Your organization can support Public Radio in your area by becoming a community sponsor and receiving frequent on air recognition for your support look under the support tab at h.p. P.r. Or for details. Very well a good story now news. Live from n.p.r. News in Washington I'm Jack Speer the International Olympic Committee today banned Russia from the upcoming Winter Games because of what the limbic officials say is that country's involvement in widespread doping N.P.R.'s Tom Goldman reports from our snap leagues will be allowed to compete though the i.o.c. Is basing its ban on a report 17 months in the making that confirms the systematic manipulation of anti-doping rules in Russia individual Russian athletes still can compete at February's South Korean Olympics if they pass rigorous drug screening they'll wear uniforms that say Olympic athlete of Russia but the Russian flag and anthem will be replaced by the Olympic flag and anthem in announcing the ban i.o.c. President Thomas Bach talked about the impact of Russian doping on competitors who didn't take drugs I'm a feeling care very sorry for all the clean athletes who are suffering from the same money college Russian athletes reportedly will appeal the ban Tom Goldman n.p.r. News u.s. Diplomats are being told to stay away from Jerusalem's old city and the West Bank the reason is on edge amid reports that President Trump could decide plans to move u.s. Somebody said to Jerusalem reversing decades of u.s. Policies N.P.R.'s Michele Kelemen reports in a security message the u.s. Embassy is telling its employees and their family members that they are not permitted to travel in the old city in the West Bank including Bethlehem and Jericho until further notice and it says u.s. Citizens should avoid areas where crowds are gathered Palestinian factions are calling for protests this week amid reports that President Trump might take steps to move the u.s. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem or declare Jerusalem as Israel's capital Palestinians claim East Jerusalem as their future capital the u.s. As long viewed this as a so-called final status issue for Israelis and Palestinians to resolve in Peacock Michele Kelemen n.p.r. News this. Department the 3rd California wildfire has reportedly broken out north of Los Angeles according to officials there the latest blaze erupted around 9 30 am local time last Angeles Mayor Eric r. Said he says the weather outlook is not good in terms of efforts to contain the fire we expect this weather for the next 5 days that today may be the most intense of days so embers could kick into residential areas pushed by Santa Ana winds the explosive fires mostly burning to the northwest of Los Angeles moving through the city's foothills forcing the evacuation of tens of thousands of people European movie theater owner sign world group has announced it plans to acquire u.s.t.r. Operator Regal Entertainment in a $3610000000.00 deal u.k. Based on world saying it's agreed to pay $23.00 a share for Knoxville Tennessee based legal that's roughly 11 percent premium over the company's Monday closing stock price on Wall Street the Dow closed down today you're listening to n.p.r. . With the announcement by the longest serving u.s. Congressman he is stepping down amid sexual harassment allegations there are calls for Michigan's governor to hold a special election to fill John Conyers seat the 88 year old Democrat today submitted his decision to resign indorsing his son John Conyers the 3rd for the congressional seat which he held for nearly 53 years Conyers is the highest ranking member of Congress to be brought down by recent sexual misconduct allegations he founding member of the Congressional Black Caucus Conyers with Herman Cain amid comes amid a drumbeat of allegations that he groped her sexually harassed women to work for him French writer and intellectual gendarme officer Sean has died at the age of 92 N.P.R.'s Eleanor Beardsley reports there's an outpouring of affection for him in France people pay homage to his life and works Joel and almost all wrote more than 40 novels and was a member of the esteemed French Academy of Arts and Letters but far from being an aloof intellectual domus always remembered for his charm good humor and love of life he wrote his 1st novel at the age of 30 Love is a pleasure became an instant success later domiciles said he wrote it only to impress a girl and that it didn't work domicile was not only a man of letters but of the press he became director of national newspaper Le Figaro in the 1970 s. President Emmanuel McCall said Alma saw embodied the best of the French spirit a mix of unique intelligence elegance and mischief said Michael who knew never to take him self seriously Eleanor Beardsley n.p.r. News Paris girl futures prices move modestly lower the price of oil was up $50.00 or down $0.15 a barrel today selling at $5762.00 in New York I'm Jack Speer n.p.r. News in Washington support for n.p.r. Comes from n.p.r. Stations other contributors include Log Me and makers of Go To Meeting a collaborative meeting platform committed to helping get work done in today's modern workforce learn more head Go To Meeting dot com and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Here's your high plains weather forecast for Northwest the north central Kansas tonight it will be mostly clear with lows not pertains to mid twenty's sunny and windy tomorrow with highs not for thirty's to mid forty's for southwest Kansas southeast Colorado tonight it'll be clear with lows in the mid teens lower twenty's sunny and breezy tomorrow with highs in the lower forty's in for the Panhandle tonight it'll be clear to partly cloudy with lows in the lower to mid twenty's sunny and breezy tomorrow with highs in the mid forty's this is All Things Considered from n.p.r. News I'm Kelly McEvers in Culver City California and I'm Mary Louise Kelly in Washington the Republican National Committee is once again supporting Roy Moore's campaign for Senate in Alabama last than a month after withdrawing support the reversal happened after President Trump indorsed the embattled Republican more has been accused of pursuing relationships with teenaged girls when he was in his thirty's and in 2 cases the accusation is that he sexually assaulted them N.P.R.'s Tamara Keith reports that the arc of the more campaign has a lot in common with what happened after the Access Hollywood Video shocked last year's presidential campaign Yeah Access Hollywood video was recorded in 2005 when Donald Trump was a reality t.v. Star but it came out just a month before Election Day 2016 automatically