In a country already polarized and unstable in the aftermath of the fall of President Evo Morales nearly a week ago they happened when a crowd of cocoa farmers tried to cross a bridge near the city of culture but they were on their way to a protest against the new government demonstrators say police opened fire on them as they approached the checkpoint the local police chief says farmer shot at his forces morale is who's in Mexico is calling this a massacre there's a furious reaction from his supporters who are demanding an investigation this is piling more pressure on the inexperienced right wing interim president Union e n u s who is tasked with leading Bolivia to new elections that reads n.p.r. News lepers in Paris a planned March by France's yellow there's protesters has been canceled authorities blame violent activists who they say infiltrate marches to fight with police this is n.p.r. News in Washington. President Trump has issued a full pardon for a former u.s. Army commando charged with murder the former Green Berets accused of killing a suspected bomb maker Trump also pardoned a former Army Lieutenant convicted of murder for ordering his men to fire upon 3 Afghans killing 2 the president also ordered a promotion for a decorated Navy Seal convicted of posing with a dead Islamic state captive in Iraq the polls have closed in Sri Lanka's presidential election with results expected tomorrow night at the earliest N.P.R.'s Lauren Frayer has more gunmen opened fire at buses carrying Muslim voters to a polling station in the north of the island activists from the country's Buddhist majority also burned tires in the street police are investigating these incidents as possible efforts to stifle minority votes Sri Lanka's Muslims about 10 percent of the population here have come under attack after Islamised suicide bombers killed more than 250 people last Easter the most famous candidate former Defense Secretary good to buy a Rajapaksa promises to overhaul national security but he's been dogged by allegations of human rights abuses to date back a decade to the end of Sri Lankan civil war his main rival Sajid primadonna promises to protect minorities and help the poor Lauren Frayer n.p.r. News tangle Sri Lanka defensive end Myles Garrett of the Cleveland Browns has been suspended for at least the rest of the regular season and postseason by the n.f.l. For swinging a helmet in striking Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolf in the head I'm Louise Schiavone n.p.r. News Washington. Support for n.p.r. Comes from n.p.r. Stations other contributors include f j c a foundation of donor advised funds working to maximize the impact of charitable giving and to create customized philanthropic solutions learn more at f j c dot org And the any case the foundation. Come celebrate a great year of public radio at the Friends of Calle r e k u a our annual meeting on Tuesday Nov 19th enjoy food from local linen and libations from loonies wine and liquor with station staff members of the friends board and fellow public radio listeners will present the $21000.00 lease field award intellect to new board members the friends of Caleb our annual meeting is at $530.00 Tuesday Nov 19th at you a little rock downtown info at Events dot dot org. This is Weekend Edition from n.p.r. News I'm Scott Simon we have reached the end of the 1st week of public impeachment hearings 3 career public servants ambassador Bill Taylor career diplomat George Kent and Ambassador Maria von of each told their stories to the American public for the 1st time there appear to be 2 channels of u.s. Policy making and implementation one regular and one highly irregular the United States has very clear national interests at stake in Ukraine Ukraine success is very much in our national interest which country's interests are served when the very corrupt behavior we have been criticizing is allowed to prevail it was it was incredibly moving to hear from each and every one of them it was really hard not to be so proud of the State Department career officials and what those people to for this country day in and day out Andrew Weissman also worked for the government in the Department of Justice he was watching the eye of a prosecutor has built a case against members of the Genovese state crime family he helped lead the Enron task force and most recently won that conviction against Paul Mann of Ford as a prosecutor and special counsel Robert Muller's probe I think they helped answer the question of why should the American public. There and the witnesses talked about how if it is true what the Democrats are claiming what the president is doing is completely antithetical to the bipartisan and your view that the rule of law should apply in this country and across the world they saw an unofficial policy being pushed by the president and Giuliani to bring a bogus investigation against a political opponent that's the kind of thing that we fight against in other countries you've also been a defense attorney of course do you believe that Republicans defending the president on the committee made effective argument did they seem to be making the argument that this is all hearsay so I don't think hearsay is a particularly strong argument when the president has blocked the people who have direct access to the president the pump has and Mulvaney you know from testifying so I don't think that comes with good grace to say why don't you have people with more 1st hand information 2nd the president of course is the reconstructed transcript of the call on the 25th so you actually do you have direct evidence and then just logically having prosecuted a number of mob cases what do you think the odds are that these people did all of this but they did it behind the president's back without having the approval of the boss I mean it's just not possible and that kind of environment I do think there was one point that I thought they scored some point on which is talking about how the president of Ukraine didn't just not complain when he was in public but they said even in private he said the call went fine and. I thought that was a good point for the problems to make a logical point that Democrats will have to deal