Services and schedule a marketing couch session row Shambo the little design studio with big ideas additional support comes from western Colorado University in Gunnison where dedicated professors provide a personalized education to career minded students go dot Western dot edu. Good morning the president's budget director is set to become chief of staff at least for now does Mick Mulvaney seem to fit what the president is looking for It's Morning Edition from n.p.r. News. Coming up we discuss the job of chief of staff with someone who knows Andy Card who served George w. Bush I'm Steve Inskeep And I'm David Greene after talking tough on crime and supporting stiff sentencing President Trump is now backing a bill that would reduce federal prison time for some drug offenses will hear how his son in law may have won him over and sleep less in Seattle or sleep more public school officials there are starting school later to get students more rest it is Monday December 17th the birthday of a famous family the Simpsons premiered on Fox on this day in 1990. And the news is next. Live from n.p.r. News in Washington one corps of a Coleman the Washington Post has published a draft report prepared for the u.s. Senate Intelligence Committee on Russian interference in the 2016 us elections Washington Post reporter Craig Timberg told N.P.R.'s Morning Edition that Russian operatives used social media messaging to particular groups they tried to benefit the Republican Party and specifically Donald Trump the social media platforms allow you to target people in very specific ways so I can go after African-Americans in Baltimore or I can go after Latinos in Texas or conservatives in South Carolina so one of the groups stop the car that the Russians targeted were African-Americans both across the country and in specific areas and they would send messages like Man The system is really broken we shouldn't even bother to vote that's the best and we should get the draft report says Russian operatives use major social media platforms including Facebook Twitter and You Tube. President Trump said via tweet that he would be announcing his pick for interior secretary this week although he often lets these self-imposed deadline slip as N.P.R.'s Tamara Keith reports it was a weekend of personnel changes in an in ministration that has had more than its fair share of turmoil in a tweet President Trump announced interior secretary Ryan Zinke he would be leaving the scandal plagued he was facing the prospect of vigorous investigations from the incoming Democratic majority in the house and his own statements and he said quote I cannot justify spending thousands of dollars defending myself and my family against false allegations this marks the 11th cabinet level vacancy Trump has had to fill in less than 2 years in office a record level of turnover compared to other recent past presidents over the weekend Trump also tweeted an announcement that make Mulvaney the current head of the Office of Management and Budget will be his acting chief of staff Tamara Keith n.p.r. News so to Arabia says it rejects a resolution by the u.s. Senate placing blame on the country's crown prince for the killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi N.P.R.'s Lama has more the statement by the Saudi Foreign Ministry caused by the Senate. Foreign Ministry says this is a blatant interference in Saudi internal affairs and it's categorically rejects any and all accusations that disrespect its leadership. Resident was killed inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on October 2nd Saudi officials have blamed a rogue team of operatives for the killing but in November reports. Concluded that the murder of the journalist was ordered by the Saudi crown prince and current leader Mohamed. The Senate vote odds with the White House policy to maintain close relations with the Gulf country. You're listening to n.p.r. News. President Trump has praised a federal judge's ruling in Texas overturning the Affordable Care Act The judge said the law used to require that everyone buy health insurance or pay a tax but Congress got rid of the tax last year so the judge says the law should be overturned he did not issue an injunction so the law has stayed in place in the meantime the Kremlin says the Ukrainian government is mixing politics and religion as Ukrainian Orthodox Christians seek to form a church independent of Moscow as N.P.R.'s Lucy and Kim reports the religious split comes during a nearly 5 year armed conflict that has cost more than $10000.00 lives Orthodox believers in Ukraine took a further step toward independence this weekend when they elected a church leader who doesn't answer to the Moscow patriarch the Russian Orthodox Church has been dominant in Ukraine for 3 centuries and calls a move toward autonomy illegitimate Dimitry Peskov President Vladimir Putin's spokesman told reporters in Moscow that the Kremlin won't interfere in the dispute who accused Ukraine's government of mixing politics with religion on Saturday Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko attended the church council that chose the new head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and said Ukraine will no longer drink Moscow's poison from Moscow's cellists. Kim n.p.r. News Moscow French authorities say a 5th person has died of injuries from a mass shooting last week in the city of Stroudsburg 10 other people were hurt when a gunman opened fire near a popular city Christmas market French authorities say the suspect has been killed by police I'm corps of a Coleman n.p.r. News in Washington. Support for n.p.r. Comes from n.p.r. Stations other contributors include exact sciences offering color guard for average risk adults over 50 noninvasive colon cancer screening task that can be used at home by for scription only information and color guard test dot com. From the studios. On your listening to Morning Edition from n.p.r. News and your community radio station. Good morning. It's Monday December 17th we'll see a mix of sun and clouds giving way to mostly sunny skies today highs in the mid thirty's. And upper twenty's in. The winter do. Stop at Breckenridge resort this past weekend Valley resident. Took home silver in the men's super competition coming up on today's show teenagers often don't get enough sleep in school teachers say they can tell well rested students much. They're learning this is why Seattle has schools now start their day in hour later coming up a look at whether that's helped That's coming up within the hour here on community radio it's 6 minutes past 7 am we're seeing temperatures in the single digits for the northern end of the valley temperatures reaching down into the negatives as you go south mostly in the negative single digits and thanks for tuning