Meant this morning the White House and Republican allies are dismissing them as a partisan sham N.P.R.'s Amy Held reports the president is facing charges of using the power of his office obstructing Congress White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said President Trump expects to be fully exonerated of the false impeachment charges in a Senate trial question and House Minority leader Kevin McCarthy said House Democrats are just trying to overturn the votes of the Americans who elected Trump but in announcing mean Pietschmann charges Democrat Adam Schiff said Congress could not wait to act because doing so would allow Trump to quote cheat in the next election N.P.R.'s Amy Held former Afghan president Hamid Karzai is arguing Washington helped to fuel corruption in his country by spending hundreds of millions of dollars over the past 2 decades without accountability in an interview cars are responding to findings from a recent release trove of documents Karzai says the documents obtained by The Washington Post confirm what he says were long running complaints on his part about us spending air and water in the Arctic continues to warm faster than the rest of the world that's according to the latest Arctic report card N.P.R.'s Rebecca Herschel reports it was a 2nd year the Bering Sea was nearly ice free since the 1980 s. The Arctic has been warming about twice as fast as the global average That means people who live and work in the Arctic are seeing the effects of climate change in fast forward this year's report dozens of scientific papers that found sea and ice temperatures in and around Alaska have risen dramatically in the last few years permafrost and ice sheets are melting rapidly belching carbon into the atmosphere and causing sea levels to rise this is the 1st year that a chapter by Indigenous community leaders in Alaska was included in a report the essay focused on how loss of sea ice and snow is cutting thousands of people off from food including fish seals and walrus Rebecca her sure n.p.r. News and Wall Street the Dow closed down 27 points today you're listening to n.p.r. . A new report from a national watchdog group says a cut of the tax that coal companies have been paying for a trust fund for sick miners would pass those costs on to taxpayers but Washington based group Taxpayers for Common Sense a report today says that the black lung disability trust funds debt could be at least $15000000000.00 by 2050 there's a reduction in the tax paid by the companies the excise tax on mine coal expired at the beginning of this year which is cut the amount of coal companies pay into it $1.00 of the biggest for profit universities in the u.s. Is paying a record fine to the Federal Trade Commission and N.P.R.'s On your comments reports the school is accused of misleading students about jobs the universities scenics once claimed nearly half a 1000000 students but enrollment has fallen sharply in the last decade amid several investigations lawsuits and controversies in this complaint the f.t.c. Says the university falsely advertise relationships with employers like Microsoft Twitter Adobe and Yahoo and its pacifically targeted Hispanics and military veterans the university and its parent company apology cation group will pay 50000000 dollars in cash in cancel $141000000.00 in debts owed by its students but they do not admit wrongdoing in the settlements and in the statement the company emphasized this ad campaign happened under prior ownership on the chemist's n.p.r. News put a Representative Ted Yoho is announced he is retiring the Republican lawmaker citing the fact he's never intended to remain in Congress for more than 8 years even as Democrats are seizing on as a sign of weakening g.o.p. Morale you know who is a Tea Party member who's fiercely supported Donald Trump I'm Jack Speer n.p.r. News support for n.p.r. Comes from n.p.r. Stations other contributors include Life Lock reminding consumers that identity theft can happen any time of year including the holidays more at life like dot com slash n.p.r. And the listeners who support this in p.r. Station. Support for Jefferson Public Radio comes from our listeners and from the Oregon Cultural Trust together the Oregon Cultural Trust and Oregonians support over $1400.00 cultural non-profits in the state including the libraries historical societies youth art programs and preservation projects that are the heart of every community the Oregon Cultural Trust offering innovative ways to double the impact of Oregonians cultural giving by December 31st more at Cultural Trust. Shapiro it's hard to imagine Washington more sharply divided than it is today at 9 am House Democrats announced they'd vote on impeaching President Trump based on 2 articles Judiciary Committee chairman Gerry nowther described the 1st charge abuse of power that is exactly what President Trump did when he solicited and pressured Ukraine to interfere in our 2020 presidential election thus damaging our national security undermining the integrity of the next election and violating his oath to the American people He then described the 2nd charge obstruction of Congress and when he was caught when the house investigated and opened an impeachment inquiry president trumping gauged in unprecedented categorical and indiscriminate defiance of the impeachment inquiry the president tweeted his response in all caps which aren't minutes later a different picture of Washington emerged House Democrats handed trump a big legislative win Speaker Nancy Pelosi said her party would support a trade deal the trumpet ministration negotiated with Mexico and Canada we are so proud of the distance that we have come from where we started with the administration on this legislation as a dictionary for America's workers it's one that we take great pride in advancing So 2 very different images of Congress in just about an hour to make sense of it we're joined by N.P.R.'s Sue Davis on Capitol Hill hi there Sue and Mara Liasson here in the studio welcome back Hi there I want to start with you Sue Democrats 1st announcer going to impeach the president and then pretty shortly after announced this policy as it's being described victory what is the thinking behind this even a Anyone who knows Nancy Pelosi today does not come as a surprise she has a long record of working with Republican presidents she doesn't agree with and with Republicans across the aisle she doesn't agree with she not a 0 sum politician the idea that if. Trump is winning Democrats are losing doesn't sell with her and I think of course there are some Democrats who think it's politically insane to give Trump a policy victory that could help them win reelection but Pulis you know a lot of Democrats I talked today say that if it's good for the country of voters like it'll be good for Democrats to especially in the place where the House majority will be won or lost tomorrow we know the White House has long wanted this update or replacement of NAFTA How did they react to it as essentially