35 Burst results for "Tom Bowman"
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"tom bowman" Discussed on WABE 90.1 FM
"NPR news, this is all things considered. I'm wanna summers. And I marry Louise Kelly to the growing gap now between what Russia says is happening in Ukraine and reality on the ground. Russia insists it has annexed parts of Ukraine. It says it's pouring in hundreds of thousands more troops, but Ukrainian troops keep pushing a counter offensive in the country's south and east and they keep up ending the Kremlin's plans. In southern Ukraine is where we find NPR's Jason beaubien and I want to let you listen in to how his reporting compares with what our Pentagon correspondent Tom Bowman is hearing here in Washington, hi YouTube two. Good to be with you. Yeah, it's great to be with you. Jason, you get to start because you're actually there. Tell me exactly where you are, what you're seeing? Yeah. So I'm in the port city of edessa. It's on the south coast down on the Black Sea. This is very close to the southern offensive that's happening in the hair sun region. And Ukrainian troops have really made some significant progress here in the south of the last week. They've been saying for months that they're going to launch a counter offensive here. And this week it really started to get going. Ukrainian officials say they've taken about 400 km² of territory back from Russian forces over the last few days, even. And this is all on the West Bank of the nipro river. The Ukrainians are pushing south from this northern line down towards the city of Harrison. And they're gearing up for far more resistance when they try to actually take that larger city, mainly they're kind of going through farmland at the moment. And they're finding that these Russian lines are collapsing quite quickly. One crucial thing, military officials are telling me that they're acquiring more military equipment, even some tanks as the Russians have been abandoning and these positions in retreating. And Ukrainian officials really feel like they've got the momentum in this fight right now. So Russian weapons are actually now supplying the Ukrainian troops who are fighting back against them. There are also weapons coming from the U.S., of course, and Tom another package on that front was announced just this week. What is it? Well, still another package Mary Louise. This one includes more than two dozen howitzers, tens of thousands of artillery rounds, couple of hundred armored vehicles. Now the big thing in this package is long-range rocket artillery called high Mars, which has been very effective as we've all heard. The U.S. already provided 16 of these, a senior Pentagon official Laura Cooper told reporters more are coming in just a few weeks. Let's listen. So having these additional four high Mars is going to enable the Ukrainians. And the other capabilities as well to have flexibility in how they employ these capabilities with their forces as they look for additional opportunities to seize the strategic advantage. Meaning they have flexibility to send this key equipment to the front and the east or the south where Jason is. Now the high Mars artillery rounds Mary Louise are extremely accurate can travel about 50 miles. Ukrainians in some in Congress want the rounds that can travel, get this nearly 200 miles. We've been talking about this a lot. But The White House is still reluctant because they fear that this would further provoke Russia. The Ukrainians really would like to get those longer range ones in part because even from the positions that they control now, like near where I am here in Odessa, they would then be able to hit some of these Russian bases in Crimea. And I think that would really help disrupt some of the Russian supply lines, make things more difficult for them. And I've been asking people here whether they think these weapons are going to get here soon because time is very much of the essence from the Ukrainian perspective. And one spokeswoman for the southern command, she told me today that she expects that these will actually be arriving quite quickly. That's what they've seen in the past and they expect that with this allocation as well. Although the Russian forces also getting some new military capabilities, I keep seeing all these reports about drones from Iran. Yes. And even just this afternoon, there were some drone strikes right around here around Odessa and officials say that they also managed to shoot down a couple that were trying to come in. Tehran continues to insist that they are not supplying drones to Moscow. But military officials here say they've seen a sharp uptick in these drone attacks over the last couple of weeks. And they say they've shot several of them down and they go and they look at what's in this wreckage and it's clearly from Iranian made drones. And the thinking here is that this is a sign that Russia is running low on this more expensive missiles while the drones are harder to detect and slower than the missile they are less expensive that southern command spokeswoman that I was talking to earlier. She said that according to their tally, Ukraine has shot down 35 of these drones here just in this region alone, while 24 of them have made it through and hit their targets. Meanwhile, Tom Bowman, what are you hearing when you ask officials at The Pentagon, officials elsewhere in Washington, when you ask about this sense that Ukraine has the momentum that Ukraine is succeeding on the battlefield. Right, well, U.S. officials are surprised and really positive about the Ukrainian move so far, particularly in the east, pushing forward and grabbing the city of Le Mans. And they expect them to move farther east. And again, it really is amazing that they're being able to do this so far, but the concern is they want to make sure that the Ukrainians can hold the territory they've grabbed and not overrun their supply lines. That's a big concern. But again, they're moving now into the northern dawn boss area the Luhansk area which has been held by the Russians for quite some time. And again, Americans are hopeful that they'll keep pushing ahead. It really is amazing. Can I steer us back? Jason to the battle to control her son. You've mentioned that a couple times and I just want to focus on why this is seen as so key. Certainly it's very important to Moscow in
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"Ammunition, shoulder authority, anti tank, missile surveillance drones, and interestingly nearly a hundred armored troop carrying vehicles, a kind the U.S. forces used in Iraq and Afghanistan. What does that indicate? I mean, what can we observe about the evolution of the war based on the equipment that the U.S. is sending? Well, especially the armored vehicles for troops, Louisiana was to believe that they were meant for expected counter offensive by Ukraine against Russian forces. Again, you also have these anti armor missiles surveillance drones pick out Russian targets. And some say this offensive could take place in southern Ukraine near the city of Herzog. The first city, by the way, to fall to the Russians, already Ukraine has destroyed bridges, east of the city, that were key for Russia to resupply its troops. Russia has been forced to use temporary pontoon bridges which of course are also could be targeted as well. And Rachel sees in her son would be a big win for Ukraine, both symbolically and operationally because it could further help Ukrainians hold on to a part of its vital Black Sea coast and also further threaten Russian forces in Crimea, which was seized by Russia in 2014. Already in Crimea, of course, we've seen some sabotage of Russian positions by Ukrainian partisans. So at the top to the steadfast commitment of the U.S. to funding the Ukrainians against the Russians. And we heard Colin call say that as well. But I mean, aren't there some longer term implications of the U.S. sending so many military supplies to Ukraine, the U.S. can only manufacture a few hundred javelin missiles a year, right? I mean, how long will it take to replace that stockpile? Well, it is something of a concern, some analysts say the stockpile of those javelin anti tank missiles is down by about a third. They've sent in more money in the budget and more to help replenish these stocks. It's not a big concern right now. Rachel, but some say, listen, this were last well into next year. It could be a serious problem. And Pierre Pentagon correspondent Tom Bowman, Tom, thanks. We appreciate your reporting on this. You're welcome. Florida's public schools open this year under a slate of new education laws signed by governor Ron DeSantis. We have drawn a very clear line in the sand that says our school system is for educating kids, not indoctrinating kids. The laws broaden parental rights and say no one should be taught to feel guilt for past actions by people of their same race or sex. From member station W USF Period Kerry Booker Sheridan high reports and says. the laws vague wording is creating a lot of uncertainty. I have a lot of students that would use
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"All things considered from NPR news I'm Kelsey Snell in Washington And I'm Elsa Chang in Los Angeles After more than a month of bombing and shelling Ukraine Russia says it will drastically reduce its military operations near the capital Kyiv But there are doubts on the ground in Ukraine and also at The Pentagon about what that actually means We have seen over the last 24 hours The repositioning of a small percentage of the troops that and the battalion tactical groups that Russia had arrayed against Kyiv If the Russians are serious about deescalating because that's their claim here then they should send them home But they're not doing that At least not yet And at his Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby speaking to reporters this afternoon western intelligence suggests that Russia will focus its war efforts on the Donbass region in eastern Ukraine Russian separatists have been battling Ukrainians for years there and Russian troops recently joined a fight Joining us now to talk about these developments are Ampere's Becky Sullivan She has just returned from eastern Ukraine and joins us now from Kyiv And we also have with us NPR Pentagon correspondent Tom Bowman hated both of you He also hey good night Hey Becky Let's start with you Is what Russia claims about troop reductions actually happening Like how skeptical are Ukrainian officials and Pentagon officials Yeah you know Ukrainian officials are really echoing what we just heard from The Pentagon there They say they've seen some withdrawals but it's far from everything essentially Here's colonel Alexander modigliani He's a spokesperson for the Ministry of Defense Speaking.
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"Price hike here at home With gas prices spiking how high could they go Also what South Korea's presidential election could mean for Asia's political landscape And snowboarder Brenna Huckabee on her fight to participate in the paralympics I've definitely taken a lot more time to just understand that my worth is not wrapped up in a metal Now news Live from NPR news in Washington I'm Jack spear Russian forces are stalled outside the capital Kyiv but a senior defense official says a new Russian advance is about 37 miles out and moving towards the city NPR's Tom Bowman has more The Russian military column is moving toward key from the northeast the official says bypassing other cities as it presses toward the capital The official was uncertain about the size of the column Russian forces continue to pound the Ukrainian cities mostly with long-range missiles The Pentagon says 670 missiles have been fired since the invasion began In the south the Russians have isolated the city of mariupol although stiff Ukrainian resistance continues the official says meanwhile a Ukrainian official tells NPR his country is pressing for aircraft in the U.S. and its allies as well as more sophisticated air defense systems The senior defense official would only say talks are underway about more assistance for Ukraine Tom Bowman NPR news The one children's agency UNICEF now says at least half of the 2 million refugees fleeing Russia's invasion of Ukraine are children Reports from central Poland Ukrainian men between the ages of 18 and 60 have stayed to fight so most of the refugees are women and children Some of the children were already vulnerable before the war like 11 year old vanya who was in the foster system He said fleeing the war had taught him the word panic He says it means trying to protect yourself Vanya and his foster mother are now in central Poland along with other orphaned and abuse children living with their guardians and group homes Joanna cassis NPR news bu gore Poland A federal jury has convicted the first person to go to trial stemming from the capital riot NPR's Kerry Johnson reports guy Wesley rapid has been found guilty on all 5 counts Prosecutors used guy ref its own words to convict him of obstruction and weapons charges They say he was at the leading edge of a group of rioters who eventually breached the U.S. capitol January 6th Ref it never entered the building but the Justice Department said he waved on the crowd and brought a pistol to the mob scene in violation of D.C. gun laws 19 year old son turned him into the FBI and testified against him Ruffus lawyer said he was a big talker not a criminal The defense has already signaled it will appeal the verdict Kerry Johnson NPR news Washington In response to the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine global energy prices have been moving higher with U.S. announcing a ban on Russian oil imports It's likely to push prices up even more The average price of gas in the U.S. has already reached a record $4 and 17 cents a gallon Stocks swung wildly forget another session before closing lower today the Dow dropped a 184 points to the NASDAQ fell 35 points This is NPR From WAB E News in Atlanta good afternoon I'm Jim burris or time now is 5 O four Atlanta based Coca-Cola is suspending its operations in Russia as the country's violent invasion of Ukraine continues Lily Oppenheimer has more In a statement a Coke spokesperson called the situation in Ukraine tragic and said their hearts go out to those suffering Coca-Cola says it will continue to monitor and assess the situation as circumstances evolve The company has a vast operation in Russia including a major bottling operation Coca-Cola also faced significant criticism for not pulling out sooner as other multinational companies did to put pressure on the Kremlin including Apple Visa Mastercard and McDonald's Lily Oppenheimer WAB news A bill preventing social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter from taking down political post even if they are false is moving through the state capital Politics reporter Sam greenglass explains Senator Greg dolezal says the idea is to regulate big social media platforms like common carriers They applied to things like railroads and couriers the courts and our country later recognized them to constitute things like telephone and cable companies So what we are doing is we are recognizing social media is the 21st century.