with. Do you think Democrats on the committee have been able to present their story in a compelling way I do but the case if I were sort of framing it for the public is not about Ukraine policy what the president was doing is he wanted a public statement that there was an independent criminal investigation into the Bidens plural so that he could use that in the election here without ever telling the American public that he got that by spending public dollars to get that private calls more public testimony next week notably ambassador Gordon sambal and what are you going to be listening for seo I think between now and then and we are likely to hear more about what happened on the call on the 26th of July that's one day after the infamous telephone call with the White House and of course that could be that could be a game changer and it's certainly undercuts any claim that the Democrats relying on hearsay because it will be the president's own voice and because it happens just one day after the 25th it's really going to give us an insight into what the president was thinking about and what he was trying to accomplish on the 25th Andrew Weissman former federal prosecutor most recently on the special counsel's program and now distinguishing your fellow at n.y.u. Law School thanks so much for being with us thank you so much for inviting me. President Trump has cleared 3 u.s. Servicemen accused or convicted of war crimes he intervened in 3 different cases against the advice at the Pentagon last night granting full pardons to 2 men and reversing the demotion of a 3rd N.P.R.'s Tom Bowman who's been following the story and joins us Tom thanks for being with us you're welcome Scott and please tell us about these 3 men well you have 2 Army officers Lieutenant Clinton Lawrence and major mad Goldstein in a Navy Seal Edward Gallagher Lawrence who was in Afghanistan in 2012 an ordered his soldiers to fire on 3 men on motorcycles to the Afghans were killed in one fled Goldstein also served in Afghanistan and in 2010 was awarded a Silver Star for bravery and he also allegedly killed a bomb maker the Army investigated in said no charges were filed then Goldstein later said on Fox News that he indeed killed the bomb maker and finally Gallagher the Navy Seal was acquitted in Iraq in 2018 with killing a captive enemy fighter with a hunting knife and also threatening to kill fellow Navy SEALs if they told on him and he was acquitted of all charges President Trump has been vocal in their behalf for a while now what did the White House statement say last night well the president praised all 3 again Army Lieutenant Clinton Lawrence Army major medical scene a Navy Seal it would Gallagher he said they were in dangerous areas in Iraq and Afghanistan were looking after their men were decorated and had support of members of Congress and how does that square with what you understand well the White House statement left out many details Scott about what happened in the reaction of their colleagues with major Goldstein that the man he killed was an armed alleged bomb maker and Goldstein buried the body returned with 2 other soldiers to burn the body . With Lieutenant Lawrence that his own soldiers said the unarmed Afghans the unarmed the Afghan was unarmed the Afghans and he ordered the already killed and they posed no imminent threat and they actually testified against him and with Chief Petty Officer Edward gale it or that he was acquitted of charges of killing a civilian but he was demoted by a senior officer and Tom I know you've been talking to sources in the military. Can you tell us what their reactions been so far well frankly discussed in so many words I spoke with 2 retired 4 star officers who said the president has the power to offer clemency and restore a promotion but they said it all undermines the military justice system now we know that defense secretary Mark asked for he told reporters 2 weeks ago that he had a quote robust discussion with the president about the cases about the importance of the military justice system any offered he said facts in my advice and clearly the president in this case just brushed aside the advice and decided he could do this on his own n.p.r. Pentagon correspondent Tom Bowman thanks so much You're welcome Scott. It might be called Revenge of the pinstripes in this week's House Intelligence Committee hearings career diplomat stressed and somber suits who have often been derided as elites insiders the establishment and even the deep state got the chance to tell Americans how they've been nonpartizan representatives of America from administration to administration those parts of their testimony weren't news bombshells but their words are worth noting William Taylor West Point graduate company commander in Vietnam and u.s. Foreign service officer in Brussels Kabul in Baghdad before it was reported u.s. Ambassador to Ukraine under President George w. Bush told the committee how several public servants involved in the Ukraine investigation were born abroad and we in our national security are better for it he said George p. Can't the current Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Asian Affairs who served for 27 years under both Republican and Democratic administrations noted how 2 of his former professors is a big Brzezinski and Henry Kissinger also came to the United States as immigrants those ultimate foreign policy insiders were actually outsiders who fled communist and Nazi oppression and personal experience helped them appreciate America as an outpost of freedom and a forbidding world George can said he sees a lineage between Lafayette from France and Polaski and Sco of Poland who joined the American Revolution to present skin Kissinger now former ambassador Marie Yvonne a bitch and Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vin men on the National Security Council their families are born into countries overtaken by tyrannies they knew from their own lives what has made America different in the world President Trump began to blast Ambassador you have on of it show on Twitter yesterday even as she testified about serving her country and several hardship posts from her 1st tour in Somalia's long civil war to surviving a shooting attack on the u.s. . You know his back is to getting caught in crossfire during an attempted coup in Moscow and most recently making repeated visits to the frontlines in the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine but Marie of on of if his mother grew up in Nazi Germany her father fled the Soviet Union as the ambassador told the House committee even if she was being denounced by the president of the United States my service is an expression of gratitude for all that this country has given my family and me. 