Cooperate with the government prosecutors say that Gates provided extraordinary assistance he met with investigators more than 50 times he testified for the government in 3 criminal trials including against man a fort his former boss man of 4 was convicted in that bank in tax fraud trial and is currently serving a 7 and a half year prison sentence in his own case Gates has asked the court for no prison time just probation in light of his extensive cooperation the government does not oppose Gates' request the decision on how much time if any expense behind bars rest in the hands of the court Brian Lucas n.p.r. News Washington the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee Republican Lindsey Graham of South Carolina says President Trump will soon be announcing a drawdown of u.s. Troops in Afghanistan as Jennifer glass reports Graham was in Kabul yesterday Senator Graham discussed the gradual and responsible reduction of u.s. Forces with Afghan prison Ashraf Ghani here in Kabul and said if the number were to drop from 132-8608 would still allow the u.s. To make sure the country wouldn't be used to launch an attack on the u.s. He says neighboring Pakistan could also help we all know that Pakistan flood more pressure on the tele bed it would be enormously helpful to resolving the conflict here the Taliban leaders in Doha told nearly a year of talks with the us special representative in a process that aims to lead to peace for n.p.r. News I'm Jennifer glass in Kabul u.s. Peace talks with the Taliban are currently on hold they were suspended following last week's deadly attack near the bottom airbase north of Kabul Boeing is suspending production of its 737 Max airliners they've been grounded for 9 months following deadly crashes of Max eights in Indonesia and Ethiopia both airliners crash shortly after takeoff killing 346 people Boeing says production will be halted in January the company says Currently it has no plans to layoff any of the 12000 employees at its plant in Renton Washington. This is n.p.r. News from Washington gunmaker Smith and Wesson is facing a class action lawsuit in Canada as an carp and shark reports the company's being sued by the families of 2 people killed and 13 others who were wounded in a shooting in Toronto last year the plaintiffs in the lawsuit are seeking at least $150000000.00 in damages they allege that the gun makers Smith and Wesson failed to install smart technology in the weapon that was used by the shooter they argue that the technology would have prevented an authorized use and that it was reasonably foreseeable that the weapon might be used to kill or injure innocent people the plaintiffs referred to an agreement between Smith and Wesson and the u.s. Government in which the company said it would include smart gun technology in new firearms by 2003 the gun used in the Toronto shootings was a 2005 model which did not have this mark on technology the gunman took his own life after a shootout with police for n.p.r. News I'm Dan Karr can check in Toronto tornadoes are blamed for 2 deaths in North Alabama and another in Louisiana and Alabama authorities in Lawrence County west of Huntsville say a husband and wife were killed when a tornado destroyed their home the tornado left debris over a wide area the tornado death in Louisiana occurred north of Lake Charles when a home was hit there in Alexandria Louisiana crews have been working to clear roads and restore power because of storm damage the National Weather Service says that tornado in Louisiana left a path of damage covering 63 miles Wall Street is coming off another day of record highs the Dow gained $100.00 points yesterday the s. And p. And the Nasdaq ended the day at all time highs for the 3rd straight session I'm David Mattingly n.p.r. News in Washington. Support for n.p.r. Comes from n.p.r. Stations other contributors include the n.p.r. Shop where visitors can browse Public Radio nerd tiny desk and n.p.r. Gear at n.p.r. Shop dot org And to listeners like you who donate to this n.p.r. Station. Next to. Return to the stage for. We're joined by actor Kal Penn. About his new h.b.o. Special So join me on. The life funny or question. And I am a proud member Connecticut public. Radio was a. During my postpartum period my babies were really. To be able to look at my. Public radio it opened up this whole world that I could listen to and enjoy. Having a friend there. Hanging out with. A great time together a world without Connecticut Public Radio would be a world without a well wonderful enriching story that changed my perspective on our world every day . Please join me in becoming a member of Connecticut public good. Morning Edition from n.p.r. News I'm Steve Inskeep And I'm David Greene Boeing says it will temporarily suspend production of its troubled $737.00 passenger jet beginning next month all the max series aircraft have been grounded for the past 9 months that already happened following 2 crashes that killed 346 people. In Chicago He's been following this story. Morning So what's the reasoning behind. Well Boeing was facing. A couple of hard realities 1st is that the Federal Aviation Administration an agency once accused of being too cozy with Boeing is is now sternly warning Boeing c.e.o. To stop with the unrealistic expectations for when this plane could be allowed back into service and the agency safety experts will be taking all the time that they need to get their evaluation and analysis done right and the f.a.a. Has had says he won't be rushed into making a decision and I'm hearing that that means that the plane will likely remain grounded until at least February or March the 2nd hard reality isn't Boeing has been burning through crashes this crisis is costing Boeing according to some estimates maybe $2000000000.00 a month the company did slow production a back of it back in April but it still has had still been cranking out at about $42.00 a month and that was about $400.00 finished Jetson storage cannot deliver them to get to customers to get final payment Richard Avalon Abol Aafia is an aerospace industry analyst for the Teal Group it's been really painful for Bentley and maintaining production and not bringing in revenue this is very painful for a balance sheet perspective Ok painful for the company what about the people who work for the company I mean that the 737 Max is built at a plant outside Seattle there are like 12000 employees working there today are they going to be laid off furloughed what's going to happen Well Boeing says no at this point of the company says it doesn't expect any layoffs for workers at this time anyway the statement announcing the decision to suspend production says the company plans to have the affected workers continue $737.00 related work or be temporarily assigned