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"The Pentagon was saying the city was still being contested Now with the seizure of that city a Russian forces could either move north toward Kyiv or perhaps a west toward Odessa on the coast but at this point we just don't know Also the Russians are pushing into other towns and cities in the southern part of the country and could head to the Donbass region Now here's this that's where half the Ukrainian army is located and they could box them in NPR's Pentagon correspondent Tom Bowman thank you Tom You're welcome Some are calling Russia's invasion of Ukraine the world's first crypto war Here's why On one hand Ukrainians have raised tens of millions of dollars in cryptocurrency to assist in the fighting On the other Washington is trying to stop Russia from using crypto to bypass western sanctions NPR tech reporter Bobby Allen takes a deeper look at the role of crypto in this conflict Crypto has attracted the likes of techno optimists criminals and oligarchs The cryptocurrency market is worth $2 trillion That's nearly four times the value of Facebook It's appeal It's exchanged anonymously and outside the reach of the global banking sector Now it's being used as a tool of modern warfare When we went from stones to spears to catapults to guns that new technology gets interwoven into times of conflict Timothy Spangler is a lawyer who specializes in digital currencies He says since tough western sanctions were imposed on Russia all eyes have turned to cryptocurrency That's because it operates on blockchain technology a shared public database not overseen by banks Blockchain technology gives the Russians the variability that the Biden administration should be concerned about The ability to transact directly The Biden administration and European officials say they are dialing up surveillance of blockchains to try to catch any activity from people connected to the Kremlin Ukrainian officials have asked crypto exchanges to freeze all Russian accounts The companies agreed to enforce a blacklist but they are refusing to ban all Russian accounts saying that would undermine the crypto communities libertarian ethos That doesn't mean it's going to be easy for the Kremlin There's lots of problems here for the Russian government That's rosten He's a crypto expert and former banking regulator He says crypto is volatile so parking lots of money in crypto could mean losing money for the Russian government But an even bigger issue is Kremlin allies will have trouble making purchases unless they convert crypto in two standard currency So where are you going to buy this stuff For example a food imports What about spare parts for equipment and electronics that are not made in Russia Delson says buying those kinds of things will require currencies like the U.S. dollar or the Euro The sort of money that moves across the banking sector The very place where western officials are looking to enforce its sanctions They'll be an army of people in the U.S. government looking at cryptocurrency transactions at least the ones on public blockchains Meanwhile government officials in Ukraine have their own plan for crypto providing funding to the military and its residents The Ukrainian government has asked for donations in cryptocurrency and has so far raised more than $50 million in crypto Alex gladstein with the human rights foundation has been assisting in the fundraising The humanitarian implications of this are massive He says it's the everyday citizens caught in the middle of the war who might actually benefit the most from established cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin since it can be transmitted instantly and without a local bank account or even an ID Or however it's waged hurts the average person more than it hurts the elites Now we have a technology that benefits everybody equally And it's inspiring to see that people now have this backup plan More and more aid groups are trying to make crypto accessible to Ukrainians But the world of cryptocurrency is complicated It requires real tech savvy navigating a host of apps and online marketplaces likely not top of.
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"From NPR news I'm Dale willman saying we're at a dangerous moment for all of Europe President Biden this afternoon announced sweeping export restrictions on Russia along with new sanctions on Russian banks and state controlled companies Speaking from The White House Biden said that he and leaders from other countries representing more than half of the world's economy are in agreement on these latest measures put in place as Russian troops invade Ukraine Russian forces meanwhile are now in the initial phase of a large scale invasion That's according to a senior Pentagon official who says so far 100 missiles have been fired and dozens of bombers are taking part in a three pronged assault on the country and pierce Tom Bowman as more The Russian troops are heading toward the capital key from the north the official said with the likely intent of surrounding the city decapitating the government and installing a puppet regime Russian missiles and bombs are targeting military barracks ammunition depots and airports The officials said Ukrainian forces are fighting back at the city's airport with the heaviest fighting to the east of the city of kharkov The official said there will be multiple faces to the invasion adding for how long we don't know Tom Bowman NPR news With tensions in a heightened state in Europe the president this afternoon talked about the role of U.S. forces in this conflict President Biden again asserted that U.S. troops would not go to Ukraine but that the U.S. is there to support Ukraine in its defense of itself He also said that there will be a summit tomorrow a NATO summit with 30 allied nations the U.S. will attend and he said that article 5 still stands That is that if one member of NATO is attacked all of them will respond as if they were attacked themselves That's NPR's Tamara Keith reporting U.S. markets stabilized and closed higher today The Dow Jones Industrial was up 92 points the NASDAQ finished the day up 436 points You're listening to NPR news From WAB news in Atlanta good afternoon I'm Jim burris for time now four 32 A group of voting rights activists spoke out against state lawmakers redrawing local political lines Normally local officials draw the maps and usually state lawmakers just to prove them Not this year the Republican controlled legislature has redrawn Cobb and gwinnett county's commission lines both recently turned democratic Poi Winnie chuckle is with the southern poverty law center The legislature has used a specific process that has not been used before in order to make sure to get the maps that they want And we're really concerned about how fast things are moving and how little the public has had a chance to weigh in on these maps that have lasting impact at the local level for the next decade When he chuckles says the maps are likely invalid and her group will analyze them before deciding on legal action Atlanta mayor Andre Dickens says the federal government now supports the immediate relocation of forest cove's tenants There are about 200 families left at the southeast Atlanta complex many in harmful conditions Stephanie stokes reports For years residents have felt stuck at Forrest cove because their rent is federally subsidized They couldn't afford market rent They had to wait on a long promised renovation plan But mer Dickens says he spoke to the secretary of housing and urban development Marcia fudge and now she's agreed to let tenants take their rental assistance elsewhere What she's going to do is provide temporary vouchers for all of those residents to be relocated.
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"Responsibility inside that alliance will do it Pentagon spokesman John Kirby thank you for speaking with us Yes sir Thank you NPR Pentagon correspondent Tom Bowman has been listening in and Tom I know that this news was not unexpected How would you describe the mission for the U.S. troops that are being dispatched right now Well the mission really is vague as John Kirby just said to meet the self defense and says part of the NATO alliance but Putin has made no threats to NATO They're already some American troops in Poland some 4100s more in Romania There's no practical military reason here for these additional U.S. troops This is not a combat deployment as he said or even a training mission And no troops will head into Ukraine President Biden already has ruled that out This is all political messaging The hope is that this will force Putin to back down Some are praising the move and I'm hearing someone Capitol Hill want to send even more troops But there's some concern that such troop movements Putin will see as provocative and maybe make an invasion of Ukraine more likely because this is precisely what he worries about Further NATO expansion on his western border And there are some I'm talking with in Washington that are also worried about this could be provocative but he could see this as a pretext to go in And of course as we heard from John Kirby he said this should not go Putin There's no reason these troop moves should reinforce his concerns He is the aggressor And meanwhile what is the state of the Russian troop build up at this point How serious is this presence around Ukraine Oh it's very serious Officials say Putin continues to deploy forces along the Ukrainian border on three sides military exercises are planned in the coming days with Belarus to Ukraine's north Right now Ari more than a 100,000 Russian troops on the border officials say that number could ramp up to a 175,000 There's growing concern in Washington what this may look like Some is saying they expect a massive invasion Anytime between the middle of the month to sometime in later march That's NPR Pentagon correspondent Tom Bowman Thanks Tom You're welcome The head of CNN Jeff Zucker resigned today He told staff in an email that he had failed to disclose a romantic relationship with a colleague as soon as it began as company policy required him to do It is a shocking end to one of the most powerful careers in TV news today NPR media correspondent David falkin flick joins us now hey David Hey town So what exactly did Zucker do to lead to his resignation Well he acknowledged that he had relationship with a senior colleague not just any colleague gets CNN's chief marketing officer a woman named Allison gallas who has worked with him for many years at CN also in a previous tenure at NBC had worked closely with Zucker as well He disclosed this but acknowledged that he had not disclosed this at the outset of the relationship as he's required to do under corporate policy Gallus wrote her own memo in public statement acknowledging the relationship saying that this happened during COVID and that's really in some ways a question of timing as well That is that they had been rumored for some years and the tabloids to have been linked But this is what she said in her statement and that she intends to stay on at CNN Despite possibly being an open secret this decision to announce that he was leaving does come as a surprise How did the relationship officially come to light This is best thought of as the latest shoot a drop in the scandal that took down former New York State governor Andrew Cuomo The CNN stars older brother Chris Coleman's activities on behalf of his brother came under public criticism as document surfaced in the state investigation of the former governor Jeff Zucker defended a Chris Cuomo for quite some time and then his new information came to light late last year He fired Chris Cuomo but during the investigation zucchini himself was asked about his relationship with Alison goest Why Well ghosts had worked for former governor Cuomo two This came up he acknowledged the involvement but he also acknowledged he hadn't revealed the involvement at the outset What's wild about this is that Zucker took a lot of heat for what happened with the Cuomo brothers in particular during the pandemic when they were both on TV Sort of yucking it up And sort of the journalism ethics problems involved in all of that and then Chris Cuomo's later efforts to help his brother And yet none of that is what took him down Well there's no explicit corporate policy about having bad news judgment or making editorial mistakes in the way there is about workplace relationships What Chris Cuomo did was as you suggest allow his brother then the sitting governor of Andrew Cuomo before national audience to serve as a comedic sparring partner and be hailed as something of a hero of the pandemic even as what later turned out there were significant questions about unreported deaths at nursing homes and other questions and suppression of statistics that came to light that reflected much more negatively on the governor in a way that CNN should have been covering instead of just been joking So with Zucker now leaving where does that leave CNN What happens next Well right now CNN and it's corporate parent WarnerMedia is being sold to discovery and they're waiting for approval from federal regulators that's supposed to or at least projected to wrap up within the next couple of months It leaves CNN leaderless it creates.
