In the up or going to some valley Thanks for listening. Eat sleep. Her. Her treat. The powerline and please. Please very easy. To please. Please eat. Good morning Christine blazin Ford says she won't appear before Congress on Monday but could talk later in the week. Against a Supreme Court nominee It's Morning Edition from n.p.r. News. In a letter to Republican Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley says he'll testify Monday Regardless I'm Steve Inskeep And I'm Rachel Martin the Republicans want to push Cavanagh's nomination through before the midterm election but can they match the voter enthusiasm on the other side the latest breakdown on that talks and negotiations to bring an end to the Syrian civil war and also how to defy ageing by flying on a trap heat it is Friday September 21st a man who knows how to write about fear Stephen King turns 71 years old today. The newscast is next. Live from n.p.r. News in Washington encore of a Coleman lawyers for the woman who accuses Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault are negotiating with the Senate Judiciary Committee over whether she'll testify next Monday N.P.R.'s Winsor Johnston says Professor Kristine blazin Ford is receiving some support. The. Protesters rallied on Capitol Hill yesterday in support of Ford who's requesting a full investigation by the f.b.i. Before a public hearing takes place New York Senator Kerry and Jill a brand says Senate Republicans are giving Ford a false option the option is show up Monday or don't show up at all I consider that to people I consider that to be disregarding I consider that to be something set up for failure they would like a he said she said scenario Ford says she would be willing to testify next week as long as the terms are fair and her safety is insured Windsor Johnston n.p.r. News Washington the National Weather Service continues to warn of life threatening flooding in the Carolinas some rivers are still reaching flood stage days after Hurricane Florence passed residents are returning home to completely wrecked houses Deborah Jewel has now seen her home in Newbern North Carolina The bad thing about it was is a couple blocks away is a sewer line. And that overflowed and that was all the way there are further concerns about hog lagoons in North Carolina nearly 2 dozen have overflowed with hog manure contaminating all the surrounding water tech company Google is warning some members of Congress and their aides about hackers who have been targeting them N.P.R.'s Alina cell yoke has more in a letter to leadership Senator Ron Wyden says his office has discovered that a number of senators and Senate staff members were warned by the meter technology company that their personal. Well accounts were targeted by foreign government hackers now Google has confirmed to n.p.r. That this had to do with Google and e-mail accounts and what these warnings typically say is that Google detected government backed attackers trying to steal the user's passwords though it might be a false alarm spokesman for widening Google does not clarify when these hacking attempts to place whiten wrote in the letter that he's concerned that the Senate sergeant at arms is not equipped to protect Senate staff from cyber attacks Alina so you can p.r. News Washington talks are not going well between the European Union and the United Kingdom on the U.K.'s exit from the European Union u.k. Prime minister to resume a held an informal summit on Thursday in Austria with some e.u. Leaders they say her bucks of plan is unacceptable May says it's the only plan that she will offer and her country is prepared to walk away from the e.u. If it's rejected this is n.p.r. . Officials in Tanzania say the death toll has climbed above 100 people from a ferry that overturned and sank in Lake Victoria observers say they don't know how many people were aboard but the vessel was overcrowded at least 37 people have been saved but rescue efforts were called off overnight they resume this morning state run media in Vietnam say the country's president has died from a serious illness Michael Sullivan says this was despite efforts by domestic and international doctors to save him 61 year old became president in 2016 and was the public face of Vietnam to the international community has been rumored to be sick for months but continue to appear in public one of his last appearance is less than 2 weeks ago during a state visit by Indonesia's president Joko Widodo where Kwang looked visibly weak and stumbled during the welcoming ceremony before he became president Kwang served as minister of public security a powerful position in a ministry with sweeping powers to protect the one party state from threats either domestic or from abroad the former general died in a military hospital and annoyed state run media did not disclose the nature of his illness for n.p.r. News I'm Michael Sullivan in Chiang Rai Thailand operators of a Japanese digital currency exchange say hackers have stolen about $60000000.00 worth of crypto currency These are digital assets that can be traded and they're supposed to be hard to manipulate but the exchanges the trade crypto currencies are still at risk of hacking the tech bureau Corp says it's exchange was hacked for 2 hours last week I'm Corba Coleman n.p.r. News. Support for n.p.r. Comes from n.p.r. Stations other contributors include staples with Prince and marketing solutions for business including color copies and presentations booklets and manuals signage and banners more at Staples stores or Staples dot com staples. Please. Please. On a Friday It's Morning Edition from n.p.r. News I'm Steve Inskeep And I'm Rachel Martin No one is really sure what's going to happen next week when it comes to Brett Kavanaugh scum from ation to the Supreme Court Christine Lahti for the woman accusing Kavanagh of sexual assault when they were teenagers says Monday is too soon for her to testify before a Senate committee although now her lawyer says she may be willing to appear a few days later under conditions that are quote fair and ensure her safety Kavanaugh will be there on Monday though in a letter he told the Senate Judiciary Committee he looks forward to the chance to testify and to defend himself against this allegation President Trump again threw his support behind his Supreme Court nominee at a rally in Las Vegas last night and the crowd responded in kind. I chanting Cavanagh's name there and here's what the president said in an interview with Fox News before the rally Why didn't somebody call the f.b.i. 36 years ago I mean you could also say when did this all happen what's