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Shea Stevens
Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Shea Stevens. President Trump appears to be sending mixed messages on whether he'll try to fire Federal Reserve chair Jerome Pow. NPR's Deepa Shivaram reports that Trump has publicly railed against Powell for not lowering interest rates.
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Donald Trump
Taking questions from reporters in the Oval Office, Trump said he's not planning on firing Powell.
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He's a terrible he's a terrible Fed chair. I was surprised he was appointed. I was surprised, frankly, that Biden put him in and extended him, but they did so, no, we're not planning on doing anything.
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Trump originally appointed Powell to the position. When asked if he's ruled out firing him, Trump said he hasn't ruled anything out, but it would be highly unlikely unless there was a case of fraud. Trump also said that he floated the idea of firing Powell to some Republican lawmakers and received support from them. A senior White House official who spoke on the condition of anonymity tells NPR that Trump indicated to lawmakers that he will fire Powell soon. Deepa Shivaram, NPR News.
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Shea Stevens
The Trump administration has deported five migrants to the southern African country of Eswatini. The migrants from Jamaica, Cuba, Yemen, Vietnam and Laos are to be kept in a holding facility until they can be repatriated in their home countries. Eswatini, formerly called Swaziland, is bordered by South Africa and Mozambique. In a rare bipartisan move, Congress has passed a law designed to help military veterans avoid foreclosure. More from NPR's Quill Lawrence.
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Quill Lawrence
Veterans groups and the mortgage industry are applauding passage of the VA Home Loan Program Reform Act. Once signed by the president, it should restore a crucial safety net for veterans and active duty forces to keep their homes if they hit hard times. The popular VA Home Loan is credited with giving millions of veterans a leg up into the middle class since World War II. But a series of missteps in the past three years left veterans with worse mitigation options than federally backed loans to Americans who never served. The fix was announced in a joint statement by Democrats and Republicans who called on the VA and mortgage servicers to help veterans stay in their homes while the VA sets up the new program. Quill Lawrence, NPR News.
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Shea Stevens
Climate change is fueling more extreme rainstorms across much of the U.S. which can increase the risk of dangerous flooding NPR's Michael Copley reports.
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Michael Copley
A warmer atmosphere can hold more moisture, so as the earth heats up, storms can drop more rain than they did in the past. That's pressuring communities to overhaul things like transportation and stormwater management systems to handle more intense storms. That will require big investments, but there's an upside, says Gernot Wagner, a climate economist at Columbia Business School.
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Gernot Wagner
The flip side of cost is opportunity is jobs. We need to get around to actually putting money to work.
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Michael Copley
Wagner says communities need to move quickly because the risks are growing. Michael Copley, NPR News.
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Shea Stevens
U.S. futures are lower in after hours trading. This is NPR. President Trump says the government is rescinding $4 billion in federal funding for a high speed rail project in California. The move comes weeks after the Federal Railroad Administration issued a report citing missed deadlines, budget shortfalls and questionable projections on ridership. The two phase plan calls for 800 miles of rail service connecting San Francisco to Los Angeles and eventually linking Sacramento to San Diego. The California High Speed Rail Authority calls the administration's findings misguided. Cyclers in the Tour de France are nearly at the halfway point of the three week 2000 mile event, as NPR's Eleanor Beardsley reports. The athletes race through the southwestern city of Toulouse today before heading toward the Spanish border.
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Eleanor Beardsley
The Tour de France is an exhibit of athletic prowess, stamina and strategy against the backdrop of France's most spectacular scenery and tourist attractions. It's also a big party as millions of roadside spectators line village streets and countryside byways to cheer the cyclists on. The 21 stage race covers vast and varied terrain, including steep mountains. For the first time in 27 years. The mostly ceremonial last stage down Paris's Champs Elysees Avenue is being shaken up. Riders will first climb the steep, winding streets of the Paris neighborhood of Montmartre three times. This means the winner might not be decided until the very last day. Eleanor Beardsley in PR News, Paris.
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Shea Stevens
U.S. futures are lower in after hours trading on Wall Street. On Asia Pacific market shares are mixed. This is NPR News.
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