WABE 90.1 FM
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"We certainly have no intent Whatsoever that I'm aware of Putting offensive forces to attack Russia and I don't think that's NATO's intent at all This is entirely engineered by Russia and president Putin as an overt act of coercion against Ukraine Now The Pentagon by the way doesn't believe Putin has made a decision on whether to invade And meanwhile as you mentioned The Pentagon is hoping diplomacy can work Where does the diplomacy stand Well Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov today left open the possibility of a way out He said both sides could discuss ways to place a moratorium on NATO missile deployments in Eastern Europe curtail military exercises He called the possibility of some compromise quote a colonel of rationality Some wonder why the Russia really wants an exit ramp And all this is just talk and an invasion will happen Meanwhile and Capitol Hill is growing concern about what to do I'm told and closed door meeting some lawmakers who want to put sanctions against Russia in place now not wait for invasion Others say why sent 8500 U.S. troops Why not a lot more one senator I'm told suggested get this 50,000 U.S. troops to Eastern Europe And just real quick what's The Pentagon assessment of the state of the Ukrainian military Well they've got a lot better since 2014 the Russian invasion of Crimea They have some capable units but clearly no match for Russia But if Russia does in fact mount a massive invasion you could see a large scale insurgency effort on the part of the Ukrainians And Pierre Pentagon correspondent Tom Bowman thank you Tom You're welcome Schools around the country are scrambling to stay open with staff and students sick amid the omicron wave It's just the latest in a long string of pandemic and disruptions John Reed at member station kui are visited in elementary school in Salt Lake City where some teachers are reaching their limits.
WNYC 93.9 FM
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"It's morning edition from NPR news I'm Stevens And I'm Noelle king good morning How worried is the U.S. about a potential Russian invasion of Ukraine President Biden will talk to Ukraine's president volodymyr zelensky later today earlier this week he talked to Russia's president Vladimir Putin and in that call Biden says he told Putin effectively don't do it I was very straightforward There were no minced words It was polite but I made it very clear If in fact he invades Ukraine there will be severe consequences Severe constructive Economic consequences like none he's ever seen or have been seen Tough words Biden also says his administration is planning a conference among the U.S. Russia and some NATO allies And pierce Pentagon correspondent Tom Bowman is following this one Good morning Tom Okay Noel Okay so lots of phone calls now plans for a conference is the point of the conference to just convince Putin not to invade Ukraine You know I think so maybe a face saving way to address Russian concerns about being surrounded by nano countries worries about more exercises close to Russia national security adviser Jake Sullivan says he doesn't think Putin has decided whether to invade another U.S. official I spoke with says the chances are 50 50 They're seeing troop buildup but not significant logistics built up things like food fuel and ammunition stores It would signify I likely invasion Okay so we just don't know yet The president in the meantime says sending American troops to Ukraine is not an option It's not on the table at this moment Correct me if I'm wrong There are already U.S. troops in Ukraine aren't there That's right The president was talking about combat troops There are hundreds of U.S. Military trainers there now and have been rotating in since 2015 to provide more expertise to the Ukrainian military Right now you have members of the Florida National Guard as well as special operations forces in the U.S. is providing some defensive weaponry as well Again for years radar systems equipment that can take out drones and also anti tank weapons Biden and others on Capitol Hill have said that aid could increase if Putin invades If Putin does invade what are some scenarios that you are hearing about How might this play out Well there are mixed views on what could happen Some say he could seize the entire country others say it's possible he could just grab a portion of land that would connect the Donbass region in the east where you have Russian separatists and connect that area with Crimea the part of Ukraine seized by Russia in 2000 14 That connection analysts say would include the coast along the Black Sea where there are two shipyards Putin would like to possess But again right now at best 50 50 chance of an invasion early next year when frozen ground makes it better for tanks and armor And again this could all be just bluster by Putin to get NATO to sit down and talk NATO will be at this conference some NATO members will be at this conference We know that Ukraine has been pushing for NATO membership for a very long time Does Ukraine still want it They do want it but clearly that would make matters more volatile even before the Russian troops build up on Ukraine's border NATO leaders were wary of allowing Ukraine to be a member of NATO Because again it would further inflame Putin NPR's Tom Bowman thank you Tom You're welcome Now we.
WNYC 93.9 FM
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"Live from NPR news in Washington I'm Dave Mattingly The Pentagon is denying a request from Oklahoma's governor to rescind a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for the state's National Guard troops As NPR's Tom Bowman reports defense secretary Lloyd Austin says troops refusing to get vaccinated could be forced out of the National Guard Governor Kevin stitt wrote a secretary Austin three weeks ago it said the vaccine mandate violates a personal freedom of oklahomans He said some 800 guard troops in his state had refused the vaccine Austin has now responded saying the National Guard by law must follow requirements set up by senior Pentagon officials including COVID shots And that failure to do so could jeopardize drills training and continued service in the guard Officials say Austin has not received any similar requests from other governors Tom Bowman NPR news Later this morning the chairman of the Federal Reserve is expected to tell members of a Senate panel the variant of the coronavirus threatens to hinder the U.S. economy's recovery from the pandemic Jerome Powell is scheduled to testify to the Senate banking committee as his treasury secretary Janet Yellen there are no confirmed cases of the omicron variant in the U.S. New York Michigan Colorado and Arizona are among the states reporting rising numbers of COVID-19 hospitalizations This is NPR news This is WNYC in New York It's 8 32 good morning I'm David first 36° now in New York City going up to 41 today There's no number 7 train service between flushing Main Street and 74th street Broadway in either direction that's due to an unauthorized person on the tracks New York City mayor Bill de Blasio says COVID-19 vaccines will now be mandatory for a broader spectrum of child care workers De Blasio announced yesterday the city will require workers at private child care centers and early intervention sites to get their first shot by December 20th The order expands a similar mandate that has been in full effect for public school educators since early October This is going to be important for the employees and their own health obviously but it's also important for protecting the health of the kids who are in these child care programs Employees a child care centers that contract with the city are already required to be vaccinated De Blasio says the new man to 8 will apply to 102,000 additional workers 36° now going up to 41 today Yes we could see a few scattered snow flurries starting late this morning mixing with some drizzle this afternoon Tonight partly cloudy skies with a low around 35°.
90.3 KAZU
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"Our best me and my friends. We already we've all of them. He tried our best to just enter the airport, but our family they couldn't make it. So her parents were left behind and she was standing at a picnic table as younger girls all without parents were working on a large puzzle. Now, Audie the question and challenge for the U. S government will be well, how do you reconnect these kids with their families who are still in Afghanistan trying to get out? At this point, no one has an answer. Michelle When it comes to Antony, Blinken and Dojo. What's his goal? Well, refugees is one of the issues. Doha is a key trends at point for a lot of these refugees who are heading out, but he and defense Secretary Lloyd Austin er both here actually on kind of a thank you tour. Not only to thank the Qataris for hosting temporarily. These Afghan refugees, but also this is has become kind of a hub for diplomacy. The US Embassy in Kabul has relocated here, as have Diplomats from some European countries and you know Blinken Is trying to make sure that That countries are all on the same page in dealing with the Taliban, insisting that they allow free passage to foreign nationals and Afghans at risk. Um and also, you know, Qatar, along with Turkey has been in talks with the Taliban about reopening the airport in Kabul, so it's going to be a key country going forward as well. But does Blinken plan to meet with the Taliban? Well, you know, that's interesting. He has no plans right now to meet with the Taliban, even though they do have an office here in Doha, Um, is so far the Biden administrations, dealings with the Taliban have been mostly about practical issues. As with the evacuation And the secretary doesn't seem ready to kind of elevate that conversation in a way that might give the Taliban more legitimacy. They still haven't formed a government. Blinken is waiting to see. What that government looks like and what the Taliban will do before making any decisions like that. That's NPR Diplomatic correspondent Michele Kelemen. Thank you. Thank you and covering the Pentagon. NPR's Tom Bowman, Tom. Thank you as well. You're welcome. Much of the New York region.
KCRW
"tom bowman" Discussed on KCRW
"Penalties for voting mistakes. In response, Democratic lawmakers are leaving the state, possibly for the rest of the special session, which is set to run into August. It would be the first time in 18 years that Democrats had fled the state to break quorum. Similar voting legislation died at the end of the regular legislative session in May, when Democrats walk down in the final moments breaking quorum that led Republican Governor Greg Abbott to call for the special session. I'm Andrew Schneider in Houston 94 people are now confirmed dead in the partial collapse of a condo building and Surfside, Florida majority of Families have been notified. But with a search now in its 19th day, responders are increasingly relying on the medical examiner's office to help identify the remains. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is calling for free and fair elections in Haiti, where the leadership is in disarray after President Juvenal Moyes was assassinated last week. NPR's Carrie Kahn reports, authorities have arrested a Florida based doctor patient descent whom they believe may have been the central figure in the attack. Haiti's national police chiefs and officers had arrested 63 year old Christine Emmanuel Sanon during a search of his home in Haiti. Police found bullets license plates from the Dominican Republic and the hat with the D a logo. Authorities had arrested more than a dozen other suspects in the assassination of President Jovan Elmo East last Wednesday. Most are Colombians to our Haitian Americans. Haiti's police chief suggested at a news conference that Sanan, who says he is a doctor, was plotting to become president of Haiti and had hired the other suspects to protect him while in the Caribbean nation. The murder has plunged Haiti into turmoil with no clear consensus on who is running the country at this time. Carrie Kahn NPR News The 20 year long U. S. Military mission in Afghanistan ends next month. NPR's Tom Bowman says the country moved closer to that goal today. When the top American officer in Afghanistan General Scott Miller, stepped down. During a small ceremony in Kabul. Miller turned over the combat mission to General Frank McKenzie, who oversees Middle East operations from Tampa, Florida Mackenzie will have authority to mount airstrikes against Al Qaeda in Islamic state targets. The U. S will also maintain security force at the US Embassy in the Kabul airport. US has promised continued financial aid to the Afghan military. It's not the end of the story, Mackenzie said. It's the end of a chapter. Tom Bowman. NPR NEWS It's NPR. Support for NPR comes from NPR stations. Other contributors include notarize forgetting documents notarized online via computer or smart phone. 24 7 notarize connects individuals and businesses.