Jack of the people I just want to salute them for the mag It was just along the way when you're inside that let's do it you can do anything but by the end of the next day 30 prominent Republicans had called for Trump to step aside including now former Congressman Jason Chaffetz you know my wife and I we have a we have a 15 year old daughter and if I can't look her in the eye. And hell are the things I can adore says 1st house speaker Paul Ryan disinvited Trump from a rally he was holding for Republican candidates in Wisconsin let me join up by saying there is a bit of an elephant in the room. There is a troubling situation in Syria in the coming days more than a dozen women would come forward to accuse Trump of inappropriate behavior he denied it all much like Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore who similarly faced calls to get out of the race they should step aside That was Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in mid November shortly after the accusations against Moore 1st emerged I believe a woman yes around that time President Trump through press secretary Sarah Sanders even says Moore should get out of the race though with a qualification he said if the allegations are true he should step aside that was nearly a month ago more didn't begin to pressure to drop out Republicans didn't mount a write in campaign and this was President Trump today indorsing more I think you're going to do very well we don't want to have a liberal Democrat in Alabama believe me we want to show voters we want stopping crime we want to have the things that we represent if that sort of reasoning sounds familiar that's because it is here was then Congressman Chaffetz on c.n.n. Less than a month after withdrawing his endorsement of trump the reality is there's only 2 people that might become the president Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump That's the vote that facing us and and that's why I'm voting for Donald Trump shortly before Election Day 2016 Paul Ryan who had distanced himself from Trump announced that he had voted early for him and encouraged his fellow Republicans to quote come home Laura Brown at George Washington University has studied political scandals voters care about character but they really can only afford to care about character in a primary election. Because in general elections they're focused on issues which is why in the Alabama race President Trump and Roy Moore are putting so much emphasis on things like abortion and the 2nd Amendment and telling voters in the Republican majority state that they face the binary choice even Mitch McConnell who had called on more to drop out is now saying simply that the voters will decide Tamara Keith n.p.r. News Washington we just heard this but it's worth repeating more than a dozen women have come forward with allegations against Donald Trump allegations ranging from harassment to assault many of them told their stories during the campaign and watched him become president anyway and I also heard him say that these stories are lies and non-sense. We wondered what it's like to be one of these women so we reached out to Jessica Leeds she was sitting next to Donald Trump on the plane in the early eighty's and she says he groped her and tried to put his hand up her skirt I started telling my story to everybody who would stand to listen for it when I realized Trump was serious about running for president and so that was about a year before the election and I told everybody I told friends I told neighbors I told my book club I told anybody who would listen for it and for the most part everybody believe me there were times when I would get a look or something like that that I knew that they really didn't believe me and I understood that because it had happened so long ago but what transpired was during the debates when Anderson Cooper asked Trump point blank Have you ever Girl to Woman and he tried to talk about Syria hated but it's locker room talk and it's one of those things I will knock the hell out of ISIS were good but Anderson didn't let him off the hook he reacts the question things just for the record though are you saying that what you said on the bus 11 years ago that you did not actually women without consent or grow up women without and I have great respect for women and Trump said no I don't live in a have respect for me and I will tell you No I have not well I found myself on my feet yelling at the t.v. Set which was very useful and I didn't sleep that night at all and I got up the next morning and my e-mail was just lit up like a Christmas tree from all my friends and acquaintances saying you gotta say something you've got to say something and I sat down and I fired off a letter I came home after about 2 hours and the New York Times where it's at my letter was on the phone and. And then started a day that was somewhat bizarre for a person who's not in the world of fame and then they printed the story with my picture on the front page of The Times now for a kid from Missouri this was holy cow this was really something else so it's all been quite fascinating and and illuminating and sad all of the same time and we're still it didn't change anything you know why sad I mean did you think at the time that something was going to come of it no no no I really didn't so when the other women came forward and I'd like to point out the stories that the other women of told are carbon copies of each other and we've had no contact with each other so you know it's his m.o. And I think that speaks volumes to the authenticity of their experience you since talked to some of the other women have come forward with allegations against President Trump like you said you weren't in contact at the time but not since get to tell us about that well following a news story there were 2 e-mails that were forwarded to me by the times and then it was just about 2 weeks ago or a week ago one of the other ladies called me and we talked for a while but that's been one of the conversations like it is expressing their disappointment that by exposing themselves they've run into a lot of criticism from their community and their families and that been your experience I live in a New York bubble when it 1st happened people came up to meet women for the most part but a few men and they all said. The sexing thing it was really kind of spooky they said thank you and your so brave Well I never felt any fear so feeling brave just doesn't cover but it was as I said I felt sad and disappointed that it didn't affect the election. After the election of course where the reports about Harvey Weinstein