in this morning this is community radio for the. This is Morning Edition from n.p.r. News I'm David Greene in Culver City California and I'm Steve Inskeep in Washington one of president trumps more than 20 tweets over the weekend announced a new chief of staff Mick Mulvaney soon becomes acting chief of staff replacing John Kelly Mulvaney will remain budget director the tweet announcing Mulvaney came abruptly after other candidates withdrew from consideration having been appointed Mulvaney was greeted with a reminder of something he once said The Daily Beast published video of Mulvaney saying Trump is a terrible human being the video is from a public event in 2016. So what challenges does the new chief of staff face Let's ask someone who has served a president as chief of staff Andrew Card held the job for more than 5 years of George w. Bush's administration walk to the program Sir good to be with the state thanks very much for having me what do you think of Mick Mulvaney Well I actually think I was surprised by the choice but I think it's a good choice number one the vin several o.m.b. Directors that made great chief of staff Leon Panetta came from being o.m.b. Director becoming chief of staff to President Bill Clinton Jack Lew was always to be director became chief of staff to Brock Obama and then Secretary of the Treasury and Josh Bolton was o.m.b. Director and succeeded me as chief of staff so I think because the Office of Management and Budget is kind of in the middle of the White House complex and knows all the players and the ins and outs and I think that's a pretty good choice and and Mick Mulvaney also because he was a member of Congress and is relatively well respected in Congress on both sides of the aisle even though he's known as a pretty tough conservative and I think if he brings that understanding I do have one reservation and now it is if he's confirmed by the United States Senate to be the o.m.b. Director he's also obligated to go up and testify before Congress and a chief of staff shouldn't go testify before. Konkona I don't think it should be named acting I think it should be named chief of staff and get rid of the other job you're saying we should clarify this you're saying that if the if the Congress wanted to question the chief of staff the president could claim executive privilege privilege and just say that's my staff it's none of your business but they do have license given this other Senate confirmed job to question him even question him under oath correct when you are confirmed by the United States Senate to be a member of the cabinet in a statutory cabinet level then one of the 1st things they ask you is will you come to Congress and testify before us and the answer is yes they don't just cheat the staff has not confirmed by the United States Senate it's an entirely a position under the control of the president you serve at the pleasure of the president the time being at 3 Dundon and it's in security and that's way it's supposed to be now you mentioned that part of his rather impressive sounding resume is running the Office of Management and Budget which means you have your fingers on everything you know a lot of the numbers but we should note he was an unusual has been an unusual director of the Office of Management and Budget because of his tendency just to cut everything. Well that's that was who he was when he was a member of Congress he was a co-founder of the Freedom caucus and was a known as a hard nosed fiscal conservative don't spend any money and I think that he has mellowed as he came to recognize how government actually works so I don't hold that against him I do I do like that he is a someone who wants to have kind of more controls over the fiscal nature of the government and how they spend the taxpayers' money but I think he's learned that the government has to function so I don't think he's a champion of shutdowns even though he had been a champion of shutdowns when he was American press now let's note the moment in history in which Mick Mulvaney becomes the acting chief of staff Democrats are about to take over Congress are take over the House of Representatives I should say after a big election when they gain 40 seats investigations into the president continue on multiple fronts involving payoffs to women as well as Russia's involvement in supporting President Trump in 2016 multiple people around the president of pleaded guilty or been criminally charged or convicted and the president himself has been named in court papers what is the 1st challenge for the chief of staff in this situation well it's important to number one have a chief of staff who is empowered to give discipline to the staff emphasis of the word and chief of staff should be on staff Mick Mulvaney will be a staffer serving the president in charge of the staff has got to be empowered to keep discipline on the staff so that they do their job and don't get preoccupied by what the president may be going through politically what the president may be going through legally what the president may be going through in terms of investigations help the president do his job there's so much going on in the world and so much going on the United States you need a White House staff that is disciplined to help the president do his job even though he may be distracted I'm starting to think of Alexander Haig who was the chief of staff for. Richard Nixon during Watergate and we're not predicting by saying that that it's going to end up the same way but when you read accounts of Alexander Haig trying to support a president who was under deepening investigation that seemed like an extraordinarily stressful job it is a very stressful job even when the risk no investigation and investigations do create a climate of anxious and that's why you have to have a strong chief of staff probably the best chief of staff in modern times it was James a Baker the 3rd and he served President Ronald Reagan very very well even though there were investigations taking place that you were chief of staff on $911.00 Mr Card Do you have one piece of advice from ovine should a crisis break out while his chief of staff be cool calm and collected don't allow emotions to drive how you do the job remember that people should see the president when they need to not when they want to the president should be making presidential decisions not government decisions and the president should somehow find discipline to taste his words before he spits them out or lick his thumbs before he sends a tweet. Ok thank you very much that's a good place to stop Mr Card thanks very much pleasure talking with Dave it's great to be with you thank you Andrew Card was chief of staff for George w. Bush before long a whole lot of Democrats are going to be running for president of