to other plants in the area but there's still a fair amount of anxiety in and around the plant we had Ashley Gross of our member station can tax ask around about the impact and she's talked to Veronica Medina with her family owns a Mexican restaurant called toros in a strip mall called the landing across the street from the huge 737 plant in Renton Well obviously being right here at the landing it's very. Significant we get a lot of landscape. Granted in general very dependent on going well being Bettina says that even if Boeing employees aren't laid off if they aren't going in and out of that factory across the street her business may suffer but David I mean the reality here there's there could be a ripple effect in the economy from a decision like doesn't there's a whole supply chain that that feeds the production of the Boeing 737 Max Right I mean could this have a big economic impact overall yeah this is this is where the shutdown could be felt more deeply and it won't be so much in Seattle but in places like Wichita Kansas where Boeing supplier spirit aero systems makes the fuselage and other parts for the 737 Max and in Evandale Ohio where c.f.m. International makes the engines for the planes there are hundreds of companies that supply parts to the 737 and Boeing may do something to help soften the blow for them a little bit but those companies still me be forced to lay off workers here again is Richard Aboulafia of the Teal Group independent long it lasted for talking about just a few weeks a month or 2 which not to be the end of the world and if it is 3 months stoppage or conceivably even longer you know the broader economy would very definitely feel some pain so a lot of question about timing here you said this this could go like February March or does anyone here or even longer It all depends on when the plane is recertified by the f.a.a. And the f.a.a. Wants to work with its counterparts around the world to to to time the the putting the plane back into service they decision from Boeing and reporting this morning from N.P.R.'s David Schaper David Thanks my pleasure. Right so there's border security funding there is research to address gun violence 3 point one percent pay raise for people serving in the military and for federal workers these are just a few of the items that make up this massive $1.00 trillion dollars spending package that Congress has agreed to lawmakers released details of the deal yesterday and are expected to vote. On it today in the house both Democrats and Republicans are claiming victory after months of stalled negotiations and we have n.p.r. Congressional correspondent Kelsey's now in our Washington d.c. Studio Good morning Ok so impeachment seems to be dominating a lot of what's happening in Congress but this bill that they agree to is really important it's actually 2 bills it's 2 huge packages and it's the result of months of work it's based on a spending deal that you may remember that they struck way back in July and this is actually kind of a really big deal because it would fund the government through the end of September next year you know it is one of course Congress has core responsibilities to do this but if you'll remember they kind of have trouble with that year after year yeah. This is more than a 1000 pages and they're going through it really really quickly but if you talk to the Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Nita Lowey she's kind of taking this all in the typical spending negotiators tried of saying it's just her job the appropriations committee is charged with one of Congress's most awesome responsibility is the power of the purse I'm proud that we have use that power to make investments that will give every American a better chance that a better life now it's important to remember that the House and Senate still have to pass this and that's not always been easy in the past but I'm assured that both sides think that they will be able to get it done and this was negotiated with Treasury Secretary Stephen Minucci in and they people in Congress tell me they believe they have the White House is blasting Ok but there have been moments of surprise at the last moments like this in recent years but for the moment at least I mean you have both parties declaring victory so let's talk that through Let's start with Democrats what are they happy about him Well actually I think it's important to look at some of these bipartisan things one of which is raising the age for buying tobacco to 21 and that was negotiated by Democrats and Republicans including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Dick Durbin one of the top Democrats in the Senate and they're also appealing 3 taxes meant to support. Macare but I have been widely panned by both parties Democrats though are getting funding $25000000.00 for gun violence research and they're saying that is the 1st time in 20 years that's happened and they're also getting $425000000.00 in election security and a big boost in funding for the e.p.a. And opioid response now what are Republicans most excited about they're talking about $1375000.00 in border fence funding and you know the ability to move money around for detention beds at the border and then we've got another important vote this week I mean aside from the possible impeachment vote next and you will defense authorization bill which is going to the Senate what's happening there yeah this is a really big bill again really massive thousands of pages and it has a major policy initiatives including 12 weeks of paid parental leave which is not necessarily something you expect to see in a defense bill but it's something that both sides are really excited about Ok n.p.r. Congressional correspondent Kelsey's now covering a lot for us thank you calls for you Pat. So we're learning more this morning about profits earned by the Sackler family from the sale of oxy cotton that's the controversial opioid drug marketed by their privately owned company Purdue Pharma the company filed for bankruptcy earlier this year as we've been reporting but before bankruptcy the Sackler is withdrew more than $12000000000.00 into their personal accounts and let's bring in North Country Public Radio's Brian Mann who follows opioid litigation for n.p.r. He's on Skype this morning here Brian morning David So it looks like Oxycontin made the sacrifices very very rich remind us just the context here why is that so controversial. Well it happened at a time when a lot of Americans were dying as the prescription opioids epidemic was going viral across the United States ravaging communities the company of course faces thousands of civil lawsuits tied to its alleged role spurring this addiction crisis legal blowback so big it forced the company into this bankruptcy but as you