KCRW
"tom bowman" Discussed on KCRW
"At 5 35 from NPR News. This is all things considered. I'm Ailsa Chang in Los Angeles and I'm Ari Shapiro in Washington. Bagram Airfield north of Kabul closed yesterday with little fanfare, The base was turned over to Afghan forces marking the end of the U. S combat mission that began 20 years ago. This comes as the Taliban are taking over large swaths of territory, worrying members of Congress and Afghan officials Joining us to talk about all this is NPR. Pentagon correspondent Tom Bowman. Hi, Tom. Hey, Ari. The name Bagram Airfield. Sounds unassuming, but it was a massive base, the last major U. S base in Afghanistan Tell us about the significance of its closure. You know, Ari, it's very significant again. This is the last big base. The Americans had the other large base. Kandahar airfield closed a few weeks back. So bargain closing really tells you this is the end and bar Graham has quite a history. The Soviets built some huge aircraft hangars there. And when the U. S special operations forces went into overthrow the Taliban in 2000 and one there were actually running gun battles all around Bagram in over the years, it just grew and grew with flight operations around the clock. Cargo planes, attack aircraft drones. And they set up many more buildings, everything from the hospital to a prison to several dining facilities, Souvenir shops. They even had a shop where you could our order cars and motorcycles. It would be delivered to you when you got home now. Tens of thousands of soldiers passed through here over the past two decades and I've been going to Bagram almost every year since 2008 the first time I went there, I met this one star general named Mark Milley, who is with 101st Airborne. Now he's chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. What a history. President Biden mentioned today that the U. S will continue to help Afghans. What does that help look like? Well, it's going to be largely financial. Some $3.3 billion has been set aside to help Afghan forces. And the U. S talks about helping over the horizon, and that includes, for example, aircraft maintenance that can be done in Qatar. The U. S is also sending dozens more Black Hawk helicopters to beef up the Afghan Air Force. But they still need a lot more pilots. The Taliban has been targeting them so the U. S. And other countries will likely be training more pilots. But no detail on that right Yet The real challenge will be that maintenance part 100% of the maintenance and the Blackhawks is done by American contractors and they're all leaving with American troops. So I'm told it's possible some contractors could remain in Afghanistan to be paid through the Afghan government. That's all being worked out. They may also do get this tele maintenance from Qatar. Is that help from the US enough to keep Afghanistan from falling to the Taliban? You know, it depends who you talk with. It's a great concern the Taliban now or surrounding urban areas throughout the country, cutting off major roads. Some military officials are saying it's a 50 50 chance that Kabul could fall in the coming months. Spoke with an Afghan general just the other day. His name is Sammy Sadat. He leads Afghan forces in southern Helmand province. He was trained in the U. S. And Great Britain highly respected by American officers, and he was upbeat about the way ahead. Let's listen. Lashkar Gah and Kandahar cities are safe and we have enough forces and manpower and determination to defend it, and we plan to expand. Our security bubble beyond Lashkar Gah into the West, East and south. So he's talking about his area in Helmand province. Now not everyone is his upbeat or as competent as general sedan in other parts of the country, the Afghan forces are either following to the Taliban, or just frankly giving up. Now that Bagram, the largest U. S air base in Afghanistan has closed. Are there other U. S military facilities that are still in the country? Well, you still have the headquarters in Kabul with the top commander General Scott Miller is based. He had a small press briefing the last week and said he was concerned there could be a civil war. General Miller is expected to leave sometime in the next week or two was some sort of a ceremony and that will really be the end Ari the American fighting role. NPR Pentagon correspondent Tom Bowman. Thank you. You're welcome. Seven million Americans are now behind on their rent due to the pandemic. Both the National and California eviction moratoriums have been extended. They both prevent people from being evicted, and they provide financial help for renters. But many people have taken advantage of the moratorium. Say the system is complicated and getting the money takes too long from member station KPBS in San Diego. Claire trigger, sir, reports Yeah. Anti AZA Ramon Toscano sits with his toddler son in his lap. He has five kids and another on the way he's a day laborer. But during the pandemic work dried up in January, he couldn't pay rent on his two bedroom apartment outside San Diego. Welcome we could eat or we could pay rent. I mean, that's a really hard decision. No, Toscano decided on food and hasn't paid any rent this year in March. As soon as funds became available, he applied and waited for relief to come. And when it did arrive in June, it wasn't for the whole six months he needed but only for three months. He still owes $5000 and is worried about what will happen to his family, humble and number of purpose. Maybe you were one and more homeless statistic because if I don't have enough money for my rent, what's going to happen? I'm going to take my family onto the street or in the car to live. The new agreement here in California extends aid through September and provides for paying 100% of background, so he's resting a little easier. There's 17 million renters in California. And about 1.5 million of them couldn't pay at least some of their rent during the pandemic. Rene Moya, an organizer with the tenants, rights group, Ace says they risk losing their homes and damaging their credit. A lot of folks are going to end up in worse financial situation and they were before we often forget that evictions are not a symptom of poverty. They are also a creator of poverty so far, the state and local government And they've been slow to get the money out in San Diego. Only a quarter of the funds have been dispersed. Moya says. The whole application process is confusing and hasn't been publicized. Well, we keep on meeting tenants who didn't know that this assistance was available. That is a fundamental issue. Unlike let's say with the vaccination program, which.
WBEZ Chicago
"tom bowman" Discussed on WBEZ Chicago
"Come and what the people of the Pentagon say about the fate of the Afghan military. In Afghanistan itself as U. S and NATO forces to part Well, there's still a lot of unanswered questions. Besides, foreign troops, leaving thousands of civilian contractors will leave as well and they're doing most, if not all of the maintenance on Afghan military vehicles and aircraft summer, saying As a result, the Afghan air force could be grounded in just a few months. Although Pentagon officials say Listen, we're trying to come up with some sort of innovative ways to help with the maintenance. The big concern over all possible civil war is a Taliban gained ground and try to threaten cities such as Kabul. We noted, Tom, you've spent many years reporting the story from Afghanistan. What do you hear from soldiers? And officials about the administration's decision to get out. Well, it's got there were mixed views. Some say it's time to leave this for the Afghans to sort things out. Others I spoken with over the years say it was a big mistake early on, not to talk with the Taliban. Still others say the U. S. Tried to do too much rebuild a nation in the image of the U. S. Scott. Six years ago, I asked an American Army colonel in Kabul what he would have done differently if you had to do it all over. Any pause for awhile, looked at the floor and simply said, plant trees and go home. NPR correspondent Tom Bowman. Thanks so much. You're welcome, Scott. First results of the 2020 census revealed some astonishing numbers this week. The national counter is used to determine how many seats in Congress each state received for the next decade. New York has lost one of its seats that would not have happened if the states census counts included just 89 more residents. But as NPR's Hansi Lo long reports, there was an even smaller number in another state. Had a big difference. This week. Minnesota State demographer Susan Brower finally got the number She has spent years waiting for. I didn't expect to be as nervous as I eventually was as they were unveiling these numbers based on those counts, Brower learned. Minnesota is not losing any of the eight seats it currently has in the U. S. House representatives. After doing some meth we found that had Minnesota counted 26 fewer residents that we would have lost that eighth congressional district. I mean, what went through your mind when you saw a 26 e knew it was gonna be very tight, but I just didn't think it could possibly come out to be that close. In fact, it was the closest margin ever recorded since Congress approved after the 1940 head count. The current formula for turning each state's numbers into a system for reallocating 435 seats in the house. Once a decade. Each day gets at least one seat and then our population total puts us into a priority. Ranking and seats are doled out one by one, New York could have beaten Minnesota's ranking and ended up keeping all of its seats. If it's numbers included 89 more residents do. I think it was accurate to within 89? No, a result that you skepticism this week from New York's governor, Andrew Cuomo, and we're looking at legal options. Because when you're talking about 89, I mean, that could be a minor mistaking county, right? At this point, we actually know very little about the accuracy of the overall count. Arturo Vargas is the CEO of the National Association, Latino elected and appointed Officials Educational Fund, and it's served on one of the Census Bureau's committees of outside advisers, Vargas says To really understand what the count may have gotten wrong, we'll have to wait for more data to come out in the coming months. Still, Vargas ads We do know that the bureau has struggled decade after decade with getting complete and accurate counts of people of color people with lower incomes. Immigrants. All those populations historically have been Undercounted as compared to populations that are white, wealthier and higher, Educated and covert. 19. Plus the Trump administration's failed push for a citizenship question and last minute decision to cut short counting have left a lot of people wondering. Who is missing in the 2020 census numbers. I would hope that the public continues to ask questions in the months and years ahead. We all need to now start thinking about how do we improve upon 2020 so that there is a better count in 2030 and counting for the next census may rely less on the form some households maybe used to filling out and Maura on government records. Still, demographer Susan Brower notes that Minnesota's households completed last year census on their own at the highest rate out of all the states to try to motivate others to participate. Brower used to repeat the state's margin after the 2010 senses you used to say, 1000. That's right. So that's right. Well used to say just over 8000 and now will be almost counting on our hands. Five hands and one finger to be exact for the 26 Minnesotans who in 2020 made all the difference. Hanzee Lo Wang NPR news..
KQED Radio
"tom bowman" Discussed on KQED Radio
"Live from NPR news. I'm Jack Spear. President Biden says he does not think increasing the federal minimum wage to $15 will make it through Congress in the current coronavirus aid package, Compares Isa Roscoe reports the Senate approved amendment Thursday that prohibited a minimum wage hike during a pandemic. President Biden says his proposal to raise the minimum wage will likely not survive in the Senate, he told CBS Evening News with Norah O'Donnell. He still believes that Congress should vote on increase to be phased in overtime. I'm prepared as president of states on a separate negotiation on minimum wage toe work my way up from what is now by then also said he's not willing to negotiate on the amount of the $1400 stimulus check included in the aid package. But he said he is willing to impose tighter limits on who receives the direct payments based on income. I Shall Roscoe NPR news, the Senate has put Democrats a step closer to being able to push through President Biden's $1.9 Trillion coronavirus relief plan without Republican support. Vice president Kamila Harris was in the chair to cast her first tie breaking vote. Democrats in the Chamber of plotting his Harris announced the 51 50 vote early this morning. The capped off an all night session where senators voting on amendments that could ultimately shape the next cove in 19 relief package. House has passed the Senate amended budget resolution. Now lawmakers move into the process known as reconciliation with work divided among committees. Marine Corps says it had 16 cases of substantiated extremist behavior in its ranks over the past three years, mostly regarding post on social media. NPR's Tom Bowman reports, the Pentagon is setting up a military wide stand down, discuss domestic extremism and how to deal with it. Brigadier General George Raoul said those investigated were younger Marines. There's no immediate detail on the circumstances or whether any of the Marines were kicked out. The other services have yet to provide any details of service members separated for extremist behavior. Or any ongoing investigations. Pentagon officials say they're still trying to gather more information about extremist behavior in the ranks as defense Secretary Lloyd Austin ordered a military wide stand down to discuss extremism and how to combat it. Last year, the FBI inform the Pentagon of 143 criminal investigations, most of them involving former service members of those almost half pertain to domestic extremism. Tom Bowman. NPR NEWS Some positive news. Despite the slow rollout of Corona virus vaccines, health officials say coronavirus cases have been dropping at US nursing homes and long care for long term care facilities over the past few weeks. Experts credit in the easing of a post holiday surge and better prevention. Statistics show large number of US covert did 19 deaths of involved residents of the country's nursing homes and assisted living centers. Stocks closed. Hired in the week on Wall Street, the Dow up 92 points. The NASDAQ was up 78 points. This is NPR Live from KQED News. I'm terrorists. Tyler Multiple unions representing workers and San Francisco's school district today announced they'll need a combination of covert vaccines and lower community spread before they return to in person learning. Take you, These Katie Orr reports. The unions, which represent teachers, administrators, custodians and others are currently in negotiations with the school district. Susan Solomon is president of the United Educators of San Francisco. Today, we will be putting a proposal across the virtual bargaining table that will allow for a return to imprison instruction in the red tear. In fact, scenes are made available to all staff who will be working in school district buildings, Solomon says. If vaccines are not available, the unions would return once covert transmission falls even further. The city of San Francisco has sued the school district, saying it's.
