10.15.26

WEBVTT
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Welcome to the reading of the New York Times for Thursday,
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October 15, 2026. As a reminder, Radio Eye is a
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reading service intended for people who are blind or have
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other disabilities that make it difficult to read printed material.
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Your reader for today is Scott Johnson. We begin today
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with the Merriam-Webster word of the day, and today's word
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is outlandish. Outlandish. Outlandish can describe things that are strikingly
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strange or unusual. In this use, it's a synonym of bizarre.
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Outlandish can also describe things such as claims, rumors, and
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accusations that go beyond reasonable limits or standards. One of
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the author's greatest strengths is her ability to write outlandish
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characters whose quirks remain lodged in readers' minds long after
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they've finished the book. Or, When asked to back up
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his outlandish claims, the mayor quickly changed the subject, all
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but admitting that he had no proof for his allegations.
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Today's front page headlines in the National Print Edition of
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the New York Times. Rising energy costs push inflation at
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a rapid pace. Wage growth muted, complicating effort by Trump
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to sell voters on economy. Even bananas absorb blows of
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war in Iran. For Pope, a new world of lung
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cancer therapy. Death rate has been reduced by half since
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the 1990s. Satellite cut hobbles Ukraine as Russia pounds power grid.
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Trump's relentless campaign to cast doubt on elections with lies
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and bold claims. Becerra could make California history. He's not
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dwelling on it. Favored as first Latino governor since 1875.
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We'll begin with a story headlined, Higher Energy Prices Lift U.S.
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Inflation Ahead of Midterm Elections. It's by Colby Smith, who
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covers the Federal Reserve. Higher energy prices drove up inflation
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in the United States in September. a warning shot to
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President Trump ahead of midterm elections that have centered primarily
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on affordability concerns. The uptick in consumer prices will also
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keep the Federal Reserve under pressure to raise interest rates
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for a second time this year. The Consumer Price Index report,
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released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Wednesday, showed
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that overall prices rose 0.6 percent, the largest monthly increase
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in five months. Compared with the same time last year,
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prices were 3.7% higher. The bulk of the increase stemmed
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directly from energy prices, which have shot higher this year
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because of the war with Iran. That has translated into
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increased costs for Americans who are paying more to fill
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their cars, heat their homes, and travel by air. Gasoline prices,
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which in late September rose to nearly $ 4. 50 a gallon,
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surged 9.1% for the month. That accounted for more than
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half of the overall monthly increase in prices. Gas prices
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are up 34.2% over the past year. Fuel oil prices,
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used for heating in many homes in the Northeast, have
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also shot higher. rising 15.3% in September or 74.2% on
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an annual basis. Higher fuel costs have boosted airfares, which
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were up 1.2% in September or 22.4% over the year.
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Food prices were flat for the month, but over the
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past 12 months have risen 2.5%. Core inflation, which excludes
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volatile energy and food prices, edged higher as well, but
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by a smaller magnitude. Over the course of September, these
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prices were up only three-tenths of a percent. Over the
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past year, they were up 2.6 percent. The data comes
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at a highly sensitive political moment, with the midterm elections
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just weeks away, and Republicans under pressure to retain their
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control of Congress. Several traditionally safe Republican seats are now
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in play for Democrats, who have continued to blame Mr.
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Trump for higher prices. Mr. Trump has often sought to
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dismiss the notion that the affordability crisis has worsened under
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his watch. At a rally in Alaska late on Tuesday,
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he proclaimed that prices had improved under his watch. But
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September's data suggests a far bleaker backdrop. Wage growth has
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remained relatively muted over the past year. That, combined with
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higher inflation, means Americans are earning less for an hour
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of work. Average hourly earnings adjusted for inflation fell 0.5%
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in September and were down 0.7% from a year earlier.
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It was the sixth straight month of year-over-year declines in
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real earnings. Average hourly earnings are now back to almost
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where they were when Mr. Trump was sworn into office
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for the second time in January 2025, meaning that, on average,
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Americans have experienced zero wage growth in real terms since
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he returned to the White House. Democrats seized on the
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latest data, directing the blame squarely on Republicans and the President.
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The Rev. Adam Hamilton said, The Democratic candidate in the
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competitive Senate race in Kansas targeted his opponent, Senator Roger Marshall,
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over the spike in energy prices. Roger Marshall is to
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blame for the rising cost of fuel and inflation that's
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costing Kansans hundreds more a month on everything from groceries
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and housing to health care, Mr. Hamilton said in a
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statement pointing to Marshall's support for the Iran war and
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the president's tariffs. the farming-heavy economy in Kansas has been
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hit hard by price increases. Other Democratic leaders portrayed the
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data as an indictment of the president's policies. Inflation is
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up again, not because of a pandemic, not because of
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a natural disaster, because of Trump's war, tariffs, and corporate
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tax breaks, Pete Buttigieg, the former Secretary of Transportation and
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potential 2028 presidential candidate, said on social media. It really
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is this simple. Republicans took over and then drove up
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the cost of living in America. Donald Trump's golden age
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means never-ending higher prices for the American people while he
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gets a ballroom and billionaires get tax cuts, Senator Chuck Schumer,
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the New York Democrat and minority leader, said on social media.
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In an interview with Fox Business on Wednesday, Kevin Hassett,
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the director of the White House National Economic Council, acknowledged
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that the rise in inflation was disappointing and pointed to
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the widening conflict in the Middle East, which he said
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had caused a, quote, negative shock to energy again, unquote.
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While the war with Iran and the energy shock that
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has followed is responsible for the bulk of the pickup
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in inflation, it has not been the only source of
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price pressures. Over the past year, Mr. Trump's tariffs have
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made everyday items like household appliances more expensive. The effect
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has finally started to wane, but is still noticeable in
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some sectors. For example, prices for toys were up 4.2%
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in September, while apparel rose three-tenths of a percent. Soaring
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costs associated with the boom in artificial intelligence investment have
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also pushed inflation higher. Prices for computers and related equipment
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have risen 9.7% over the past year, while software prices
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have gained 28.4%. The AI build-out is particularly challenging for
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the Fed because the companies behind the boom appear undeterred
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by not only higher interest rates, but also soaring costs
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for the chips, electricity, and other items that are crucial
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to continued growth. Officials at the central bank pay closest
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attention to the core inflation measure, which they see as
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the best gauge of underlying inflation. They also track an
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even more granular metric known as super-core inflation. That measures
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prices for core services once housing costs are excluded. For
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a second straight month, it came in hot, rising 0.4%
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in September. Over the past three months, supercore prices have
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risen at an annual rate of nearly 4.6%. Last month,
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the Fed voted unanimously to raise rates by a quarter
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of a percentage point to a new range of 3.75%
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to 4%. It was the central bank's first major step
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since July 2023 to contain elevated inflation. Projections released alongside
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the policy decision showed that 16 of the 18 officials
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who submitted estimates thought that the rates would end the
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year at 4 to 4.25 percent. The Fed convenes twice
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more before the end of the year, with the next
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meeting scheduled in late October, just days before the midterm elections.
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In the weeks before September's CPI report, top policymakers appeared
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to have coalesced around a view that the Fed did
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not need to raise rates at consecutive meetings at this
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juncture to tame inflation, dimming odds of an October move.
