Who is the Ukrainian billionaire to many people and President Trump's orbit I'm Rachel Martin and I'm new king N.P.R.'s student podcast challenges going for a 2nd round to hear what past winners are up to. Also Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu fails to form a government could this mean the end of his leadership and the u.s. Government needs to hire half a 1000000 people to pound the pavement and knock on doors to conduct the 2020 census that having so much trouble hiring It's Tuesday October 22nd. Is 67 years old today. And the news is next. Live from n.p.r. News in Washington I'm Corba Coleman senators in both parties are expected to grill Trump administration officials today about the administration's decision to yank u.s. Troops from northern Syria N.P.R.'s to mak reports the Trump administration's decision earlier this month was followed by a Turkish military operation against the Kurds the scape of ISIS fighters from prison and thousands of fleeing Kurdish refugees supporters of the Kurds believe that the u.s. Withdrawal is a betrayal the withdrawal of u.s. Troops has made the Kurds vulnerable to the Turkish military one Syrian Kurdish leader said that they could be subject to ethnic cleansing lawmakers from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee will be demanding that the Us Special Representative for Syria and gauge went James Jeffrey explain the administration's decisions in Syria to mak n.p.r. News Washington the top u.s. Diplomat to Ukraine will testify to House lawmakers today in the impeachment inquiry embassador William Taylor had expressed concern about President Trump pressuring Ukraine's leader to investigate Joe Biden and his son Well John Exxon Mobil will be in a New York City court today facing allegations it misled investors about financial risks associated with climate change N.P.R.'s Jeff Brady reports this is a big civil case that's been years in the making New York attorney general Leticia James argues Exxon Mobil lied about how profitable the company would be even as governments enact stricter regulations to address climate change the state says that made the company appear more valuable to investors including many pension and retirement funds damages could run well above a $1000000000.00 Exxon Mobil calls the New York allegations false and misleading the company says it regularly discloses to investors how it accounts for risks associated with climate change the trial is expected to last up to 3 weeks and the judge says a decision will be issued within a month after that Jeff Brady n.p.r. News President Trump is congratulating Canadian Prime Minister. Justin Trudeau N.P.R.'s gyal Snyder reports Trudeau has won a 2nd term in office in Canada's national elections President John called Trudeau's victory wonderful and hard fought in acknowledgment of how tight the race was after scandal damaged Trudeau's image as a progressive leader the president tweeted that Canada is well served and although Trump said he is looking forward to working with Trudeau their relationship has been tense following the 2800 g. 7 summit in Canada John called Trudeau weekend dishonest last week true or good for a strong government to counter the Trump administration N.P.R.'s John Nielsen are reporting unionized Chicago teachers are going into a 4th day of a strike Chicago public schools have canceled classes again today the teachers are seeking a deal on wages classroom sizes and an increase in support staff for school this includes nurses and social workers. You're listening to n.p.r. News from Washington. California utility Pacific Gas and Electric is warning it could cut off power to at least a dozen California counties this week this would come ahead of gale force winds forecast to strike the state this week these could blow down power lines and start wildfires baseball's World Series begins tonight with the Houston Astros hosting the Washington Nationals Houston is trying to win its 2nd championship in 3 years the Nats are going for their 1st in their 15 year history N.P.R.'s Tom Goldman has this preview judging by the way these teams qualified for the World Series Washington should have the advantage the Nats cruised to a 4 game sweep of St Louis to win the National League pennant the Astros needed a walk off home run in the bottom of the 9th inning to beat the Yankees in game 6 of the American League Championship Series in fact and Houston is the heavy favorite thanks to powerful hitting stellar starting pitching and defense but the Nationals are a very well rounded team too and they have a bit of a destiny feel they roared back from a woeful 19 and 31 regular season start and kept it going through a winning post season that so far has made Washington fans forget the misery of recent playoff failure Tom Goldman n.p.r. News Japanese emperor Naruhito has formally proclaimed his ascension to the Japanese throne in a ceremony today or he took succeeded his father Emperor Acca Hito last May after ACA he too abdicated Emperor Naruhito and his wife Empress must not go to Harvard educated former diplomat visited 3 shrines today ahead of the main ceremony I'm Corba Coleman n.p.r. News in Washington. Support for n.p.r. Comes from n.p.r. Stations other contributors include I drive maker of remote p.c. Providing real time remote access to computers anywhere and featuring remote p.c. Vision and augmenting reality support tool learn more at remote p.c. Dot com It's 506 with k.u.n.c. News I'm Kyra Buckley the secretary of state's office says it's already received more than 104000 ballots ahead of the November 5th election the number is higher than the past to off year elections registered Republicans make up just under half of the ballots received so far the remaining are split about evenly between Democratic and an affiliated voters budget carrier Allegiant says it won't begin commercial flights out of the Northern Colorado regional airport next month as planned k.u.n.c. Is met Bloom has more the company announced this summer it would again start flying passengers from Loveland to Las Vegas in Phoenix after a long absence in the region the announcement was a big boon to the Regional Airport which has been trying to keep up with Northern Colorado rapid growth in transportation demands but in a statement the airline said it's canceling plans for one reason the airport has failed to get a new air traffic control tower up and running in time allegiance says customers who have already bought tickets will get full refunds. K.u.n.c. I can dress in a watchdog agency says