'd 'd And you're listening to n.p.r. News. I'm Michel Martin it's Saturday and you know what that means time to take it to the barbershop We'll ask an interesting folks from all walks of life to give us their take on the latest news from that latest blockbuster movie to late night tweets from the White House come in for a shape up on the next All Things Considered from n.p.r. News. Saturday and Sunday afternoon 45 if you know the point one way or. Going on next time on from l b and beyond there were new releases including the Excellent. Recent acquisitions and loser old folklore concert information from l.b. And beyond the sound of. Your listener supported rhythm news station. I'm Louise Schiavone with these headlines the work of House impeachment investigators continues today with a closed door hearing with another witness and the impeachment inquiry into President Trump after 5 straight days of chaos clashes and transportation disruption Hong Kong woke this morning to relative calm train service on some lines was temporarily suspended but has resumed a gay pride parade in the city drew several 100 people Prince Andrew is told the b.b.c. He has no memory of meeting for Ginia Jew Frey the American woman who says she was trafficked by American finance or Jeffrey Epstein and who alleges she was forced to have sex with Prince Andrew when she was 17 I'm Louise Schiavone n.p.r. News Washington. Support for n.p.r. Comes from this station and from Warner Brothers Pictures presenting the good liar a suspense thriller about the secrets people keep in the lives they live starring Helen Mirren and Ian McKellen the good liar rated are now playing only in theaters from Capital One committed to reimagining banking offering savings and checking accounts that can be opened from anywhere Capital One what's in your wallet Capital One. And from the John d. And Catherine t. MacArthur Foundation at mac found dot org This is Weekend Edition from n.p.r. News I'm Scott Simon even those have spent their careers in law enforcement fighting drug crimes aren't immune from the opioid epidemic while Julie Garcia a former prosecutor in upstate New York which had been drug cases her own family. Has been ravaged by addiction to prescription painkillers his Country Public Radio's Brian ma'am has this profile Julie Christie is spent much of her career as a prosecutor working in 3 County district attorney offices across New York state serving his head for a time here in Essex County She says her attitude toward drugs was pretty typical tough on crime until opioids hit her own hometown in the early 2000 she got a call one day from her mom and her sister who admitted they were using opioids getting high together they told her they were scared that was one of the worst moments of my entire life I was just a new prosecutor working at the Suffolk County D.A.'s office and I remember being outside talking to my mom and my sister in like what do we do there is here start of living what she describes as a double life working days as a prosecutor then driving home to Point Henry New York to small mining town where she grew up she found her mom Sue and her sister Lani were buying Oxycontin and other prescription painkillers from neighbors which was the most disturbing part for me was people getting other people addicted intentionally and raising the price of the pills in people I know and I knew some of the people that were selling to my mom and to my sister Garcia says her view of drug crime began to evolve as your mom and sister struggled through a relapse after a relapse they didn't look to her like criminals and neither did the drug dealers in Port Henry who seemed just as desperate and addicted when I was the Da You would always try to figure out a way to stop those people but then again there's another layer to that like why are they doing that what's their back story. Here drives me through her old neighborhood in the rocky hills above Port had read she now believes the opioid epidemic has as much to do with the economics of poverty as crime the stores are closed here many of the houses board. Did up the local iron mine shut down for good in the 970 s. This was such a different place when I was growing up here and there are kids everywhere Garcia says as a prosecutor she got pushback when she 1st started linking addiction to things like poverty and the lack of health care she was told to leave that stuff to the social workers but she was seen firsthand how vulnerable people are when there aren't jobs how hard it is to beat opioids once people are hooked you think about it all the time oh my fat about it when I was a new prosecutor in Suffolk County that I would get the column that mom would be dad and then your worst fears are realized when my sister called me and said Mom guy I found to my knees in just wept because it's that moment where everything that you were ever scared have happened her mom Sue was 58 years old when she died of a heart complication linked to long term opioid addiction less than a year later she got another call this time from the local sheriff me need to come over to your sister's right now and I went over and they said she's come on everyone was screaming and that's a part of addiction I think that there's a horrible part to at least fact chaos I'll never forget like the people screaming and crying bloody Garcia died after a fentanyl overdose she left 3 young daughters. Julie Gosia drives me to the cemetery above Port Henry where her mom and her sister are buried. We walked for a while among the graves it's a beautiful spot with a view of the Adirondacks mountains Garcia says he's still tangled up in this epidemic she