welcome to Washington today on cesan radio for Thursday September 12 2024 attorney general Merrick Garland says the justice department will not Bend to political pressure and he will not allow the department to be used as a political weapon and he warns about conspiracy theories and dangerous falsehoods targeting federal law enforcement the speech comes as former president Donald Trump has continued to accuse the justice department of singling him out for prosecution and to threaten that if wins the presidency to put in prison those he said cheated in the election Donald Trump today says he will not debate kamla Harris again Kamala Harris calls for another debate the US House finishes the week with no clear path yet for a government funding measure to prevent a shutdown come October speaker Mike Johnson says discussions will continue through the weekend Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana says after Hurricane Francine ripped through the state we'll get the money that we deserve from the federal government to help help us that's why we pay taxes house passes a bill to prohibit the electric vehicle tax credit from being claimed if the EV has batteries manufactured by Chinese entities we'll get the latest on allowing Ukraine to use Western Nation supplied long- range weapons to strike Russian territory beyond the immediate border with Ukraine Secretary of State Anthony blinkin asked about it again and former US senator James Sasser Democrat of Tennessee has died we hear part of a C-SPAN interview when he was in office about about is growing up in Tennessee attorney general Merrick Garland right CNN slammed effort to turn the justice department into a political weapon during a fiery speech Thursday Two Department staff and US attorneys from across the country amitt attacks from former president Donald Trump and his allies the Attorney General's comments Come As Trump has claimed the justice department has been weaponized against him amid his criminal prosecutions and suggested that he would politicize the department should he return to the Oval Office that was from CNN chairing General Garland spoke at the Justice Department headquarters in Washington DC there is not one rule for friends and another for foes one rule for the powerful and another for the powerless one rule for the rich and another for the poor one rule for Democrats and another for Republicans or different rules depending on one's race or ethnicity to the contrary we have only one rule we follow the facts and apply the law in a way that respects the Constitution and protect civil liberties over the past three and a half years I have spoken to you often about the importance of these Norms I know that to many outside of this department they may seem abstract or even inconsequential they are any but and they must not be taken for granted for us adhering to these policies principles and Norms in everything we do is how we fulfill the promise that is foundational to our democracy that all people will be protected equally under the law and that all people will be held accountable equally under the law our Norms are promise that we will fiercely protect the independence of this department from political in interference in our criminal investigations our Norms are a promise that we will not allow this department to be used as a political weapon and our Norms are a promise that we will not allow this nation to become a country where law enforcement is treated as an apparatus of politics attorney general Merrick Garland at the justice department today the speech was titled attorney general Merck B Garland addresses the justice department Workforce attorney general Garland also spoke today about what he called Dangerous conspiracy theory driven attacks against hardworking Department staff in addition to seeing how you have operated in the face of dangers like violent crime and terrorism I have also seen how you have bravely carried on in the face of an unprecedented spike in threats targeting a range of public officials across the country over the past three and a half years there has been an escalation of attacks on the Justice Department's career lawyers agents and other Personnel that go far beyond scrutiny criticism and legitimate and necess Neary oversight of our work these attacks have come in the form of conspir conspiracy theories dangerous falsehoods efforts to bully and intimidate career public servants by repeatedly and publicly singling them out and threats of actual violence through your work you have made clear that the justice department will not be intimidated by these attacks but it is dangerous and outrageous that you have to endure them it is dangerous to Target and intimidate individual employees of this department solely for doing their jobs and it is outrageous that you have to face these unfounded attacks because you are doing what is right and upholding the rule of law you deserve better you deserve gratit at itude for the noble and difficult work you do you deserve recognition for the integrity and skill with which you do that work you deserve to be honored the work you do every day makes a difference and the way you do that work makes clear that the public servants of the Department of Justice do not Bend to politics and that they will not break Under Pressure attorney general Merrick Garland at the justice department today in the 30-minute speech he did not mention Donald Trump or his allies by name Donald Trump has been accusing the justice department of intentionally targeting him for indictments on the federal level and he says pressuring State local prosecutors to do the same here is Donald Trump during the ABC News