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Officials are unlikely to abandon that approach in the wake
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of Wednesday's release, but the hotter-than-expected pace of inflation will
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force them to explain why moving gradually is appropriate when
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price pressures are picking up. The two-year Treasury yield, which
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is sensitive to changes in policy expectations, rose sharply by
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one-tenth of one percent to 4.88 percent in the immediate
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aftermath of the report. Traders in federal funds futures still
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expect the next rate increase at the Fed's final gathering
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of the year in December, although the odds that the
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central bank would take action this month jumped to 43
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percent from 24% on Tuesday. The need for further increases
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will depend on how quickly inflation eases, as policymakers expect
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in 2027. In an interview with Bloomberg on Tuesday, John C. Williams,
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who is president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York,
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is vice chair of the Policy Setting Committee, said that
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while he still saw one more rate increase as appropriate
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this year, He did not expect further adjustments to be
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necessary after that. Now a story headlined, America's Favorite Fruit
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is Being Bruised by the Iran War. It's by Anna Swanson,
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who covers international trade. The war in Iran has rippled
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through the global economy in many ways, pushing up prices
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for oil, fertilizer, and other products. It has also created
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challenges for America's most popular fruit, bananas. The banana business
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has long been an underappreciated feat of logistics. It involves
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transporting a fragile and finicky fruit thousands of miles from
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the tropics, only to be sold for less than a
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quarter each. And it's a business that is even trickier
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of late, as the war raises the costs of fuel
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and other materials banana producers need. That has put even
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more financial pressure on banana producers, who operate with thin
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margins and have little ability to raise prices. Compounding the
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industry's problems are the threat of disease, climate change, tariffs,
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and an exceptionally severe El Nino this year. The banana
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might be America's most unassuming fruit, a cheaply priced staple
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of smoothies and school cafeterias. It is the most consumed
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fruit in the United States, with Americans eating around 80
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bananas a year on average. But bananas make little profit
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for grocery stores or the companies growing them. Instead, stores
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price them cheaply to draw shoppers in the door. The
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average price of bananas in the United States, about 65
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cents a pound in August, has changed little over the
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last decade, despite rising costs. Everything is costing more money,
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said Danny Dumas, a senior vice president at Del Monte
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North America. Quote, if you ask me, it is a crisis, unquote.
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Even so, Del Monte, like the other major banana producers Chiquita, Dole,
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and Fife's, continue to bring massive quantities of fruit to
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the United States. In a port outside Philadelphia this summer,
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cranes and trucks busily unloaded hundreds of refrigerated containers to
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from the Del Monte Spirit, a hulking ship that stretches
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two football fields long and had traveled more than 2,000
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miles from Central America. The ship, one of seven in
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Del Monte's fleet, contained about 7% of the bananas that
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would be brought into the United States that week, supplying
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an area stretching from Iowa to North Carolina and Nova Scotia.
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The crew had just 40 hours to empty the ship's cargo,
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millions of bananas from Guatemala and Costa Rica before it
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would sail back for the next week's pickup. To understand
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the impact of the war, the New York Times traced
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the journey of a container of bananas from that ship
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over roughly 2,500 miles from the plantation where it was
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grown to a Pennsylvania grocery store. Some bananas on the
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Del Monte Spirit were grown in Tiquisate, a farm-dotted floodplain
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on the Pacific coast of Guatemala. Once carefully packed to
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avoid bruising, they were driven more than 250 miles in
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a refrigerated truck to Santo Tomas de Castilla, a port
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on Guatemala's Caribbean coast. The Spirit then carried them to
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Gloucester City, New Jersey, where Del Monte unloads up to 300,000
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boxes of bananas a week. The company ships them directly
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to retailers, or sends them to its own ripening facilities,
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which slowly increase the temperature and introduce ethylene gas so
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the bananas turn a perfect, unblemished yellow on your kitchen counter.
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While many farmers and food sellers have seen costs increase
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because of the war, bananas have been hit harder because
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they are transported long distances and must be kept carefully refrigerated.
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The Price of Diesel Needed to power Del Monte's fleet
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of refrigerated trucks has risen about 70% in the United
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States since the war started seven months ago, peaking at
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over $ 6 a gallon. Prices have also surged for the
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bunker fuel for Del Monte's ships and for the fuel
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for farmers' irrigation systems in Central and South America. The
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fertilizer that banana plantations depend on has also become more expensive,
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since much of it is made from natural gas coming
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from the Middle East. And the higher cost of shipping
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has spilled over into other products, like cardboard and plastic packaging,
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and the chemicals that farmers spray on bananas to prevent disease.
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Although the Trump administration has repeatedly pronounced the war with
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Iran over, the ceasefires so far have not held. Transits
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out of the Persian Gulf through the state of Hormuz
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which formerly helped to move about a third of the
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world's fertilizer and a quarter of its seaborne oil, are
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still a small fraction of what they were. While more
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oil is flowing out of the Middle East than before,
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global oil prices have repeatedly breached $ 100 per barrel over
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the last seven months. Across the supply chain, everything depends
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on energy, Muhammad Abbas, Del Monte's president, said in an interview.
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Del Monte grows some of its own bananas and buys
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others from farmers. Banana companies worry that higher prices may
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cause farmers to forego fertilizer and disease-treating chemicals, resulting in
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a smaller crop next year. Some Central American farmers are
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already switching to pineapples. Rising costs could also sap the
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industry's ability to invest in disease-resistant varieties. The banana, as
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Americans know it, A genetically homogeneous strain called Cavendish is
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at risk from fungi and viruses that are spreading from
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South America. While there are hundreds of varieties of bananas
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ranging from the silvery blue ice cream banana to the
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purplish red daca, many Americans encounter only the Cavendish. Until
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the 1950s, Americans ate a variety called Gros Michel, a plumper,
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sweeter banana. with a thick skin suited for shipping and
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a flavor profile that lives on in banana-flavored candy. But
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a fungus called Panama disease decimated the Gros Michel by
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the 1960s. Farmers turned to the Cavendish, first cultivated by
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an English gardener in the 1800s. Virtually all bananas consumed
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in the United States descend from that single English plant.
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As farmers adapted, So did fungus. Another strain of Panama
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disease now targets Cavendish bananas in Southeast Asia and South America.
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It can survive in soil for decades, permanently wiping out farms.
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Companies are quietly researching genetic alternatives in case the global
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supply collapses, an effort requiring significant investment. Del Monte declined
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to comment on its program. Miguel Angel Morales. a small
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producer in northern Peru, said Panama disease had wiped out
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one in three banana-growing valleys in his region, forcing him
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and others to relocate their farms. The region produced 12
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containers of bananas five years ago, but farmers now fill
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only one. Stress from the war in Iran has compounded
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those problems. Mr. Morales said that his costs had jumped
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25 to 30 percent this year, and that there was
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little support from banks or the government. He had not
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yet raised his prices because annual contracts locked them in. Eventually,
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he thought, consumers in wealthier regions should pay more. If
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production costs increase, it's logical that banana prices should increase, right?