federal employees overseeing u.s. Public lands were assaulted or threatened at least $360.00 times over a 5 year period a Government Accountability Office report highlights simmering tensions between anti-government groups and law enforcement mostly sunny for the Front Range today with highs in the sixty's business k.u.n.c. This is Morning Edition from n.p.r. News I'm Rachel Martin and I'm Noel King good morning the u.s. Brokered cease fire in northern Syria and today meanwhile Turkey's president read. Dieppe Tayyip Erdogan is meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin to talk about the crisis Erdogan launched a military offensive in northern Syria about 2 weeks ago with the stated goal of clearing Kurdish fighters from the area Turkey also wants to resettle about 2000000 Syrian refugees there who currently are living in Turkey with me now is Douglas Elliman He's president of the Arab Gulf States Institute here in Washington d.c. From 2008 to 2011 he served as the deputy chief did as the deputy chief of mission at the u.s. Embassy in Turkey He's also a former u.s. Ambassador to Iraq and Kuwait Good morning Bassett or good morning to Al always so how do actions on Syria fit into his broader agenda for Turkey what does he want for his country I think basically what everyone wants is to prevent the emergence in eastern Syria of any stronger unified Kurdish governing structure and as long as American troops were there with the Syrian democratic forces especially up along the border it was very difficult for him to go against the militarily because a NATO ally was working with the s.d.f. He has a secondary goal however of preventing. Physical and political connections between Syrian Kurds who live in the west of Syria near it live and north of Aleppo and the east of Syria the ones we're talking about here and maybe finally it's almost always good politics in Turkey to counterpose Turkish nationalism against Kurds and the very real p k k terrorist threat that has been going on for the past 3 decades in Turkey so this also gives him a domestic political bump against his enemies by showing that he is strong against a potential Kurdish terrorist enemy and how about this meeting between our 21 and Putin today what's the relationship like at this point between Turkey and Russia Well everyone has been working for most of the past decade on expanding Turkey's relations. In addition to those of his traditional allies the United States NATO and Europe everyone sees himself as an emerging real regional and world leader. But when I was in Turkey in 2010 airline signed with Putin and worked with a Russian company to build Turkey's 1st nuclear power plant which is still not finished but there has also been. Have been attempts to expand the places from which Turkey defense equipment the 400 air defense missiles from from Russia Turkey wants to see itself as no longer completely tied to the west and wants to look to the east and to the south as well for allies an expansion of its economic political and military influence and does the United States need to be worried about that at to the extent that the United States depends upon Turkey as being only a traditional NATO ally it is an issue for the United States expanding to the east to Russia to China to the south into the Arab world doesn't necessarily mean that Turkey cannot be perform the goals that it has of the things that is done within the NATO alliance but it will mean that Turkey will be calibrating its domestic interests in its foreign policy interests and security interests differently than it has in the past so the United States needs to make sure that we know what we want from Turkey and Turkey in the NATO alliance and economically and then try to use our influence to bring Airtel on to that conclusion as well how could Russia's involvement here affect u.s. Foreign policy in the region. Russia's foreign policy. Is becoming more aggressive in the Middle East especially now in Syria with the departure of u.s. Forces Russia has already played a large role in keeping. Assad regime in power in Damascus they have been actively working with the Syrian regime with the Iranians and Iranian proxies in eastern Syria and what I expected as American forces withdraw as the Turks go in you will see an expansion of Russian influence Russian participation with the Syrian regime into this territory that the Kurds had hoped to control in eastern Syria for me a former deputy chief of mission at the u.s. Embassy in Turkey Douglas Silliman thanks so much for being here thank you very much I want to bring in N.P.R.'s Pentagon reporter Tom Bowman Tom Hi Ira How are you doing could you know well Ok so u.s. Defense secretary Mark Asper is suggesting that the United States might leave what he called a residual force in Northern Syria is there some sense now that President troop is going to keep troops there present temp is going to keep troops there well it seems that way no of course most of the u.s. Troops are leaving many heading into Iraq but President trying to get a cabinet meeting said that keeping troops in Syria was not necessary quote Other than that we secure the oil and defense secretary Mark esper picked up on that during a trip overseas saying they want to keep some troops here to deny access to those oil fields to ISIS and others now know well the oil fields are not up in the area where Turkish militia groups are creating a safe zone but down in the southern area where well fields are currently being secured by Kurdish forces with help from the u.s. And there are estimates that maybe a couple of 100 American troops will remain out of the total number of a 1000 that were in Syria to again to secure these oil fields and just to clarify very quickly the oil fields it sounds like you're saying are not under threat from ISIS fighters despite the suggestion that's. Right not at this point and frankly it was Russian mercenaries not ISIS that tried to grab these oil fields early last year of course so Russia is allied with the Syrian government of Bashar al Assad now I was in Syria at that time talking with their Kurdish commander about all this some $500.00 Russian mercenaries a some farming artillery toward an American Kurdish base were moving towards these oil fields in the Kurdish commander General Hassan told us a Russian military officer denied any Russian involvement here is the general his son talking through an interpreter we are sure that they know that I'm in the Russian but they are denied they said the hard we don't have any force of that we are not involving in that fighting now those Russian mercenaries are moving towards oil fields were hit by American airstrikes in withdrew some $250.00 of those Russian mercenaries were killed in the Kurdish commander then said the Russian officer called him and asked if they could come and pick up their dead Tom a last question for you if Kurdish allies of the United States are not focused on ISIS What's that mean about the future of ISIS in that region well of defense secretary as far as trying to figure out a new plan to fight ISIS some American troops based in Iraq could mount raids into Syria to go after ISIS there could be airstrikes in Secretary as far as also going to a NATO meeting in Brussels later this week to talk with allies about the way ahead to fight ISIS n.p.r. Pentagon reporter Tom Bowman Tom thanks so much You're welcome. 