going on to take a man like this and research that with that being said let her have her say and let's see how it all works out but I don't think you can delay it any longer they've delayed it a week already Scott Jennings is with us now from Louisville Kentucky he is a Republican strategist who worked in the Bush White House thanks so much for being with us Scott good morning thank you you argue there doesn't need to be an f.b.i. Investigation into Professor Ford's allegation why Well I've spoken to a senior f.b.i. Agent who I do some work with and another job I have and he told me there's no digital footprints here there's no text messages we're previa they the only thing they can do is interview people when what do we know we know that according to Dr Ford there were 3 people in the room 2 of them it said it didn't happen she did and I think the f.b.i. Is highly unlikely to come back with any kind of a result other than what we already know that my belief is that the committee needs to move on with their own investigation after all we trust the United States that. To vet these appointees and that's what they ought to do although there is precedent as you know George w. Bush asked the f.b.i. To investigate the allegations and you know Hill made against the nominee Clarence Thomas I mean what is the rush year why not slow it down interview family members friends try to get to the facts well that the issue is the way the Democrats are trying to delay the asked for an f.b.i. Investigation was to delay the why not delay but why not delay because we want great Kavanagh or a Republican appointee on the Supreme Court and the Democrats very simply to talk Raw Politics want to push this confirmation process past the midterms they're hoping that Democrats take control of the Senate and they would then shut down the confirmation process that's expected to. Be heard I think people should understand there's a raw political calculation by the Democrats which is when the Republicans is here pointing out that the Republicans don't want to delay for the very same reason Absolutely and I'm up front about that the Republicans want to chance to confirm their person in the Democrats want to push this off and hold this thing open for 2 years and that's why they keep asking for delays you know there was a hearing Thursday that was delayed to Monday now they're asking for Thursday next week it'll be something else I think Republicans that would belittle to move this along May I ask you though you know Democrats are supportive of this but the request for the f.b.i. Investigation came from Christine blazin for a do you have evidence she is doing all this to benefit the Democratic Party. I think it gets. In the report and I don't think that f.b.i. Would find anything that couldn't be found by committee investigators remember they reached out to witnesses and Dr Ford and Mr Cavanaugh and Cavanaugh we only. We should just note for our listeners we are having a lot of problems Scott with your with your line I am going to move on I'm I want to talk to you about the the raw politics of this which is what you spend a lot of time thinking about I mean we are in a moment where women voters in particular are up for grabs in these midterm elections and there are those in the Republican Party including Michael Steele former head of the r. And c. Who suggest the g.o.p. Has a woman problem and also is running in a moment where the man who sits atop the party the president himself has sexual misconduct allegations against him I mean what are the political risks of this moment for the g.o.p. While there's no doubt there's a huge gender gap in the polling I'm not sure it exists for all Republican candidates but it certainly is this for the president that they absolutely true I think the Republicans have been responsive to Dr Ford they have pushed the hearing back already once they said they want to hear from her they're listening to her attorneys about her demands I think they're back to back it pretty responsibly we did 24 hours of meeting her and they offered her a chance to tell her story on terms that she would choose so I think they've done what they need to do to be responsive and to try to get the relevant testimony but I don't think it would be prudent be to be their own political base I think would tell you to let this delay past the election which means if Christine Lahti Ford for whatever reason decides not to testify you would suggest they move forward with a vote as soon as possible if she chooses not to testify the Republicans have to prove this confirmation forward it's absolutely what in their balance to do that and I suspect they will if they cannot come to an agreement with her on some kind of test Scott Jennings he's a Republican political strategist based in Kentucky thanks some. Time this morning Scott we appreciate it thanks the Department of Veterans Affairs wants to coordinate its electronic health records with health records at the Pentagon this makes sense since a service member moves from one organization to the other but apparently it's hard to do a $1000000000.00 effort to do it failed and now a $10000000000.00 effort is underway N.P.R.'s Quil Lawrence reports it is not clear the result will be any different the v.a. Used to be considered a pioneer with its electronic health record in the 1990 s. But that's off where has never been able to interface with the Pentagon's health care software so troops had to sometimes print out and mail or hand carry their military medical record over the v.a. Congress made it law in 2011 that those 2 systems should be able to communicate Republican Phil Roe summed it up at a recent hearing we spent a $1000000000.00 of the taxpayers' money and I think that's what's astonishing to me that we could we could get rid of a $1000000000.00 in accomplish anything this year the trumpet ministration decided the v.a. Should simply buy the same software that the Pentagon uses made by a company called Cerner the new contract is for $10000000000.00 over 10 years to get all the V.A.'s $9000000.00 patients into that system plus be compatible with the Pentagon's very different health care system plus be compatible with the private sector clinics that the v.a. Uses heavily v.a. Is acting Chief Health Information Officer John Wyndham said hiring the same company is just the start we've acquired the same commercial electronic health record and now we're understanding the gaps and so those gaps have to be reconciled so far that's not going smoothly the V.A.'s chief information officer quit in April 2 other key officials quit this summer after only