6.1.26 A death-row inmate wins another look, climate-change alarmism, and the launch of CNN

Summary

The World and Everything In It
Episode: 6.1.26 – A death-row inmate wins another look, climate-change alarmism, and the launch of CNN
Date: June 1, 2026

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Overview

This episode of The World and Everything In It explores three main topics: significant Supreme Court decisions on criminal cases (including the overturning of a death-row conviction), a critical discussion of economic misallocation driven by climate change alarmism, and a special segment marking the anniversary of CNN’s 24-hour news launch. The episode combines timely legal, economic, and historical analysis with in-depth reporting and notable interviews—serving listeners with both headline news and rich context.

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Key Segments & Insights

1. News Headlines

Segment begins: [01:32]
Host: Kent Covington

• US-Iran War Negotiations: President Trump reports no breakthrough in ending the conflict, maintaining that the US is "in no hurry" and will act differently if negotiations fail ([01:43]).
• Aukus Alliance — Undersea Drone Project: US, UK, and Australia announce joint development of undersea drones to monitor China’s expanding Pacific military presence ([03:10]).
• Ebola Recoveries in Congo: WHO highlights recoveries despite a lack of vaccine or cure, but outbreak fears spread beyond Africa ([03:55]).
• Protests at New Jersey Immigration Center: Clashes and curfews follow hunger strikes by detainees; political leaders appeal for calmer protests and public safety ([04:51]).
• Fatal Virginia Bus Crash: Federal probe focuses on driver error and vehicle braking failures, with charges pending against the driver ([05:46]).

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2. Legal Docket: Supreme Court Rulings on Finality, Fairness & Second Chances

Segment begins: [07:45]
Hosts: Mary Reichert and Nick Eicher

A. Pitchford v. Cain (Death Penalty Case)

• Background: Death-row inmate Terry Pitchford’s 20-year-old conviction overturned due to concerns about racial bias in jury selection ([08:02]).
• Key Issue: Was the jury selection process unconstitutional under Batson v. Kentucky? Prosecutors used peremptory strikes to remove 4/5 Black prospective jurors.
• Supreme Court Ruling: The Court found the trial judge didn't permit meaningful challenges to the jury strikes.
  • Quote—Justice Alito: “This is the most timid and reticent defense counsel that I have encountered.” ([09:37])
  • Quote—Justice Kavanaugh: “The reason this matters is this is a death penalty case, right? And he was 17 when he committed the crime. And… he was not the shooter, correct?” ([09:56])
• Outcome: Case remanded for new proceedings; possible retrial for Pitchford.

B. Compassionate Release and Criminal Finality

• Fernandez Case ([11:14]):

  • Issue: Can defendants use compassionate release as a backdoor to challenge conviction validity?
  • Ruling: 8-1. SCOTUS says no; compassionate release is strictly for extraordinary circumstances (illness, age, family crisis)—not for sentence or conviction errors.
  • Quote—Dep. Sol. Gen. Eric Fagan: “A proposal to make [compassionate release]… an open-ended loophole to challenge the validity of sentences continuously through… endless collateral attacks on the criminal judgment.” ([11:32])
  • Quote—Justice Gorsuch: “The jury’s verdict on the facts is not something a court can impeach unless it’s clearly erroneous.” ([11:48])

• Rutherford Case ([12:09]):

  • Issue: Can prisoners use new (non-retroactive) sentencing reforms as grounds for compassionate release after long sentences from old statute “stacking”?
  • Ruling: 6-3 majority upholds Congress’s intent; courts cannot act where reforms are not made retroactive.
  • Quote—Justice Kavanaugh: “[If] the commission was very divided on this question... this is a seismic structural change... that countermands Congress’s judgments and that’s my concern on this case.” ([13:18])

• Summary: Courts must respect congressional limits on second-chance arguments absent new constitutional violations.

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3. The Monday Money Beat: Economic Impacts of Climate Change Alarmism

Segment begins: [14:45]
Host: Nick Eicher
Guest: David Bonson (The Bonson Group)

A. Malinvestment & Climate-Policy Overreach

• Context: Major climate scientists drop often-cited “worst-case” warming scenarios; governments, businesses, and investments flowed into policies based on flawed projections.
• Bonson’s Take:
  • Quote: “The economic story of this is more than money spent on the wrong thing. It is the money that wasn’t spent on the right thing. This is one of the great lessons of capital allocation.” ([15:53])
  • He argues “malinvestment” means not just wasted spending, but missed opportunity—like failing to invest in nuclear or cleaner fossil fuel technologies due to ideological barriers.
  • Notes the U.S. often engages in “virtue signaling,” but Europe’s regulatory overreach is “self-consciously willing to undermine economic growth… because of their belief.” ([17:56])
• Key Insight: Policy driven by ideology, not evidence, has damaging opportunity costs—hindering progress toward genuinely cleaner or more effective energy solutions.