and all of the reports that followed I mean some people are calling it a moment but it feels a lot bigger than a moment what do you think about it as as the stories come out you know it seems like almost every day there's was a news story of allegations against powerful man and a powerful man resigning or being fired. I have sort of come to conclusion that any man who holds a job of importance or authority a lot of them are waking up at 4 o'clock in the morning wondering when she was going to drop on them but some of these men have a very strong capacity to. Not ignore but compartmentalize what they've done and why they've done it if I can make an observation here during this year right at the beginning there were people would come up to me with their stories and then after the wind seeing a story broke it started again with people coming up to me recognizing me and talking to me and another conclusion I've come to is that women or the victim here remember in great detail even if they were 8 years old. They remember when it happened who happened with how they got out of it and they all went home or got out and never told anybody and a lot of them talked about taking their clothes and strong in the way. And I just don't think that men have any comprehension of the psychological damage that they're doing when they're just scratching an itch. And just you know you talked about early on yelling at the t.v. Yes And you know I just makes me wonder has there been any time throughout this process where you felt like that again you know when the Harvey Weinstein story broke or even recently when the president said maybe it wasn't me on the Access Hollywood tape I get mad every time I listen to somebody story and as I said I've heard a lot of stories I've done a lot of talking I've been interviewed by a lot of people and thought halfway through the media scrum I realized that it was all about me so I started taking the time to ask the reporter well you know what's your story and everybody's got a story and that just gives me cold chills so I'm not an angry person but this is makes me angry just the leads a recently retired stockbroker in New York City thanks again you're welcome. You're listening to All Things Considered from n.p.r. News. It's 18 minutes after the hour your tuned into our afternoon newsmagazine All Things Considered on member supported High Plains Public Radio coming up at 630 on a p.p.r. Your evening weather forecast and on 9490 connect marketplace Public Radio offers a diverse mix of music news and entertainment that gives us a bigger picture of the world that we live in High Plains Public Radio in touch with the world at home on the high plains in regional news lawmakers trying to comply with the Kansas Supreme Court order to beat funding for public schools got a reality check on Monday so you'll be Jepson from the campus news service has more current budget projections indicate Kansas would need to cut hundreds of millions of dollars in spending and 2020 and following years to make ends meet and stop diverting money from the state's pension system and highways and that forecast doesn't include increases to school funding Auto a Republican plane finches China House and Senate panel focused on responding to the Supreme Court ruling he isn't saying whether he thinks Kansas will need to hike taxes I don't know that's not really up to me that's up to the legislature as a whole but it would seem from the opinion. That the court is demanding some additional expenditure a fun song clear how much of an increase will be needed to satisfy the court plaintiffs suing the state argued for several $100000000.00 for the Kansas news service I'm silly Opus just isn't this time of year there's a lot of recap about the big stories of 2017 but with January days away h.p. P.r. Is focused on preparing for another year of serving you and your community no one knows what stories will stand out but rest assured Public Radio will be ready at a moment's notice finish your year off strong with a tax deductible year into donation at h p p r dot org. Support for n.p.r. Comes from this station and for math Naisi m. And its 800 franchise math learning centers who believe that a fundamental understanding of math can boost a child's success in school and in life any book is available at math Naisi in dot com slash n.p.r. And from Zoom Zoom offers cloud video conferencing online meetings and a video conference room solution and one platform featuring digital video and audio with screen sharing account registration and more at Zoom dot us. From n.p.r. News this is All Things Considered I'm telling the governors and I married a raise Kelly beautiful shore natural medicine at its pinnacle that is how Dr Juliano Testa described the recent birth of a baby boy to a mother who underwent a uterus transplant last year to says leading a clinical trial at the Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas it involves 10 women who also suffer from what is known as absolute uterine infertility this was the 1st such birth here in the u.s. In Sweden 8 babies have been born to mothers who have had uterine transplants today we reached oxytocin and his colleague Dr Lisa Johannes on who was part of the Swedish team and is now at Baylor I began by asking Dr Tessa how they connected with the women in their study while they applied to it was an application process for it we went through their medical history went through their psychological story and then we all sat on the table and we thought of those we are the best candidates for the initiation of the trial and the idea just so that people understand the surgery the idea is that once the mother had the baby the uterus would then be removed is that correct Well that's correct and disability of it because that means that the medication needed can be withdrawn the immune suppression drugs that a mother would have to take to keep her body from rejecting Yes those are good drugs because they do the job they have to do but sometimes the common side effects and so the sooner you'll get them out the better it is just you hand it you've been through this and Sweden we mentioned 8 babies have been born there to mothers with transplant how complicated the procedures and I think we can compare to a hysterectomy when it comes to the donor surgery probably a little bit more complicated than simply struck me takes about 5 hours for the recipient the transportation cells takes by. 5 hours so it's fairly complicated and then after you have the transplant you don't have immediate success 1st you have to know that the uterus is staying with their sick