presidential debate Tuesday night every one of those cases was started by them against their political opponent and I'm winning most of them and I will win the rest on appeal and you saw that with the decision that came down just recently from the Supreme Court I'm winning most of them but those are cases it's called weaponization never happened in this country they weaponized the justice department every one of those cases was involved with the doj from Atlanta and fny Willis to to the uh attorney Attorney General of New York and the da of New York every one of those cases and then they say oh he was he's a criminal they're the ones that made them go after me by the way Joe Biden was found essentially guilty on the documents case and what happened in my documents case they said oh that's the toughest of them all a complete and total Victory two months ago it was thrown out it's weaponization and they used it and it's never happened in this country they used it to try and win an election they're fake cases Donald Trump during Tuesday night's presidential debate hosted by ABC news story from USA Today officials in Springfield Ohio closed City Hall Thursday after a bomb threat was issued to multiple facilities the city said in the news release the activity comes two days after Donald Trump mentioned Springfield Ohio during the presidential debate when promoting a false rumor that migrants there are eating people's pets local officials have previously confirmed the accounts are not true again from USA Today Donald Trump and vice president KL Harris the Democratic Presidential nominee returned to the campaign Trail today Donald Trump holding a rally in Tucson Arizona kamla Harris has two events in North Carolina in Charlotte and Greensboro Donald Trump posting on his truth Social account today when a prize fighter loses a fight the first words out of his mouth are I want a rematch polls clearly show that I won the debate against comrade kamla Harris the Democrats radical left candidate on Tuesday night and she immediately called for a second debate she and crooked Joe have destroyed our country with millions of criminals and mentally deranged people pouring into the USA totally unchecked and unvetted and with inflation bankrupting our middle class everyone knows this and all the other problems caused by kamla and Joe it was discussed in great detail during the first debate with Joe and the second debate with comrad Harris she was a no- show at the fox debate and refused to do NBC and CBS kamla should focus on what she should have done during the last Almost four-year period there will be no third debate and that last line was in all capital letters that was the post on Truth social by Donald Trump kamla Harris in Charlotte North Carolina today said she does want to do another debate two nights ago Donald Trump and I had our first debate and I believe we owe it to the voters to have another [Applause] debate because this election and what is at stake could not be more important on Tuesday night I talked about issues that I know matter to families Across America like bringing down the cost of living investing in America's small businesses protecting reproductive freedoms and keeping and keeping our nation safe and secure but that's not what we heard from Donald Trump instead it was the same old show that same tired Playbook that we've heard for years with no plans for how he would address the needs of the American people because you know it's all about him it's not about you well folks I said it then I say it now it's time to turn the page turn that page turn that page vice president kamla Harris Democratic Presidential nominee today in Charlotte North Carolina this is Washington today from the hill House minority leader hakee Jeff Democrat from New York said Thursday the Democrats will reject any short-term spending bill that includes Trump back policy Provisions or kicks the issue of 2025 spending into next year behind speaker Mike Johnson Republican of Louisiana house Republican leaders had pushed a stop Gap spending package known as a continuing resolution or CR that extends 2024 spending until March 28th a six-month span demanded by some conserv cons atives in the House GOP conference legislation also featured a policy writer the save act requiring proof of citizenship for voting Nationwide on Wednesday Johnson was forced to scrap a scheduled vote on that package because it lacked the GOP support to pass that was from the hill here's Congressman Jeff at his weekly news conference today I know that um you want a clean CR but now that speaker Johnson has to go back to the drawing board you know do you think Democrat are open at all to a shorter CR with a save act do you think some Democrats could be picked off we have zero interest in enacting any part of Trump's project 2025 agenda the American people want no part of Trump's project 20225 agenda and so the fact that house Republicans are threatening a shutdown and demanding in exchange for keeping the government open the enactment of deeply dangerous and unpopular parts of Trump's project 2025 agenda is unserious and unacceptable if they were serious about what they intend to do then pass the Bill themselves but they've been unable to do that on their own in fact can anyone in America name a single thing that House Republicans have been able to do on their own to make a difference in the lives of the American people a single thing that House Republicans have been able to do on their own they can't why because the house Republican agenda is all about a National Abortion ban Trump's project 2025 and big tax cuts for the wealthy the well-off and big corporations that's the