B. Federal Reserve Independence under New Chair Kevin Warsh

• Debate: What does “Fed independence” really mean, and is it misunderstood?
• Bonson’s Argument:
  • The concept is “used selectively”—not grounded in constitutional text, and ripe for clearer statutory definition.
  • Quote: “If we say… the Fed should at all times be perfectly independent… wait a second, what does that mean? Where are we getting it from? Because we’re most certainly not getting it from the Constitution.” ([18:48])
  • Suggests Congress must clarify lines: “It is the legitimate duty of Congress to clarify the structure and to provide the oversight that it is required to provide by statute and by Article 1, Section 8…” ([21:35])
• Memorable Moment:
  • Quote—Bonson: “My concern is less about whether the Fed is independent of a president than whether it is independent of bad economic assumptions.” ([22:09])
  • Critiques the Fed’s reliance on the “Phillips Curve;” suggests productive economic growth needn’t be inflationary; Fed should “be there as a lender of last resort, which was its intent to begin with.” ([22:33], [24:00])

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4. World History Book: The Launch of CNN

Segment begins: [24:49]
Host: Lindsay Mast

A. The Birth of 24-Hour News—CNN, 1980

• Ted Turner’s Vision: Turner aspired not just to broadcast nationwide, but to “beam this into Russia... and maybe that way, those people will understand us better and they won’t want to come over here and bomb us…” ([26:22])
• Start-up Challenges:
  • Bureau staff relied on typewriters after a last-minute computer breakdown; equipment thefts in LA ([26:56]).
  • First broadcast: “Good evening. I’m David Walker and I’m Lois Hart. Now, here’s the news.” ([27:32])
• Work Ethic & Culture:
  • Staff endured long hours; “They were so invested… they just couldn’t let it go. That was the way it was in those early days.” ([28:55])
  • High ethical standards, close team camaraderie, and loyalty to Turner's generous leadership.
• Legacy & Changes:
  • CNN’s impact: Broke major stories (Reagan’s attempted assassination, Challenger disaster).
  • Facing viewership decline; Turner left in 2003, passed away recently.
  • CNN’s staff now dispersed globally, with historic Atlanta campus still in use ([29:36]).
• Notable Quote:
  • “Every once in a while, if you’re lucky, you get to be part of sort of a magical, wonderful situation. And that’s what this was.” ([29:14])

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Notable Quotes (with Speakers & Timestamps)

• David Bonson (on malinvestment):
  “The economic story… is the money that wasn’t spent on the right thing. This is one of the great lessons of capital allocation.” ([15:53])

• Justice Brett Kavanaugh (on Batson challenges):
  “The reason this matters is this is a death penalty case, right? And he was 17 when he committed the crime.” ([09:56])

• Justice Neil Gorsuch (on finality):
  “The jury’s verdict on the facts is not something a court can impeach unless it’s clearly erroneous.” ([11:48])

• David Bonson (on Fed independence):
  “If we say… the Fed should at all times be perfectly independent… wait a second, what does that mean? Where are we getting it from? Because we’re most certainly not getting it from the Constitution.” ([18:48])

• David Bonson (Fed and bad economics):
  “My concern is less about whether the Fed is independent of a president than whether it is independent of bad economic assumptions.” ([22:09])

• Ted Turner (on CNN’s aim):
  “And someday… I want to even beam this into Russia… maybe that way, those people will understand us better and they won’t want to come over here and bomb us…” ([26:22])

• Mark Aldrin (CNN producer):
  “Every once in a while, if you’re lucky, you get to be part of sort of a magical, wonderful situation. And that’s what this was.” ([29:14])

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• [01:32] - News Headlines (US-Iran, Aukus, Ebola, protests, crash)
• [07:45] - Supreme Court Legal Decisions (Pitchford, Fernandez, Rutherford)
• [14:45] - Monday Money Beat (climate change economics, Fed independence)
• [24:49] - World History Book: Launch of CNN

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Conclusion

From debates on justice and the limits of legal finality, to a measured takedown of policy motivated by fear over sound evidence, and a look back at the pioneering spirit that launched 24-hour news, this episode offers listeners rich perspective on law, economics, and media history. Vivid storytelling and pointed analysis make it essential listening for anyone interested in how today’s news connects to larger trends—and the individuals who shape them.