months on the job one main concern is that the Pentagon and the v.a. Are both in charge and when when everyone is responsible no one's responsible and so I think that's what has led us to where. We are today that's Carol Harris of the Government Accountability Office at the same hearing she said what happened last time was disagreements and turf wars between the 2 largest departments in the u.s. Government had no clear referee and time and money simply wasted away and she says that hasn't changed which she fears is setting up this new effort for failure n.p.r. News California election officials are launching a new effort to fight disinformation during political campaigns but it comes with thorny legal and political questions Capital Public Radio's Ben after reports from Sacramento as part of our series this week on election security as Russian agents sought to influence the 26000 election they didn't just hack in the e-mail accounts or try to get into voting systems they also planted what's known as this information intended to drive down voter turnout so telling people to go to the wrong polling place telling people that the date of the election is difference telling people that they can text in their vote Brett Schaefer with the Alliance for securing democracy tracks Russian influence operations on social media and he offers an example of an official looking Clinton campaign graphic that encouraged voters to vote from home by sending a text and even had a paid for by Hillary for president 2016 disclaimer at the bottom in other words no need to actually go to a polling place to cast your vote for president just send a tweet or a text this obviously wasn't true and it violated voter suppression laws and that's the kind of this information California wants to fight the secretary of state Alex Padilla people deserve to have confidence in our elections systems and countering wrong information has become an important part of that so Party is opening a new office of election cybersecurity and he's hiring now with hopes of getting started before the November election this allows us to be able to identify campaigns along those lines more quickly correct information and as appropriate work with social media platforms and others to bring some of that information to broach a 1st. As far as he knows California is the 1st state to target this information and he says it's a vital proactive step forward but he warns it's dangerous to give government officials the power to decide what kinds of dissent from ation should be taken down that very quickly is going to be a slippery slope and it's going to become political and problematic on many levels and when the California legislature gave final approval for the new office last month Republicans like Assemblyman Matthew Harper voted no if indeed this was about making sure told voice situations in which someone was giving wrong information about when Joe vote how to vote etc then it should have been specifically and narrowly tailored to that the law states the office will monitor and counteract false or misleading information that could suppress voter participation or create confusion and disruption it silent on the issues of false campaign claims and conspiracy theories but Secretary of State Party it insists though be off limits and Brett Schaefer thinks the language in the law is pretty clear from the way that is written I consider that a positive of course pretty a successor could choose to interpret it differently and as for the social media companies Twitter and Facebook are working with pretty his office to create a process for reporting and removing to information but they're also quite clear that they too are targeting dissin from ation about the voting process not campaign claims for n.p.r. News I'm Ben Adler in Sacramento. You're listening to n.p.r. News. K. Beauty is ringing in the fall with a new programming schedule starting Monday October 1st all things considered moves to 4 pm weekdays democracy now will be heard at sex we're also adding some exciting new n.p.r. Programs to our weekend lineup effective October 6th listen for Hidden Brain Sunday afternoons at one the investigative journalism show reveal at 2 and the Thomas Jefferson our at 4 see the updated schedule and learn more about the new programs at k b u t dot org. Support for n.p.r. Comes from this station and from Sony Pictures Classics presenting the wife a new film starring Glenn Close as a woman whose 30 plus year marriage is challenge when her husband receives the Nobel Prize also starring Jonathan Price and Christian Slater now playing from Wells Fargo established 850 to reestablish 2018 with a recommitment to customers working off the principles the company was founded on Wells Fargo dot com slash re new Wells Fargo Bank and a and from at last Ian a collaboration software company powering teams around the world committed to providing the tools and practices to help teams plan track build and work better together more had at last e n. Dot com. It's Morning Edition from n.p.r. News I'm Rachel Martin and I'm Steve Inskeep some Syrians want to talk about what comes after their disastrous war Syria's government is close to attacking it live province one of the last areas held by rebel groups but what comes after that Solomon shift has been thinking about that for years if you're going to make that very difficult transition from war to peace you need more than just military tools think of as a kind of outside consultant for the war or he hopes for peace he brings together opposition leaders armed rebels foreign governments various stakeholders in Syria to try to talk through their issues in an informal setting and now he's watching a possible formal set of talks the United Nations has been moving toward sponsoring what would be called a Constitutional Committee backed by foreign governments but made up of Syrians who would talk through the post-war government well many thing else we need Western governments we need regional governments tools to get much more involved in this effort of a more inclusive process in the constitutional committee so your question is not immediate humanitarian tactical like the province of It'll have what happens as government forces close in in this province where several 1000000 people are taking shelter you are involved in these behind the scenes talks that are trying to look beyond the conflict beyond the war and asking what kind of Syria's going to be there is that right even if President Assad and his government got all the territory he's still presiding over a very weak and divided country where he only still