course foreign policy takes up a big part of every president's job so with campaigns on the horizon many of the Democratic contenders have been working to beef up their foreign policy resumes Here's more from N.P.R.'s Scott d'être last week the Senate issued a major rebuke to both the Trump White House and Saudi Arabia it voted to demand an end to u.s. Military support for the Saudi war in Yemen leading the push for want Senator Bernie Sanders that's a constitutional responsibility for making war rests with the United States Congress not the White House let us pass this resolution when Sanders ran for president in 2016 Hillary Clinton's campaign regularly. Didn't him for seemingly avoiding all foreign policy but since then Sanders has made a point of spending a lot more time on it last year he gave a big speech in Missouri laying out his approach to foreign policy notably Sanders brought it back to the heart of his agenda income inequality foreign policy must take into account the outrageous income and wealth inequality that exists globally and in our own country Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren did the same thing a few weeks ago when she gave her big picture foreign policy speech and we need to end the fiction that our domestic and our foreign policies are somehow separate from each other and recognize that policies that undermine working families in this country also a road America's strength and the World War and called for a full withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan a policy of never using nuclear weapons 1st and slashing the military's budget there's more money for the Pentagon could solve our security challenges we would have solved them by now as with other elements the Democratic Party more progressive wing of the party getting to rein in the terms of the debate then rose work as one of President Obama's top foreign policy advisers beginning in the 2008 campaign in a recent memoir Rhodes writes about how it often seemed like he was one of just a handful of people on the campaign even thinking about foreign policy and most contest it's important but a bit of a back burner issue you know a candidate will essentially try to clear a bar do enough to show that they have the ideas of the Asians have the experience to be commander in chief and not make mistakes in debates it potentially Dawson conference and other candidates but not really devote a lot of time a lot of that so-called bar clearing happens on Senate committees that's why the right assignments are so important for lawmakers eyeing the White House from his perch on the Foreign Relations Committee New Jersey sent. There Cory Booker has spent a lot of time advocating for human rights he need old bike Pompei o on the freedom of the press during the secretary of state's confirmation hearing asking whether Pompei o would regularly meet with reporters straight and then when it comes to your posture towards the press as you travel internationally you're going to become in many ways like the American that you are sort of an apostle of the idea of the free press yes thank you very thank you very much there's no top tier foreign policy divide within the party right now like there was on the Iraq war in 2004 in 2008 so Michele Flournoy says the bigger more important contrast will be how the eventual nominee takes on President Trump the longtime Pentagon official widely viewed as a possible future Democratic secretary of defense wants to see the Democratic nominee argue something like this America's interests and values not well for one to try to go it alone or impose our will through threats and intimidation are stray when we will polish a lion the white mind of a trumped America 1st approach energized his supporters in 2016 and they see success as Trump as walked away from international agreement after international agreement Ben Rhodes who helped put many of those deals together says it's all alienated key allies but I think the rest of the world has looked at this and not just reacted to being president they reacted to the fact that our country and what right in distant ability that people can count on the United States is suddenly gone he says that all presents a major challenge to any Democrat if they're able to be trumped Scott Petro n.p.r. News Washington. This is n.p.r. News. Water managers met in Las Vegas last week to figure out how to deal with a to windowing Colorado River ever minds we have. 7 stages of grief because I think we've been in denial for a long time coming up we look at why it's taken so long to hammer out new deals to manage the rivers declining reservoirs That's coming your way on Morning Edition from n.p.r. News and your community radio station keep. Pet patrol is designed to reunite lost cats and dogs and all other animals with their respective owners if you lost or found your own or someone else's pet use the pet patrol by calling the d.j. At 970-349-7444 extension 2 report a missing or found pet here in Gunnison County he's pet patrol another amazing service from your community radio station. Our. Support comes from Irwin guides offering adventures locally and globally explore more go with a guide Erwin guides dot com 970-349-5430 from the I bar ranch a Western Heritage event center on the banks of the to Miti Creek 2 miles east of Gunnison the I bar ranch is now looking for 21000 weddings wake at our ranch dot com. This is the Colorado Bureau of Investigation with an amber child abduction alert we have received this important announcement regarding an abducted child in Northland Colorado the north line police department is searching for 18 month old Leo Taylor last seen in the north metro area today in the early morning hours Leo Taylor is described as an 18 month old white male approximately 2 feet tall and weighing $35.00 pounds with brown eyes and brown hair investigators believe Leo may have been taken by 32 year old Alejandro Taylor 5 feet 11 inches tall 155 pounds with brown eyes and black hair the 2 May be traveling in a 2014 purple Chevrolet Spark with Colorado license plate 126 why I x if you have any information regarding this incident immediately call 911. This is very real life they recently cracked the perplexing case of 2 boys in Northern California Lesley McClurg from member station k.q.e.d. Has a story on a cold dark morning chase Miller peeks out from under his covers and he peers curiously at my microphone with a big smile chasing day to day how do they. Make it she says Mom gently lowers the fan boy before he's 5 she lays him on his back because he can't sit or stand then he goes to the same routine with her other blue eyed blond son. He's 7. Carcassonne Ok there we go Carson's legs are jerk randomly and Nikki struggles to plan a stiff legged race to wipe their brow