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he asked. Yet an undisputed truth, at least among banana executives,
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is that the effort they put into their product has
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little relation to its price. For decades, grocery stores have
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approached bananas as they do other loss leaders, pricing the
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fruit cheaply to get customers in the door. The industry
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structure in which several companies compete to sell a largely
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identical product also leaves banana producers with little power to
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raise their prices. Banana companies have also developed highly efficient
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supply chains that shaved internal costs from farm to store.
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a strategy brutally perfected by the United Fruit Company, which
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turned large parts of Central America into company-run territory in
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the early 1900s. The result is that the banana, despite
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being fragile and shipped long distances, is typically sold for
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as little as 15 cents each. Adjusted for inflation, the
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average price of a pound of bananas in the United
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States has fallen roughly by half in the last 40 years.
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In the second quarter, Del Monte's margin on bananas was
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just 2.3%. I always used to say that we're a
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non-profit business, said Juan Alarcón, the chief executive of Fife's
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North America. Banana companies also struggled last year with costs
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from tariffs, until the Trump administration exempted some food that
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is not locally grown in November. Companies have also contended
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with a shortage of truck drivers, in part because because
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the Trump administration stripped more than 30,000 drivers of commercial licenses.
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The price at which producers sell bananas is fixed by
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long-term contracts, some of which expire in December. But it's
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not clear how much grocery stores will allow prices to rise.
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Tom Stenzel, managing director of the Banana Association of North America,
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said it was almost a mythology among retailers that they
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couldn't raise the price of bananas the way they could
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for produce grown much closer to stores. I don't want
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to throw my apple brothers under the bus, Mr. Stenzel said,
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but apples are more expensive and take less effort to
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grow and ship. The banana industry's ability to absorb costs
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is at a breaking point, he added. What else can
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you buy at a grocery store for 25 cents, he asked.
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Now a story headlined A New World of Lung Cancer
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Therapy Awaits Pope Leo. It's by Gina Collada and Carolyn Y. Johnson.
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In a way, Pope Leo XIV may be lucky he
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got lung cancer now and not, say, six years ago.
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Treatments have changed so much, specialists say, that the old
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days are almost unrecognizable. For many patients, said Karen Knutson,
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the chief executive of the Parker Institute, Lung cancer is
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no longer the dire diagnosis it was in the past. Dr.
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Alicia Sequest, a thoracic oncologist at Mass General Brigham Cancer Institute, said, quote,
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I think a lot of people have that gut reaction
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about lung cancer that it can be rapidly fatal, but
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that is a little bit outdated, especially if it's caught early, unquote.
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She added, it's really just a whole new paradigm in
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lung cancer. and patients are living much longer and cure
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rates are higher than they were 10 to 20 years ago.
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Lung cancer is still the leading cause of cancer deaths
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for both men and women, killing more than 124,000 Americans
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each year. But the death rate today is half what
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it was in the 1990s, partly because fewer people smoke,
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but also because newly developed treatments are working. Pope Leo's
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Cancer and adenocarcinoma was discovered during a routine medical test.
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The Pope's doctors removed a lobe of his lung on
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Tuesday and are doing additional tests to determine what additional treatments,
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if any, are warranted. But, said Dr. Robert Merritt, a
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thoracic surgeon at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, quote,
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the fact that the Pope was offered surgery as a
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primary treatment is an indication the tumor is most likely
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early stage, was detected early, and was completely removable with surgery, unquote.
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That means, he added, that in most cases there's a
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reasonable chance there could be complete cure. Still, the Pope's
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doctors almost certainly will do genetic tests of his tumor,
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and at that point, the doctor said, his treatments and
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prognosis will be part of the new world of lung
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cancer therapy. A first step is to determine which mutations
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occur might be driving the cancer's growth. There are as
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many as 14 or 15 genetic mutations that are often
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found in lung cancer, said Dr. Roy Herbst, a lung
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cancer specialist and head of the Cancer Institute at Dartmouth.
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The most common is a mutation in a gene called EGFR.
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Targeted drugs to attack it in early-stage disease didn't exist
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six years ago, Dr. Herbst said. Tumors eventually become resistant
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to the drugs, but they can offer patients years of life. Dr.
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David Barbee, chief of thoracic oncology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute,
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said that if a patient has stage 2 lung cancer,
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meaning it has spread to the lymph nodes or is
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greater than 4 centimeters, and has chemotherapy after surgery, the
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risk that the cancer will recur drops to 30% from 40%.
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But the addition of a drug that attacks EGFR mutations
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reduces that risk to 10%. EGFR is not the only
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gene mutation that can be hit with targeted drugs. Others
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include genes with names like ALK, RET, and ROSI. And
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the drugs keep getting better. Some patients have mutations in
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a different gene, KRAS. they can be attacked with an
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exciting new class of drugs that are in clinical trials. Dr.
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Barbie said that if a tumor has a distinct mutation,
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like one in EGFR, doctors could use blood tests to
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see if an initial surgery actually got rid of all
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of the tumor. The tests look for shards of cancer
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DNA that float in the bloodstream. If they find it,
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the patient is not cured and needs additional therapy, Dr.
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Barbie said. But, Dr. Herbst said, 70 to 80 percent
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of non-smokers do not have any genetic mutations that can
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be hit with a targeted drug. They have other options, Dr.
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Knutson said. There's a whole new world we heard about
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at ASCO, he said, referring to a recent meeting of
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the American Society of Clinical Oncology. There are antibodies, she said,
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that can see a tumor and bring a chemotherapy to it.
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Clinical trials using these drugs in patients say with advanced cancer,
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have had phenomenal results, she added. Then there is immunotherapy.
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It's useful mostly in smokers whose cancers tend to have
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so many mutations that they can escape attacks by targeted drugs.
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But those mutations make them vulnerable to attacks by the
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immune system. Cancers use various tricks to hide from the
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immune system, but immunotherapies can remove the cancer's cloak and
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allow white blood cells to destroy the tumor. The problem
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with the revolution in treatments for lung cancer is that
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too many patients are not offered them. In one comprehensive study,
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34% of patients with non-small cell lung cancer never got
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a genetic test of their tumors. Others cannot afford the pills,
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which can cost $ 10, 000 or more a month. Medicare has
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a yearly cap on co-pays But patients who are uninsured
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or have private insurance can be hit with prescription bills
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that can bankrupt them. There's no easy solution, but the
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Pope's care can show what is possible, specialists said. The Pope, Dr.
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00:29:08.130 --> 00:29:12.529
Herbst said, is getting what every patient should have. My
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dream is that every cancer patient in the world gets
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treatment like the Pope's, he added. We move now to
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a story headlined, He's Played It Safe, But He Could
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00:29:24.539 --> 00:29:31.240
Make California History as Governor. It's by Laurel Rosenhall, Jennifer Medina,
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and Orlando Mallorca, reporting from Los Angeles. The table decorations
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at a Los Angeles event earlier this year. this year
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00:29:40.940 --> 00:29:44.279
told the story of the guest of honor, Javier Becerra,
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a son of Mexican immigrants who has emerged as the
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frontrunner to replace Governor Gavin Newsom in California. Colorful cards
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in the style of a Mexican lotteria game represented his
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political rise in Spanish. from el congresista to el fiscal
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general to el secretario de salud. The final card, el gobernador,
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captured the hope of many of the Hispanic leaders at
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the event that Mr. Becerra would become California's first Latino
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governor since 1875. Those leaders have been more animated about
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00:30:22.049 --> 00:30:26.430
the potential milestone than the candidate himself has been. I'm
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certainly a Latino, and I'm proud of it. as Mr.
