Zelensky Brings Backup to the White House, and Why Young Firefighters Are Getting Sick

Summary

The Headlines (The New York Times)

Episode: Zelensky Brings Backup to the White House, and Why Young Firefighters Are Getting Sick
Date: August 18, 2025
Host: Tracy Mumford

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Overview

In this episode, The New York Times delivers a concise but insightful look at two major stories: the high-stakes diplomatic drama as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visits the White House alongside European leaders amid shifting US-Russia-Ukraine relations, and an investigative deep-dive into the worrying health crisis among young American wildland firefighters. The episode closes with a striking story about actors licensing their likenesses for AI-generated ads on TikTok, and a preview of a rare Republican town hall.

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Segment 1: Diplomatic Tensions at the White House – Zelensky’s Crucial Visit

(00:18 – 05:06)

Key Points & Insights

• Background:

  • President Trump recently hosted Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska, where Trump reversed his previous support for a Ukraine-Russia ceasefire, instead siding with Putin on continuing the conflict while talks proceed.

    “President Trump made it clear that he had suddenly abandoned the idea of a ceasefire, it took all of his allies by surprise.”
    — David Sanger (01:03)

• European Allies' Response:

  • Major European leaders—including the British Prime Minister, German Chancellor, and head of NATO—are accompanying Zelensky to Washington, aiming to demonstrate unity and push for a consistent allied strategy.
  • Allies are worried Trump is increasingly aligning US policy with Russia, risking fractures in the transatlantic alliance.

    “All of them are trying to figure out whether President Trump has aligned himself too closely with President Putin.”
    — David Sanger (01:51)

  • European officials are also concerned about avoiding humiliation for Zelensky, referencing a previous instance when Trump publicly berated him during an Oval Office visit.

Notable Quote

• “Every time they think they have their lines together with President Trump, something goes awry.”
  — David Sanger (01:51)

Related Development: Gaza Visas Controversy

• The Trump administration halted entry visas for people from Gaza after right-wing backlash, especially following a viral video of injured Palestinian children arriving in San Francisco for medical care.
• Activist Laura Loomer claimed connections between humanitarian groups and terrorist organizations, leading to strong pressure on Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who then publicly justified the visa freeze.

  “We’re going to reevaluate how those visas are being granted, not just to the children, but…to the people who are accompanying them.”
  — Marco Rubio’s Spokesperson (04:03)

• A former State Department official pushed back, calling security risk claims “baseless” and emphasizing strict background checks and Israeli oversight for all travelers from Gaza (05:06).

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Segment 2: Young American Wildland Firefighters Are Getting Sick

(05:06 – 07:40)

Key Points & Insights

• Scope of the Problem:

  • Reporter Hannah Dreier interviewed over 250 firefighters, uncovering stories of severe, often permanent health damage among young wildland firefighters—including cancers, respiratory diseases, and cases where young individuals require double lung transplants.

    “I was talking to people in their 40s who are being told that they need to get double lung transplants…people in their 20s who have very serious cancer diagnoses…”
    — Hannah Dreier (05:06)

• Policy Failures:

  • Despite years of internal recommendations, the US Forest Service has not supplied wildfire crews with effective respiratory protection; firefighters are often left using only bandanas (or nothing).

    “Instead of providing masks, the Forest Service then just asked for more research…always saying, we really need to find a way to give these guys respiratory protection. And instead…did nothing.”
    — Hannah Dreier (06:10)

• Institutional Inertia:

  • Forest Service officials argue masks could be a heat risk, banning them entirely, but Dreier suggests avoiding masks may be about evading liability and recruiting challenges.

    “Internal records suggest…the reason…has been so resistant to masks is that requiring them would mean admitting that smoke is truly dangerous. That could then be hugely costly for the agency.”
    — Hannah Dreier (06:54)

Notable Quotes

• “They take huge pride in having gone out there and put their own lives on the line…now they feel like they really weren’t protected.”
  — Hannah Dreier (07:23)

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Segment 3: When Your Face Becomes an AI Ad: The TikTok Likeness Marketplace

(07:52 – 09:56)

Key Points & Insights

• Unexpected Celebrity:

  • Actor Scott Jackman (Dallas, TX) is “appearing” in countless TikTok ads for products he’s never endorsed. In reality, his digital avatar—created after he licensed his likeness for $750—is now used commercially in testimonial-style ads, including in languages he doesn’t speak and for products he doesn’t use.

    “His likeness is one of more than a dozen that companies can choose from. They pick the age, gender and ethnicity that they want.”
    — Tracy Mumford (08:13)

• Performer Regrets:

  • Jackman and others express regret over the lack of restrictions or understanding regarding how their digital avatars are used, especially when they find themselves in ads making claims or statements they never made.

    “He has regrets. He wishes he’d negotiated for more money and for some guardrails around how his likeness could be used.”
    — Tracy Mumford (08:43)

• Ethical Issues & Creepiness Factor:

  • Some performers find peace with their avatars’ spread, though admit it can be disconcerting.

