Maximum sustained winds are currently about 30 miles per hour there are higher gusts this storm is forecast to become a tropical storm soon and perhaps a hurricane by Friday this is n.p.r. News the British Navy says it has prevented 3 Iranian paramilitary vessels from interfering with the passage of a British oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz the u.k. Government says a British navy vessel was sailing with the oil tanker today and positioned itself between the Iranian vessels and the British commercial ship last week British authorities seized an Iranian oil tanker near Gibraltar They allege the Iranian vessel was breaking European sanctions on oil shipments to Syria a new memorial is being erected in Boston at the side of the marathon bombing as N.P.R.'s Tovia Smith reports it's the 1st of 2 installations meant to honor the victims of the 2013 blast pillars of light in frosted glass surrounded by thick bronze lines form 4 spires that twists toward the skies it's all meant to symbolize both strength and the fragility of life sculptor Pablo Eduardo's memorial honors the 3 spectators who died in the blast one police officer who was shot during the manhunt afterward and another who died later from wounds he suffered it also features large chunks of granite taken from someplace meaningful to each of the victims a 2nd installation is planned for closer to the finish line a plaque says we finish the race we reclaim the finish line we remember April 15th 2013 Tovia Smith n.p.r. News Boston Federal Reserve Chair John Powell will testify again today on Capitol Hill this time to a Senate committee during an appearance before a House committee on Wednesday Powell hinted that the Federal Reserve may act soon to cut short term interest rates on core of a Coleman n.p.r. News in Washington. Support for n.p.r. Comes from n.p.r. Stations other contributors include Legal Zoom Legal Zoom is committed to helping with the day to day legal hurdles so people can focus elsewhere more information is available at Legal Zoom dot com slash n.p.r. And the n.e.a. Casey Foundation. Your Morning Edition about to be delivered so to speak here on k.q.e.d. Public Radio I'm Michael steak coming up on the program Morning Edition visits an immigration court in El Paso Texas to see how the trumpet ministrations remain in Mexico policy is playing out for migrants seeking u.s. Asylum Noel King of n.p.r. Will report later in the half hour N.P.R.'s Rachel Martin is going to talk with Erin Cunningham of the Washington Post about Iranian vessels attempt to block a b.p. Operated tanker in the Strait of Hormuz weatherwise after a cool few weeks in the Bay Area Bay Area residents should anticipate a serious warm up this weekend with some places in the area expected to see highs in the ninety's even the low one hundred's according to the National Weather Service a warming trend that began yesterday is expected to continue through the end of the week with a peak about Saturday afternoon or so Good morning it's now 3 o 7. When she was a child Delaney Van Riper was diagnosed with a very rare genetic disorder affecting her nerves and muscles when I was 1314 I had to can accept that this is going to be my life for as long as I know but maybe not Gene editing researchers could be getting close to a fix I'm Brian Watt how the Laney and her family are thinking about this possibility today one kick you need is Morning Edition This is Morning Edition from n.p.r. News I'm Rachel Martin in Washington d.c. And I'm well King in El Paso Texas all this week I've been reporting from the Us Mexico border I'm looking into a trump administration policy called migrant protection protocols or remain in Mexico what the policy means is that people who cross into the u.s. Seeking asylum are sent to Mexico to wait for their day in u.s. Immigration court now there are thousands of people anxiously waiting on their dates some of them told us that. That date is the only thing keeping them from giving up and just going home but then this week we went to the immigration court in El Paso and it made us wonder if their hope is misplaced because what we saw looked a lot like a legal crisis I'm standing outside of the El Paso immigration court so this is a building that we've been hearing about all week because so many of the people that we've been talking to you are looking to have their i silent cases heard in this forum one of them is a family from Honduras Tania her husband Joseph and their 3 little kids Tawny is one of those people who smiles all of the time even when she's stressed out and right now she is very stressed out I met her and her family in a shelter in Ciudad Juarez that's the city just across the border from El Paso they were sent there after they crossed into the u.s. They're among the thousands of people who are waiting in Mexico until their court date the only time that time is smile fades is when she talks about what brought her family to the border this is a story she told us earlier this week when we 1st met her she says that back in Honduras her mom like a lot of people was targeted by the m.s. 13 gang Tanya's lawyer asked us not to say exactly why because it could affect tiniest court case but eventually 13 got to Tanya's mother I mean I mean if I don't remember it they don't know about my mom who shot you know 9 times and even after the murder they weren't satisfied with having killed her her body was on the ground and they ran over her with a motorcycle in the. Time you watched all of this completely helpless. It's very hard to watch Mother get killed right before your eyes and not do anything about it so she decided to do something about it she went to court she testified against the gang members she says she tried to hide her identity but the gang found out who she was Tania sister in law was a witness in that same case. The gang kidnapped tortured and killed her and then left her infant daughter in a dumpster after that they came for Tania this year you know they had him that I'm quite into single maneuver they told her basically you're next she says they left a note on her front door it said you have 45 minutes to leave sincerely m.s. 13. That family has an awful story but they also have something that a lot of people don't they have a lawyer who heard that story and said I'm going to take your case so on the day of the court hearing the lawyer Linda Rivas leads Tanya and her family into the courtroom I'm not allowed to record while I'm in there but Linda walks in looking like she knows what's up the judge jokes with her he says