and then you have to have the period coming show needs viable and you have to intone the embryo and then finally you have a pregnancy and then you have to wait for the 9 months before you have a baby so they actually successes one and a half years down the line and that's very rare in transplant and we should mention Dr tester that some of the other women who have been involved in this trial have had transplants that were unsuccessful unfortunately So what lessons did you learn from those well we learned a lot of number one emotional lessons. They trusted us for doing something that for them was of extreme value we were not able to deliver so that was a big humbling lesson in itself and then all of their scientific information we got we were able to apply to the woman who came afterwards and now we're successful so I really feel for her for the 1st one. I wonder is it possible with a procedure that is so experimental so risky is it possible to get informed consent from women who are who desperately want to have a baby. I doubt that it is possible for laypeople to have informed consent about the anything with doing my thing if you ask me this is even more complicated because we are going to unchartered waters we try to be as precise as open as possible we try to use day simplistic terms we can think about and then we leave it to the autonomy of the patients in this case this woman to make the decisions I think we really refraining from any pressure at all of any kind of from our site but they know of course they in the pressure of this woman to have a child I think drove the entire process and this is an idea and. Dr Jonathan what about the risk to the donor there's a woman who would be considering having her uterus transplanted out of her body given to another woman in a highly experimental procedure and one that isn't needed for the purposes of saving a life it's quite different here in the u.s. And it was from Sweden because we were immediately contacted by I think 90 women who wanted to donate their usurers to a person they never met and to a person they never were supposed to meet so they really 91 and reached out and you know they wanted to participate of Troi stick donors meaning that they don't know the recipient so there was a great interest from from women to donate the uterus and it's always risks associated with surgery but if the surgery goes well you won't have any long term effects by removing the uterus in this world women that had their own children already inform the family and were happy with that about the risk for I for the baby I mean what possible complications you have to consider so in that sense we know a lot and that's maybe the only aspect of this that we actually have a good knowledge of because females have been given birth to baby self to kidney and liver transplants for many many years only means oppressive drugs so we know what the effect on you suppress of drugs has gone on pregnancies on babies and on recipients and we know also which Minnes person dogs you should not take joy in pregnancy. Doctor test another question for you which is this women and families do have other options to have a baby about adoption using a surrogate mother I wonder how you think about that about committing scarce medical resources to solving a problem that does have other solutions true. I don't have a very intelligent answer to this question I just understood the time of this process that I myself had to completely underestimated the wish of an evil minded. I've met those far to have their own child this woman are willing to undergo 3 surgeries at the least the transplant itself the delivery must be done by c. Section and then there's a moral of the uterus this is not there's more talk and this is this is a big deal and when people are willing to go through this and other House Monday I have to say a great man as well while there is something deep that is driving this and I think it's important to say also that this doesn't exclude surrogacy or adoption we were just offering this as a complement present so for some people the surrogacy or the adoption or just living a child free life will be perfect but for some people they might want to go through a uterus transplant and we can offer that you're adding this to a menu of options which raises the cost question this is not a cheap procedure to go through right now as part of a clinical trial this is being paid for by research funds I gather it is not clear that that people's insurers are going to pay for this going forward which means you may have perfect for this technique and women may desperately want it and may not be able to afford it that's absolutely true but this is true also for infertility a large in this country I doubt that the insurance will ever pay for something like this but I know there's some families with really go to extremes to be able to have this experience what is the cost to me is going to be the same with the costs that we face today for the kidney transplant I would say are under 20250000 dollars. Dr Jonathan you've delivered a lot of babies can you describe what this one was like watching this this baby boy be born and just this was a very very special moment when when we had that boy and he screened immediacy when he came out of the blue and if we can be healthy enough to to show the parents how beautiful he was and you can just see pure joy and tears in their eyes I think we all got tears in our eyes too there were 30 people in the room and everyone was just quiet. Dr Johnson and Dr testis thank you thank you so welcome thank you that's Dr Lisa Johannes and Dr Juliano Testa a veil or Medical Center in Dallas. This is n.p.r. News. Hello I'm Linda one next time on the city our Connectors celebrated actor Tom Hanks shares his 1st election is on on the. Tele want to say that of that next time on video and the next. Wednesday morning at one central. Do you enjoy listening to loud promotional advertising on commercial radio of course not that's one of the many reasons you listen to h.p. P.r. Underwriting highlights your business without the hype more at h.p. P.r. Dot org It's 630 Central time your listening to member supported High Plains Public Radio coming up in a moment news from National Public Radio and then we'll take a look at this evening's weather. It's All Things Considered from n.p.r. News I'm Mary Louise Kelly and I'm telling the campers coming up the Supreme Court considers the case of the Colorado Baker who refused to make a cake for a same sex wedding it's hard to believe that the government. My family my employer and violating my relationship with