said the sacked lawyers had already pocketed billions of dollars and in the end a lot of that money may not ever be forfeited as part of any settlement and what's new here is some details that we're learning from a new audit of the company is what exactly is this now the data submitted to the bankruptcy court on Monday shows that in all members of the family with through roughly $12200000000.00 from their company and a review by the New York Times found that this really excel aerated the sacrifice began pulling more and more cash out of the company beginning in 2008 hundreds of millions of dollars every year some of that went to pay taxes but it also went into their personal trusts and this is drawing particular scrutiny David some of that went into offshore accounts Ok so they have all this money it seems the family has offered to pay something like $3000000000.00 of this personal wealth to settle opioid claims against Purdue Pharma but state attorneys general are saying that that's simply not enough as every you know that is right the sack leaders have consistently denied any wrongdoing but they have offered this bankruptcy deal that would mean them paying out billions of dollars of their cash and giving up control of produce pharma as part of that they've asked the bankruptcy court to essentially halt all personal lawsuits against them they would be out of the opioid business but still one of the richest families in the country because of Oxycontin and it coalition of states are pushing back there saying that the Sackler should 1st give a full accounting of all their personal holdings even stuff that's offshore and foreign accounts and those attorneys general want to call back more of that cash and this audit is adding fuel to that argument to New York's attorney general to shoot James. Issued a statement last night demanding more detailed financial records she said she wants full transparency into their total assets Ok and on its face this doesn't look very good either you have this other part of the bankruptcy process produce farmer's decision to pay out these big bonuses to executives in the company I mean what is the court saying about that if they get a lot of that happen they are Judge Robert drain agreed earlier this month to let the company pay roughly $35000000.00 in bonuses this year to employees at the argument from produce pharma that according stepped it is that key staff you know people in the company needed to keep the the firm operating during this turbulent time those folks just won't stay on if they're not well compensated but of course David that money that's being paid out is money that will never be paid to victims or to communities Ok Brian Mann covers opioid litigation for n.p.r. Brymer appreciate as always thanks a lot. And this is n.p.r. News. Well . Every. Week the bulls eye holiday spectacular. Of the monkey. Brothers. Her Hollywood. To play. With her daughter. Who co-wrote the book. Just a few months before. Support for n.p.r. Comes from this station and from k. Bucks in support of the David Gilkey I'm Sabila to Monem a moral fund established to strengthen N.P.R.'s commitment to training and protecting journalists in high risk environments from the William t. Grant foundation supporting research to improve the lives of young people more information is available at w.t. Grant Foundation dot org from the Lemelson foundation committed to improving lives through invention in the u.s. And in developing countries and working to inspire and enable the next generation of inventors more information is available at Lemelson dot org And from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation at our w j f dot org. It's Morning Edition from n.p.r. News I'm Steve Inskeep And I'm David Greene Ukraine's president followed the mayor's Olinsky has stayed silent about President Trump and about Ukraine's role in the impeachment hearings but when Trump called Ukraine a corrupt country President Selenski fired back he told Time magazine the accusation undermines his central goal to clean up and rebuild Ukraine's reputation Gregory Warner host of N.P.R.'s rough translation podcast went to Ukraine to find out how that fight against corruption is coming along like a lot of current members of the Ukrainian parliament never imagined himself in politics I have seen what Parliament do with people his path actually began an odd place last December at the age of 36 he was diagnosed with cancer and in the hospital in the capital Kiev you know to something there was no call button for a nurse he just had to scream hope someone heard you you just understand that it has to be it's very simple but they're not sure and spent a career in advertising and he's a practical guy from his hospital bed he picked up the phone and managed to find a maker of call buttons who could outfit the whole hospital for $500.00 and he fundraised on Facebook and people gave me like 2 off thousands and that kind of solution minded approach to problems it was about to get him noticed this is. A skill that is full of. Just even while all this was going on the televisions in the hospital were showing by the Alinsky campaigning for president they were also showing episodes of Zelinsky sitcom where he played a fictional Ukrainian president and there was one well known scene from the trailer of season 2 of the sitcom So if he's character has an anxiety dream he comes to parliament with a big plan for reform Yeah but you Miles don't know you by its age you can form Calcutta and parliaments but it laughs in his face the music channel. Plays with anger. Told you to do is just the you people of Ukraine have nothing to eat he says they're afraid to walk in the streets you see not just on your progress this isn't ha ha comedy this is comedy is fury it's bottled rage against the political elites that Selenski and everyone his age grown up with the scene ends with Selenski pointing machine guns at Parliament. Which is played like over the top 10000 know violence Duren in his hospital bed deplored the bloodshed but understood the impulse in praying is ready for a reboot and the Ukraine wants to become a new contrie in real life Selenski one and he did not shoot at Parliament but he did dissolve it he called for Snap parliamentary elections his party chose all kinds of unlikely non-politicians to run fellow actors teachers journalists farmers a wedding photographer Goran who is well known for his Facebook campaigns got the call in the hospital my colleagues went to the hospital and said Let's go to parliament but Goran was not at all sure he wanted to join them parliament had always been the symbol of corruption and so to understand why he decided to run he and his wife Masha South Dakota wanted to go to war where she turned out we sent him