This is a work of this life isn't working out for sure Nikki never imagined their morning routine would include electric lifts and 2 boys strapped into wheelchairs who still requires a letter or an ego out for it isn't going to start it because you know it is much easier when you wake up to those beautiful brilliant smiles every morning every morning that's Danny Miller the boy's father 7 years ago he and Nicky began noticing their 1st son wasn't raising milestones like rolling over or crawling and said their baby was fisting spastic movements type movements and then at about a year their son was mis diagnosed with cerebral palsy and then when the same developmental delays emerged in their 2nd newborn they started asking more questions and they spent the next 4 years getting test after test after test it can be a very lonely experience each specialist shrug their shoulders it's really tough because as a parent you blame yourself what did I do wrong you know is there something wrong with my genes finally 2 years ago the family heard about a group of doctors known for sleuthing the toughest cases the undiagnosed disease network it's funded by the National Institutes of Health you want Ashley heads up one of the country's top. Clinics at Stanford University it was like Shiloh Holmes patients would come with mystery diseases and we would try to solve them and how common are these patients that you're seeing the remarkable thing is that although individually rear diseases are rare collectively they're very common in fact one in 20 people in the population has a rare disease to unlock the Miller case actually recommended a complete genome sequencing for each family member he pulls out his laptop to point out what the test revealed so we're looking at 4 genomes on one screen each is a long string of letters that is code for our d.n.a. He's looking for a letter which shouldn't be what they call a variant and you can see in the colored section same gene was hit by 2 variants one from mom one from that so their whole lives are affected by a misspelling Yeah one letter of 6000000000 can cause these incredibly devastating diseases the misspelling is why Carson and Chase have a brain disease called me Pan syndrome their genetic mutation affects the part of the brain that controls movement there's only one scientific paper that's been published about it and aside from the there was nothing else out there Danny has only found 13 other people in the world who have it there's no current treatment for the degenerative disease and even though the boys minds are cognitively sound their bodies will eventually fail them so doctors hope hefty dose of daily vitamins and supplements will flow their brain decline. The boys are also in therapy to strengthen muscles and to give them life skills we have p.t. And o.t. And speech recently on a computer which helps the boys communicate Carson the bill to sons that said I hate my wheelchair. Because I know that he wants to be up running around playing tag and hide and seek with the other kids that might not be how things work out. But I'm going to do everything in my power to try to make sure that that does help them the 1st step was knowing what was wrong the network of disease detectives has solved about a 3rd of their patient cases and named $31.00 new syndromes in the 1st few years of the program and once there's a diagnosis then it's a lot easier to attract scientific interest and someday potentially more cares for n.p.r. News I'm Leslie McLaren in Marin County there's a movement to make sure kids aren't Sleepless in Seattle with homework extracurriculars kids aren't getting enough sleep Seattle solution starts school later here's N.P.R.'s Patti name and Seattle Schools pushed back the opening bell for all high schools and most middle schools by about an hour from 7 50 in the morning to 845 researchers at the University of Washington wanted to know if that resulted in more sleep the answer yes 34 more minutes lead researcher Gideon Dunster 34 minutes may not sound like a lot of rich person but for those of us who study in this field this is a huge impact beneficial impact for the students feel or students were absent from class fewer late and overall grade saying creased by 4.5 percent can be the difference to an a or b. Between passing a class and not passing a class students were Fit Bit type wrist devices which measured light an activity levels so researchers knew when students were awake or asleep they compared students in a 10th grade biology class when school started early to students in that same biology class when school started later teachers saw a big difference Roosevelt High School biology teacher Cindy tools says once school started later there was a lot less yawning and a lot more focus I'm constantly as a lab teacher interacting with students and asking them to explain the. Things that they're doing and interpret data etc well rested students are much more. Articulate in what they're learning and if you're wondering why kids just don't go to bed earlier Sr. Says once children reach puberty their biological clock changes slowly but they will. They will not fall asleep they will not be able to biologically fall asleep. At least the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends all schools start at $830.00 but only a handful of counties nationwide aren't doing that Patty named n.p.r. News support for n.p.r. Health coverage comes from Exact Sciences. Over 50 a non invasive colon cancer screening test that can be used by prescription information. And from Doctors Without Borders with medical teams on the ground in more than 70 countries. Doctors Without Borders dot org It's n.p.r. News support for k v u t's provided by the Crested Butte Bank and the Gunnison bank Gunnison county's locally Chartered Bank serving its community for over 100 years additional support is provided by high country conservation advocates advocating for the wild places waters and wildlife of the country and keeping lady mind free since 1997 learn more about how you can become an advocate at. Sea. Additional support for Katie comes from Cold Harbor Institute facilitating education incubation and demonstration of sustainable agriculture green building regenerative energy and land management practices on Cold Harbor ranch more on Cold Harbor strategy and capital campaign at Cold Harbor Institute dot org. Live from n.p.r. News in Washington I'm Dave Mattingly a court challenge is expected after a federal judge in Texas to clear the Affordable Care Act to be unconstitutional the judge sided Congress's vote to eliminate the tax penalty for not having health coverage as part of a tax cut package is a killer manual helped write the he believes the judge overreached it's a small part of the law there are many