God 1st news. Live from n.p.r. News in Culver City California I'm to Wayne Brown a series of fast moving wind driven wildfires are racing through here through southern California burning homes closing highways and forcing tens of thousands of people to evacuate N.P.R.'s Nathan Rott reports Forecasters are warning more wind isn't store firefighters and emergency workers are bracing for a multi-day wind event here in Southern California strong Santa Ana winds have fueled at least 3 destructive wildfires north of Los Angeles the largest destroying the hospital those winds are expected to continue for the next 3 days making the job difficult for firefighters on the ground N.P.R.'s Nathan Rott Palestinian officials say President Trump has told the Palestinian Authority leader he intends to move the u.s. Embassy and Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem such a move would happen decades of u.s. Policy as N.P.R.'s Daniel Estrin reports the official Palestinian news agency Wafa says chump phone Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and quote notified him of his intention to move the u.s. Embassy to Jerusalem a Palestinian official said Trump didn't say when such a move would happen Abbas a spokesman says the Boss told Trump such a move would endangered the peace process with Israel and endanger security and stability in the Mideast and in the world Israel and the Palestinians have competing claims to Jerusalem and no country has its embassy in the city to avoid taking sides longstanding u.s. Policy has been that the status of Jerusalem should be resolved in peace talks the White House says Trump will make an announcement soon about the embassy Daniel Estrin n.p.r. News Jerusalem one of the most valuable companies in the world Apple will have to pay Ireland up to $15000000000.00 in back taxes covering 2 years European Commission had ordered Ireland to collect the money after concluding $2.00 Irish tax rulings allowed Apple to pay less tax than other businesses giving the Silicon Valley based company an unfair advantage you're listening to n.p.r. . On Capitol Hill the Senate has approved Kiersten Nielson as secretary of homeland security and P.R.'s Brian Naylor reports she will replace her former boss who moved over to become White House chief of staff Nielsen is 45 and has most recently been deputy White House chief of staff she'll be the 1st homeland security secretary with previous experience at the sprawling agency having worked at the t.s.a. She also served as a merchant see preparedness and disaster management advisor in the George w. Bush White House during Hurricane Katrina Democrats had wanted a 2nd confirmation hearing after reports that the person Nielson will replace acting secretary Elaine Duke was pressured by the White House to end the program that allowed thousands of Hondurans to remain in the country Nielsen was tested as d h s chief by her current boss former homeland security secretary and now White House chief of staff John Kelly Brian Naylor n.p.r. News Washington You Tube plans to hire an additional $10000.00 workers next year to help curb videos that violate its policies the company's c.e.o. Says some bad actors are exploiting the Google lone service to mislead manipulate or even harm You Tube says it will also use technology to flag problematic videos or comments that show hate speech or harm to children it's already using the technology to remove violent extremist videos stocks finished lower on Wall Street the Dow lost 109 points this is n.p.r. It's 634 central time you were listening to members appointed High Plains Public Radio in touch with the world at home on the high plains your tuned into all things considered your evening weather forecast is coming up the international news scene is more complex than ever before which is why more people are tuning the public radio you rely on n.p.r. For news that matters and n.p.r. Relies on membership contributions at h.p. Like. Here's your high plains weather forecast for Northwest the north central Kansas tonight it'll be mostly clear with lows in the upper teens to mid twenty's sunny and windy tomorrow with highs not for 33 mid forty's for southwest Kansas southeast Colorado tonight it'll be clear with lows in the mid teens but lower twenty's sunny and breezy tomorrow with highs in the lower forty's and for the Panhandle tonight it'll be clear to partly cloudy with lows in the lower to mid twenty's sunny and breezy tomorrow with highs in the mid forty's support for n.p.r. Comes from this station and from empower retirement empower partners with more than 35000 employers and 8000000 individuals as they journeyed to and through retirement learn more at empower my future dot com from American Jewish World Service working together for more than 30 years to build a more just and equitable world learn more at age 8 ws tato argy and from the John s. And James l. Knight Foundation helping n.p.r. Advance journalistic excellence in the digital age. From n.p.r. News this is All Things Considered I'm Mary Louise Kelly and I'm Kelly McEvers one of the most anticipated oral arguments of the year happened today at the u.s. Supreme Court the case of a Colorado Baker who refused to make a wedding cake for 2 men who were about to get married the case could have huge implications for all kinds of businesses the baker says his 1st Amendment right to free speech and religion exempt him from anti-discrimination laws n.p.r. Legal affairs correspondent Nina Totenberg reports. Outside the Supreme Court there was music and theater a couple of women dressed as bakers sang a song make. 6 too much. Television. And there was lots and lots of cheering chanting and it ended. But for all the sounds of the party there were tears on both sides when Baker jacked Phillips and the gay couple he refused to create a cake for emerged after the court session ended Phillips choked up as he described the harassment and difficulties he's faced in his 5 year legal battle against the state of Colorado which has a public accommodations law barring discrimination based on race gender religion and sexual orientation stopping the wedding art has cost us much of our business it's hard to believe that the government is forcing me to choose between providing for my family and my employees and violating my relationship with Dave Mullins And Charlie Craig the gay couple turned away by Phillips came to the microphones to here's Craig irregular David I have an agenda we deal with hopes and dreams we want to grow old together and most importantly whatever are going to be treated equally inside the courtroom all eyes