ran unsuccessfully for a judge's seat this year talking openly about her family's struggles in her private law practice a lot of her clients are addicted their lives unraveling because of opioids or I'll call her meth some prosecutors have changed tactics diverting people arrested for drug crime. Away from prison into rehab and therapy Garcia thinks that's progress but she says the stigma remains a lot of people still struggle with this illness in secret like her mom and sister I think it's unusual. To have people say yes I am I'm using and it's so hard and it's so difficult and that's really where we need to get people. To say that to say it to say I need help I can't do this by myself because honestly they shouldn't have to do it by themselves across the u.s. More than 130 people still die every day from opioid overdoses Brian Mann n.p.r. News Port Henry New York Bobby wine is Uganda's most famous singer he is also one of the most vocal critics of Uganda President Bush $78.00 we spoke with Bobby wind last year when he was in the United States to receive treatment after he'd been badly beaten by the Ugandan military. He returned it was country despite threats against him now he's back in the us and joins us again in our studios thanks so much for being with us thank you very much for having me Scott how are you feeling your recovered well not completely completely recovered but I'm hopeful my spirit is worth most important that a fairly strong what happened after your return to Uganda after we spoke last fall when I returned to you guys and as soon as the plane landed it was surrounded by the military I was dragged out of the plane and arrested under camera by and into military account so many military and police cars and personnel were following I did not legally enter the country because even my passport was insane and I was given breakneck speed until I was delivered to my house and then my house was surrounded by the military and police and how long did that go on. That went on for just a few days and not a single day I leave my house without police following me I've been blocked from my training in the public gathering not even in charge but you say in your songs you don't consider yourself. And enemy of the military let's even play a clip if we can from your song and funding. How you really want to keep the people down you believe you are in the military and the people of Uganda all face a common enemy Yeah I have said it before and I'll continue to say eat to our brothers and sisters in uniform that we are actually not fighting them we are fighting for them when I was reading the news from back home the policemen and women were complaining about their pay they have terrible housing conditions they have terrible salaries and if it so matching justice is special in promotions they face the same plate like we do or even why us so it was a call to them to remind them that this that we are fighting for a cause that would better them lives as well here we're in a red beret in our studio and on the street I assume when you're out here it says people power or power could you or that red burry back home in Uganda where this river has been criminalized of course without citing and a low almost 70 has always used all the institutions of state for political repression to always prosecute political opponents and media to say that anybody that is found where in this thread very risks life imprisonment President Bush 70 has been in office 5 terms I gather. What are your biggest arguments against his rule 1st of all it's a deceitful rule he laid to the people of Iraq and that he was returning democracy and he promised that he was going to rule for 4 years and return power to civilian rule it is that it for us later must have been his regime is a military dictatorship that has overlooked gross human rights corruption massive unemployment they did. So of the education and. All that we need to put it to an end who want to return the rule of law and empower the citizens of Uganda so that finally power goes back to the hands of the people and their leaders to servant of the people of people of Uganda reigns supreme and we should note you're running against President issue I am running against President to say when 2021. That can't be safe it certainly cannot be safe to run against a dictator but it's even more dangerous to sit down and resign to fate Uganda is. The 2nd youngest country in the wild More than 80 percent of your guns I've never seen another president so while it's dangerous to challenge an entrenched dictatorship we know that it has been done before it was done in it was done in Sudan and it will be done in Uganda. Uganda selections are of their own business are you asking the American government or the American people for any 1st of all I want to pass a vote of thanks on my behalf and on behalf of the people of Uganda since last year when we were asking the United States to hold the administration in Uganda accountable and to make the observation of human rights and the rule of law as a precondition for cooperation we've seen the United States there Magnitsky Act and the former police chief who presided over gross human rights Abbey says has been denied entry to the United States and that not only that like many dictators around Africa and indeed around the world. One major thing comrade the spotlight keep this port later nice and most importantly to the United States citizens mainly the Ugandans and Africans in the diaspora to continuously do what they can to hold these leaders account. We will quiz them not only to pay attention during the election by before and after the election because we know the dictatorship in Uganda he's bent on unleashing terror and the people of Uganda Mr mind can you be a musician anymore can you perform in public safely I mean musician but I'm not allowed to practice my profession my music was abolished and my cause that's who ab blocked praising him was that when him said of came out on b.b.c. Recently and you say the reason why is because I had come to the United States and exposed the corruption and misrule of his government and he has since branded me and in me you can guess progress Bobby white musician