Live from NPR News and Washington, I'm Windsor Johnston.
The Republican-controlled Senate has confirmed President Trump's nominee for U.S. Attorney General.
“NPR's Claudia Grasala's reports, the confirmation of Todd Blanche, came after weeks of opposition”
from members of both parties. Blanche was approved to the role by a one-boat margin, outgoing Louisiana Republican Senator Bill Cassidy who helped get Blanche over the finish line said he was aware the decision would draw controversy. Mr. Blanche is not perfect and he will tell you this, but the choice is not between
perfection and Mr. Blanche. It is between Mr. Blanche and another acting attorney General who may not run the Department effectively under President Trump.
Blanche faced concerns over his role in a $1.8 billion fund created as part of a DOG
settlement with Trump that was on track to benefit the President's allies. Blanche rescinded the fund in writing, but to Republicans, Susan Collins of Maine and Alaska of Republican Lisa Murkowski, voted no over concerns of a justice department dominated by Trump's demands. Claudia de Salis and PR News. The Senate has passed a temporary spending bill that we keep the government funded through
“early December and PR Scott Newman reports the bill now heads to the House.”
In a 90-to-six vote, the spending measure was passed in the early morning hours Saturday by lawmakers before they head home for a five-week recess. The bill, which still must be approved by the House, generally keeps the government funded at current levels through December 11. Most Democrats voted for the bill after securing a provision that blocks money for US customs
and border protection. They also rejected a $1 billion request from the White House to begin work on a new Trump class battleship. Since the 1990s Congress has frequently relied on temporary spending measures instead of passing a comprehensive budget, Scott Newman and PR News, Washington. It's been one year since a gunman opened fire on the centers for disease control and
prevention in Atlanta and PR's paying clung reports. It was Friday afternoon at near the end of the work day when a gunman stood across the street from the CDC's main campus and started shooting. Dr. Dan Jernigan was there.
“At the time, he led the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases”
for about 15 minutes, he says. "Being in an office in Atlanta was more dangerous than tracking Ebola in West Africa." The CDC staffers all survived, but the gunman killed DeCab County Police Officer David Rose, a main road on campus is being renamed after him. The gunman, who killed himself, was motivated by anti-vaccine and anti-CDC messaging.
Dr. Ngan says those sentiments are still out there. "The rhetoric and demonization of public health and public health leaders certainly has not stopped." "Ping Huang and PR News." This is NPR.
President Trump has announced more than $2 billion in critical minerals and mining-related
projects. The investments are intended to expand domestic production and reduce US dependence on foreign suppliers specifically China. The administration also unouts more than $180 million for mining schools and workforce training. Patients with alcohol and drug-related illnesses are struggling to get medical care in the
U.S. and PR's Brian Mann reports bias among healthcare workers is a major hurdle. Addiction is one of the most common treatable illnesses in the U.S. but federal data shows more than 80 percent of people with substance use disorders never get treatment. NPR interviewed more than a dozen medical experts in reviewed research and found that many doctors and nurses are uncomfortable treating these patients.
Dr. Judy Chirtak studies addiction care at the University of Pennsylvania. "It's so charming that that is accepted by so many." That role data shows roughly 250,000 US deaths every year are linked to alcohol and street drugs, prescription medications proven to help reduce substance use are available.
Research shows the vast majority of US clinicians never offer patients those treatments,
Brian Mann and PR news. Water rationing is underway in Puerto Rico as a severe drought drains reservoirs across the island. More than 180,000 customers are facing 48-hour water shut-offs on a rotating schedule. Addmon recorded its dryest July in more than 120 years.
This is NPR News. This week on Wait Wait Don't Tell me we asked legendary Oscar and Emmy award-winning icon Sally Field if it was difficult to act opposite a CGI octopus in her latest film. "I really not Mary Tog, I really wasn't Mary Tog, really wasn't Mary Tog, really wasn't William, I wasn't Tom and his mother, this is what actors do."
Don't miss our full conversation and the rest of our games listen to the Wait Wait Don't Tell