were on Justice Anthony Kennedy the author of all of the court's gay rights decisions including the same sex marriage this is. And at the same time Kennedy a Reagan appointee is also a fierce defender of the 1st Amendment right of free speech and the Free Exercise of Religion those values clash in this case all of that prompted some contradictory questions from Kennedy who's likely to be the deciding vote in the case the argument opens with a series of hypotheticals posed by the courts liberals Jack Phillips contended that he's a cake artist and he best has a 1st Amendment right not to create a cake for a gay wedding but to Colorado he's a retailer and is barred from discriminating based on race gender religion or sexual orientation Justice Ginsburg addressing the question of free speech at the wedding ceremony the speeches of the people who are marrying and perhaps efficient but who else speaks the artist speaks replied Kristin Wagner representing the baker it's as much Mr Phillips speech as it would be the couple's Justice Ginsburg who else then is an artist the person who designs the wedding invitations or the menu Justice Kagan how about the jewelry the hair stylist or the makeup artist No replied the Bakers lawyer none of those are artists why not ask Kagan noting that the makeup artist has the word artists in her name and may be using her creativity and artistry to Jack Phillips artistry is different Wagner insisted contending at one point that a chef is not engaged in speech when she creates food for a wedding or a wedding anniversary but a baker is just as Friar were asking these questions because we want some kind of distinctions that will not undermine every civil rights law from the year 2 laws that have long barred race sex and religious discrimination solicitor general knoll Francisco representing the trumpet ministration agreed under questioning from the justices that there should be no discrimination permitted based on race but hears them to allow some narrow cases of discrimination such as in this case when the discrimination is based on gender or religion or. Sexual orientation just as Candy the problem for you is that so many of these examples do involve speech if you prevail last Kennedy could have Baker put a sign in his window saying we do not bake cakes for gay weddings Yes replied Francisco he could say he does not make custom made cakes for gay weddings I think that's an affront to the gay community said Kennedy but moments later when Frederick yarder the lawyer for the state of Colorado went to the lectern a clearly angered Kennedy pointed to a statement by one of the 7 members of the State Civil Rights Commission who was quoted as saying that freedom of religion used to justify discrimination is a despicable piece of rhetoric suppose said Kennedy that we thought at least one member of the commission based his decision against the baker in this case on the hostility to religion in your judgment sand or your yard or argued that while a baker may refuse to put a message on a wedding cake if he finds it offensive he may not refuse to sell a cake to a gay couple if he sold the same cake to a straight couple that he said is the essence of discrimination based on identity Justice Kennedy didn't buy it tolerance is essential in a free society he told the lawyer and tolerance is most meaningful when it's mutual It seems to me Tenet he added that the state in its position here has been neither tolerant nor respectful of Mr Phillips religious beliefs representing the gay couple in the case lawyer David Cole of the a.c.l.u. Told the justices there's no evidence here that the state was targeting religion pressed by the courts conservatives he reminded them of the late Justice Antonin Scalia as words School Leah a conservative icon once wrote that our broad general law enforced neutrally is constitutional even when it has an incidental effect on some people's religious views otherwise said Scalia we would be in a world in which every man is a law unto. South Nina Totenberg n.p.r. News Washington if you are emigrants are trying to sneak across the southwest border into the u.s. While more undocumented immigrants are being picked up within the u.s. That's the takeaway from statistics released today by the Department of Homeland Security N.P.R.'s John Burnett reports it's the most conclusive look yet at changing immigration arrest patterns under the trunk administration Tom home and the tough talking head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement struck a triumphal tone today the borders under better control now has been 45 years that's a good story the number of people caught by the Border Patrol trying to cross the international divide has declined 25 percent this fiscal year compared to the same period last year meanwhile arrests by ice ages spiked 25 percent nationwide in cities like Dallas and Atlanta immigrant communities are already keenly aware of these trends would be immigrants mainly from Central America and Mexico say they're not intervening illegally because they fear Trump's crackdown and unauthorized immigrants living in the u.s. Say they live in constant threat of deportation newly released data show all kinds of arrests are up immigration officers are detaining more gang members but they're also apprehending more immigrants with no criminal convictions immigrant advocates have criticized the trumpet ministration for rounding up people who simply work here and don't cause problems home and the acting head of I stressed that the vast majority of immigrants who were apprehended had violated the law the most common crime committed by unauthorized immigrants is driving under the influence home and said even if they hadn't been convicted of a crime they had run afoul of civil immigration laws we conduct targeted unfortunate operations every person we arrest we know exactly who we're going to arrest at the press conference in Washington Border Patrol Chief Ron the Telo was asked why his agency needs a massive expensive border wall if illegal crossings are under better control he answered that's only part of the enforcement strategy along with additional agents . Upgraded technology n.p.r. News. You're listening to All Things Considered from n.p.r. News. We're going to hear now about a new report on school vouchers and students with disabilities some states let parents use public funds to enroll their children in private schools for students with disabilities leaving public schools can mean leaving behind important federal protections that many parents don't know this one reason that your programs and private