if you're going to an opposition leader thank you so much for being back with us thank you very much for having me Scott and. We've all heard fish stories about the one that got away at a grocery Nando's of San Benito Texas that soon as I poured on that ride. The way the ride bend it and then my kayak just put forward also you know they all I got a good sized one Little did I know they were that big how big 7 feet long tall enough to play in the n.b.a. 200 pounds and Old Man of the sea a moment I'll be out on a small local river but like Hemingway's novella a long struggle in a tiny wobbly boat followed 40 minutes for Chris Hernandez in a one man kayak Fortunately the 44 year old barber and father of 6 is also a triathlete it's hard to explain you know my pull the right to my left my my body has to be to my right to keep it balanced out it just comes to you when you when you're doing it you know the drill and there thing is like if you mean you know a lot of doing a lot of I don't know I did not explain it what was this big. Just an alligator gar so named because it actually does resemble an alligator with teeth and scales are sharp and for some it's said they make good arrow heads which you don't want to dig out of your leg Chris or Nando signaled his cousin on shore Well I get to site and I'm holding on to what the gap and I'm like Ariel could Syria come get real breakability of my cause I have to break through Bryce and all kinds of stuff we have to put the living you know so we would do that one to 3 minutes total wanted to pull and it was still heavy so then once we got to top I just threw myself to the floor and I was like just thanking God you know and I think they kicked off a cliff even for this guy too with Austin but it was a really really intense fight man my my body was just so tired and I said at one point I thought of the new with my right to the dinosaur look our son how does a dinosaur taste a fire the alligator guard the meat it's really really good if it doesn't they think and it does not have the texture it's like a chicken nugget it's very very delicious brother is very good all that effort just eaten enormous chicken nuggets but Chris Hernandez says Catch has become the talk of San Benito especially at King Tut's where he cuts hair everybody comes up at the barbershop the Capitol topic and then I like the crowd by which other than again I heard about that car economy and I was big and so in the conversation back aboard here you know the there's no telling how long it's going to be going around that people coming over on a nasty. Morning glad to know. You're listening to Weekend Edition from n.p.r. News. 2 Republican members of Congress from North Carolina have a hard time winning reelection next year the congressional lines in that state are changing last month the state court blocked North Carolina's congressional map from being used in 2020 they ruled it was an extreme partisan gerrymander a violation of the state Constitution and under pressure from the courts state lawmakers approved a new set of electoral maps yesterday Jeff Tipperary of member station give you u.n.c. Joins us thanks so much for being with us glad to be with you specifically Jeff what's changing. Well despite this being a pretty evenly divided state the congressional delegation here is pretty lopsided it currently consists of 10 Republicans and 3 Democrats and what is widely expected to happen under these new congressional districts if they hold is that this would move to an $85.00 delegation so 2 seats that are presently Republican would move to a much more urban constituency and Democratic constituency This would leave sitting Republican congressman George Holding and Mark Walker with a very tough road ahead in 2020 and it likely makes things a little bit more even what we heard plenty of discord from from Democrats this week the u.s. Supreme Court ruled in June that federal courts can't step in to these gerrymandering cases which of course moves a lot of them to the state courts how much is North Carolina perceived to be a test case for other states I think very much so attorneys who have argued cases in state court in the in recent months have acknowledged that they hope that the arguments they've been making will very much serve as a blueprint in other states we're talking about congressional redistricting but it's also important to note that there has been similarly a successful legislative challenge but also there has been a challenge in the partisan gerrymandering to legislative districts the legislative districts were blocked back in September and that led to a region of more than 70 State House and State Senate seats so the hope here is that what has happened in North Carolina which is very much a gerrymandered state that's going to be utilized in other states as congressional maps and also legislative maps are challenged in North Carolina as you know has been at the center of so many fights about redistricting legislative judicial lawsuits does this new plan settle those thinks some fight is certainly not over the plaintiffs who filed suit in this congressional case had to release Friday afternoon within minutes of the maps receiving final legislative approval stating that they were going to chala. The new congressional district in court and it remains to be seen whether or not this new congressional map the one that likely again would yield that $85.00 split is going to hold or if the judges are going to take further action it's also worth noting that the timeline here is fairly condensed North Carolina has moved up its primary as of now it is scheduled to be a Super Tuesday state in 2020 and candidate filing begins in less than 3 weeks you have to bury capitol bureau chief at member station w. And c. Thanks so much for being with us you're welcome Scott. Weekend Edition is a production of n.p.r. News which is solely responsible for its content like a story you heard on this or another n.p.r. Program share it with a friend at npr dot org While there you can also hear stories you missed enjoy expanded content or connect to your favorite member station. This is n.p.r. News when attorney Carrie Goldberg broke up with her ex he threatened