a political win the White House is pretty happy about this they kind of did a dance in the end zone the big statement came from Vice President Mike Pence who's been traveling to battleground states talking up the stray deal he didn't celebrated as a win win or a bipartisan victory instead he said that the Democrats have finally acquiesced to accept this trade deal and even Nancy Pelosi went on to say quote We ate his lunch meaning you know his she got the better of the president in these negotiations so voters a year ago sent divided government to Washington they wanted checks and balances but they also wanted the 2 parties to work together and finally a year later they got it is who we've also heard from voters that they worry Congress isn't getting anything done so are Democrats with the timing in this trade deal is essential it looks like they're sensitive to that criticism Oh for sure I mean if you think about the timing of this not just along with the impeachment in the politics of that but it's coming to the end of the 1st year of the Democratic majority and there was a lot of anxiety among Democrats especially the freshmen in swing seats about what their majority has accomplished what are they going to go home and tell their constituents so us in Ca is a huge victory for that most of them supported overwhelmingly Here's one of them Iowa freshman's an e.x.e. This is what she had to say I couldn't go anywhere without it being said to me we've got to pass u.s.m.c. Day so I'm very glad that today came you know because this is the most important thing for our state at this moment and lowering the cost of prescription drugs so this is a great couple of weeks we've got going here to hit the 2 big issues that Iowans are facing but what does this. Say about maybe where the power is within the Democratic Party at this point Well it's certainly not with the liberal wing despite what Trump and other Republicans so often say you know us m.c.a. And the fact that the articles of impeachment are really rather narrow they don't include things like the Miller report in which more liberal lawmakers would like our wins for the moderate wing of the party and the liberal wing gets that I talked to New York congresswoman Alexander Ocasio Cortez today and here's what she said about the dynamic personally identify not thrilled with how this has developed but I understand that there are more conservative members of the party that they want to communicate to their constituents that we are. Quote unquote doing something woll impeachment is happening so even in a grudging way a o.c. Seems to acknowledge that maybe flipping a red district blue is as important or maybe even more important than having a 1000000 Twitter followers you know the same thing kind of the resurgence of the moderates is also happening on the Democratic primary campaign trail I also want to ask you about the White House reaction to the articles of impeachment I mean obviously I mentioned the tweet but what else are you hearing Well we've heard we heard from the White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham she talked about how these articles of impeachment are baseless she expects the president to be fully exonerated in the Senate here's what she said on Fox News today perhaps Speaker Pelosi had to make a deal with her dams I think a lot of her her or her party is having problems in their own districts and they have now they just have the 2 that they went with one of them is obstruction of Congress which is code for he didn't play nice with us and you guys didn't participate in Congress so now we're going to go ahead and hit you with obstruction of Congress that's silly Well that's the White House spin but there were 2 very different articles with 2 very different messages one the Democrats hope people understand which is Americans didn't get to decide the America the election by themselves without for an inflow. With which the president invited and the other one which they do feel is much more important and Stephanie Gresham referred to that they felt constitutionally compelled to pursue this obstruction charge because as you heard Representative Nablas say the president in an unprecedented categorical indiscriminate way defied congressional oversight refused to turn over witnesses and documents and they feel in the long run that's what could have the most profound consequences if they don't assert their article one oversight authority over the president and the executive branch That's N.P.R.'s Mara Liasson thank you thank you and N.P.R.'s Sue Davis up on Capitol Hill thank you for your reporting you're so welcome a lawsuit filed today against the University of California system seeks to eliminate s.a.t. And a.c.t test score requirements from admission n.p.r. 1st reported this complaint which argues that these tests are biased and provide no meaningful information about a student's ability to succeed in school and are therefore illegal N.P.R.'s Alyson ad warning reports the case affecting so many schools could have far reaching implications if you applied to college you know how important these tests can be they're essentially gate keepers I believe my future is at stake Fatima Martinez is a senior in Los Angeles and she knows there's a lot riding on her S.A.T.'s score the score that I will receive will determine what colleges I can get into including private and u.c. Schools with limited time is how to answer all the questions correctly that's Rayna high school senior from Santa Ana California she gets super anxious before tests but she doesn't test super well but her high school grades are great and she's already taking classes at a community college I feel like the exam results may not really represent my potential and college readiness as a student plaintiffs in the lawsuit filed today agree they argue that these tests are far more likely to predict family income than if you're ready for college the evidence that we are based. The lawsuit on is not in dispute that's attorney Mark Rosenberg of the pro bono firm Public Counsel there representing students and a collection of advocacy groups in this lawsuit what the s.a.t. In the a.c.t are doing are exacerbating inequities in the public school system and keeping out so he said tens of thousands of deserving students every admission cycle the testing companies behind the on the s.a.t. Maintain the tests aren't biased but nevertheless more and more schools are going test optional just this year about 50 colleges announced the tests would be required in admissions the University of California has long debated this issue nearly 50 years ago they played a crucial role in the expansion of the s.a.t. As a national standard but even back then there were concerns about limiting access and just last year the president of the u.c. System Janet Napolitano ordered a faculty taskforce to study the use of standardized tests in admissions leaders within the u.c. System have come out in favor of dropping the tests Here's Carol Crist