 --> 00:05:07.500
as he runs to be first Muslim senator. Legal backlash
59
00:05:07.579 --> 00:05:13.040
is forcing big changes on internet behemoths. Court orders to
60
00:05:13.199 --> 00:05:19.540
alter practices and pay up. 165 years on, a vote
61
00:05:19.740 --> 00:05:29.009
to stop the clip-clop. We begin with this story. U.S.
62
00:05:29.149 --> 00:05:33.589
and Israel draw up plans for renewed strikes on Iran
63
00:05:33.790 --> 00:05:38.250
after elections. This story was written by Julian E. Barnes,
64
00:05:38.449 --> 00:05:46.480
Eric Schmidt, Farnas Fasihi, Natan Odenheimer, and Ronan Bergman. The U.S.
65
00:05:46.699 --> 00:05:51.459
and Israeli militaries have developed specific plans for renewed strikes
66
00:05:51.560 --> 00:05:57.129
against Iran after the American midterm elections, according to U.S.
67
00:05:57.189 --> 00:06:02.750
officials and other people briefed on the deliberations. As planning
68
00:06:02.850 --> 00:06:07.670
for a short but intensive operation progresses, the U.S. and
69
00:06:07.750 --> 00:06:13.660
Israeli militaries have stepped up exercises, flying planes over Iraq
70
00:06:13.819 --> 00:06:18.899
to practice strike maneuvers. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth met with
71
00:06:19.000 --> 00:06:24.069
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel this week to discuss
72
00:06:24.189 --> 00:06:29.699
new strikes, U.S. officials said. The targets would likely include
73
00:06:29.720 --> 00:06:35.480
Iran's energy infrastructure, nuclear facilities, and missile and drone arsenal.
74
00:06:36.319 --> 00:06:40.259
Some officials say one more big round of attacks could
75
00:06:40.350 --> 00:06:44.449
push Iran's economy over the brink and force the country
76
00:06:44.529 --> 00:06:50.470
to make diplomatic concessions after nearly eight months of conflict. Still,
77
00:06:50.949 --> 00:06:54.470
there are reasons to be skeptical. that a renewed war
78
00:06:54.589 --> 00:06:58.370
would be any more successful than the first phase of
79
00:06:58.470 --> 00:07:04.889
intense U.S.-Israeli strikes between February and April. Those rounds of
80
00:07:04.970 --> 00:07:09.430
fighting drove up energy prices and inflation around the world,
81
00:07:10.050 --> 00:07:14.220
eroded security in the Middle East, and severely strained the
82
00:07:14.279 --> 00:07:19.720
Pentagon's supply of missile interceptors. It is also far from
83
00:07:19.839 --> 00:07:25.110
certain Mr. Trump will approve fresh strikes. Repeatedly this year,
84
00:07:25.269 --> 00:07:29.689
he has vetoed plans for a return to major combat operations,
85
00:07:30.170 --> 00:07:34.589
including this month when the U.S. and Israeli militaries were
86
00:07:34.689 --> 00:07:39.389
nearly ready to attack. All of the officials interviewed for
87
00:07:39.439 --> 00:07:43.810
this article spoke on the condition of anonymity to candidly
88
00:07:43.939 --> 00:07:51.019
discuss military planning. Iranian officials have promised to retaliate this
89
00:07:51.139 --> 00:07:55.910
time by expanding their targets beyond commercial ships and energy
90
00:07:56.040 --> 00:08:01.740
infrastructure in the region to data centers and underwater internet cables.
91
00:08:02.459 --> 00:08:05.860
They say the fighting will neither be quick nor limited.
92
00:08:06.800 --> 00:08:11.120
While the United States is assembling a massive arsenal that
93
00:08:11.160 --> 00:08:15.579
will be fully in place by early November, diplomatic efforts
94
00:08:15.620 --> 00:08:20.360
have continued as U.S. negotiators use the potential return to
95
00:08:20.459 --> 00:08:24.699
war as leverage with Iran to make progress on their
96
00:08:24.779 --> 00:08:29.300
demands on its nuclear program and control over the Strait
97
00:08:29.540 --> 00:08:35.399
of Hormuz. So far, however, Iran's negotiators have been unwilling
98
00:08:35.460 --> 00:08:40.070
to make concessions on the nuclear program, insisting on deferring
99
00:08:40.120 --> 00:08:44.570
that issue until later in the talks. Some U.S. planners
100
00:08:44.649 --> 00:08:49.389
are convinced that an intensive three-day campaign could cause enough
101
00:08:49.649 --> 00:08:55.120
economic damage to change the Iranian position. but U.S. officials
102
00:08:55.210 --> 00:09:00.470
have frequently predicted Iran's collapse, and other Western officials noted
103
00:09:00.909 --> 00:09:04.970
that Iran's government has so far weathered the pressures on
104
00:09:05.029 --> 00:09:08.649
its economy. At this point in the war, what is
105
00:09:08.750 --> 00:09:13.769
clear is that the conventional military campaign waged to date
106
00:09:14.269 --> 00:09:19.250
and the current punishing economic sanctions and American naval blockade
107
00:09:19.830 --> 00:09:23.370
have not brought the regime back to the negotiating table
108
00:09:23.590 --> 00:09:27.720
in a meaningful way, said Dana Stroll, who served as
109
00:09:27.779 --> 00:09:33.679
the Pentagon's top Middle East policy official in the Biden administration.
110
00:09:34.620 --> 00:09:39.379
Neither Mr. Trump nor Mr. Netanyahu has made a compelling
111
00:09:39.460 --> 00:09:44.399
case for how more war could change this strategic dilemma
112
00:09:44.570 --> 00:09:51.370
in an increasingly unstable and conflict-ridden region. said Mistrol, who
113
00:09:51.470 --> 00:09:55.220
is now with the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
114
00:09:56.980 --> 00:10:02.759
Israel's election on October 27th could complicate the plans. If Mr.
115
00:10:02.840 --> 00:10:07.759
Netanyahu loses, he will become a caretaker prime minister, and
116
00:10:07.820 --> 00:10:10.559
it will be difficult for him to launch a war,
117
00:10:10.840 --> 00:10:15.759
experts say. But some analysts believe that Mr. Netanyahu could
118
00:10:15.840 --> 00:10:21.159
leverage the prospect of an imminent joint U.S.-Israel strike to
119
00:10:21.250 --> 00:10:25.490
pressure his rivals into joining a unity government to manage
120
00:10:25.590 --> 00:10:30.230
the war, which would extend his hold on power. After
121
00:10:30.289 --> 00:10:36.490
Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, Mr. Netanyahu formed
122
00:10:36.610 --> 00:10:41.230
a unity government that brought some opposition members into a
123
00:10:41.289 --> 00:10:46.529
war cabinet to help make national security decisions. He could
124
00:10:46.750 --> 00:10:50.519
use this to call for a broad emergency government, but
125
00:10:50.559 --> 00:10:54.960
he will face deep suspicion from his political rivals, said
126
00:10:55.159 --> 00:11:00.090
Mazal Mollem, an Israeli political commentator and the author of
127
00:11:00.149 --> 00:11:05.669
a biography of Mr. Netanyahu. If Iran attacks, that's one thing,
128
00:11:06.149 --> 00:11:10.919
but initiating an offensive strike would be extremely difficult for him.