on a tour they showed me this historic building where perched on one shoulder someone tried to build a private apartment my God it's so ugly. Can you imagine Gordon says there are legal developments like this all over he have except he can't call them illegal because the laws are vague on what is legal and what is not corruption he says is not just about people taking bribes to bend the law it's when the laws are intentionally vague to begin with there's an expression people use here the law as an ox cart it goes where you drive it and that vagueness in the law is one reason that one of the most powerful offices in Ukraine is the office that's opposed to. Corruption for a certain bribe they could open the case for a certain bribe they could close the case Daria Kelley nuke runs the indie corruption Action Center in Kiev they could seize a columns of certain businesses and extort bribes in exchange the Selenski phenomenon with mixed feelings on the one hand he was talking about corruption and people were listening he was able to communicate simple solutions in simple messages to call plex problems solved he promised hope but she says people didn't really know much more about Selenski than the role he played on t.v. And fighting corruption she knew a lot more complicated than firing the old lawmakers and bringing in new ones we need strong institutions they have to shoot with it with balls from the criminal code. They have been entering there for Hoffa not either just the Ukrainian parliament one afternoon and he have I visited the parliament building up the steps of the marble steps and I met Vitali as a reporter for a newspaper called The Observer he's covered the last Parliament in this one I think just members of parliament. This is the youngest and greenest Parliament ever Ukraine and he'll meet some of them taking the Metro instead of going by luxury car and this parliament actually shows up here because a lot of members of parliament is the last to call him and say. Go for a walk they don't show up to work don't you know it's over for all how does Alinsky party fix this they find parliamentarians for not showing up to vote. Party is such a huge majority they can pass almost any law so they also passed a law that parliamentarians have to declare their income and their spending to try to see who's on the take another new law is that the Ukrainian president can be impeached there in fact so many new laws that they've sped up the process for passing in. This is actually the sound of a vote taking place people are calling this the man and printer problem for how fast to make new laws. We just screwed up the procedure Meacher guru who went in one year from his hospital bed to a parliament seat he tells me the time is already running out in time frame the most tech to furlough is like half a year that's how long he says the previous parliaments have lasted before critical mass of lawmakers are on the take and the normal functions of governing cease and after they sell the previous evening parliaments and down to so that all of corruption as a cancer survivor need to look at life as a clock but he's not the only Ukrainian lawmaker coming to work with a stopwatch because Gurren does not see himself in just a fight against corruption it's also a race a race to get some good laws in place to counterbalance the other laws the laws of influence and money and might makes right then Ukraine have always held sway. Those Gregory Warner who hosts N.P.R.'s rough translation podcast and this is n.p.r. News. Something we may take for granted is literacy the ability to read signs headlines the latest bestseller in across the u.s. There are millions of adults who have trouble reading the next where we live we'll find out why we'll talk with local residents and literacy experts and we want to hear from you join the conversation on the next. Morning at 9 support comes from the Harriet Beecher Stowe center. On the next fresh air Julie Andrews she has a new memoir about her Hollywood years which began when she was brought to the Disney studios to play Mary Poppins will also talk with her daughter theater director and writer Emma Walton Hamilton who co-wrote the book and was born just a few months before Andrews began work on Mary Poppins join us. Today at noon. Live from n.p.r. News in Washington I'm Dave Mattingly Boeing is suspending production of at $737.00 Max airliners beginning next month the announcement comes 9 months after the f.a.a. Grounded the company's Mack's jets because of deadly crashes of Max eights in Indonesia and Ethiopia N.P.R.'s David Schaper has more Boeing is continued making $737.00 Max planes at a rate of $42.00 a month the now has about $400.00 in storage because they cannot be delivered to airlines so the $737.00 plant outside of Seattle will shut down production after the 1st of the year for how long is not yet clear Boeing says it largely depends on when regulators recertify the plane which still may be months away the 2 max a crash has occurred shortly after takeoff killing 346 people tornadoes in Alabama and Louisiana are blamed for at least 3 deaths the National Weather Service says it tracked one tornado over 63 miles north and Saints quarterback Drew Brees is now the n.f.l. Is all time leader in touchdown passes last night at the Superdome breezed through 4 touchdown passes to break Peyton Manning's career mark of $539.00 in a win over the Indianapolis Colts Brees stands at $541.00 after the game Brees was asked if he'd trade the record for another Super Bowl ring yeah of course absolutely one unsound I try I trade offer her another one of those this is n.p.r. News from Washington. The f.b.i. Says a suspect charged in connection with a mercury spill in Houston broke into a lab and stole the toxic material trace amounts were discovered in 3 parking lots leading to dozens of people having to be decontaminated as a precaution 19 year old Christopher Lee meld or is charged with burglary and unlawful disposal of a hazardous material elder was also charged with an outstanding felony drug possession warrant the small amounts of mercury were discovered 2 days ago Pennsylvania's top prosecutor says police in that state are now treating gun parts the same as an actual weapon that man with member station w i t f in Harrisburg says it's in response to more homemade gun kits being sold in stores and online convicted felons and others banned from possessing guns can now be criminally charged for possessing certain parts used to make a firearm in Pennsylvania that's because of a legal opinion issued by state attorney general Josh Shapiro until today law enforcement had no recourse to address these gun kids when they were found in a drug bust or in a gun trafficking ring the Pennsylvania State Police are now