2 counties in Ohio have reached a major opioid settlement with the drug industry it's valued at roughly $260000000.00 Local officials say that money paid out by drug makers and distributors is desperately needed as they struggle to cope with. The addiction crisis but the settlement in Cleveland failed to produce clear legal precedents or any kind of national model for compensation as many observers had hoped North Country Public Radio's Brian Mann reports standing outside the courthouse in Cleveland Donna Skoda head of Summit County Ohio's public health department said this money will keep people alive we see this is an opportunity to reach every single family member of those that have passed away and those that potentially are struggling with still addiction and be able to offer them that opportunity to stay alive and get help cash strapped communities in Ohio have often been forced to help those addicted to opioids using donations and volunteers Greg McNeil who lost his son Sam to an opioid overdose says money from the drug industry will now help sustain recovery programs this isn't going away we're going to be saddled with this for quite some years to come it's just a start so there were hugs and high fives after this deal was announced but there was also a sense of letdown this trial and judge down posters Court was supposed to be a test case a jury's decision here would have offered a clear signal about the validity of thousands of opioid lawsuits filed by communities across the u.s. Because of this settlement that kind of clarity didn't happen the trial would also have revealed new information including internal company documents describing how the industry kept distributing opioid medications even as overdose deaths skyrocketed Mark Lanier an attorney for the counties says the industry still needs a public reckoning one company in particular just in their e-mail says the Da Kid stuck it on the public hasn't seen those e-mails yet and I hope at some point the public will get a chance for now those corporate records will be kept from the public and from government regulators and this deal includes no admission of wrongdoing a few hours after the Ohio agreement was announced for state attorneys general came forward offering what they say is a path out of uncertainty North Carolina attorney general Josh Stein says 5 drug. Buddies including Johnson and Johnson McCaslin and have a have agreed to a settlement valued at roughly $48000000000.00 We believe that it is going to bring a national solution to a national crisis and our next step is to move quickly to finalize the deal and I am optimistic that we will get other states as well the cities and counties to get on board with this Stein says the money would be divided up among all 50 states but reaching a global opioid settlement comparable to the tobacco settlement of the 1990 s. Has been elusive it didn't happen here in Ohio and some state and local officials have already voiced opposition or skepticism to Stein's proposal Dave Yost as attorney general of Ohio there are a ton of details really important details that have to be worked out here I'm not against you personally I'm just not rich signed on negotiations will continue as other trials now move forward but one concern after yesterday's Ohio settlement is that some states and local governments will wind opioid lawsuits or reach separate deals with the drug industry meanwhile other communities hit just as hard by the opioid epidemic could get no compensation at all Brian Mann n.p.r. News Cleveland. You're listening to Morning Edition on k.u.n.c. Connecting you to important news than insights from our northern Colorado communities the nation and the world Kyra Buckley 519 thanks for being here Ukrainian oligarchy Dimitry for Tash made a fortune in the gas industry the largest position in the monopolistic position as a distributor of gas in your grain for Tash also has links to many people in President Donald Trump's orbit more on what we know and why it matters that's in 15 minutes. Morning Edition on King un sea is supported by the Fort Collins Lincoln Center presenting any age as Master Eddie Palmieri Nov 9th accompanied by his Latin jazz band and known for his unconventional an innovative sound that mixes elements of salsa funky soul and jazz tickets at l c t i x. Dot com support is also provided by Jack's outdoor gear presenting the Arctic arts project exploring the state of the Arctic through vivid imagery and discovering what it means for our planet's future at Jax in Lafayette today at 6 pm information at j a x good start calm. Mostly sunny skies today for the Front Range in Plains with highs in the low sixty's for Boulder angry really partly cloudy tonight with lows in the thirty's. Slight chance of snow and rain showers for the northern mountains today highs in the mid forty's for Steamboat Springs this. Love to companies are criticized for not being diverse enough and have spent a ton of money trying and failing to fix the problem it's not rooted in the main office corporate structure chances are it's not going to. Result trying and failing to get diversity right next to the marketplace. Marketplaces both afternoon at 3 and 530 here on k. U.n.c. . Support for n.p.r. Comes from this station and from Jones Day and integrated partnership collaboratively providing legal services for more than a century 43 offices 5 continents serving clients as one firm worldwide learn more at Jones Day dot com. From t.i.a.a. Committed to the idea that while most things in life run out from clean shirts in the morning to a favorite dessert at night lifetime income in retirement shouldn't learn more it t.