the chancellor at u.c. Berkeley speaking at an event last month I'm very much in favor of doing away with the S.A.T.'s requirement for application Chris comments don't signify policy and a spokesperson for an apology said the u.c. System doesn't plan to make any decisions until their faculty task force issues a report but the u.c. System serves more than 2 $150000.00 students so its size makes whatever it does important for the rest of the country if the University of California were to go ahead and drop the testing requirements it would have profound and widespread effect in the college admissions arena that's Bob Schieffer director of the National Center for Fair and Open Testing and advocacy organization that's long been critical of standardized testing but going s.a.t. Or optional may not eliminate the power of the tests if you have a good score and it's optional that can still help you there probably is no playing field last level that the. Journey to college and higher education Rosenbaum said there are so many other issues in the college process stemming from inequities in k. Through 12 so if you drop the s.a.t. You still gotta figure out other metrics for college admissions that can be tricky high school grades are often a good predictor of success but grade inflation varies widely my hope is that this case plays some part in terms of really having a thoughtful meaningful honest dialogue about who benefits from higher education in this country well the lawsuit be enough to push the University of California system to drop the tests these are task force investigating that question it's expected sometime next spring let's not n.p.r. News. From n.p.r. News support for Jefferson Public Radio comes from our listeners and from Medford State Farm agent Rory Wald Rory Wald is committed to helping people confidently manage the risks of everyday life recover from the unexpected and realize their dreams like a good neighbor State Farm is there. Medford State Farm agent located at 2019. 11 and by phone 541-773-1404. Good evening from j.p. Coming up some of President Trump supporters say facing impeachment will help him win re-election we're seeing people across America reacting to this and they're wanting to stand with the president of the United States you'll hear more from the director of strategic communications for the Trump 2020 campaign in about 15 minutes here on j.p. Are there weather forecast is going to dry out as we get into tomorrow in the southern Oregon Cascades insists Cuse tonight rain showers are likely snow above 5300 feet the low 32 tomorrow in the mountains mostly cloudy with rain and snow likely the high 40 where Rica wait in Mt Shasta rain showers tonight snow above 4700 feet the low 35 tomorrow mostly cloudy with a Chance of rain and snow the high getting up to 50 reading in Red Bluff mostly cloudy rain likely tonight the low 44 tomorrow mostly cloudy chance of rain the high 55 Klamath Basin rain and snow showers tonight the low 34 tomorrow mostly cloudy with a Chance of rain and or snow the high 43 southern Oregon coast showers tonight the low 46 tomorrow Cloudy With a Chance of rain and a high near 50 for northern California coast rain tonight the low 48 tomorrow mostly cloudy with a chance of showers 57 Roseburg in the basin of showers tonight the low 44 tomorrow mostly cloudy chance of rain the high 52 and in the row Valley showers overnight rain showers the low 40 tomorrow mostly cloudy with a Chance of rain the high 53 I'm Jeffrey Riley This is Jay p.r. Station 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 Fidelity Investments taking a personalized approach to helping clients grow preserve and manage their wealth learn more at fidelity dot com slash wealth fidelity brokerage services l.l.c. And from the listeners who support this n.p.r. Station. It's All Things Considered from n.p.r. News I'm Audie Cornish and I'm Ari Shapiro a judge has found Exxon Mobil not liable in a landmark climate change lawsuit the case was a defeat for New York's attorney general who accused the oil giant of defrauding shareholders downplaying the risks that future climate regulation could pose to its investments N.P.R.'s Laura Walmsley has been following the case and she's here in the studio Hi Laurel Hi Ari why did the judge decide in favor of Exxon Mobil Well this case was about securities fraud and for one thing the judge said that New York's attorney general had failed to produce any shareholders who would say they were actually misled the case and no fraud found Tell us more about this case Mark came from well it's a little thorny So stick with me here in this case all the parties involved agreed that Exxon had to use different methods to account for the potential impact of future climate change regulate regulation on its investments and so Exxon employees testified during the case that they used one method to estimate the cost of carbon in the future like in the years 2030 and 2040 assuming that the countries of the world will take certain steps to limit greenhouse gas emissions but internally for specific projects like the oil sands in Alberta Exxon used more specific numbers that were available to estimate the future carbon costs so a public accounting and a private accounting Yes So the attorney general's office argued that using these different methods had resulted in misleading investors but like I said the judge said the attorney general's office had failed to produce enough evidence that this occurred and an analyst for most Fargo he testified said that he had read the climate change documents in question and he didn't think much about them and during this time Exxon stock had actually outperformed suggesting that shareholders weren't hurt by these practices a lot of people are watching this case for what it said about climate change about the energy industry now what the judge has ruled one of the 2 parties saying Well Exxon says that the ruling affirms what it's been saying all along it called the investigation baseless and said that millions of dollars of taxpayer money had been wasted on the case in the ruling was a big blow to New York's attorney general Lateesha James in a statement she said that her office had laid out how Exxon had made materially false and misleading representations to the American people. But she says her office will continue to fight for companies to be held accountable and that she'll keep fighting to end climate change this is the leading edge of a wave of some more lawsuits is just the 2nd one to reach trial but there are so many others pending against Exxon and other fossil fuel companies what does this verdict likely mean for those other cases well we're going to have to see so in the end the judge in this case said it wasn't a climate change lawsuit really but a securities fraud case and because of this loss it may be that other states don't pursue securities fraud charges against Exxon the attorney general of Massachusetts has announced a similar lawsuit against Exxon and I imagine