Transcript

[Mary Reichert]

Good morning. A word before we start. Today marks the beginning of World's June giving drive.

[Nick Eicher]

But know this, generous friends of World have already ensured that we do not start today at zero. We start today with five zeros preceded by a one. A $100,000 challenge already on the table. It's a practical reminder. No one gives a loan here. We do this together.

[Mary Reichert]

That's right. So if World is part of your daily routine, we'd be grateful for your support this month. Learn more and give [e-mail] donate. Good morning. Today on legal finality, fairness and second chances at the Supreme Court, a death row inmate has his conviction tossed out. Two other prisoners do not.

[Nick Eicher]

Also today, the Monday money beat will talk about the mal investment caused by climate change. Predictions now walked back as improbable. David Bonson is standing by and the world history book on this date in 1980, a new kind of news.

[David Bonson]

Stand by. Ready three, take three.

[Nick Eicher]

Mike yours, CNN, live on cable for the first time.

[Mary Reichert]

It's Monday, June 1st. This is the world and everything in it. From listener supported World Radio. I'm Mary Reichert.

[Nick Eicher]

And I'm Nick Iger. Good morning.

[Mary Reichert]

Up next, Kent Covington with today's news.

[Kent Covington]

President Trump says there is still no deal to end the war with Iran. Over the weekend, the president gathered his national security team in the White House situation room, but came out with no final decision.

[Various Interviewees (e.g., Terry Pitchford, Eric Fagan, Justice Kavanaugh)]

I'm in no hurry.

[David Bonson]

I'd like to say I'm in a hurry because you know gasoline prices are going to come tumbling down. But if you're going to be in a hurry, you're not going to make a good deal.

[Kent Covington]

Trump warned that if a deal cannot be struck at the bargaining table, the US Will, in his words, end it a different way. The Pentagon says American forces are ready to resume strikes. The president also said that the US Is now dealing with a different set of leaders than at the start of the war.

[Various Interviewees (e.g., Terry Pitchford, Eric Fagan, Justice Kavanaugh)]

We wipe out their leadership and then we wipe out their leadership a second time. And then at two and a half time, we're dealing with the other half.

[David Bonson]

And by the way, they're much more reasonable.

[Various Interviewees (e.g., Terry Pitchford, Eric Fagan, Justice Kavanaugh)]

And you could say that's regime change.

[Kent Covington]

For now, an uneasy truce is holding up. For the most part, both sides have discussed an agreement to extend the ceasefire, but there was no deal in place on that either. The United States, Britain and Australia are building undersea drones together to track China's growing military reach in the Pacific. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth spoke at a defense conference in Singapore over the weekend.

[David Bonson]

There is rightful alarm regarding China's historic

[Various Interviewees (e.g., Terry Pitchford, Eric Fagan, Justice Kavanaugh)]

military buildup and the expansion of its military activities in the region and beyond. We share a clear eyed assessment of

[David Bonson]

of that security environment.

[Kent Covington]

Aegis said America's Taiwan policy has not changed, but would not talk about a pending arms deal to Taiwan. He also announced that joint drone project, part of the Aukus Military alliance, which stands for the Australia UK US partnership.

[David Bonson]

Today we're pleased to announce the first Aukus Pillar 2 signature project focused on fielding advanced uncrewed undersea vehicles, or UUVs.

[Kent Covington]

Aukus was formed to counter China's growing military reach in the Pacific. In eastern Congo, five Ebola patients walked out of the hospital alive. They are the first confirmed recoveries since the current outbreak began. World Health Organization chief Tedros Gabriesis announced the news on Sunday as he marked the opening of a new treatment center in the city of Bunia. At the heart of the outbreak, this particular strain of Ebola, called Bundibudio, has no approved vaccine and no cure yet. Doctors can only treat the symptoms, but Gabriesis noted, people can recover.

[Various Interviewees (e.g., Terry Pitchford, Eric Fagan, Justice Kavanaugh)]

Of course we're working on vaccines and treatments, but that doesn't mean that people cannot recover from Ebola. So that's, I think, a strong message.