129
00:11:12.019 --> 00:11:16.269
Officials say there is a small possibility that Mr. Trump
130
00:11:16.690 --> 00:11:20.070
could decide to begin a campaign this month, but there
131
00:11:20.149 --> 00:11:23.970
are many political reasons he's likely to wait until after
132
00:11:24.029 --> 00:11:28.679
the U.S. election, not least his own promise early this
133
00:11:28.799 --> 00:11:33.360
month not to strike before the vote. The United States
134
00:11:33.620 --> 00:11:38.789
will not have its full complement of military assets, including
135
00:11:39.009 --> 00:11:44.070
three aircraft carriers, thousands of Marines, fighter jets, and special
136
00:11:44.250 --> 00:11:50.240
operations forces in place until early November. The U.S. military
137
00:11:50.360 --> 00:11:54.460
prefers to conduct attacks under the cover of night, and
138
00:11:54.500 --> 00:11:59.100
there will be increasing hours of darkness over Iran early
139
00:11:59.399 --> 00:12:04.879
next month. There are also concerns that the war could
140
00:12:04.960 --> 00:12:09.759
spiral into a larger conflict. On Wednesday, the U.S. State
141
00:12:09.799 --> 00:12:15.279
Department ordered non-emergency government employees and their families to leave
142
00:12:15.559 --> 00:12:20.919
Saudi Arabia as the Iran-backed Houthi militia continues to attack
143
00:12:20.990 --> 00:12:25.370
sites there. A White House official said on Wednesday the
144
00:12:25.450 --> 00:12:30.129
administration does not comment on military plans that may or
145
00:12:30.190 --> 00:12:34.620
may not exist. Mr. Trump, the official added, was keeping
146
00:12:34.860 --> 00:12:38.620
all options on the table to ensure that Iran cannot
147
00:12:38.779 --> 00:12:44.240
acquire nuclear weapons. Some officials say the targeting will avoid
148
00:12:44.360 --> 00:12:49.379
refineries and oil infrastructure because Mr. Trump is eager to
149
00:12:49.460 --> 00:12:55.240
prevent even higher gas prices. Both the U.S. and Israel
150
00:12:55.320 --> 00:13:01.110
militaries are drafting plans for operations against Iran's nuclear program,
151
00:13:01.529 --> 00:13:05.110
according to people briefed on the work That could include
152
00:13:05.149 --> 00:13:10.110
an attack on Pickaxe Mountain, a deeply buried nuclear site
153
00:13:10.669 --> 00:13:15.700
that Iranians call Kul Kalang. Mr. Trump said last week
154
00:13:16.220 --> 00:13:25.100
he was considering using a 22,000-pound GBU-43B massive ordnance airblast bomb,
155
00:13:25.419 --> 00:13:30.679
or MOAB, against Pickaxe. Officials say Mr. Trump is enamored
156
00:13:30.720 --> 00:13:35.740
with the weapon. in part because of its nickname, Mother
157
00:13:36.019 --> 00:13:41.659
of All Bombs. But weapons specialists say that the Moab
158
00:13:42.039 --> 00:13:46.159
explodes above ground, producing a wide blast and would not
159
00:13:46.279 --> 00:13:51.379
likely destroy an underground site like Pickaxe, which is composed
160
00:13:51.539 --> 00:13:56.850
of granite. Military officials also warn that the bomb must
161
00:13:56.950 --> 00:14:02.200
be delivered by a slow-flying MC-130 transport plane that would
162
00:14:02.240 --> 00:14:08.649
be vulnerable to Iranian anti-aircraft fire. Israel and the United
163
00:14:08.730 --> 00:14:13.090
States came close to striking Iran early this month, but Mr.
164
00:14:13.149 --> 00:14:16.700
Trump again decided at the last minute to postpone the attack,
165
00:14:17.179 --> 00:14:21.620
according to U.S. and Israeli defense officials familiar with the details.
166
00:14:22.259 --> 00:14:26.470
The decision came shortly before the operation was to begin.
167
00:14:27.169 --> 00:14:31.370
after both militaries had made extensive preparations and placed their
168
00:14:31.490 --> 00:14:36.100
air forces on the highest state of alert. The reported
169
00:14:36.159 --> 00:14:41.179
planning efforts, followed by Mr. Trump's decisions against new attacks,
170
00:14:41.700 --> 00:14:47.110
has caused day-to-day whiplash among military planners, said one commander,
171
00:14:47.590 --> 00:14:52.029
who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss operational matters.
172
00:14:52.629 --> 00:14:56.149
as they try to stay poised to carry out whatever
173
00:14:56.230 --> 00:15:01.070
military option Mr. Trump decides in the coming weeks. In
174
00:15:01.250 --> 00:15:05.210
each round of the war so far, Iran's leadership has
175
00:15:05.289 --> 00:15:10.960
become less conciliatory, convinced that the ultimate U.S. and Israeli
176
00:15:11.019 --> 00:15:16.240
goal is to topple its government. Iran's new supreme leader,
177
00:15:16.259 --> 00:15:24.009
Ayatollah Mujtaba Khamenei, remains an enigma to U.S. and Israeli
178
00:15:24.129 --> 00:15:29.000
intelligence officials. Some officials say he is not as powerful
179
00:15:29.220 --> 00:15:32.159
as his father, who was killed early in the war,
180
00:15:32.720 --> 00:15:37.639
and that hardline members of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps
181
00:15:38.019 --> 00:15:44.570
make key decisions. Iranian officials say they are aware of
182
00:15:44.610 --> 00:15:49.169
the American war planning and have been developing their own
183
00:15:49.450 --> 00:15:56.820
new targets and tactics. Peyman Salehi, a political analyst in Tehran,
184
00:15:56.940 --> 00:16:01.299
said that if pickaxes attacked, part of Iran's plans to
185
00:16:01.379 --> 00:16:06.539
retaliate would be to strike major oil refineries in Saudi Arabia,
186
00:16:07.039 --> 00:16:13.309
including Aramco, because that would immediately spike oil and energy prices.
187
00:16:14.129 --> 00:16:17.769
The war has made us understand that the best leverage
188
00:16:17.860 --> 00:16:22.879
for pressuring Trump is increasing oil and energy prices because
189
00:16:22.940 --> 00:16:29.980
it will hurt the American people, Mr. Salehi said. Mahmoud Mahdi,
190
00:16:30.220 --> 00:16:36.289
a senior advisor to Iran's negotiator General Mohammad Bagher Galbaf,
191
00:16:36.850 --> 00:16:40.480
said on social media this week, that the idea that
192
00:16:40.519 --> 00:16:43.580
the United States would wrap up another round of strikes
193
00:16:43.740 --> 00:16:48.269
on Iran within 72 hours was a fantasy, and that
194
00:16:48.409 --> 00:16:52.509
Iran would determine when the war would end. He noted
195
00:16:52.529 --> 00:16:56.190
that Mr. Trump said in February the war would last
196
00:16:56.470 --> 00:17:02.549
two weeks. Our attacks will be more fierce, creative, and different, Mr.
197
00:17:02.629 --> 00:17:07.970
Mohammadi said. We are determined and confident and strong planning
198
00:17:07.990 --> 00:17:13.059
to has been put in place. We continue with this story.
199
00:17:15.819 --> 00:17:22.269
News Analysis Putin nears a prize, restoring ties with the U.S.
200
00:17:22.390 --> 00:17:27.029
while giving up nothing. This story was written by Valerie Hopkins.
201
00:17:28.789 --> 00:17:34.069
Last October, President Trump imposed significant sanctions on Russia's two
202
00:17:34.130 --> 00:17:39.799
largest oil companies, complaining that negotiations with President Vladimir V.
203
00:17:39.859 --> 00:17:44.160
Putin over ending the war in Ukraine just don't go anywhere.
204
00:17:45.039 --> 00:17:48.440
A red carpet welcome for the Russian leader in Alaska
205
00:17:48.500 --> 00:17:52.380
had done nothing to bring peace. A planned summit in
206
00:17:52.440 --> 00:17:56.950
Budapest had fallen apart. Mr. Trump had started to acknowledge
207
00:17:57.029 --> 00:18:00.309
that Mr. Putin might just be playing him with no
208
00:18:00.390 --> 00:18:06.079
intention of making peace. faint Ukrainian hopes glimmered of a
209
00:18:06.170 --> 00:18:12.880
Trump-Putin break. But the Russian president was playing a longer game. Now,
210
00:18:13.180 --> 00:18:17.519
exactly a year after the oil sanctions, Mr. Putin has
211
00:18:17.599 --> 00:18:21.420
never been so close to his goal of normalizing relations
212
00:18:21.500 --> 00:18:26.339
with Washington without having to make any compromises on Ukraine.
213
00:18:27.259 --> 00:18:30.019
Over the past week and a half, Mr. Trump has
214
00:18:30.059 --> 00:18:35.039
set aside years of U.S. foreign policy by openly embracing Mr.