this decision could lead to a shift in that strategy but elsewhere cities and states are pursuing other other lines of of of strategy so they're look they're looking at public nuisance arguments saying that energy companies should be held accountable for their role in climate change and the idea there is to force them to help pay for the mounting impact of climate change that company that different communities are struggling to address and so it may be that those cases are more squarely about climate change rather than about accounting practices and risk assessments. But even in this case the attorney general brought it after gaining access to troves of internal documents and it could be that those documents are able to pay off down the line in other cases N.P.R.'s Laura won't say thanks You're welcome. Now time for All Tech Considered. When it comes to Tech 21000 may go down in history as the year of tick tock and 29000 the app is spawn dance contests even minted hit song. That is. Also set off alarm bells in Washington Valley N.P.R.'s tech correspondent Shannon Bond joins us now to talk about how the video sharing app went from teen fad to cultural juggernaut to possible national security threat to share Welcome back thanks for having me how big is take talk at this point how many users Well it's kind of crazy it's not even a year and a half old and it's been downloaded 1500000000 times so that means something like one in 5 people around the world have put this app on their phones and teenagers and 20 somethings in particular have embraced it I spoke with a tech shocker that's what they're called her name is Alexi So it really exciting so that people are enjoying something that I thought of you know yesterday and I just read a little bit you know about device is a 21 year old student she goes to college in Miami and she makes these videos where she plays different characters this summer she made a parody of the Netflix show stranger things it's called if Latina moms were in Stranger things devise Puerto Rico and she drew on that for the video. You know walk into my house don't be like let me be me do Demogorgon I mean do you know why . You are not going to come into my house all the dirty I'm not doing that video blew up on tech doc and now has more than 330000 followers she says it's really changed her life she has fans now she's actually been stopped in the street by people asking for pictures so what you're describing are like skits I know it's a big place for dance routine. And some pop songs have even been launched there it all seems innocuous why is Congress raising the alarm about Tick-Tock Well what's gotten the attention of lawmakers who owns tick tock and that's a Chinese company called bite dance actually the head of tech talk was supposed to come meet with lawmakers in Washington to talk about some of these concerns this week he's now rescheduled those meetings for after the holidays but when he does come he's probably going to get questions about whether because of the Chinese ownership to talk is censoring content that might upset the Chinese government just last month the band an American user who made a video criticizing China's treatment of weaker Muslims Tick-Tock did apologize and reinstated the video soon after but there are worries about how any Chinese on company handles the data of America Muser because of censorship and surveillance by the Chinese government Here's Republican Senator Josh Holley of Missouri he was talking about tech talk at a hearing in November a company compromised by the Chinese Communist Party knows where your children are knows what they look like with their voices like what they're watching and what they share with each other to talk says it stores all American user data in the u.s. And Singapore not in China and I'm not sure that many tech Docky users in the u.s. Are particularly worried about this yet but political pressure on the company is only going to rise there is reportedly a national security review of by dances ownership of tech Our Silicon Valley leaders worried about the rise of take up what are you hearing from companies there yeah the most alarm out here is coming from Facebook c.e.o. Mark Zuckerberg has really seized on tech talk as a foil so he touts Facebook as an American company with American values versus tech stock as a company that reflects China's interests Here's what he said about that in October why are services like what's up are used by protesters and activists everywhere due to strong encryption privacy protections and to talk the Chinese up growing quickly around the world mentions of these same protests are censored even here in the us is that the Internet the. But you know the interesting thing out is that Facebook is actually trying to copy tech it's testing out these tools that allow people to make tech talk like video as it's open to capture its popularity especially with young people but the bigger picture I think here is that there have been a lot of successful Chinese social media companies but they've all been in China tech talks the 1st Chinese social app that has broken out globally and that scares Facebook and it scares the u.s. Government that's N.P.R.'s Janet thank you thanks for having me support for All Tech Considered comes from c 3 dot a c 3 software enables organizations to use artificial intelligence at enterprise scale solving previously on solvable business problems learn more it seems 3. Hours. This is n.p.r. News. A protest movement that started in the United Kingdom last year is growing fast spreading globally. Amazing citizens from all walks of life are coming together to draw attention to the world's climate crisis on the next Morning Edition from n.p.r. News. Support for j p r comes from our listeners and from the retina and vitreous Center of Southern Oregon Dr William Rodan Dr Christine Gonzales and Dr John Hiatt announced their expansion into North Medford now providing 3 locations to better serve their patients in Ashland Grants Pass and now North Medford retina and vitreous center provides comprehensive retinal care featuring state of the art diagnostics and treatments including lasers and injections for patients with a range of retinal conditions appointments at 541-488-3192. It's All Things Considered from n.p.r. News I'm Ari Shapiro And I'm Audie Cornish people's experience getting sick shapes their view of health insurance for the last 3 years they've had no health care. Because it's too expensive Coming up my visit to New Hampshire talking with Democratic voters about health care access 1st this news. Live from n.p.r. News in Culver City California I'm to Wayne Brown attorney general William Barr is again disputing the Justice Department inspector general's report on the Russian Vesta geisha as N.P.R.'s Brian Lucas tells us Barr is pushing back on the report's finding of no evidence of political bias in the F.B.I.'s decision to open the probe the report found no evidence of political bias on the part of the f.b.i. In