considering whether people will need to go through a background check to buy kits with these parts the National Rifle Association opposes the move for n.p.r. News I'm mad mad and in Harrisburg Dow futures are down 42 points this morning I'm Dave Mattingly in Washington. I'm Greg cuts and I'm Jim viewer got it where the host of the music talk shows sound opinions and it's almost time for our annual holiday spectacular each year we play a mix of some of the rarest Christmas songs you'll ever hear plundered from does the record rains from around the world tune in this week for the Sound Opinions all of a spectacular. Listen Saturday night at 10. O o I just couldn't a week from Pop worldwide we are 20 years into the 21st century others are looking back we're looking at. Joining me now from books and hear the sounds of the African future on a world wide from n.p.r. . Listen Saturday night at 11. Support for n.p.r. Comes from this station and from the John d. And Catherine team MacArthur Foundation recognizing exceptionally creative individuals this year's MacArthur Fellows and more information are at mac found dot org. And from the George Lucas Educational Foundation creator of Edutopia and online resources dedicated to improving the learning experience for America's students with information and strategies about what works in case through 12 education learn more it Edutopia dot org. This is Morning Edition from n.p.r. News I'm David Greene in Culver City California and I'm Steve Inskeep in Washington d.c. How much did the Sackler family profit before it surrendered Purdue Pharma the family put the maker of Oxycontin into bankruptcy part of a settlement over the opioid crisis but an audit now shows the profits the sacked lawyers took beforehand more than $12000000000.00 North Country Public Radio's Brian Mann follows opioid litigation for n.p.r. News on the line good morning i Steve what is this audit cover. Yes And this really goes back to the beginning of Oxycontin in the mid ninety's and this firm providing documentation for this bankruptcy process found that over the years this actors with through $12200000000.00 from their company and what's interesting here is a review by the New York Times Steve found that the sac lawyers began pulling more and more cash out of the company faster even as this opioid epidemic grew hundreds of millions of dollars a year some of this money went to pay taxes but a lot of it went into their personal trusts and this is drawing special scrutiny also into offshore accounts Well if they took out $12000000000.00 How does that make it look that they're offering to pay $3000000000.00 give or take to settle claims related to the opioid crisis Yeah this is controversial right to sack lawyers have consistently denied any wrongdoing but they have offered this bankruptcy deal that would mean them paying billions of dollars in their own cash while giving up control of produce pharma and they've asked the bankruptcy court to then essentially shelter them personally stop all personal lawsuits against them they would be out of the opioid business but still really really rich because of Oxycontin and what we're seeing is a coalition of states pushing back saying we want to know where the cash went where it is now and can we claw any more of that back and this at the audit that just came out on Monday is adding fuel to that legal fight we heard from New York Attorney General it issued James last night she issued a statement to demanding more transparency and really a picture of where all the Sackler family's assets are you know we've got about $9000000000.00 extra dollars that are out there to be contested over I suppose then there's the question of bonuses for company executives what happened there this is interesting you know this company is still an operating business and what produce pharma told Judge Robert drain in this bankruptcy court is look we need to pay bonuses to keep people working for us about 35 mill. And dollars in bonuses to employees and the judge went along with it although he gave the green light for those bonuses to be paid out. Keep people going through this turbulent time for produce pharma but obviously you know this is money $35000000.00 that will not be paid to victims or to communities that are struggling with opioid addiction you know I guess if you're a drug company executive at this point you just want to see the bottom like what's the bottom line how much is this going to cost me what do I have to pay to make this go away to settle it and to move on is the drug industry anywhere near knowing what the price is you know the legal experts we've been talking to Steve say there is no end in sight to this opioid litigation across the country is a mess right now and in part because the situation on the ground is a mess roughly 130 Americans still dying every day from overdoses state and local governments and they need tens of billions of dollars to save lives and begin the recovery process but right now no big global deal has been found that will resolve liability and get that help to communities that need it Brian thanks as always for your reporting thank you Steve Brian Mann covers opioid litigation for n.p.r. . The state of Georgia is purging thousands of voters from its rolls this morning these are voters who have not participated in recent elections or responded to official notices it's a controversial policy and it disproportionately affects one group the homeless Stephanie Stokes of member station a.b. In Atlanta has more looking through the list of purged voters one homeless agency stands out Crossroads Community ministries and midtown Atlanta the executive director Tony Jones shows me the main thing they do so starting this is our mail room it's available to our clients Monday through Friday 9 30 am to 12 30 pm it's a small room with instructions all over the walls for sorting mail from out one by one people approach a counter in say their names a volunteer then looks for any letters or packages and a series of wood bins lined up along the back wall it's like a p.o. Box for people who are homeless right that's exactly it John says about 800 people pick up mail here most don't have a fixed address of their own so John says they really need an organization like Crossroads a lot of state services like voter registration still depend on mail this is one of their few connections to that larger system where they could possibly receive not only benefits and things like that but participate in democracy itself well only to a point w a b e reports found many may no longer be able to participate in elections in 2017 the state removed nearly 500 voters from this address alone and another 400 from other homeless agencies in the city that didn't surprise the advocates I