    “She was okay with it, even if she admitted it was, quote unquote, kind of creepy to sometimes be scrolling through the app and stumble across a video of herself saying words that never actually came out of her mouth.”
    — Tracy Mumford (09:29)

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Segment 4: Preview – In-Person Republican Town Halls

(09:56 – 10:08)

Key Points

• A featured preview of an interview with one of the few Republican congressmen holding in-person town halls, defying party leadership.

  “It’s good for America that we have Republicans and Democrats that can spend an hour and a half in a room together…they got the chance in their eyes to hold me accountable.”
  — Republican Congressman (09:56)

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Memorable Quotes & Timestamps

• “President Trump made it clear that he had suddenly abandoned the idea of a ceasefire, it took all of his allies by surprise.”
  — David Sanger (01:03)

• “All of them are trying to figure out whether President Trump has aligned himself too closely with President Putin.”
  — David Sanger (01:51)

• “Any insinuation that we were taking an unusual security risk in these cases is baseless.”
  — Former State Department Official (05:03)

• “I spoke with more than 250 firefighters, and what I found was that a lot of these people were very sick.”
  — Hannah Dreier (05:06)

• “They take huge pride…now they feel like they really weren’t protected.”
  — Hannah Dreier (07:23)

• “His likeness is one of more than a dozen that companies can choose from…”
  — Tracy Mumford (08:13)

• “She was okay with it, even if she admitted it was, ‘kind of creepy’…”
  — Tracy Mumford (09:29)

• “It’s good for America that we have Republicans and Democrats…spend an hour and a half in a room together.”
  — Republican Congressman (09:56)

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Overall Tone & Style

• The reporting is calm, fact-driven, and analytical, with a sense of urgency and gravity, particularly in the diplomatic and health reporting segments. Personal stories are woven in to illustrate the stakes, while the TikTok story adds a note of disconcerting modern absurdity.

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Useful Links

• Wildfire investigation – nytimes.com
• For more on U.S. politics and international developments, listen to the next Daily episode via the New York Times app or your podcast provider.

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Transcript

[MultiCare Representative]

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[Tracy Mumford]

From the New York Times, it's the headlines. I'm Tracy Mumford. Today's Monday, August 18th. Here's what we're covering at the White House today. President Trump is hosting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky just days after he rolled out the red carpet for Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska. At that meeting, he greeted Putin warmly and behind closed doors, the two discussed how to end the war in Ukraine. Trump went into the summit saying it was crucial for Ukraine and Russia to reach a ceasefire and pause the fighting as a step toward full scale peace talks. But Trump came out of the conversation taking Putin's side on the issue, saying that wasn't necessary.

[David Sanger]

When President Trump made it clear that he had suddenly abandoned the idea of a ceasefire, it took all of his allies by surprise.

[Tracy Mumford]

David Sanger is a White House correspondent for the Times. He says European leaders were caught off guard by Trump's abrupt pivot because he just agreed to the plan on a phone call with them days before. They're worried if the fighting keeps going while talks are underway, Russia will have the upper hand. They're also concerned that Trump has backed Russia's proposal for Ukraine to cede a large portion of its territory as part of any peace deal. David says that against that backdrop, at least six European leaders are flying to Washington with Zelensky basically to back him up. That includes the British prime minister, the German chancellor, and the head of NATO.

[David Sanger]

Well, they won't say so in public. All of them are trying to figure out whether President Trump has aligned himself too closely with President Putin. And part of the reason you're seeing this trip to Washington is the European leaders trying to make sure they can hold the alliance together so they don't have a different strategy than Washington does. They've just got to make sure that all of the major allies are singing from the same hymnbook here because every time they think they have their lines together with President Trump, something goes awry.

[Tracy Mumford]

David says that according to one senior European diplomat he spoke to. There's also another top concern, making sure that there's no repeat of Zelensky's last visit to the Oval Office when Trump berated him in front of the cameras for not being grateful enough for U.S. support. Over the weekend, the Trump administration announced that it has stopped issuing visas for people from Gaza after right wing outcry over the program, the visitor visas had been a pathway for a small number of Palestinians, including children, to get medical care in the US in the past few weeks, several young children were brought into the country on those visas after being injured in Gaza. A video of some of them arriving seems to have kicked off the backlash. The right wing activist Laura Loomer, who has a history of anti Islam rhetoric, shared a video of people cheering as Palestinian kids landed at the San Francisco airport. It was originally posted by the nonprofit group Heal Palestine, which arranged for some of the kids travel. Loomer claimed that the group was connected to Hamas. She went on to call other recent flights with Goslins on them a national security threat and tagged state and federal officials in her posts. She also said she spoke personally to Secretary of State Marco Rubio to alert him to what she called the threat of an Islamic invasion.

[Marco Rubio Spokesperson]

We had outreach from multiple congressional offices asking questions about it.

[Tracy Mumford]

Rubio then announced the policy change, saying he'd been given evidence that some of the organizations arranging the travel had, quote, strong links to terrorist groups.