schools often don't tell them here's Cory Turner with the n.p.r. Ed team in public schools federal law makes a few promises to the parents of kids with disabilities and here's the big one their children are guaranteed what's called free and appropriate public education or fate and that includes access to special services and training teachers whenever possible public schools also have to balance those services with access to general education classes but if parents use a voucher to voluntarily move their child to a private school well that right to fate it evaporates because the law applies to public schools set up it that's why it's called a free and appropriate public education Jack you know if he is director of k. 12 education at the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office which released this latest report on the nation's voucher programs it's a problem she says that some parents don't realize they're giving up important rights when they use a voucher and the g.a.o. Found that many private voucher schools don't bother to tell them that now if he and her team reviewed a nationally representative sample of more than 300 private school websites we estimate that no more than half of all schools participating in any type of that year program provide information on their websites about students with disabilities the g.a.o. Also looked at the information parents get directly from voucher programs some according to the review do a good job of walking parents through the basics but many don't even programs designed specifically for kids with disabilities. In fact no week he says 83 percent of kids enrolled in the disability focused voucher programs were either told nothing or given inaccurate information about how their rights would change in a private school the g.a.o. Also interviewed a very small sample of families some said they're happy in private schools and that their kids are getting better care but others admitted being surprised that their child's voucher school could charge them for special services that some teachers weren't well trained or that some schools couldn't accommodate their child's disability you know we may all be presented with kind of a set of facts and make different decisions based on those facts that I think being able to make good decisions is predicated on having good clear consistent accurate information on which to base those decisions that's why at the end of this new report the g.a.o. Recommends that Congress consider requiring states to be clearer with parents about their rights the Geos message is not that school choice is inherently bad but that parents deserve to know what they're choosing Cory Turner n.p.r. News Washington. All things considered is a production of n.p.r. News which is solely responsible for its content transcripts for the stories you hear today are available for free tomorrow when you visit the story page on npr dot org listeners like you make this and other programs possible Thanks for supporting Public Radio this is n.p.r. . You're listening to All Things Considered from n.p.r. News. Support comes from Holiday Inn Express Amarillo South located off I 27 in Hollywood Road offering breakfast wife and meeting rooms more at Holiday Inn Express dot com It's 648 Central time this is High Plains Public Radio in touch with the world home on the high points you've been listening to our afternoon newsmagazine All Things Considered coming up area news Hi I'm barred Blevins and on behalf of the underwriting team at h.p. P.r. I'd like to take this opportunity to say a sincere and heartfelt thank you to the businesses who supported h.p. P.r. Issue here. We're looking forward to a successful 2018 and wish you every success as well Happy holidays. And rigid on in Colorado despite its economic growth is among the least prepared states in the country for a recession the Denver Post reports a new analysis from Moody's Analytics found that the state's rainy day fund of 6 $113000000.00 is less than half the money needed for even a moderate economic downturn for this and other reasons Colorado is in the 6th worst shape of any u.s. State under the Moody's analysis Hickenlooper has asked lawmakers to sock more money away next year in to steadily increase the statutory reserve requirement for the future but the increasing Can Libor is calling for only raises the required reserves from $6.00 and a half to 7 percent and Moody's says that number should be nearer to the 15 percent mark states typically need about 10 percent of their general funding spending in reserves Miti says the new order to withstand a moderate downturn but Colorado is more susceptible to economic shocks partly due to a reliance on volatile sources of revenue like oil and gas for High Plains Public Radio I mean to hastily. From n.p.r. News this is All Things Considered I'm Kelly McEvers And I'm Mary Louise Kelly let's catch up on how to major television networks are grappling with scandal in their news divisions at a.b.c. News a star reporter botched a story about the federal investigation of President Trump's inner circle and at n.b.c. News the backlash goes on over that network handling of the Matt Lauer sexual harassment scandal n.p.r. Media correspondent David Folkenflik has been reporting on both those stories and he joins us from our studios in New York a David Murray Lewis start with a.b.c. This is a story from Brian Ross he is A.B.C.'s chief investigative reporter he broke big news on Friday and then they had to walk it back what happened well you'll recall Friday morning was when we news broke that the former national security adviser to President Trump Michael Flynn was accepting the plea deal was about to be indicted Here's what he was of a.b.c. News heard from Brian Ross is a verb by the President Trump as a carer they don't drop their order him directly to make contacts or glasses it's confidential all the as the point now in fact the indictment papers showed that Flynn was prepared to testify that it was as if President elect not as the candidate the Donald Trump directed him to contact the Russians that is very different legal implications and they're very different justifications for Trump having him do that so a serious serious error you know he cited a single source a confidant of General Flynn in doing that and then later as you said had to walk that back a clarification that evening and done as a correction the next day and he has been suspended how does a.b.c. News president David Goldstein handling this he came out and talk to staff yesterday morning is that right that's right not only to talk to me read them the