an interview with n.b.c. News Barr says the inspector general's findings do not settle the question of potential political bias he just cited the issue of improper motives have you done . I think we have to wait until the investigation and the full investigation is done the full investigation in bars view is the one he tapped veteran prosecutor John Durham to lead to look into the origins of the Russia probe terms investigation is broader than the inspector general's it also has greater investigative powers including the ability to compel testimony Barr says it would be premature to make a final call and potential political bias before Durham's work is complete Brian Lucas n.p.r. News Washington Democrats touted today's final bipartisan agreement on trade between the Us Mexico and Canada for its stronger protections for workers and the environment House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says the revamp pact is a significant improvement over the original North American Free Trade Agreement there's no question of course that this. Is much better than NAFTA but in terms of a. Our work here is infinitely better than what with an initially a pope a proposed Nivea and ministration It's a rare day in Washington where both parties shake hands and call it a victory for the American people the trade agreement was a key priority during President Trump's 2016 campaign stocks finished lightly lower on Wall Street the Dow lost 27 points or 110th of a percent this is n.p.r. News. There's this man Andrew Yang has qualified for the Democratic primary debate next week as N.P.R.'s Jessica Taylor reports Yang will be the 7th presidential candidate on the stage Yang will be joined by former Vice President Joe Biden Mayor people to judge senators Amy Klobuchar sharp Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren and businessman Tom Styer the debate is next Thursday in Los Angeles yet also bring some needed diversity for Democrats to the stage he's Asian American and is likely to be the only non white candidate to debate Democrats feared the event could be without any candidates of color after California senator Camila Harris dropped out last week candidates still have until Thursday at midnight to qualify but to other candidates New Jersey Senator Cory Booker who is black and former cabinet secretary Julio Castro who is Hispanic are unlikely to reach the polling benchmarks set by the Democratic National Committee just to tailor n.p.r. News Washington the University of Phoenix and its parent company will pay the government $50000000.00 to settle allegations of deceptive advertising the deal announced today by the Federal Trade Commission settles a dispute over a 2012 ad campaign that touted partnerships with big tech companies including Microsoft Twitter and Adobe suggesting the school work with those companies to create job opportunities for students but investigators found there was no such agreement. On Wall Street stocks finish slightly lower today the Nasdaq dropped 5 points this is n.p.r. . Hi there this is going to invite you to come along with. Mr seminar and institutions of operating 50 years of bringing superbly talented young musicians to play a pair of concerts at Carnegie Hall in the holiday season you can't go wrong conducting these kids for playing Beethoven and Joshua Bell playing the Brahms concertos are joining us this week are exploring music that's exploring music weeknights at 7 here on Jefferson Public Radio. This is Nancy Mars. And I donated our 2007 Saturn you. Are. More for the radio station. To actually make that sacrifice of your 2nd car and have it do so much more good in your garage visit. This station and from Total Wine and more where in-store teams can recommend a bottle of wine spirit or beer for any occasion shoppers can explore more than 8000 wines 2500 beers and 3000 spirits more it Total Wine dot com From indeed with it skills tests built for employers who want to see a deeper sense of the person behind the resume learn more it indeed dot com slash n.p.r. 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News this is All Things Considered I'm Audie Cornish and I'm Ari Shapiro the House has spoken President Trump abuse the power of his office by conditioning 2 official acts to get Ukraine to help Israel action that was Congressman Adam Schiff standing with Democratic leaders this morning as they announce 2 articles of impeachment against President Trump abuse of power and obstruction of Congress this is the 1st time impeachment proceedings against a president have taken place while the president is running for reelection and so earlier today I spoke with Mark Lotter director of strategic communications for the Trump 2020 campaign thanks for being here oh thanks for having me Trump has called impeachment a dirty filthy disgusting word and I know you've always argued that it helps your campaign but when even the president has expressed dismay about being saddled with this how do you overcome that weight around his neck Well I think anyone would say that no president wants to be impeached and I don't think even the facts that we know today show that there should be an impeachment but if that's what the Democrats want to do if they want to take our country through this then our campaign is going to be prepared to respond in kind and what we have seen is an outpouring of people signing up to volunteer we've seen a influx of new 1st time donors the likes of which we have rarely seen before so we've seen some numbers on that fund raising Can you give us any specific data points I would go off memory here by or if I remember correctly we've had 300000 new donors reach out since Nancy Pelosi announced her impeachment inquiry a few months back and so we're seeing people across America reacting to this and they're coming to this campaign they're wanting to stand with the president of the United States we know that this is not going to go anywhere in the United States Senate and if that's the way the Democrats want to argue the campaign and that's where we'll fight it out so you see this as mobilizing the base do you have any evidence that when it comes to independents and Democrats who shifted to voting for the president in 2016 that impeachment is not going to drive them away Well I think we've seen some of the public polling out there that has shown that impeachment has lowered. The approval for it has dropped among independents especially in many of the battleground states and I think those polls can be debated I want to get too deeply into the numbers here but there are polls that show that a majority of people support impeachment there are polls that show depends on the poll right at the moment but I think what we can say is that most Americans actually just want to see something done and so while it is great news that the that the Congress looks like they're finally going to be talking and passing the u.s. M.c.a. The trade agreement is kind of Mexico and this is the president is going to focus on