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Becerra said in an interview, but identity has never been
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00:30:32.789 --> 00:30:38.009
what has fueled my campaigns for office or public service. Mr. Becerra,
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00:30:38.390 --> 00:30:41.910
a Democrat, is an overwhelming favorite to defeat Steve Hilton,
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a Republican endorsed by President Trump in November in that
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heavily Democratic state. If Mr. Becerra wins, it would be
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a watershed moment in California, coming 32 years after Governor
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Pete Wilson, a Republican... targeted illegal immigrants during his re-election
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campaign in 1994. One of his commercials showed migrants entering
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California from Mexico by running across a major thoroughfare as
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a narrator intoned, They keep coming. It helped Mr. Wilson
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win re-election. But critics saw the ad as racist at
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a time when the Latino population was rapidly growing throughout
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the state. The Wilson years inspired a number of activists,
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a generation of whom became prominent Democratic leaders serving today.
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Latinos now serve as the state's senior senator and as
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the two leaders of the state legislature, and the election
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of a Latino governor would punctuate a rejection of Mr.
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Wilson's movement in California. But Mr. Becerra has not dwelled
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on that in his campaign. While some Latino leaders of
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his generation rose to power marching in the streets, Mr.
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Becerra was better known as a mild-mannered lawyer who worked
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00:32:02.920 --> 00:32:06.130
in the halls of power. He has built his career
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as a play-it-safe insider over his decades in public service.
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He doesn't come out and wrap himself in the Mexican flag,
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said Representative Lou Correa, a Democrat from Orange County, quote,
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but he's never tried to hide who he is or
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where he came from, unquote. Born in 1958, Mr. Becerra
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grew up in Sacramento with a father who worked in
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construction and a mother who was a clerical worker. He
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remembers his father playing records by Jorge Negrete and Pedro Infante,
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ranchera-style music that Mr. Becerra said he still enjoys today.
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Photos from his high school yearbook show Mr. Becerra with
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the golf team, with feathered hair and bell-bottom pants. He
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earned a scholarship to Stanford University where he would meet
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his wife, Dr. Carolina Reyes, who is now a physician
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specializing in high-risk pregnancies. After a brief time in the
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state legislature, Mr. Becerra was elected to the House in
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1992 and spent two decades in Congress. By 2016, he
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had already been chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and
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was the fourth-ranking Democrat. There was speculation that he could
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be a future House Speaker. Instead, at the end of 2016,
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Governor Jerry Brown appointed Mr. Becerra as California's Attorney General. Mr.
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Brown said in an interview that he considered about a
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dozen people and found Mr. Becerra's resume the most impressive.
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Two degrees from Stanford University, a career as a veteran congressman,
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and a stint working as a deputy attorney general in
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the same office he would lead. Mr. Brown said that Mr.
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Becerra's Latino heritage was not a major factor in his decision,
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but the former governor acknowledged a desire to share power
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with leaders who reflected California's population. You don't just want
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a club of one segment of California to be the government, Mr.
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00:34:06.069 --> 00:34:09.090
Brown said, but I think it's a rather hazardous course
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to start picking and choosing based on race, on ethnicity,
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on gender, and on perhaps some other qualifications of people
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that are not related to the inherent worth of people.
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The Office of Attorney General has often been a stop
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on the way to the governorship, and Mr. Brown said
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he knew that his appointee would have a strong shot
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at winning that office someday. Mr. Brown had served as
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Attorney General, as had his father, who was governor in
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the 1960s. He was mindful that 40% of the state's
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residents were Latino, California is changing, Mr. Brown said. That
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will express itself everywhere. Mr. Becerra and Mr. Brown teamed
467
00:34:51.030 --> 00:34:55.269
up on legal battles against the first Trump administration. They
468
00:34:55.289 --> 00:34:59.869
defended California's sanctuary law and helped win protections for young
469
00:34:59.909 --> 00:35:02.900
adults whose parents brought them across the border as children,
470
00:35:03.039 --> 00:35:07.320
the so-called dreamers. Mr. Becerra said his background as the
471
00:35:07.360 --> 00:35:10.460
son of immigrants had no bearing on his legal strategy.
472
00:35:10.929 --> 00:35:14.389
but informed the passion and the personal interest he brought
473
00:35:14.469 --> 00:35:18.789
to such cases. Shortly after Joseph R. Biden Jr. was
474
00:35:18.849 --> 00:35:23.230
elected president in 2020, he named Mr. Becerra as Secretary
475
00:35:23.269 --> 00:35:27.690
of Health and Human Services. Robert Rivas, the Speaker of
476
00:35:27.710 --> 00:35:31.829
the California Assembly, remembers flying to Washington in 2022 to
477
00:35:32.050 --> 00:35:35.260
meet with Mr. Becerra, whom he saw as an effective
478
00:35:35.300 --> 00:35:39.590
fighter with a collaborative spirit. Over dinner at an Asian
479
00:35:39.679 --> 00:35:44.190
fusion restaurant in Virginia, Mr. Rivas floated the idea that Mr.
480
00:35:44.230 --> 00:35:48.590
Becerra should return home and run for governor. There are
481
00:35:48.610 --> 00:35:50.699
all those whispers at that time, like, who's going to
482
00:35:50.739 --> 00:35:54.139
be next? Who's going to be after Newsom? recalled Mr. Rivas,
483
00:35:54.380 --> 00:35:58.119
who traces his own political roots to his grandfather's participation
484
00:35:58.340 --> 00:36:03.179
in the farm worker movement. Quote, Javier's just someone that
485
00:36:03.239 --> 00:36:07.360
had the experience. He checked all the boxes. Not to mention,
486
00:36:07.550 --> 00:36:12.929
he's Latino, unquote. Republicans have questioned whether Mr. Becerra was
487
00:36:12.969 --> 00:36:17.610
qualified for his appointments. Gloria Romero, the Republican candidate for
488
00:36:17.650 --> 00:36:21.570
California lieutenant governor, said she had known Mr. Becerra early
489
00:36:21.670 --> 00:36:24.730
in his career and liked his unassuming style and his
490
00:36:24.789 --> 00:36:29.170
moderate politics as a congressman. Ms. Romero was a longtime
491
00:36:29.230 --> 00:36:33.820
Democratic state lawmaker before she switched parties. She said she
492
00:36:33.860 --> 00:36:36.960
was disappointed when Mr. Biden named him Secretary of Health
493
00:36:37.000 --> 00:36:40.659
and Human Services because she didn't think Mr. Becerra had
494
00:36:40.699 --> 00:36:44.800
the right expertise. I remember thinking, what a mistake, Ms.
495
00:36:44.840 --> 00:36:50.150
Romero said. He had become a DEI appointment. She said
496
00:36:50.210 --> 00:36:54.210
she believed Mr. Biden was hiring based on diversity and that, quote,
497
00:36:54.630 --> 00:36:59.360
he needed a Latino to fill out his cabinet, unquote. Ms.