[Kent Covington]

Still, the virus is outpacing the response. Health officials have counted more than 1200 cases and at least 240 deaths across Congo and Uganda, and the fear is now reaching beyond Africa as Brazil is investigating two possible cases. Demonstrations outside Delaney Hall, a New Jersey immigration center where protesters and police have clashed for more than a week. This morning, a curfew locks down a half mile around the Newark facility, and state troopers hold the line after a weekend of violence. Demonstrators hurled projectiles, ripped at barriers and set tires on fire. Police have made about a dozen arrests, with some protesters accused of punching and biting officers. Democratic New Jersey Governor Mikey Sherrill appealed to protesters over the weekend.

[David Bonson]

I urge those protesting outside of Delaney hall to bring the temperature down so

[Mary Reichert]

we can focus on the detainees and their families.

[Kent Covington]

Cheryl sent in state police and set up a protected protest zone. She blames ICE for the unrest. It started with some of the roughly 300 detainees inside launching a hunger strike over what they claimed was spoiled food and poor medical care. The federal government denies that they have

[David Bonson]

been increasing tensions in a way that's

[Mary Reichert]

not helpful to public safety. This is not what we believe in here.

[Kent Covington]

In New Jersey, Homeland Security Secretary Mark Wayne Mullen has condemned the protests, vowing that anyone who attacks officers will be prosecuted. Federal investigators are digging into Friday's deadly bus crash in Virginia that killed five people. National Transportation Safety Board member Tom Chapman says they're taking a hard look at the driver's actions in the 72 hours before the wreck.

[Various Interviewees (e.g., Terry Pitchford, Eric Fagan, Justice Kavanaugh)]

We're looking for, you know, sleep issues, distraction issues, potential drug and alcohol issues.

[Kent Covington]

Investigators are also looking at vehicle performance, including the bus's automatic emergency braking. A preliminary report is expected within 30 days. The crash happened around 2:30am on Interstate 95, nearly 50 miles south of Washington. Traffic had slowed down for a work zone.

[David Bonson]

A traffic queue had formed as vehicles

[Various Interviewees (e.g., Terry Pitchford, Eric Fagan, Justice Kavanaugh)]

were diverted into the left lane of the interstate and the motorcoach failed to respond to the slow and stop traffic ahead.

[Kent Covington]

The bus plowed into the back of the line, triggering a chain reaction wreck. The driver, Jingdong, faces two counts of involuntary manslaughter, and police say more charges are likely. I'm Kent Covington. And coming up, legal Docket plus, the Monday Money beat with David Bonson and the World history book. This is the World and everything in It.

[Mary Reichert]

It's Monday, the 1st of June. So glad to have you along for today's edition of THE World and Everything In It. Good morning. I'm Mary Reichard.

[Nick Eicher]

And I'm Nick Eicher. Today we kick off World's June Giving Drive. If you listen regularly to us, you're already part of what happens here each the reporting, interviews, analysis and storytelling you hear every day each weekday. That is possible because listeners decide this is reporting worth supporting.

[Mary Reichert]

So if World has become part of your daily routine, part of how you understand the news and think about faith and culture, we'd be grateful if you'd consider supporting it during our June Giving Drive.

[Nick Eicher]

You can find out more and give [e-mail] donate time now for Legal docket.

[Mary Reichert]

The Supreme Court is entering opinion season and today three rulings about criminal convictions and sentencing. One says a case deserves another look. The other two say there are limits to how often courts can revisit old criminal judgments.

[Nick Eicher]

First, a death penalty case.

[Various Interviewees (e.g., Terry Pitchford, Eric Fagan, Justice Kavanaugh)]

I'm Terry Pitchford. I'm from Grenada, Mississippi. I'm here for capital murder. They gave me a death sentence.

[Nick Eicher]

In this case, Pitchford v. Cain, the Supreme Court tossed out Pitchford's conviction and death sentence. The case goes back more than 20 years. Pitchford was one of two teenagers who robbed a grocery store and left store owner Reuben Britt dead. The teen who pulled the trigger took a plea deal and 20 years in prison. Terry Pitchford chose to go to trial. He was convicted and sentenced to death. The issue before the Supreme Court was not Whether Pitchford committed the crime, that's not in dispute. It's whether the jury selection process complied with the Constitution. Prosecutors used peremptory strikes to remove four of five black prospective jurors. Under a Supreme Court precedent called Batson v. Kentucky. Prosecutors may strike jurors without stating a reason, but the strikes must not be for reason of race.