hey it's been a while in the other migrants look at them and to me it looks like they're thinking oh that family gets to go 1st because they have a lawyer they get to sit in chairs in front of the judge he's going to talk directly to them Linda the lawyer tries to get Tanya's family out of Mexico she tells the judge and this is a true story Tanya's 3 year old daughter has a heart condition she's had a heart attack the judges eyebrows shoot way up he says the child yes this is what having a lawyer gets you a chance to tell your story but then after the hearing outside of the courtroom Linda Rivas this confident lawyer lets her guard down and she tells us she has been wondering how much longer can we get to this and. Are we really making a difference the problem in El Paso is this there are too few immigration lawyers too few Linda Rivas says for 9000 migrants who are stuck in Ciudad Juarez alone she is so overwhelmed right now this is what makes it so bizarre to then run into another lawyer who's buzzing around the courthouse openly saying hey I'm here to help for free it's a woman named Taylor Levy she knows this courthouse really well Taylor used to be part. Something called the No your rights program she would walk in here and talk to migrants before their court hearings and make sure that at the very least they knew their basic rights but she says recently she was told to stop doing this the Justice Department ended this court's know your rights program that's ridiculous I'm here to help people for free they're going to be here all day there is a free attorney willing to talk to one in to help orient people and we're being told that we are not allowed to speak to them so instead of legal advice she's now bringing crayons and coloring books in fact I watched as a security guard told her she couldn't come into the court room we asked the Justice Department why they ended know your rights in that oh Paso courtroom and they told us in a statement that they want to make sure migrants aren't being misled or confused about their proceedings or otherwise taken advantage of but it is not just that program that's ending Linda Tanya's lawyer said for some reason she is also being given less access in this court even to her own clients today didn't even let me in to the waiting room there were guards that were visibly standing at the waiting room is and I was not even allowed into the waiting room of a court an immigration court that I've been practicing before for 5 years the people without lawyers which is mostly everyone look confused or bored or anxious or all 3 they're given forms in English even though everyone has said Espanol when asked what language they speak one man raises his hand and says to the judge I can't find a lawyer and the judge seems sympathetic his advice appears to be you should keep trying. At the end of the hearing every migrant in that room is in the same boat including tiny and her family they will likely be held by immigration authorities for a few days and then they'll be sent back to Mexico to wait some more the judge tells them I will see all of you again on August 15th for a 2nd hearing by that date Linda Rebus the lawyer says she will have an asylum application prepared for Tonya and her family but everyone else in this room who hasn't found a lawyer and most of them probably won't they will sit in that courtroom on that day with no one at their side making a case for them and today show we also talk to an immigration judge about what this legal crisis is like for her and her colleagues on the bench. The White House is hosting a Social Media Summit today President Trump is known for his passionate use of social media specifically Twitter which he often deploys to rally his base the guest list at the event will feature some members of Congress and several of his social media fans it's a who's who of conservative personalities some associated with the right big tech giants like Twitter and Facebook have not been invited N.P.R.'s Jasmine Doris has the story when he got the e-mail invitation to the White House Twitter personality Karp Aidan thought it might be a spam when I when I 1st got I was like well this seems kind of official but I'm not sure that it is current paid on time requested that we withhold his real name he says he fears retaliation against his family so how does the stay at home dad in Kansas whose real name is not public get invited to the White House because on Twitter he's a celebrity with over 100000 followers car paid on time by the way roughly comes from Latin it's a parody meaning sees the donkey referring to Democrats he's a prolific creator of pro Trump images and videos which he tweets out like this one footage of the state of the Union featuring clearly unhappy Democrats in the audience with the band r.e.m. Everybody heard some playing over it. Being a socialist country. Retreated by the president who has since shared several other of carpet on from spoofs later today Karr paid on time will be attending a social media summit organized by the White House Twitter is President Trump's preferred way of getting his message out and while the White House has been mom about the guest list some people have tweeted out their invitations many of them are part of the Trump Twitter verse conservative social media personalities who orbit around Trump's right to Twitter star but try. It has attacked the same social media platforms you look at Google Facebook Twitter and other social media giants and I've made it clear that we as a country cannot tolerate political censorship blacklisting. Search results both Google and Facebook have denied that they censor the right a lot of people believe that's just not true conservative talk show host Bill Mitchell who's also going to the summit blames Twitter's algorithm for some of his followers not being able to see his tweets he hopes at the summit they talk about how social media has become the modern public square and if you can the public square you really need to offer 1st Amendment protections to people where everybody can have free and open speech let's have the open debate and May the best man win Angelakos sun from the liberal nonprofit Media Matters believes in free speech but he says some of the guests at the summit alarm him you know there's a couple establishment players there but for the most part they're far right figures they're extremists and a lot of people have ties to white nationalism Mitchell and car paid on time disavowed racism to n.p.r. But Media Matters also points to other costs like Charlie Kirk from