498
00:36:59.400 --> 00:37:02.699
Romero says she felt Mr. Becerra had struggled to respond
499
00:37:02.739 --> 00:37:05.360
to a surge of migrant children who crossed the border
500
00:37:05.400 --> 00:37:09.199
without their parents because he wasn't qualified for the job.
501
00:37:10.320 --> 00:37:12.739
Many of the children ended up living with sponsors who
502
00:37:12.780 --> 00:37:16.179
put them to work in unsafe conditions. That was a
503
00:37:16.239 --> 00:37:20.599
real failure, Ms. Romero said. Mr. Becerra has said that
504
00:37:20.659 --> 00:37:24.000
children were not exploited while under his agency's care and
505
00:37:24.019 --> 00:37:26.780
that he helped fix problems he inherited from the first
506
00:37:26.920 --> 00:37:31.400
Trump administration. He rebuffed criticism that he was unprepared for
507
00:37:31.420 --> 00:37:35.030
the job as par for the course. I think I've
508
00:37:35.050 --> 00:37:37.650
heard that in every position I've had, he said, that
509
00:37:37.710 --> 00:37:40.690
I've been a DEI hire, or I got lucky because
510
00:37:40.750 --> 00:37:45.909
it's DEI. Amid a year of immigration raids that largely
511
00:37:45.969 --> 00:37:50.239
targeted Latinos and the downfall of Cesar Chavez, an iconic
512
00:37:50.300 --> 00:37:54.059
Latino leader, Mr. Becerra's rise had brought a sense of
513
00:37:54.139 --> 00:38:00.110
triumph for many Latinos in California. He campaigned smoothly in
514
00:38:00.170 --> 00:38:06.010
both English and Spanish, and as his standing in the
515
00:38:06.050 --> 00:38:10.250
polls surged in the spring, Mr. Becerra's aides played off
516
00:38:10.289 --> 00:38:13.809
his image as a boring uncle on online memes calling
517
00:38:13.869 --> 00:38:18.570
him Tio Javier. This month, Mr. Becerra appeared at a
518
00:38:18.610 --> 00:38:23.719
Mexican restaurant in Los Angeles to campaign against Proposition 39,
519
00:38:23.719 --> 00:38:28.480
which would require additional identification to vote. Mr. Becerra sipped
520
00:38:28.500 --> 00:38:32.659
hot chocolate from a traditional Mexican clay mug while guests
521
00:38:33.090 --> 00:38:37.730
nashed on taquitos and tostadas. On the walls were posters
522
00:38:37.769 --> 00:38:43.829
that read, Defend California's Elections in Spanish. Mr. Becerra said
523
00:38:43.869 --> 00:38:48.269
the ballot initiative would disenfranchise new voters. He spoke of
524
00:38:48.309 --> 00:38:53.610
his mother, a naturalized American citizen from Mexico, in bilingual remarks.
525
00:38:54.980 --> 00:38:57.199
I want to make sure I protect my mother's right
526
00:38:57.239 --> 00:39:00.019
to vote, he said. My mother became a citizen when
527
00:39:00.079 --> 00:39:04.579
she came to this country. Mr. Becerra's father was born
528
00:39:04.619 --> 00:39:07.940
in Sacramento, then moved back to Mexico as a child
529
00:39:08.039 --> 00:39:12.360
before returning to the United States. Though Mr. Becerra has
530
00:39:12.440 --> 00:39:15.360
not focused much on Latino issues during the governor's race,
531
00:39:16.000 --> 00:39:19.449
he has invoked his family history at almost every public appearance.
532
00:39:20.989 --> 00:39:24.780
Like Mr. Becerra, Senator Alex Padilla is also a son
533
00:39:24.800 --> 00:39:29.449
of Mexican immigrants whose rise traces the evolution from California's
534
00:39:29.510 --> 00:39:33.920
politics of the 1990s, when many Latino residents felt targeted
535
00:39:34.000 --> 00:39:38.400
by a hostile state government. Yet even as Mr. Becerra
536
00:39:38.480 --> 00:39:41.800
is on the cusp of grasping the state's most powerful post,
537
00:39:42.639 --> 00:39:46.289
many Latino residents still struggle with high rates of poverty
538
00:39:46.809 --> 00:39:51.019
and low levels of education. So greater political power for
539
00:39:51.059 --> 00:39:56.320
California Latinos comes with both an enormous opportunity and a
540
00:39:56.400 --> 00:40:01.900
sober responsibility, Mr. Padilla said in an interview. Representation is great.
541
00:40:02.199 --> 00:40:05.989
Representation is important, Mr. Padilla said. But we have a
542
00:40:06.110 --> 00:40:09.610
lot of work to do to improve people's lives. Mr.
543
00:40:09.650 --> 00:40:14.750
Becerra's campaign has been light on policy proposals. Instead, he
544
00:40:14.789 --> 00:40:17.969
has leaned on his experience and argued that California needs
545
00:40:18.130 --> 00:40:23.050
a working-class governor. Most Latinos are working class, but there
546
00:40:23.150 --> 00:40:25.889
are a whole bunch of folks who aren't Latino who
547
00:40:26.010 --> 00:40:29.309
are working class, Mr. Becerra said, and it is a
548
00:40:29.329 --> 00:40:35.469
community that I have a great affinity with. On now
549
00:40:35.570 --> 00:40:40.590
to a story headlined, Ukraine's Exposure Grows as Satellite Use
550
00:40:40.690 --> 00:40:50.139
is Restricted and Russia Escalates. It's by Constant Meillieu. reporting
551
00:40:50.260 --> 00:40:55.639
from Kyiv, Ukraine. Nearly five years into its fight for
552
00:40:55.679 --> 00:40:59.980
national survival, Ukraine has entered a moment of intense vulnerability
553
00:41:00.400 --> 00:41:03.639
under growing pressure not only from Russia, but also now
554
00:41:03.980 --> 00:41:09.179
from the United States. A double blow came overnight on Wednesday.
555
00:41:11.300 --> 00:41:14.889
Ukraine said that its military, with no warning, had lost
556
00:41:15.010 --> 00:41:18.730
some critical access to a military version of Starlink, a
557
00:41:18.789 --> 00:41:23.090
pillar of its battlefield communications. Kyiv relies on the satellite
558
00:41:23.139 --> 00:41:26.619
internet network known as Starshield, which is paid for by
559
00:41:26.639 --> 00:41:31.699
the Pentagon. That led Ukrainian officials and analysts to surmise
560
00:41:31.739 --> 00:41:35.019
that the restrictions had come from Washington, as President Trump
561
00:41:35.199 --> 00:41:39.329
is locked in his latest feud with Ukraine's leadership. At
562
00:41:39.369 --> 00:41:43.449
the same time, Russia unleashed dozens of ballistic missiles in
563
00:41:43.489 --> 00:41:47.980
a broad attack on Ukraine's energy infrastructure early Wednesday, cutting
564
00:41:48.059 --> 00:41:53.019
power to 600,000 people in the capital, Kiev. It was
565
00:41:53.079 --> 00:41:56.260
a dark omen for a rapidly approaching winter in which
566
00:41:56.360 --> 00:41:59.429
Russia is gearing up to try to push Ukraine to
567
00:41:59.469 --> 00:42:03.530
the breaking point as Kiev runs low on life-saving air defenses.