her doctor and harassed her with intimate pictures 1st she got to pressed but then she fought back now fighting online abuse is her career it's so important the victims and survivors have somebody. To talk about her new book about online abuse that's next time Things Considered from n.p.r. News. Support for our comfortable office is a very green a people's practice reminding all that texting and driving is deadly dangerous helping injured people with litigation including dangerous drugs and medical devices g. Green dot com police a 7th grader sits in the county jail felt like. He were my. Kids charged as adults on the next revealed Sunday afternoon 2 and Thursday nights that 8 hour I'm Louise Schiavone with these headlines the House Intelligence Committee next week hears from another key player in the impeachment inquiry u.s. Ambassador to the e.u. Gordon Sandler and yesterday career foreign service officer David Holmes told investigators he overheard a phone call in which President Trump was pressing Saun blunt about a u.s. Request to investigate former Vice President Biden and his son Hunter voters go to the polls in Louisiana today where Governor John Bell Edwards is battling to defy partisan odds and win reelection to a seat that President Trump wants returned to Republicans the president has made the race the deeply red state a test of his own popularity I'm Louise Schiavone n.p.r. News Washington. Support for n.p.r. Comes from this station and from the financial services firm of Raymond James offering personalized wealth management advice and banking and capital markets expertise along with a legacy of putting clients financial wellbeing 1st learn more at Raymond James dot com and from Subaru with their Subaru share the love event now through January 2nd details on the not for profit organizations that it supports are at Subaru dot com slash share love it's what makes Subaru Subaru. This is Weekend Edition from n.p.r. News I'm Scott Simon Jeffrey Epstein's death has become a meme now jumping from Jefferson j. Pegs to roadside signs and college gameday the convicted sex trafficker was found unresponsive in his jail cell in New York this August the cause of death was determined to be suicide by hanging his connections with the rich and powerful people have fanned the conspiracy flames on both the left in the right given birth just scores of sly asides that have no facts to support them Epstein didn't kill himself or Epstein was murdered We're joined now by Don Caldwell editor in chief of Know Your Me Man thanks so much for being with us thanks for having me who's posting these memes and why there's a lot of people that are participating in this mean people on the left are thinking that Epstein may have been murdered or assassinated by people like Trump while up people on the right of kind of promoted it as being orchestrated by the Clintons so there's a lot of people that have been involved in this one with a number of groups and different communities of people on the Internet let's be utterly clear on something there has been an investigation is there a shred of evidence to support this in terms of like hard evidence no but it started in October I mean you realize in journalism when you finish the sentence hard evidence you know there is nobody. Yeah for sure and but with the maimed a lot of people participating in this me might not actually even believe it's completely true as part of the mean is to you know sneak the phrase Jeffrey Epstein didn't kill himself into as the punchline to a joke is well people will begin like an image with a caption about and struction for how to perform some kind of task like you know eating candy corn but will sneak that message Epstein didn't kill himself at the very end and yet the game is that is how clever can you be with sneaking that message and I mean it sounds a little bit. Rick Rowley it is a little bit like rickrolling rickrolling is kind of the iconic bait and switch me most of the Internet and yeah in a way this is very very reminiscent of Rickrolling. I had to be convinced to do this story because I didn't want to spread any misinformation that's not what we do here. But is it important for people to recognize the difference between means and truth. Yeah I mean you know there are times when you know things that conspiracy theories spread in a in a medic fashion that have real world consequences like pizza gate for examples you know conspiracy theories spread online and you know a guy ended up at a pizzeria with a shotgun you know for years the National Enquirer was very popular but people understood it was fiction but there are there are people who believe me I mean demonstrably was never a member of Congress you yeah that's one of the other reasons that this man has had such lasting power as it keeps popping up Westwego on Wednesday publishing Congressman Paul goes are posted you know a series of tweets the 1st day of the during the impeachment hearings against Trump and the 1st letter of each tweet spelled out the phrase Epstein didn't kill himself and this technique has been used and means for many many years on the Internet the technique of you know hiding a joke message in the 1st letter of each word has been a staple of Internet memes for a while and yeah this that's the in meme keeps appearing it was on Fox News as well there was a former Navy Seal who was discussing military dogs in the context of the al Baghdadi raid dog and at the end of his interview he you know abruptly turned to the camera you know instead fully trained and then finished dog from a professional or just just don't get one and all that and abstain didn't kill himself. Ok then so yeah this all these you know these news items have kept this mean trending and pop up and it's like it's done called religion or in chief of you know your Me Thanks so much for being with us thank you so much for having me. For the 1st time in almost 40 years tonight Canadians will not see and hear Don Cherry say it's Hockey Night in Canada Mr Cherry a former player coach still a Canadian national icon was fired earlier this week for on air comments that many including ultimately his employer Rogers Sportsnet deemed offensive to immigrants