continuing to create jobs and do the things that the people asked him to do from a campaign standpoint would you like to see the president participate in the House proceedings and potentially an eventual Senate trial Well I don't think about it from a from a campaign standpoint I think about it from a from a White House standpoint what standard that would set for future presidents and I'll trust the folks in the White House the lawyers there to make the best decision on whether he should but my general sense is that when you're in areas such as this you are setting a precedent that may have to be followed by future presidents and that's something that should be considered sure but to make a gross generalization here a campaign is an exercise in salesmanship does it make it easier tougher for you to quote unquote sell the president if he participates or decides not to participate I think the president will participate whether he's standing in the well of the Senate or whether he is talking about a campaign rallies like he will be tonight in Pennsylvania or whether he's going to Michigan next week this is a president who lets the American people know what's on his mind that's not going to change but whether he has to do that in person in the Senate that I'll leave to the lawyers to decide at the heart of this impeachment inquiry is an accusation of leveraging official acts for campaign help from Ukraine investigations into Joe Biden and his son Hunter the president has said that he would accept help from a foreign country in the 2020 campaign as a senior staffer on his reelection effort would you accept an offer of assistance from another country I think what we're talking about here is specially as it relates to Ukraine are allegations of him. Propriety or potential impropriety by the then sitting vice president of the United States regardless of what or whether he has a candidate in 2020 we're talking about conduct that took place while he was vice president and it's something that needs to be looked at even you had the witnesses that were testifying during the intelligence committee that said they raised these red flags let's set aside the Bidens in Ukraine let me just ask you point blank would you accept assistance from a foreign country if it was offered to you that is something that is against federal law and so I'll follow the f.e.c. Guidelines Mark water is director of strategic communications for the Trump 2020 campaign thanks for coming in Thank You The Justice Department's internal watchdog will testify on Capitol Hill tomorrow Inspector General Michael Horowitz will explain the exhaustive report he released yesterday it's more than 400 pages in it he describes what the f.b.i. Did right and what it did wrong as it investigated the 2016 Trump campaign and its links to Russia n.p.r. National security correspondent Greg Myre he looks at the fallout so far the report by Inspector General Michael Horowitz clearly means different things to different people lawyer Steve Harper keeps a comprehensive timeline of the Trump Russia investigation for the online site just security dot org There really should be only one story that comes out of this report and that is what Trump and his defenders have been talking about in terms of a deep state conspiracy was complete nonsense at the f.b.i. Director Christopher Ray says he accepts the sharp criticism leveled against the bureau for its handling of surveillance warrants on a trump campaign adviser Carter page but he was quick to note the report found no evidence of political bias that's not how President Trump sees it this was an overthrow of government His was an attempted overthrow and a lot of people were in on it. And they got caught Trump attacked Ray on Twitter today he said quote With that kind of attitude he will never be able to fix the f.b.i. Which is badly broken. In a 7 years on the job Horowitz has faced a number of explosive issues last year he scolded former f.b.i. Director James Comey for his handling of the Hillary Clinton e-mail controversy in 2016 Horowitz had a lot to deal with in this report been Jamin witness of the Brookings Institution and the lawfare website rattles off the various claims Trump and his supporters have made it's a deep state coup its senior officials are engaged in treason it was in an effort to spy on the Trump camp and the report witness says and they're pretty authoritative and conclusive ashen layers a lot of this garbage to rat still there was no way Horowitz was going to have the last word on the Russian vest a geisha Attorney General William Barr made sure of that by ordering a separate investigation earlier this year this one is being carried out by the u.s. Attorney for Connecticut John Durham and has a broader scope that will also examine the CIA's role bar in Durham were both quick to criticize the findings in the Horowitz report again Steve Harper and Barr essentially says but I don't agree with it they're going to try to keep this ball in the air and now they've pushed it to Durham to see if they can get some traction that way Horowitz appears Wednesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee which is chaired by Republican Lindsey Graham of South Carolina Republicans are certain to focus on the f.b.i. As many missteps surrounding the surveillance warrants on the trunk campaign advisor Carter page he was secretly monitored for almost a year again in German witness I actually think the one person in Trump world who has a bit of a claim of vindication from this report is actually Carter page 6 min and trumps orbit have been convicted or pleaded guilty to crimes during the president's time in office Paige has never been charged with a crime Greg my re n.p.r. News Washington. Listen to the podcast up 1st it's the news you need to start your day. From n.p.r. News. About one mile that's the distance between. Rumors of war sculpture and the Confederate monument sitting along Richmond's historic monument Avenue in Virginia its name for the statues there in tribute to Confederate Veterans Wiley's tribute depicts an African-American man on horseback boldly sporting locks Nike boots and a hoodie it recently stood in Times Square we've had statues that didn't necessarily serve the greater good and thankfully we're starting to address some of that that from the streets of New York but now to Richmond the statues final home we're joined now by Julian hater He's an associate professor at the University of Richmond he previously sat on the Monument Avenue commission Welcome to the program thank you for having me so to begin as we mentioned you once sat on this Monument Avenue commission described to us what the Avenue looks like yeah there are foreign statues of Confederate The former Confederate leaders and the statue of Arthur Ashe Monument Avenue and all of them are by comparison particularly to their their counterparts in the south much bigger Really Yes So what was going on when this national conversation was stirred up about what to do about