568
00:42:05.409 --> 00:42:08.530
It was unclear how long the Starshield restrictions would remain
569
00:42:08.590 --> 00:42:13.110
in place. Still, the Trump administration's treatment of Ukraine has
570
00:42:13.170 --> 00:42:17.190
caused outrage in a country already reeling from a string
571
00:42:17.309 --> 00:42:21.329
of challenges. Its energy system is at risk of collapse
572
00:42:21.389 --> 00:42:25.190
in the coming months as Russia pounds power plants and substations,
573
00:42:25.510 --> 00:42:29.630
trying to deprive Ukrainians of heat and water. Its economy
574
00:42:29.690 --> 00:42:32.190
is being pushed to the brink by Russian strikes on
575
00:42:32.250 --> 00:42:36.489
its ports, warehouses, and steel factories. And its budget faces
576
00:42:36.570 --> 00:42:40.039
a multi-billion dollar gap this year and next that could
577
00:42:40.099 --> 00:42:47.579
leave its military severely underfunded. The Starshield development, was interpreted
578
00:42:47.639 --> 00:42:51.760
in Ukraine as part of a Trump administration pressure campaign
579
00:42:52.239 --> 00:42:56.380
to limit Ukraine's ability to fight. Mr. Trump is pushing
580
00:42:56.440 --> 00:43:00.039
Kiev to stop attacking oil refineries so that Russia can
581
00:43:00.099 --> 00:43:03.739
pump more diesel onto global markets as high prices threaten
582
00:43:03.760 --> 00:43:09.280
the prospects of Mr. Trump's Republican Party in the midterm elections. Clearly,
583
00:43:09.340 --> 00:43:13.760
this action cannot be a coincidence and is linked to
584
00:43:13.800 --> 00:43:20.960
the current political situation. Sergei Beskresnov, a Ukrainian military expert
585
00:43:21.300 --> 00:43:26.269
who advises President Volodymyr Zelensky on weapons technologies, wrote on
586
00:43:26.329 --> 00:43:31.309
social media about the Starlink restrictions. Elon Musk, the chief
587
00:43:31.389 --> 00:43:36.190
executive of SpaceX, which operates Starlink and Starshield, appeared to
588
00:43:36.230 --> 00:43:39.440
suggest in a social media post that Mr. Trump might
589
00:43:39.500 --> 00:43:43.019
be behind any choice to limit the speed or usage
590
00:43:43.139 --> 00:43:48.440
of Starshield in Ukraine. Starshield systems are owned and controlled
591
00:43:48.500 --> 00:43:51.800
by the U.S. government, Mr. Musk wrote on Wednesday. Any
592
00:43:51.900 --> 00:43:55.099
limits on speed or usage are decided by the U.S.
593
00:43:55.159 --> 00:44:00.679
military and ultimately POTUS. That's a quote. The Pentagon did
594
00:44:00.719 --> 00:44:06.420
not immediately respond to a request for comment. Ukraine was
595
00:44:06.559 --> 00:44:10.820
stunned to discover the Starshield restrictions, which it said caused
596
00:44:10.960 --> 00:44:16.590
disruptions to several combat operations. The Ukrainian military uses Starshield
597
00:44:16.650 --> 00:44:20.650
in part to guide its ever-growing fleets of drones, including
598
00:44:20.710 --> 00:44:27.630
interceptors used to down Russian drones. The restrictions, Ukrainian officials said,
599
00:44:28.409 --> 00:44:32.860
tied Ukraine's hands while leaving Russia free to wage war.
600
00:44:34.300 --> 00:44:37.360
Perhaps nowhere was that imbalance clearer than in the Russian
601
00:44:37.420 --> 00:44:42.480
air assault overnight. The barrage included 39 ballistic missiles, Mr.
602
00:44:42.519 --> 00:44:46.429
Zelensky said. That would be the largest such salvo during
603
00:44:46.469 --> 00:44:49.840
the entire war, according to a New York Times data
604
00:44:49.880 --> 00:44:54.300
set based on Ukrainian Air Force figures. Even as Russia
605
00:44:54.420 --> 00:44:57.699
pounds Ukraine day after day, leading to some of the
606
00:44:57.800 --> 00:45:02.440
highest civilian death tolls seen in years of war, Kiev
607
00:45:02.480 --> 00:45:05.980
says it is abiding by Mr. Trump's demand not to
608
00:45:06.019 --> 00:45:10.699
strike Russian oil refineries. Its campaign against refineries, which had
609
00:45:10.760 --> 00:45:14.469
led to fuel shortages across Russia, made Russians feel the
610
00:45:14.530 --> 00:45:19.239
war as never before. Kiev has said it is unfair
611
00:45:19.460 --> 00:45:24.239
that Russia is still attacking Ukraine's power plants and substations. Mr.
612
00:45:24.260 --> 00:45:28.869
Zelensky has asserted that the strikes violate Mr. Trump's self-declared
613
00:45:29.030 --> 00:45:34.449
energy ceasefire in Ukraine. The Trump administration views the ceasefire
614
00:45:34.849 --> 00:45:38.389
as covering only strikes on oil refineries, even though Ukraine
615
00:45:38.489 --> 00:45:43.530
has none that are operational. Ukraine has set aside its
616
00:45:43.610 --> 00:45:46.969
most potent tool against Russia, in part, because it is
617
00:45:47.010 --> 00:45:50.429
worried that Mr. Trump could follow through on an apparent
618
00:45:50.570 --> 00:45:54.750
threat to stop providing intelligence that Kiev needs to warn
619
00:45:54.789 --> 00:46:00.730
its people of incoming Russian strikes. While Ukraine's European partners
620
00:46:00.789 --> 00:46:04.440
have so far stepped in to patch Ukraine's ballooning budget
621
00:46:04.480 --> 00:46:08.800
gaps as Russia batters the Ukrainian economy, Europe is not
622
00:46:08.840 --> 00:46:12.119
believed to be able to fully fill intelligence deficits if
623
00:46:12.179 --> 00:46:16.630
the United States were to pull back. Ukrainian fears have
624
00:46:16.650 --> 00:46:19.449
been elevated over the past two days as Mr. Zelensky
625
00:46:19.849 --> 00:46:23.239
has reported that Ukraine did not receive early warnings about
626
00:46:23.280 --> 00:46:26.840
Russian missile strikes, though Mr. Trump said on Tuesday that
627
00:46:26.900 --> 00:46:32.239
intelligence was still being shared. The Ukrainian Air Force clarified
628
00:46:32.320 --> 00:46:35.519
on Wednesday that while it had received no advance warning
629
00:46:35.579 --> 00:46:39.039
before a Russian missile struck at about 10.40 p.m. on Tuesday,
630
00:46:39.800 --> 00:46:43.219
it did receive warnings related to three subsequent waves of
631
00:46:43.280 --> 00:46:47.929
attacks that night. Such intelligence sharing is separate from Ukraine's
632
00:46:48.030 --> 00:46:54.110
use of the Starshield system. Ukrainian officials and analysts said
633
00:46:54.230 --> 00:46:57.570
it was galling that Kiev had complied with Mr. Trump's
634
00:46:57.630 --> 00:47:01.239
demand that it stopped attacking Russian oil refineries and had
635
00:47:01.280 --> 00:47:06.019
seemingly only gotten more restrictions in return. It said Ukraine
636
00:47:06.579 --> 00:47:10.800
had been betrayed by the United States. It's a pity
637
00:47:10.840 --> 00:47:13.900
that we are losing a strong partner, Mr. Zelensky told
638
00:47:13.940 --> 00:47:17.960
British TV host Piers Morgan in an interview on Wednesday. Quote,
639
00:47:18.480 --> 00:47:23.340
this is not the right side of history. Unquote. The
640
00:47:23.360 --> 00:47:28.369
Starshield limitations, if they continue, could hobble Ukraine's military operations.