Kohala Kelly is a sports columnist for Canada's Globe and Mail newspaper joins us now thanks very much for being with us thanks for having me so 1st of all what did Don Cherry actually say that he's a big supporter of that earns in this country Remembrance Day was coming up and he usually has a big push here for the poppy where the poppy to remember that that's you make a donation to help the families of veterans and you get exactly and then you wear the popular for a couple of weeks leading into remembers day and cherry begin as he often does a screed about something that had upset him in this case it was that people were wearing the poppies this time he feared into far more dangerous territory when he began it seemingly And I don't think there's any other way to interpret it but reading immigrants for not wearing them you can't feel loved you come here whatever it is you love our way of life yellow bar milk and honey at least you can pay a couple of bucks for a poppies or something like that days guys pay for your way of life that you enjoy in Canada and that caused a 24 hour firestorm that consumed the. Can we understand Down here this space as we say it now days Don Cherry has failed in Canadian culture I don't know if there's an American analogy but Cherry embodied something about a Canadian ideal it was much more than the sport the sport is so central to this culture has been that's changing the cherry came to personify the most masculine version of it that was something clownish cartoonish on about him he was impossible not to know 15 years ago the c.b.c. Or national broadcaster did a poll trying to find the greatest Canadian done cherry came 7th. Which tells. You know what we're done Cherry exist and this isn't the entire history of the country . But what if Don Cherry had said something like look people come to this great country from all over the world and we're proud of that but once here we should remember the sacrifice soldiers made so give a donation and put on a red poppy you know if someone like you had said that's got I think that we're going to overfly the Cherry had a history of bigotry I think is the only word you could call it but his targets were softer targets in general Quebeckers skin and Ivins Russians players he thought were insufficiently tough but he would round those criticisms into his general I mean reliant on skating skills as opposed to elbow exactly they were not they had all the teeth and injuries well that doesn't make you know much of a hockey player. Well I have to ask a friend in Canada sent me a link to the story of Jess Allen on c.t.v. Who speaking of hockey players and even fans said quote they all tended to be white boys who were led say not very nice Yes she won't be let go for referring to hockey players as white boys right or calling the bullies that's absolutely true I mean I argue the most people in this country until that happened had no idea just how it was I think that's part of her protection that we also have to talk about the cynical level on which Terry was fired it wasn't just for the comments Roger Sportsnet is paid a fortune for the broadcasting rights talking $5000000000.00 That's not going so well and Terry makes an awful lot of money so there was also an element here where they probably wanted to ship him out and this was their opportunity are Canadians talking to each other about this or just hurling preset Spears of opinion at each other that's the kind of really disappointing thing about this is that yes it hasn't become that rational discussion about why this is provoke so much feeling in so many people one way or the other right now it is it's still a screening stage but then it gets into a more uncomfortable conversation I think bizarrely in this country about hockey. And what hockey means to us because that is changing there's a lot of people don't want that to change hockey is so foundational in Canada in terms of our self-image so you know what's fair is that I think unwittingly has touched off an entire discussion about the central place about sport in our culture . Carl Kelley sports columnist for Canada's Globe and Mail newspaper thanks so much thanks for having me. But here you go Joe Henry was told he had prostate cancer and none of what he calls the black earth of that experience came a flowering of music this is. Really the. Let's let's. Just keep. Joe Henry's album Gospel According to water verse released yesterday it is the 15th studio album from the Grammy winner the singer songwriter and producer Joe Henry joins us from the studios of n.p.r. West thanks so much for being with us Oh it's my pleasure thanks for having me and 1st I guess we got to ask how you're doing I'm doing really well thank you I am in remission I don't get to speak the r. Word out loud too often but I certainly enjoy it when it's appropriate you know I feel in most ways better than I have in years how did you diagnosis impel your songwriting. Well you have to understand that when I am writing a song for the most part I don't think of it as something that I'm doing as much as it's something that's happening to me and in the days weeks months that followed my diagnosis you know I was just a bit paralyzed with fear and hunkered down at the house and songs as they begin to arrive were sort of you know an open window for me they sort of invited me back into my imagination. Possibility I was really grateful to them as they showed up. To. Keep me. Going. Where he. Said the music on this album is not autobiographical but there is a kind of a theme that ties them together center Well I think there is that but I recognize it only after the fact I don't have those thoughts when I'm writing a song or a cycle of songs ever I start to recognize patterns you know sort of as I step farther back from them and I think that I'm writing about what I've always been writing about which is you know how do we live robustly in spite of the fact that we won't always. Want to listen to one of your songs The Gospel According to water how do. You know what is the ending. You know water moves both powerfully and very subtly through our bodies through our minds through our lives in our poetry in our understanding of the