215
00:18:35.099 --> 00:18:40.000
Putin and easing the economic pressure on the Kremlin. At
216
00:18:40.059 --> 00:18:44.809
the same time, Mr. Trump has vilified President Vladimir Zelensky
217
00:18:44.869 --> 00:18:49.450
of Ukraine, the putative American ally trying to defend his
218
00:18:49.549 --> 00:18:55.309
nation against a Russian invasion. On October 9th, Mr. Trump
219
00:18:55.349 --> 00:19:00.109
announced that the United States' would buy Russian diesel, asking
220
00:19:00.170 --> 00:19:04.190
for no concessions from Mr. Putin in return. The Trump
221
00:19:04.250 --> 00:19:09.339
administration went on to pressure Ukraine to stop striking oil refineries,
222
00:19:09.819 --> 00:19:15.019
Kiev's most powerful lever, and suspended Russia sanctions that Mr.
223
00:19:15.079 --> 00:19:20.279
Trump had just signed into law. Mr. Trump declared that Russia, frankly,
224
00:19:20.400 --> 00:19:25.579
has been fine on Ukraine. The diesel part was in
225
00:19:26.609 --> 00:19:31.359
The diesel deal was in part a political calculation by Mr.
226
00:19:31.420 --> 00:19:35.039
Trump before the midterm elections as he tries to lower
227
00:19:35.140 --> 00:19:39.579
fuel prices, but that action and others that followed also
228
00:19:39.640 --> 00:19:45.049
reflect the President's long-evident affinity for Mr. Putin, which the
229
00:19:45.109 --> 00:19:50.309
Russian leader has assiduously cultivated even while continuing the war
230
00:19:50.529 --> 00:19:55.150
and denying Mr. Trump a coveted prize. Ever since Mr.
231
00:19:55.210 --> 00:19:59.400
Trump returned to office, Russia has sought to separate the
232
00:19:59.460 --> 00:20:04.559
conflict in Ukraine from potential business agreements and closer diplomatic
233
00:20:04.619 --> 00:20:09.220
ties with the United States. The Trump administration held back
234
00:20:09.890 --> 00:20:14.529
even as it slashed aid to Ukraine, largely continuing a
235
00:20:14.769 --> 00:20:20.390
Biden administration policy of refraining from economic deals with Russia
236
00:20:20.589 --> 00:20:25.799
until Mr. Putin stopped the war. The White House now
237
00:20:25.900 --> 00:20:30.180
says such deals will help Russia see the benefits of peace.
238
00:20:31.039 --> 00:20:35.059
The Kremlin said on Wednesday that Mr. Putin, meeting with Mr.
239
00:20:35.119 --> 00:20:39.819
Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, had agreed to talks with
240
00:20:39.960 --> 00:20:43.779
Ukraine and the United States next month. But they would
241
00:20:43.839 --> 00:20:49.349
involve relatively low-level representatives, and a Russian official played down
242
00:20:49.390 --> 00:20:56.190
the Kremlin's openness to forging a comprehensive agreement now. Newly emboldened,
243
00:20:56.750 --> 00:21:00.509
Moscow is moving to assert itself as a global power
244
00:21:00.769 --> 00:21:05.230
equal to the United States and China, promoting a trilateral
245
00:21:05.509 --> 00:21:11.029
summit among them in November. In my personal view, victory
246
00:21:11.150 --> 00:21:17.279
has already been achieved, the pro-Putin journalist Marina Akhmedova wrote
247
00:21:17.460 --> 00:21:20.920
on social media on Wednesday. It is not just a
248
00:21:20.960 --> 00:21:24.480
matter of the 20 to 25 percent of territory we
249
00:21:24.519 --> 00:21:29.470
have liberated, she added, referring to Russian occupied land in Ukraine.
250
00:21:30.069 --> 00:21:33.650
It is also about how the United States now engages
251
00:21:33.869 --> 00:21:39.640
with Russia. Many analysts call the economic incentives offered by Mr.
252
00:21:39.700 --> 00:21:43.269
Trump the wrong solution to a war being waged over
253
00:21:43.349 --> 00:21:49.650
political and security questions. Still, during his visit to St. Petersburg, Russia,
254
00:21:49.829 --> 00:21:54.509
on Wednesday, Mr. Witkoff said that the diesel deal was
255
00:21:54.589 --> 00:22:00.000
another example of what we can achieve by working together. Mr. Putin,
256
00:22:00.200 --> 00:22:05.650
in turn, suggested a deal on Russian fertilizer. Other potential
257
00:22:05.710 --> 00:22:09.819
agreements are on the horizon. Russia and the United States
258
00:22:09.859 --> 00:22:13.640
have discussed the sale of the international assets of the
259
00:22:13.740 --> 00:22:19.779
Russian energy giant Lukoil to an investor group that includes
260
00:22:19.859 --> 00:22:23.920
the U.S. government, the New York Times reported. The Times
261
00:22:24.000 --> 00:22:28.500
also reported that American negotiators have pitched the idea of
262
00:22:28.519 --> 00:22:34.099
Europe resuming purchases of large quantities of Russian gas piped
263
00:22:34.119 --> 00:22:41.640
through Ukraine. After the St. Petersburg meeting, Mr. Putin's economic envoy,
264
00:22:42.019 --> 00:22:47.140
Kirill Dmitriev, said that there was no question that Russian-U.S.
265
00:22:47.279 --> 00:22:51.859
economic cooperation will strengthen. He said that Mr. Putin had
266
00:22:51.920 --> 00:22:56.720
talked not only about a potential fertilizer deal with Mr. Witkoff,
267
00:22:57.170 --> 00:23:01.549
but also about different projects such as data centers, many
268
00:23:01.650 --> 00:23:07.369
projects in energy and energy cooperation. Playing to Mr. Trump's
269
00:23:07.430 --> 00:23:12.650
style of personal diplomacy, Mr. Putin has portrayed actions that
270
00:23:12.730 --> 00:23:17.309
benefit Russia, like selling diesel to the United States, as
271
00:23:17.450 --> 00:23:22.119
favors to the American leader. That includes the release on
272
00:23:22.210 --> 00:23:27.549
Wednesday of Stephen James Hubbard, 74, a Michigan teacher whom
273
00:23:27.609 --> 00:23:33.599
the State Department called wrongfully detained by Russia. Mr. Trump
274
00:23:33.940 --> 00:23:38.000
described the release, which was not part of any prisoner swap,
275
00:23:38.299 --> 00:23:41.359
as a sign of Mr. Putin's high regard for him.
276
00:23:42.220 --> 00:23:46.450
Referring to himself in the third person, Mr. Trump wrote
277
00:23:46.730 --> 00:23:50.710
on social media that the United States, out of respect
278
00:23:50.750 --> 00:23:55.549
for President Trump, was not required to give anything in return.
279
00:23:56.500 --> 00:24:00.220
But later on Wednesday, Mr. Trump told reporters that Russia
280
00:24:00.299 --> 00:24:03.519
would not have let Mr. Hubbard go if sanctions had
281
00:24:03.579 --> 00:24:08.480
remained in place. The stage was also set, analysts said,
282
00:24:08.960 --> 00:24:13.009
by the diesel agreement and the potential for other business deals,
283
00:24:13.549 --> 00:24:17.069
giving Mr. Putin the sort of diplomatic victory he is
284
00:24:17.210 --> 00:24:22.710
craving after Western nations piled sanctions on Russia over its
285
00:24:22.809 --> 00:24:28.109
invasion of Ukraine. Even the small amount of normalization helped
286
00:24:28.230 --> 00:24:33.390
Putin to really deactivate Trump and the U.S. as potential
287
00:24:33.470 --> 00:24:39.359
helpers or enablers of Ukraine, said Alexander Gubov, director of
288
00:24:39.410 --> 00:24:45.359
the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center in Berlin. The diesel deal
289
00:24:45.500 --> 00:24:50.500
bolstered an argument Moscow has made that the Western countries'
290
00:24:50.940 --> 00:24:55.160
that imposed sanctions on Russia would suffer without cheap Russian
291
00:24:55.299 --> 00:24:59.640
energy and other business ties. Mr. Putin has sought to
292
00:24:59.720 --> 00:25:03.660
engage with Washington to prove that Russia has too much
293
00:25:03.779 --> 00:25:08.670
heft to be ignored, analysts said. Russia tried all of
294
00:25:08.730 --> 00:25:12.230
last year to establish the idea that you can do
295
00:25:12.369 --> 00:25:16.829
stuff bilaterally with the U.S. short of settling the war
296
00:25:16.990 --> 00:25:22.450
in Ukraine, said Hananote. the author of We Shall Outlast Them,
297
00:25:23.089 --> 00:25:27.839
a book about Russia's wartime foreign policy. It wasn't just
298
00:25:27.880 --> 00:25:31.779
the economic deals, she added. They also wanted to talk
299
00:25:31.839 --> 00:25:35.400
about the Middle East. They wanted to talk about the Arctic.