other things in the law where the mandate has no effect like changes to how we pay doctors changes to try to incentivize improved quality penalties to hospitals that have too many hospital acquired infections and other problems those things have nothing to do with the mandate Emanuel was speaking to N.P.R.'s Morning Edition lawyers for Harvey Weinstein will be in court this week in New York seeking the dismissal of the remaining criminal charges against the former movie mogul as N.P.R.'s Joel Rose reports dozens of women have accused Weinstein of sexual assault the defense says that there are big problems with how a detective handled the investigation into Harvey Weinstein for example telling one of his accusers that it was Ok to delete some personal data from her phones before she handed them over legal experts say that makes it look like they were trying to hide evidence that could have helped Weinstein's case and made the accuser look bad and ultimately that did lead the Manhattan district attorney to drop one of the charges at but prosecutors say they are still going full steam ahead on the other 5 counts against him this is n.p.r. News from Washington. In the community radio for the Gunnison Valley Good morning I'm Christopher Bedell May It's Monday December 17th Here's a look at your snow reported 30 inch based at c.b.s. Are 10 lives in operation 76 trails open rock on ice ice sculpture team is back at 29 inch base and Monarch resort 6 lifts open 71 inches year to date the west side has been groomed in the grass to be ignored Xander and all. If it is the recommended skiing today a full trail report is available at c.b. Nordic dot org Colorado's outgoing governor and secretary of state will learn today whether an ethics board will move forward with investigations into their conduct capital coverage reporter Scott Franz has more Governor John Hickenlooper is accused of accepting expensive corporate gifts while traveling abroad he filed a lengthy rebuttal and called the complaint a political stunt and Secretary of State Wayne Williams faces allegations he improperly used state funds to pay for legal education credits and Colorado Bar association dues he too has denied breaking state ethics rules now that both have filed their responses it's up to the state's independent ethics commission to decide whether to investigate the complaints or dismiss them the commission is scheduled to vote on both complaints at a meeting this morning I'm Scott Franz at the state capital and this is. Underwriting support comes from Montana distillers Crested Butte own craft room distillery a 212 open every day for tours and tastings in featuring artists and cocktails appetizers street food Raman and 5 Montana dot com Montana distillers obsessive Lee crafted high mountain rum from Andrew Hadley architect creating sustainable architectural solutions for our community for more than 25 years and you have the architect dot com. Support for n.p.r. Comes from this station and from Linda mood Bell learning processes committed to helping all students learn to their potential their learning centers and online private school offer instruction in reading and comprehension 803-1818 from Capital One offering a variety of credit card options with features for a range of customers from foodies to travelers Capital One what's in your wallet credit approval required capital one bank USA and a. It's Morning Edition from n.p.r. News I'm Steve Inskeep in Washington and I'm David Greene in Culver City California Russia used every major social media platform to help elect Donald Trump that is the headline today in The Washington Post and according to the paper that is the conclusion of a report prepared for the Senate about Russia's role in the 2016 presidential election Joining us now is one of the reporters on that story Craig Timberg Good morning good morning so start with what the impetus for this report was if you can remind us who asked for it. The Senate Intelligence Committee has been very active in probing this issue for a good while now to really push the companies to produce more data and more revelations and this is the report they give the 6 out of the common 18 answer what they found they hire some of the best researchers in the world who want to can tell and it really got some very strong conclusions so it's not news obviously that Russia try to influence the 26 you know election I mean we've been reporting on that for a long time the fact that they used Facebook Twitter so what are we learning here the Seems to cover a much wider scope than than we've really gotten before we got more detail glued ever had before on how Instagram for example was used on how You Tube We used and it's also a kind of earth inclusiveness about this record I've been writing about this more than 2 years but this is. Deal stronger more sweeping more solid in really everything it says than any report I've seen before on the subject. I was reading some of your story and I was sort of struck not just that some of the messaging that Russians were doing were trying to benefit the Republican Party but that they were actually trying to suppress turnout among Democratic voters how exactly does it seem like there might have been happening. Right the social media platforms like to target people in very specific ways so I can go after African-Americans in Baltimore or I can go after Latinos in Texas or conservatives in South Carolina so one of the groups stop the cause that the Russians targeted were African-Americans both across the country and in specific areas and they would send messages like the system is really broken we can even call it if that's the best thing we should do we can do for Hillary Clinton is really with us she's just as bad as Donald Trump don't don't bother to vote and sometimes they would send a message just just to confuse people like you can vote on Thursday evening using a text message and so that kind of suppression messaging which we've seen other campaigns obviously as well was particularly strong in the Russian effort and it is frankly very disturbing does it say anything conclusive about whether it was effective like whether the Russians actually made a difference or is it just conclusive and what their intentions were. This report stops at the same line all of this work does it actually the u.s. Intelligence Committee does well which is to say you know we don't know right I mean there's no way to run a new election in take this out of it see what happens that's what it would take a scientific basis to say exactly what happened so we are all left in a way to try to think about Ok an incredibly close election that was different they were separated by a by few 1000 votes in a few states could this matter I can't answer that for you the researchers