Fresh Air
Lloyd Austin testifies at hearing to be defense secretary
"Another nominee facing Senate scrutiny today is Biden's choice for defense secretary retired General Lloyd Austin. He needs a waiver for the job since he has not been out of the military for more than seven years. NPR's Tom Bowman reports. 15 former Pentagon officials have endorsed Austin. Those endorsing Austin include officials who served in both Democratic and Republican administrations, such as President Obama's defense chief Leon Panetta, and James Roach, the Air Force secretary under President George W. Bush. Officials said. Austin is well versed on threats abroad as well as those at home, including quote the national security imperative of rooting out white supremacy from the force. Austin is a West Point graduate who spent most of his career focusing on the Middle East, serving on combat duty in Iraq and overseeing the region as the top officer. The Senate committee will likely focus on Austin's views about continued combat operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as a security threat of a rising China.
KQED Radio
"tom bowman" Discussed on KQED Radio
"Pandemic force many Children to pause treatment for behavioral or emotional disorders. I'm Noel King, and I'm Steve Inskeep. Public health experts warn that that lack of treatment is leading us toward a national mental health crisis. Also, what happens to hurricane refugees bound for the United States and how might the world look to the next Secretary of State Tony Blinken as a hearing today? It is Tuesday, January 19th 40 years ago in 1981, the United States and Iran signed an agreement for the release of 52 American hostages. The news is next Line from NPR News on Korver Coleman. The National Mall in Washington, D. C and surrounding areas are on high alert. The head of the inauguration, NPR's Windsor Johnston reports. This follows the deadly insurrection by Proton rioters at the Capitol nearly two weeks ago. Up to 25,000 National Guard troops are expected to be stationed throughout Washington, D. C on inauguration day. The FBI says it's in the process of vetting troops amid concerns of an insider attack. Major General William Walker is the commanding general of the D. C guard is a credential e process so they're screened and in their repeatedly screamed until they are actually put on the street. And even then we could pull somebody off. Officials say the vetting process started when guard soldiers first began arriving in the city and will be completed by Wednesday. There have been reports of current and ex members of the U. S military and law enforcement being at or near the Capitol building during the attack. Windsor Johnston. NPR NEWS Washington Several of President elect Joe Biden's Cabinet nominees have confirmation hearings today. Among them is Defense secretary nominee retired General Lloyd Austin. He needs a waiver for the job since he hasn't been out of the military for more than seven years. NPR's Tom Bowman reports Austin has been endorsed by 15 former top Pentagon officials. Those endorsing Austin include officials who served in both Democratic and Republican administrations, such as President Obama's defense chief Leon Panetta, and James Roach, the Air Force secretary under President George W. Bush. Officials said. Austin is well versed on threats abroad as well as those at home, including quote the national security imperative of rooting out white supremacy from the force. Austin is a West Point graduate who spent most of his career focusing on the Middle East. Serving on combat duty in Iraq and overseeing the region as the top officer. The Senate committee will likely focus on Austin's views about continued combat operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as a security threat of a rising China. Tom Bowman NPR NEWS Washington Nearly 400,000 people have died of covert 19 in the U. S, according to Johns Hopkins University. Deaths and infections continue to rise. Vaccines are beginning to be distributed, but only about 11. Million people in the U. S have gotten shots so far. The director of the National Institutes of Health, Dr Francis Collins, says the number of vaccinations is speeding up, but he wants to see the number of vaccination sites expanded. I think the time now is coming for this to be more coordinated across the country and certainly beginning to get vaccination programs in large settings like stadiums and certainly in pharmacies, as opposed to having them on Lian specialized places like hospitals for healthcare providers. That's where we need to go. He spoke to NPR's all things considered. This is NPR. The FBI says it has arrested a Pennsylvania woman who was at the riot at the U. S. Capitol Riley June. Williams is also suspected of stealing a laptop from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is office. FBI officials spoke to a person who claimed to be a former romantic partner of hers. The person alleged Williams was trying to send the laptop to a friend in Russia to sell to Russian agents. Plan reportedly fell through. The premiere of the Canadian province of Alberta is urging President elect Joe Biden to reconsider his promise to cancel the controversial Keystone XL oil pipeline. Dan Carbon Check reports This could affect US Canada relations. Alberta Premier Jason Kenny is asking Joe Biden to show Canada some respect and hear the case for the Keystone XL pipeline. Biden is poised to scrap the $8 billion pipeline expansion. And he says Canada exports about $100 billion worth of energy, most of it Alberta crude to the U. S through pipelines every year. Kenny wants Biden to agree to further talks in the context of shared challenges about climate change and energy security. Can. He is also worried that tens of thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in revenue and Alberta are at stake. And he says at the very least under the new Free trade agreement, Alberta would consider legal action to seek damages. For NPR News. I'm Dan Carp in shock in Toronto. More than 70 pro tennis players preparing for the Australian Open are in quarantine in Melbourne. Nearly 10 people who traveled with him on charter flights to the tournament have tested positive for the coronavirus. The gland rather Grand Slam tournament was postponed because of the pandemic. This is NPR. Support for NPR comes from I drive providing cloud backup full system back up and on site I drive Appliance to protect PCs, Max and servers from data loss due to crashes and ransomware and I dr dot com slash NPR and Americans for the Arts. High winds affecting the Bay Area Southern Sacramento Valley. In the overnight hours, we've had plenty of trees down some power lines down a couple of smaller Brush fires and wildfires. So the fire danger has increased a swell There is a high wind warning, in effect now for the North Bay Mountains in Santa Cruz mountains until 10 this morning. Wind advisory in effect for the entire Bay area until six this evening, sunny and windy overnight and today the winds are expected to gradually diminish though this afternoon. Area highs today. The upper sixties to mid seventies something Sacramento Valley similar conditions with highs today of 61 to 67 more of.
Morning Edition
Defense Secretary Nominee Lloyd Austin Testifies at Confirmation Hearing
"President elect Joe Biden's Cabinet nominees have confirmation hearings today. Among them is Defense secretary nominee retired General Lloyd Austin. He needs a waiver for the job since he hasn't been out of the military for more than seven years. NPR's Tom Bowman reports Austin has been endorsed by 15 former top Pentagon officials. Those endorsing Austin include officials who served in both Democratic and Republican administrations, such as President Obama's defense chief Leon Panetta, and James Roach, the Air Force secretary under President George W. Bush. The officials said. Austin is well versed on threats abroad as well as those at home, including quote the national security imperative of rooting out white supremacy from the force. Austin is a West Point graduate who spent most of his career focusing on the Middle East, serving on combat duty in Iraq and overseeing the region as the top officer. The Senate committee will likely focus on Austin's views about continued combat operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as the security threat of a rising China.
90.3 KAZU
"tom bowman" Discussed on 90.3 KAZU
"Tells us things are changing for Asian actors, All that and more coming up on the art sour. Live from NPR News. I'm nor Rahm Retired General Lloyd Austin, who would be the first African American to lead the Pentagon appears before the Senate Armed Services Committee today for a confirmation hearing. Austin will need a waiver since he hasn't been retired for seven years as NPR's Tom Bowman reports he's been endorsed by 15 former senior Pentagon officials. Those endorsing Austin include officials who served in both Democratic and Republican administrations, such as President Obama's defense chief Leon Panetta, and James Roach, the Air Force secretary under President George W. Bush. Officials said. Austin is well versed on threats abroad as well as those at home, including quote the national security imperative of rooting out white supremacy from the force. Austin is a West Point graduate who spent most of his career focusing on the Middle East, serving on combat duty in Iraq and overseeing the region as the top officer. The Senate committee will likely focus on Austin's views about continued combat operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as a security threat of a rising China. Tom Bowman. NPR NEWS Washington The Senate Finance Committee begins confirmation hearings this morning for Janet Yellen as Treasury secretary should be. The first woman in that job yelling was also the first woman to chair the Federal Reserve. The Trump appointed director of the U. S. Census Bureau, is stepping down early. NPR's Hanzee Lo Wang reports. The departure comes after whistleblowers warned the director tried to rush out a report about non citizens before the end of the Trump administration. Census Bureau director Stephen Dealing him says he's retiring on Wednesday, more than 11 months before his term expires at year's end. Last week, the beer's watchdog revealed that whistle blowers reported dealing him for trying to pressure civil servants into producing a technical report related to President Trump's executive order for citizenship data. Ah, career official of the bureau warned the report would be statistically indefensible. Willingham backed off after his directive became public. The Bears career deputy director Ron Jarmon, will fill in as acting director as agency continues preparing the 1st 2020 census results, which are expected in March. Fancy The Wang NPR NEWS NEW YORK Russian judge has ruled to keep Alexey Navalny in jail for 30 days following the arrest of the outspoken Kremlin critic and a Moscow airport Sunday. As NPR's Lucy and Kim reports from Moscow. Navalny was detained after arriving from Germany, where he was recovering from a poisoning he blames on President Vladimir Putin. The judge made the ruling after holding an improvised core proceeding in a police station outside Moscow. Volney, whom Amnesty International has designated a prisoner of conscience, appealed to supporters to take to the streets. The Kremlin has been cracking down on all dissent. Punishing simple forms of protest was stiff punishments. NPR's Lucy and Kim reporting from Moscow. You're listening to NPR news. Alberta's premier says he's deeply concerned by reports that President elect Biden plans to block the Keystone XL oil pipeline. NPR's Jeff Brady reports Premier Jason Kenny. Says the Canadian province may pursue legal action. The Alberta government invested a billion and a half dollars in the pipeline last year and agreed to six billion in loan guarantees this year. The pipeline is important to the province because it would transport oil sands crude down to the Gulf Coast, where it could be sold on the world market for higher prices, But that crude has a bigger carbon footprint than just about any other kind of oil. It requires more processing. Joe Biden will inter office with an ambitious climate plan, and he's vowed to block the pipeline. Premier Kinney says in a statement that Alberta will quote use all legal avenues available to protect its interest in the project. Jeff Brady. NPR NEWS President. Trump issued a proclamation last night that he's resending travel restrictions for people entering the country from the UK, Ireland and Brazil. They were imposed to help stop the spread of the Corona virus. The ban is to end January 26 6 days after Trump leaves office. The incoming Biden administration says it won't lift the restrictions since the pandemic is worsening. And there are more contagious variants emerging around the world. Biden arrives in Washington today for tomorrow's inauguration, He and Vice President elect Kamila Harris are to attend an event at the reflecting pool near the Lincoln Memorial. Remember those who died.