300
00:25:35.740 --> 00:25:40.559
They wanted to talk about nuclear arms control. Russia's goal,
301
00:25:40.619 --> 00:25:44.160
she said, was to advance this whole idea that you
302
00:25:44.200 --> 00:25:48.680
can compartmentalize the relationship with the United States and do
303
00:25:48.740 --> 00:25:54.059
stuff together even while you're still prosecuting the war. The
304
00:25:54.119 --> 00:25:57.799
Trump administration's offering of carrots to end the war is
305
00:25:57.900 --> 00:26:04.210
likely to fail, Ms. Notte predicted. Sam Sharap, a Russia
306
00:26:04.349 --> 00:26:09.130
analyst at the RAND Corporation and other analysts, noted that
307
00:26:09.190 --> 00:26:14.380
an irony of Russia's rapprochement with Washington was that it
308
00:26:14.440 --> 00:26:17.619
may no longer be a silver bullet to a settlement
309
00:26:17.700 --> 00:26:21.960
of the war on Moscow's terms. Europe has taken on
310
00:26:22.000 --> 00:26:26.690
a bigger role in providing Kiev with economic and political support,
311
00:26:27.289 --> 00:26:31.650
and relations between Mr. Putin and many European leaders have
312
00:26:31.730 --> 00:26:37.509
completely broken down. Winning the Americans isn't the prize it
313
00:26:37.710 --> 00:26:42.779
once was, said Jeremy Shapiro. research director at the European
314
00:26:42.839 --> 00:26:47.059
Council on Foreign Relations. It was the whole game two
315
00:26:47.140 --> 00:26:52.490
years ago. Now it's a much smaller piece. The Kremlin
316
00:26:52.690 --> 00:26:56.769
is also aware that Mr. Trump could change tack again
317
00:26:57.029 --> 00:27:02.579
after the midterms, Mr. Shapiro said. Russian decision-makers, he said,
318
00:27:03.059 --> 00:27:08.119
see the U.S. president as very inconsistent and feel little
319
00:27:08.200 --> 00:27:15.049
security about his approach to Russia. We continue with this story.
320
00:27:17.589 --> 00:27:22.509
Abdul El-Sayed confronts attacks on his faith and family ties.
321
00:27:23.029 --> 00:27:27.609
This was written by Reed J. Epstein, Brian M. Rosenthal,
322
00:27:27.750 --> 00:27:32.950
and Michael Cruz. In the final weeks of Michigan's closely
323
00:27:33.079 --> 00:27:39.480
watched Senate race, Dr. Abdul El-Sayed's ethnicity, religion, and family
324
00:27:39.920 --> 00:27:44.839
have come under renewed attacks and scrutiny. His Republican opponent,
325
00:27:44.940 --> 00:27:50.730
former Representative Mike Rogers, invoked Dr. El-Sayed's mother during their
326
00:27:50.789 --> 00:27:55.430
first debate, trying to draw a connection between her and al-Qaeda.
327
00:27:56.250 --> 00:28:01.150
President Trump has mocked the pronunciation of Dr. El-Sayed's name
328
00:28:01.660 --> 00:28:05.109
and has started referring to him by his middle name, Muhammad,
329
00:28:05.640 --> 00:28:10.289
and Republican ads have suggested that Dr. El-Sayed has ties
330
00:28:10.349 --> 00:28:14.549
to terrorist groups or to the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamist
331
00:28:14.730 --> 00:28:20.589
political movement. Dr. El-Sayed has forcefully responded to the questions
332
00:28:20.670 --> 00:28:25.750
about his identity. Over the weekend, a nearly five-minute exchange
333
00:28:25.789 --> 00:28:28.710
at a town hall event with a man who asked
334
00:28:28.769 --> 00:28:33.349
him to disavow the Muslim Brotherhood, went viral on social media.
335
00:28:34.150 --> 00:28:38.240
This week, in a brief, testy interaction with a reporter
336
00:28:38.299 --> 00:28:43.400
from Newsmax, he said, I clearly disavow the movement. And
337
00:28:43.500 --> 00:28:47.599
in a new video, Dr. El-Sayed says that he prays
338
00:28:47.660 --> 00:28:53.450
daily and calls himself a man of faith. Now, Dr. El-Sayed,
339
00:28:53.849 --> 00:28:56.650
who would be the first Muslim senator if he wins,
340
00:28:57.180 --> 00:29:01.779
finds himself confronting both ugly attacks and pointed questions about
341
00:29:01.859 --> 00:29:07.089
family members, particularly his mother and half-sister, and their past
342
00:29:07.170 --> 00:29:11.529
comments and personal histories. Republicans have pushed to make those
343
00:29:11.609 --> 00:29:14.769
questions a main storyline in the final days of a
344
00:29:14.829 --> 00:29:19.869
Senate race that could determine control of the chamber. The
345
00:29:19.950 --> 00:29:25.299
focus on Dr. El-Sayed's identity, religion, and family comes at
346
00:29:25.339 --> 00:29:28.599
the end of a campaign defined by its emotional and
347
00:29:28.700 --> 00:29:32.359
bitter clashes over Israel and the United States' role in
348
00:29:32.400 --> 00:29:36.549
the Middle East. Dr. El-Sayed has cast himself as a
349
00:29:36.609 --> 00:29:42.039
leader of the Democratic Party's March Awareness. from support for Israel,
350
00:29:42.339 --> 00:29:46.920
arguing that the longtime U.S. ally should not exist as
351
00:29:47.000 --> 00:29:50.859
an explicitly Jewish state and calling for an end to
352
00:29:50.940 --> 00:29:56.000
its American military support. As he approaches a second and
353
00:29:56.119 --> 00:30:01.509
final televised debate with Mr. Rogers on Wednesday, Dr. Al-Sayed
354
00:30:01.650 --> 00:30:05.170
is appealing to voters who are not Muslim to see
355
00:30:05.230 --> 00:30:09.799
him as a person of faith whose experience reflects America's
356
00:30:09.859 --> 00:30:14.980
history of religious pluralism. A lot of people question whether
357
00:30:15.059 --> 00:30:17.740
or not I can win this race because of my name,
358
00:30:18.220 --> 00:30:21.779
he said during a speech this month in Cadillac, Michigan.
359
00:30:22.440 --> 00:30:26.990
I've been a guy named Abdul Muhammad Al-Sayed in Michigan
360
00:30:27.210 --> 00:30:30.630
almost my entire life. I would say I'm pretty good
361
00:30:30.670 --> 00:30:35.470
at being named Abdul in Michigan. An open letter and
362
00:30:35.549 --> 00:30:41.339
family scrutiny. The questions that Mr. Rogers is pushing about Dr.
363
00:30:41.470 --> 00:30:45.799
El-Sayed's ties to the Muslim Brotherhood relate in part to
364
00:30:45.839 --> 00:30:50.980
an open letter he signed in 2012. That letter, which Dr.
365
00:30:51.119 --> 00:30:55.829
El-Sayed signed while he was in medical school, asked Mohamed Morsi,
366
00:30:55.940 --> 00:30:59.680
who was then the new Egyptian president from a party
367
00:30:59.740 --> 00:31:03.769
that represented the political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood to
368
00:31:03.849 --> 00:31:08.089
purge the media and police of supporters of the dictatorship
369
00:31:08.509 --> 00:31:12.609
that had been toppled during the Arab Spring. Mr. Morsi,
370
00:31:12.890 --> 00:31:18.920
Egypt's first democratically elected president, established good working relations with
371
00:31:18.980 --> 00:31:24.599
the United States. Dr. El-Sayed's campaign denied that he had
372
00:31:24.859 --> 00:31:30.039
any connection to the Muslim Brotherhood, When asked recently by reporters,
373
00:31:30.299 --> 00:31:35.029
he has disavowed the group. His campaign aides declined to
374
00:31:35.230 --> 00:31:41.190
answer questions about the 2012 letter. Many of the Republican
375
00:31:41.250 --> 00:31:46.150
attacks on Dr. El-Sayed focus on his mother, Faten El-Khomi,
376
00:31:46.349 --> 00:31:51.289
an Egyptian immigrant. Dr. El-Sayed's parents separated when he was
377
00:31:51.349 --> 00:31:56.279
three years old. He was raised in Missouri, Florida, and Michigan.