obviously can't answer that for you in the u.s. Intelligence committee can't answer this for you but it certainly looks like they're working for trying. Craig Timberg is a reporter for The Washington Post Great thanks as always my pleasure today the Senate considers a bill to reduce federal sentences for some drug offenses it is also meant to prepare inmates for life after prison supporters say this bill would not have made it this far without a surprising supporter President Trump Here's N.P.R.'s Aisha Roscoe when president trying talks about crime it can sound a lot like a throwback to the past my administration is determined totally determined to restore law and order. And Order 100 percent with to those decades when the war on drugs and high crime rates led to stiff punishments for drug offenses we need law and order in our country and it's not just talk transfers Attorney General Jeff Sessions directed prosecutors to seek tougher penalties for some nonviolent drug offenses so how did Trump end up pushing a bill that would reverse some of those tough on crime laws one factor his son in law this bill would have been dead on arrival with our church Davis a favor and works for the American Conservative Union Foundation which supports this new Senate legislation his group found an ally and who is a top White House adviser groups like the fave Ians and their progressive counterparts argue that unreasonably long since incentives have clogged up u.s. Prisons costing taxpayer dollars with out lowering crime rates. Whose father served time in federal prison has led the charge in the White House to make changes to the nation's criminal justice system he's been able to make the case that the president has the why this is good for neighborhoods good for the economy good for individuals and good for families at White House roundtable meetings advocates like Sean hop would told Trump that there were better ways to crack down on crime help with met with Trump earlier this year I want I told the president No I. I committed a violent crime but I'm not a violent criminal I'm not can change I'm a loss of record not how it is now a law professor at Georgetown University but he's been nearly 11 years in prison for bank robbery he says he thinks hearing stories like his made Trump look at prisoners differently the push to persuade Trump seems to have paid off after supporting a more limited bill in the House last month Trump came out in favor of the more expansive Senate bill it would promote prison rehabilitation programs and end automatic life sentences under the 3 strike penalty for certain felonies we all benefit when those who have served their time can find a job support their families and stay the hell out of jail right. That's what we watched day out of without his indorsement the bill likely would have come up for a vote so Fabian says like other politicians Trump doesn't have to worry about opponents painting him as weak long climb you know Donald Trump is tough on crime Donald Trump endorsers this bill therefore this bill is not soft on crime still some Republican critics argue it will free violent criminals and some on the left argue it doesn't go far enough Brianna Wells a political strategist who has worked on these issues says he's worried that Trump's mixed messages on crime may leave the Justice Department's not fully implement the law do we have good faith long term committed partners in this so that this 1st step doesn't become something where everyone pass themselves on the back and then we don't revisit this for another 510 or even 20 years if the bill does pass the 180000 inmates in federal prison will soon learn what Trump's new version of law and order means for them I usually ask n.p.r. News Washington. This is n.p.r. News. We'll see a mix of sun and clouds today giving way to mostly cloudy skies with highs in the mid thirty's in Christie view and upper twenty's in temperatures is starting to crawl up words but we're still seeing negatives in the south end of the valley negatives in the middle of the valley and single digits in the north and in $742.00 . A Cold War era nuclear weapons treaty is on the verge of falling apart. The course of action only they can save this treaty by the treaty is on life support its demise could trigger an arms race that's this afternoon on All Things Considered from n.p.r. News. Support for k b u t comes from Alpine Express for in private rides and shared rides shuttle service Alpine Express is always looking for safe and responsible drivers applications and benefits are an Alpine express shuttle dot com from Thurston kitchen and bath specializing in new construction and remodels locally owned and operated since 1977 you can visit their showroom located at 544 Riverland drive kitchen and bath dot com I am from Black Dragon development for more than 10 years providing professional construction management services offering complete project management from concept to fruition portfolio featuring the r m b l community center and the Center for the arts as a black dragon development l.l.c. Dot com. This is a beauty news water managers throughout the West were supposed to finish drought contingency plans for the Colorado River by the end of the year and even with months of time and energy spent on the process they're likely to miss the deadline but why Luke Runyon has more on stage in a gilded conference room at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas Keith Moses says coming to terms with the limits of the Colorado River is like losing a loved one ever reminds me of the 7 stages of grief because I think we've been in denial for a long time Moses is vice chairman of the Colorado River Indian tribes a group of 4 tribes near Parker Arizona the denial of intially turned to pain and then guilt as it became clear just how big the gaps were in supply and demand on the river and for the last 6 months water leaders in Arizona have been experiencing the 3rd stage of grief anger and bargaining even though we reach situations were maybe were about to all break out in a brawl in there. We come back to the table Moses is referring to a series of public meetings to hash out the details of drought contingency plans Arizona has had a hard time agreeing on how to rein in water use and avoid seeing the rivers largest reservoirs Lakes need and Powell drop to extremely low levels Catherine Sorensen is director of Phoenix's water utility she characterized the process this way interesting complicated by line say difficult if arid conditions continue to plague the watershed like they have for the last 1000 years Sorenson says the state stands to lose a big portion of its Colorado River water just who takes those cuts and when is what needs to be figured out that's a painful conversation and