-i a dot org slash never run out and from campaign monitor and e-mail marketing platform with a drag and drop email builder and mobile ready templates used by more than 250000 customers at campaign Monitor dot com campaign monitor make your emails unforgettable. It's Morning Edition from n.p.r. News I'm Noel King and I'm Rachel Martin there are less than 5 months until the 2020 census is fully underway the federal government is ramping up its efforts to hire around half a 1000000 workers for the National headcount but the Census Bureau has been running into trouble with low unemployment and delays in processing background checks N.P.R.'s Hansi Lo Wang reports one of the keys to getting every person living in the u.s. Counted for the census. Is the dead be of census workers who pound the pavement and knock on doors to interview people in households who don't fill out a form by late spring. And the census take a good one it's going to help music census results also determine the number of congressional seats and electoral college votes each state gets for the next decade . But with fewer people looking for jobs census average workers like secure a med in New York City have been focusing on those who are already employed and are looking for a sign we. Think $25.00 an hour but. In some parts of the country the pay for census jobs hasn't been high enough to attract applicants according to the Government Accountability Office plus some advocates who already applied this year for early rounds of some med in New York City haven't focusing on those who are already employed and are looking for a side we. Think $25.00 an hour but. In some parts of the country the thing for census jobs hasn't been high enough to attract applicants according to the Government Accountability Office plus some advocates who already applied this year for early rounds of census jobs have been running into delays in getting process for background checks yes we are behind Albert Fantino the Census Bureau's top official for the 2020 count acknowledge the delay during a public meeting in February our challenge is not getting people to apply it's just getting them through the system as a result the bureau right now is more than 3 months behind in getting some. $1500.00 outreach workers known as partnership specialists fully onboard and that's before it even steps up hiring for those $500000.00 in numerators will need next year we've added staff to the clearance process and we have reviewed our procedures to make it more efficient Tim Olson is in charge of field operations for the 2020 census going to expecting the issues that are causing the delays and background clearances right now for a partnership specialist those issues that crop up for the numerators the half 1000000 workers there you know not at all not at all but Arnold Jackson who was the chief operating officer for the 2010 census says he's concerned about this year's delays with the partnership specialist program which was started to make sure all groups are counted I think it's a secret weapon because it's a program that puts individuals who are faced face which he influence leaders in various communities many of which are not. Just like staffing for a political campaign or a military surge Jackson says getting census workers ready as a lot to do with timing they're all in place for a limited amount of time sometimes it's not sometimes if you miss that when the cost recovery group you can also have a lasting cost through the census results some households may not be included in the count unless they receive a personal visit by a census worker who point to Census Bureau research those households are likely to be disproportionately from communities of color. The long n.p.r. News. Back in the spring we had a group of 8th graders from the Bronx on the show they were the grand prize winners of the 1st ever n.p.r. Student podcast challenge 67 percent of female students hold a bronze middle school said that these feel uncomfortable discussing their periods at school because it's not anybody they still in middle school at this point but the problem gets even lie Jaylen seek out a community when it's that contest and those students were a huge success and so this morning we're announcing the news that we are doing it again educational Porter Alyson Edward he is with me to talk about year 2 of the contest hit well so the students who won the contest the 1st time around had this great podcast about what it was like to be an early teenager and to be getting your period in school and not have any supplies totally and it's not be a big deal to have your period and so you've been following up with those girls what have they tell you so the 7 girls behind this podcast they graduated from 8th grade so they're now all in Facebook but many of them are still coming together every Wednesday to make new episodes so they talk about body image healthy relationships birth control these are girls that never listen to a podcast before the contest and now they are sponsored by always the pad company there's a storage room at their middle school that built with donated pads and tampons and just last week their teacher should toss hot she was on top of the hill talking about menstrual equality to Congress and I actually think in Congress Well this is really happening and it was really happening we went from like a little 5 minute long like me being in Congress talking about what a young girl's peds those girls made an incredible podcast but I know that you had a lot of really really good entries that didn't necessarily win the grand prize Yeah tell us about some of those we had podcast about everything. I mean all over the country serious funny challenges facing young people surveyed being gaming social media friendship everything so what are the details this time around what should people know Ok so like last year teachers and educators can enter their student work into categories that's grades 5 through 8 and then grades 9 through 12 entries will open up in January and we're going have all information about deadlines rules that'll be up on the Web sites you can google student podcast challenge and get to that u.r.l. And this is the cool part the grand prize winners get to come on this show at the end of the school year that is absolutely fantastic I can't wait to meet them so let's give these young people little bit of advice about what we're looking for what makes a great podcast you think so I think having a great topic that you love that you want to talk about is super important Here's how the ladies from the Bronx picked their topic as place we