spoke to every single voting problem is especially hard for people who are struggling with housing every single one Sean Young is legal director at the a.c.l.u. Of Georgia he says go through Georgia's other regulations which researchers at Northern Illinois. Ranked among the bottom 3rd for voting access in the country like how people must register 30 days before elections lower income people move more frequently and many don't know they have to update their registration every single time then the state also requires photo id at the polls people often lose their I.D.'s when they become homeless a lot of voting laws are written with the perspective of a middle class or wealthy person and my but they're also written to ensure elections are fair according to Jake Evans he's an attorney in Atlanta who's involved in conservative politics the reality is we have to have rules to ensure that who is eligible to vote can vote. It's hard to do that because he says elections are complex and Georgia Evans doesn't think those rules keep homeless people from voting I was confident that if these individuals like most individuals in Georgia want to vote they're going to have every opportunity to vote fewer than 10 percent of people registered to Atlanta homeless agencies have voted since 2016 state wide voter turnout was around 60 and 70 percent still those numbers don't capture every voter without a home for males John Edwards steps up to the Crossroads mail room count he empties out a little black pouch to show me all of the documents he's received here. Oh . There's a state id you got your voter card too. And a free picture i.d. Just for elections Edwards says he plans to use it you get whole way speak your voice be heard because your opinion counts as Edwards continues to vote the state won't flag him as an active but for another 100 crossroads clients that's already happened unless they contacted election officials Georgia canceled their registrations and the latest round of purchase for n.p.r. News I'm Stephanie Stokes in Atlanta. And this is n.p.r. News. Support for Connecticut Public Radio comes from Connecticut magazine each month Connecticut's original lifestyle magazine offers information about issues personalities of events and entertainment on the web at Connecticut Mag dot com. I'm making a chunk of party coming up on the next one point President trumps executive order defining Jewishness as a nationality or race does it help fight discrimination on college campuses or enable anti semitic tropes plus now me to really do so myself my name is Jay z. At $56.00 Michael Eric Dyson joins us on why he believes the hip hop superstar is also one of the greatest poets of the American story that's coming up next on point from n.p.r. . Was in this morning at 10. His bird. In summer time bright yellow Wilson's warblers nest in western forests and across Canada's Boreal zone. The males look like they're wearing a little black bear race by September all are headed south to Central America navigating by the stars these quarter ounce birds make a series of night flights spanning more than 2500 miles now in December you didn't counter one such Wilson's War blurt in the bullies the burger robbed a month ago in Lowland bullies at precisely the same spot in the same coffee plantation where it is winter each year of its life. The work of flutes among the dark green coffee trees is now covered in richly scented white blossoms taller trees that shade the coffee plants are a winter home for other migrants from North America as well like summer Tana Gers and Baltimore Orioles'. They've joined the birds that live here year round. So there's a real build to can. With a massive multicolored. If you're a coffee drinker consider buying coffee growing in the shade when you do you'll aid the success of more than $150.00 species of migratory birds including the Wilsons warbler you can find out more about how to purchase shade grown coffee when you begin at bird note dot org. Support for n.p.r. Comes from this station and from the John d. And Catherine team MacArthur Foundation recognizing exceptionally creative individuals this year's MacArthur Fellows and more information are at mac found dot org. And from the George Lucas Educational Foundation creator of Edutopia and online resources dedicated to improving the learning experience for America's students with information and strategies about what works in case through 12 education learn more it Edutopia dot org. It's Morning Edition from n.p.r. News I'm Steve Inskeep And I'm David Greene the largest utility here in California p.g. And e. Has been blamed for deadly wildfires it has faced intense criticism for widespread forced power outages during the wildfire season and the utility is also dealing with financial woes having been in bankruptcy now for months they've come up with a plan to exit bankruptcy but California's Governor Gavin Newsom is rejecting that proposal and this comes as the bankruptcy is making some people very very rich Merissa Lagos' from member station k.q.e.d. Has been reporting on this I'm recent Hey Ok so p.g. And e. Files for bankruptcy after these several years of wildfires caused by their equipment you have the governor saying now he's not happy with the way they're planning to reorganize and come out of bankruptcy Why is that well important news and has to sign off on this plan for them to exit Chapter 11 are they won't actually be able to access the state insurance fund to help sort of protect them against bankruptcy again if they cause future fires the governor essentially says he's worried that their proposal depends too much on debt and he wants more accountability he doesn't think this company's going to be changed he wants to see a new board of directors that's made up of majority Californians and a plan for essentially handing control of the company over to the state if they don't meet expectations when you've been looking into this digging into this bankruptcy and seeing that there are some people who are really profiting from the bankruptcy what exactly are you learning yeah there's like an entire industry built around restructuring big companies that are in trouble so there's a couple ways Wall Street investors and corporations are benefiting one is the lawyers and consultants hired officially as part of this process they've got about $217000000.00 in fees and expenses through the fall there are big New York banks like j.p. Morgan Goldman Sachs that are loaning p.g. Any money right now pay them about 114000000 dollars this year to borrow that money and some estimates think that that number could top a $1000000000.00 by the end of that and then there's the mother. Indirect ways that Austrade investors are making a killing in indirect like you mean like