of course everyone thinks that their own water use is justified and that no one else is it is obvious that it's authors of the. One of the loudest voices in the debate comes from a small group of farmers in rural Phnom County Arizona south of Phoenix. They can see their supplies zeroed out within 2 years under current rules Brian Rhodes doesn't want that to happen he's the county's biggest grower we're standing next to one of his alfalfa fields it's being flooded by water carried in a concrete canal we're going to have to take large cuts we all understand that Pienaar farmers like roads have been criticized for being the squeakiest wheel in getting the drought plans finished he says that's unjustified The reason why I put out County is is fighting so hard on this is because it is so important you know we're just trying to survive the grieving or drought planning is much further along elsewhere states in the rivers upper basin Colorado Utah New Mexico and Wyoming have finished their deal Amy Haas is the director of the upper Colorado River Commission and we need to act now we're losing time climate change is already stressing the Colorado River reducing its flow and sapping its reservoirs that supply water for 40000000 people and projections from the federal government show it only getting worse the static be prepared to deal with changing conditions and how do we end data that is and I think that we didn't anticipate certainly have what we're seeing today water managers thought they had solved the problem 11 years ago with an agreement that was supposed to manage water shortages John Weiss height was there when it was signed and every But he was quite excited. And I was and I was kind of frowning why site is with a living Rivers a conservation group and lives in Moab Utah he felt the much touted plan didn't go far enough and would result in plummeting reservoirs so I'm still really concerned . There's kind of a system failure in the Colorado River Basin preventing that failure is the job of . Brenda Burman current commissioner of the u.s. Bureau of Reclamation at the Vegas conference she told water managers to skip ahead a few steps in the grieving process and get to acceptance close isn't done. Only done will protect this basin today's level of risk is unacceptable and the chance for a crisis is far too high Berman said January 31st as the deadline to complete the plans without signed agreements she says the federal government is prepared to step in and make the decision for them I'm Luke Runyon in Las Vegas this story is part of ongoing coverage of the Colorado River produced in partnership with Public Media station k.u.n.c. In northern Colorado with financial support from the Walton Family Foundation. Support for n.p.r. Comes from this station and from State Farm committed to offering tools and education resources to help Americans better understand their finances and take control of their money learn more it lets start today dot com State Farm here to help life go right and from Focus Features presenting Mary Queen of Scots a rebellious young queen stops at nothing to reclaim or throne search for Ronan and Margot Robbie Starr is warring Queens now playing in select theaters in theaters everywhere Friday k b u t's pet patrol is designed to reunite lost cats and dogs and all other animals with their respective owners have you lost or found your own or someone else's pet use the pet patrol by calling the d.j. At 970-349-7444 extension 2 report a missing or found pet here in Gunnison County. Pet patrol another amazing service from your community radio station Oh. Oh. Underwriting support comes from Acme liquor Acme is a one stop source for a variety of beer wine liquor and bar where located in the majestic Plaza Acme liker opens at 9 am daily and by auto corral they have late model low mileage S.U.V.s cars and trucks with many types of financing available at a crawl is located at 11. Just north of Wal-Mart and on the web at auto corral Cars dot com Their phone number is 641-5000 additional support comes from the Crested Butte Arts Festival the 1st weekend in August to learn about sponsorship opportunities that will reach more than 13000 patrons Crested Butte Arts Festival dot com. For. It is 9 minutes before 8 am and you are listening to community radio here in the Gunnison Valley Happy Monday folks coming up next it's breakfast with the Sandman always back on the air later as your host of last in the supermarket Until then have a wonderful Monday Gunnison rally. It's Morning Edition from n.p.r. News I'm Steve Inskeep And I'm David Greene Leonard Skinner Sweet Home Alabama cracked the top 10 list back in 97. Cents then this song has become kind of an anthem for the state but its history and meaning are really complicated for our series American anthem N.P.R.'s Felix Contreras gives Sweet Home Alabama another listen the song starts out with one of the best known guitar riffs in rock n roll. Is the down home owed to the state that is known. To the localism eternal blue skies family pretty simple right maybe not in a way the song began as a contradiction it was written by 2 guys from Florida and one from California none of whom ever lived in Alabama so where did the members of Leonard Skinner get the gumption to write about a state they had only driven through hard because of this. Neil Young singing Southern man a song he released in 1971 taking the entire south to task for the bloody history of slavery and its aftermath in the Showtime documentary if I leave here tomorrow one of the songs composers lead vocalist Ronnie Van Zant explained the musicians wanted to counter what they saw as Young's one dimensional stereotype threat on a song. Right and there's virtually no on him again and then we get a lot of heat and yeah it can you know young. Kids going talking about it and I think what I'm telling you no one can and. Even as the song tried to dispel stereotypes of the South back then the band performed in front of a large Confederate flag at the suggestion of its record label and in the documentary Van Zandt offers this kind I think for much of the rednecks. That's correct liberal which is Mark Kemp is originally from Asheboro North Carolina and is the author of a book called Dixie lullaby a story of music race in new beginnings in the New South I'm in water about his relationship with rock and roll from the south you know at the root of it is a very very human dilemma of bigotry you know and stereotyping and the south as for our country and embodies that and I think ever going to go away that discussions that in part of our our nation's history no Young took his lumps and finally in his 2012 autobiography stated that he deserved that musical jab writing quote I didn't like my words when I wrote them they were