641
00:47:29.510 --> 00:47:33.210
Starshield terminals are used for nearly everything the Ukrainian army
642
00:47:33.250 --> 00:47:37.420
deploys on the battlefield. The cars that carry troops and materiel,
643
00:47:37.880 --> 00:47:41.000
the drones that ferry food and water to soldiers at
644
00:47:41.059 --> 00:47:44.159
the front, and the attack drones that fly long distances
645
00:47:44.539 --> 00:47:50.360
to hit Russian positions. The Ukrainian military uses thousands of
646
00:47:50.429 --> 00:47:54.150
terminals connected to Starshield, a version of the Starlink network
647
00:47:54.190 --> 00:47:57.690
that is harder to hack or jam. Mr. Musk said
648
00:47:57.750 --> 00:48:02.570
earlier this year that Starshield was, quote, operated by the U.S. government, unquote.
649
00:48:04.010 --> 00:48:07.530
Officials from Ukraine's Defense Ministry said on Wednesday that, without warning,
650
00:48:08.050 --> 00:48:12.179
SpaceX had restricted the use of Starshield for devices traveling
651
00:48:12.219 --> 00:48:16.639
faster than 100 miles per hour. When the device exceeded
652
00:48:16.699 --> 00:48:21.599
this speed, the terminals lost connection. The officials said the
653
00:48:21.639 --> 00:48:25.179
ministry was in touch with the U.S. government, SpaceX, and
654
00:48:25.400 --> 00:48:31.829
NATO partners, to address the issue. Ukrainian soldiers said missions
655
00:48:31.869 --> 00:48:36.030
had been disrupted as a result. Alexander, an officer in
656
00:48:36.090 --> 00:48:39.519
the 8th Air Assault Corps, said the restrictions had mainly
657
00:48:39.579 --> 00:48:44.260
affected heavy bomber and fixed-wing drones targeting Russian logistical routes
658
00:48:44.860 --> 00:48:49.480
and positions in occupied territories. He spoke on the condition
659
00:48:49.519 --> 00:48:52.309
that he be identified only by his first name in
660
00:48:52.369 --> 00:48:57.369
keeping with Ukrainian military rules. Oleksandr said that if the
661
00:48:57.409 --> 00:49:01.409
restrictions remained in effect, Russia would be able to reopen
662
00:49:01.489 --> 00:49:04.559
critical supply routes in a matter of days and could
663
00:49:04.619 --> 00:49:10.500
better protect expensive equipment, including ships, from Ukrainian attacks. Starshield
664
00:49:10.539 --> 00:49:14.309
also provides connections to the interceptor drones that Ukraine uses
665
00:49:14.630 --> 00:49:18.050
to shoot down the Russian attack drones known as Saheds,
666
00:49:18.750 --> 00:49:22.800
especially the fast jet-powered models that Russia is now launching
667
00:49:22.880 --> 00:49:29.429
toward Ukraine en masse, said Mr. Beshkreshnov, the military technology advisor,
668
00:49:29.650 --> 00:49:34.550
to Mr. Zelensky. In effect, our partners' actions are depriving
669
00:49:34.590 --> 00:49:36.730
us of one of the few ways we have to
670
00:49:36.789 --> 00:49:44.730
defend the country against jet-powered Shahids, Mr. Beskresnov said. On Wednesday,
671
00:49:45.329 --> 00:49:49.489
official digital chat messages among military units at the front
672
00:49:49.969 --> 00:49:54.360
warned soldiers driving vehicles and pilots flying drones that the
673
00:49:54.420 --> 00:49:58.059
speed at which Starlink worked had been lowered, according to
674
00:49:58.119 --> 00:50:02.579
exchanges seen by a reporter for The Times. Starlink does
675
00:50:02.639 --> 00:50:06.139
not operate in Russia. meaning the restrictions are not related
676
00:50:06.280 --> 00:50:09.519
to Mr. Trump's demands that Ukraine stop its strikes on
677
00:50:09.639 --> 00:50:15.760
oil refineries. Instead, the restrictions appear designed to hobble Ukraine's
678
00:50:15.820 --> 00:50:19.619
ability to fight within its own territory, just as its
679
00:50:19.659 --> 00:50:25.639
forces are regaining territory through counter-assaults. As Ukraine faces the
680
00:50:25.699 --> 00:50:30.829
new Star Shield challenge, Russia is escalating its campaign against
681
00:50:30.989 --> 00:50:35.469
Ukraine's energy system, aiming to make life unbearable for civilians,
682
00:50:35.809 --> 00:50:41.050
Ukrainian officials say. The overnight attack on Wednesday hit all
683
00:50:41.130 --> 00:50:45.130
three of Kyiv's combined heat and power plants, Prime Minister
684
00:50:45.170 --> 00:50:50.559
Sergei Korkatsky wrote on social media. The assault followed a
685
00:50:50.619 --> 00:50:54.079
handful of strikes on the energy infrastructure earlier this month
686
00:50:54.539 --> 00:50:58.440
that caused power and water outages in Kyiv, a sign
687
00:50:58.480 --> 00:51:01.480
that it now takes only a few strikes to disable
688
00:51:01.599 --> 00:51:07.449
a power grid battered by years of attacks. From deeper
689
00:51:07.489 --> 00:51:11.280
inside today's edition of the Times, a story headlined, Russell
690
00:51:11.320 --> 00:51:16.059
Brand labeled sexual predator as trial opens. He denies rape
691
00:51:16.159 --> 00:51:21.059
and assault charges. It's by Alex Marshall, reporting from Southwark
692
00:51:21.500 --> 00:51:27.139
Crown Court in London. A British prosecutor described the popular
693
00:51:27.199 --> 00:51:32.199
YouTuber Russell Brand as ruthless, manipulative, and a sexual predator,
694
00:51:32.480 --> 00:51:34.699
as she outlined the legal case against him in a
695
00:51:34.739 --> 00:51:39.380
London courtroom on Wednesday. Riel Carmi Jones, the lead prosecutor
696
00:51:39.400 --> 00:51:42.840
for the case, told the court that, quote, to the defendant,
697
00:51:43.219 --> 00:51:46.280
women were simply a means to an end, that end
698
00:51:46.400 --> 00:51:51.949
being groping them, sexually or indecently assaulting them, or vaginally, orally,
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00:51:52.159 --> 00:51:57.429
or anally raping them, unquote. Mr. Brand, a one-time comedy
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00:51:57.489 --> 00:52:00.579
and movie star, has pleaded not guilty to all seven
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00:52:00.619 --> 00:52:04.679
charges in the case. Before the trial, he repeatedly said
702
00:52:04.780 --> 00:52:08.090
in videos posted to his social media and in media
703
00:52:08.179 --> 00:52:13.530
interviews that he had never engaged in non-consensual sexual activity.