[Mary Reichert]

Pitchford's lawyers argued the Batson process broke down. Justice Brett Kavanaugh joined Chief Justice John Roberts, along with liberals Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson in the Major. The trial judge had asked prosecutors to explain the strikes and accepted their answers as race neutral. One juror arrived late. Two had brothers convicted of violent crimes, and another was a young, unmarried father. The breakdown? Was the judge not allowing meaningful challenge from the defense. But during oral argument, Justice Samuel Alito wondered, whose fault was that?

[Various Interviewees (e.g., Terry Pitchford, Eric Fagan, Justice Kavanaugh)]

Well, this is the most timid and

[Nick Eicher]

reticent defense counsel that I have encountered.

[David Bonson]

Any competent defensive attorney that I knew

[Various Interviewees (e.g., Terry Pitchford, Eric Fagan, Justice Kavanaugh)]

would have spoken up.

[Nick Eicher]

Yet other justices viewed the record differently. Justice Kavanaugh hinted at the eventual ruling during oral argument.

[Various Interviewees (e.g., Terry Pitchford, Eric Fagan, Justice Kavanaugh)]

The reason this matters is this is a death penalty case, right? And he was 17 when he committed the crime. And he did not that this is good, but he was not the shooter, correct?

[Kent Covington]

That's right, you, Honor.

[Mary Reichert]

The dissenting justices wrote that Pitchford's claim of a muzzled defense team did not square with the record. The dissent criticized the majority for ignoring the high bar that federal law imposes before federal courts can overturn state convictions.

[Nick Eicher]

The ruling clears the way for further proceedings and possibly a new trial for Pitchford, who has now served two decades in prison. The next two cases answer a different question. When should a criminal judgment stay settled? This one was 8 to 1. The Supreme Court saying federal prisoners cannot use compassionate release to challenge the validity of their convictions. Compassionate release allows courts to shorten a prison sentence in extraordinary circumstances, such as terminal illness or advanced age or certain family emergencies. The phrase does leave some room for interpretation. So defense counsel has tried to use compassionate release to fix what they see are unjust convictions or sentences, which is what Jose Fernandez tried doing here. But the Supreme Court has repeatedly rejected

[Mary Reichert]

those expansions, and the justices did here as well. Compassionate release is what the name implies, the court held, and not for correcting a legal error. Deputy Solicitor General Eric Fagan had the winning argument for the government.

[Various Interviewees (e.g., Terry Pitchford, Eric Fagan, Justice Kavanaugh)]

I think what you've just heard is

[David Bonson]

a proposal to make it instead an

[Various Interviewees (e.g., Terry Pitchford, Eric Fagan, Justice Kavanaugh)]

open ended loophole to challenge the validity of sentences continuously through a potentially endless series of collateral attacks on the criminal judgment.

[Nick Eicher]

Justice Neil Gorsuch underscored the effort Congress made to make final things final.

[Various Interviewees (e.g., Terry Pitchford, Eric Fagan, Justice Kavanaugh)]

And I had thought in our legal system the jury's verdict on the facts is not something a court can impeach unless it's clearly erroneous.

[Mary Reichert]

And finally, a federal inmate serving more than 40 years for a string of armed robberies will stay behind bars after another high court ruling on that same doctrine of compassionate release.

[Nick Eicher]

This decision was 6 to 3, the court ruling that prisoners cannot use non retroactive sentencing reforms as grounds. Justices Sotomayor, Kagan and Jackson dissented. This case involved a man named Daniel Rutherford. He was sentenced under older and more harsh federal laws after he robbed a Philadelphia clinic. Pretending to be a patient. Rutherford pulled a gun and stole money and jewelry, though he never fired the gun. At the time, federal law imposed mandatory prison terms for mere possession of a gun during a violent crime. Rutherford's convictions added up to more than 42 years in prison, and much of that was from the federal gun statute's so called stacking provisions.

[Mary Reichert]

Under President Trump's first term, Congress passed the First Step act and that eliminated mandatory sentence stacking for first time offenders. But Congress explicitly did not make those changes retroactive. Rutherford argued his sentence was so disparate from the new rules that it should count as an extraordinary and compelling reason for compassionate release. Justice Kavanaugh signaled concern during oral argument about the separation of powers.

[Various Interviewees (e.g., Terry Pitchford, Eric Fagan, Justice Kavanaugh)]

We're now going to give a second look for district judges to revisit those sentences even though Congress did not want them made retroactive. Obviously the commission was very divided on this question, commission to center said. This is a seismic structural change to our criminal justice system that countermands Congress's judgments and that's my concern on this case.

[Mary Reichert]

The majority agreed with that, saying the courts cannot do indirectly what Congress chose not to do directly. And that's this week's legal docket.