Confederate monuments so to speak about whether they should be taken down and if they are taken down where that where should they be you know a place like how did that actually play out on the streets in this case Monument Avenue right we saw a kind of muted version of some of the reasons that took place in other places like Charlottesville people for against the morning it's came out and they've been coming out for quite some time and I think ultimately what it represents is this is part that really has become part of a larger national discussion about how to memorialize the past how to reimagine the Confederacy and how to interrogate the lost cause especially when you know the argument for maintaining these kinds of monuments has often been that like this is history we're going to get rid of it would deny that it exists and you can hardly do that in rich. Right I mean it's enter gold to the story of the Confederacy Absolutely I think you know many of the people who stand in defense of the monuments argue that they are war memorials exclusively and they are a part of history the part of history I think is debatable by what they represent I do not believe as a historian that they are war memorials entirely Most of those monuments were erected without a popular mandate in many ways there's much Testaments Jim Crow segregation as they are the last or the Confederacy in the Civil War So when Kenny Wiley the artist behind this new monument says that rumors of war is meant to challenge the legacy of Confederate symbolism and what way do you actually see it doing that I think in some ways if you look if you draw if you drove down Monument Avenue knew nothing of the Civil War. You would think that the South won the war and I think those statues were built that way for a reason the South may have lost the Civil War but in many ways it won the civil peace and the statues are a reminder of the victory over the civil peace and when some ways can be wily rendition of the statues on line even Avenue is a way to turn that narrative on its head. A good in one does that absolutely you can see why I'm asking me but that doesn't stand without context I mean we are having a discussion right now about the lost cause and that's what it's done it's generated momentum to go back and think about the nature in which people told the story of the Civil War and they told the story of slavery and if that statue can get us to a narrative that better explains what caused the Civil War and what happened as a result I think that's a step in the right direction. That's Julian Hayter a historian and associate professor at the University of Richmond thank you for your time Welcome thank you for having me. You're listening to All Things Considered from n.p.r. News. I'm only a forester I hope you'll join us for the next concert from the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center an old French program featuring music of rebel and Deb you see String Quartet played by the Danish string quartet join us for the next broadcast from the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Saturday afternoon at 3 here on j.p. Our. Good evening from j p r coming up the idea of Medicare for all does not appeal to all Americans others think the idea has merit there are whole communities of people who absolutely cannot afford health care because of what the insurance costs are coming up what voters in New Hampshire say about the issue that's in about 2 minutes here on j p r right now a weather forecast for the Southern Oregon Cascades insist cues rain and or snow showers likely the low down to 32 tomorrow in the mountains mostly cloudy with rain likely and possible snow above 5700 the high 40 y. Rica we did Mt Shasta rain and or snow showers tonight the low down to 35 tomorrow mostly cloudy with rain and or snow showers and a high near 50 writing in Red Bluff mostly cloudy rain likely tonight the low 40 for tomorrow mostly cloudy with a Chance of rain the high $55.00 claim of basin showers rain and snow tonight the low 30 for tomorrow mostly cloudy with a Chance of rain and snow the high $43.00 southern Oregon coast showers tonight rain showers the low 46 tomorrow cloudy chance of rain the high 50 for northern California coast rain tonight the low 48 tomorrow mostly cloudy a chance of showers the high 57 Roseburg in the basin showers tonight the low 44 tomorrow mostly cloudy a chance of rain and a high near 52 and in the Rogue Valley rain showers tonight with a low around 40 degrees tomorrow mostly cloudy with a Chance of rain once again and a high near 53 I'm Jeffrey Riley this is j p r. Things Considered I'm Audie Cornish and I'm Ari Shapiro from the time you're born to the time you die most everybody in the u.s. Uses health care so when Democratic presidential candidates debate how much to change America's health care system the stakes can feel personal I'm a little fearful. Of government run system I'm an entrepreneur and I'm under 65 years old so I don't have any health care at all some insurances won't cover them some insurance is well cover half and you know the co-pays are just outstanding these New Hampshire Democrats are just 2 months from casting votes in the 1st primary in the nation I went there to hear how people's 1st hand experience getting sick and being treated shapes their view of this debate and the 1st part of the campaign when she fell into her 3rd diabetic coma she was in Canada the 1st to come as alcohol played a big role. The 3rd one didn't play a big role but I still hadn't recognized that I was a type one diabetic and I needed to take care of myself Canada gives everybody basic coverage under a government provided system people have the option of buying more coverage on the private market it goes to show you know. The differences I mean the United States has superior health care if you have the right insurance and can get access to it she will Morrison understands these systems well because she's worked for an insurance company and before that a hospital where she handled negotiations between doctors and insurers I spent a lot of my time asking these people like yeah yes innocent medically necessary where did you get your medical degree after years of negotiating for others Sheila now has to advocate for her own medical interests and she's taking it seriously she's been sober for 8 years she's getting good treatment for depression and she's committed to monitoring her diabetes but every time she spends hours trying to negotiate her own medical bills one thought keeps going through her head God help the people that don't have the background that I have she marched from her last diabetic coma with some brain damage so she's. Now on disability and gets coverage through Medicare but the program won't cover all the tools that would help her stay healthy she has an insulin pump but she says the sensor to tell her when her blood sugar is low isn't covered so she has to check manually I check my sugar with my. Comment or hear she's supposed to check