house Republican agenda and it's deeply unpopular with the American people extreme mag Republicans are unable to govern on their own and house Democrats are simply saying we're willing to partner with you in a bipartisan path forward based on the bipartisan fiscal responsibility act that was passed by both houses of Congress with Democratic and Republican majorities signed into law by President Joe Biden and sets Topline spending numbers for fiscal year 2024 and fiscal year 2025 what's the problem we've already reached an agreement and the extreme mag Republicans are walking away from the agreement that they themselves demanded that we negotiate in order to avoid a catastrophic default on America's debt so should not be that complicated and we need to get this resolved in this calendar year and if we just let the appropriators do their work led by Rosa deloro on our side I'm confident that we can reach a bipartisan agreement consistent with the fiscal responsibility act that meets the needs of the American people and keeps the government open the House minority leader hakeim Jeff Democrat from New York at his weekly news conference speaker Mike Johnson said that talks about the CR will continue among Republicans through the weekend Congressman Tim burett Republican of Tennessee was on C-SPAN this morning I vote against it you know they they attached the save act to it which um provide for um preventing foreign folks from voting we've already passed that actually in July Chuck Schumer refuses to bring it up I keep saying to our leadership why don't we hold a press conference and say every day just say why is the Senate not bringing this up why why are they wanting to allow uh foreigners to vote in our elections but the other is is the fact that it is a continue resolution which it continues the bad spending policies of my opinion of Schumer and speaker Pelosi um and and we are you're forcing conservatives like myself to vote for it so they can attach the save act to it which we've already passed I just don't think it's uh it's it's it's too much um inside Washington inside the ballpark kind of play I don't think America gives a rip about all that they don't want I don't think they want to shut the government down I think the cons my conservative base does and I'm not afraid to do that I've we've done it before but I think going into an election cycle is probably not the best time to do it and also again you're forcing conservatives to vote for horrible spending policies that are in place we um add a trillion dollars every hundred days to our debt and neither party wants to do anything about it and the dirty little secret is that uh the Democrats want to do it for so-called woke programs and the Republicans will do it for missile defense plans so we're both just going to run up our our um our check card beyond belief and neither party has a plan to pay it back and I think it's time to like-minded people to say enough is enough will you be part of weekend conversations with the speaker's office to try to convince you to vote Yes oh I'm sure if they call I'll pick up the phone um but uh I had a long meeting with with guy Reen ther and um and Tom Emer yesterday a group of us did I think over an hour and they were very convincing and and why we needed to do this and there was a lot of as they say strategery going on in the room with different members conservative members and um and I think that's what that's how we'll get a solution but I I think ultimately we'll end up passing a big spending package and no one will make any cuts and we'll go home and blame both sides and 98 99% of us will get reelected Congressman Tim burett republican from Tennessee on cpan Washington Journal morning program from Reuters a senior US House Republican said on Thursday that his party needs to begin talks with Democrats unfund the government pass the September 30th deadline as Speaker Mike Johnson plotted his next move after pulling a controversial stop Gap funding bill representative Tom Cole the Republican chair of the House of Appropriations Committee told reporters that he and others were supportive of what he speaker Johnson is trying to do but pointed out that the deadline is rapidly approaching Co said we can't have a government shut down 5 weeks before an election there are some things that do need to be negotiated and the final deal is going to take Democratic votes that was a story from Reuters from nola.com down in Louisiana hurricane Francine's powerful sweep across Louisiana flooded homes left hundreds of thousands without power and raised questions about drainage capacity on Thursday as parishes covered roughly a third of the state began to assess the the damage the storm made landfall near Morgan City around 5:00 p.m. Wednesday is a category 2 with sustained 100 m hour winds it had weakened to a tropical depression by Thursday morning with 35 mph winds and its Center was near Jackson Mississippi the Louisiana governor held a news conference today in Baton Rouge the capital city about storm recovery and joining him was Senator John Kennedy Republican of Louisiana who said he expects there'll be federal aid there's always something to be grateful for but that is cold comfort um to our people who sustain damage and we did have damage a lot of wind a lot of water lot of loss of power um we'll get the money that we deserve from the federal government to uh to help us that's why we pay taxes whether it's in the form of Public Assistance infrastructure repair personal assistance uh mitigation grants I've already started talking to my colleagues um the entire Congressional Delegation is United on this I sit on Appropriations in the Senate