[Kent Covington]

Additional support comes from Pensacola Theological Seminary preparing students to preach God's word. Go PCCI edustartseminary from Dort University, host of the upcoming At Work in the Garden conference celebrating God's good design of work. Dort. Edu Garden and from Ambassadors Impact Network, a group of Christian investors finding companies that share the gospel through business. [e-mail].

[Mary Reichert]

Coming up next on the World and everything in it. The Monday Money Beat.

[Nick Eicher]

All right, time now to talk business markets and the economy with financial analyst and advisor David Bonson. David heads up the wealth management firm the Bonson Group and he joins us now good morning, David.

[David Bonson]

Well, good morning Nick. Good to be with you.

[Nick Eicher]

Well David, we talked about this on the World and everything in it last Friday. But there is an economic side to the story too that I wanted to get with you on. Climate scientists I'm sure you read last week have formally dropped one of the most widely used worst case warming scenarios. And even some news organizations were acknowledging they treated it much more realistically than it ever really was. I read Holman Jenkins in the Wall Street Journal making the argument that the bigger issue is not climate science or culture, but rather capital allocation, that governments, businesses and invest directed trillions of dollars based on assumptions that turned out to be, well, let's just say far less plausible than advertised. What do you say about that?

[David Bonson]

Well, I think that that is very true, but it was true before this report came out. And the economic story of this is more than money spent on the wrong thing. It is the money that wasn't spent on the right thing. And this is one of the great lessons of capital allocation. And when we refer to this thing called mal investment, when resources are directed in the wrong way, there is a healthy part of loss where risk taking teaches entrepreneurs lessons and they move into something different that is better responded to in the marketplace. And that trial and error is celebrated in America and risk taking is largely frowned upon in Europe. This is in a different category because it is so ideological and so wrong headed as this report shows. But the numbers can never capture what was the opportunity cost of not investing in nuclear, of not investing in cleaner ability to emit carbon, quicker access to energy that is more potent and productive from coal to the cleaner forms of fossil and their inability to even import what they need of natural gas. Now I happened to spend a little bit of time on Friday with Ambassador Andy Puzder. He's the ambassador to European Union and he was walking me through a lot of the issues that they deal with with some of the different countries there and some of this environmental stuff. And one thing that is just really shocking to Americans in particular, American investors like myself, where all of our efforts in this anti fossil notion in America is mostly virtue signaling and just dealing with a lot of pharisaical silliness that is largely laughed about. Now there's real true believers in Europe. I mean some of the authorities are very self consciously willing to undermine their economic growth and their environmental progress because of their belief. So tearing down these misnomers is a good thing and they are behind for a reason.

[Nick Eicher]

David, let's turn to Dividend Cafe. This Week you had a deep dive on Kevin Warsh, the new Fed Chair. One of the loudest concerns that we've been hearing all along is whether Warsh at the Fed will be independent of President Trump. And your argument is that we're kind of using that phrase loosely. What do people mean when they say Fed independence and what do you think we're getting wrong about that?

[David Bonson]

Well, I think that one of the points I try to make in the article is that many are using it selectively. That through bonafide obvious and indisputable and even I would say non controversial examples of there being violation of Fed independence. We've never really heard the term before and we use it now either because of people that just want to criticize anything President Trump does, which I do not think is a legitimate reason, or because of the way in which President Trump did it, which I think is a perfectly legitimate reason. I'm by no means condoning all of his behavior. But what happens is like so many things these days, Nick, it obfuscates our ability to have clarity. So if we say I don't think that President Trump should have pretextually had a DOJ investigation about Jerome Powell because he was mad at him about interest rates, that's a pretty non controversial thing to say. But if we say, and I think the Fed should at all times be perfectly independent and we should walk around saying that all the time, I then say, wait a second, what does that mean? Where are we getting it from? Because we're most certainly not getting it from the Constitution. So because so many critics of the President have decided, some for legitimate reasons, some for illegitimate ones, to harp on the issue of Fed independence, I think this seems like a great time to say maybe we ought to clarify the statute, maybe Congress ought to do its job and tell us what exactly the Federal Reserve is. If it is sort of under the Executive branch, but not really if it's obviously under the legislative branch because it was created by Congress and the Fed Chair has to come talk to Congress a couple times a year and the Senate has to confirm all the Fed Governor appointments. But it's also sort of under the President, because the Executive branch, because the President has to nominate the various folks, but we don't have any other agency or entity in government that functions this way. It's not an agency, it's not a cabinet department. And I think there ought to be structural clarity. So regardless of a President's misbehavior or bullying or whatnot, let's have the lines legally and structurally, so that we can eliminate a lot of this controversy. And then as far as the actual administration of monetary policy, rather than worrying about whether or not Al Gore is mad at Alan Greenspan or Richard Nixon's mad at Arthur Burns or Donald Trump, Trump is misbehaving in the way he's mad at Jerome Powell. All those things could be legitimate. But let's have a conversation about what the Fed should and shouldn't be doing. I think that the President has a right to share his opinion, his or her opinion. I don't think the President should be bowling the Federal Reserve chair, but nor do I believe the Federal Reserve should or does exist outside of the oversight of Congress. And therefore it is the legitimate duty of Congress to clarify the structure and to provide the oversight that it is required to provide by statute and by Article 1, Section 8 of the United States Constitution.