378
00:31:56.740 --> 00:32:03.029
by his father and stepmother, a Michigan-born descendant of Abigail Adams.
379
00:32:03.710 --> 00:32:08.890
He has featured his grandparents in advertisements, including one that
380
00:32:08.950 --> 00:32:13.720
began airing on Tuesday in which they declared, we're Presbyterians.
381
00:32:14.640 --> 00:32:18.960
After the separation, Ms. Elkomi lived in Egypt at first
382
00:32:19.119 --> 00:32:22.470
and later in Missouri, where she worked for a charity
383
00:32:22.549 --> 00:32:26.390
that was designated by the U.S. government, as a supporter
384
00:32:26.509 --> 00:32:32.069
of terrorist groups, including al-Qaeda. The charity, the Islamic American
385
00:32:32.109 --> 00:32:38.150
Relief Agency, was founded in 1985, raised at least $ 20 million,
386
00:32:38.509 --> 00:32:42.990
and funded social services for children in Africa and Asia,
387
00:32:43.490 --> 00:32:48.950
according to federal records. It closed in 2004 after the
388
00:32:49.019 --> 00:32:55.970
terrorism designation. The group and several leaders ultimately pleaded guilty
389
00:32:56.390 --> 00:32:59.930
not to supporting terrorism, but to a lesser charge of
390
00:33:00.009 --> 00:33:04.869
transferring more than $ 1 million to Iraq in violation of
391
00:33:04.950 --> 00:33:11.619
federal sanctions. Its executive director, Mubarak Hamid, was sentenced in
392
00:33:11.619 --> 00:33:16.220
2012 to nearly five years in prison. This month, five
393
00:33:16.279 --> 00:33:19.880
people involved in the case said in interviews that that
394
00:33:19.940 --> 00:33:23.039
they did not remember Ms. Elkomi because she was a
395
00:33:23.099 --> 00:33:28.279
low-ranking employee and was never accused of wrongdoing. She didn't
396
00:33:28.339 --> 00:33:31.920
have anything to do with anything, said Charles Swift, a
397
00:33:31.980 --> 00:33:38.309
lawyer who represented the group. Among the 945 exhibits cited
398
00:33:38.390 --> 00:33:43.349
by prosecutors in a court filing during the case were
399
00:33:43.349 --> 00:33:47.950
13 that pertained to Ms. Elkomi, a detail Republicans have
400
00:33:48.029 --> 00:33:51.819
seized on. Most of the exhibits were letters she sent
401
00:33:52.299 --> 00:33:59.509
documenting financial transactions between 1999 and 2001. Records do not
402
00:33:59.569 --> 00:34:03.970
include the letters themselves or any information about whether the
403
00:34:04.029 --> 00:34:11.389
transactions were illegal. Evan Coleman, a counterterrorism consultant who was
404
00:34:11.429 --> 00:34:15.150
an expert witness in the case, said the charity was
405
00:34:15.250 --> 00:34:18.980
so small that all of its employees most likely knew
406
00:34:19.320 --> 00:34:23.000
about its activities. He added that the group was part
407
00:34:23.019 --> 00:34:25.900
of a global network whose leaders had been found to
408
00:34:25.960 --> 00:34:30.429
have previously sent money to Osama bin Laden. It was
409
00:34:30.530 --> 00:34:34.230
no secret that they were doing this, he said. The
410
00:34:34.269 --> 00:34:38.989
Missouri charity had 14 employees, according to its last tax
411
00:34:39.050 --> 00:34:44.010
filing in 2003. Ms. Elkomi, who now works as a
412
00:34:44.050 --> 00:34:49.329
psychiatric nurse practitioner in Missouri, addressed the criminal case years
413
00:34:49.409 --> 00:34:53.469
ago in a newspaper interview. She said she had worked
414
00:34:53.550 --> 00:34:58.820
at the charity between 1999 and 2004 to serve orphans
415
00:34:59.280 --> 00:35:03.519
and had never seen any ties to terrorism. An even
416
00:35:03.739 --> 00:35:07.699
older chapter of Ms. Elkomi's life has also drawn scrutiny,
417
00:35:08.210 --> 00:35:12.550
because of years-old posts on social media by her daughter
418
00:35:13.010 --> 00:35:17.409
from a marriage after her divorce from Dr. Al-Sayed's father.
419
00:35:18.110 --> 00:35:22.480
The daughter, Iman Abdelhadi, who is now a professor at
420
00:35:22.539 --> 00:35:28.119
the University of Chicago, posted in 2012, had an amazing
421
00:35:28.179 --> 00:35:31.840
talk with my mom about her activism in the Muslim
422
00:35:31.960 --> 00:35:36.920
Brotherhood during the early 70s while she was still While
423
00:35:36.960 --> 00:35:42.360
she was in college, hash respect, Ms. El-Khomi has said
424
00:35:42.440 --> 00:35:47.800
she graduated from medical school at Alexandria University in Egypt
425
00:35:47.980 --> 00:35:54.829
in 1983. Dr. Abdelhadi has also made other posts suggesting
426
00:35:54.929 --> 00:35:59.269
that family members in Egypt were part of the Muslim Brotherhood.
427
00:36:00.030 --> 00:36:07.630
None have mentioned Dr. Al-Sayed. Dr. Al-Sayed's campaign pointed to
428
00:36:07.670 --> 00:36:12.250
his past remarks about his complex family dynamics. He wrote
429
00:36:12.329 --> 00:36:15.659
in one of his books that his father left Egypt
430
00:36:15.860 --> 00:36:19.239
to escape the country's political oppression and that he had
431
00:36:19.360 --> 00:36:23.610
little relationship with his mother. His aide said that any
432
00:36:23.679 --> 00:36:28.550
suggestions he had connections to overseas terrorist groups were racist
433
00:36:29.030 --> 00:36:34.719
and Islamophobic. Dr. El-Sayed's mother and half-sister, with whom he
434
00:36:34.960 --> 00:36:38.550
also did not grow up, did not respond to requests
435
00:36:38.730 --> 00:36:42.889
for comment. His aides declined a request for an interview
436
00:36:42.929 --> 00:36:45.809
with him for this article and declined to talk in
437
00:36:45.889 --> 00:36:50.840
detail about his family or religious practices. I was raised
438
00:36:50.900 --> 00:36:55.480
here in Michigan, went to the University of Michigan, rebuilt
439
00:36:55.519 --> 00:36:59.320
the health department in this city, led the health department
440
00:36:59.460 --> 00:37:02.960
in this county, and you want to ask me about
441
00:37:03.019 --> 00:37:08.099
what was happening in Egypt in the 1970s? Dr. Al-Sayed,
442
00:37:08.280 --> 00:37:11.829
a former public health official, said in a recent interview
443
00:37:11.889 --> 00:37:17.349
with NBC, Are you serious? A barrage of GOP attacks.
444
00:37:18.150 --> 00:37:23.079
When the general election began, Mr. Rogers accused Dr. Al-Sayed
445
00:37:23.119 --> 00:37:27.050
of being too far left politically from Michigan. He made
446
00:37:27.090 --> 00:37:31.409
a play for disaffected Democrats and described the al-Sayed campaign
447
00:37:31.610 --> 00:37:36.650
as filled with anger, divisiveness, calls for violence, and views
448
00:37:36.710 --> 00:37:40.070
that are out of touch with your values. It was
449
00:37:40.150 --> 00:37:44.530
a predictable line of attack against a progressive Democrat who
450
00:37:44.570 --> 00:37:49.230
had campaigned with a provocative streamer, Hassan Piker, during the
451
00:37:49.269 --> 00:37:54.889
primary race. Then came the debate this month. Mr. Rogers
452
00:37:54.989 --> 00:37:59.760
attacked Dr. Al-Sayed's mother and suggested his rival had ties
453
00:37:59.820 --> 00:38:03.980
to terrorists. Well, if you have someone in your family
454
00:38:04.039 --> 00:38:07.179
that might be on the list, on the watch list, Mr.
