Trump’s Controversial Pick to Oversee U.S. Intelligence, and a Surge in Preventable Diseases

0:00This podcast is supported by Planned Parenthood Federation of America. Here's a story that's not getting nearly enough attention. Defunding Planned Parenthood has already caused chaos and harm, and access to essential reproductive care is plummeting. Right now, the Trump administration's backers in Congress want to permanently defund Planned Parenthood, forcing even more health centers to close, and millions at risk of losing access to care. It takes less than a minute to help. Go to plannedparenthood.org slash defend and make a gift of any size. From The New York Times, it's the headlines. I'm Tracy Mumford.

0:37Today's Wednesday, June 3rd. Here's what we're covering.

0:46Mr. Rubio, you keep telling us how we're winning this war. The president keeps saying completely annihilated. The war is not over. And yet the American people see how we're losing at the pump and with their costs. And yet this thing still hasn't been resolved. On Capitol Hill yesterday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio sparred with Democratic senators over the war in Iran, as he offered a murky timeline about when there might be a deal between the two countries. There is the prospect before us, which could happen today, it could happen tomorrow, it could happen next week. Rubio said the U.S. and Iran are continuing to try and hammer out an initial agreement that could reopen the Strait of Hormuz, among other things, saying, quote, we're hopeful.

1:26Why is it taking so long to reach even a preliminary agreement with the Iranians? It's a fascinating question because time and time again in recent weeks, the president or his top officials have said an agreement is just days away. David Sanger is a White House and national security correspondent at The Times. One reason that this is taking so long is that it's the most inefficient form of negotiating you can imagine. Messages are being passed through Pakistan and Qatar. They then go to Iran, get put in the hands of couriers, and get taken to the new supreme leader who is in hiding, fearing that the Israelis are looking to kill him the way they killed his father, his wife, and the rest of his family.

2:14And on top of that, we keep hearing about changes to the text. At the end of last week, we understand that President Trump added some new wording trying to toughen up what happens to all of Iran's nuclear material. But that only encourages the Iranians to do the same thing, pulling in the other direction. Amid the negotiations, attacks in the Middle East have continued, despite both the U.S. and Iran insisting a ceasefire is still in effect. The U.S. says it's been acting in self-defense, and Iran says it's been retaliating. Today, Kuwait, an American ally in the Gulf, said its country's main airport was damaged by Iranian drones, injuring travelers and forcing all flights to be suspended.

3:05Now, three new developments in Washington. First. We are not moving forward with the fund. Not moving forward ever. Correct. Oh. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche repeatedly told lawmakers yesterday that the president's$1.8 billion fund is not going to happen after a wave of bipartisan backlash. Still, Blanche made clear that the other piece of the deal Trump struck with the Justice Department, granting him, his family and his businesses immunity from any ongoing tax audits, will stand. Blanche claimed that kind of arrangement wasn't out of the ordinary, but critics have called it a sweetheart deal, given that the Trump Organization was facing an investigation into its tax filings that could have resulted in a$100 million penalty.

3:52Also, I thought I'd gotten to the stage where I could no longer be shocked by Donald Trump's choices, but this may be the most outrageous of all. Democrats are denouncing Trump's new pick for director of national intelligence, Bill Pulte. Pulte, who currently leads the Federal Housing Finance Agency, has no experience in intelligence, defense, or national security. The DNI position is one of the most powerful in the cabinet. It was created after 9-11 and is responsible for coordinating the work of the CIA and a dozen plus other agencies. Tulsi Gabbard currently has the job, but she announced she's stepping down for family reasons.

4:34In his time in the administration, Pulte has aggressively gone after people Trump perceives as his enemies, accusing them of mortgage fraud, for example, which has pleased Trump. Notably, the president's only putting Pulte in as acting director. That will limit how long he can hold the job. But it also avoids a confirmation hearing, where even Republicans seem poised to question Pulte's thin qualifications. Trump said in his announcement that Pulte, quote, has deep experience managing the most sensitive matters in America. Pulte, who is going to keep running the housing agency, too, did not respond to requests for comment.

5:15And last update from Washington. President Trump signed an executive order yesterday asking tech companies to voluntarily give the government oversight of new AI models before their release to the public. This step towards regulation is a clear reversal from how Trump came into office with an anything-goes approach towards the technology. It comes as public opinion on AI has been souring, with mounting fears over how it can affect jobs, energy prices, and there are major concerns about national security. That was supercharged this spring when Anthropic announced its new AI model was so good at finding cyber vulnerabilities, it shouldn't be released to the public.

5:59Still, there are questions about whether Trump's order will actually regulate anything, according to Times tech reporter Shira Frankel. We don't really know yet how this AI executive order is going to play out. Some of the limitations that we heard people talking about is that it doesn't go far enough. It doesn't force AI companies to hand over their models. and it doesn't create a really strict framework that they would have to abide by. This is all just voluntary.

6:31Across the U.S., doctors say they are seeing more cases of serious illnesses that vaccines used to keep at bay. Measles has been the most high profile of those, but interviews with physicians, along with health data, show that other dangerous diseases are now making a comeback too. For example, a pediatrician in Alabama said she'd already treated as many patients with rotavirus this year as she had over the past decade. The virus, which causes diarrhea, had largely been swept away by vaccines. Also, cases of whooping cough have quadrupled in recent years. The surge of preventable diseases comes as vaccination rates in the U.S.

7:13have fallen. That's in part due to increasing distrust in vaccines that grew during the pandemic and that Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and President Trump have amplified. Doctors say that even when they're able to treat kids who come in with the diseases, they're often forced to do invasive testing, like spinal taps, or start kids on stronger antibiotics than they might normally use, which can have more side effects. Beyond childhood vaccines, healthcare workers say they're also seeing broader pushback when it comes to shots. Several doctors told The Times that a growing number of adults were refusing tetanus shots for themselves or their kids after injuries like cuts, even though roughly 10 % of people who get tetanus die.

7:58One ER physician in Minnesota said she'd recently had a patient who refused a tetanus shot after slicing his hand open. He told her, quote, Big Pharma doesn't need my money.

8:15And finally... I love you. I know. Marsha Lucas, the Oscar-winning film editor who helped shape iconic movies like Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and Taxi Driver, has died at 80 years old. Back in the 1960s, she was working in Hollywood when she was assigned to train a fresh film school grad named George Lucas. The two fell in love, married, and kicked off a years-long creative partnership, where she edited and influenced many of his early blockbusters, starting with American Graffiti. Sweetheart, if the prize is you, I'm already 10. She was credited with bringing clarity, pacing, and, according to Mark Hamill, Luke Skywalker himself, she also brought the heart to the films, getting the audience emotionally invested.

9:07For example, she pushed for the gut-punch Star Wars storyline where Obi-Wan Kenobi dies. They don't know what they've got there. Well, I know what I've got here. And she helped craft Indiana Jones' romantic relationship in Raiders of the Lost Ark. Her own relationship with George Lucas eventually crumbled. As part of their divorce, she walked away with roughly$50 million from the fortune that their films had made, according to his biographer. Marsha eventually left the frenetic pace of the movie business altogether, saying she wanted to, quote, stop and smell the flowers. But next time you watch Star Wars.

9:45Laugh it up, fuzzball. And you see Chewbacca up on the screen, know that Marsha was behind that, too. The Wookiee was inspired by the Lucas's dog, a big Alaskan Malamute that Marsha used to drive around with, with the dog riding shotgun. Those are the headlines. I'm Tracy Mumford. We'll be back tomorrow.