[Nick Eicher]

Kind of a novel idea, David. There was a line that made me laugh out loud from your Dividend cafe, so I wanted to follow up on this kind of provocative idea. As you put it. Your concern is less about whether the the Fed is independent of a president than whether it is independent of bad economic assumptions. David, talk a bit about that. I really love that one.

[David Bonson]

Well, hopefully it isn't that provocative because I mean it quite seriously. I think that the Federal Reserve has been married to something called the Phillips Curve as a model of monetary policy for a long time whereby they believe there's a negative feedback loop between economic growth, that is that which will be evidenced in high jobs, low unemployment and good wages, and then inflationary pressures. And this is a way I can reduce that position, I think, still avoiding a strawman, but nevertheless intended as an internal critique, by saying they believe growth is inflationary and it is not, and there is productive and non inflationary growth. But how do you solve for this? Well, why is the Fed concerned about Phillips Curve modeling? Because they believe that they need to use monetary policy, which is to say the cost of capital, to either accelerate or decelerate economic growth. And I do not believe they should. I do not believe it is the Fed's job to use their discretion and their intervening forces to accelerate or decelerate market growth. I believe that is the job of economic actors who will set the price of money themselves and who will go about their business and economic growth will go up or down without the interventions of the Fed. And the Fed will be there as a lender of last resort, which was its intent to begin with.

[Nick Eicher]

All right. David Bonson is founder, managing partner and chief Investment officer of the Bonson Group. He [e-mail] and at World Opinions. David, I hope you have a terrific week. Thanks.

[David Bonson]

Thanks so much, Nick.

[Nick Eicher]

Good morning. This is the World and everything in it from listener supported World Radio. I'm Nick Iker.

[Mary Reichert]

And I'm Mary Reichardt. Up next, the world history book. In the late 1970s, those who wanted to watch the news had to turn on their TVs at a set time. But on June 1, 1980, the 24 hour news cycle began. That was the day the cable news network CNN first signed on. World's Lindsay Mass has the story.

[Lindsay Mast]

April 23, 1979. Ted Turner announces his plan to start a 24 hour news network. He calls it CNN, the Cable News

[Various Interviewees (e.g., Terry Pitchford, Eric Fagan, Justice Kavanaugh)]

Network and will program continually updated half hour segments of national news, business news, sports and features 24 hours a day.

[Lindsay Mast]

He makes a commitment to succeed.

[Various Interviewees (e.g., Terry Pitchford, Eric Fagan, Justice Kavanaugh)]

And I pledge to you that we will not let the American public down.

[Lindsay Mast]

Turner spends the next year putting together a team of nearly 300 people to run the network. One was producer and copy editor Mark Aldrin.

[Various Interviewees (e.g., Terry Pitchford, Eric Fagan, Justice Kavanaugh)]

When I came to Atlanta for my interview, there was no real infrastructure for CNN at all. We knew we had a big job ahead of us. We were constantly meeting and outside of our world there was a lot of skepticism.

[Lindsay Mast]

But he says Turner was confident and always thinking ahead. Aldrin remembers a pre launch meeting where the team was trying to figure out how to focus newscasts for different U.S. time zones. Turner popped in to listen and described a bigger vision, one that could have implications for the Cold War.

[Various Interviewees (e.g., Terry Pitchford, Eric Fagan, Justice Kavanaugh)]

He said, and someday he said, I want to even beam this into Russia. And he said, and maybe that way, he said, those people will understand us better and they won't want to come over here and bomb us as we're focusing on how do we broadcast to Des Moines, you know, he's already thinking about how to broadcast around the globe. That was typical Ted.