Julia sits on Appropriations in the house but we do it together with all of us and we will get the money that we need number two our FEMA administrator is here and I don't see here we are I want to thank her for coming I I her technical title is administrator I call her Madam Secretary because it is a secretary level position in my opinion and I want to thank her for coming to Louisiana it really really really means a lot number three I wish you could have just listened and been in the room listen to what I just listened to I want to thank the governor I want to thank his entire team I want to thank our state and local officials they are on top of this and I I I just wish um all of you could have sat there for the hour and and listen to what I listen to the damage would have been much much worse but for their professionalism and it also would have been much much worse but for the investment that Louisiana taxpayers and American taxpayers H have made in uh in flood protection Senator John Kennedy republican from Louisiana at a news conference in Baton Rouge hosted by the governor Jeff Landry also Republican in Washington at the White House Press Secretary Ken jeanpierre said president pres Biden has been monitoring the storm and is providing help the president and his senior team are closely monitoring the impacts of Francine as it moves through the s to the Southern United States FEMA administrator chriswell is currently in Louisiana she will meet with state and local officials survey damages and provide an update on our response efforts before Francine made landfall the president approved Governor Landry's of Louisiana's request for an emergency declaration which unlocked federal assistance to help support life-saving and life sustaining efforts over 700 Federal Personnel including 128 Urban search and rescue Personnel are in Louisiana and ready to support any emergency response requests from the state FEMA has also pre-positioned more than 750,000 meals 1.2 million lers of water to support the needs of survivors we continue to encourage those who are in the path of Francine to stay alert visit ready.gov for tips on how to stay safe and follow the recommendations of state and local officials the bayen Harris Administration stands ready to provide additional support to impacted areas as necessary White House Press Secretary Karina jeanpierre at her news conference at the White House the governor of Louisiana Jeff Landry says there have been no storm related deaths attributed to Hurricane Francine and the Louisiana Public Service Commission says there were about 450,000 power outages at the height down now to about 350,000 Francine is the sixth name hurricane this year hurricane season runs through November although right around now is usually the peak time last year there were 19 name storms Wall Street today the Dow up 235 NASDAQ up 174 S&P up 41 story from Associated Press memb M of a senate committee looking into the Stuart healthc care bankruptcy said they plan to adopt two resolutions next week to hold Stuart CEO Ralph dtor in contempt one for civil enforcement and another for certification to the United States Attorney for criminal contempt after he refused to attend the US Senate hearing Thursday despite being issued a subpoena if approved both resolutions will go to the full senate for a vote Senator Bernie Sanders committee chair said Del Lori and his texas-based stud which operated about 30 hospitals Nationwide and file for bankruptcy in May is a prime example of what happens when private Equity investors purchase hospitals strip their assets and saddle them with debt that they can never pay back that was reporting from Associated Press here is Senator Bernie Sanders working in partnership with the private Equity Firm cbus Dr delatori became obscenely wealthy by loading up hospitals from Massachusetts to Arizona with billions of dollars in debt and selling the land underneath these hospitals to real estate Executives at Medical properties trust who charged unsustainably High rents as a result of Dr delator elaborate Financial scheme Steward healthc care and the more than 30 hospitals it owns in eight states declared bankruptcy with some 9 billion in debt but let's be clear Steward's severe financial problems did not happen overnight they have been going on for more than a decade it has been estimated that at least 15 patients at hospitals owned by Stewart died as a result of a lack of medical equipment or Staffing shortages and that at least 2,000 other patients were put in serious risk according to Federal Regulators Senator Bernie Sanders independent from Vermont chair of the health education labor and pensions committee his opening statement at today's hearing he said Ralph dtor made hundreds of millions of dollars personally while the hospitals were getting in deeper financial trouble and the senator had pictures of a yacht he said that deltor bought for $40 million and a luxury fishing boat for $15 million Senator Bill Cassidy Republican of Louisiana is the committee's ranking member he spoke today about that bipartisan support for holding the CEO in contempt of congress for not testifying Under The subpoena we need to keep this from happening again that means we need answers and it seems the principle to give that answer is Dr Ralph Dori and this is what our bipartisan work has been about answers for our constituents answers to inform legislative Solutions unfortunately Dr D Tor has refused to testify voluntarily as a result the committee issued a subpoena in July up until September the 4th Dr de to's lawyers intended indicated he intended to comply with the subpoena and to testify however eight days