ways in which we all have to be both strong and supple as we live you know if we're going to thread the needle and continue it's probably no less vague than the song itself might have hit you but I you know I do think that water is a really powerful image and helps us understand both the magnitude of life and the absolute essence of it comes to the early. Can I get you to talk about the way inspiration comes to you sure happened is a any time any circumstance I guess usually happens in the least convenient moments when I mean when when my children were young you know invariably you know when there was dinner on in a car pool the drive that's when a song would appear it would never happen you know how convenient time yeah someone's Yeah I mean never happened in the freedom of late morning when the house was empty and I was sitting there with a cup of coffee and a and a notebook open you know never but you know frankly what happens is a word an image a phrase or sort of shipped through my mind and I just will understand that it's kind of spring loaded and that if I show up with my attention I'll be met there you dedicate this album to your wife Melanie. Look at one person who gets the diagnosis but an entire family and for that matter Cooper friends also live with it one way or another that is true what was it like for your family well it was terrifying I mean I personally was just so paralyzed with fear and sadness that I had I was a bit immobile my wife Melanie on the other hand she was immediately in motion she was in solution mode you know she was the one at every appointment with the notebook open and all the questions and she's got a science mind you know so she had a way to shift gears into the practicality of what needs to be done and you know more than any particular doctor you know I think she saved my life you know I'm not really sure that I have any other way to say that. Is there a song we haven't heard but you want to draw to our attention well. The song that opens the album that's called famine walk which I wrote sort of in meditation of my time with Melanie last fall right before this shoe dropped we spent 2 months in a small village on the west coast of Ireland we took a walk very frequently that the locals refer to as the famine walk because the famine victims were cutting this road through this barren mountainous landscape and it seemed a very apt metaphorical journey for me as I began to write. Flags show. That Jesus was. The heart. And what. I call that song to your attention not only because I think it sort of carries the d.n.a. Of the whole record. I just really like the way I sing it is you know to be honest you know we all want to be Sinatra We just some of us come much closer than others but we need the love. To see his home. Which are way. Because. You know your voice is. Especially evocative in this song see it's growing on this guy yeah. Sure I haven't I haven't changed immediately. Joe Henry his album The Gospel According to water thanks so much for being with us all Scott thank you for having me it's been a real pleasure. This is Weekend Edition from n.p.r. News I'm Scott Simon. Support for n.p.r. Comes from this station and from Dana Farber Cancer Institute developing ways to use the p.d.-l one pathway in immunotherapy to treat cancer committed to making contributions in cancer treatment for 72 years Dana Farber dot org slash everywhere and from have a layer of tax automation for businesses of all sizes designed to simplify sales tax compliance with real time rates and automatic filing learn more at Avalon a v.a. L.a. Are a dot com. 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This is a day to employ you a little news and culture for our kids the way our is a listener supported services at the University of Arkansas. From n.p.r. It will be easy Chicago this is wait wait don't tell me the n.p.r. News quiz. I'm Bill Burton and I'm Peter Sagal this was the week that a much anticipated new t.v. Show finally began fans if you could be tuned in hoping it would live up to the rec spectators mostly did so nobody knew why Congressman Adam Schiff kept looking into the camera like Jim from the office laugh but that's Ok really baby Plus Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia stops by the way. You will get him to speak so before it even starts it like Zach will ask really thought we needed a little punch on our show coming up right after this hour. From n.p.r. News in Washington. A White House budget official is on Capitol Hill testifying in a closed session of the House impeachment inquiry Mark Sandy is answering lawmakers questions about the Office of Management and budgets withholding of military aid to Ukraine in Paris March marking today's 1st anniversary of yellow vests protests was canceled before it officially started because of violence N.P.R.'s Eleanor Beardsley is there and says police are trying to push back young men who've infiltrated what was supposed to be a peaceful demonstration bands of roving you right there on his tax break or they just they're wearing black out here on plastic alley where the violence stops the March and they're just everywhere they were setting scooters in cars on fire and fighting with police throwing paving stone at actually keeping firemen from putting out fires the air is heavy with tear gas right now you consider so here volleys of it being fired in the background N.P.R.'s Eleanor Beardsley in Paris the so-called yellow vests movement took to the streets a year ago to protest government policies they say favor the wealthy in Iraq anti-government protesters are re occupying a vital bridge that leads to Baghdad's Green Zone N.P.R.'s Jamie Tarabay reports security forces have pulled back after deadly clashes with demonstrators a crowd of protesters dismantled a concrete wall at a key intersection in central Baghdad and surged on to a bridge they'd been driven back from after security forces retreated Overnight several protesters were killed and dozens wounded in Baghdad on Friday when security forces used live bullets and tear gas to disperse the demonstrations the latest anti-government protests have been going on since October with protesters killed him.