NPR News Now
FBI's Capitol riot investigation continues
"Continues to investigate. Last week's mob right the capital and make arrests that include current and former military servicemembers. Npr's tom bowman reports. The domestic extremism problem within the ranks may be more serious than officials realized a senior defense official tells. Npr there are one hundred forty three notifications of investigations by the fbi last year of former and current military service members of these. About half or sixty eight pertain to domestic extremism. The vast majority of former military officials said many with unfavorable discharge records officials. Said most of the cases involve anti-government activity including attacks on government facilities in those authority positions one fourth or associated with white nationalism.
Press Play with Madeleine Brand
Rioting Trump Supporters Stage An Attempted Coup In Washington, DC, Breaching The Capitol And Inciting An Armed Standoff
"Of the U. S capitol building. We're seeing reports that protesters were NPR's Tom Bowman. In fact, is there on site watching right now? Is protesters really storm that building attempt to get inside? Tom Bowman Want to bring you back in here right now? Tell us more. Okay. We don't have Tom Bowman. We're gonna go to Claudia. Great solace. Again right now. And you know, you've been telling us some updates here. What's what? What are you seeing now? So it sounds like they're in these really worried moments of trying to get to a safe location. They're trying to move members. Reporters, staff members to a secure location. They're asking for that not to be publicized. This is how concerning it is That if that new location where they're being moved to is put out there. They're worried that the these protesters will seek them out. There is well so they're really in these moments of trying to secure the Capitol complex and ensure that lawmakers and staffers workers everyone else on that, um, complex, it remains safe. The notes. Can I ask you this legitimate question? Are we watching a coup? I'm asking this legitimately. I don't think that's what we're seeing. We're seeing protesters who have become violent and they're trying to send a message. Um, in this fashion, and they're endangering folks. In that way, but this is not that sort of situation. This is kind of a last gasp. If you will, for these folks who were trying to get this message across that they are protesting the election's results. It's It's not going to accomplish anything. In the end. This is this is just delaying the process and making this more difficult day than what we had planned already. And so in terms of a coup, I wouldn't go that far. I think it's just protesters who have gone awry who are threatening the safety of the people at the Capitol complex? Yes, it's an important one. Because as Americans watch this all unfold, we really have no context for this. We've never seen anything like this before. Is Tamara Keith still with us? I am camera. Yeah. If you're still yes. Let's go back a little bit. Let's talk about what we expected to happen today. What is happening today we had never actually seen a case where something that was a ceremonial situation where They're able to certify the electoral votes turn into something where Republicans were going toe. Basically call this not a fair election and vote in opposition of this kind of take us back for a little bit about about what we expected to happen today. Well, the day sort of played out like we were expecting until these protestors stormed the capital up until that point. What had happened is this ceremony that happens every four years was getting underway Where the vice president he presides as the as the president of the Senate. He presides over The tallying of the electoral college votes. It is purely ceremonial. As part of that there can be objections, and in fact, there were house and Senate members who, when they got to the count of the state of Arizona stood up and a jet and objected. That then went to debate in both chambers, and that's when the protesters reached the capital. Now, I should say that President Trump was holding a rally near the White House with these supporters and said, and we're going to go up to the capital. Now. The president himself didn't end up going to the capital, but his supporters did. On D. The result has been that they stormed past barricades. They pushed past Capitol police and and there is now this very chaotic and potentially dangerous and violent situation on D, and as at approximately the time that the vice president was being evacuated from the Senate chamber President Trump Tweeted his discussed That the vice president would not go against the Constitution saying my pent, huh? In fact him he's I'm sorry. I was just gonna say he said that he didn't have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our country and our constitution. I mean, I think you're getting to this, But is there a sense That the president himself will have to shoulder some responsibility for what's happening today. Well, I mean, he did say, and we're going to the capital. And then they did so in that respect and and for a month and a half the or I guess exactly No. Two months time flies. President Trump has been denying the results of the election, he has been feeding his supporters. Falsehoods lies, um, conspiracy theories about the election outcome, saying it was stolen from him. When it was a free and fair election that wasn't stolen from him. He simply lost
Innovation Hub
Biden team accuses Pentagon of stonewalling transition
"Has canceled meetings with president He liked Joe Biden's transition team, saying the priority is to focus on the response to the Corona virus pandemic. Here's NPR's Tom Bowman. The move angered Barton's transition team, which said some 20 meeting slated for Friday were canceled by acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller. Miller said in a statement that some meetings have been rescheduled and there was a mutually agreed upon holiday pause. But Johannes Abraham, the executive director of Biden's transition team, told reporters there was no mutually agreed upon holiday break. Abraham said there was no time to spare because of the delay in the start of the transition process. Tom Bowman. NPR news
All Things Considered
Trump Is Said to Be Preparing to Withdraw Troops From Afghanistan, Iraq
"To cut the number of troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. A U. S official has confirmed this to NPR, and this news comes after a shakeup in leadership at the Pentagon. NPR's Pentagon correspondent Tom Bowman, is here with more. Hey, Tom. Hey, Mary Louise. So what kind of cut to re talking What we know I'm told by U. S official. There's been a verbal order from the White House to cut the number of troops in Afghanistan from about 4500 to 2500 by January, the cut in Iraq Drop the level from about 3000 troops to 2500 of formal order is expected this weekend could come as early as tomorrow. Now. This White House move comes as military leaders, including Joint Chiefs Chairman General Mark Milley, preferred to keep the level it about 4500 in Afghanistan going into the spring to put pressure on the Taliban to stop attacks in urban areas, break with Al Qaeda and continue peace talks. Goes from one of the conditions Mary Louise agreed to by the U. S and the Taliban in their peace agreement back in February. If your Shell said it's not a good time for the cuts, and military leaders agree with that, since those talks have floundered And there are increased attacks by the Taliban, a 50% increase over the last quarter.
Morning Edition
White House Says Trump Didn't Know About Russia Bounty
"How much did the president know of reports that Russia offered bounties on U. S troops and how much should he have known? Both questions have become part of the debate over the reported program in Afghanistan. News reports have said the president was briefed long before the information became public. President. Trump denied that, and the White House has said the intelligence information was not fully confirmed. Former National security adviser Susan Rice writes this morning in The New York Times that that doesn't matter if she had known, she writes, she would have told the president and people in any previous administration would have done the same. So how does the process work? NPR National security correspondent Greg Meyer is on the line, Greg Good morning. Good morning, Steve. How would the various U. S intelligence agencies analyze information like this? Well from from what we're seeing. And then some of the reporting is that there were some Taliban members who were captured in a raid about six months ago and they were interrogated. A large pile of cash was uncovered and In Your times is reporting today that U S intelligence found evidence of financial transfers from Russia to a Taliban linked account. But the US intelligence community is still assessing, and there's no consensus and this is a classic problem for the intelligence community. You have to put together a puzzle with missing pieces, and I spoke about this with Dan Hoffman. He's a former CIA officer who was the Moscow station chief and also worked in the Middle East. I served, you know, three years in overseas combat zones, collecting this sort of tax bill in intelligence. It's not like fine wine getting better with age. You've got to get it out to the people at risk. That means our soldiers but also coalition forces. Does that mean you sometimes have to distribute intelligence information before everybody in the government agrees on what it means. Right, Exactly Steve and the CIA seems to be driving. This seems to be the agency that feels most strongly that this Russian bounty program Israel, But we seem very unusual development the past couple days where the defense secretary, the National Security Advisor, the director of National intelligence have all issued statements saying they can't confirm the bounty program at least at this point. Um And and Trump is, as you noted. It said he was never told about the program before it broke in the news, But we are seeing reports that he might have been briefed as early as February. Well again. Let's talk about what the standard processes is Susan Rice correct that in any administration, this kind of explosive information would be shared at the highest levels. Yeah. When I spoke with Dan Hoffman, the former CIA officer. He doesn't know the details in this case, But he said it was his experience that really critical explosive intelligence should and would reach the White House. Here he is again. My concern as an intelligence officer would be. I don't want the president or his national security advisor to be blindsided when Prime Minister Boris Johnson says Hey, about that reporting, we received that the Russians have a bounty out for our people in Afghanistan. You know, I wouldn't want the president not to be aware of that information. The reference there. Two reports that the British knew the UK was told of this U. S intelligence finding, however incomplete it may have been now let's take this information at face value. What does the report of this bounty program say about Russia's strategy in Afghanistan? You know, Steve, I thought back to 2001 and I was in Kabul right after the Americans drove the Taliban out. One of the most striking things I saw was Russia set up a field hospital to assist this US mission because at that time the U. S and Russia had a common interest in defeating Islamic extremism. But Russian President Vladimir Putin and now is consistently pursuing policies aimed at undermining the U. S. And Afghanistan is just one example. We got a hint of this four years ago, Actually, when our NPR colleague Tom Bowman was in Afghanistan and was told by the Afghan military that Russia was already providing arms and training to the
All Things Considered
Navy won't reinstate captain fired for raising coronavirus concerns
"Top navy officials say captain Brad crozier will not be reinstated to command of the carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt nor will he be assigned any other command coger wrote a scathing letter back in March saying the navy was not doing enough to protect crew from the corona virus NPR's Tom Bowman has that story I will Michael Gilday chief of naval operations had earlier recommended that captain Brad crozier be reinstated to the job he lost after this letter was leaked to the press but no Gilday says after further investigation he is a term that both crozier in his immediate supervisor reread will Stewart Baker fell well short of what is expected of those in command biggest promotion to a second store officer has been postponed Gilday says closure did not do enough soon enough to get sales up to five thousand crew carrier into quarantine he also says closures letter was unnecessary because navy action was already under way to deal with the virus that's sickened hundreds on the ship and led to one death Tom Bowman
Morning Edition
'Sailors do not need to die,' warns captain of coronavirus-hit U.S. aircraft carrier
"We are not at war sale sailors do not need to die those are the words of the commander of an American nuclear aircraft carrier in a letter to his superior has dozens of sailors on the USS Theodore Roosevelt are sick after being infected with corona virus that's why captain Brad crozier wrote a plea for help he asked the Pentagon for permission to remove nearly all the crew from the ship so they could practice social distancing while the ship is disinfected our Pentagon correspondent Tom Bowman joins us with more Tom I'm just tell us what we know right now about the situation on board the president will racial the carriers no doctor in Guam and as you say Brad crozier the captain wants to take all four thousand so sailors off the ship find lodging for them ashore and disinfect the ship the reports of more than dozens but anywhere from fifty to two hundred have already tested positive for the virus and he says the virus is accelerating that's his word now the top officer for the Pacific Fleet admiral John Ackley no spoke to reporters last night he declined to reveal any numbers about those infected and he clearly doesn't want to remove all four thousand sales at once as a captain once he says the ship has to be ready for any crisis he insisted he in the in the captain are all quote on the same sheet of music he said they would rotate sailors off the ship get them tested quarantine if necessary and he's still looking for a better lodging maybe hotels on Guam he didn't say how long all this would