before the hearing Dr D Tor informed the committee that he would not comply with the subpoena we responded to Dr D Tor explaining why his objections to the committee subpoena have no merit and directed him to comply now a witness cannot disregard and evade a duly authorized subpoena therefore today the chair and I will be asking the committee to report a resolution to authorize civil enforcement and criminal contempt proceedings against Dr de laori requiring compliance with the subpoena I thank the chair for working with me on this critically important issue I believe our actions today are a testament to what bipartisanship can accomplish on behalf of Americans on behalf of patients Senator Bill Cassidy republican from Louisiana and a medical doctor and he's ranking member on the health educ ation labor and pensions committee at today's hearing the committee plans to vote on the contempt resolutions next week again from the Associated Press article in a written statement Steward defended dori's decision not to attend the hearing and to again ask that it be rescheduled saying that not only is it inappropriate for him to testify about steuart's bankruptcy while those proceedings are ongoing but that he's also banned by a federal court from doing so the statement said the committee continues to ignore the fact that there is an ongoing settlement effort underway with all interested parties that paves the way to keep all of Steward's remaining hospitals open and preserve jobs Dr delator will not do anything that could jeopardize this effort that was from Associated Press one of the witnesses who did testify at today's hearing was Ellen mcginness a nurse from Boston's St Elizabeth's Medical Center one of Stewart's Health hospitals sadly enough sometimes babies die new newborn babies die and and the practice is to place the baby's remains in um a bement box and take it to the morg Stewart didn't pay the vendor and they weren't any bereavement boxes and nurses were forced to put babies remains in cardboard shipping boxes these nurses put their own money together and went to Amazon and and and brought the bereavement boxes um gosh this so much more to say I'm the um probably the most tragic and what finally blew the lid off all this was the death of a 39-year-old woman who came to the hospital had an absolutely normal child birth had was was bleeding she um may have been saved by a device known as an embolism coil they weren't any in the hospital there hadn't been any in the hospital for weeks they had been repossessed by the vendor she died Ellen mcginness a nurse at St Elizabeth's Medical Center in Boston at today's Senate health education labor and pensions Committee hearing on the bankruptcy of Steward Healthcare you can find the video of the full hearing at our website c-span.org Washington today continues in a moment listening to programs on cpan through cpan radio is easy tell your smart speaker play C-SPAN radio and listen to Washington Journal daily at 7:00 a.m. eastern important public affairs events throughout the day and weekdays catch Washington today listen to C-SPAN anytime just tell your smart speaker play C-SPAN radio C-SPAN powered by cable welcome back to Washington today which you can listen to as a podcast find it wherever you get your podcasts the US House today passed a bill that that would ban the consumer tax credit of up to $7,500 for buying a qualified electric vehicle if the EV has batteries made by or connected with Chinese entities it was the final bill brought up by the house Republican majority in their China week focusing on threats to the US perceived from the Chinese Communist Party sponsor of today's bill was congresswoman Carol Miller Republican of West Virginia this legislation will close the Chinese billionaire loophole that currently allows entities owned by billionaires from countries of concern to benefit from the EV subsidies as long as their ties to these hostile governments are deemed unofficial the Biden Harris Administration has put out regulations on the EV credit that effectively exclude battery inputs from being subject to any limitations at all this bill will also ensure none of the components going into the battery are sourced from China finally this bill will prevent companies from benefiting from this tax break if they merely partner with foreign entities of concerned firms without developing any domestic intellectual property or knowledge transfer I urge my colleagues to vote Yes and to choose American taxpayer faers over Chinese billionaires the choice is clear congresswoman Carol Miller Republican of West Virginia on the house floor the White House put out a statement in opposition to this bill saying would raise taxes on American consumers punish American auto manufacturers threaten good paying Auto jobs undermine our administration's work to protect the American automotive supply chain from unfair Chinese competition and set back efforts to achieve energy security and combat climate change and the state goes on it would add new unclear and unworkable restrictions to the inflation reduction act section 30d tax credit which already includes strict eligibility restrictions for foreign entities of concern controlled by China and other covered Nations congresswoman Debbie Dingle Democrat from Michigan agreed with the White House during today's house floor debate if this bill passes it would kill good paying Union auto manufacturing and building trade jobs here this this bill would undermine the United States ability to compete in a global EV market and it blatantly ignores the fact that American automakers are already diversifying their supply chains and reducing their Reliance