704
00:52:14.929 --> 00:52:18.369
The charges against him include sexual assault and indecent assault,
705
00:52:18.429 --> 00:52:22.889
as well as rape. Prosecution says the incidents involved six
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00:52:22.969 --> 00:52:27.409
women and took place in Britain between 1999 and 2009.
707
00:52:29.380 --> 00:52:33.099
During her opening statement, Ms. Carmi Jones outlined the accusations
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00:52:33.179 --> 00:52:38.159
against Mr. Brand, 51. In Britain, anyone who makes sexual
709
00:52:38.280 --> 00:52:43.400
assault accusations has the right to lifelong anonymity, so news
710
00:52:43.480 --> 00:52:46.300
outlets are not allowed to report any details that might
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00:52:46.389 --> 00:52:50.769
identify the accusers. Ms. Carmi Jones told the court that
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00:52:50.829 --> 00:52:54.650
the first rape occurred in 1999, before Mr. Brand was famous,
713
00:52:55.289 --> 00:52:58.210
after he performed a comedy review previously. at a British
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00:52:58.309 --> 00:53:02.710
political party conference. The accuser told the police that she
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00:53:02.829 --> 00:53:06.389
attended Mr. Brand's performance, according to the prosecutor, and that
716
00:53:06.409 --> 00:53:10.690
they chatted afterward about political issues. Ms. Carmi Jones said
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00:53:10.730 --> 00:53:13.949
the woman initially thought that Mr. Brand was gay and,
718
00:53:14.090 --> 00:53:17.980
perhaps naively, invited him back to her hotel room to
719
00:53:18.039 --> 00:53:22.780
continue talking. At one point, the prosecutor said, the woman
720
00:53:22.820 --> 00:53:25.480
went to the bathroom and came out to find Mr.
721
00:53:25.519 --> 00:53:30.860
Brand shirtless. Shortly afterward, Ms. Carmi-Jones said, Mr. Brand pushed
722
00:53:30.980 --> 00:53:34.719
the woman onto a bed and started, quote, doing things
723
00:53:34.780 --> 00:53:38.429
with his tongue that were horrible like a lizard, unquote.
724
00:53:39.769 --> 00:53:41.730
The woman knew there was nothing she could do to
725
00:53:41.750 --> 00:53:45.469
stop Mr. Brand going further, Ms. Carmi-Jones said, adding that Mr.
726
00:53:45.510 --> 00:53:49.750
Brand then raped the woman and afterward behaved as if
727
00:53:50.010 --> 00:53:54.090
nothing had happened. He got up and got dressed. wrote
728
00:53:54.110 --> 00:53:57.960
his email address down, and showered her with compliments, apologizing
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00:53:58.000 --> 00:54:00.699
for how quick things had been, Ms. Carmi Jones said.
730
00:54:01.579 --> 00:54:03.820
The woman told the police that she did not report
731
00:54:03.860 --> 00:54:07.400
the episode at the time, partly because she felt it
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00:54:07.460 --> 00:54:12.679
was her fault, the prosecutor said. The prosecutor described several
733
00:54:12.739 --> 00:54:17.079
other incidents as reported by several other women. As Ms.
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00:54:17.119 --> 00:54:20.699
Carmi Jones spoke, Mr. Brand, wearing a black suit and
735
00:54:20.739 --> 00:54:23.739
a long white cravat, sat in a glass box at
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00:54:23.760 --> 00:54:27.219
the back of the room and listened intently. Upon arriving
737
00:54:27.260 --> 00:54:29.820
at the court on Wednesday morning, he had told reporters
738
00:54:29.880 --> 00:54:33.679
waiting outside that he was feeling blessed as well as, quote,
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00:54:34.059 --> 00:54:37.480
concerned but hopeful that this process will lead to good
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00:54:37.579 --> 00:54:42.500
outcomes for everyone involved, unquote. The trial is scheduled to
741
00:54:42.559 --> 00:54:47.820
last up to 10 weeks. Other stories in today's edition
742
00:54:48.099 --> 00:54:51.590
of the New York Times in national, international news, rather,
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00:54:52.630 --> 00:54:58.440
Millie's dog psychic. Argentina's president, a devotee of English mastiffs
744
00:54:58.539 --> 00:55:05.940
formerly used an animal communicator. Now his sister fulfills the role. U.S.
745
00:55:05.980 --> 00:55:10.659
troops to Latin America. The Pentagon is expanding its fight
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00:55:11.159 --> 00:55:15.360
against drug traffickers, even as plans recall a long and
747
00:55:15.440 --> 00:55:21.760
bloody history of U.S. intervention in the region. In national news,
748
00:55:22.079 --> 00:55:26.099
Bill would ban carriages. Under legislation backed by the city
749
00:55:26.139 --> 00:55:29.809
council speaker and the mayor, the use of horse-drawn carriages
750
00:55:29.889 --> 00:55:35.949
in Central Park would end by June of 2028. GOP
751
00:55:35.989 --> 00:55:40.769
wary in Great Plains. Republicans have dominated the center of
752
00:55:40.789 --> 00:55:44.969
the country for decades. Now they face several tough races.
753
00:55:47.349 --> 00:55:51.900
In sports, Rays go back to basics. Tampa Bay's style
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00:55:51.960 --> 00:55:56.090
of bold base running, solid pitching, and stingy fielding evened
755
00:55:56.300 --> 00:56:03.070
the ALCS at one game each. In business, Social Security
756
00:56:03.130 --> 00:56:09.030
benefits to rise. The agency announced a 3.6% annual cost-of-living
757
00:56:09.170 --> 00:56:13.010
adjustment for 2027, the largest since 2023. Questioning hearing for Cook.
758
00:56:18.340 --> 00:56:22.219
Critics fear President Trump's hand-picked panel will not give the
759
00:56:22.239 --> 00:56:27.619
Fed governor, Lisa D. Cook, a fair chance. In the arts,
760
00:56:28.199 --> 00:56:31.659
charms of a rock frontman, a film and live album
761
00:56:31.780 --> 00:56:37.519
explore the irreverent and divisive qualities of the singer-songwriter Cameron Winter.
762
00:56:39.159 --> 00:56:45.250
And from pirouettes to a tiara, Regan Hutzell, the new
763
00:56:45.309 --> 00:56:49.840
Miss America, says dance taught her how to be adaptable
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00:56:50.780 --> 00:56:57.989
without altering who she is. This concludes the reading of
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00:56:58.070 --> 00:57:02.190
the New York Times for today. Your reader for today
766
00:57:02.269 --> 00:57:06.929
has been Scott Johnson. If you have any questions, comments,
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00:57:07.230 --> 00:57:11.110
or suggestions concerning this program, please feel free to call
768
00:57:11.170 --> 00:57:25.030
us at 859-422-6390. 859-422-6390. Thank you for listening, and now
769
00:57:25.110 --> 00:57:28.969
please stay tuned for continued programming on Radio