[Marco Rubio Spokesperson]

And so we're going to reevaluate how those visas are being granted, not just to the children, but how those visas are being granted to the people who, who are accompanying them.

[Tracy Mumford]

On social media, Loomer celebrated the move, taking credit for the fast response over the course of the Trump administration. She seemed to have a tremendous amount of sway with the White House considering she has no official government position. For example, multiple high ranking officials that she singled out as, quote, disloyal to the president have gone on to be fired. In terms of the visas. A former State Department official who worked on Israeli Palestinian affairs in the Biden administration told the Times that any Gazans coming to the US could only get visas by undergoing background checks and that they would have had to be cleared by Israeli forces to even leave Gaza in the first place. He added, quote, from what I saw, any insinuation that we were taking an unusual security risk in these cases is baseless.

[Hannah Dreier]

I spent a lot of time going to the parts of the country where wildland firefighters tend to live. I spoke with more than 250 firefighters, and what I found was that a lot of these people were very sick. I was talking to people in their 40s who are being told that they need to get double lung transplants, people in their 20s who have very serious cancer diagnoses, people who have had to leave this work in their 30s because their lungs got so damaged that they could barely walk up a flight of steps. It's just this wide variety of damage that's really permanent and disabling.

[Tracy Mumford]

Hannah Dreier is an investigative reporter at the Times who has been looking at the crippling health issues facing the crews who fight wildfires in the U.S. she says that decades of research have shown links between the smoke that firefighters are exposed to and a range of serious health conditions. But unlike firefighters in cities who would never think of going into a burning building without a mask or the wildfire, crews are often just wearing cloth bandanas for protection or nothing at all.

[Hannah Dreier]

Again and again, the Forest Service asked its own researchers to investigate how to keep their workers safe. And the internal recommendation came back, we need to find a mask for these guys instead of providing masks. The Forest Service then just asked for more research. And so more reports came back, always saying, we really need to find a way to give these guys respiratory protection. And instead of providing those masks, the Forest Service did nothing.

[Tracy Mumford]

Hannah says the Forest Service told her it wants to protect its crews, but it argued that masks are too risky. They could cause firefighters to overheat. So it's gone as far as banning firefighters on the front lines from wearing them all together, even if they wanted to.

[Hannah Dreier]

Internal records suggests, and people have told me that the reason that the Forest Service has been so resistant to masks is that requiring them would mean admitting that smoke is truly dangerous. That could then be hugely costly for the agency. It could mean that the Forest Service would be on the hook for all of these medical conditions associated with smoke. The Forest Service might have a harder time recruiting people for these very low wage jobs. And they might also have to hire more workers to allow people to take breaks periodically from the smoke. What a lot of these guys have told me is they really see themselves as public servants. They take huge pride in having gone out there and put their own lives on the line to protect other people and protect communities. And now they feel like they really weren't protected.

[Tracy Mumford]

You can find the full investigation into the dangers facing wildfire [e-mail] and finally.

[Scott Jackman]

I will cancel any home insurance and use safe you instead, because there's an.

[Tracy Mumford]

Actor out of Dallas, Texas, a guy in his 50s named Scott Jackman, who gets hit up every week or so by friends who say, hey, I saw you in an ad on TikTok.

[Scott Jackman]

Knowing your birth date's meaning can help you understand yourself better.

[Tracy Mumford]

They see him pitching insurance, a horoscope.

[Ad Narrator]

Ad.

[Tracy Mumford]

Infantil or a brain teaser app in Spanish. But he doesn't speak Spanish, and his voice and gestures all seem kind of off in the ads. That's because he didn't record any of them. Instead, he licensed his likeness to TikTok last year, and now his digital avatar is out there, available for any advertiser to use to pitch anything, anything they want within TikTok's guidelines. His likeness is one of more than a dozen that companies can choose from. They pick the age, gender and ethnicity that they want. The end result is what looks like a testimonial video from a real person, though there's a small label that says AI generated. He says he got a one time payment of $750 for the deal. Now that he's seen himself or some Twilight Zone version of himself out there in the wild, he says he has regrets. He wishes he'd negotiated for more money and for some guardrails around how his likeness could be used. Another performer the Times talked to said he regretted licensing his likeness after his avatar appeared in ads stating certain sexual preferences. Other people who did similar deals also had regrets, saying they didn't totally understand just how widely their faces would travel. But another performer the Times talked with said she was okay with it, even if she admitted that it was, quote unquote, kind of creepy to sometimes be scrolling through the app and stumble across a video of herself saying words that never actually came out of her mouth. Those are the headlines today on the Daily A conversation with one of the few Republican congressmen who's been willing to hold an in person town hall recently against the advice of GOP leadership.

[Republican Congressman]

It's good for America that we have Republicans and Democrats that can spend an hour and a half in a room together. And yeah, there's some shouting and yelling, but I got the the chance to say what I wanted to say and they got the chance in their eyes to hold me accountable.

[Tracy Mumford]

You can listen to that in the New York Times app or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Tracy Mumford. We'll be back tomorrow.