Weekend Edition Sunday
'We'll get through this': Mike Pence says 'no question' there will be more coronavirus cases, but 'we're ready'
"You it's been a dramatic few days of developments related to the corona virus Washington state announced several first yes date the first death of someone in the U. S. infected with the virus the first health worker to be infected and the first potential outbreak at a long term care facility outside Seattle more than fifty people are being tested for the corona virus the trump administration has also ramped up its response and here to bring us up to speed is NPR science reporter Selena Simmons Duffin high Selena hi Lisa so president trump held a press conference yesterday with members of the coronavirus task force what did we hear the president announced first of all that there had been the first U. S. death trump said the victim was a woman but authorities later confirmed it was actually a man in his fifties with underlying health conditions and he was in Kirkland Washington near Seattle vice president pence also announcing that press conference new travel restrictions in areas that have seen recent outbreaks are Ron and parts of South Korea and Italy up president trump also took a few questions and some of them referred to the fact that he used the word hoax in connection to corona virus on Friday he tried to clarify he was referring to Democrats criticism of the response not the virus itself so at the end of the week there were reports of a few positive cases that appear to be community spread in California Oregon meaning not connected to travel to Asia other affected areas the contracted rate here in the U. S. and now there are several more confirmed in Washington state potentially dozens more what's going on so the big change was that public health officials started looking for cases differently the medical director for infectious disease at the hospital evergreen health explained how it happened at a press conference yesterday he said that the guidelines about who should be tested changed last week you no longer need to travel history or close contact with somebody with corona virus so evergreen health looked at its patients and sought to with no travel history who are very sick with respiratory infections with the new guidelines they became candidates to test for crown of fight virus and both tested positive so one was the patient in his fifties who sadly died the other was a resident of this nursing home life care center in Kirkland local health officials realize that a health care worker from life care was sick as well she tested positive and that's what led officials to look into this possible outbreak so these might not be new cases then right exactly the remember the symptoms look a lot like the flu and it's flu season and health officials say most cases are mild so people might not be even going to the hospital for them so now that the new guidelines for food to test has changed and there are these new abilities for local labs around the country to do more testing we will likely see many more positive cases it's hard to know at this point how many more are out there a health official from Seattle king county said in yesterday's press briefing these newly confirmed cases are likely quote the tip of the iceberg but it's important to remember overall the risk to the American public is still low the important thing to do with the thoroughly washing your hands keeping away from sick people all of those method measures that you can take to protect yourself and prevent the spread the messages be vigilant but don't panic that's NPR's Selena Simmons Duffin thank you so much thank you the US has signed a deal with the Taliban that aims to end the eighteen year war in Afghanistan the longest in American history but there's already a glitch Afghan president Ashraf Ghani says he will free thousands of Taliban prisoners as yesterday's the deal called for joining us to talk about that is NPR's Pentagon correspondent Tom Bowman he spent years in batting with US and Afghan forces good morning Tom Taylor so the agreement for less than a day old and there's already a problem how serious is it that on he says he won't release the prisoners well we don't know yet and I'm sure the U. S. and NATO officials will be reaching out quickly to Connie no the release of five thousand Taliban prisoners were supposed to be a precondition of the Taliban Afghan talks slate to begin soon Connie says he's not ready to release any prisoners before talks begin he said that prisoner release was not a promise the U. S. could make I I think it shows what many predicted the most difficult step was not a U. S. Taliban agreement but one between the Afghans and the Taliban so they're about twelve thousand US troops in Afghanistan what are they doing and and when will they begin to leave well right now they're training Afghan troops and also together with Afghan commandos going after terror groups like ISIS the U. S. troops will drop to eighty six hundred in the next several months but the military still says at that number the cans of both train Afghans in go after ISIS or other terrorist the agreement says all U. S. troops out in fourteen months no Layla that's faster told than some earlier plans to draw down in two years so either the Taliban pressed hard for a better deal or president trump just wanted the troops out faster so is it realistic than depends who you ask one official told me the time line is he called it optimistic and said the Taliban has to abide by the agreement to stop attacks break with al Qaeda and open talks with Afghan officials but here's the thing last September right when an earlier U. S. Taliban peace agreement was about to be signed the U. S. attacked in el Qaida cell in western Afghanistan and American officials told me when I was in Afghanistan at that time that the Taliban were also working with al Qaeda in the east near the Pakistan border so some question whether the Taliban will really break with al Qaeda so then how does the U. S. make sure that the Taliban is honoring the agreement well the U. S. in the Taliban will have some sort of a monitoring office in Qatar to make sure everyone abides by the agreement and yeah in in Afghanistan the U. S. and Taliban are communicating by phone or radio to report on what they're seeing on the ground the problem is U. S. troops are in small numbers in largely confined to bases and not out and about around the country like they were in past years you know patrolling with Afghans going into villages one retired general with years of experience in Afghanistan told me as a result there is no way the U. S. can effectively monitor this agreement on the ground or even witness if the Taliban are intimidating the population but the U. S. will stop the troop drawdown if the Taliban doesn't cooperate right that's what they said and it's likely even in the face of some television non compliance the U. S. will continue to draw down then military leaders have long said of course there's no military solution here only a political one resident trump wants to bring what he calls endless wars to a close no I'll be heading to Syria soon labels are check out the U. S. military mission against ISIS the president also is cutting back their their once about two thousand American soldiers in Syria now it's down to about five hundred or so that's NPR Pentagon correspondent Tom Bowman Tom
All Things Considered
What's Happening In Baghdad Following Iraqi Parliament Vote To Expel U.S. Forces
"The US has informed the Iraqi government it is moving some forces in the country in line with the request from the Iraqi parliament our parliament has voted request US forces leave in the wake of the killing of an Iranian general in Baghdad Tom Bowman says there were no plans at the moment for US forces to leave entirely defense secretary markers for told a small group of reporters at the U. S. is not made a decision about withdrawing troops from Iraq there was a letter that went out for the American command in Baghdad that talked about re positioning troops within a rack but not actually leaving Iraq and then the general mark Millie the chairman joint chiefs of staff told us that letter was a mistake it should not have been sent out and clearly it cause some confusion NPR's Tom Bowman meanwhile general asper seem to suggest today contrary to comments on Twitter by president trump would be no US attack against Iran in cultural sites Ronnie leaders meanwhile are promising to avenge the U. S. killing of one of their top generals but the country does have other options that do not involve a direct attack on U. S. targets here's NPR's Greg wiry around his long sought to drive US military forces out of the region Trina Parsi of the Quincy institute says the Iranians have no prospect of doing that by force but now there's a potential political path to that goal with Iraq calling on U. S. forces to pack up and go if in the meantime the political situation in the rock leads to the U. S. leaving in may actually enable the values of the clear their little victory and not take any action against the last one Ronnie an attack remains a strong possibility analysts say the country is wary of an open ended military conflict with the U.
Raul Campos
Pentagon says it carried out strikes in Iraq and Syria against a militia blamed for attack that killed US contractor
"The Pentagon says US military forces of carried out strikes in Iraq and Syria NPR's Tom Bowman says they targeted a militia that's blamed for an attack last week that killed a U. S. contractor in Kirkuk the Pentagon said among the targets in both Iraq in Syria include weapons storage facilities in command and control locations the Pentagon says the group kuttab his below used to execute attacks on US and coalition forces this is really been a long time coming the US has said Aronian backed militias have been mounting rocket and mortar strikes for months now including some against the outside your base in Iraq used by American forces but the Kerr cook attack last week was the first that led to the death of an American NPR's
Here & Now
Turkey-Syria offensive continues; some US troops to stay
"As the ceasefire in Syria runs out today there are reports of skirmishes Lean Kurds and Turkish forces but the trump administration may be partially reversing course on a complete withdrawal of troops from Syria defense secretary mark experts said yesterday Dan yet trump ordered the original withdrawal despite objections from world leaders and bipartisan lawmakers NPR Pentagon reporter. Tom Bowman joins us now and Tom US troops left Syria in a hurry but now some might stay how many will remain in wear we'll Tony it looks like maybe a couple of hundred will stay as you say to protect those oilfields Esper- talked about it and actually president trump echoed that at a cabinet meeting he said if troops day it will be to protect the oil now the oil fields as asper said they want to keep them out of the hands of Isis and other groups and it's interesting to note that it wasn't isis it tried to grab the oil of fields last year when I was over there it was Russian mercenaries and they were pushed back by withering US your strikes of the five hundred that tried to grab oilfield about half of them were killed in those airstrikes so it's not just isis in frankly the Russians probably have more firepower in in Moore's fighters could actually roll in there and grab the oilfields but it's a it's a big concern they want to protect oilfields and also kind of use him as leverage wjr against the Syrian government against Russia to come to some sort of agreement in the country okay what have Pentagon officials told you about these plans are they coming straight from the Department of Defense or has the White House had anything to do with them well it's always a mixture of both of the White House course has say we know president trump has said he wants to to remove troops from places like Iraq and Syria and Afghanistan the Pentagon says more needs to be done isis has not been defeated in this case and we still have to stay the course now it's interesting this is the third time that president trump has tried to pull all the troops out of Korea when I was there in February of two thousand eighteen he announced all would be leaving the Pentagon talked him out of it and again in December of two thousand eighteen he said all two thousand troops would come out there was a compromise and they kept one thousand here we are October two thousand nineteen and he said has all one thousand out and now they're people are dragging their feet on that and saying it looks like you know maybe a couple of hundred will stay in Iraq how did Iraqis feel about more military. US military in their country will wreck officials would not all that happy about it when Defense Secretary Esperer announced that he said these troops will be going to western Iraq to continue the fight against Isis from there and the Iraqi officials said wait a minute you haven't received permission to come in and with those extra troops so he is talking to Iraqi officials trying to smooth things over and as he has said they want to continue the Isis it from Iraq but that's going to be very difficult you need troops on the ground to mount ineffective fight what they can do from Iraq if they're allowed to is surveillance. flights maybe some air strikes across border raids perhaps but you really need folks on the ground to go after Isis and we know that President Air Don met today with with Putin and we're learning about the outcome of that meeting with the ceasefire coming to an end very quickly happens next well likely much more fighting between Kurdish fighters and these Turkish backed militias prisoner of Turkey said there are still thirteen hundred fighters left in that safe zone they're trying to create so we'll see what happens but US military officials I talked with say expect a lot more fighting NPR Pentagon reporter. Tom Bowman thank you
All Things Considered
Turkish artillery fire comes close to hitting U.S. outpost
"Turkish forces are stepping up their assault on Kurdish fighters in northern Syria amid Pentagon warnings to avoid areas where US forces are present is NPR's Tom Bowman reports an American outpost in the region came under fire yesterday but no US troops were injured the Kurdish fighters who the Turks C. as terrorists allied with militants Kurdish militants in Turkey are actually protecting some of these US bases so we don't know exactly what happened here were the Turks going after these Kurdish fighters that are protecting the U. S. at these bases it's it's again it's still a mystery but again the Pentagon is saying U. S. troops came under fire from Turkish artillery