thought we were going to do immigration or talk about the queue of us here on our periods at the time and . You're like oh my god this had been sitting there all just ranting and they were like why don't we just talk about so I asked one of those girls that made the podcast what she would say to students doing it this year try to speak about something that you're also passionate about and try to connect we're talking. To your personal life too it just gives it like a more deeper meaning so just find something you're into and have fun very cool thanks thanks Noel. For more information go to N.P.R.'s org. Podcast challenge this is n.p.r. News. Good morning I'm to Will King Australia's Quantas Airlines completed the 1st nonstop commercial flight from New York to Sydney over the weekend that is the world's longest flight which is a win right except it's the world's longest flight 19 hours and 16 minutes which is terrible a group of passengers attempting. In the economy cabin London to Sydney starting next month It's Morning Edition You're listening to the I'm Kyra Buckley glad to have you along with us on this Tuesday this is the 1st n.b.a. Season in years that the Golden State Warriors are not the favorite player trades in moves over the summer have moved several teams into contention we hear from N.P.R.'s sports reporter Tom Goldman that's in 15 minutes. It's $530.00. Live from n.p.r. News in Washington I'm Dave Mattingly as u.s. Troops leave Syria and move into western Iraq President Trump says some will stay behind to help protect Kurdish held oil fields from ISIS N.P.R.'s trial Snyders says this afternoon a Senate committee will examine the president's decision to withdraw American troops from Syria's northeast border with Turkey lawmakers in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee are expected to seek answers about their withdrawal from James Jan For he the u.s. Special Representative for Syria engagement Jeffrey was among those who accompany vice president pence to Turkey last week the delegation to go shoot a 5 day pause and Turkey's military offensive in northern Syria that's an ethnic Kurds fleeing that 5 day cease fire is set to expire later today Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau has won a 2nd term in office though his party is losing its majority in the House of Commons Greg McCulloch reports on the results of yesterday's national election Trudeau and his Liberal Party team of about 2 dozen elected members of parliament short of a full majority the left leaning Democratic Party which is closest to them in most political ideology has more than enough elected members to make up the difference despite also losing support from the last election the Conservative Party one more of the popular vote failed to elect more M.P.'s so will form the official opposition this is n.p.r. News from Washington and the un theme is that I'm Kyra Buckley the c.d.c. Reports that between 20072017 Colorado's youth suicide rate increased by 86 percent and overall across the mountain west the rates have spiked in recent years for k. U.n.c. Alley Bugner has more the Centers for Disease Control looked at nearly 2 decades of national youth suicide rates they found them to be mostly stable in the early 2000 but then between 272017 they increased. Total of 56 percent and it's pretty much increasing on a date it certainly is a statistician with the c.d.c. And the lead author on the report she says this is clearly a major public health issue and nowhere more so than in the Mountain West states youth suicide rates here have been higher than the national average for quite some time not only were there waiting higher to begin with that they also had percent increases in their suicide rates that were greater most of them and 56 percent that was the national average Kirton says there are no easy answers but we need to be helping kids deal with depression and other mental health issues from an early age for the Mountain West news bureau I'm. If you or someone you know may be considering suicide text the crisis line at 741741 or call 180-273-8255 The New Mexico school district near the Navajo Nation is taking a cue from Colorado and a few other states to combat the teacher shortage k.u.n.c. Is currently huckle is explained see New Mexico has now joined Colorado Arizona Illinois Florida and Montana in contracting teachers from the Philippines to fill teaching jobs in public schools but it isn't cheap for the Filipino teachers to make it to the u.s. Estimated costs are around $10000.00 American dollars which is roughly 500000 in Philippine pesos That's on top of their paperwork required to get an h one b. Visas so they can stay and work in the country a recent report estimates the u.s. Has a shortage of over 100000 teachers Carli how goals k.u.n.c. Dry and a bit warmer for the Front Range and plains today with highs in the sixty's but still a bit breezy for the central mountains mostly cloudy and windy snow showers possible with highs today in the forty's this is k.u.n.c. It's $534.00. Support for n.p.r. Comes from this station and from c. 3 dot a i c 3 dot AI's software enables organizations to use artificial intelligence at enterprise scale solving previously unsolvable business problems learn Morrisey 3 dot a I. And from Trader Joe's where new products arrive in stores weekly and new episodes of the podcast inside trader joe's arrive online occasionally at Apple podcasts and where podcasts are found more it Trader Joe's dot com. It's Morning Edition from n.p.r. News I'm Joel King and I'm Rachel Martin good morning as the Trump Ukraine saga continues to unfold there is a Ukrainian oligarchy whose name keeps popping up in unexpected places His name is Dimitry fair Tosh n.p.r. Justice correspondent Ryan Lucas has been looking into fear tossing his connections to the white cast of characters in President Trump's orbit neurons in the studio Hi there good morning so this is a new name for most of us I'm guessing Dmitri fear Tosh who is so he's a a Ukrainian billionaire a man of immense power and wealth he made gobs of money in the gas business particularly acting as a middleman for Russian gas sales to Ukraine and beyond but he's branched out into media manufacturing chemicals he's said to have connections to both the Kremlin and Russian organized crime that's according to u.s. Officials and leaks State Department cables for his part has denied any mob ties Unsurprisingly perhaps though his money means that he is a powerful player in Ukrainian politics he was a major supporter of the pro