455
00:38:07.239 --> 00:38:12.320
Rogers said before Dr. Al-Sayed cut him off. You going
456
00:38:12.440 --> 00:38:16.639
after my mom, he asked. Mr. Rogers stopped, but his
457
00:38:16.880 --> 00:38:22.269
allies did not. Mr. Trump began calling Dr. Al-Sayed by
458
00:38:22.309 --> 00:38:26.369
his middle name, Muhammad, and mocked the number of syllables
459
00:38:26.530 --> 00:38:31.369
in his given name. Ads emerged on television saying that Dr.
460
00:38:31.530 --> 00:38:36.789
Al-Sayed had ties to the Islamist movement. On CNN, Mr.
461
00:38:36.849 --> 00:38:40.829
Rogers said, his rival had a long history of supporting
462
00:38:40.869 --> 00:38:45.690
the Muslim Brotherhood. Republican allies of Mr. Rogers stepped up
463
00:38:45.889 --> 00:38:52.070
efforts to scrutinize Dr. Al-Sayed's political, allies, and donors. This
464
00:38:52.170 --> 00:38:55.650
push came to a head on Saturday night when, at
465
00:38:55.710 --> 00:38:59.969
a town hall in Cairo, a small town in northeast Michigan,
466
00:39:00.690 --> 00:39:05.570
a man who was reportedly a Republican operative asked Dr.
467
00:39:05.760 --> 00:39:10.659
Al-Sayed if he would disavow the Muslim Brotherhood. Dr. Al-Sayed's
468
00:39:10.699 --> 00:39:16.139
campaign was so pleased with his response, sure, yes, absolutely,
469
00:39:16.739 --> 00:39:22.860
followed by a colloquy about the Constitution and his loyalty
470
00:39:22.920 --> 00:39:26.170
to it that it posted the exchange on social media
471
00:39:26.210 --> 00:39:31.340
where it spread widely. Republicans argued that Dr. Al-Sayed had
472
00:39:31.440 --> 00:39:35.199
bullied the questioner and kept pushing the discussion about the
473
00:39:35.239 --> 00:39:40.559
candidate's faith. On Monday, Dr. Al-Sayed posted a video that
474
00:39:40.639 --> 00:39:45.289
showed images of churches and a menorah while portraying himself
475
00:39:45.489 --> 00:39:50.429
as another religiously observant person. I pray every day, he said.
476
00:39:51.030 --> 00:39:54.250
We need a few more people of faith in Washington.
477
00:39:54.949 --> 00:39:59.530
I'm Abdul Al-Sayed, man of faith. We kind of all
478
00:39:59.590 --> 00:40:05.260
knew where this was headed. From the start, Dr. Al-Sayed
479
00:40:05.320 --> 00:40:09.460
had few illusions about the role his faith and ethnicity
480
00:40:09.519 --> 00:40:14.239
would play in his Senate campaign. Many other Muslim candidates
481
00:40:14.300 --> 00:40:20.739
for lower-profile offices had faced baseless accusations of mixed allegiances
482
00:40:20.940 --> 00:40:24.719
or ties to terrorist groups. We kind of all knew
483
00:40:24.820 --> 00:40:28.909
where this was headed, Dr. El-Sayed said in an interview
484
00:40:29.190 --> 00:40:34.150
after his campaign event this month in Cadillac. Dr. El-Sayed
485
00:40:34.269 --> 00:40:39.030
wrote in his 2020 memoir, Healing Politics, that he was
486
00:40:39.179 --> 00:40:43.719
raised in a conservative Muslim household. He went to Sunday school,
487
00:40:44.000 --> 00:40:49.420
fasted during Ramadan, and refrained from eating pork. And in interviews,
488
00:40:49.880 --> 00:40:53.139
he has said he attends a mosque, prays five times
489
00:40:53.219 --> 00:40:57.170
a day, and does not drink alcohol. At Michigan, he
490
00:40:57.210 --> 00:41:01.429
was president of the Muslim Students Association and married his
491
00:41:01.550 --> 00:41:06.030
wife while they were undergraduates. I believe in an Islam
492
00:41:06.090 --> 00:41:11.340
that emphasizes God and my responsibility in his creation, he wrote.
493
00:41:11.980 --> 00:41:16.090
The Islam I practice doesn't judge people. It seeks to
494
00:41:16.230 --> 00:41:20.550
empathize with and empower them. For a while during his
495
00:41:20.590 --> 00:41:27.090
Senate race, Dr. Al-Sayed ran advertisements stressing his guy-next-door bona fides.
496
00:41:27.659 --> 00:41:30.739
He was captain of his high school football team and
497
00:41:30.800 --> 00:41:35.519
gave a commencement speech upon graduating from the University of Michigan.
498
00:41:36.420 --> 00:41:42.119
For other Muslim elected officials, Dr. Al-Sayed's experience in recent
499
00:41:42.159 --> 00:41:45.400
weeks is reminiscent of what they have gone through in
500
00:41:45.460 --> 00:41:51.570
their campaigns. Sam Rasul, a Palestinian American who has been
501
00:41:51.610 --> 00:41:55.849
in the Virginia House of Delegates since 2014, was asked
502
00:41:55.889 --> 00:42:00.050
during a televised debate when he ran for lieutenant governor
503
00:42:00.090 --> 00:42:05.139
in 2021 if campaign donations he received from Muslims meant
504
00:42:05.199 --> 00:42:09.119
he would be loyal to all of Virginia. Four years later,
505
00:42:10.119 --> 00:42:15.449
a different Muslim candidate. Ghazala Hashmi was elected as Virginia's
506
00:42:15.550 --> 00:42:20.849
lieutenant governor after facing similar attacks. She said she had
507
00:42:20.909 --> 00:42:26.530
texted with Dr. Al-Sayed during his Senate campaign to offer encouragement.
508
00:42:27.550 --> 00:42:31.829
There's such a heightened level of anti-Muslim rhetoric that has
509
00:42:31.889 --> 00:42:36.389
grown over the past couple of decades, said Ms. Hashmi,
510
00:42:36.889 --> 00:42:40.340
who is now one of two Muslims who hold statewide
511
00:42:40.559 --> 00:42:45.119
office in the United States. Islamophobia is something that is
512
00:42:45.219 --> 00:42:51.150
part of the political system here. On stage at campaign events, Dr.
513
00:42:51.309 --> 00:42:55.130
Al-Sayed often stands, not in front of signs with his
514
00:42:55.210 --> 00:42:59.530
campaign logo, as he frequently did during the primary, but
515
00:42:59.590 --> 00:43:04.389
in front of a giant American flag. He proactively talks
516
00:43:04.469 --> 00:43:08.969
about what Mr. Trump, Vice President J.D. Vance, Mr. Rogers,
517
00:43:09.070 --> 00:43:13.139
and others are saying about him. They think my name
518
00:43:13.280 --> 00:43:16.000
and my faith are enough to get people to stop
519
00:43:16.039 --> 00:43:20.800
paying attention to the issues. He said this month in Ionia,
520
00:43:21.460 --> 00:43:24.679
My name is not the reason you can't afford gas.
521
00:43:25.300 --> 00:43:29.489
My name's not the reason you can't afford your groceries.
522
00:43:31.570 --> 00:43:42.010
We continue with this story. If Democrats Win Congress, Could
523
00:43:42.090 --> 00:43:45.650
the GOP Refuse to Seat Them? This was written by
524
00:43:45.730 --> 00:43:52.480
Michael Gold. President Trump's unfounded claims of large-scale voter fraud
525
00:43:52.599 --> 00:43:56.619
have Democrats bracing for what they worry could be substantial
526
00:43:56.739 --> 00:44:01.750
interference by the federal government in the midterm elections. But
527
00:44:01.809 --> 00:44:05.409
with polls showing that Democrats are likely to win control
528
00:44:05.469 --> 00:44:09.380
of the House, Some lawmakers and commentators have turned their
529
00:44:09.420 --> 00:44:13.960
attention to a different scenario that could unfold after the voting.