riot act he said this was a serious error you know Ross basically sat down and spoke to anchor George Stephanopoulos without having vetted that single source by editors he didn't check with standards and practices do the things that reporters are supposed to do in major news organizations to assure that even if they're lying. Anonymous source that they are getting it right and getting it fairly that especially if they're relying on a single anonymous source they're getting it right getting a fair that's right and Goldman said let's get this right before we get it 1st he said you know the network news was a major failure it offered these president opportunity not only to hit the press generally for fake news but to hit a.b.c. Specifically which he did over the weekend Ok So that is a journalism scandal that they're doing with it a.b.c. Meanwhile over at n.b.c. They're dealing with this Matt Lauer fallouts on top network officials who are holding meetings with staffers there what are they saying they're promising a thorough review they're promising to figure out if as alleged in some press reports that that in fact some people did know of whispers at least of that Matt Lauer had been harassing staffers at n.b.c. Not simply engaging extramarital affairs with people outside the network you know the executives are telling people the process worked in that within 24 hours of receiving a formal complaint last Monday that they fired Lauer and the same time they're acknowledging a failure of the culture that it took the woman 3 years from the incident that occurred at the Winter Olympics in 2014 to report this and that it took a sea change in culture and society at large for her to feel comfortable doing so well as you try to report the story David what are you hearing how is that message being received in the newsroom I think there's a lot of skepticism I think there's a lot of anguish over the fact that this has to be was allowed to occur there now multiple complaints against Lauer the networks largest star in its news division and so I think it's going to take a while to rebuild trust worth noting it has not damaged to do readings they are way up in the wake of the scandal well in the short term an agenda adrenaline jolt I think it's a little bit like people turning their heads to look at a train derailment I think the real question is what happens now or people have to rebuild you know the phrase was this was America's 1st family of today show that was a marketing slogan for a television show for a commercial network I think what remains to be seen is whether they can rebuild the connection with their viewers primarily female as the show goes forward and I want to mention n.b.c. Is why. Of several news organizations including c.b.s. Which we haven't even gotten to it's a conversation for another day and including n.p.r. Several newsrooms dealing with fallout from sexual harassment scandals right now thanks so much you bet n.p.r. Media correspondent David Folkenflik classical music often has a lot in common with folk music. The new me or Lou that is the Danish string quartet group has been rummaging through piles of all the Nordic songs and dances for its latest album and are some hiding has been the thing with scruffy beards and Bohemian looks you could mistake the young men of the Danish string quartet for an indie band from Brooklyn they earned their stripes and numerous awards playing the usual suspects Beethoven and Brahms but it's the old folk tunes from their Nordic homeland which polish their heart strings on the new album lastly. That Waltz is called Water Lily by Norwegian fiddler g.-r. Moon Haugen he represents a shift when full fiddler started testing their tunes in more formal venue's like churches and halls for audiences only listen and then moving. But dancing is the whole point of a song like the drome or the the tune was discovered in an 18th century Danish collection but its roots are Scottish notes a drone underneath the prancing melody is a good stand in for a bagpipes. Their. Songs on this album represent a largely oral tradition created by. Ancient fiddlers and cultivated by a new generation of folk I'm through these some songs go way back like I had a dream is over 700 years old and the oldest known secular tune from the Nordic country the Danish string quartet lead by Lynas Luna tons gourd sultans and doubles on the glockenspiel giving the song a mysterious translucent touch. Or are or are. Like painters the young musician added Rod palette of colors to the old canvases you can hear the shuffling feet of dancers and wheezy squeeze boxes in these arrangements they can be vigorously earthy or evocative and wistful or both at once like the tune a Roma stuff from the village of Santa hope is a dance sure but it dances with a tear in a song. And lastly the Danish musicians carry on Nordic full traditions by refurbishing the old tunes and writing a few new ones but you don't have to be a Scandinavian musicologist to fall in love with this album the music your race is borders between full and classical and suggest that you can kick up your heels or simply sit back and enjoy. The album is Last Leaf by the Danish string quartet reviews by N.P.R.'s Tom Huizenga. And you're listening to All Things Considered from n.p.r. News. Support for n.p.r. Comes from this station and from Focus Features presenting darkest hour starring Gary Oldman as Prime Minister Winston Churchill with Kristin Scott Thomas Ben Mendelsohn and Lily James based on the true story now playing in select theaters from Indeed dot com used by over 3000000 businesses for hiring where business owners and h.r. Professionals can post job openings and then review candidates take notes and schedule interviews from an online dashboard learn more at Indeed dot com and from Cancer Treatment Centers of America which publishes treatment results for 11 types of cancer including quality of life ratings to help Taishan send their caregivers make informed choices about their care learn more at Cancer Center dot com. Either you come across in the fighting you to come explore the world of him or you Balanchine a great choreographer with the most remarkable and delightful taste in music. Box to crush to crush draws from those you did to Richard Rodgers explore the world of George Balanchine the man who more than any other part time single ballet to America to speak on exploring music Monday through Thursday evenings at 8 Central your business or organization can gain greater public awareness and the appreciation of listeners by becoming an underwriter of High Plains Public Radio visit h. P.p.r. .