Russian Ukrainian government that was overthrown in 2014 and there's one more thing that you should know about him which is he is a wanted man in the United States the plots against wanted how and why so he was indicted in Chicago back in 2013 on money laundering and racketeering charges those are related to a legit bribes as part of a titanium mining project he was arrested in Austria in 2014 at the request of American authorities and just to give you a sense of how rich fear touches after his arrest he posted an all cash bond of around $170000000.00 Since then he's had to remain in Austria and he's been fighting his extradition Ok so he is a rich oligarchy from Ukraine who is wanted in the u.s. That is interesting but still why does he matter in the President Trump Ukraine scandal so there's a lot that we don't know at this point but what is clear is that in. Affidavit was filed in Austrian court on fair Tasha's behalf that affidavit was filed by the former general prosecutor of Ukraine a man by the name of Victor Shoka ha that name I remember right show King is the guy who was pushed out of office in 2016 under pressure from the United States and other Western governments he has viewed as being ineffective in combating corruption then u.s. Vice President Joe Biden led the u.s. Push on that and it show can dismiss Seoul that's at the heart of Rudy Giuliani's unsubstantiated allegations against Biden and his son Hunter tight Ukraine Now the interesting thing here is that Giuliani has been holding up show comes affidavit waving it around on t.v. Here in the United States to support his allegations against the by Ha. Do we know how Giuliani got his hands on the affidavit in 1st place it's unclear at this point but what we do know because Giuliani has told me as much is that he spoke with shoke an earlier this year as part of Giuliani's efforts to gather information in Ukraine Giuliani has told me that chokin showed him documents proving that chicken was indeed investigating the Bidens now the man who helped connect Giuliani was shock and is left Parness such a web but I also remember this name because he is one of the 2 Giuliani associates who was arrested on a lead to campaign finance violations right that's right about a week and a half ago now Parnassus told n.p.r. That he worked as a fixer to help set up meetings and phone calls for for Giuliani with Ukrainians including with. But they aren't the only ones who have links to Giuliani in fear Tosh There's also a Washington lawyer lawyer couple that does as well a lawyer couple to tell. Their names are Joe di Genova and Victoria Tensing their attorneys they're married they make frequent appearances on Fox News they're very vocal in their support for President Trump and the president actually almost hired them at one point to help handle his response to the Russian investigators now Giuliani has told me that when he was gathering information from Ukraine he at one point wanted to take 10000 there to. Possibly represent people that he was speaking with if they needed representation he says ultimately that trip never happened tensing told me the same thing but tension and degenerate did get a new client this summer and that new client is the one and only Dimitri fair to there we go full circle right so he hired them in July to help him in his extradition fight there's one more kid bit of connective tissue here tension into Genova hired left part OS to work as a translator for the firm and their work for fear Tosh still that is a lot of information you laid out though cogently Congratulations you know what does it mean for you especially as you look forward to I mean what what kinds of questions are you going to ask based on this information so yes there are a lot of dots here one dot that we haven't touched on yet is the House impeachment inquiry and as part of that house lawmakers are looking into why the u.s. Ambassador to Ukraine was removed earlier this year Giuliani a conservative media here in the u.s. Reporting for her to be removed and it's something that Parness and his business partner were trying to orchestrate as well in connection with a business proposal involving Ukraine's state controlled gas company fair Tosh is a major player in Ukraine's gas industry one question I have is what if any are for talks his ties to that scheme and more simply why does fear talk his name keeps surfacing in all these places in connection with Giuliani and all the rest of these people all right we'll keep following it for us N.P.R.'s Brian Lucas thanks Frank thank you Israel is in political deadlock there was an election recently and Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could not form a coalition government so now the country's president is expected to ask Netanyahu his biggest rival to team up with him to form a majority from Tel Aviv Here's reporter Naomi's Havel off after Israel's 2nd election in 6 months Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that he had again failed to form a government but this time his chief opponent Benny Gantz will be given the chance to do sound for the 1st time in 11 years. Is someone other than Mr and it's him you know is granted the mandate to form the next government and in this respect we're nearing the end of the new era in Israeli politics but you are president of the Israel Democracy Institute says that dance of the blue and white party still faces an uphill battle neither God nor Netanyahu has the backing in parliament to form a majority government both leaders say that they want to form a shared government but they disagree on the terms from God his perspective Netanyahu is legal troubles stand in the way he faces possible indictments for bribery fraud and breach of trust but in a video posted on Facebook Netanyahu placed the blame for a lack of an agreement squarely on guns the model. During the last few weeks now said I have made every effort to bring Benny Gantz to the negotiating table and every effort to start a broad unity government every effort to avoid another election unfortunately time after time he simply refused in a statement conses blue and white party accused Netanyahu of spin and said quote It is now time for action but if Khan's also fails then a majority of parliament members may ask the president to give a chance to someone else either to a 3rd person or back to Netanyahu or guns and if that person also fails then Israel is headed to 3rd elections that would have sounded like science fiction just a few months ago but now it might become part of our reality we'll have 