530
00:44:14.579 --> 00:44:18.940
Republicans in Congress, egged on by Mr. Trump, could try
531
00:44:19.019 --> 00:44:22.800
to block them from assuming the majority by refusing to
532
00:44:22.940 --> 00:44:29.019
seat elected Democrats. The possibility sounds far-fetched and is regarded
533
00:44:29.079 --> 00:44:33.679
by many legal scholars as a vanishingly remote one. It
534
00:44:33.760 --> 00:44:36.119
requires a lot of ducks to be in a row
535
00:44:36.199 --> 00:44:38.980
that I don't think would be in a row, said
536
00:44:39.039 --> 00:44:43.860
Brian C. Kalt, a law professor at Michigan State University.
537
00:44:45.099 --> 00:44:48.119
But the same might have been said in 2020 of
538
00:44:48.179 --> 00:44:53.059
the possibility that Republican lawmakers, under pressure from Mr. Trump,
539
00:44:53.119 --> 00:44:57.800
would challenge the Electoral College results that confirmed Joseph R.
540
00:44:57.889 --> 00:45:02.099
Biden Jr. 's victory. That is precisely what a majority
541
00:45:02.139 --> 00:45:07.179
of Republicans voted to do on January 6, 2021, an
542
00:45:07.400 --> 00:45:12.610
effort in which Representative Mike Johnson, who has since become Speaker,
543
00:45:12.849 --> 00:45:17.170
played a major role. That is among the reasons that
544
00:45:17.289 --> 00:45:21.449
two moderate House members, one from each party, have asked
545
00:45:21.469 --> 00:45:26.050
their colleagues to pledge to accept certified election results and
546
00:45:26.130 --> 00:45:32.670
block efforts to refuse or delay seating winners. Representative Hakeem Jeffries,
547
00:45:32.730 --> 00:45:36.650
Democrat of New York and the minority leader, said this
548
00:45:36.769 --> 00:45:41.670
month that his party was preparing for all eventualities, including
549
00:45:42.230 --> 00:45:45.480
making sure that the results of the American people that
550
00:45:45.559 --> 00:45:49.679
emerged from the November 3rd general election are brought to
551
00:45:49.820 --> 00:45:54.320
life on January 3rd in the new Congress. That is
552
00:45:54.400 --> 00:45:57.619
the day that the next Congress is scheduled to convene.
553
00:45:58.340 --> 00:46:03.179
Here's a closer look at what could happen. State officials
554
00:46:03.460 --> 00:46:08.920
could contest election results. The Constitution gives states the authority
555
00:46:09.000 --> 00:46:13.380
to administer their elections, and each one sends certificates of
556
00:46:13.440 --> 00:46:18.360
election verifying the winners to the House and Senate. For decades,
557
00:46:19.440 --> 00:46:24.480
those certifications were part of a largely routine process, but
558
00:46:24.559 --> 00:46:29.349
since the 2020 election, A small number of state officials
559
00:46:29.429 --> 00:46:33.869
have voted against certifying elections or threatened to refuse to
560
00:46:33.929 --> 00:46:38.150
do so. Those efforts have been unsuccessful but at times
561
00:46:38.190 --> 00:46:43.659
have required other officials and courts to intervene. Some federal
562
00:46:43.840 --> 00:46:47.900
election experts believe that this could be the greatest pressure
563
00:46:47.980 --> 00:46:52.119
point for efforts to reverse or sow doubt about the
564
00:46:52.179 --> 00:46:57.139
midterm election results. Democrats have said they are concerned Mr.
565
00:46:57.219 --> 00:47:01.880
Trump has promoted false claims about election integrity to lay
566
00:47:01.920 --> 00:47:07.070
the groundwork for challenges to the counting, canvassing, and certification
567
00:47:07.309 --> 00:47:12.510
of ballots. If races are not certified, seats could remain
568
00:47:12.730 --> 00:47:16.929
unfilled when the new Congress first meets, which could affect
569
00:47:16.969 --> 00:47:21.760
the balance of power in the House. In 2021, a
570
00:47:21.860 --> 00:47:25.329
seat in upstate New York was left vacant for more
571
00:47:25.369 --> 00:47:29.710
than a month as an election dispute played out in court.
572
00:47:30.809 --> 00:47:34.650
A congressional changing of the guard could leave room for disputes.
573
00:47:36.480 --> 00:47:40.380
Because every House seat is up for election every two years,
574
00:47:41.000 --> 00:47:45.139
newly elected representatives must be sworn in at the start
575
00:47:45.260 --> 00:47:49.289
of the new Congress. the outgoing House of Representatives and
576
00:47:49.329 --> 00:47:53.150
the majority in control of it ceases to exist at
577
00:47:53.230 --> 00:47:58.260
noon on January 3rd and the chamber has to reconstitute itself.
578
00:47:59.079 --> 00:48:02.980
In the interim, while nobody is in charge, federal law
579
00:48:03.059 --> 00:48:07.000
gives the clerk of the house, the chamber's chief administrative official,
580
00:48:07.079 --> 00:48:10.679
who is chosen by the speaker and then elected, the
581
00:48:10.780 --> 00:48:15.139
duty of assembling the list of new members The statute
582
00:48:15.179 --> 00:48:19.730
directs the clerk to include only people whose credentials show
583
00:48:19.789 --> 00:48:23.550
that they were regularly elected in accordance with state and
584
00:48:23.650 --> 00:48:29.389
federal law. The current clerk is Kevin F. McCumber. Most
585
00:48:29.469 --> 00:48:34.730
election law experts believe this is essentially a bookkeeping task
586
00:48:35.230 --> 00:48:39.219
in which the clerk is required to recognize valid certificates
587
00:48:39.260 --> 00:48:42.920
of election that have been sent by the states. Professor
588
00:48:43.000 --> 00:48:47.769
Kaltz said, that clerks traditionally make sure the paperwork is right,
589
00:48:48.230 --> 00:48:52.869
but do not evaluate how an election was called or conducted.
590
00:48:53.570 --> 00:48:56.650
There's not a lot of judgment happening here, he said.
591
00:48:56.670 --> 00:49:00.969
They're just saying, okay, the rules were followed. This person
592
00:49:01.010 --> 00:49:05.010
was elected. This person is on the role of the members-elect.
593
00:49:05.969 --> 00:49:10.530
But some commentators have speculated that Republicans could seek to
594
00:49:10.650 --> 00:49:16.010
intervene by pressuring the clerks to refuse to recognize Democratic winners,
595
00:49:16.489 --> 00:49:19.670
as Mr. Trump leaned on Vice President Mike Pence to
596
00:49:19.730 --> 00:49:23.820
do in 2021, or seek to replace him with someone
597
00:49:23.889 --> 00:49:30.300
who would. Such an action would likely prompt legal challenges,
598
00:49:30.920 --> 00:49:35.099
and many election law experts believe the courts would intervene.