her levels 8 times a day between the care and the fights with insurance it's a full time job. You know but I've learned acceptance there's nothing I can do about it. Other than vote which I do and when you cast that vote what do you see it as a vote for what are you hoping to do with your vote. Improves my life and the life of people like me for her that will not be a vote for a candidate who wants to eliminate private insurance she's skeptical of giving the government that much power people get insurance through their employer decent insurance through their employer if it's working for them and they're paying 20 bucks a week then go for at Here's the basic divide among Democratic presidential candidates on health care some want to eliminate private insurance and put every American on a program like Medicare Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders fall into that group we're going to do this by saying everyone is covered by Medicare for all for all that means no to the doctor bills no co-payments no out of pocket expenses others want to expand Medicare without forcing everybody to give up private insurance we should build on Obamacare I propose Medicare for all who want a public option nonprofit choice that group includes Joe Biden Pete booted judge and Amy Clo Bush are among other things I also want to thank all of you for being willing to come out in the snow one sign of how important health care is to the primary on a wintry day in Milford New Hampshire Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar showed up at a co-working office and took a handful of questions from voters almost half were on health care even though that isn't the biggest part of her pitch Roger Tilton described leaving the Wall Street job to start his own business the last 3 years I've had no health care at all because it's too expensive He's 59 and told me he's hoping to stay healthy until he can get on Medicare in 6 years if we reduce the age for Medicare from 65 to 55 hey I'm him that's cool I like that he says it seems like a public option is the bare minimum for the Democratic Party right now and he's for it he is lucky not to need care Marcella terminate and her family live in Manchester and for them going without health care isn't an option for the boys they were diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder at age 2 and a half or so from there we've had. Neurology appointments occupational therapy speech therapy Marcellus 11 year old twins each get different treatments for autism her son Vinny is homeschooled and was excited to have visitors not good . For her 2 year when you've been collecting Rudolph stuff yes she and there are more in my bag nice than this is the season to finally bring it all out well I know I keep it out all year you keep it out all year but this is the season that it really feels right yeah Ok Marcello's husband Jason wasn't home because he commutes more than an hour each way to a teaching job in Massachusetts the family told us Massachusetts mandates that insurance companies cover certain autism therapies and New Hampshire does not he could have got a job in New Hampshire and made you know fairly decent money but we still wouldn't have the insurance coverage on the one hand it must feel like a huge inconvenience to have to jump through these hoops on the other hand you must feel really lucky that Massachusetts is so nearby yeah it's been a lifesaver because otherwise we still be in crisis mode trying to figure out you know what the kids need for their services even just doctors' appointments it can be really expensive and we wouldn't be able to cover a mortgage and all of the co-pays that personal experience leads her to conclude that private insurance isn't working and she's ready to get rid of it just knowing the limits that private insurance puts on certain things what do you say to people who are very encouraging of expanding Medicare to cover everyone who wants it but also want to hang on to their own private insurance that they're happy with. I think because the novel I just feel like it's that's coming from a real place of privilege. It's great that you have great insurance and you can afford it and you like what they cover but there are whole communities of people who just absolutely cannot afford even. The basic health care because of what the insurance costs are the disagreements in the Democratic primary make it easy to miss that people of both parties actually agree on something big here a majority of people in the United States really do want to make sure everybody has insurance coverage Lucy Harter is the director of Health Law and Policy at the University of New Hampshire law school she says this is a major shift if Americans generally want everybody to have health care then the big questions are just about how to provide that care so we're going to need to decide together what is healthcare mean what do we intend to cover for everybody what are the choices and how do we want to make the choices about cost and quality do you think this country is up to having that kind of a debate in an honest fact based way it's really hard and the language we use is really hard this is a debate the entire country is having it's just most visible right now among the Democrats running for president the votes the people in New Hampshire cast 2 months from now will be a way for some Americans to start making their preferences known. Later this week will translate some of the complicated jargon in this debate single payer Medicare for all public option explain what it all means. You're listening to All Things Considered from n.p.r. News support for n.p.r. Comes from this station and from little passports their new science junior subscription for kids aims to inspire curiosity designed to bring projects to life while utilizing new science concepts more at little passports dot com 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 zoomed us. And from Sierra Nevada Brewing Company family owned operated and argued over since 1000 a.d. Proud supporter of independent thought whether that's online over the air or in a bottle more at Sierra Nevada dot com. The nonprofit community support of. Christmas on December 22nd and enduring holiday classic Christmas takes audiences on a pilgrimage to a farmhouse in the west of Ireland where friends and families gather for story and song joy and laughter musicians singers and dancers fill the traditional Irish melodies and. Christmas an intimate evening with master storyteller. On December 22nd at 7 30 pm tickets are available at the box office and. Southern Oregon University's Jefferson Public Radio. 88.3. And 91 point one. Democrats have made. The president. Literally a case of. Essentially. Live from n.p.r. News in Washington I'm Jack Speer the Senate is not expected to immediately launch a trial after the House votes on articles of impeachment Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says that will have to wait until after the holidays Here's n.p.r. .