playing the stock market with so much money yeah I mean that's part of it the stock has fluctuated wildly over the past year and that means a lot of opportunity for day traders but there's also a group of hedge funds that could make hundreds of millions because they're basically on both sides of the table in the bankruptcy they own equity in the form of stock in the company and they bought debt against p.g. Any over the past year in the form of insurance clamps what how does that work exactly So basically if your house burns down do you have an insurance company pays your claim they go after who caused the fire in this case p.g. Any Sure but some of these big insurance companies didn't want to wait around for the bankruptcy case to be resolved so they actually sold the debt at a steep discount to these hedge fund who now can attend essentially make money in $2.00 ways through the $11000000000.00 short of insurance settlement p.g. Is proposing as a way to exit the bankruptcy and through the stock they continue to own which could rebound significantly in the coming months if they get you know everything together Ok what you have so you have people profiting from this whole thing who's footing the bill for all of this well some of it's going from Austrade investor to investor right but when we talk about fees insurance settlement P.D.'s sole source of revenue is rate payers Here's Mark Tony he is a rate care advocate p. Jamie didn't have to go into bankruptcy they did it for their financial advantage and to chide us that there's shareholder cost to the rate payers. So the governor seems to have similar concerns and now that he has rejected the bankruptcy plan he's apparently trying to make sure the company ends up more financially viable and less likely to start fires Wow So it's a story about a company and also really learning a lot about how bankruptcy works k.q.e.d. Reporter Merissa Lagos' forces morning thanks so much my pleasure. This is n.p.r. News support for Connecticut Public Radio comes from 10000 villages celebrating joy from the world with ethical Global Gifts handcrafted for your holiday stores located in New Haven West Hartford and online at 10000 villages dot com. The ability of technology to manipulate and alter reality is growing at a breakneck speed will technology blind us to the difference between what is real and what is fake news that's terrifying is what I'm seeing truth is what I'm hearing real how do you have a democracy where people can trust anything that they see or read breaking news on the next radio was on tonight at 9. How does racism have an impact on someone's physical health person who's classified as black is less likely to have access to high quality health care is more likely to be subjected to unequal treatment by their physician and is more likely to live in a neighborhood where they have obstacles to their health ideas around our health and our environment that's next time on the Ted Radio Hour from n.p.r. . News information and ideas delivered to your inbox every day sign up for Connecticut public newsletters c.t. Public dot org slash newsletter. Coming up on the next episode of the column macaroon show America has always had a low paid relationship with scams think about the popularity of the movie The Sting but now scammers have more ways to get to us and we have more ways to showcase their work it's led to a whole new industry of skin contact listen this afternoon one. It's Morning Edition from n.p.r. News I'm David Greene and I'm Steve Inskeep the point of most video games is to defeat your competition but a new game out today called what Tom has a different kind of intention and aims to bring people together it is the creation of renowned video game designer key to talk a hushed. And we have report this morning from N.P.R.'s Vincent archive you know the year 2004 was not unusual for video games the best selling games of that year were full of familiar titles like Grand Theft Auto Madden and Pokemon but one game that year was unlike any other. That game was Ted I'm married to my she it's about a god named the king of all cosmos who while drunk accidentally destroys the stars in the sky his son the prince is left to clean up the mess by rolling up objects on earth into big sticky balls that grow so large they become stars. Robin hunted he is the co-founder of phenomena the studio that developed Tom but she's long been a fan of Takahashi's work back in 2004 she helped exhibit Kadam Ari at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco for a workshop on experimental games Kato Takahashi gave a presentation that blew or away he showed the gameplay but then he went all the way to the credits screen where you can roll up all the countries on Earth and say you're making a category of all of us and Kato said in a very heartfelt way that he had been really destroyed by the idea that we were going to just keep fighting and killing each other she was a surprise commercial hit in North America it was also a critical success and is one of 14 video games that helped establish a new category of art in the Museum of Modern Art permanent collection came to talk of how she's games are funny and absurd at the surface but kind and earnest at their core although Takahashi originally studied to be a sculptor he became upset when his classmates were throwing out their work after getting grades on their projects I was very shocked about the the whole environment crisis I don't want make more garbage Takahashi aim to make work that was useful and made people laugh it's a eat those that has carried over to all of his projects including his latest game what Tom it's full of very strange things a character that's a mouse that eats other characters and excretes them as pope that's Harry de Lorme who helped curate a mid career survey of Takahashi's work at the Telfair museums in Savannah Ga He says that with Tom It's funny but it's also a game about joy and kindness starts off with a character who is utterly alone on a green cube with a mouth a mustache and a top hat sits on top of a rock it's crying but then starts to walk around gradually starts discovering that there are indeed other beings around more and more characters join with Tom's world they interact together in simple and joyful ways climbing on top of one another spinning in circles holding hands. Takahashi said he came up with the idea for with Tom when he moved to Vancouver and was living in a place with a diverse population we see have some issues go program all called freaked. Out because of the different prospect to find really what you find skiing Carro. I believe defunds is make of good deep coats a good deep culture one where people are brought together by playing games some people get to defund sees hugging the