599
00:49:36.090 --> 00:49:39.230
But some Democrats note that Mr. Johnson has in the
600
00:49:39.269 --> 00:49:44.110
past resorted to extraordinary measures to bar a member of
601
00:49:44.170 --> 00:49:46.989
their party from being seated in the House, as he
602
00:49:47.050 --> 00:49:50.809
did when he delayed for nearly two months last year
603
00:49:50.949 --> 00:49:58.030
before swearing in Rep. Adelita Gravala of Arizona. Mr. Johnson
604
00:49:58.139 --> 00:50:00.460
said he had done so because the House was not
605
00:50:00.519 --> 00:50:04.070
in session though there is no rule barring the seating
606
00:50:04.130 --> 00:50:08.960
of a member during such a period. The House adjudicates
607
00:50:09.159 --> 00:50:14.420
its own election disputes. While states control their elections, the
608
00:50:14.500 --> 00:50:18.300
Constitution also says that each House of Congress shall be
609
00:50:18.360 --> 00:50:22.929
the judge of the elections, returns, and qualifications of its
610
00:50:23.110 --> 00:50:27.840
own members. The new Congress, not the outgoing one, is
611
00:50:27.920 --> 00:50:34.199
responsible for settling contested races. The House has faced hundreds
612
00:50:34.260 --> 00:50:38.329
of contested elections over its history, and Congress passed a
613
00:50:38.389 --> 00:50:43.250
law in the 1960s, the Federal Contested Elections Act, that
614
00:50:43.349 --> 00:50:47.650
establishes a procedure for doing so. The law does not
615
00:50:47.690 --> 00:50:52.300
address the Senate. After a winner has been declared, the
616
00:50:52.360 --> 00:50:56.000
losing candidate has 30 days to contest the result with
617
00:50:56.039 --> 00:51:00.239
the House clerk. the burden is on challengers to prove
618
00:51:00.590 --> 00:51:04.539
that the results entitle them to the seat. The House
619
00:51:04.599 --> 00:51:11.400
Administration Committee adjudicates contested elections. It can conduct an investigation
620
00:51:11.599 --> 00:51:14.920
and make a recommendation to the full House on which
621
00:51:15.019 --> 00:51:20.030
candidate to swear in. Derek T. Muller, law professor at
622
00:51:20.090 --> 00:51:24.449
the University of Notre Dame, said that members whose elections
623
00:51:24.510 --> 00:51:29.420
were certified had often been seated provisionally while their contests
624
00:51:29.480 --> 00:51:33.769
were being adjudicated. If somebody shows up to Congress with
625
00:51:33.869 --> 00:51:37.690
a certificate saying, I am the member who's been elected
626
00:51:37.750 --> 00:51:43.570
from this district, they still get seated, he said. In 2021,
627
00:51:43.570 --> 00:51:49.820
Representative Marionette Miller-Meeks, an Iowa Republican, came to the Capitol
628
00:51:50.059 --> 00:51:53.000
after a recount showed she had just won her race
629
00:51:53.139 --> 00:51:57.840
by six votes. The Democratic candidate, Rita Hart, had filed
630
00:51:57.880 --> 00:52:01.889
a contest, but Ms. Miller Meeks was allowed to take
631
00:52:01.929 --> 00:52:06.789
her seat while the committee investigated. Ultimately, Ms. Hart withdrew
632
00:52:06.869 --> 00:52:12.900
her challenge. Any lawmaker can object to election results. There's
633
00:52:12.960 --> 00:52:16.300
another way that elections can be challenged in the House.
634
00:52:17.119 --> 00:52:21.400
After a speaker is selected and sworn in, any member-elect
635
00:52:21.820 --> 00:52:26.539
can challenge the right of another representative-elect to be sworn in.
636
00:52:27.619 --> 00:52:32.000
Under the House's precedence, the person being challenged is asked
637
00:52:32.039 --> 00:52:34.679
to step aside while the rest of the members take
638
00:52:34.719 --> 00:52:39.679
their oaths of office. After that, the lawmakers vote on
639
00:52:39.719 --> 00:52:43.050
whether to swear in those who were asked to step aside,
640
00:52:43.679 --> 00:52:46.250
or they can refer the question of seating them for
641
00:52:46.329 --> 00:52:52.139
investigation to the Administration Committee. This avenue has been used
642
00:52:52.380 --> 00:52:57.420
less frequently since the Federal Contested Elections Act was enacted.
643
00:52:58.039 --> 00:53:04.869
But in 2021, Representative-elect Chip Roy, Republican of Texas, challenged
644
00:53:04.989 --> 00:53:09.429
the seating of 67 members-elect from the battleground states where Mr.
645
00:53:09.489 --> 00:53:12.650
Trump focused his false claims of voter fraud in the
646
00:53:12.650 --> 00:53:19.130
2020 election. Mr. Roy said, who later voted against Mr.
647
00:53:19.170 --> 00:53:23.340
Trump's efforts to overturn his election loss, appeared to be
648
00:53:23.409 --> 00:53:26.960
trying to make a point by arguing that Republicans who
649
00:53:27.019 --> 00:53:31.739
questioned the presidential results should be willing to lodge similar
650
00:53:31.860 --> 00:53:37.900
objections in House races in the same states. But Democrats
651
00:53:37.960 --> 00:53:42.500
immediately brought a vote on whether to swear in the 67-member-elect,
652
00:53:42.599 --> 00:53:48.750
and it passed overwhelmingly. with just two Republicans, neither of them, Mr. Roy,
653
00:53:49.150 --> 00:53:54.389
opposing it. Notably, the disputed members-elect from those six states
654
00:53:54.449 --> 00:53:57.320
were allowed to vote on whether they could be seated.
655
00:53:58.139 --> 00:54:00.880
The last time the House refused on the first day
656
00:54:00.940 --> 00:54:03.940
of a new Congress to seat a member whose victory
657
00:54:04.000 --> 00:54:09.599
was certified was in 1985. Democrats, who already held a
658
00:54:09.960 --> 00:54:14.429
large majority, objected to seating a Republican from a hotly
659
00:54:14.510 --> 00:54:19.409
contested district in Indiana, citing issues with vote counting and
660
00:54:19.449 --> 00:54:24.920
the certification process that they contended needed to be investigated.
661
00:54:25.760 --> 00:54:30.079
Voting mostly along partisan lines, the House left the seat
662
00:54:30.199 --> 00:54:34.909
vacant and referred the issue to the administration panel. A
663
00:54:34.969 --> 00:54:39.889
task force led by Democrats oversaw its own recount and
664
00:54:39.969 --> 00:54:44.500
after four months concluded that the Democratic candidate had won
665
00:54:44.579 --> 00:54:48.380
by just four votes, the House gave him the seat.
666
00:54:49.400 --> 00:54:53.639
Things are murkier in the Senate. In the Senate, where
667
00:54:53.780 --> 00:54:56.840
only a third of Senators are up for election every
668
00:54:56.900 --> 00:55:01.329
two years, Federal law requires states to send certificates of
669
00:55:01.389 --> 00:55:04.309
election to the vice president who is the president of
670
00:55:04.369 --> 00:55:09.190
the Senate. Unlike in the House, no federal statute governs
671
00:55:09.250 --> 00:55:13.289
how the list of new senators is compiled. The Senate's
672
00:55:13.389 --> 00:55:16.690
rules put the secretary of the Senate in charge of
673
00:55:16.769 --> 00:55:20.670
compiling the certificates of election, but they do not make
674
00:55:20.769 --> 00:55:24.949
clear whether and on what grounds the secretary or vice
675
00:55:25.030 --> 00:55:30.019
president can reject them. The Senate has dealt less frequently
676
00:55:30.119 --> 00:55:35.099
with election disputes in recent history, in part because statewide
677
00:55:35.179 --> 00:55:39.900
elections tend to have larger voting margins. It has fewer
678
00:55:40.039 --> 00:55:44.969
established procedures and has tended to operate on precedents when
679
00:55:45.030 --> 00:55:50.469
considering contested elections. As in the House, the new Senate
680
00:55:50.670 --> 00:55:55.699
adjudicates election disputes, and challenges are usually referred to the
681
00:55:55.760 --> 00:56:01.219
Rules Committee, while the senator-elect in question is seated without prejudice.
682
00:56:02.099 --> 00:56:07.150
If the investigation finds in favor of the challenger, the
683
00:56:07.250 --> 00:56:11.210
seated senator could then be removed from the Senate by
684
00:56:11.269 --> 00:56:16.670
a simple majority vote, rather than the two-thirds majority typically
685
00:56:16.750 --> 00:56:23.639
required to expel a senator. In 1997, the Senate provisionally
686
00:56:23.900 --> 00:56:29.489
seated Senator Mary Landrieu Democrat of Louisiana, while the Rules
687
00:56:29.550 --> 00:56:34.889
Committee investigated accusations of voter fraud in her state. After
688
00:56:35.010 --> 00:56:40.780
months of investigating, the committee found in her favor. This
689
00:56:40.860 --> 00:56:43.659
concludes the reading of the New York Times for today.
690
00:56:44.289 --> 00:56:47.639
Your reader has been Blanca Michael Ward. If you have
691
00:56:47.699 --> 00:56:52.559
any questions, comments, or suggestions concerning this program, please feel
692
00:56:52.639 --> 00:56:59.329
free to call us at 859-422-6390. Thank you for listening,
693
00:56:59.809 --> 00:57:03.849
and now please stay tuned for continued programming on Radio Eye.