Morning Edition
Pulling of U.S. Troops in Syria Could Aid Assad and ISIS
"President trump says quote I consulted with everybody as he defended his decision to pull US troops from the Turkish Syrian border but to US officials tell NPR that military leaders directly involved in countering ISIS were blind sided by the president's sudden policy shift the move is raising serious concerns that a Turkish invasion in northern Syria could endanger US allies the Kurds who've been fighting alongside the U. S. against the Islamic state even trump's closest friends in Congress say the move will undercut US foreign policy in the region here's Republican senator Lindsey Graham on fox news I expect Americans to do within our national security interest is never in our national security interest to abandon and analyzes help this fight ISIS this never nine national security interest to create conditions for the real American a fight that in a moment we're going to hear directly from the top commander of Kurdish forces in Syria the first I wanna bring it and peers Pentagon correspondent Tom Bowman who's following all this hi Tom he Richard you spoke with these two US officials what did they tell you about the president's decision to take these US troops out of this this border area will be said this surprise and also worried in there are several concerns Rachel they fear the Turkey will launch this military operation into north east Syria and leave these American ally Kurdish forces alone to fight Turkey and they worry that those Kurdish forces will a ban and in the anti ISIS fight also the prisons where they're holding ISIS prisoners to focus on Turkey now president trump says he's defeated the caliphate that's true but what he's failed to say is isis is regrouping their slipping back into cities and towns mounting of assassinations and bombings one of the U. S. officials who spoke with NPR says this is reminiscent of last December remember when the president abruptly said he wanted all two thousand US troops out of Syria Pentagon officials convinced trump to keep about a thousand troops in northeast here is to continue to fight against ISIS and that's what you have now but a thousand and all we're talking about though is this troops specifically deployed to the border area and that we understand to be only a couple of dozen but never the less the Pentagon kat blindsided by this I mean what are USFL officials telling you did were they consulted at all well what they're saying is they knew that there was a phone conversation between president trump and president one of Turkey they didn't know what the president would say there was never any inter agency discussion about the way ahead about the policy so the president made his decision in the Pentagon was basically informed of his decision to remove troops there was never any discussion about the policy change what you want to do they were just informed which is the opposite of what president trump said about can all right all right stay with me Tom because I'm gonna play some tape for you earlier this morning we got in touch with the commander of the top commander of this year and democratic forces this is that the Kurdish forces for who have been allied with the US and Syria and the top commanders name is general monsoon Cavani OB R. D. and I want to play some excerpts of our conversation he was speaking through his own translator who was there on the ground with him and I asked the general what the consequences with would be if president trump follows through on this pledge to take these US troops away from the border of this is what he sat let's look because so far we do focus on ice and that most experienced troops off our in our ranks they are taking care of the count in the prisons and the most dangerous people that's we hold him you know what detention facilities attention recognition exhibit with the kings Michelle something case all the American withdrawal from the border areas and the invasion started and the two start their inclusion for sure that one a priority for us it will be to protecting all our areas and our families and that one more folks you ice is likely false it before I'm just repeating what he said we will not be focusing on ISIS as we were before he's talking about having his his troops abandon those post Tom that means ISIS those prisoners would just be released that's possible in their own racial more than ten thousand of these places prisoners and is he said some of his best fighters are guarding them so there's a real concern about if these Kurdish fighters were guarding the prisons move up to fight the Turks who will be guarding the prisons and there's really no answer to that right yeah but it's a very very huge concern among
Morning Edition
Trump says he 'consulted with everybody' on decision to withdraw troops from Syria
"President trump says quote I consulted with everybody as he defended his decision to pull US troops from the Turkish Syrian border but to US officials tell NPR that military leaders directly involved in countering ISIS were blind sided by the president's sudden policy shift the move is raising serious concerns that a Turkish invasion in northern Syria could endanger US allies the Kurds who've been fighting alongside the U. S. against the Islamic state even trump's closest friends in Congress say the move will undercut US foreign policy in the region here's Republican senator Lindsey Graham on fox news I expect American to do within our national security interest is never in our national security interest to abandon and analyzes help this fight ISIS this never nine national security interest to create conditions for the real American a fight that in a moment we're going to hear directly from the top commander of Kurdish forces in Syria the first I want to bring it and peers Pentagon correspondent Tom Bowman who's following all this hi Tom he Richard you spoke with these two US officials what did they tell you about the president's decision to take these US troops out of this this border area will be said this surprise and also worried in there were several concerns Rachel they fear the Turkey will launch this military operation into north east Syria and leave these American and allied Kurdish forces alone to fight Turkey and they worry that those Kurdish forces will abandon the anti ISIS fight also the prisons where they're holding ISIS prisoners to focus on Turkey now president trump says he's defeated the caliphate that's true but what he's failed to say is isis is regrouping their slipping back into cities and towns mounting assassinations and bombings one of the U. S. officials who spoke with NPR says this is reminiscent of last December remember when the president abruptly said he wanted all two thousand US troops out of Syria Pentagon officials convinced trump to keep about a thousand troops in north the series to continue to fight against ISIS and that's what you have now but a thousand and while we're talking about though is this troops specifically deployed to the border area and that we understand to be only a couple of dozen but never the less the Pentagon kat blindsided by this I mean what are USFL officials telling you did were they consulted at all well what they're saying is a you knew that there was a phone conversation between president trump and president one of Turkey they didn't know what the president would say there was never any inter agency discussion about the way ahead about the policy so the president made his decision in the Pentagon was basically informed of his decision to remove troops there was never any discussion about the policy change what you want to do they were just informed which is the opposite of what president trump said about can all right all right stay with me Tom because I'm in a place and date for you earlier this morning we got in touch with the commander of the top commander of this year and democratic forces this is that the Kurdish forces for who have been allied with the US and Syria and the top commanders name is general Muslim Cavani OB Addi and I want to play some excerpts of our conversation he was speaking through his own translator who was there on the ground with him and I asked the general with the consequences with would be if president trump follows through on this pledge to take these US troops away from the border this is what he sat you don't go away is because so far we see folks on ice and that most experienced troops off our in our ranks they are taking care of that comes in the prisons and the most dangerous people that's we hold him you know what detention facilities that's a negative seventy seven fifteen so in case of the American withdrawal from the border areas and the invasion started good to start their inclusion for sure that one a priority for us each will be to protecting all our areas and our families and let one more folks you when prices likely fox it before I'm just repeating what he said we will not be focusing on ISIS as we were before he's talking about having his his troops abandon those post Tom that means ISIS those prisoners would just be released that's possible in their ritual more than ten thousand of these places prisoners and is he said some of his best fighters are guarding them so there's a real concern about if these Kurdish fighters were guarding the prisons move up to fight the Turks who will be guarding the prisons and there's really no answer to that right yeah but it's a very very huge concern among
Morning Edition
Trump says he ‘consulted with everybody’ on decision to withdraw troops from Syria
"President trump says quote I consulted with everybody this is what he said as he defended his decision to pull US troops from the Turkish Syrian border but to US officials tell NPR that military leaders directly involved in countering ISIS were blind sided by the president's sudden policy shift the move is raising serious questions concerns that a Turkish invasion in northern Syria could endanger US allied Kurdish forces and strengthen the Islamic state even trump's closest friends in Congress say the move will undercut US foreign policy in the region here senator Lindsey Graham on fox news I expect Americans to do worse than our national security interest is never in our national security interest to abandon an ally who's helped us by doctors this never nine national security interest to create conditions for the re emergence of by that when I turn on and here's Pentagon correspondent Tom Bowman Tom you spoke with these two US officials what did they tell you about the president's choice to take these American troops out of the Syrian border well they're really stoned and also worried and Rachel there were several concerns the fear Turkey will launch a military operation into northeast area and leave these Kurdish forces aligned with America basically alone to fight Turkey and they worry these Kurdish forces will abandon the anti ISIS fight to focus on Turkey no the caliphate is no more as president trump says but what he failed to say is isis is regrouping slipping back into cities and towns and moaning assassinations and bombings and one of the US officials I spoke with the said this is all reminiscent of last December when the president abruptly said he wanted all two thousand US troops out of Syria Pentagon officials convinced trump to keep about one thousand troops in north east Syria to continue this fight against ISIS somehow that we were or that the then secretary of defense James Mattis actually resigned over that there was one of the reasons you left us right soul did they have a heads up I mean were they caught completely the Pentagon was the Pentagon caught flat footed by the presence decision I'm told a word that date nobody knew how this call was going to go I'm told it ended up being what they call a bad call in the Pentagon was basically informed that these troops will be pulled back there was never any inter agency discussion about the policy it was basically what I'm told a knee jerk from president trump in those troops were pulled out is there a scenario in which ISIS could get stronger because of illness absolutely in ice is still is a big threat it's regrouping into could gain even more strength as a result of this this what the of president trump pulling out these troops there are thousands of ISIS fighters who have gone to ground in Syria and Iraq US troops are working with these local forces to go after them so again the pullback of US forces in the possible military operation by Turkey could make all this work so we should just take a step back because the reason that there are these widespread concerns even among Republicans that Turkey could now attack our allies America's allies the Kurds is because the Turks see the Kurds as terrorists so what does that mean about America's future relationship with Turkey on the national security front I mean are the priorities online when the United States wants Turkey to help with ISIS but Turkey wants to attack the Kurds no turkeys to their their focus will be on attacking the Kurds night on ISIS so that's why you can make things a lot worse and also it could embolden other forces in the area Russian forces Iranian forces in Syrian forces to move into the breach as a result of that so it's really a lot of chaos is what's going on here dangerous kind of vacuum and peers Pentagon correspondent Tom
All of It
Pompeo travels to Saudi Arabia after oil facility attack
"The US secretary of state says Yemen's who the rebels were not behind last weekend's attack on Saudi oil facilities as they claimed my compare who's just landed in Saudi Arabia tells reporters the Intel so far points to E. run NPR's Tom Goldman has more on what Pentagon sources are telling him and told their satellite pictures of around gearing up the missiles in drones and launch sites in the case say that circumstantial evidence but also the scent of Pentagon forensics team to Saudi Arabia to look at remnants of these missiles at this Saudi facility to determine whether or not they are Iranian missiles and they say that if that's the case it will be clear and convincing evidence that this did come from around this attack in Paris Tom Bowman the Iranian government denies involvement it also warns that if any action is taken against its people it will retaliate president trump has tweeted that his. ministration plans to impose additional sanctions on