on China I want to remind my colleagues I'm not old but I'm seasoned I was a child in the 70s but I remember when the Domestic Auto industry was caught flat footed the key to the American Auto industry being competitive is we're competing in a global Marketplace not just here and the global Marketplace is demanding EVS in the 70s The Domestic Auto industry wasn't ready for small car vehicles when gasoline prices went up and we lost a decade a decade we closed small towns in our state we've never recovered those jobs have never come back and I am committed with my colleagues and miss to keeping our industry competitive in a global Marketplace we cannot make that mistake again congresswoman Debbie Dingle Democrat from Michigan on the house floor the house passed this bill again restricting the up to $7500 EV tax credit by a vote of 2117 to 192 seven Democrats joined Republicans in voting yes story from the New York Times condemnation of a deadly Israeli strike on a school turned shelter in central Gaza mounted on Thursday as Israel said that the complex crowded with people driven from their homes had become a headquarters for militants the site had been home to around 12,000 displaced people from the Gaza Strip mainly women and children according to the United Nations which operated the school Israel has struck the compound five separate time since the War Began last October it said Palestinian authorities said the Israeli strike on Wednesday they killed 18 gin among them were six un employees including the shelters manager the most UN employees to die in a single strike in Gaza since the War Began the organization said that was from the New York Times US Secretary of State Anthony blinkin was asked about this strike and the United Nations Aid workers being killed he was at a news conference in wur Poland the first thing that's usually important to to underscore is the essential vital imperative work of humanitarians in Gaza and for that matter uh around the world and it's essential that those activities uh be protected and indeed be be facilitated we need to see humanitarian sites protected uh and that's something that um we continue to raise with Israel uh at the same time uh we continue to see uh h hiding uh in taking over and otherwise using uh these sites from which to conduct its uh its operations uh and to uh pose an ongoing threat and that of course has to stop because those actions are uh endangering civilians um I think it also underscores once again the urgency of reaching a ceasefire because that's the best way of ensuring that that we have um a genuinely protected space throughout Gaza uh a space in which the humanitarians can not only continue to do their work but massively increase it to the benefit of people who desperately need it uh the children the women and men of Gaza Secretary of State Anthony blinkin at a news conference in Poland story from axus an elite isra Defense Forces Unit conducted a highly unusual raid in Syria earlier this week and destroyed an underground Precision missile Factory that Israel and the US claim was built by Iran according to three sources briefed on the operation secretary blinkin held this news conference in wara Poland with the Polish foreign minister radis sakori the two also spoke about the war between Ukraine and Russia and reports that a decision has been made to allow Ukraine to use long-range missiles supplied by the Us and other Western countries to hit military targets deep inside Russia itself is there a green light for Ukraine to hit targets uh deep inside Russia using Western weaponery uh there were reports that this decision has already been made uh there are also reports uh that uh London um has given its permission uh recently so if you could comment on that and for minister shikori in Polish min so you said that Poland is in favor of increasing pressure on Moscow what about the green light for hitting targets inside Russia what is the impact on Ukraine what does it mean for Ukraine and for Poland's security thank you very much look a Hallmark of what we've done from day one uh in fact even before day one uh of the Russian aggression against Ukraine in 2022 was to try to make sure that Ukraine has what it needs when it needs it to deal with that aggression and as what Russia is doing has has changed as the battlefield has changed we've adapted uh and as you've seen through uh the provision of some of the most sophisticated Weapons Systems we've had through the extraordinary provision of um military assistance overall more than hundred billion uh from the United States uh the uh sharing of intellig uh and many other things at every step along the way as necessary we've adapted and we've adjusted and one of the um purposes of my visit to uh keev yesterday was to hear from our Ukrainian Partners what they believe they need now to deal with the current Battlefield um including in eastern Ukraine uh and other parts of the country and I can tell you that uh as we go forward we will do exactly what we have already done which is we will adjust we'll adapt as necessary including with regard to the means that are at uh Ukraine's disposal to effectively defend against the Russian aggression Russia is committing war crimes attacking civilian targets residential areas hospitals to and Facilities which uh produce electricity and heat for ukrainians and the winter is coming missiles that hit civilian targets are shot from um bombers that um start from airfields in Russia the victim of aggression has the right to defend itself has the right to combat all means of uh air strikes that hit against it I'm of the opinion that Ukraine has the right to use Western weapons to prevent