[Lindsay Mast]

The team started rehearsals, but just days before the launch, the newsroom desktop computer system malfunctioned.

[Various Interviewees (e.g., Terry Pitchford, Eric Fagan, Justice Kavanaugh)]

So we said, okay, get all these things out of here. And so for the actual launch on June 1, 1980, we were back to typewriters and carbon sheets again.

[Lindsay Mast]

The Los Angeles bureau also had problems.

[Various Interviewees (e.g., Terry Pitchford, Eric Fagan, Justice Kavanaugh)]

That crew out there had some of their camera gear stolen, I think it was on the day before the launch. And so they had to go get rental camera gear ready.

[Nick Eicher]

13 full ready.

[David Bonson]

Camera three one center up.

[Mary Reichert]

But.

[Lindsay Mast]

And at 6pm on June 1, 1980, CNN went on the air.

[Various Interviewees (e.g., Terry Pitchford, Eric Fagan, Justice Kavanaugh)]

Good evening.

[David Bonson]

I'm David Walker and I'm Lois Hart.

[Mary Reichert]

Now, here's the news.

[Lindsay Mast]

Aldrin was in the newsroom that day.

[Nick Eicher]

We have a pool of producers here. Each one does two hour shows, one hour show, then four hours off, another hour show.

[Various Interviewees (e.g., Terry Pitchford, Eric Fagan, Justice Kavanaugh)]

They take the material from the pool

[Nick Eicher]

and they send it over to the video.

[Lindsay Mast]

The team had proved they could launch a network, but detractors took longer to convince. They expressed skepticism about Turner's lack of journalism experience, calling the station Chicken Noodle News or the Chicken Noodle inside. The staff continued to struggle with new technology. A single video cable connected the control room in Atlanta to New York through the Bureau in Washington, D.C. someone there had to flip a physical switch to establish the shot.

[Various Interviewees (e.g., Terry Pitchford, Eric Fagan, Justice Kavanaugh)]

You're on a headphone, you know, and you're talking on a comm and you know New York is coming up and you're saying to the guy in Washington, please flip this window. Please flip the switch. Please flip the switch. And you're sweating bullets, right?

[Lindsay Mast]

CNN goes on to become a dominating force in television news. Less than a year after launch, it breaks the news of the attempted assassination of President Reagan in 1986. It's the only network to broadcast the Challenger explosion live. Aldrin says the staff was hungry to cover the news. He says at times he would go home and come back the next day to see coworkers who had never left.

[Various Interviewees (e.g., Terry Pitchford, Eric Fagan, Justice Kavanaugh)]

They were so invest so they were on the front lines and they just couldn't let it go. That was the way it was in those early days.

[Lindsay Mast]

He says Ted Turner was a maverick who also took care of the people working so hard for him, offering generous time off in return for the long hours.

[Various Interviewees (e.g., Terry Pitchford, Eric Fagan, Justice Kavanaugh)]

People were very loyal and, you know, they had high ethical standards. You know, it was one of those things where every once in a while, if you're lucky, you get to be part of sort of a magical, wonderful situation. And that's what this was.

[Lindsay Mast]

CNN has been on the air continuously since its launch but has experienced a decline in viewership in the last decade. Ted Turner left the company in 2003 and passed away last month. In 2023, CNN moved out of its landmark building in downtown Atlanta. Much of the current staff is located in New York and in bureaus around the globe. But about a thousand report to work on a campus at the original location. Good afternoon from the World Trade Center.

[David Bonson]

Standby. Ready three, take three. Mike Hewer three.

[Various Interviewees (e.g., Terry Pitchford, Eric Fagan, Justice Kavanaugh)]

Start to slow. Zoom in a little bit.

[Lindsay Mast]

That's this week's World History Book. I'm Lindsay Mast.

[Mary Reichert]

Well, it's Day one of World's June Giving Drive. So beat the Russian. Give today wng.org donate tomorrow we will talk to an expert about where talks between the US And Iran stand and an interview with the oldest journalist in the world. That and more tomorrow. I'm Mary Reichert.

[Nick Eicher]

And I'm Nick Eicher. That journalist, by the way, is not me. The world and everything in it comes to you from World Radio World's mission. It's biblically objective journalism that informs educates. The Bible says, I long for your salvation, O Lord, and your law is my delight. Let my soul live and praise you, and let your rules help me. I have gone astray like a lost sheep. Seek your servant, for I do not forget your commandments. Verses 174 through 176 of Psalm 119 go now in grace and peace, SA.