Internet Camino n.p.r. News so as we reflect on the end of this year and this decade we want to point out that one of the most popular t.v. Shows in all of America right now is actually 25 years old the classic n.p.r. N.b.c. Sitcom Friends was the 2nd most watched show on all of Netflix last year so more people spent more time watching friends than any original Netflix show N.P.R.'s Sam Sanders has some big questions about what an old sitcom like friends being so big right now says about us friends is so valuable to Netflix the company paid $100000000.00 just for the rights to stream friends this year alone and Netflix has pushed the show so hard recently they even convinced me to watch after I avoided the show my entire life this year it seems France is kind of everywhere friend screens in theaters across the country a c.n.n. Documentary friends pop ups in several cities where 3 creations of friends memorabilia I went to one in Santa Monica California all the friends swag was made of Lego's and it had a smelly cat karaoke booth. Smell it was not the right he remains there why is friends this old show so big right now Meredith Blake cover streaming t.v. For the Los Angeles Times and she says part of it is what types of shows work on streaming platforms like Netflix shows on Netflix get more time spent viewing if they have more episodes and all these new Netflix shelves they just can't compete with the big back catalog for a show like Friends this 250 something upsets I think of. That's a lot of t.v. Hours right especially if you're looking at typically a season on it for a show on Netflix these days this you know $81012.00 episodes it's not 10 seasons of $22.00 episodes but also says Friends prove that the most bankable hits on streaming are broad and general interest which may show where streaming is headed next I do think if you're someone who is a fan of kind of the small quirky unusual risk taking shows you know things like Russian doll or master of none there may be less room for that friends can also show us something else our comedic taste may or may not change over time Saatchi Cole is a culture writer at Buzz Feed she wrote a piece for Buzz Feed earlier this year arguing that friends is not a good show I just find it dreadfully dreadfully unfunny and mean spirited too like it's just oddly mean show such he points to several examples of the show being full of gay panic overwhelmingly white mean to trans people and really really mean to fat people like the plotline of Monica's character being overweight when she was younger the joke is like oh we don't have enough room in the fridge for these pies Monica will eat them it's just so like. But such a cold says even though society has become in general less accepting of that kind of humor something about friends helps us overlook all that there's something really comforting about watching a show that is almost ritualistic it's very set up punchline there's no real consequences in that universe and I think that can be really enjoyable that sick model the friends model it holds even as the medium changes even as our values change so friends will continue to be there for you this decade and most likely the next as well Sam Sanders n.p.r. News. You can hear more about friends on Sam's podcast it's been a minute from n.p.r. And his latest episode listeners share their friend stories you know I actually have. I even had to cut it myself because. It's Morning Edition from n.p.r. News I'm David Greene and I'm Steve Inskeep. And the Democrats running for president . This week has a new national poll shows Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders at the top of the pack the newcomer to the race former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg won't be at the debate but he's huge starting to make a difference 2021 here join us this afternoon. 2020 is almost here and Democrats are getting set for another debate over key issues like health care. That will go on and who can be president and if you think. I'm Michel Martin join us for live special coverage of the p.b.s. News Hour political Democratic debate from n.p.r. News Thursday night beginning at. Support comes from the Connecticut Humane Society serving pets for 138 years joined the year in Challenge with a gift to pets in need today make medical care possible so pets are home for the holidays more humane dot org. This is Connecticut Public Radio n.p.r. Dubey n.p.r. H.d. One Meriden at 90.5 w p k t p k t h d one No it's 89 point one w w f m Stanford at 88.5 w. Our ally at Southampton at 91.3. Minutes ago 90 point one w 25880 stores at 99.5 m. W. Npr dot org And Good Tuesday morning I'm Lori Mack you're listening to Morning Edition on Connecticut Public Radio and if you're just waking up a wintry mix is causing school closures and delays state wide and a few problems on the roads this morning This is Morning Edition it's see one minute past 6 o'clock live from n.p.r. News in Washington I'm core of a Coleman the House Rules Committee is meeting today to set the parameters for Wednesday's debate by the full House of the impeachment of President Trump any lawmaker can appear at today's hearing to speak but the committee is expected to vote to keep the text of the articles of impeachment most Democrats have signaled they'll vote for impeachment although there are exceptions N.P.R.'s to Mack says that includes New Jersey Democrat Jeff Van Drew who was also going to become a Republican with the exception of Congressman Ben Drew who Democrats say was facing a tough primary challenge if he opposed impeachment most Democrats in competitive districts that have made their position public has said they're going to vote yes on a piece from N.P.R.'s Tim Mack House Democratic leaders have scheduled a floor vote on impeachment for tomorrow if debate lasts all day there is a possibility the vote could be pushed to Thursday severe weather in the south including possible tornadoes has left 3 people dead officials in northern Alabama said 2 people died there and several people were injured including a child a 3rd person died in eastern Louisiana the National Weather Service is warning that the threat of severe weather persists this morning and that includes a chance. For tornadoes the Wisconsin Elections Commission has voted on how to respond to a judge's order to purge about 234000 voters from the Wisconsin registration system from member station Wu w.-m. In Milwaukee Myin silver reports in Wisconsin a system used by the bipartisan Elections Commission flags voters who may have moved the commission sends a letter and if the voter doesn't respond within 2 years they're purged from the rolls the 2 years is because there were problems with voters being wrongly flag before the 28000 primary a conservative group.