war crimes through an interpreter the Polish foreign minister R sakori and US Secretary of State Anthony blinkin news conference in Wasa Poland at the Pentagon the press secretary Pat Ryder said there has been no change in policy yet regarding Us longrange weapons and Ukraine on Ukraine you've seen in the last day or so secretary blinkin say that the door may be opening a little bit to the us considering uh giving Ukraine more long range strike options or loosening restrictions but we heard pretty clearly from secretary Austin last week that he's not in favor of this is that thinking changing is the building now considering giving Ukraine more long range strike options yeah I've certainly seen the Press reports on that I would tell you uh there has been no change to our policy I don't have anything to announce uh and certainly if there are any changes we'll let you know but as of today that policy has not changed what is the primary driver behind secretary Austin being reluctant to further loosen the restrictions or to provide more long range options yeah I mean first of all uh again this is our policy right and we've of course worked with the ukrainians to ensure that they have the ability to conduct crossb counter uh defensive strikes uh to defend their troops that are being attacked from across the border in in Russia um you know we are very very much focused and we've talked about this before on ensuring that Ukraine has what it needs to be able to uh preserve its sovereignty uh and take back occupied territory and that's going to continue to be our Focus the bottom line is we want to see Ukraine win in this conflict uh and when they feel uh that it's time Ukraine feels that it's time to go to the negoti ating table uh we want them to do so with as strong a hand as possible uh and and I would point you to secretary Austin's comments at Ramstein last week where he highlighted there is no uh one capability there is no Silver Bullet uh that is going to uh enable Ukraine to succeed it's about taking all of the capabilities that they have and employing them employing them in a way uh that that gets them uh closer to success and having that stronger hand uh at the neg Neti ating table so uh again as this battlefield has evolved our support to Ukraine has evolved um but again as of right now the the policy has not changed uh I'll just leave it there the Pentagon press secretary Pat Ryder Air Force Major General at a pentagon news conference couple of Articles from Reuters one is President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that the West would be directly fighting with Russia if it allowed Ukraine to strike Russian territory with Western made long- range missiles a move he said would all the nature and scope of the conflict and President Vladimir zalinski said on Thursday that Ukrainian forces had anticipated moscow's counter offensive in the Russian region of kurts his first comments on the push back this week more than a month after Ukraine's crossborder incursion and finally on Washington today from The Tennessean Newspaper Jim Sasser the last Democrat to represent Tennessee in the US Senate who later went on to serve as US ambassador to China during the Clinton Administration died died on Tuesday he was 887 statement from his children gray and Elizabeth Sasser as his family and former staff will attest Dad loved his family the state of Tennessee his years serving in the US Senate and old cars too and he loved them in that order he believed in the nobility of public service and the transformational power of government cpan interviewed Senator Sasser in 1992 he talked about how seeing poverty firsthand growing up affected him I remember uh as a very young boy uh in U when I first started to school uh at this time uh we were living in a rural area in the western part of Tennessee uh my father was overseas in the South Pacific this was during the second World War uh and in this small rural community I saw for the first time uh poverty and I saw many of my classmates in this small rural School were deprived no question about it uh they didn't have um some of them um didn't have shoes in the wintertime now that's inconceivable for us to uh think of that now in 1990 but uh in the 1940s uh in areas of the South uh children would go bar barefooted almost the year round uh these were the children of what of tenant Farmers uh in uh Western Tennessee and um many times uh they would have no lunch uh at school uh they would get an orange for example for Christmas that would be their Christmas present and I think seeing that had a very uh great influence on me and uh I felt as a youngster I saw very clearly and very early the Injustice uh uh what I perceive to be Injustice and felt that it was unfair and felt that I wanted to I guess As I Grew Older try to do something to um give everybody a fair chance I suppose part of a C-SPAN interview with James Sasser in 1992 when he was a democratic US senator from Tennessee he served in that position I from 1977 to 1995 then became US ambassador to China in the Bill Clinton administration for 3 years James Sasser has died at the age of 87 Al Gore former vice president and former US senator Democrat of Tennessee posting on X it is impossible to put into words how much Jim Sasser meant to me and my family he was a man of outstanding character and conviction a great United States Senator and later an outstanding Diplomat in the truest sense of the word thanks for listening to Washington today subscribe to cp's free evening newsletter word for word and get the stories making headlines in Washington emailed to you every day sign up at c-span.org connect have a good night [Music]