28 days to form a government for n.p.r. News I'm. Brings you the stories about the people places and issues of the mountain west the stories that define us and unite us your curiosity doesn't end in your backyard so k.u.n.c. Is committed to bringing you the stories that matter to you with reporting by n.p.r. The Mountain West News Bureau and the Cape u.n.c. News team our story happens here. Good morning I'm Kyra Buckley thanks so much for being here with us on k.u.n.c. And hope your Tuesday is off to a good start coming up the original Watchmen comic from 1986 was built on a fear of nuclear holocaust the new h.b.o. Adaptation takes a racism as that central evil opening with a reconstruction of the 1921 Tolson massacre ahead we have a conversation with the series creator that's in 10 minutes. Morning Edition is supported by the way in shock thanking listeners for supporting independent restaurants an independent radio locations in Greeley Loveland Windsor Fort Collins and Cheyenne anyone locations out when Shaq wings. Support also comes from 4 Seasons steamboat offering a variety of homes condos and town home rentals in Steamboat Springs committed to helping visitors experience their scene but vacation like a local family owned and operated since 2007 and for mation at f o u r season's steamboat dot com. Texas is a key place to run for president especially for a native son. Represented in the house now he's battling to stay in the Democratic primary race. And getting strong pushback from some conservatives our series 2020 continues with. A starting at 9 o'clock right here on. Today mostly cloudy and windy snow showers possible with highs in the. Sunshine although a bit breezy with highs in the sixty's. In the thirty's. It's $545.00. 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 Capt Terra for helping people find the right software for their business from applicant tracking to workflow software visitors can access more than 1000000 software reviews and compare products more and kept Terra dot com. This is Morning Edition from n.p.r. News I'm Rachel Martin and I'm Noel King good morning the n.b.a. Regular season starts tonight at least half a dozen teams have a realistic shot at the championship this year that's thanks to a summer of blockbuster player trades and some players just moved on to other teams Joining me now is N.P.R.'s sports correspondent Tom Goldman Hey Tom good morning so before we get to the teams and the season ahead I want to ask you about a big story that still unfolding earlier this month the Houston Rockets g.m. Daryl Morey tweeted in support of pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong that made the Chinese government very very angry at him and at the n.b.a. Broadly what's the latest what's going on there well it's still simmering you know Well late last week n.b.a. Commissioner Adam Silver made a public appearance in New York City he said the Chinese government had told him to fire Daryl Morey China responded and said Silver was lying and then the c.c.t.v. That's the state run network in China ran a commentary over the weekend saying silver will face retribution for saying what he did so the relationship is still quite contentious it seems does this do lasting damage to the N.B.A.'s reputation Well you know there is potential financial damage the n.b.a. Reportedly earns half a $1000000000.00 every year in revenue through its business with China and if the financial impact continues and Commissioner Silver said last week it's already been significant if it continues it could affect the league salary cap meaning how much teams are allowed to pay players and then there's reputational damage No Well I mean the n.b.a. Was attacked from the political left and right for initially sounding like it was appeasing China and not supporting Mori one of the few things in this country that unites the left on the night but that still very quickly came out stressed that freedom of expression is paramount and the league supports that if the n.b.a. Continue saying that and still pays the price of China you know cuts off business the n.b.a. Can probably reclaim the moral high ground let's talk about tonight's games. We've got New Orleans for Sister onno and we have got the battle of Los Angeles the Clippers The vs the Lakers so for big teams what are we interested in what are you interested in oh so much but the excitement about tonight is tempered by news that New Orleans and Williamson the most hyped rookie since Le Bron James he's out for $6.00 to $8.00 weeks after new surgery and Paul George one of the l.a. Clippers new stars is out recovering from shoulder surgery but once he's back this battle for l.a. Should be epic and it's because of that crazy summer of player movement you mentioned Cohen Leonard who led to runner to last season's title he also joined the Clippers a historically bad franchise that suddenly contender so too are Le Bron's Lakers they had a big man Anthony Davis he's really good what are some of the other teams with a good chance this season and I think to ask you to make a prediction this early on because we know you'll be wrong. Thank you for at least saying man up because it's so true but I will say I think it's pretty safe to advise you to keep an eye trained on the mountain west Ok Denver Utah very strong teams last year they made moves in the off season not as huge as what happened in l.a. But the moves that should strengthen them Portland where I'm based got to the conference finals last year they're a very good team Houston's a very good team and then in the east you've got Milwaukee Philadelphia Boston also with title hopes all of this because the great Golden State Warriors are no longer great so for the 1st time in many many years well maybe 5 or 6 it's wide open and that's what has n.b.a. Fans so excited and I love the competition never hurt anyone N.P.R.'s sports correspondent Tom Goldman Tom thanks so much You're welcome. You're listening to Morning Edition on k. Un thi I'm Kyra Buckley happy to be keeping you company on this Tuesday. President Donald Trump is complaining bitterly about the House impeachment inquiry they're interviewing ambassadors who I'd never heard of I don't know who these people are I never heard of them one of them is William Taylor acting u.s. Ambassador to Ukraine who will be giving a deposition today we have more on what to expect That's at 6 o 7. Support with highs in the forty's then snow showers likely overnight and windier with lows in the twenty's k.u.n.c. 551. It's Morning Edition from n.p.r. News