turning point USA an organization that has been accused of racist viewpoints Here's Kerry's sound again when you start to bring in all these individuals that are connected to or have relationships to these communities what they do is they go back and they validate I met with the president I was at the White House you were a part of this the normalization of this is the part that concerns me and as the president rallies his base ahead of the 2020 lections Charisse own wonders about the effect of elevating these voices on the right Jasmine gars n.p.r. News New York. You can follow these stories and more on line. At npr dot org Or follow us on Twitter you can find me at Rachel n.p.r. . King David is at n.p.r. Greene and Steve is at n.p.r. Inskeep. This is n.p.r. News I had on the program Rachel Martin of N.P.R.'s going to speak with an attorney the attorney represented 3 victims in the Jeffrey Epstein sex crime case more than a decade ago that story just ahead on the program on this Thursday morning and I'm Michael state the time 319 I'm k.q.e.d. Public Radio at 88.5 f.m. . And wildfires seem to dominate California's environmental news in recent years but rising sea levels in the coming century could prove as devastating as anything we've seen so far I'm pretty Nelson to hear more on our changing coastline tune into the California report on k.q.e.d. . At 551651 right here k.q.e.d. Public Radio forum with Michael Krasny is under way of course at 9 o'clock off the top of the show a discussion about the new California bill that would change the rules for charter schools in the state requiring all teachers to be credentialed and allowing districts to reject charters if they'll have a negative impact on enrollment in surrounding schools also k.q.e.d. Transportation reporter Dan brekky will talk about Bart's new strategies new tactics for combat ing fare evasion That's at 9 on foreign at 10 in his new book America Messiah is Adam Morris traces radical movements from the shakers of the 17th hundreds to Jim Jones disastrous people stay. People and how they've influence or how they have influenced and been shaped by American culture he joins for him to talk about the book American Messiah is at 10 forum with Michael Krasny 9 to 11 here on k.q.e.d. Public Radio Well after a cool few weeks in the Bay Area residents should anticipate a serious warm up this weekend the National Weather Service says some places may see highs in the ninety's and even the low one hundred's the warming trend began yesterday and is expected to continue through the end of the week peaking on Saturday afternoon support for n.p.r. Comes from this station and from Tire Rack family owned and operated for 40 years since 1979 tire Rock has been committed to helping people find the right tires for their vehicles more at Tire Rack dot com from home instead senior care committed to helping seniors stay in their own home offering personalized in home services including personal care transportation and memory care learn more at home instead dot com slash n.p.r. . And 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 level 7 dot org It's Morning Edition from n.p.r. News I'm Noel King and I'm Rachel Martin Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta is defending his role in the plea deal that protected financier Jeffrey Epstein from sex trafficking charges more than a decade ago in a press conference yesterday Acosta declined to apologize to victims for crafting that deal that gave Epstein just 13 months of confinement and kept victims in the dark we now have 12 years of knowledge and hindsight and we live in a very different world today's world treats victims very very different. Now some of those alleged Florida victims and their representatives are speaking out Spencer Kuvin is litigation director at the Law Offices of Craig golden farm in West Palm Beach Florida and he represented 3 victims in the original case against at scene he joins us now thanks so much for being with us My pleasure thank you for having me do the victims you represented back then feel vindicated now in light of the Epstein indictment and charges in New York. I can tell you that recently speaking with at least one of those victims she is very ecstatic that he's now behind bars but also very frustrated at how things played out those many years ago and she feels that Mr cost as office really did not care for the victims as much as she seems to be leading on to now what should be understand about the case against Epstein in 2008 back in 2008 they had over 40 women that we know that the f.b.i. Had spoken to and interviewed and despite that they had only talked with only about 2 or 3 at the u.s. Attorney's office and then they decided for some reason to shelve everything and give them a sweetheart deal that allowed him out almost 8 hours a day during the day and basically he only slept in jail at night and then during the weekends and that was it so it's it's your it's your belief that that the attorneys back then including Alex Acosta just didn't pursue the evidence I know he didn't in fact we were trying as advocates on behalf of the victims to contact his office and talk to him and find out what they were doing and how it was going and what was happening and they continually kept us in the dark side of the victims and never informed us about what was going on what did you make of the labor secretary's comments yesterday. I literally was watching it I laughed out loud at a couple of points you know their victims that are being brought forward now by the Southern District of New York these victims existed at the time at a cost that was investigating his case but yet he still seems to say that this is new evidence basically it's evidence that he didn't uncover his office failed to find these other victims that existed in New York and now he's saying it's somehow new but it just points out his own offices failures do you think there's a chance that the women you represented in in the Florida case could any of them come forward to testify publicly that scene goes to trial in New York I know for a fact that one of them is told me that she is ready willing and able to testify if they need her to do so we've spoken with the u.s. Attorney's office out of their regional office in Atlanta as recent as last month. Because Judge Marilyn down here at the federal court know and find the non-prosecution agreement. So as a result of that you know we're willing to testify and they want to come forward Spencer proven he represented 3 of the alleged victims in Jeffrey Epstein sexual abus