accusatory and condescending and yet maybe you know wasn't completely off base Sweet Home Alabama does name check one of the state's most controversial leaders George Wallace who was governor when the song was released in 1983 when he was elected to his 1st term he famously said this and I think Tagore gave him a. Better game. And a reggae kind of. Sweet Home Alabama was co-written by guitarist Gary Rossington and in the Showtime documentary he explained that reference to a lot of people believed. Segregates you know long all that we did. Was We don't live long but he also added that the song could be interpreted in different ways I'm sure if you asked for now with the blog. They have their story out there any more clarity about Sweet Home Alabama died in a plane crash in 1977 just 3 years after the song hit the airwaves 3 members of the band their road manager as well as a pilot and copilot died when their Trying to the plane went down Ronnie Van Zant was among the dead and he remains the ghost in the room when trying to pin down exactly what he wanted the song to. Mean was crystal clear the Merry Clayton she was in in demand background vocals to famously recorded with the Rolling Stones Joe contoured Ray Charles among bunch of others and she remembers her reaction when she got the call to do the Sweet Home Alabama session I really don't want to say anything about Alabama after what happened in Alabama cleaning is African-American and says she could not stop thinking about the infamous 1963 Ku Klux Klan bombing of attrition Birmingham as a full group lost their lives and it just broke everyone's heart I said avidly I want to say anything about Alabama and I just went on and on and on but your way of combating that is that I'm going to sing on this record Lake claim to it that I am part of this song and our experience is part of the Alabama experience as well absolutely You got it you got it some insist that Southern Pride absent the racism is what Sweet Home Alabama is all about at a concert featuring the reconstituted Leonard Skinner in Kansas City fan Nick Paul was tailgating outside before the show plays an American anthem it really is I mean I feel like that personifies a lot of America and I mean Al they can go to a party and buy that song without anything along it is a catchy tune and Dr Henry. Banyan the 3rd also think so he's a composer and professor of music at the University of Alabama at Birmingham who recently arranged a song for marching band and Symphony one. And is also African-American what they were trying to do when they wrote it was trying to say wait a minute everybody's talking about the South but there are some wonderful things about the South and everyone don't necessarily subscribe to the policies and practices of bigots and racists for some the passage of time has muted the songs ambiguity and paying it says maybe he would go one step further to reclaim Sweet Home Alabama as an anthem for all Alabamans Maybe I should program that song in February doing a Black History Month celebration. And then maybe we could begin to change how it's being used. And you have to wonder what Ronnie Van Zant would have thought of that Felix call n.p.r. News. The former American anthem comes from Sierra Nevada Brewing Company family owned operated and argued over since 1900 proud supporter of independent whether that's online over the air or in a bottle more at Sierra Nevada dot com And this is Morning Edition from n.p.r. News I'm David Greene and I'm Steve Inskeep. You are listening to. 90.3 Crested Butte and key. Point 7 Ganesan. Good morning Gunnison interested view this is Eric with the Crested Avalanche Center to having the mountain weather an avalanche report for Monday December 17th starting with the weather we are still under a Southwestern flow ahead of our next drop to the west for today expect increasing clouds throughout the day with air temperatures a bit cooler than yesterday because of clouds limiting daytime warming as the trough to the West pushes towards us expect the possibility of a few snowflakes falling but no real accumulations today Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning offer the best chance of accumulating snow fall but will likely be limited to just a few inches at bats looks like the next few days are going to be Graber And now to the avalanche report the avalanche danger rating is moderate yesterday observers noted more collapsing on lower elevations shady slopes also c.b.r. Ski patrol reported a slide from explosive control work. An observation coming from the aspens own from this past weekend which has a similar snowpack structure to the custom beat area showed it was like a human sled triggered slide in Alpine charade with impressive propagation all these factors reinforce the point that it is still possible for you to trigger a large avalanche on the northern half of the compass most likely areas to find avalanche problems faced north western north or east Alpine train offers the greatest risk because of potential avalanche size a significantly larger and lower elevation slopes it is a new day but with the same old snow pack if we have the same old snow pack and here is the same old travel advice use your poles hands or feet to observe for strong over weak Larry in the snow pack it is easy to find and many slopes facing the north after the compass if you find that the slopes you intend to travel on have this strong or weak structure your best defense will be to limit slope angles to $35.00 degrees or less picture and that lessens the consequences of taking an unexpected ride in an avalanche such as slopes which do not have cliffs trees or train traps in the path as always expose only one person at a time to avalanche hazard and regroup in areas clear of avalanche run out sounds you can get more information from c.b. Avalanche Center dot org Have a great day out there the avalanche report is made possible in part with support from Irwin guides Irwin guides dot com. Thanks Eric. Good morning guys and valley. Of the Crist morning out there about 4 degrees in Crested Butte. Minus 2 going to. A and for today we're looking for clouds in the morning. And burn off as day goes on and we should get up to the mid thirty's in temperatures. At least for the Crested Butte zone upper twenty's in Gunnison. Mostly cloudy skies this night or tonight increasing overnight lows should be around 15 degrees in Crested Butte and maybe get out of the single digits and guys in the night. And tomorrow Tuesday partly cloudy temps should hover around freezing throughout the valley that same man it's a Monday morning. Skate beauty Crested Butte at $90.00 f.m. . Going to 88.7 f.m. K 235 aka it jacks cabin and 94.9 f.m. . And more on line k. Beauty or g. World wide. Need to let you know this out.