I'm Rachel Martin and I'm Noel King good morning there are a lot of superheroes and a lot of vigilantes crowding the pop culture landscape but H.B.O.'s new series Watchmen which was inspired by a d.c. Comic kind of stands out I think that Alan Moore who is the brilliant writer behind Watchmen and Dave Gibbons who Ellis traded it were sort of asking what happens if these people existed in the real world shouldn't we be a little worried about people who put on masks that is Damon Lindelof the executive producer he said the series in Tulsa Oklahoma in a world where white supremacy is a rising threat and where police officers conceal their identities you know you can tell the difference between a master cop and a vigilante know. What's in the comic came out in 1986 it was groundbreaking it was realistic it was emotionally complicated and when Lindelof was 13 years old his dad handed him a copy I'll never forget it it was a Saturday afternoon and he handed me the 1st 2 issues of Watchman and he just gave them to me and said you're not ready for this. Sort of ominously walked out of the room obviously that was not happening but it felt like there was a static charge to these 2 things and it was very different than any comic I've ever read it was violent it was Grady It was scary it was weird it took place in New York not in Gotham City or Metropolis nobody had any superpowers it was political in 1906 the man who wrote Watchmen Alan Moore he was writing about the fear of a nuclear holocaust about a confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union your show your watchman deals really directly with the threat of white supremacy specifically with this group that calls itself the 7th Cavalry Samir cumulated black who will be on the story in the streets of Tulsa will turn into extended covers overflowing with live 2 years sooner. Trooper's shoals was. Whisperer. Oh. I was about 5 minutes in when I realized oh this is a show about race this is a show that is explicitly about race and racism why did you make that your dynamic you know that's a great question and I think that at the time that I was sort of approach to consider rethinking Watchmen I had to answer the question What is the pervasive sort of anxiety in America right now and it was impossible as all these things were happening not just Charlottesville but everything was happening through the lens of race and it felt like there was a great reckoning happening in our country over due and necessary this idea that watchman has always been about the history that is been kind of hidden and camouflaged and also it's about the pain and trauma that is sort of buried in the American consciousness and I started to feel like it was incredibly important to tell a story about race to not tell a story about race in the context of a political taxed in 2019 almost felt borderline irresponsible the 1st episode opens immediately with the Tolson massacre which is this terrible true crime committed in 1021 where white residents of Tolstoy destroyed a prosperous black neighborhood and killed many many people it is an incident in history that I think many black Americans know of many white Americans don't why did you choose to open the show with a scene of that. Essentially about 4 or 5 years back it became very popular to have read Tom Hosty coats the case for reparations Yes especially if you are a white liberal and when I finished case for reparations I just didn't see the world in the same way anymore Mr Coates mentioned Black Wall Street which I had never heard of so I bought this book called The burning that was all about the Tosa massacre and I read it cover to cover in a couple of days and and right at that same time I was being approached about Watchmen and I was trying to think about one of the things that made watchman sort of electric was this sort of blending of is that real history or is that not real history and I started to feel that the Tulsa massacre even though it was built on this incredible horrible taking of treasure and destruction of an African-American utopia in 1021 Oklahoma I sort of felt like that was an incredibly compelling story we're telling and it felt like a superhero origin story in some weird way it felt like Krypton you know it felt like the destruction of a world in the show the protagonists are mainly cops at least in the 1st couple of episodes and they wear masks they cover their faces to protect themselves from people who want to hurt them I've been wondering in this climate of we have these high profile police shootings and a lot of scrutiny now of police conduct did you have any reservations about making cops the victims of violence the ones who have to fear when in our world it's often the civilians who have to fear Yeah absolutely and I think that a lot of our creative process was based on we have real reservations about this and I think that there's certainly there's certainly a concern coming into the the 1st episode that the show is essentially saying you're supposed to feel for the cops or you're supposed to buy that cops and white supremacists are 2 separate entities and that there's no overlap in between when we all know that that that the real world is much messier than that that said that I feel. Like that the show doesn't take a position of being pro cop or anti cop I think that because it's taking place in an alternate history of the question that it's really asking is what makes someone want to be a cop and home what is the idea of the law what's the line between the administration of the law and vigilantism when watchman came out in the mid eighty's as I understand it no one really took comic books that seriously they were popular but it wasn't like oh this reflects the culture of our time this is making a serious statement about society but that's not true anymore and I'm thinking of joker which just came out you know obviously a commentary on toxic masculinity among other things how does your show fit into that context is now like the right time to make it are you in an ultra competitive world now. I don't know about the timing I do know that now is a really interesting time to look at where we are with superheroes there's something to the fact that we idolize and look up to these these figures and and spend billions and billions of dollars to watch their stories and so I think that you see movies like Joker using these preexisting myths to sort of subvert or reflect the times they were living in now that's the way that we like to hear stories sometimes it's too hard to get the docu drama to go.